She didn't know why, but she paused. I saw that in front of the vermilion lacquer gate of the city gate, there were two men in green robes riding tall horses. They are not officers and soldiers, but the clothes they wear are upper, and at a glance, they know that they must be from high-ranking families.

One of the middle-aged men, beating his horse and taking a few steps forward, looked at her condescendingly, and seemed to be about to turn over and dismount, but saw a small man running in the city: "Manager Fan, Master Hou...... Hou Ye is here. ”

When the middle-aged man who wanted to dismount heard this, his face changed, so he ignored her and drove directly towards the street.

Shen Hanyue was hung in the distance, a little inexplicable, so can she go, or can't she go?

At this point, the guards began to mumble her out of the city, and when she heard that she was ready to leave the city, she stopped stumbling and pushed the cart up.

*

The road to Ding'an Village is a stretch of mountains with no end in sight, standing on the mountainside, looking down, there is no dispersion of the clouds, you can see the Fanjin River at the col. The river flows endlessly, and the blue waves are surging, like a fairyland.

Shen Hanyue pushed Ah Yi and asked passers-by several times before turning into the small village road on the side of the mountain. She was not good at physical labor, and the increasingly rugged road made her extremely difficult.

Fortunately, Ah Yi also woke up because of the bump, although he was not smart, he could also know from Shen Hanyue's sweat and expression that she was powerless. No matter how Shen Hanyue persuaded him, he insisted on walking on the ground by himself.

Due to the high fever the night before, his body was still very weak, so Shen Hanyue asked him to support himself and walk for a while to rest, although the speed of progress was slow, it was much easier than before.

Yesterday in the city, Shen Hanyue felt that the ancient streets were very fresh, and now that she was on the outskirts of the city, she could take a breath, and she would not let go of the beautiful scenery in front of her.

Because of this, she lost her previous tiredness, and even Ah Yi's complexion was a little ruddy.

Shen Hanyue didn't know if other places in Huaguo were so beautiful, but what was certain was that Ding'an Village, which is located here, must be a paradise.

The scenery of the lake and mountains makes Shen Hanyue happy, if you can live in such a place, how good would it be?!

She entered Ding'an Village with this thought, but the more she walked inside, the more her original excitement faded, and what followed was a full of astringency.

From the moment she entered the village, all she saw were small huts, and they were so rotten that they were covered with many bamboo and wooden planks, which had obviously been repaired many times, and if there was a greater wind and rain, there were only a handful of huts that could survive it!

Shen Hanyue couldn't help but wonder, are there people living in these houses? Puzzled, she saw the edges and corners of the room, where there were many weeds blocking the gaps, apparently done by others to plug the leaks. It seemed that there were indeed residents, and she let out a long breath, as if she was about to vomit out the stuffiness in her stomach.

You know, when she wandered around the city yesterday, she saw most of them living and working in peace and contentment, with impressive gorgeous buildings and horse-drawn carriages and sedan chairs everywhere.

At that time, I still thought that even the cloth clothes on ordinary people were so clean and tidy, and the rich Cheng dù of Huaguo was incomparable to which dynasty it was!

Now this ruin-like village makes Shen Hanyue very uncomfortable. The evil old society, she couldn't help but curse, and then thought about it, even in the twenty-first century, there are places of polarization, but ...... It's just a few miles away, and this contrast is a little unacceptable to her!

It stands to reason that there is such a village outside the prosperous capital where the people are struggling to make a living, and if there is a war every year, or a natural disaster*, then there is nothing to say.

But Shen Hanyue knew that the Chu clan of Huaguo had been founding for hundreds of years. Except for the war with the Smoke Congress, the country has always been peaceful.

Even if the current emperor, Emperor Chengzhao, raised an army more than ten years ago, he kicked the former emperor off the throne at a lightning speed in just one month, and it is said that it did not affect the livelihood of the people.

But what is this slum now? Is this a shelter for beggars and refugees?

Shen Hanyue was silent and led Ah Yi to continue walking.

Ah Yi's words were not much, she had been following quietly, looking at her frowning more and more, the smile that had been hanging on her face also retreated.

They crossed the village road, trying to find the villagers, and saw that there should be someone in front of them.

Shen Hanyue stood on a low mound, wanting to see more clearly, but she didn't expect that standing here, looking through the roof, she could see the high ground on the other side, and it was a magnificent courtyard.

The outer walls of the courtyard are made of blue bricks, and the roof is also made of fine green glass, such a high-end building, in her opinion, is like a palace. She withdrew her gaze a little, and what caught her eye was a trickling stream, which stood out in the sunlight.

Heaven there, hell here, separated by a stream, is very completely divided, rich and poor, at a glance.

Shen Hanyue shook her head unconsciously, that courtyard, looking at it from here, was like an illusion, giving people the feeling of a mirage!

"Let's go ahead and see, there should be someone." After walking for a long time, Shen Hanyue was worried that Ah Yi was tired, so she comforted him with a smile.

Ah Yi saw Shen Hanyue's smile, and her dim eyes were full of brilliance again, just like the moon that was originally covered by dark clouds, revealing its due cleanliness again......

*

They walked over a patch of weeds more than a man high, avoided a puddle, and came to a clearing. There seemed to be a lot of villagers gathered in front of them, and some ceremony was being held, all kneeling down in front of an ancient tree that had withered for many years.

The ancient tree had long since lost its bark, and it looked like it had no signs of life, and its branches were covered with light moss, and many red strips of cloth could be seen hanging from the heights, which were supposed to be hung by the villagers when they prayed for blessings!

The villagers kept kneeling and worshipping, and Shen Hanyue approached and found that they were all unkempt, and the clothes on their bodies were also full of holes, just like the hundred clothes of the monks when they were doing penance, and they couldn't see the original fabric at all.

Shen Hanyue stood still, not daring to disturb their ceremony.

Finally, a white-haired old man at the front staggered to his feet. He was hunched on his back, looking old, and he should have seen Shen Hanyue and Ah Yi.

Shen Hanyue hesitated, thinking about how to greet them, but saw that the old man ignored her, and instead said to the villagers: "Even if I die, I can't resist the sin created by the rabbit cub, I'm sorry for everyone...... Now we can only take one step at a time, and pray for the god of the tree to bless us......" As he spoke, tears flowed from his sunken eyes, and he did not say the rest of the words.

Suddenly, a wail rang out, and the villagers were in despair and pain like the end of the world.

Shen Hanyue didn't know the situation, so she looked at Ah Yi first, afraid that he would be frightened because of this situation.

"The ancestors of Ding'an Village fled from the Northern Desert two hundred years ago in order to find a place to live in peace. Now we can't live here, don't cry, at most we will learn from our ancestors, Huaguo is so big, there is always a place for us. ”

This sentence came from behind, Shen Hanyue turned her head to look, and it was a scholar who said these passionate words, who looked like he was thirty or forty years old, and the cyan robe on his body was very old, but it did not affect his elegant temperament.

He carried a wooden box on his shoulder, a little mottled, and as he spoke, he crossed Shen Hanyue and walked towards the crowd.

Those villagers finally reacted, stood up one by one, and called out in unison: "Mr. Song." It seems that everyone respects this Mr. Song very much, and many people bow to him.

He is not outstanding, it is difficult for people to notice him when he walks on the street, listening to the tone, he should not be from Ding'an Village, but he has a lot to do with the villagers.

"Sister benefactor, have you come to look for me?" The familiar and immature voice sounded, evoking Shen Hanyue's thoughts. It was Gou Yu'er who spoke, and he found Shen Hanyue and was quickly shuttling to her.

She was a little embarrassed, after all, she only met yesterday, and it was very abrupt to come here today, and she was empty-handed, and she forgot to buy some souvenirs and come again.

"Uncle the village chief, this is the benefactor's sister, everyone came to get to know each other, we all ate my sister's buns yesterday." Gou Yu'er was very happy to see her and introduced her to everyone.

Shen Hanyue became more and more embarrassed, how could she eat just a few buns? Unless each of them breaks a mouthful and puts it in their mouths to taste it.

That Mr. Song did not stay idle, and led an old woman to the ancient tree. Shen Hanyue saw that he was checking the pulse of the old woman, so she reacted, it turned out that Mr. Song was a doctor.

"Sister, you wait for me, I'll ask Mr. Song if my grandmother's illness is better." It turned out to be the grandmother of the dog leftover, and Shen Hanyue nodded at him.

The dog turned to walk towards her grandmother, but when she walked, her ankle shook deliberately. Shen Hanyue sneered, he deliberately let her see the shoes, which were also bought yesterday. She was a little relieved, and then saw other children, barefoot, barefoot, straw sandals that were not in shape, and her heart was sour.

The old man, who was called the village chief's uncle, slowly walked in front of Shen Hanyue with a tree branch: "This girl, we all ate the buns you bought yesterday, and you come today...... We should have entertained you well, but ......" There were tears on his face, and he was a little choked when he spoke: "We only have wild vegetables, if you don't dislike it, the girl will go to my house first!" ”

"Okay, then thank you, Uncle Village Chief." Shen Hanyue did not hesitate, and immediately smiled and agreed. If people entertain you with big fish and meat, you just excuse yourself, saying that there are only wild vegetables, and you still open your mouth to invite, and if you don't go, you really dislike it.

Shen Hanyue felt that the folk customs of Ding'an Village must be very simple and very united. Otherwise, why did the dog leftover say two words to himself, and the village chief and uncle took the initiative to greet him?

The village chief invited like this, which shows that everyone is like a family, as long as they are friends of the villagers, they are friends of the whole village.

Seeing that Shen Hanyue agreed, the old village chief gave a few words to everyone, and explained to the dog Yu'er before leading Shen Hanyue to the south of the village.

***********

In the capital of Fanjing - Jingyang Houfu

The entire Hou Mansion, starting from yesterday, was like the sky was about to fall, and even Mrs. Hou Yin couldn't afford to be sick.

The people in the house also cheered up, for fear that one would accidentally touch the master's scales and become an unlucky ghost who suffered.

At the end of the day, everyone didn't even dare to take a breath. In fact, everyone can't understand why the prince lost a cat, and the master of their Hou Mansion would be in such a hurry? It was as if they were keeping up with the fire, and they were all impatient.

Every time the people who came out of the main courtyard after an hour, they looked miserable, and it was only at a glance that the Hou Ye must have put down a cruel rod, which made those attendants who came back to report the results also frightened.

Anyone who has some eyelids should know that the cat that the prince lost must be the same as the root of life.

At this moment, there was another crackling sound from Yaneiyuan, and someone must have been beaten again.

Jingyang waited for Fan Huaijian, who had always been gentle and elegant, and had a black face at the moment. The beauty mole in the center of the eyebrows, on weekdays, will add a bit of righteousness to him, but at this time, the evil spirit is very strong, like Zhong Kui, even the ghost does not dare to approach.

He watched angrily as the cane in front of him continued to fall, and the person lying on the bench could only grit his teeth and snort, and after a while, he fainted.