"Lord Chen. ”

"You don't need to call me Lord, just call me Mayor Town. ”

"Mayor Mare. I wanted Doris to go out, and there were some things I didn't want her to hear. Tuchin pleaded.

"Absolutely. Chen Hansheng said.

"No, Dad. I'd like to hear about it. I know that all these things are related to my sister. But you didn't even tell me how she died. I want to hear it. I wonder what the hell is going on. Doris said.

"Tell Doris, Dad, so that she can be careful in the future, at least not ......like Irene," Sova said.

"But......" Tuchin hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded, "all right." ”

Tuchin and his children sat on the edge of the bed and began to tell their own story: "Mayor of the town, I am a small merchant selling straw fabrics. Our family is a freedman, and the town of Arano was the Count's territory when Count Carlos had not sold his land to Baron O'Farrell. Although the days are tight, there are no major problems.

However, everything has changed since the Count sold the land to the Baron. The baron sent to tell us all that all the taxes that had been paid to the Count were now to be paid to him. Not only taxes, but also servitude. Moreover, he also added several new taxes, and our family's business was not good last year, so we couldn't get by. ”

Chen Hansheng asked: "But nominally this town still belongs to the earl, and the baron only owns the land here, so what qualifications does he have to ask you freemen to collect taxes?"

"Well, there is always a lord who has to collect taxes. Without an earl, there will be a baron. ”

Sova said, "It's not that no one asked, but a merchant who was in the fur business did, and then he was hanged by the baron for a reason to trade with horse thieves." ”

"My lord, there is no one here who can stand up to Baron O'Farrell. Later, our family could not pay the taxes, and we were about to sell the house in it, but the baron's tax collector said that I could let my eldest daughter Erin go to the baron's house to work to offset the taxes. Erin, Erin is a very homesick child. She ......," Tuchin said, his face full of tears and snot, "I really shouldn't have let her go." ”

Tuchin whimpered and said, "The first few days she went were fine. But a week later, when she came home, she told me that Young Master Akle, who had returned from the army, seemed to look at her wrongly. I asked her to come back, but she didn't want to, saying that she would only be paid once a month after working for a month, and that she would be careful not to cause trouble. ”

"Well, that was the last time I saw her. After about three or four days, the baron's guard told us to go and get someone. It was said that Erin had stolen something at the Baron's Palace, and was then killed by the guards. At this point, Tuchin broke down and wept bitterly.

Sova wiped his tears and said hatefully, "That day, when I went with my father, Irene was wrapped in a rag and thrown on the side of the road behind the Baron's Palace. As we passed, two wild dogs circled her, biting her hands and feet. But the guards didn't care, instead, they looked at her with a smile. I even heard one of them making a bet with the other that blocking her foot would be eaten first. ”

"Ah, God of Nature. How so?" Doris covered her mouth, tears welling up in her eyes.

However, Chen Hansheng found that her hand was clenched tightly, and there was more hatred than fear in her eyes.

Startled by his sister's cry, Sova covered his mouth, "Doris, I shouldn't have said this. ”

"No, tell me, I want to know what happened to my sister. I, I didn't see anything that day, only that you buried her. Doris grabbed Sova's sleeve, "Please." ”

Sova shook his sister's hand and nodded, "My dad and I chased away the wild dog and lifted her, she was all hard, her eyes were ajar, and her expression was scary. It's like, it's like seeing something terrible when you're dying. Then I saw that her neck was black and purple, and it was broken. At this time, the captain of the guard came and said that she had gone to steal the Baroness's jewels, and that she had broken her neck when the guards found her, so she was thrown out to feed the dogs, and that she deserved everything. He also said that we must send Doris to the Baron's Court to replace Erin immediately, or we will be finished. ”

"There's no way my sister is going to steal any jewelry. She, she's a good person, she won't!" Doris said.

"We all know that it was an excuse to move your sister back and Mom scrubbed her and found out that someone had taken possession of her body before she died. "Sova was much more direct than his father and told everything he knew.

"Sister......" Doris said with tears in her eyes, "no wonder my mother cried until she fell ill." ”

"So, we can't send you any more. Dad told you and Mom to avoid it first, but as soon as you left, the Baron's Court came to arrest you. ”

"I've already made a mistake once, I can't do it a second time, I think it's a big deal to give me some money, at most beat me up, and I can't hand you over again. Tuchin said at this time.

"They don't want to beat you, they want to beat you to death and simply take your daughter captive. Kalanda said.

"I know, I know. If it weren't for the adults, Sova and I would have died, and I would have repaid them. ”

Chen Hansheng is the most uncomfortable among the people around him, he has only seen such a situation in books, and when he hears the person crying, the uncomfortable feeling can poke into people's hearts. Although he has been on the battlefield and faced death, it was a real battle, which is completely different from the feeling of this kind of aristocratic oppression and abuse of commoners. On the contrary, those mercenaries and slave-born people are used to this situation, although they are somewhat embarrassed, but they are not too touched in their hearts.

"Then what are you going to do?" Chen Hansheng asked.

"Let's go. Let's get out of here. We can't stay in this town. Tuchin said.

"But are we really gone? we can't even get past the gatekeepers, can we?" said his son, Sova, "maybe there's something the mayor can do to teach us." ”

Chen Hansheng secretly praised the young man's cleverness, and he said: "Is it really that easy for you to escape to another lord's place? Your house and land are here, change to another place, everything has to start from scratch." Besides, won't other lords bully you outsiders?"

Sova hung his head, he was a small businessman, not all without knowledge. He understood that what Chen Hansheng said was the truth.

"Let's stay here first. Naturally, I'll help you block the baron's people. We still have a lot to talk about this town. I'm sure you'll help me. ”