On March 18, in a secluded courtyard of the Changyi Palace, it was very lively, and hundreds of people stood in groups of three or five.

Most of these people were hired servants of the palace, and a small number were small traders who had business dealings with the palace.

They all received orders from Yu Wuwu in the past few days and came early this morning.

Everyone didn't know what they were going to do in the palace, but they all came together.

There is no other reason, although people outside say that the king of Changyi is a somewhat crazy person, but he is very kind to them.

So even if the king of Changyi is not the king of Changyi, just an ordinary villager, but for the sake of this kindness, they are willing to put down their work to help him.

Everyone gathered in groups of three or five, and they were unrestrained in the courtyard to pull the housework.

Two painters, in their early forties and not yet in their fifties, met in the crowd, saluted each other, and then squatted in a corner and chatted.

"Second Brother Guan, I didn't expect you to come here today, we haven't seen each other for a while."

"Third Brother Zhang, who said otherwise, the last time we met, it was two months ago, that is, I came to this palace to do five days of work and paint the beams that had fallen off the paint."

"Eh, the second brother has a good memory, those days have been nourishing, and I can drink a pot of wine after finishing my work every day."

"yes."

The two half-old men couldn't help but smack their lips when they said this, as if they were reminiscing about the smell of wine in those days.

Of course, it is worth savoring, because it is not ordinary wine, but the wine that His Highness personally brought to them.

In the twilight of that day, Guan Er and Zhang San had just finished work, sitting by the pillars of the newly lacquered side hall, enjoying themselves with a plate of sliced marinated pork liver with home-brewed light wine.

Unexpectedly, a young man in a robe walked in, brought them a pot of high-quality peppercorn wine, drank three cups with them, and ate a few bites of meat.

Later, they learned that the young man was His Royal Highness the King of Changyi.

Although since then, the two have never met with His Highness again, but for several days, every day at dusk, someone will always bring them a pot of pepper wine on time.

"If you are tired from work, you should drink two sips of wine to relieve your fatigue."

This is the words that Liu He sent someone to deliver to the old brothers.

Since then, "when you are tired from work, you should drink two sips of wine to relieve fatigue" has become the mantra of their old brothers.

It's just that this story is so bizarre that others don't want to believe it, and they often laugh at them just for going to the palace of Changyi, and they were infected with madness by the crazy king of Changyi.

It makes their hearts itch and hurt as if they have been bitten by mosquitoes.

Today, the two parties met again in the Changyi Palace, so they naturally had to talk about the situation of that day to relieve the itch in their hearts.

Guan Er and Zhang San looked up at the sky, smacked for a while, and the whole person seemed to have drunk half a catty of pepper wine, and their souls seemed to fly out of the nine clouds comfortably.

When their souls landed again, they turned to today's events.

"Second Brother Guan, what did you say His Highness came to us for today?"

"Maybe there's something else we need to do, right?"

"But there are too many people here today, so many people, I'm afraid it's enough to rebuild the palace, besides, the people who come here are very mixed, not all of them are workers."

Guan Er looked around, nearly a hundred people had gathered in this side courtyard, and people walked in from time to time.

Judging from the way they dressed, these people seem to have a lot of identities, ranging from craftsmen like themselves, to small merchants selling chickens and fish in the bazaar, and even handymen who deliver water and dung......

There are all kinds of teachings, three religions and nine streams.

Guan Er shook his head, he couldn't say why, his family lived in a village twenty miles north of the city, and he usually only worked in the surrounding villages, and only came to Changyi City to look for work when he was slack, so he didn't have a wide range of knowledge.

Zhang Sanke is different, he lives in Shangliulu in the north of the city, and the employer who usually does the work is either the government office in the city or the rich landlord, so he has a much wider knowledge.

The reason why he wanted to ask Guan Er this question was not that he really wanted to ask, but in fact, he just wanted to show off.

Zhang San made a gesture of "come over with his ear", and when Guan Er got closer, he said: "When the people in the palace came to look for me the day before yesterday, I asked a few more questions and heard some rumors. ”

Guan Er's slender Danfeng eyes flashed, and he hurriedly asked, "What kind of wind?" ”

"I told you, don't talk about it."

"I know, I know."

Zhang San looked around, and saw that the others were also talking to each other, whispering, and then lowered his voice and said quite proudly: "Someone has blackmailed His Highness's money." ”

"What?!"

Guan Er suddenly jumped up from the ground like a rabbit that had been pierced by Orion with an arrow, attracting everyone's side eyes.

Zhang San hurriedly lowered his head and tugged on Guan Er's sleeve, and said a little nervously: "Second Brother Guan, be quiet, be quiet!" ”

It was not easy to persuade Guan Er to squat down again.

"Third Brother Zhang, aren't you trying to trick your brother, who is this highness, but in the sky above our Changyi country, which guy who eats tiger guts dares to blackmail his money, does he think this millet is not delicious, or does he think this hemp is not easy to wear?"

"Eh, this is lonely and unheard, this highness is the day of Changyi country, but this day is only a day when it can't rain, you see how many times a year His Royal Highness can appear in the country, he is not much different from the statue in the temple, it's just an ornament."

Zhang San saw that Guan Er listened to it, and then continued: "I heard that it was the husband in charge of the money in the Prime Minister's Mansion, and when he sent us money, he overreported and underpaid, and ate the difference. ”

"Is this worth it?! Isn't that just stealing? It's a head-scratching thing! ”

After Guan Er finished speaking, he suddenly remembered something again, and hurriedly asked, "Is this ...... It doesn't implicate us, does it? ”

"No, Your Highness just wants us to be a witness."

"So, are you going to the Prime Minister's Mansion?" Guan Er's voice trembled a little when he spoke, and there was a trace of fear on his face, after all, the people had a natural fear of the government.

"Second Brother Guan is not afraid, although His Royal Highness does not have much real power, but those who are officials do not dare to provoke him on the surface, we will not be embarrassed if we tell the truth."

Zhang San's explanation made Guan Er's expression return to normal slightly, but the latter immediately changed to a righteous expression.

"I'm not afraid, just rush at the few bottles of wine that His Highness gave me, even if I want the old man to go to the county prison, I dare to break in!"

Guan Er's words were eloquent, not like a humble lacquerer, but like a heroic ranger.

"That's nature, and so am I."

The two brothers looked at each other and nodded, as if they had made a big determination.

"Third Brother Zhang, I have some urgency, go find a thatched house."

Guan Er said, stood up and walked towards the other end of the side courtyard.

"Second Brother Guan must not say to others, don't say to others!"

"I know, I know!"

Guan Er left in a hurry, but did not leave the courtyard gate. I just walked around at the gate of the side courtyard, looked around, found a few other acquaintances, and leaned over to talk to them.

Zhang San watched all this from a distance, and a smug smile flashed on his face.

"This second brother Guan is really missing a bolt on his mouth!"