Seeing that I was in a low mood, several people were silent, and they each lowered their heads to hide the looks on their faces, as if they were afraid that I would ask them like Jiang Zhuo.

I shook my head, laughing at myself, but I couldn't laugh at all.

Suddenly bored, I was about to call the guy to come over to settle the bill, but I heard another movement downstairs.

When I poked my head out and looked outside, it was a group of ragged beggars staggering from the side of the street—the direction of that place should be the Xiangwei City we were about to set off for—and I wonder if they had encountered a convoy of worshippers?

As soon as this idea appeared, it was immediately rejected by me - let alone this group of beggars, even ordinary civilians, if they tried to intercept the convoy, they would be dealt with mercilessly, and it was my whimsical to expect the convoy to help these people with kindness.

There are about a dozen of them, implicated before and after, thinking that they are relatives and acquaintances, and they have fallen to the point of begging together, which is also pitiful; Among them were two young children, one was held in the arms of adults, and the other was tightly dragged and dragged on the ground, their eyes were swollen, their faces were yellow, and their muscles were thin, and they seemed to have no strength to cry and make noise.

The vendors on both sides gathered up their things, some even waved their hands to drive away, looking like they couldn't avoid it, and some pointed at them, although there was sympathy on their faces, but they just stood far away, and had no intention of going over to help.

As I looked at the two children, the sorrow in my heart overshadowed the sadness of being rejected - they reminded me of the lovely students and the profession I loved so much.

The group of beggars slowly came to the teahouse where I was, and approached the door carefully.

The eldest woman at the head straightened her shabby gown, which was so shabby that she couldn't see the color, that she made a gesture to the shopkeeper who had rushed to the door when she heard the news, and pleaded in a low voice.

One floor away, I couldn't hear what she was saying, but I could only surmise from the disappointed and aggrieved expressions of the people behind her that the shopkeeper's answer was mostly a no.

Seeing that the men behind the shopkeeper were about to blast these beggars away, I hurriedly sent a guard down to stop them, and instructed her to bring the group of beggars up—anyway, there was only us left in the entire second-floor private seat, and we didn't have to worry about affecting the other guests, and it wouldn't be too cramped to accommodate this group of people.

In a few moments, the stairs were "thumped", and the guard led a large group of people up to the second floor, while the shopkeeper and a group of men followed closely behind - presumably they were not worried about these beggars.

Commanding them to stay a few feet away from me and not to come near, the guard went up behind me, and stood vigilantly with the rest of the mentles, holding on to the hilt of their swords, on the lookout of their might, which silenced the beggars.

"It's okay," I raised my hand to signal the guards not to scare each other, and I looked at the suspicious ones, and said in a slow voice, "sit down—I'll ask a few of them just to ask a few questions, and there's no malice." ”

"Shopkeeper, bring them some food that is easy to restrain and bring them up." Hearing me say this, Jiang Zhuo did not object, but threw a small ingot of silver to the shopkeeper and acquiesced to her.

"Hey, wait a minute, right away, right away." The shopkeeper had a different groveling face in front of us, and I don't know whether he was subservient to profit or frightened by the weapons at the waists of the guards, but whatever the extenuating reason, this snobbish attitude is always disliked.

"Thank you, young lady." The women who spoke, about fifty or so, seemed to be the heads of the family, and saluted in a manner and tone like well-educated intellectuals, and I wondered how they could have been reduced to begging in the streets.

Listening to my question, her face showed a gloomy look of emotion, and the men behind her couldn't help but sobbed - those men seemed to be very young, and their faces were hidden under the stains and black ashes, and they couldn't really see it.

"Miss didn't know that the old woman was originally from Xiangwei City, and her family lived by the river; There are a few acres of thin fields on the ancestors, which is enough for a large family to have food and clothing," she said, and sighed a few times in a row, as if she wanted to sigh away all the misfortunes, "I don't know that the river has been flooded, and the embankment has been broken, and the fields by the river have been flooded, and we have finally saved our lives, but the valuable objects have been washed away by the water, and our family has to beg along the street to live." ”

"The river is flooded? When was this? I glanced at Jiang Zhuo, but saw her frowning, obviously just learned the news, "Didn't the imperial court pay for disaster relief?" ”

It stands to reason that all dynasties have had a set of policies for natural disasters to comfort and reassure the people.

-- In my opinion, Kwong Xiqing is by no means a dumb and incompetent monarch, who is indifferent and inactive and does nothing when there is no reason for a flood.

I heard a younger woman in the group sneer: "Pay for disaster relief? Hmph, I heard that the imperial court has sent money and grain, but the officials on the head scrape the oil layer by layer, and when it comes to our hands, how many children are left? ”

Her words taught me that I could not defend myself but to remain silent - I was not a politician, but I knew some of the twists and turns; It was precisely because I understood that what she said was true that I had nothing to say.

And as a member of this ruling class, I have no position to judge.

The stairs made another noise, and the man in the teahouse brought up some food and refreshments, which finally broke the dullness of Fang Cai; I breathed a sigh of relief and beckoned the people to sit down and eat.

They hadn't eaten a full meal for a long time, and when they saw the delicate refreshments, they were too busy to put them in their mouths, and they couldn't bother to talk to me when they were feasting.

The child, who had been hiding in his father's arms, looked up at me cautiously, his longing eyes swirling back and forth between my face and the plate of butterfly cakes at hand, teaching me to laugh in my heart, and I couldn't help beckoning her to come over.

"Master......" one of the guards reminded in a low voice, some objecting to letting the child come closer.

I waved my hand, not impressed—just a little doll of five or six years old, could it still be an assassin?

The little one looked at me timidly, looked back at his father, stared at the plate of pastries for a while, and finally made up his mind, twisted himself out of his father's arms, and ran towards me on his short legs, tiptoeing to reach for the pastries I had at hand—and seeing that she was struggling, I reached under her side and took her by the lap, and moved the plate in front of her eyes, and poured her a cup of tea.

Unlike her, the other, older child, remained timidly behind his father, and in spite of his intentions, he eventually cowered - perhaps because he was a boy.

Sitting firmly on my lap, the little one happily stuffed a whole piece of pastry, and stretched his mouth out like a greedy little squirrel, very cute; I wiped the crumbs from her mouth and handed her the tea, wiping her sweat without a trace—the little one was young, but he had some weight, and the mere act of picking her up was a great burden on the body.

Not only did she look like she hadn't eaten well in a while, she probably hadn't taken a shower, and there was a rancid smell in her hair and clothes, which was really distressing compared to the happy expression on her squinting eyes as she gobbled it up—he patted her on the back so that she wouldn't choke too hard, and the corners of her eyes swept to her father's nervous look and Jiang Zhuo's meaningful eyes.

Her father felt nervous and understandable, but Jiang Zhuo's eyes taught me to be puzzled - after thinking for a while, he immediately smiled bitterly: Yes, with Kuang Xihan's temperament, how could he care about the life and death of this group of civilians? Not to mention holding a smelly child on his lap without any guilt.

I understand, I have made another suspicious move, but I don't regret it - I have left the imperial capital Guanlan left and right, without Yan Ke and Kuang Xiqing, who are familiar with the original owner, and without the personal attendant Xiao Cicada watching, who can tell that I am no longer the King Ling?

Besides, there was a thought in my heart that seemed to be hidden, even at the risk of being exposed, I thought that Jiang Zhuo would know - I was no longer the annoying Kuang Xihan I used to be.

"What are your plans for the future?" The little guy on her legs was chuckled, and I looked at the older woman who was afraid to eat more and asked, "You can't just keep begging, will you?" ”

"This ......" she frowned silently, showing that she was also troubled by this question.

"What will you do? Is there a means of making a living? After thinking about it, I asked again.

"To tell you the truth, the old woman was originally a talented woman, who could only read and write," she touched the cocoon on her hand embarrassedly, and then added, "Oh, I have also studied the art of Qihuang before, and I know some superficial medical science." ”

- Literacy, medicine? That's not bad.

"What about them? What will happen? I gestured to two young women and a couple of men behind her.

"The little girls are also literate, but they have no fame; As for the husbands and waiters, they will only do the needlework of sewing and mending. She glared at her daughters with hatred and said with a little shame.

Knowing the basics, I turned my head and asked the shopkeeper who had been waiting beside me, "What kind of work do you have here that is short of people?" The gentleman of the private school, the doctor who sits in the hall, and the helper of embroidery...... Or some odd jobs for writing letters for others? ”

"Well...... shopkeeper hesitated to look at those who described wolf bèi, and looked at him with a little disgust.

I stretched out my hand and asked Jiang Zhuo for some silver, slapped a spinot on the table, and stared at the shopkeeper with a stern expression: "Think about it carefully...... This is your referral fee. ”

"Yes, of course! Our small town is most short of readers! The shopkeeper immediately smiled and agreed, "You can rest assured that you will leave this matter to me, and you will definitely find suitable jobs for these people!" ”

"Well," said the treasurer, and I put down the little one, who had eaten and drunk, and yawned, "for three months' house, to rent them a little yard, and to buy some clean clothes and necessary utensils—if I am greedy, I know it...... I'm not a vegetarian as a guard, you know? ”

"Choking" a few times, the guards cooperatively pulled out half of the sword, and looked at the shopkeeper with a solemn look, so frightened that she couldn't help nodding.

"Boss, it's not too early, let's go." Seeing that I had almost arranged it, Jiang Zhuo immediately said lightly.

Looking at the sky, it was already afternoon, and if you were too slow to reach the next city before the gates closed, you would have to sleep in the wilderness.

Nodding, I got up with them and was about to leave, when I heard a "poof", and the older woman fell to her knees violently, followed by a few more "poofs", and they all knelt on the ground; The young child was pressed on the head by her parents, and she peeked at her in ignorance, and there was a hint of reluctance, which taught me to think about taking her with me—but only to think about it.

"The benefactor is virtuous, toothless and unforgettable, please accept my wait." She bowed deeply, her forehead slammed on the floor and made a crisp sound, which made my heart tremble, but I resisted the urge to jump away, and accepted her salute alive, "Please leave a name for the benefactor, the old woman is willing to set up an immortal tablet for you to pray for at home, day and night." ”

"My name......" stroked the ornament around my waist, I was asked-I don't know if they would rather die than accept my help if I told her that I was the notorious King Ling--I shook my head, and I replied with a chuckle, "My name is Jian Xin--simple and free." ”