The Crown Prince I’m Raising Has Turned Evil

Xie Linlang obediently didn't make a sound. It wasn't until the old man breathed a sigh of relief that she asked strangely.

"Were those from Shibo Division just now? Why are you so afraid of them?"

Seeing Xie Linlang speaking standard Mandarin, the old lady replied in Mandarin with a slight accent.

"Aren't you a runaway slave?"

"Me?" Xie Linlang looked down at the scarf around her neck, feeling a bit dumbfounded. She thought the smell of the market was too strong, so she wrapped a piece of cloth around her mouth and nose. Unexpectedly, she was treated as a runaway slave.

So she shook her head, "I'm not, I came to buy something, but I was squeezed here."

Seeing that the old woman suddenly became nervous, Xie Linlang said again.

"But I'm not a bad person. Don't worry. I know you were kind-hearted to help me just now, but I just don't know... what's going on in this Shibo Company?"

Seeing that she didn't look malicious, the old woman said slowly.

"Brother, you've never been to a lower-class port, have you? You don't even know that the Shipping Department..."

This is the first time Xie Linlang knows that the capital city and even the port are divided into upper, middle and lower grades?

The old woman continued, "The Municipal Shipping Department is responsible for the entry and exit and management of the port, and they are also responsible for collecting taxes...

You just saw the people outside running away in such a hurry. They either did not pay taxes, were runaway slaves, or were black households without household registration... Once these three types are caught by the Shipping Department, the punishment will be very severe, so everyone must run. "

Xie Linlang thought back to the past and found that almost everyone was running away. These people could not be runaway slaves or black households. They should be evading taxes.

The old woman sighed.

"Taxes are getting heavier year by year... People who have been squeezed by slaves and can no longer survive will hide in lower-class ports to make a living, because people from the Shipping Department find it smelly and generally don't come often, so they can evade taxes. "

Xie Linlang was really amazed when she heard it!

Seeing that she was in a daze and it was getting late outside, the old woman was kind-hearted and asked Xie Linlang if she wanted to stay for dinner.

Xie Linlang knew that she definitely didn't have much food, so how could she eat it.

But while the old woman was talking, a bowl of porridge was served to her from the stove on one side.

"You're welcome, it's not a good thing, it's just ordinary fish porridge, eat it..."

As she spoke, she filled out a few more bowls of porridge, talking as she filled them.

"You don't look like a bad person. This world is a dangerous place. You just have to help each other to survive..."

Xie Linlang held the pottery bowl and looked at the porridge, which was not too thick and had a slight fishy smell, and felt very emotional.

At this time, seeing the old woman picking up the tray and going somewhere, Xie Linlang quickly stepped forward to help.

"Where do you want to take it? I'll help you!"

She was still very strong and could still lift the tray with six pottery bowls easily.

When the old woman saw that she could do it, she was not polite. She removed a wooden cover in the corner of the house, revealing a cellar!

She went down first. Xie Linlang was a little strange, but followed closely.

As soon as I stepped down, a faint coolness hit my face. There were four young male slaves hiding in the cellar, which was originally only used to store food!

When they saw Xie Linlang, they immediately became vigilant, but since Xie Linlang was brought here by the old woman, they didn't say anything.

The old woman said happily, "The fish brought back by the boss today is very fresh. Come and eat!"

Xie Linlang placed the tray on the simple stone table in the cellar. Each of the boys took a bowl, but they all picked up the small portion.

Seeing Xie Linlang looking at them in a daze, the old lady didn't hide anything and said directly.

"These children are all runaway slaves, but thanks to them, the old woman didn't starve to death. But they don't like to talk, so don't mind."

It turns out that the people in this area are very poor, and most of them are old and weak, or people who cannot survive outside.

Later, many escaped slaves came here. Although they were slaves, they were hardworking and strong.

Therefore, basically every household would take in escaped slaves. On the one hand, the escaped slaves could help them by working for them, and on the other hand, they could also provide shelter for the escaped slaves to prevent them from being captured by the officials.

The two sides supported each other, avoided the city porters and city officials, and lived a difficult life in the dark side of the prosperous capital.

And these are already the norm in Lianyu Port. Many people know it and it is not a secret.

After hearing this, Xie Linlang felt quite heavy. She asked, "I think people outside hate slaves. Why are you willing to take them in?"

The old woman said with a smile.

"How can there be any hatred? They are also poor children, and if they hadn't been willing to stay with me, I, an old woman, wouldn't be able to work and would have starved to death long ago.

Even though many people outside hate slaves, what they really hate are not slaves.

Just like the wife of the Wang family at the market entrance, she shouted every day that she couldn't live anymore and wanted to drive all the slaves out of the capital. But in fact, their family would cook more food every day and feed it to the slaves under the Dongqiao Bridge. Leftovers to eat at home.

But they are all extremely poor, who has leftovers to eat..."

The old woman said and shook her head, "What everyone hates is just the slave owners, but some small slave owners buy and sell slaves to make a living.

The really hateful people are the people above! Hey, hey...it’s okay not to mention these! They are all big shots, how can they care about the life and death of ordinary people like us. "

Seeing that Xie Linlang kept asking questions and was holding the bowl of porridge without moving, one of the four silent male slaves asked with a somewhat unkind tone.

"Why don't you eat? Don't you look down on it?"

Although Xie Linlang was dressed normally, things like aura couldn't be concealed with clothes.

As soon as he said this, the old woman felt a little embarrassed and she said awkwardly.

"There's nothing else good at home... Moreover, the fish porridge is not bad. I heard that people living in Dongji can only eat one meal a day, and they have to do the heaviest hard work. There are people there every day. So exhausted."

Xie Linlang took a deep breath, shook her head and said, "No, I don't dislike it, I just think the world is not easy."

As she spoke, she lowered her head to drink the porridge. The porridge was indeed fishy and unpalatable, but when she ate it, it reminded her of the days when she couldn't eat, and there were times when she was very embarrassed.

In order to make her obedient, the Witch King locked her in the dungeon for three days and three nights. When she was extremely hungry with no water or rice, she even ate live scorpions. Now that I think about it, how did she, who was afraid of insects, eat them at that time? Going down?

She finished the porridge, then stood up and left. It was obvious that the male slaves did not welcome her.

But before leaving, Xie Linlang took out all the money he had, three taels in total, and gave it all to the old woman.

The old woman was shocked, and before she could refuse, Xie Linlang had already left.