Happy Little Scholar

In the early morning, the sky was bright. There were not many pedestrians on the bumpy streets of Cangzhou.

Cangzhou was not a big state with a small population. In the past two years, due to the increasingly fierce banditry and war, half of the city was empty.

Some people died, some fled to other places, and the people who remained in Cangzhou were either reluctant to leave their hometown or had no relatives to go to. Rather than saying that they were living in Cangzhou, it was better to say that they were fighting for their lives with the sky.

A passing woman stopped by a vegetable stall on the street, carrying a vegetable basket, and after picking and choosing, she asked, "How much do you sell these radishes for?"

The stall owner sat on the stone steps, raised his head, and said, "Two cents a pound."

"Two cents?" The woman in coarse cloth frowned and said, "It was one cent yesterday!"

The stall owner glanced at her and said indifferently, "Yesterday the official only charged five cents for the road, but today he charged ten cents!"

The price of a pound of radishes doubled, and the original expenditure for a month would now be used up in half a month. The woman angrily carried the vegetable basket and said, "I'll look at other stores!"

She walked around the street and when she came back again, her face completely fell.

"This is not drinking blood and eating meat, they want to smash the bones and swallow them. This life is almost unbearable!"

"Who said it wasn't..." The vegetable vendor finally sighed and said, "When Cangzhou was occupied by those rebels, the people suffered. Now that Cangzhou has been taken back by the government, the people are still suffering. When will this hard life end?"

The woman thought for a while and said, "That may not be all bad. When Princess Duanrong was in Cangzhou two years ago, everything was fine. Alas, what a pity..."

The stall owner seemed to remember something and suddenly said, "I heard someone say two days ago that the princess is going to fight back..."

The woman put down the basket and said mysteriously, "I also heard that Princess Duanrong was destined to be an emperor since she was a child. She is like the princess of Jingguo next door. She will become an empress in the future..."

The two talked mysteriously for a while, and the stall owner waved his hand and said, "Sister-in-law, I see that you and I are quite talkative What we got is fate. How about this, I will sell you this vegetable today, and the price is the same as yesterday..."

"That's great..." The woman smiled and said, "I have to pick more today!"

She picked a whole basket of vegetables, handed it to the stall owner, and said, "Weigh it."

After weighing it, the stall owner said, "It's a total of 22 coins. I'll give you a decimal point and give you 20 coins."

The woman took out her purse, counted the copper coins, handed it to him, and said, "Count it."

The stall owner smiled, put the money for the vegetables in his arms, and said, "There's no need to count it. Can you still cheat me, sister-in-law..."

"Okay, I'll go back first!" The woman waved to him. When the stall owner saw her disappear, he immediately counted the money he put back in his arms. It didn't matter if he gave two less coins, because the vegetable money was originally 20 coins. He added a decimal point and rounded it off again...

After counting it twice, looking at the 18 coins in his hand, the stall owner fell into deep thought.

He sighed. The world is going downhill, people are not as good as they used to be. Nowadays, people are even cheating on the two cents for vegetables. The simple folk customs of Cangzhou are corrupted by these people...

At this time, a man who was walking and tightening his belt came over and asked, "Old Wang, did anyone come to buy vegetables just now?"

The young stall owner kicked the money in his arms, stood up, waved his hand, and said, "No, but a sister-in-law came and picked vegetables for a long time, but later she thought it was too expensive and didn't buy it..."

"Alas, I don't want to increase the price, but if I don't increase it, this little money for vegetables will all be given to the government. Tell me, why can't they learn from the former Princess Duanrong..." The man sighed. He looked at him with gratitude, "I had a stomachache yesterday, thank you for helping me watch the stall..."

"You're welcome..." The young man stood up, waved his hand, and said, "It's just a little help..."

After the young man left, the man counted on his fingers and murmured, "Today is a good day..."

He packed up the vegetable stall early, returned home, told his wife and children to take good care of the house, walked out of the house, walked around a few streets, and when he came to the door of a deep house, he knocked on the door three times and whispered, "Jing Ke assassinated the King of Qin."

The door opened, he walked in, and closed the door. In the spacious yard in front, dozens of people had gathered together.

After another half an hour, people came in from outside from time to time. At a certain moment, someone counted the number of people. Everyone stood neatly in the yard, and a young man walked out from inside.

Everyone bowed and said, "Greetings, Envoy Xu!"

"No need to be polite." The young man waved his hand and said, "I won't say any more nonsense. The defenders outside the city are blocking us. Our mission tonight is to break into the governor's mansion. Inside the governor's mansion, our people are ready. Remember, we are different from those rebels. After we break into the governor's mansion, we are not allowed to rob or kill. If anyone violates the rules, they will be punished according to the rules!"

"Yes!"

Everyone responded in unison.

...

Governor's mansion, for some reason, the governor of Cangzhou always felt a little uneasy tonight.

It was already dark, he walked out of the hall, walked into the yard, and paced anxiously.

A figure walked into the yard from outside, walked to his side, and asked with concern: "Sir, what's wrong?"

The governor of Cangzhou looked at the master next to him and asked: "There is no news about Princess Duanrong yet?"

These days, he didn't pay much attention to the rumors about Princess Duanrong in Cangzhou City, but these days the rumors spread so loudly that the city was full of uproar, and he finally began to feel uneasy in his heart.

When the master heard this, he smiled and said, "Your Excellency, you are overly worried. These things are just the product of extreme exaggeration by foolish people. Do you think that Princess Duanrong can be the emperor?"

Hearing this, the Cangzhou governor felt relieved. After thinking for a while, he added: "There is no wind without fire. There are roots in catching wind and shadow. We cannot take it lightly and let the city defense strengthen its defense these days..."

The master nodded and said, "Yes, I will go down and make arrangements right away."

"In addition, send people to post the portrait of Princess Duanrong, and post more outside the city. Anyone who finds the clues will be rewarded with a thousand taels of silver!"

"As you command!"

Cangzhou Governor waved his hand and said, "Okay, you go down and make arrangements."

Watching the master walk out, he stroked his beard. He didn't want to stay in Cangzhou for a moment longer. If he could catch Princess Duanrong, he would have a bright future...

The master walked out of the courtyard, took two government officials, and walked to the gate of the Governor's Mansion. He said to the gatekeepers: "The Governor has an order to step up patrols in the past few days. There are not enough people on the city defense side. You can go too." Just leave it to the two of them."

Several people did not doubt it, and immediately stepped back after responding respectfully.

At the same time, Cangzhou Governor returned to the hall and paused when he looked at the few people who suddenly appeared in the hall.

A young woman at the front looked at him and asked, "Are you looking for me?"

The Cangzhou governor was stunned for a moment, then his face changed wildly, and he immediately turned around and exited the hall.

At this time, the governor's mansion was already in chaos, and outside the city, fire was rising into the sky, and a voice loomed, like thunder...