When the construction merchant Wan Xixi left with the people, he returned to the construction site where Tang Zhaozong was located in a dejected manner.

Empress He appeared in a red cloak, and she said to the construction merchant Wan Xixi: "You were frightened by Fei Xuechun? So you're back? ”

Wan Xixi, a construction businessman, said: "I'm just afraid of Tang Zhangwei behind her. ”

Empress He said: "It's okay for you to be afraid of Fei Xuechun, Tang Zhaozong and I also have people who are afraid, but we will try our best to make those we are afraid of become our stepping stones, so you can't lie down and do nothing." You've got to figure out a way to deal with the person you're yelling at. ”

Wan Xixi, a construction merchant, said: "But that person is Fei Xuechun!" Behind her is Tang Zhangwei. ”

Empress He smiled and said, "So what, Dou He Peng comes out, you help Wan Xixi think of a way, and you teach him how to kill Fei Xuechun." ”

Alena and Richard hurried down the post. Alena didn't know what her father's current situation was, did those of them in prison have enough to eat? At Earl's Castle, her father's prisoners were always served hard bread and porridge, but she had heard that prisoners elsewhere were sometimes mistreated. She hoped that her father was well.

As she walked through the courtyard, her heart rose to her throat. The castle was large and filled with houses: kitchens, stables and barracks, as well as two chapels. Knowing that the king was out, she saw all the signs of his absence, and she walked about the house towards the prison, and noticed with distraught the sight of pigs and sheep pacing in from the suburbs outside the door, gouging on the garbage heaps, soldiers wandering idly and shouting obscenities to the women passing by, and gambling in the front porch of a chapel. The slackness caused Alena to worry that her father was not being properly cared for. She was scared of what she might find.

The prison is a stone house that has long been unused, and it seems that it once lived in a minister or a judge or something, but has since fallen into disrepair. The upper floor, which was once the hall, had completely collapsed, most of the roof was gone, only the semi-basement was still intact, there were no windows, only a wooden door with large iron nails, the door was ajar, and Alena was hesitating, a handsome middle-aged woman in a fine cloak walked past her, opened the door, and walked in, Alena and Richard followed her.

The house was dark and smelled of dusty must. This semi-basement was originally an open storage room, which was later divided into several huts by hastily built lime walls. Somewhere at the end of the house, a man was humming, his voice monotonous, like a monk chanting alone in a church. As soon as you entered, there was a small antechamber, with a fire in the middle of the floor, a table and a chair, and a dumb man with a sword at his waist was sweeping the floor listlessly, and he looked up and greeted the handsome woman: "Good morning, McGonagall." She gave him a penny and disappeared into the darkness, and he looked at Alena and Richard, "What are you going to do?" ”

"I have come here to see my father," said Alena, "who is the Count of Charling. ”

"He's not," said the warden, "he's Bartholomew, a commoner." ”

"Why take it so seriously, Warden. Where is he? ”

"How much money do you have?"

"I don't have any money, so don't bother asking for bribes."

"If you don't have money, you can't see your father." He went to sweep the floor on his own again.

Alena wanted to cry, her father was close to her, but she couldn't see him. The warden was big and armed, and it was impossible to ignore him, but she was penniless. She was already worried when she saw that the woman named McGonagall had given him a penny, but thought it might have been for the convenience of obtaining a permit, but now it seemed apparently not, and a penny was the cost of a visit.

She said, "I'll get a penny, and I'll give it to you as soon as I can." But can you let us see him now, for a while? ”

"Get that penny first," said the warden, turning and sweeping the floor.

Alena tried to swallow her tears. She couldn't help but want to shout a few words so that her father could hear her, but she realized that a few staccato words might frighten him and make him depressed, which would only add to his annoyance, but not let him know anything. She walked towards the door, feeling that there was nothing she could do, and she was going crazy.

She turned back at the threshold. "How is he? Just tell me this - into it? Is he okay? ”

"He's gone," said the warden, "he's going to die." Hurry up and walk away. ”

Alena had tears in her eyes and stumbled out of the prison door. She walked forward, unable to see where she was going, and she tripped over something under her feet—a sheep or a pig—and nearly fell. She sobbed, and Richard grabbed her by the arm, and she let him lead her. They went out through the main entrance of the castle to the outskirts of the city, surrounded by sparse shacks and small patches of fields, and finally came to a low meadow, where they sat on a stump.

"I don't like you to cry, Ally," Richard said emotionally.

She struggled to pull herself together. She figured out where her father was being held – and that's important. She had heard that he was sick, and that the warden was a ruthless man, and he probably exaggerated his condition. Now she could see him with her own eyes as soon as she could get a penny, talk to him, and ask him what he should do—what to do for Richard and his father.

"How can we get a penny, Richard?" She said.

"I don't know."

"We have nothing to sell, no one will lend us money, and you don't have the heart to dare to steal ......"

"We can beg," he said.

That's an idea. There was a peasant, who looked very rich, riding a sturdy little black horse, and walked down the hill towards the castle. Alena jumped to her feet and ran towards the road. The peasant approached, and she said, "Sir, will you give me a penny?" ”

"Get out of the way," the man roared, kicked his horse, and trotted off into the distance.

She walked back to the stump. "Beggars usually have to be fed and clothed," she said, with her head down, "and I have never heard of anyone giving them money." ”

"So, how do people get their money?" Richard said. He had apparently never thought about it before.

Alena said: "The king gets money from taxes, the old men collect rent, the clergy have tithes, the shopkeepers have things to sell, the artisans earn their wages, and the peasants don't need money because they have land." ”

"Apprentices also earn wages."

"And the strong workmanship. We can do the work. ”

"To whom?"

"Winchester is full of little workshops, tanners and weavers," says Alena. She was optimistic again, "The city is a great place to find work. She jumped to her feet, "Let's go, let's get started!" ”

(End of chapter)