"Between the white emperor and the clouds, thousands of miles of Jiangling are returned in one day, the apes on both sides of the strait can't stop crying, and the light boat has passed over the ten thousand mountains... Senior sister, did you say that Li Bai also took this road back then? You see that the beautiful scenery on both sides of the river is really beautiful, no wonder he wrote such a hearty poem, I only now realize how wonderful this poem is" Youming stood at the bow of the boat, holding his head high and blowing the cool wind, and said loudly and happily.

"Yes, the Yangtze River has not been diverted, and Li Bai must have taken this waterway back then. Senior brother, why are you so happy today?" Yi Dan shouted.

"The sky is high and the water is wide, refreshed, can you not be happy? Look, the fish in the water are jumping up, senior sister, the scenery on this road is really beautiful" You Ming pointed to the water and said happily.

"Senior brother, I heard from the other passengers just now that we will soon arrive in Yangzhou City," Yi Dan said.

"I heard that Yangzhou is prosperous and rich, and I wanted to see it for a long time," Youming said, holding the mast with one hand and the wind with the other.

"Senior brother, be careful, don't fall into the river," Yi Dan reminded.

"Well, senior sister, look, there's a galleon in front of you. Hurry, hurry, catch up with it, overtake it..."Youming frolicked, in a very happy mood. Yi Dan stood aside, looking at his junior brother's happy appearance, first smiled slightly, and then remembered the heavy things that pressed on his heart, and couldn't help but become serious again, and let out a long breath.

The closer you get to Yangzhou City, the more merchant ships along the way. The boat on which Yi Dan and Youming were riding also left the Yangtze River from the fork of the waterway, entered the canal dug by Emperor Yang of Sui, and sailed towards Yangzhou City.

Yangzhou is the richest and most prosperous town in Jiangdong, also known as Jiangling, at this time has been the capital of the newly established Wu State, renamed "Jiangdu Fu". But people are still used to calling its old name, Yangzhou.

The passenger ship shuttled in the dense row of ships like threading a needle, and the Yi Dan and the two had already seen the lively scene of Yangzhou City on the Grand Canal. The merchant ships on the river are densely packed, and the sails cover the sky and the sun and stretch for dozens of miles. Merchants gather along the coast, and there is an endless stream of porters and all kinds of people. Each boat was loaded with countless commodities such as porcelain, silk, salt, tea, grain, etc., and it was not busy going from south to north, east to west.

Tall willow trees on the banks of the Grand Canal hang low into the water, gently drifting with the waves. When the ambitious Emperor Yang of Sui summoned foreign envoys in Jiangdu, he hung splendid silk on the willow trees on the banks of the Grand Canal to show off the prosperity and wealth of the Celestial Empire. Everything in the past is also witnessed by these willow trees. Hundreds of years have passed, and these willow trees have witnessed how many people have come and gone, flowers have bloomed and fallen, and they have witnessed wave after wave of decline, prosperity, and decay. The people on the riverside today are no longer the same people as they were back then, but only these willow trees are still standing vigorously on the banks of the canal, continuing to witness everything that will happen now and in the future.

After a while, the boat in which Yi Dan and the others were traveling docked, and the two led the horses out of the boat. See the busy cargo ships on the Grand Canal, filling the water. You Ming looked at the bustling Grand Canal, couldn't suppress his joy, and said to Youming: "Senior sister, look, this Grand Canal is really as prosperous and lively as the legend, and it is more beautiful than the Great Liang Jingshi Kaifeng City." Hey, I think that the Grand Canal dug by Emperor Yang of Sui when he requisitioned millions of people is still playing its role now, but it is a pity that Emperor Yang of Sui has already left a stench for 10,000 years."

"Hey, the river is so crowded, it seems that the waterway to Baoying to the north must be very congested," Yi Dan sighed.

"Hey, fortunately, we have horses, otherwise, I really don't know what to do," Youming rejoiced.

"I don't think it's getting early today, why don't we rest in Yangzhou City for one night, and then ride to Baoying early tomorrow morning to visit the Ningkun faction, what do you think?" Yi Dan asked.

"Okay, it's been too long to sit on the boat, you can rest for a night, senior sister, are you tired?" Youming said.

"I'm not tired, it's just hard for you," Yi Dan said with concern.

"It's not hard, I can go out with you and take a walk around, I'm too late to be happy" You Ming said unfinished: "Let's go, senior sister, let's hurry up and see this prosperous Yangzhou City" After that, You Ming led the horse and happily walked into the crowd.

The prosperity and liveliness of Yangzhou City is not an exaggeration to describe it as a temple fair. All kinds of bazaars in the east, west, north and south, the goods are full of goods, everything is available, and the teahouse tavern is readily available, and they are all people coming and going, going in and out in an endless stream. The most popular ones are, of course, casinos and brothels that line the banks of the river. And you can hear the gamblers, the noisy gambling shouts, and the lewd laughter of the women in the Qinglou standing on the platform scratching their heads and soliciting customers.

Every time I pass by the door of those green buildings, there are always many girls waving handkerchiefs and shouting to Youming pretentiously: "Yo, little brother, come in and have fun", which made Youming very embarrassed, and could only look at Yi Dan shyly. Yi Dan couldn't help but smile when he saw his junior brother's embarrassed expression.

"Senior sister, look at this Yangzhou City, it is prosperous and lively, people live and work in peace and contentment, and they are busy, it is really a peaceful scene," Youming said.

"Yes, it would be nice if everyone in the world had their own pleasure like this," Yi Dan also sighed.

At this moment, two thieves followed behind the two, staring at Yi Dan's baggage, and quietly following Yi Dan's footsteps.

When Yi Dan stopped to look at the gorgeous brocade, one of the thieves saw the opportunity, snatched Yi Dan's bag from behind, and then quickly threw it to another accomplice not far away. After Yi Dan reacted, he immediately looked over and saw that his burden was gone. grabbed the man next to him who was grabbing the burden and asked, "Give me back the burden."

The man pretended to be innocent and said, "Girl, what are you doing? Why are you so rude when I didn't provoke you?"

Yi Danshan looked at the man, and didn't find his own burden, so he let go of him, and apologized again and again: "I'm sorry, I recognized the wrong person." My baggage was snatched away."

"You have to see it clearly in the future, don't wronged the good people," the man threw out a sentence and turned his head away.

"What's wrong, Senior Sister, what's going on?" Youming hurriedly turned his head and asked.

"There were too many people and too crowded just now, and my baggage was gone," Yi Dan said.

Youming looked around in the crowd, looking for baggage for his senior sister. But the streets were crowded with people, coming and going, and they didn't know where the baggage had gone.

"Senior sister, did you see who took your baggage?" Youming asked.

"I just didn't see it clearly, otherwise I would have brought it back. Hey, I didn't expect this world to be really chaotic, in broad daylight, the burden on my back was gone," Yi Dan sighed.

"It's too much, I didn't expect it to be so chaotic here," Youming said.

"Hey, forget it, anyway, there is nothing valuable in that baggage, just two old clothes, he can take it if he likes, let's quickly find an inn to rest" Yi Dan said.

This scene was seen by a man in his forties who was carrying a burden and wearing a straw hat. The man who was carrying the baggage, as he passed by him, deliberately stretched out his foot and tripped him, and the burden was thrown into the air. The straw hat man took Yi Dan's burden, handed it to her and asked, "Girl, is this your burden?"

Yi Dan was pleasantly surprised: "Oh, this is my burden, thank you, uncle"

"This Yangzhou city is in chaos right now, are you new here?" the man reminded.

"Yes, yes, thank you uncle for your advice, thank you!" Yi Dan thanked again and again.

"Check to see if there's anything missing," the man said.

"Oh no, there's nothing of value in there," the man said.

"Those thieves have great eyes, if there is nothing valuable in them, they will not pay attention to you, I think the girl should open it and confirm it, and it is better to point it out in person," the man reminded.

When Yi Dan heard this, he opened his baggage and saw that two golden ingots of gold were hugged in his old clothes. He was surprised and asked, "It's strange, how can I have so much gold in my baggage?"

"I don't know, could it be that we took the wrong baggage and picked up someone else's?" Youming said.

"No, that's my clothes," Yi Dan said.

"I saw the thief pull the burden from the girl's body and immediately hand it to another person, and after I took it from his hand, I gave it to the girl as it was," said the man.

"Oh, I remembered, maybe before we left Dongting Lake, Sister Su Yue quietly put it in your baggage" Youming suddenly realized.

"Well, if you say that, I think it's very likely. Hey, I really didn't expect Sister Suyue to be so careful, thank her so much," Yi Dan said.

"That's right, because you have hard goods in this baggage, that's why those thieves will beat your idea, and you have to be careful," the man reminded.

"Thank you so much, uncle, I didn't expect to meet such a good person as you here, it's really lucky," Yi Dan sighed.

"No thanks, it's just a gesture. But when walking in Yangzhou City, you have to be careful, the water of this Grand Canal is very deep," the man reminded.

"It's okay, we won't take the waterway, we will all ride horses in the future, and we won't take the Grand Canal" Youming answered stupidly.

Yi Dan looked at the stupid Youming with an embarrassed expression. But the man said, "This little brother is really funny."

"I didn't expect that this seemingly prosperous Yangzhou city actually has so many dirty things," Yi Dan said.

"Yes, it would be nice if Yangzhou City didn't have these messy things," Youming said.

"Since ancient times, there have been such things as Qinglou casinos in all rich places," the man said.

"Uncle, how do you say that?" Yi Dan asked puzzled.

"This person, once the problem of food and clothing is solved, and he has some extra money, he thinks about finding some pastime. Therefore, since ancient times, these things have been indispensable in all rich places. Of course, if you have money, there will be people who will keep an eye on your pocket, so you can't avoid these people who are not in the same class," the man said.

"Excuse me, uncle, why don't those rich people save their money to save the poor people when they have no worries about food and clothing? Don't they know that there are still many people in the world who are not well fed and clothed?" Yi Dan asked.

The man put the burden off his shoulders and said, "Girl, you have a good heart. But most of the people in this world are selfish. As long as they are well fed, warmly clothed, and comfortable, where do they care if others freeze to death and starve to death?"

"It seems that what my master said is right, people's hearts are greedy and selfish," Yi Dan said in disappointment.

"Senior sister, why are you so compassionate?" asked Youming.

"Senior brother, do you know, not long ago I saw with my own eyes that many poor people starved to death on the side of the road because they had nothing to eat. Compared to the prosperity and extravagance in front of me, it is simply the difference between heaven and hell. If these people who patronize gambling halls and green houses just throw some money and enjoy food, those poor people will not have such a miserable life," Yi Dan said.

The man said, "Girl, you are really a bodhisattva, there are too few good and upright people like girls in this world. I don't think I'm a local when I listen to the girl's accent, right? Girl, you're beautiful and kind-hearted, so you have to be careful when you come out to walk," the man reminded.

"Why did Uncle say that?" Yi Dan asked.

"Don't look at the prosperity and wealth of this Jiangdu Mansion, in fact, there are many things about snakes and dragons, cheating, abduction, murder and goods," the man said.

"This Yangzhou is the capital of the Wu State, so why can't Yang Longyan, the king of Wu, manage it well? How can such chaos be done?" Yi Dan asked.

The man looked around, stepped forward and whispered, "It is taboo to call King Wu by his name."

"Isn't it just for people to call names? I really don't understand those who set the rules, and it is taboo to call a name, so why do you have to name it again? Hey. Yi Dan sighed helplessly.

The man whispered, "That's right, the girl is really a hero, I think the same as the girl." However, I heard that the previous Wu Wang Yang Longyan died more than four months ago. The current King of Wu is Yang Pu, the younger brother of the former King of Wu."

"When I left, Master told me about the situation in the world, and he said that Yang Longyan was only in his early twenties, and he only became the king of Wu last year. How could he die so quickly?" said Yi Dan.

"Although he became the king of Wu, he was just a puppet in power, and it is said that he died of depression," the man said.

"Uncle, you know so much," Yi Dan praised.

"Hey, it's all rumors, I can't take it seriously, haha, haha," the man said with a smile.

The three of them were chatting speculatively. Suddenly, I saw a team of Wu cavalry running not far away, waving the spears in their hands, savagely and rudely driving the people along the street, and shouting loudly: "Hurry up, get out of the way, everyone hurry up and get out of the way for me, Xu Erye is about to pass here, and those who stand in the way die."

The streets were crowded with people, and many people could not dodge, ran into each other, and were almost trampled by horses' hooves. Seeing the appearance of these people, Yi Dan said angrily: "Who is going to pass by? Why are you so arrogant and domineering?"

"Girl, are you coming to Yangzhou for the first time?" the man asked.

"Yes, uncle, how do you know?" Yi Dan asked.

"You don't even know that the second son of Xu doesn't know that the government of this Wu State is now controlled by the prime minister Xu Wen. Although he is in Jinling, he has installed a henchman to control the situation remotely. What will pass by in a while is Xu Wen's second son, Xu Zhixun," the man said.

This is the same as Zhu Wen back then, it seems that this Xu Wen is not a simple person," Yi Dan said.

"That's right, the people are secretly rumoring that Xu Wen is the second Zhu Wen again," the man said.

"Why are these powerful people so tyrannical and domineering when they don't want to benefit the people?

"There have always been wise emperors and mediocre monarchs in the world. Whether the common people can meet the virtuous or the mediocre depends on luck. However, since ancient times, there are often few virtuous people and many mediocre people, so the hard life of the common people will never end," the man sighed.

As he spoke, the group of soldiers who drove the people out of the way also got closer and closer. I saw a four or five-year-old child, standing in the middle of the road, without avoiding it. The leading soldier changed the spear in his hand, and with a stick, hurried over to the child, trying to drive him aside. Yi Dan couldn't tolerate such a thing, so he instinctively used his strength to drive his qi and used his blade palm. With a palm slashing from afar, he cut the spear and stick in the soldier's hand into two pieces.

The soldier didn't even see how the stick was cut off, but he saw Yi Dan fly over with a sword in his hand and carry the child over. The man stopped and scolded Yi Dan: "You woman, you dare to be so bold. Do you know who is passing through here?"

"No matter who the people I want to pass through here are, they should abide by the rules and the royal law, why do you want to take this road, and others have to give way to you? This is clearly disturbing the people," Yi Dan said in a heartfelt manner.

"Wang Fa, hmph, don't you know that Wang Fa was also helped by Prime Minister Xu Dacheng to Wu Wangding?" the soldier asked.

"No matter who condemns it, don't you know that the prince is guilty of the same crime as the common people?" said Yi Dan.

"Hahahaha, you woman is really naïve, you also believe those words that deceive the common people? Have you ever heard of a prince who broke the law and was guilty of the same crime as the common people? This is a matter of course, otherwise why would everyone want to be an official?" said the man.

"According to what you say, this world belongs to his family surnamed Xu? Didn't Emperor Taizong of Tang say that the world belongs to all the people, and water can carry a boat and overturn a boat?" Yi Dan asked stubbornly.

"Jokes, that's just Tang Taizong's words in order to win the hearts of the people. Have you seen him finally pass on the throne to outsiders? Not to his son, this world and the official position are eternal truths, can you, a little woman, even question the basic truths flowing in your blood?" the man said.

"Why did so many people in this world become the world of his family? I don't look like a complete fool when I hear you speak, why do you want to help abuse and oppress the people like this?" Yi Dan asked.

"It's nothing, if I'm really like everyone else, I can stab me with a gun, and no one dares to say anything" The man already took these actions for granted, and thought that he was extremely merciful to change the head of the gun.

"I understand that no matter how it rises or falls, in the end, it will be the people who suffer, and there will never be a person who will come out," Yi Dan said.

"Seeing that you are a woman, beautiful and elegant, you should be a scholar, and General Ben will not embarrass you for the time being. But remember, don't be so reckless next time, you are lucky to meet me today, if you meet someone else, you will definitely not be able to eat and walk around" The general led the team and continued to clear the way.

After the group of soldiers left, the uncle who was carrying the burden next to him said in surprise: "I didn't expect the girl to be so good at martial arts at such a young age." Dare to ask the girl, but she is from Guangzhou?"

"Oh, no. We are from Songshan," Yi Dan replied honestly.

The man thought that Yi Dan had not told the truth, so he changed his words and said: "Why should the girl have a theory with those errand servants? They all eat the emperor's food, work poorly, and can't be the master." You told them what you said, and it was in vain."

"Hey, forget it, anyway, I've seen too many unfair things along the way, hey" Yi Dan sighed, shook his head and said in disappointment.

"I wonder where you are going, do you need to lead the way for you?" the man asked.

"Oh, no need, thank you uncle for your concern, and thank you for helping me get my baggage back. We have a place to go, so I won't bother you, uncle, thank you again, goodbye, uncle"

"Alright, goodbye," the man said with a slight nod.

After saying goodbye to the man, Yi Dan led the horse and walked down the street. After the man took a few steps, he turned around and quietly followed Yi Dan and the others, walking slowly.

Yi Dan had no intention of admiring the scenery and fell into deep thought. At this time, two ruffian-looking men on the side of the road were observing Yi Dan from the side, and the two glanced at each other from time to time and nodded. The two quietly followed behind Yi Dan and Youming, but on this crowded street, no one cared about their existence at all. Yi Dan and the others didn't know that they were being targeted.

Yi Dan and Youming found an inn to settle down temporarily. The ruffian-looking man quietly followed.

And the uncle who carried the burden followed him outside the inn. He was just about to enter the inn, when a man with a knife walked up and said, "Hey, sharpening the knife, help me sharpen the knife."

The man had no choice but to put down his burden and said, "Good Ratcha"