Chapter 795 A Dream of Youth 327
The team leader was silent for a while, not knowing how to tell Xie Ning that the Song family's fortified village was united because they were all their own people. Even if there were outsiders, they basically obeyed the Song family. The clan was able to unite their strength.
Other counties and towns are different; they all live their own lives.
Fortunately, Xie Ning was just asking casually. She actually knew the truth, but it was hard for her to accept the scene she saw. The enemy was watching closely from outside Wenshui County, and the soldiers here not only did not think of providing support, but they also did not have the awareness to strengthen their defenses.
"Quick, bring the old man another pot of wine!" Several soldiers dressed in cotton-padded clothes and armor sat in a tavern on the street. Their spears were casually thrown on the ground. Smoke billowed outside, but it did not affect their drinking and merrymaking at all.
The tavern owner glanced at the ledger with a worried expression. It was full of people who ate and dashed, but he didn't dare offend any of the military officers. He ordered his waiter to fetch another jar of wine.
When the captain saw Xie Ning stop, he thought Xie Ning was going to teach those soldiers a lesson, but Xie Ning only glanced at them indifferently and rode away.
"Brother Chao, look at that horse, it's so handsome! I wish we had such a good horse." The man called Brother Chao looked in the direction the other man was pointing and immediately sobered up a lot.
He kicked the person next to him and said, "You, go tell those brats that a big shot is here. Tell them to fleece as much as they can, but don't go too far! Otherwise, I'll have to clean up their mess again."
Xie Ning was unaware that someone was trying to fleece her. While she was in the rented inn, she wandered around outside and inquired about things in the town. To her surprise, the local people had a pretty good impression of the people in the town's patrol office.
"Old Liu, you're just bragging. Those guys in the town patrol are always eating, drinking, and defaulting on their debts. Not one of them is any good!"
Old Liu spat, "Old Lai, aren't you just holding a grudge because you gambled away money and didn't get to sell your daughter? If it weren't for the town patrol, your daughter would have jumped into the river. Your little girl is only eleven, and you're already trying to sell her to a place like that? Are you even human?"
If it weren't for Lao Lai's daughter-in-law carrying her sister-in-law to the town patrol office, they would have all been kidnapped by Lao Lai's men! Now the little one lives with her brother and sister-in-law. After all, she lost her mother, and her father is a scoundrel, so she'll be sold sooner or later.
The eldest sister-in-law, being like a mother to the child and a kind one at that, took the child in when she saw how pitiful he was.
The two old men were arguing loudly, and Old Liu even shouted at the young man who was making fish cakes nearby, "Xiao Su, you're the town patrol officer, aren't you?!"
The young man nodded with a smile, then continued making pancakes with his head down.
Xie Ning's gaze fell on the young man's hands, which were red from the cold, and she said, "How many pancakes do you have left? I'll buy them all."
"Oh my, a big client!" Old Liu squinted at Xie Ning. He was good at reading people's expressions and could tell at a glance that Xie Ning was a gentle and noble person, which was why he was not afraid of or distant from Xie Ning because of his clothes.
Xiao Su swallowed hard, trying to count on his fingers how much money he could make. He sold out so early, he could still go work as a porter tonight!
"Brother, are you also from the town's patrol office? What are you doing setting up a stall here? Shouldn't you be guarding the gate and patrolling?"
Xiao Su was simple-minded and honest. When Xie Ning asked him the question, he answered honestly, "This nobleman is joking. The town's patrol office can't even pay its rations. If we don't find some work, we won't be able to eat."
Although he was all alone and didn't have a family to support, he still needed to eat and wear clothes. The imperial court didn't care about them, so they had to find a way to survive on their own.
Xie Ning glanced at Xiao Su's clothes and his heart sank. "What about the rations and cotton-padded clothes provided by the imperial court?"
This is not a secret. "It's all with the superior. The garrison commander is timid and doesn't dare to fight for it. His share of the allowance is always withheld every year. But our garrison commander is considered better. If he has a piece of meat to eat, he will leave some soup for the brothers."
It's just a matter of how close or distant the relationship is.
Someone as marginalized as him certainly wouldn't get anything.
Xie Ning glanced at the team leader who had booked a room and gestured for him to have someone take the fish cakes and deliver them to the other troops outside the town.
Since things weren't settled here, Xie Ning didn't bring any outsiders in, but only led five people into the town.
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