On the third day of May, there are four days left before the imperial meeting.
The three city gates of Guangyuan City, the main city of Houcheng, are wide open. The number of pedestrians passing by has increased several times compared with the past. From time to time, dignitaries can be seen entering the city with gongs and umbrellas.
The guards on the city wall gathered together in twos and threes, eating wine and meat, talking and laughing.
"Zhao Erwa, you fucking guard your post for me, watch carefully and make sure there are no mistakes, otherwise I will twist off your head and use it as a chamber pot."
A drinking officer sitting on the city gate tower angrily scolded a thin guard who was looking at them anxiously with an aggrieved look on his face.
This Zhao Erwa was an orphan since he was a child. He grew up in Guangyuan City and became a guard of the city tower by chance. However, he had no background and was weak but hard-working and was often yelled at by everyone.
Today, my Shangguan and several other guards were gathering to drink. Only I and a few other new guards were guarding the city wall, staring at the passing dignitaries.
During this period, as the great court meeting was approaching, these guards received instructions from above to keep an eye on when Baron Wang Gang from Wolong City arrived in Guangyuan City.
Although Wolong City is far away from Guangyuan City, its lord Wang Gang is well-known in the city.
Whenever there is a festival or a year of disaster, the oil, grain and rice shops belonging to Wang Gang in Guangyuan City will donate to the people in poor areas.
When the people at the bottom of Guangyuan City mentioned Wang Gang's name, they all gave a thumbs up and said "Baron Benevolence and Righteousness".
However, these benevolent and righteous actions made by Wang Gang did not attract the attention of the Hou Dynasty.
Zhao Erwa looked at the dog meat in Shangguan's mouth, licked her dry tongue, swallowed several times, and just stared at it helplessly without moving.
It wasn't until his dumb look attracted a scolding from the superior officer that he wiped the saliva from the corner of his mouth, cursed a few words and stared absentmindedly at the passers-by outside the city.
This Zhao Erwa was quite clever, even though he was thin and had no background, he was also quick at work. Thinking of this, the superior officer asked his men to pick a piece of meat from the pot to satisfy Zhao Erwa's craving.
The subordinate rummaged around in the hot dog meat pot for a while, found a dog tail bone, handed it to Zhao Erwa, and joked.
"Come on, come on, a dog's tail is a perfect match for a baby."
Zhao Erwa ignored the ridicule of the guards and stared at the dog's tail bone. She smelled the tangy aroma and chewed slowly, fearing that she would not be able to taste the delicious dog meat better if she ate too quickly.
A dog's tail bone still left her stomach unsatisfied, but Zhao Erwa was also very satisfied. Normally she only had soup, so she couldn't chew one and a half bones.
If it weren't for the fact that I had to exert my own efforts during this period and keep staring at the passing dignitaries outside the city, otherwise I wouldn't be enjoying what I have today.
"Ah, I saw it! I saw it!"
Zhao Erwa looked three or four miles outside the city and shouted, causing the passers-by below the city to raise their heads and look sideways.
His superior officer was shocked by his sudden shouting and dropped the dog meat on his hand. He was about to curse, but then he remembered something and hurriedly stood up and looked carefully in the direction of Zhao Erwa's finger.
"Those are Baron Wang Gang and Earl Song. How could they be together? It's bad."
The Shangguan responsible for guarding the city gate knew far more than the low-level guards like Zhao Erwa. This Wang Gang was now a thorn in the flesh of Li Ziguang, the future Li Hou, and he had to be eradicated.
I received an order from Li Ziguang's mansion that Wang Gang should report to him immediately when he entered the city without delay.
Thinking of Li Ziguang's viciousness, the Shangguan couldn't help but shrink his bloated neck. It was obviously not a good job to report to him, and he would definitely not go there in person. He looked around at several of his subordinates.
, finally decided to send Zhao Erwa.
Even if Zhao Erwa, who had no background, was killed by Li Ziguang's anger, no one would come to him to argue with him.
"Zhao Erwa, take my token with you immediately to the inner city and report to Mr. Li that Wang Gang and Earl Song are here."
Zhao Erwa was very reluctant. The inner city was heavily guarded and had many rules. If a small mistake was made, someone might be killed.
The superior officer saw that Zhao Erwa's pestle was still there, so he stepped forward and kicked and punched him to drive him forward, and promised that as long as he handled the matter well, he would be rewarded with a pot of fresh dog meat when he came back.
Zhao Erwa could only walk down the tower angrily and ran towards the inner city.
In his hand, he held tightly the token given to him by Shangguan, as well as an exquisite green jade pendant.
This jade pendant was thought to be an extraordinary thing. When the guards guarding the inner city saw that he was holding the Shangguan's warrant, they did not let him go and laughed at his boldness.
But when they saw the exquisite jade pendant, they all handed over their hands to him and confessed, not daring to delay for a moment to let him in.
Led by a chamberlain, we walked for about half an hour before arriving at Li Ziguang's house.
The place where Li Ziguang lives now is where the prince of the Hou Dynasty lives.
As the name suggests, the title of Crown Prince is the title of the successor in a Hou Dynasty, a Duke Dynasty, or a dynasty.
In the dynasties of the medieval wilderness period, the successor was not called the heir apparent but the prince. In this vast Eastern Wasteland, there had not been a prince again for eight thousand years. The succession of princes changed frequently and it was dizzying to see.
Zhao Erwa came to the palace hall and saw two people sitting alone in this huge hall. One was Li Ziguang, a thin-faced young man sitting high in the main seat, and the other was an old man in Confucian clothes sitting at the lower left.
He knelt on the ground and reported to Li Ziguang truthfully what Shangguan told him. He was so breathless that he wanted to press his head against the bluestone brick surface.
Li Ziguang ignored Zhao Erwa in the auditorium and just said coldly after hearing his report.
"Very good, very good, go down."
Not long after, a purple-robed eunuch and two white-robed eunuchs walked out of the inner hall, leading Zhao Erwa out of the house.
The eunuch in purple handed the reward handed over by the eunuch in white to Zhao Erwa, saying that it was a reward from Mr. Li.
Zhao Erwa took the reward in a daze and followed a white-clothed servant outside the inner city.
An eunuch in white next to the eunuch in purple looked at the direction in which Zhao Erwa was leaving and spat, speaking softly.
"Where did you come from, this little brat who doesn't understand any rules and doesn't know how to respect your godfather?"
The purple-robed chamberlain ignored him and turned back to serve his master Li Ziguang.
Zhao Erwa walked out of the long and obstructed inner city and ran into several remote alleys that were difficult to find.
He heard laughter coming from a long-abandoned earth temple at the end of the alley, and with a smile on his face, he walked quickly inside and called out when he entered the door.
"I'm back."
The ruined temple is filled with dust and there are many straw mats. Although it is dilapidated, it can provide shelter from wind and rain. It is now a shelter for these poor orphans and beggars in Guangyuan City.
Inside, more than a dozen people were gathering around a colorless porcelain pot, scrambling for food. When Zhao Erwa appeared here, they all said hello happily.
"It's Erwazi who's back."
When a beggar child saw Zhao Erwa appear, he hurriedly called out to the old man who was resting on the straw mat.
This old man has a withered face and skinny bones, but he is still strong. All the beggars call him Uncle Gui.
"It's Erba. Why don't you need to be on duty today?"
Zhao Erwa did not dare to show any indifference to the old man's inquiry. She went over and gently held the old man's skinny hand and said with a smile.
"Today, my superior has allowed me to take a day off from work."
This old man used to be a son of a wealthy family when he was young, but his family fell into decline. He had no choice but to become a beggar in Guangyuan City.
These little beggars were all adopted by the old man over the years.
Among the many beggars, he liked Zhao Erwa the most. Erwa had been fond of being active since she was a child. The most important thing was that Erwa was very affectionate and righteous.
Although the old man was in such a state of poverty, he still had some distant relatives in Guangyuan City, but he was a very stubborn person and never accepted gifts from those relatives.
For the sake of Zhao Erwa's future, for the first time in decades, the old man found his relative who was working as a guard in the City Guards Mansion and begged him to get Zhao Erwa a good job as a city guard.
Zhao Erwa can be regarded as repaying her kindness. Ever since she became the guard of the city tower with the help of her uncle, she has been careful about every detail and done things quickly.
He gave all the money he had earned from working as an errand in the past two years to Uncle Gui to help these beggars.
Uncle Gui is an old man, and Erwa's words and behavior can't be hidden from him, but he doesn't tell the truth, just smiles and nods.
Zhao Erwa saw that there was boiled cabbage stewed in the porcelain pot and nothing else. She slowly took out a bag of money she had just received from her arms, took out more than thirty big coins and gave them to the beggar next to her.
I went to buy some food and handed the remaining bag of money to Uncle Gui.
Uncle Gui was very pleased. In the past two years, he helped collect and manage the money Erwazi earned, giving a small part to other beggars, and keeping most of the rest for Erwazi to get a wife.
Everyone was talking and laughing, and when the people who went out to buy meat came back, they sat around on the ground eating meat and drinking wine.
There was a beggar who was chewing meat in his mouth and said with envy.
"Er boy, you are so rich, how can you get so much money?"
The other beggars also looked at Zhao Erwa with big eyes and small eyes.
Zhao Erwa laughed awkwardly, raised her chest and pretended to be arrogant when everyone looked at her.
"This was given to me by His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince of the dynasty. Look, I still have this jade pendant."
Everyone looked at the exquisite jade pendant and knew it was worn by a nobleman. Erwazi's words should be true.
At this time someone asked.
"His Royal Highness, I know that. I heard that man is ruthless and angry. How could he appreciate you?"
When Zhao Erwa was asked this question, she thought for a long time, lowered her head and said.
"That's because... His Highness Li rewarded me when he saw that I did my duty in guarding the tower."
"Oh, that's right, Erba, you are so lucky. When you get rich in the future, don't forget us."
Everyone joked for a while, and suddenly heard a cold snort.
"Zhang San and Li Si, throw all these disgusting bastards out to me."
Everyone turned around and saw that it was the old man Gui Shu. They didn't understand that he was always amiable and had never been seen angry. They didn't know why he was angry today. These dozen beggars were all kneeling beside Gui Shu, waiting for his scolding.
Uncle Gui did not look at anyone else. He stared at Zhao Erwa with a pair of turbid old eyes and sighed.
"You little bastard, what have you done? I have always taught you to be a good person, why are you helping others do evil now? Tell me!"
Seeing that Uncle Gui was really angry, Zhao Erwa hurriedly consoled him and kowtowed to admit his mistake.
After a while, Uncle Gui saw the redness and swelling on Erwazi's head in front of him, and his anger gradually subsided.
"What are you still doing here? Why don't you go and report to your noble lord?"
Zhao Erwa knew who the noble person in Uncle Gui's words was, so she bowed and ran out quickly, disappearing without a trace.
Guangyuan Chengxi Block, which is usually where some dignitaries live, is heavily guarded by soldiers. In the past few days, it has been several times better than in the past.
All the feudal officials who came to the DPRK to attend the imperial meeting temporarily stayed in this western district post house.
Zhao Erwa looked for the rags she had worn before and smeared some dirt on her face. After waiting for a long time at the entrance of the West Block, she finally saw several warriors in plain clothes walking out of the gate of the far post and heading towards
Walking towards the sales market where common people gathered.
Zhao Erwa had a very good memory and could hardly forget anything. He had seen these warriors in plain clothes when they followed Baron Wang Gang into the city.
When several warriors came out of the restaurant after eating, Zhao Erwa bumped into one of the warriors, apologized and quickly disappeared into the crowd.
When the plain-clothed warrior returned to the inn, he found a piece of paper in his arms. He looked at it and walked calmly towards Wang Gang's room.
In the room, Wang Gang was discussing matters with Earl Song. After hearing the report from his personal guard, the two looked at each other and smiled after reading the letter.
The Earl of Song Dynasty repeatedly praised Wang Gang for his unparalleled benevolence and righteousness, but unexpectedly an unknown person tipped him off.