In the early morning, it was already dark, and there were not many pedestrians on the bumpy and bumpy streets of Cangzhou City.
Cangzhou is not a big state in the first place, with a small population. Due to the increasingly fierce banditry and wars in the past two years, the entire city is half empty.
Some people died, and some fled to other places. The people who remained in Cangzhou were either unable to leave their homeland or had no relatives to go to. Rather than living in Cangzhou, they were competing with God for their fate.
Next to a vegetable stall on the street, a woman passing by stopped, carrying a vegetable basket, and after picking and choosing, she asked: "How do you sell these radishes?"
The stall owner sat on the stone steps, raised his head and said, "Two cents a pound."
"Two cents?" The woman in coarse cloth frowned and said, "Yesterday it was still one cent!"
The stall owner glanced at her and said calmly: "Yesterday, the official only charged five cents for the road fee, but today he only charged ten cents!"
The price of a pound of radishes doubled, which originally cost a month, but now will be used up in half a month. The woman angrily picked up the vegetable basket and said, "I'll look at other stores!"
She walked around the street, and when she came back again, her face fell completely.
"This is not about drinking blood and eating meat. They are going to smash the bones and swallow them. It is almost impossible to live this life!"
"Who says it's not..." The vegetable stall owner finally sighed and said: "When Cangzhou was taken over by the rebels, it was the people who suffered. Now that Cangzhou has been taken back by the government, it is the people who suffer.
When will these miserable days end?"
The woman thought for a while and said: "That's not necessarily all bad. When Princess Duanrong was in Cangzhou two years ago, everything was not fine. Alas, it's a pity..."
The stall owner seemed to have remembered something, and suddenly said: "I heard someone said two days ago that Her Royal Highness is going to fight back..."
The woman put down the food basket and said mysteriously: "I also heard that Princess Duanrong has been destined to be the emperor since she was a child. Like the princess from Jingguo next door, she will become the queen in the future..."
The two of them talked mysteriously for a while, and then the stall owner waved his hand and said: "Sister-in-law, I think you and I can chat quite well. It's all fate. Let's do this. I will sell this dish today."
You still have the same price as yesterday..."
"That's a good feeling..." The woman said with a smile on her face, "I have to be more selective today!"
She picked a whole basket of vegetables, handed them to the stall owner, and said, "Weigh them."
After weighing the stall owner, he said: "There are twenty-two pennies in total. I'll give you a small change and give you twenty cents."
The woman took out her purse, counted the copper coins, handed them to him, and said, "Count them."
The stall owner smiled, kicked the money into his arms, and said, "There's no need to count. Sister-in-law, you can still lie to me..."
"Okay, I'll go back first!" The woman waved to him. When the vegetable stall owner saw her disappearing, he immediately counted the money he had put back in his arms. It didn't matter even if he lost two cents, because the vegetable money was already there.
It was twenty cents. He added a fraction and wiped out a fraction...
After counting it twice and looking at the eighteen cents in his hand, the stall owner fell into deep thought.
He sighed, the world is declining, people's hearts are not as old as before, people nowadays are ignorant of even two cents of food money, Cangzhou's simple folk customs are ruined by these people...
At this time, a man who was walking and tightening his belt came over and asked: "Old Wang, did anyone come to buy groceries just now?"
The young stall owner kicked the money into his arms, stood up, waved his hand, and said: "No, a sister-in-law came here and picked out the dishes for a long time, but later she thought they were too expensive and didn't buy them..."
"Oh, I don't want the increase, but if it doesn't increase, all the food money will be handed over to the government. Why can't they learn from Princess Duanrong..." The man sighed,
Looking at him, he said gratefully: "I was so hungry yesterday, thank you for helping me look after the stall..."
"You're welcome..." The young man stood up, waved his hand and said, "It's just a little effort..."
After the young man left, the man counted on his fingers and murmured: "Today is a good day..."
He packed up the vegetable stall early and returned home. He told his wife and children to take good care of the house. He walked out of the house and walked around a few streets. When he walked to the door of a deep house, he gently knocked on the door three times and whispered.
Said: "Jing Ke assassinated the King of Qin."
The door opened, he walked in and closed it behind him. Dozens of people had already gathered in the spacious yard in front.
After another half an hour, people came in from outside from time to time. At a certain moment, someone counted the number of people. Everyone stood neatly in the yard, and a young man walked out from inside.
Everyone bowed and said, "I've seen Envoy Xu!"
"No need to be polite." The young man waved his hand and said, "I won't say any more nonsense. Someone is blocking the defenders outside the city. Our mission tonight is to break into the governor's mansion. Inside the governor's mansion, our people are ready.
Okay, you must remember that we are different from those rebels. After we attack the governor's mansion, we are not allowed to loot and kill. Anyone who violates the rules will be dealt with according to the canon!"
"yes!"
Everyone responded in unison.
…
Governor's Mansion, for some reason, the Governor of Cangzhou always feels a little uneasy tonight.
The sky had darkened. He walked out of the hall and walked into the courtyard, pacing slightly anxiously.
A figure walked into the yard from outside, walked up to him, and asked with concern: "Sir, what's wrong?"
The governor of Cangzhou looked at the master next to him and asked: "There is no news about Princess Duanrong yet?"
These days, he had not paid much attention to the rumors about Princess Duanrong in Cangzhou City, but as the rumors spread rapidly in the past few days and the city was filled with uproar, he finally began to feel uneasy.
When the master heard this, he smiled and said: "Your Excellency, you are overly worried. These things are just the product of extreme exaggeration by those foolish people. Do you think that Princess Duanrong can be the emperor?"
Hearing this, the Cangzhou governor felt relieved. After thinking for a while, he added: "There is no wind without waves. There are also root causes for catching wind and shadow. We cannot take it lightly and let the city defense strengthen defense in these days..."
The master nodded and said, "Yes, I will go down and make arrangements right away."
"In addition, send people to post the portrait of Princess Duanrong, and post more outside the city. Anyone who finds the clues will be rewarded with a thousand taels of silver!"
"As you command!"
Cangzhou Governor waved his hand and said: "Okay, you go down and make arrangements."
Watching the master walk out, he stroked his beard. He didn't want to stay in Cangzhou for a moment longer. If he could catch Princess Duanrong, he would have a bright future...
