Guazhou is an important ferry port in Yangzhou, there is a poem "Surabaya flow, Bianshui flow, flow to Guazhou ancient ferry", located in Guazhou, which is located at the intersection of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and the Yangtze River, is one of the important passages of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal into the Yangtze River, and is "the main place of the north and south".

"Overlooking the Jingkou, connecting Jiankang, Jicanghai, and the big river, millions of boats per year, floating in the river, people involved in the trade of Baizhou, going back and forth, will anchor then, which is the benefit of the north and south."

If you go to Bianjing from Hangzhou, you must pass through Suzhou and Zhenjiang, then take Yangzhou and Huai'an, transfer to Bianshui through Tongji Canal, and arrive at Bianjing at the end.

Guazhou Ferry because of its convenient docking, sufficient supplies, so the cargo ships and passenger ships from the south to the north pass here, will dock for a night, or even go ashore to Yangzhou City to visit, that is a very good choice.

"Yi Jiangnan" arrived at Guazhoudu at noon, ready to dock for the night, and replenish the items needed to get off the ship by the way.

Because it is winter, although it is located in the south, it is not very cold, and the water surface has not yet frozen, but most of the rivers in the north are silted up and frozen and cannot be sailed, so there are few boats from the north and going to the north.

Yin Ji's silk boat was also docked at the other end of the Guazhou ferry at this time, and the boatmen who originally ran the boat to transport goods were all men, but this time there were a few more women.

The three women in the same boat as Yin Ji's boat manager are Yin Ji's embroidery girls who followed Beijing this time, one of them is in her forties, an ordinary embroidery girl, everyone calls her Li Auntie, Li Auntie has an honest personality, often bows her head in embroidery, it is said that the craftsmanship is exquisite, but unfortunately she can't speak, but she is a dumb person.

The other two embroidered girls in their thirties are sisters, named Bian Erniang and Bian Sanniang, both of whom are apprentices of Aunt Li.

The steward of the king who ran the boat was worried that these women would ask for a lot, but fortunately, all the way down, the three women were also honest, and they only stayed in the cabin every day and did not come out, and when they docked at night to rest, they would go out of the cabin to breathe, but whenever they saw other ships passing by, they would also hurry into the cabin, and never cause them any trouble.

After Yin Ji docked, the steward announced that he would rest for the night, and after making supplies, he would set off tomorrow morning. At this time, Bian Erniang found the steward, "Steward Wang, can you help us arrange a carriage for the three of us?" Before departure, the second young told us to go to Yangzhou Yin Ji Silk Village, there are some things that need to be handed over, and we can come back in the evening, and never delay the ship. ”

As soon as Steward Wang heard that it was arranged by the young owner, he immediately summoned a servant and asked him to hire a carriage on the shore.

After the clock, the three embroidery girls hurriedly got into the car and rushed towards Yangzhou City with their small baggage. Sure enough, in the evening, he rushed back to the ship before dinner, and after thanking the steward, he returned to the cabin, and told the steward to breathe a sigh of relief, and the matter was not expressed for the time being.

The warm winter sun lazily shines on people, and the streets in the afternoon are bustling with people.

Just after noon, the back door of the Yangzhou head office of Yin Ji Silk Village in Yangzhou City was opened, and the three embroidery girls of Yin Ji quietly flashed in, but a quarter of an hour later, the back door quietly walked out of the three people.

However, these three people are not the three embroiderers who went in front, they are clearly a man and two women, a young man in his twenties and a young woman supporting a woman in her 40s on the left and right, the young man and woman look like a couple, and the middle-aged woman seems to be the elder of the young couple.

When the three of them went out, they got into a carriage that had been parked in the shadow of the corner since the morning, and drove into an alley, where they came down and entered a house and never came out again.

It is said that Yangzhou because of its geographical location, can not be added, so it has the name of "the crown of the world", in this dynasty is second only to Bianjing and Hangzhou prosperous place, the world is "Yang one benefit two".

The prosperity of Yangzhou comes from its central location extending in all directions, and because the literati need to stay in Yangzhou from the south to the north, merchants from all over the world come here to do business, so that there are shops everywhere in Yangzhou, restaurants and restaurants, and there are lively night markets at night.

When it comes to the night of Yangzhou, we have to mention a few very famous poems, such as "The world is divided into three bright moon nights, and two points of scoundrels are Yangzhou", and "On the bright moon night of the twenty-four bridges, where can the jade teach".

The more famous "Spring River Flower Moon Night" is the night scene under the moon by the Yangzhou River.

Such a wonderful moonlight and night view should be a song about wine, and it is best to float a big white to be pleasant. But at this time, the atmosphere was ruined by a group of black-clothed people at the entrance of the alley in the city.

But in the night under the moon, there were about seven or eight black-clothed men, coming out of the alley one after another, each sneakily carrying a large bag one person high, and walking towards a rather large carriage, which seemed to be well-trained.

When they arrived at the carriage, the black-clothed men threw the big bags into the carriage, and the bags fell into the carriage with a muffled sound, occasionally mixed with the sound of "grace" like a woman in pain.

After the seven or eight large bags were placed, several men in black quickly climbed into the carriage, some into the carriage, some sitting on the wheel, and then the carriage immediately headed towards the ferry.

As the saying goes, "no coincidence makes no book", what the man in black did was targeted by two young men who were admiring the moonlight not far away, and the two of them looked at each other, without saying a word, they actually followed the carriage towards the ferry without hesitation.

At the Guazhou ferry port at night, most of the people on the boat have fallen asleep, and the ferry terminal is quiet at the moment. On a very ordinary cargo ship, on the inner wall of one of the cabins on the lower deck, there were several young women, either with their hair disheveled or unclothed, all with ropes tied to their hands, some of them already asleep, and some of them were still looking at the hatch with tired eyes and panic.

At this time, after the cabin shook a few times, the hatch suddenly opened, and several people in black came in, each throwing the big bag on the ground, the rope at the mouth of the bag seemed to be loose, and the woman's head and face were exposed inside.

After a while, I don't know who whimpered, sobbed lowly, the sleeping person was awakened by the suppressed cry, opened his blank eyes and looked around, and found that suddenly there were many more women, as if he suddenly came back to his senses, and hurriedly advised the low-throated woman, "Don't cry, it's useless to cry again, noisy with the people above, I can't say that I want to fight again." ”

The sobbing woman lowered her head and rubbed her tears on her body. "I don't know where this is, I ...... I miss home, I miss my father and mother, what should I do? Where are these people going to sell us? Isn't there anyone to save us? ”

"Woo woo" There was also a woman next to her sobbing, "I'm homesick too, I'm so scared!" ”

The other pouted after hearing this, "I'm afraid it's useless, it's better to nourish your spirits, be obedient, and take a few fewer beatings." ”

"Save? Who's going to save it? Hey? These people on the ground haven't woken up for a long time? Didn't you get drugged? A woman said as she toe and kicked the woman in front of her.

At this time, a hoarse voice outside the cabin knocked on the door, lowered his voice and warned, "Shut up inside, don't make noise about your sleep, and beware of your flesh and skin."

When the people in the cabin heard the sound outside, they were all startled, and they all quickly closed their mouths, and the sobbing woman immediately quieted down, not daring to make any more sounds.