Early the next morning, Yi Xiaodao and Xiang Lian'er waited outside the east gate of the capital early, waiting for Huang Bai.
"Xiao Dao, why haven't they come yet?" Xiang Lian'er was a little impatient with the waiting.
Yi Xiaodao was not in a hurry: "What's the rush? They are the envoys appointed by His Majesty at the court. Just wait."
Xiang Lian'er pursed her lips and said, "I haven't traveled far since I was a child. I don't want to see everywhere..."
"You have come from Wancheng to the capital and you haven't traveled far yet!" Yi Xiaodao immediately took over the topic and said.
Fang Long lowered his head and said nothing, thinking in his mind: "My father asked me to follow Yi Xiaodao, saying he wanted to find a future, but now I want to go to Nanhuai with him, what's going on... But if I don't follow him , return to Wancheng to see dad..." Fang Long shook his head and put aside the idea of returning to Wancheng.
The three of them were chatting, and Huang Bai was slowly leading a group of people out of the city.
"Sir Huang! I, Yi Xiaodao, have been ordered to follow Mr. Huang to Nanhuai this time." When Yi Xiaodao saw Huang Bai come out, he dropped the baggage and threw it to Fang Long, ran to Huang Bai and saluted.
"Ah, Young...Yi! I have admired him for a long time. I heard that Yi Shaoxia once captured Kong Bao, stopped an assassin, and made great contributions to the court! With a master like Yi Shaoxia by his side, Huang felt very safe and reliable. !" Huang Baituan sat on the horse and couldn't help being happy when he heard Yi Xiaodao signed up. He had naturally heard of Yi Xiaodao's deeds, and this compliment came from the bottom of his heart.
"Master Huang, thank you. Now that Master Huang is ready, let's set off. This is my sister Xiang Lian'er, and this is...my brother Fang Long. Let's go to Nanhuai with me." Yi Xiaodao Xiang Lian'er and Fang Long were introduced to Huang Bai.
"Okay, they are all young talents! Without further ado, let's go." Huang Bai nodded in recognition, and ordered the soldiers beside him to bring three horses to Yi Xiaodao, "To use as foot power, please three of you. "
Yi Xiaodao thanked him and was about to mount his horse. Suddenly Huang Bai said hesitantly: "Yi Shaoxia, there is one more thing. After all, Huang is on a royal mission to Nanhuai on His Majesty's order. If the three of you are with us, …What an inconvenience.”
Yi Xiaodao's exquisite thoughts revealed immediately, and he immediately replied: "I understand, my brother and sister will just follow them for more than twenty miles, so as not to cause trouble to Mr. Huang. I just don't know the road. I hope Mr. Huang can send someone to stay along the way. Leave simple marks to guide the way.”
"Easy to say, easy to say!" Huang Bai immediately beamed. No wonder His Majesty attaches so much importance to Yi Xiaodao and is so understanding! As a court official, Huang Bai was sent as the emperor's envoy to Nanhuai. Although he was full of reluctance, he had no choice but to travel at this point. What would happen if these three people were followed by the envoy to Nanhuai!
Huang Bai thought he was thinking about the dignity of the court, but he didn't know that if Zhao Yizhi found out about his own actions, he would scold him bloody. Unfortunately, Zhao Yizhi was meditating in the early morning at this time and did not know what happened at the East City Gate. thing.
Huang Bai led the team on horseback and continued slowly towards Nanhuai. Looking at Huang Bai and others leaving, Xiang Lian'er angrily said: "We are all appointed by the emperor, why should we follow him?" The back!"
Yi Xiaodao sighed: "Who let others be officials and we are the people..."
"Then I want to be an official too!" Xiang Lian'er pouted and said angrily.
"Okay, you can be an official, you can be an official..." There was no precedent for women to be officials in the Da Qi Dynasty. Xiang Lian'er didn't know that. Yi Xiaodao didn't bother to explain to Xiang Lian'er, so he nodded and said perfunctorily.
Fang Long heard Xiang Lian'er's "bold words" from the side and suppressed his smile, for fear that the target would be aimed at him.
The three of them waited for about half an hour before getting on their horses and preparing to set off. Xiang Lian'er's horsemanship was much better than before, at least she no longer needed Fang Long to watch.
Relying on the marks left by Huang Bai's messenger, the three of them followed Huang Bai steadily towards Nanhuai.
"Hey, Xiaodao, there's a tea stall in front! It's too hot, let's go have a cup of tea!" Xiang Lian'er saw a small tea stall set up beside the official road in front and said to Yi Xiaodao.
"Okay... let's go have a cup of tea... I'm about to die..." Yi Xiaodao gasped.
"Coward!" Xianglianer wrinkled her nose and laughed.
When they arrived at the teahouse, the three of them sat down and ordered three cups of tea and some pastries. Fang Long and Xiang Lian'er could barely maintain their demeanor. Yi Xiaodao, like a starving ghost reincarnated, stuffed two large pastries and a large cup of tea. After finishing his drink, Dr. Tea was called back by Yi Xiaodao to refill his drink before he could reach his stall.
"Can you please be more polite?" Xiang Lian'er said dissatisfied.
"Shi Wen? Shi Wen... can you just eat?" Yi Xiaodao answered vaguely.
Xiang Lian'er shook her head: "But your appearance is too ugly..."
"Then don't look at it..." Yi Xiaodao still went his own way.
While the two were arguing, four or five beggars came to the tea stall and begged Dr. Tea.
Dr. Tea waved his hands repeatedly: "Go quickly, go quickly, there is no water, no water, it is really unlucky these two days, all these people are passing by begging for food!"
Xiang Lian'er snickered and said, "Is Dr. Tea talking about you?"
Yi Xiaodao stuffed two more pastries into his mouth, and walked to the tea stall with a tea cup. The beggars had been driven away by Dr. Tea. Yi Xiaodao said: "You are too stingy, shopkeeper, don't worry about the charity point. "
Dr. Tea turned around and said: "My lord, you don't know, there are so many beggars in the past two days that we can't give alms at all! They are all like this, three or four, four or five. It's not that I'm cruel, I'm really It’s too many. About twenty or thirty have passed in the past few days!”
"Why are there so many beggars?" Yi Xiaodao asked, confused.
Dr. Tea sighed: "Oh, who knows! At first I thought they were people fleeing the flood in Wancheng, but I heard that the imperial court has allocated disaster relief food funds to Wancheng. There is a shortage of people for drainage, farming and work over there. There are people from other places going to Wancheng, but there are no people who are fleeing."
Yi Xiaodao heard what the tea doctor said was true. He took a tea cup and went out to take a look. He saw several beggars walking together, either crawling or supporting them. They were missing arms and legs. They were really miserable. One of the beggars, a little girl, reluctantly looked back at the tea stall. This turn almost scared the tea cup out of Yi Xiaodao's hand.
I saw that the little girl's face was densely covered with pimples, and one of her eyes was blind. There was nothing in the black eye socket.
"Is this...a human or a ghost..." Yi Xiaodao calmed down and couldn't help but ask.
"Sir, stop looking. I'm scared. I've seen weirder things than this. That miserable look...it's so scary..." Dr. Cha thought he was not surprised and tried to persuade Yi Xiaodao.
Xiang Lian'er shouted from the table: "Xiao Dao, if you don't come here, we will finish the pastry."
Yi Xiaodao put aside his doubts and didn't think about the beggars who were leaving. He returned to the table and said, "Let's leave quickly after eating. Those beggars just scared me to death."
Xiang Lian'er said jokingly: "When you came to my house to beg for food, you scared me to death. At that time, I thought to myself, what a skinny little nigger, hahahaha..."
Yi Xiaodao had no intention of talking to Xiang Lian'er. He kept thinking about the little girl who left just now and the dark eyes. He knew all the beggars in Wancheng, and he had seen those with missing arms and legs, but he had never seen such a terrifying appearance.
In fact, beggars should also pay attention to their facial appearance. Otherwise, if you raise your head and frighten people, it will be a trivial matter if you scare them away. If you annoy others and beat you up in the street, no one will come to start a fight. Naturally, Yi Xiaodao would not talk about these things to Xiang Lianer and Xiang Lianer. Firstly, they did not see it, and secondly, they would not laugh at their "career" again.
Yi Xiaodao stopped thinking about what happened just now and answered Xiang Lian'er's words: "Why don't I remember going to your house? When?"
"That's all I need to remember." Xiang Lian'er couldn't say it, so she mumbled it.
The three of them ate and drank, settled the bill, led the horses out, and continued on their way. What surprised Yi Xiaodao was that he kept walking along the official road but did not notice the beggars who had just left. It seemed that those beggars were just there. Nothing has ever happened before.
The three of them gradually walked away. Behind them, behind a private house next to the official road, several beggars were squatting there. They were the same beggars who had just left the tea stall!
A middle-aged man stood up. His clothes were ragged, his hair was stained with bits of dry yellow mud, his feet were bare, and his feet were stained with large pieces of mud. They were extremely dirty, but at this time he was already among the group. Among the beggars, he has the best appearance, at least he can be seen as a person at a glance.
The middle-aged man kicked the little girl who had just turned her head to the ground and kicked her: "Damn it! I kindly took you to ask for water, just to look at something! If things go wrong, you will be blamed. , I will make your life worse than death!"
Although the little girl was kicked to the ground, she didn't cry. She just lay on the ground and looked at the direction in which Yi Xiaodao and the others were leaving. The remaining eye showed only indifference, as if she had been kicked. Not just myself.
"Elder Tang, have mercy, have mercy. After all, you are a child and you are not sensible." Several other beggars nearby knelt on the ground and kowtowed, begging for mercy on the little girl's behalf.
After being kicked and beaten, blood flowed from the corner of the little girl's mouth. The middle-aged man called Elder Tang stopped, pointed at the beggars and scolded: "If anyone dares to read and talk nonsense again, I will let him go." He died here in Nanhuai!"
All the beggars bowed their heads repeatedly, expressing that they did not dare. After a while, the group of beggars came to the official road again, walking or crawling, all looking weird.
In the capital, Zhao Yizhi opened his eyes and withdrew from his meditative state.
"They left?" Zhao Yizhi asked Wang Zhenliang beside him.
"Your Majesty, I left early in the morning!" Wang Zhenliang replied.
Zhao Yizhi nodded: "Okay, as long as Yi Xiaodao is gone, let's wait for his good news."
Wang Zhenliang asked: "Where is He Yue'er in the city..."
Zhao Yizhi waved his hand: "Ask Qingtian and the others to arrange a shift and guard her personally every day. If He Yue'er loses a hair, I will ask them!"
Wang Zhenliang responded and exited the palace.
After about half a day, Hu Lishan snickered in prison: "Hehehe, how can any girl not lose her hair..."
