Seeing Su Qingluan's surprised face, the servant hurriedly explained, "Madam Su, it's quite cold out there. Our shopkeeper Liang told me to give you a ride, fearing you'd get your clothes wet carrying the crab basket. I didn't expect you to be so fast, and while I was loading the crab basket, you were gone!"
Su Qingluan felt a little embarrassed when she heard this: It's not just about fast pace, she even forgot about the crab itself.
"Please wait here for a moment. I'll bring the donkey cart over." The boy handed over the crab basket.
Upon hearing this, Su Qingluan quickly said, "No need. I'm not used to riding that donkey cart. It's better to walk faster." Otherwise, all the bones in my body will be shaken apart!
The servant pointed to the sky and said, "You'd better take the donkey cart. Although it may not be very comfortable, at least it will provide some shelter. Otherwise, if it rains later, you will catch a cold, which would be bad."
Su Qingluan looked up and saw: As expected, the weather that was just a little cloudy has now gradually become covered with leaden clouds, and the clouds are showing signs of getting thicker.
"Thank you for your help." Su Qingluan nodded to the servant. After all, she had just been ill a while ago, and if she caught a cold again at this time, she didn't know if her body could withstand it.
"It's not worth a trouble!" The servant smiled and went back to pull the donkey cart. Su Qingluan put the crab basket at her feet and looked around boredly, but she saw that the place where the notice was posted at the street intersection was crowded with people, as if they were watching something exciting.
Originally, the notice board here was usually used as a corner for "important affairs announcements" because it was a fork in the road that had to be passed when entering or leaving the city or going to every place in the town, and there was a large flow of people.
Generally speaking, the notices here are either posters offering rewards for the capture of wanted criminals by the imperial court, or there are some government decrees to be issued, which are also posted here.
Su Qingluan had seen crowds of people here before, but this was the first time she'd seen such a dense crowd. Perhaps she'd only been around a short time and hadn't seen much, she thought to herself.
Su Qingluan turned her head to look in the direction of Hongfu Tower. It seemed that the servant had not returned yet, so Su Qingluan simply went over to see what was going on.
When I got closer, I found that there were more people watching than I had imagined. Su Qingluan was still growing and not very tall, so she could only stand behind the crowd like a little rabbit, jumping here and there to take a look, then jumping again and taking another look.
This went on several times, and before she could see clearly what was written on the "big-character poster" in front of her, the people around her were laughing.
"Hey, young man," the old man next to her said with a smile, stroking his gray goatee because Su Qingluan was dressed in men's clothes, "you're not tall, but you're quite curious. Be careful that your basket doesn't get stolen! There are so many people here, and if you lose something, you won't know where to go!"
Su Qingluan scratched her head embarrassedly when she heard this. "Father, please forgive me for laughing. I don't come to this town often. This is the first time I've seen so many people watching the fun. I'm a little curious. What's going on? I want to join in the fun."
The old man smiled and shook his head. "Not to mention you, young man. In my entire life, this is the first time I've seen so many people. But this notice is just unusual."
Su Qingluan was intrigued when she heard this: Could it be that this old man knew something? So she couldn't help but move closer and ask, "Old man, what exactly is this notice?"
The old man didn't answer immediately, but only asked: "Little brother, do you still remember what happened about half a month ago?"
"Half a month ago?" Su Qingluan scratched her head: Did anything happen half a month ago?
Almost half a month ago, she went to Mu Xingzhi's house for a "thank you banquet"... Huh?
"The moon... well, is the moon eaten by a heavenly dog?" Su Qingluan asked.
"That's right!" The old man glared, "It was clearly almost the middle of the moon, but the sky was pitch black. It was simply... simply a bad omen!" When he said the last four words, the old man lowered his voice.
Su Qingluan: ...Well, this kind of "unlucky omen" happens every year, and sometimes more than once, it's just a matter of whether we can observe it or not.
Of course, this couldn't be said. Su Qingluan just nodded, but her curiosity about the "excitement" also subsided.
But the old man's next words piqued her curiosity again—"The one sitting on the Dragon Throne is extremely worried, so he issued this edict of remorse! I've lived for most of my life, and this is the first time I've seen an edict of remorse. Of course I have to come and see the excitement!"
Su Qingluan's mouth twitched when she heard this: Well, this turns out to be the emperor's way of giving the people a "peace of mind pill".
After issuing the "Edict of Confession of Sins", whether it was "the moon being eaten by a heavenly dog" or "years of famine", it was "God blaming the emperor". The emperor expressed deep self-reflection and wrote a letter of self-reflection for everyone to see.
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but grumble: What's the point of just writing a "self-criticism"? The exorbitant taxes and levies brought even the capitalists to tears. She'd always remember the first time she faced the reality of "collecting more tax grain than was left over," and she'd never forget the villagers who looked worried despite a bumper harvest.
Thinking of this, she couldn't say it. At this moment, she heard someone calling her from behind, so she hurriedly said goodbye to the old man and turned to look for the sound. Sure enough, it was the servant who was driving the donkey cart and stopped by the side of the road.
"Hey, little brother, I'm here," Su Qingluan pointed to the three layers of onlookers behind, "I was just watching the excitement here."
"You gave me a fright!" the servant laughed. "I was afraid you'd go back on your own, and our shopkeeper would have given me a good beating!"
Su Qingluan put the crab basket on the truck bed with a smile and climbed up herself: "It's okay! Uncle Liang knows my temper and won't blame you for this. Otherwise, I will talk to him next time to prevent him from 'wrongly accusing the innocent'."
"That's not necessary. The boss will at most give me two chestnuts rolling on my head. The pain will only last for a while." The servant scratched his head with a smile.
After lowering the curtain, Su Qingluan sat alone in the donkey cart. The windows on both sides were sealed with oil paper, and the light in the entire carriage was dim.
This reminded her of the previous "Confession of Sins".
According to the old man, he had never seen a "confession of guilt" in his life. However, as far as Su Qingluan knew, although the specific cause of lunar eclipses was unknown in this era, there were official astronomical staff like the "Imperial Astronomical Observatory".
So it stands to reason that over the past few decades, there must have been more than one or two lunar eclipses.
So why did the ruler on the Dragon Throne issue a "confession of guilt" this time?
Opening the car window, Su Qingluan looked at the increasingly thick clouds outside, and suddenly had a premonition: a storm was coming.
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