"Of course, he's my own brother, and he must look like me! Yan Cai'er's delicate cheeks were pressed against her younger brother Yan Wen, who is currently only three years old, and her cute white and round little face said to Zhou Geng.

"You misunderstood!" Zhou Geng shook his head, "When I said that you are similar to Yan Wenchang, I don't mean your appearance. ”

Yan Cai'er didn't understand what he meant, and asked, "Then ...... you mean?"

Zhou glanced at her bumpy and graceful figure, and replied: "You are as fat as your brother, when you walk, the flesh on your body is shaking, and your fat clothes are almost unbearable. ”

Yan Cai'er held back her anger and listened to him, then got up, kicked Zhou Geng off the carriage, and said to Cao Bian, who was driving the carriage: "No need to stop, send the prince back to the palace!"

Her Royal Highness the eldest princess gave an order, Cao Bian had no choice but to obey, and mourned for Zhou Geng for three minutes in his heart, and at the same time felt that Zhou Geng didn't understand women's hearts too much.

What is the difference between a man saying that she is fat in front of a woman and saying that she is ugly in disguise? Both are tantamount to being taboos for women, and they cannot be mentioned.

Zhou Geng rolled off the carriage and fell on the street, many people came forward to watch him, he pretended to be nothing, got up and patted the dust, squeezed out of the crowd, and disappeared from everyone's sight.

As the last important capital of the Yan Kingdom, the imperial city is naturally much more lively than the other fourteen cities in terms of area, population, and prosperity.

On that day, the enemy army suddenly approached the city, and neither the high-ranking officials and nobles, nor the ordinary people, nor the wealthy merchants in the city did not have time to escape from the siege of the terrifying army of more than 300,000.

By the time Yan Cai'er ordered the evacuation of the overseas islands, the family officials and wealthy merchants were the first to board the ship, followed by ordinary people.

This is contrary to Yan Cai'er's original order, but she was busy defending against the enemy at that time, and she had no time to care about these things, as people often say; no matter how wise and powerful the leader is, there are always some subordinates who seek personal gain.

Afterwards, Yan Cai'er was really angry when she knew these things, but her identity as Her Royal Highness the eldest princess already existed in name only, and she had no deterrent effect on anyone, let alone punish those who did wrong.

In fact, even when she was in power, she couldn't punish the families in the imperial city casually, unless these families committed heinous crimes, and if it was a trivial matter, they would generally turn a blind eye.

Although the iron-clad family and the emperor of flowing water have not had such a thing in Yan so far, so far, only one general has rebelled and claimed the emperor's heart.

But I have to admit that the role of the major families in a kingdom, not only do they have fiefs in Yan State, but their roots have long spread to other kingdoms, and the business of rich merchants is the same everywhere.

If these people are loyal to a certain kingdom, it will bring wealth to that kingdom, as well as a vast and complex network of economic information, and what is even more terrifying is that the power they combine is enough to resurrect a certain fallen kingdom in the near future, if they are willing.

Compared to the power of the army that the great generals control on the surface, the major families and a small number of wealthy merchants control the power in the shadows, and the combination of the two can create a new kingdom.

Zhou Geng was not in a hurry to return to the palace, strolling alone on the streets, the last rays of the residual sun came into view, the red sun in the west completely sank into the mountains and rivers, and the bright moon hung high in the sky, like a guiding light under the dark curtain, illuminating the front for those who needed it.

Bang bang bang......

As he wandered aimlessly, the sky lit up with dazzling fireworks, and every house put up lights to celebrate that his home had not been destroyed by the enemy, and he was glad that his relatives were still there.

Thousands of lights are bright, the sound of firecrackers is jubilant, everyone has a smile on their faces, only Zhou Geng's face is normal, and he can't feel this joy.

Zhou even passed by an alley and saw an old beggar in ragged clothes, tattered and tattered, with countless dignitaries and nobles in the imperial city, which formed a sharp contrast with this old beggar, and always felt that the old beggar was a little out of place with Chinese.

It was this incompatibility that made Zhou more curious about the old beggar, so he took some wine and meat and sat next to the old beggar and invited the old beggar to eat.

The old beggar devoured the food, and said as he ate: "I have worked hard all my life on the docks, and I am afraid that the money I have saved will not be enough to squander it in front of me, and I have lived so long, and I have never drunk such a good wine." It's a good place on earth, but unfortunately I don't deserve it. ”

While eating, the old beggar left sad tears, "I worked hard all my life, and finally my wife ran away with someone, and my son grew up to work on the dock with me, but unfortunately fell into the water and drowned." I have always felt a deep sense of guilt for my dead son, and I failed to give him a complete home, or even let her live a happy life. ”

"The imperial city is very large and prosperous, and as long as you have money here and don't do anything illegal and undisciplined, you can do whatever you want. But it's such a good place, and I have spent all my life working and not being able to buy a place for my deceased son to live, and I don't know what it means to live like this. ”

"Even on the day he died, I personally carried him to the mountain thirty miles away from the imperial city, dug a deep pit and buried it, and the money on my body was only enough to buy him an ordinary tombstone, and now I am old, I can't walk, and I haven't seen him for a long time. ”

The old beggar was full of food and drink, half-sitting on the ground and leaning against the wall, his cloudy eyes full of tears, looking up at the dazzling fireworks, and gradually falling into memory.

"I don't know where I came from or what made me who I am. After listening to the old beggar tell about the ups and downs of his life, he should be full of emotion if he is a normal person, and his emotions will definitely be touched, but he is like a ruthless monster and has no feelings for anything.

The fireworks were bright tonight, and Zhou Geng was not in a hurry to leave, but sat next to the old beggar and accompanied him to enjoy the fireworks.

The night faded, and it was close to early morning, Yan Cai'er and Cao Bian led their men to find Zhou Geng, only to see him sitting there quietly, while the old man next to him closed his eyes, very peaceful, and even showed a happy smile on the corner of his mouth.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have murdered you yesterday!" Yan Cai'er hurriedly rushed forward and hugged Zhou Geng tightly, her nerves full of apologies.

"Her Royal Highness the eldest princess saw that Lord Zhou didn't return all night last night, and she was afraid that something would happen to you, Lord Zhou, so she ordered me to look around, and the whole person was worried. Cao Bian said.