The houses and wooden houses on the banks of the Xiaoqinhuai River are all built by people who live on the water.

Unlike those on land, most of them live in boats, and only those who don't own boats, or who live solely on coolies on the canals, build houses along the river.

Most of these houses are shabby, low and crude, and the courtyards are cluttered, with all kinds of tools and clothes to dry, and some of them are still hung with broken fishing nets and broken hats, which seem to be items that can no longer be used, but are reluctant to discard.

Unlike Tokyo, the houses on the banks of the Tokyo River are thick and tight because they have to resist the cold in winter, but many of the houses here are made of simple wooden planks, and some of them have four walls that let in light.

Zhao Ta glanced at Zhao Yuannu, saw the strong affection in her eyes, and couldn't help but sigh slightly in his heart.

Zhao Yuannu noticed his gaze, lowered his head and whispered, "The slave family lived here when they were children. ”

Zhao Ta nodded and smiled: "Sure enough, the geography is different, and the style is very different." ”

At this moment, it is already afternoon, ordinary people's homes are eating twice a day, many courtyards are lit with cooking smoke, and there is a special fragrance permeating.

"This is boiling small fish soup, the slave family ...... when I was a child" said, Zhao Yuannu stopped in front of a house, and after watching carefully, his expression changed violently, and his body trembled slightly.

Seeing this, Zhao Ta knew that this must be Zhao Yuannu's home, so he glanced at the side, and the spear team immediately stepped forward to surround the small courtyard, and then Shen Fei led someone to knock on the door.

In fact, many people along the coast have seen Zhao Ta's royal team, after all, the courtyard wall is low, and some are even surrounded by tree branches, and you can reach far away at a glance.

There is a red canopy above Zhao Ta's car, embroidered clouds and flying phoenixes, and colorful flags fluttering on both sides, and there are long guns and short knives in front and back.

Although they may not recognize the canopy, this thing that looks like a big umbrella, even if the prefect doesn't go out, how can he not know how powerful it is, so he doesn't dare to go out, and only peeks in the courtyard.

Zhao Yuannu stopped this place and the courtyard next to it is not much different, he is also cooking on the stove, and what he is cooking is the small fish soup in Zhao Yuannu's mouth.

An obese woman was hiding behind the earthen stove and peeking out of the wall in fear, but when she saw that the team had stopped outside her house, she let out a "hula" and was surrounded by soldiers, so she couldn't help but panic and staggered to the house, shouting as she ran: "He's, woe, woe......

Shen Fei was a little speechless when he saw this situation in front of the door, although they were armed with knives and guns, if they really came to arrest people, how could they knock on the door first? This woman is too ignorant!

Zhao Ta touched his chin and said, "Go in directly." ”

Shen Fei pushed the courtyard door twice, opened it and led people to line up, and Zhao Ta and Zhao Yuannu stepped into the courtyard.

Glancing at the small fish soup on the open stove, Zhao Ta smiled and said, "It's an original delicacy, and it's only available by this river." ”

Zhao Yuannu looked at the front with some hesitation, and then saw the door open, and a barefoot man in coarse cloth clothes came out from inside, followed by the fat woman just now.

The two didn't dare to raise their heads, and fell to the ground with a "plop" on the side of the stove, and the man kowtowed: "My lord, my lord, what happened to the evil beast of the grass people?" Lord Lao himself came to arrest him. ”

Zhao Ta looked at the man, and then looked back at Zhao Yuannu, Zhao Yuannu had hid behind him since the man came out, and at this moment, his eyes were looking at him, and he nodded tremblingly.

Zhao Ta knew what to do, so he said, "What are you arresting?" ”

The man was stunned when he heard this, and then kowtowed again: "Didn't the adults come to get the uncompetitive big man of the grass people's house?" ”

Zhao Ta frowned and looked at Shen Fei, and Shen Fei immediately said, "You can't speak clearly, what's wrong with your eldest man?" ”

When the man heard this, he realized that something was wrong, but he didn't dare not answer, and said sneeringly: "That evil animal of the grass people's family, stole the money of the shops on the street, went to Guan Pu Dian Guan Pu, and injured the Guan Pu shop guy, Yali is arresting, the public has been here several times, but he is really not at home, if he comes back, the grass people must go to report to the official, and dare not hide it." ”

Shen Fei said: "It turns out that your eldest man has a case, but we didn't come to arrest him, we just smelled the delicious smell of fish soup outside, so we walked in to see it, but we didn't expect this to happen." ”

The man reacted, although the case of his eldest man was not small, but it was two Yangzhou government officials who came to ask, and it was absolutely impossible for this kind of scene in front of him to come to arrest people, this look is the nobleman's travel, and he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and said boldly: "I don't know if the adult is ......"

Shen Fei interrupted him and said, "Don't ask what you shouldn't ask." ”

The man and the fat woman behind him immediately bowed their heads to the ground, not even daring to cry out for their sins.

Zhao Ta said at this time: "It's okay, just tell him to know." ”

Shen Fei said: "You two listen well, when His Royal Highness the King of Qin appeases Lianghuai, stationed in Yangzhou, and goes out on patrol today, the king is at your house, how dare you be rude?" ”

The man was shocked when he heard this, and unconsciously made an "ah" sound in his mouth, and the whole person trembled.

The fat woman in the back was so frightened that she fell to the ground and ate a mouthful of dirt, but she didn't dare to move.

"King, the king is a thousand years old...... The grass people did not know that the king was coming, and they asked for forgiveness for the great sin of the grass people. "The man has been working the canal for half his life, and he is always a little more insightful than his mother-in-law, so he reluctantly opened his mouth and knocked his head again.

"That's it." Zhao Ta looked at his forehead that was already bruised and swollen, and said lightly: "This king is just a moment of leisure, seeing that your fish soup is boiling well, I came in to take a look." ”

When the man heard this, he kowtowed more than a dozen times before he dared to stop, and said: "The fisherman's crude things dare not enter the eyes of the king, the king, the king......"

He wanted to let go, but he didn't dare to say it, although he was a low-level small people, he didn't know about the affairs of the court, nor did he know the affairs of Yangzhou Mansion, but he knew the King of Qin.

Last year, Wang Qing rebelled, Huaixi chaos, affected to many places in Huaidong, there were many fewer merchant ships on the canal, the ferry river in the Yangzhou section, there was not much work in the day, many people on the water had no work to do, they could only live by catching some fish and shrimp, he lived a vivid memory of those days, and then the imperial court sent the King of Qin to calm the chaos in Huaixi, which restored normal livelihood.

Therefore, these ordinary people in Huaidong, even if they don't know about other princes and generals in the court, they all know about the King of Qin.

Zhao Ta said: "All things are born to support people, so why is it vulgar and fine? This king sees that this fish soup is clearly good, but he wants to taste it, and you husband and wife are not reluctant, this king will not eat your food in vain. ”

The man knelt on the ground and suddenly rejoiced in his heart, and the mother-in-law behind him also heard Zhao Ta's meaning, so she was also overjoyed, the prince wanted to drink her fish soup, and said that it was not in vain, so wouldn't it be rewarded?

The two knelt down at this moment and said together: "The king drives but uses, the king drives but uses." ”

Several guards of the Scarlet Pioneer Regiment brought tables and stools, and went to the house to find bowls and spoons, and washed and washed, and washed and washed.

Zhao Yuannu said softly: "The slave family serves soup to the prince." ”

Zhao Ta nodded, and saw that she stepped forward to fill the soup fish and put it on the table, during which she looked at the man from time to time, but unfortunately the man didn't dare to look up, and he didn't see Zhao Yuannu's appearance.

After the fish soup was placed, Zhao Ta tasted it first, and it was delicious, much stronger than what he drank by the Xunyang River back then, and then he looked at the man on the ground and asked, "How many mouthfuls are there at home?" ”

The man hurriedly replied: "Hui Wang is a thousand years old, there are four people in total, and there are two men below." ”

Next to him, Zhao Yuannu was drinking soup in small sips, but when he heard this, the spoon trembled and splashed on half of the table.

Zhao Ta said again: "Let's hear it." ”

The man hesitated slightly, as if it was difficult to speak, and took a few breaths before saying: "Wang Jia Chitose, the grass family has no way to discipline him, he has violated the law, and now the government is arresting ......"

Zhao Ta said: "I just said this, has this Da Lang been like this since he was a child?" ”

The man sighed: "I'm not afraid that the prince will find out, and if you beat the little pampered and habitually raised, you will develop a stubborn character, which is the sin of the grass people." ”

Zhao Ta thought about it when he heard this, stretched out his hand and beckoned a guard and said, "Go to Yangzhou Mansion to have a look, if someone catches it, bring it over." ”

The guards left, and Zhao Ta drank the soup and asked again, "What about Erlang?" ”

The man said: "Back to Wang Jia, Erlang is studying." ”

"Reading?" Zhao Ta nodded, the Great Song Dynasty attaches great importance to education, even ordinary people have the opportunity to study, although the people on the water are poorer, it is not impossible to step into this door, and it is not a lie to be poor and rich.

"Wang Jia, it's just reading, and I'm still reading well, so I should be coming back from school soon." When the man said this, a hint of excitement finally appeared in his tone.

Zhao Ta didn't comment on this, but slowly drank all the bowls of fish soup, and Zhao Yuannu went to the stove to serve him another bowl.

After a while, the guards outside brought in a young man, but it was this Erlang, wearing a white-washed Confucian shirt, his face was also pale, and he was obviously told the identity of Zhao Ta by the guards outside, and when he came in, he knelt down and bowed.

Zhao Ta asked him to be dragged up, and after asking a few words, he asked him to stand aside without kneeling to speak.

Then after another half an hour, the two drank almost all the fish soup in the pot, Zhao Ta wiped his mouth with a silk handkerchief, and saw the guard sent to Yangzhou Mansion just now walked into the courtyard quickly and said: "Lord Wang, the government caught someone last night, and his subordinates brought it over." ”

Zhao Ta glanced outside the courtyard gate, and saw several Yangzhou Mansion officials locking up a person, that person was not very old, wearing a prison uniform, his hair was tied up, although his face was panicked at the moment, but the corners of his eyebrows and mouth faintly showed a touch of fierceness.

"Did you bring all the rolls too?" Zhao asked.

Later, the prosecutor of Yangzhou Mansion hurriedly ran over to salute, and then presented the confession to Zhao Ta, who glanced at the man and mother-in-law kneeling on the ground: "Read it to them." ”

Although the two didn't dare to raise their heads, they listened to the conversation in front of them, and looked outside the courtyard out of the corner of their eyes, knowing that their eldest man had been caught, but how dare they show anything at this moment, just listened to the prosecutor finish reading the confession and verdict, hanging his head and being silent.

Zhao Ta said: "Can you two listen to it?" ”

The man replied, "Wang Jia, the grass people listen well. ”

Zhao Ta said: "Stealing merchants' money, Guan Bao lost and hurt people, do you have any doubts about being a father?" ”

Where do the two dare to have the slightest doubt, this Zhongda Lang has known what kind of temperament he has since he was a child, and this is not the first time he has done this kind of thing, so he said: "There is no doubt about the grass people." ”

Zhao Ta said outside: "Bring people over!" ”

When the errand outside the hospital heard this, he immediately brought the big man who broke the law into the hospital, although this big man is not very old, but he is obviously used to fighting on the street, and has a hob temper, even if he sees the scene in front of him, he is also standing up and not kneeling.

The servants saw him come hard, and complained bitterly in their hearts, but they knew the identity of Zhao Ta, for fear of being blamed for being implicated, so they picked up the stick in their hands and hit the crook of the leg. ”

Zhao Tan frowned, glanced at Zhao Yuannu next to him, Zhao Yuannu said in a low voice: "The prince doesn't have to care about me, the slave has long been homeless in Yangzhou." ”

Zhao Ta looked at the prosecutor again, this prosecutor is subordinate to the Tidian Criminal and Prison Division, and all states and counties have subordinates, specializing in sentencing, he figured out what Zhao Ta meant in his heart, and said busily: "Lord Wang, this crime has been sentenced for four years. ”

At this time, the errand officer went down with a few sticks, and Da Lang knew that his family was not a serious capital crime, so he refused to accept the ruthlessness, twisted the chains and cut his arms and prison clothes, revealing two flower arms.

Zhao Ta looked at his vicious appearance, and suddenly said to the prosecutor: "This king drank this family's fish soup and owed favors, and now this big man is going to be sentenced for breaking the law, what do you think of this matter?" ”

Even if the prosecutor has been doing this for a long time and is a delicate person, it is not easy to answer at this moment, after all, he pondered that Zhao Ta could not have anything to do with this family, and the current punishment has nothing to do with drinking fish soup, so he said vaguely: "Everything depends on the prince." ”

Zhao Ta smiled: "Since that's the case, I think I'll be spared from prison." ”

Where did the prosecutor dare to say anything, he just obeyed: "Lord Wang, this crime ...... Actually, it's not too big, it's avoidable, it's avoidable. ”

When the man and the mother-in-law kneeling on the ground heard this, they couldn't help but get excited, and kowtowed: "Thank you for your kindness, thank you for your kindness." ”

The fat woman hurriedly said to the big man next to her at this time: "Son, don't hurry up and thank Wang for his grace." ”

The big man clicked his eyes, and at this moment he also figured out that there was a prince sitting in front of him, but he was a playful person, not as cautious and respectful as his parents, but he just rolled his eyes and thought, why does this prince want to be gracious to himself? Wouldn't such kindness delay your own major event!

There is a saying in the gangsters, called the cage to open the mind, which is said that no matter how the prodigal gangsters outside, they will not get rich, but the head is not open, and they need to squat in the prison for a few years to open their own minds, and everything will go smoothly after they come out, and this kind of saying has been popular in later generations.

He was so bent on enlightenment that he didn't give thanks, just knelt there frowning.

Zhao Ta looked at him and said with a smile: "Although there is no need to squat in prison, but when this matter is spread, it seems that this king is ignoring the law, so ...... There is still some punishment. ”

The big man heard this clearly, and couldn't help but say: "You prince is so unreasonable, let me go to prison for a few years, and punish me for nothing......"

As soon as he spoke, Shen Fei immediately drew his knife and shouted: "Bold, how to talk to the prince!" ”

Da Lang saw that the knife was shining coldly, and this time he was finally a little scared, so he didn't speak, but still stuck his neck.

Zhao Ta said: "This king can't take back what he said, and the punishment must be there, come and break the legs of this stubborn and unrepentant person, so that he can no longer go to the streets!" ”

When the guards on both sides heard this, they rushed forward, but before Da Lang could react, he was pushed to the ground, and then beaten with sticks, shattering both legs and feet.

Da Lang could not eat this kind of pain, that is, he fainted in pain, and his legs could not stand up from then on.

Zhao Ta stroked his palms at this time and smiled: "That's good, you can stay at home honestly, honor your parents, brothers and friends, very good, very good!" ”

The man and the fat woman were almost stupid when they saw this, and they just said that Kaien didn't need to be in prison, why did they turn their heads and beat people with a stick?

Zhao Ta looked at the two: "Your husband and wife raised their heads." ”

The two of them were still in the fright of the stick at the moment, how dare they not say a word, and hurriedly raised their heads to look.

Seeing the two of them raise their heads, Zhao Yuannu's eyes fell on the man's weathered face full of wrinkles, the man looked dazed, although he didn't dare to look directly, but he also saw the appearance of the female dependent next to Wang Jia Chitose, who was a beautiful little lady.

Zhao Yuannu bit his lip and looked at it for a moment, and suddenly said in a low voice: "Lord Wang, the slave family is rude." Then he suddenly stood up, his shoulders trembling and ran out of the courtyard.

Zhao Ta sighed and stood up, looked at the two of them and said, "I said that I can't drink your fish soup for nothing, and I will be rewarded with a thousand taels of silver." ”

The man and the mother-in-law were even more stupid when they heard this, and the successive changes made the heads of the two of them a little insufficient, until Shen Fei and the guards put the silver in front of them, and then they kowtowed in a daze.

Zhao Ta glanced at Xiao Lang next to him who was at a loss, stretched out his hand to make a gesture of holding a pen, and said with a smile: "Remember to study hard." ”

With that, he walked out of the courtyard with his hands in his hands.

After a while, Zhao Ta walked away, and the man and his mother-in-law got up from the ground, looking at the unconscious Dalang and the silver with white flowers, the two of them felt in a trance that they had a big dream, and they didn't know what to do.

The man's face was still at a loss, and it took a long time before he seemed to remember something, and said in a low voice: "I see that the little lady next to Wang Jia looks a little like a person." ”

The fat woman said: "He is like a ...... Like which? ”

The man took a breath and hesitated in a low voice: "I, how can I look a bit like the water baby who was sold to Tokyo back then......"

(End of chapter)