It’s almost midwinter, and it’s even colder in the morning.
At the entrance of the alley, the servant stamped his feet and blushed. When he saw Yang Yu coming out, he hurriedly stepped forward and handed over the brocade box, explaining his intention.
“Invite me to a banquet?”
Yang Yu was playing with the brocade box in his hand, thoughtfully.
Yang Baotian's old face appeared in front of his eyes again. It seemed that the old man had been staring at him for a long time, otherwise he would not have known that he was collecting "antiquities."
This made him more doubtful.
Although the Yang family is just a small country squire, no matter how small a country squire is, he will not take a jailer seriously.
In fact, several members of the Yang family served in the yamen, and there was also a sword and pen official.
Why do you go to such lengths to win over yourself?
“Brother, my master asked me to tell you that there are many antiques newly received from the street at home.”
The servant rubbed his hands and stammered.
“Newly collected?”
Yang Yu narrowed his eyes, feeling a little surprised and wary, and even more angry.
Heishan City is, after all, a county with a population of tens of thousands of households. It stands to reason that there will not be too many antiques, but he has found nothing these days except a handkerchief with "Zhufengbu" printed on it.
But it turned out that this old guy was secretly acquiring it.
Slightly angry, but also a little alert, I still underestimated these local snakes. I tried my best to hide them, but I was still discovered.
“The master also said that when I go to the banquet, I will never come back empty-handed.”
The servants are cautious.
He had heard that this man had killed two fierce bandits just a few days ago.
“Hehe~”
Yang Prison sneered in his heart..
Does this mean that if you don’t go to the banquet, you will never find an antique in the future?
Thinking in my heart, the words of rejection rolled around in my mouth and said:
“I can’t go wrong with the yamen’s errands. I’ll ask Wang Baotou for a leave later.”
"To be honest, little brother, I went to Wang Baotou's place yesterday and asked for a day off for me."
Seeing that Yang Yu agreed, he breathed a sigh of relief.
“You are really thoughtful as a master.”
Yang Yupi smiled but was determined in his heart.
Although there is chaos in Heishan City, the Yang family is just a small country squire, and they don't have the guts to openly provoke Wang Fobao.
This sentence is about calming one's mind.
“Then lead the way.”
Yang Yu touched the long knife on his waist and wanted to see what these old people in the clan wanted to do.
Stepping out of the alley, there were two trembling sedan bearers who were also cold. Yang Yu didn't say much and went straight to the sedan. Then the group headed out of the city.
It is approaching winter, and the sky is getting brighter. Although there are few people in the inner city, there are already vendors on the streets starting their busy day.
But the outer city was completely silent. I walked through several streets in a row and found them empty except for the paper money floating on the ground.
If it weren't for the cries that could be heard from time to time, Yang Yu would have almost thought that the outer city had become a dead city.
“The outer city has become like this? The Yamen doesn’t care?!”
Yang Prison was shocked.
How many people died before no one in the outer city dared to go out on the streets?
Lifting the curtain and looking at the desolate outer city, Yang Yu felt a chill in his heart: "Is the outer city already like this?"
“Back to little brother.”
Glancing at the two bearers who were speeding up their pace, the servant also seemed a little concerned: "I heard that several of the doctors Wang Captou invited from other counties have died."
“How did it become like this...”
Yang Yunan.
These days, he is obsessed with practicing martial arts. When he occasionally goes out, he comes and goes in a hurry, but he has no idea that the outer city has become like this.
What he couldn't understand was why there was no action from the Yamen for so long.
Although Sanchi Liu is greedy, he is not so incompetent, right?
The Ming Dynasty conducted an assessment every five years. If the official being assessed saw this, he would not give up his hat?
“It’s not because of the pity...”
A bearer couldn't help but want to say something, but his words stopped abruptly.
Yang Yu turned his head and saw that at the end of the street, in the wide square of the outer city, densely packed people were kneeling on the ground, listening to a few Taoists preaching on the high platform.
The sky full of paper money is like snowflakes, making people shudder at the sight.
Everyone was trembling and hastily quickened their pace. Soon, they arrived at the big city gate.
The soldiers guarding the city collected the money, withdrew the Taoist soldiers, and marched outside the city. Only then did Yang Yu see the crowds of people, and a large number of people dragged their families and families away towards the distance.
They are running for their lives...
There were also refugees who wanted to enter the city but were turned away. They cried, cursed, were whipped, and screamed one after another.
Yang Yu couldn't help but clenched the knife tightly, feeling worried.
That day, if the old man hadn’t brought him into the city, he would have ended up like these refugees.
“This fucking world...”
Yang Yu closed his eyes and his chest kept rising and falling.
I couldn’t calm down for a while, so I simply opened the brocade box. Inside the brocade box were placed a half-torn ancient book, a few pieces of silk, and several unknown bronze pendants.
What made the Cauldron of Gluttony react was one of the bronze pendants.
Inside the pendant is a method of subduing qi called "Returning Qi Jue".
"better than nothing."
Yang Yu was slightly disappointed.
Although there is no limit to single cultivation of the Qi-Qi method, people's energy is limited, and their blood energy is also limited. The amount of internal Qi that can be extracted every day will not increase as more Qi-Qi methods are practiced.
However, with the recipe collection progress increased by one, there are only five ingredients left before he can collect all the ingredients needed for the recipe.
After leaving the city, the group fell silent and walked faster.
Not long after, a manor with earthen walls and fences outside could be seen in the distance.
It is said to be a manor, but in fact it is just a castle, gray and yellow, very inconspicuous.
“My brother is finally here, but I have been waiting for a long time.”
As soon as he got off the sedan chair, a tall middle-aged man came over and invited him to enter the village.
Yang Yu recognized this man as Yang Baotian’s second son, named Yang Qi?
This Yang family's manor has an unattractive appearance, and there is no landscape at all inside. There is not even a stone slab on the yellow mud floor, and the few old trees are also bare.
But Yang Yu saw something different.
The Yang family has quite a few servants.
The laws of the Ming Dynasty were strict. Those who had no merit and merit were not allowed to support domestic servants, although this law had long been broken.
There is a cost to raising a domestic slave.
It would be great for a small country squire like the Yang family to support ten of them until they die, but he has seen more than ten people along the way, right?
In the slightly decorated main room, the banquet has been set out.
Yang Yu glanced at it and saw that there were eight cold and eight hot ones, chicken, duck, fish and meat, but only four dried fruits. In this day and age, does this house still have fresh fruits?
“Come, Xiaojing, and taste the fruits of our family’s cultivation.”
Yang Baotian’s wrinkles softened when he smiled.
“If you have something to say, just say it.”
Yang Yu is too lazy to go around in circles, let alone eat the food of these people who obviously have bad intentions.
Not to mention the food, he didn't even want to touch the tea.
"hehe."
Yang Baotian smiled a little stiffly, but still put down the fruit:
“Xiao Yu is really a quick talker. So, Yang Qi, let’s say something for your brother.”
“To be honest, we invited our brothers here this time because we have something to ask for.”
Yang Qi frowned slightly, then smiled and said:
“This matter is very important to us, but to me, it’s just a piece of cake.”
"What's up?"
Yang Yu's heart moved, and he knew that the show was coming.
"It's like this. A few years ago, a clan elder was sent to prison for stealing a very important thing from the clan. But until the clan elder was beheaded, the thing was not recovered."
Yang Qi stood up, poured a glass of wine for Yang Yu, and said sincerely:
“We just thought that our brothers could help us look for him.”
"Yeah?"
Yang Yu twirled his wine glass and looked at Yang Baotian with something in mind: