In the garden of Prince Liang's mansion, Li Ziyu and Kong Xun finally got rid of the group of women. Now they were standing by the waterside pavilion, looking at the withered lotus leaves in the pond after the winter.

The two looked at each other, and both felt that there was a pair of eyes in the dark watching their every move all the time.

Although Li Ziyu was brought into the county magistrate's mansion as a retainer by Xin Weiwei, he and Feng Yuxiu, who was with him, still felt that someone was secretly monitoring them.

Kong Xun was not under constant surveillance, but he was forcibly invited into the mansion by Si Lingling's men and was given good food and drink but was not allowed to walk around. Everyone in the Prince Liang's mansion treated him as a plaything of their little princess.

The servants were polite to him on the surface, but turned around and showed contempt and disdain to him.

Fortunately, the boy Shan Yongzhen who followed him was quite smart. He often helped some low-level servants in the Prince Liang's Mansion with work and ran errands, and they got along well.

After finding out when King Liang would return, Kong Xun had the opportunity to meet him. He pretended to explain the situation to him, hoping that King Liang would let him leave the palace and give him freedom.

King Liang saw that Kong Xun had a handsome appearance and elegant manners, and looked like a scholar.

He had heard from the housekeeper that her daughter had brought back a good-looking man from outside and said that he was staying in the mansion for a while.

Now the two of them were standing in the water pavilion, surrounded by water. There was only a wooden covered bridge leading to here, so they were not afraid of being heard when they talked.

Kong Xun: "The King of Liang asked me to leave Princess Si Lingling and now he has arranged for me to live in the front yard, where several of the palace's staff live."

Li Ziyu looked at the water surface, where the koi were floating and swimming. He picked up some bait from a box beside him and scattered it for the fish to scramble for. Then he spoke: "I found something strange in the county governor's mansion."

Kong Xun, who was standing with his hands behind his back, turned and looked at him, indicating that he should continue.

"It's just that County Magistrate Xin never goes to the backyard to rest."

Kong Xun was slightly stunned: "..." How could the person in front of him talk about other people's private life gossip without any expression.

"I also discovered that he let Xin Weiwei, who was rumored to be very fond of his daughter, do whatever she wanted. He never disciplined her regardless of whether she was right or wrong, and there was no so-called love in his eyes when he looked at her."

Li Ziyu didn't even raise his eyes and continued, "Do you think this is a normal reaction of a father loving his daughter?"

Kong Xun paused. At first he thought that what Li Ziyu heard was the gossip in the county magistrate's mansion, but when he thought about it now, he felt something unusual.

Not going to the backyard can be seen as a sign of marital discord. If it were a response to an unloved child, County Magistrate Xin's behavior would be understandable.

However, they found out that the county magistrate, Xin Xuyao, had his luck turn around the year Xin Weiwei was born. He was promoted repeatedly and was sent here to be the county magistrate within a few years, becoming a local leader.

Although Lingnan is not a wealthy place, he is still far away and no one can make him poorer than him.

Therefore, County Magistrate Xin believed that his daughter was his lucky star and he loved her very much since she was born. However, this could not be considered as a true expression of his love for his daughter.

The two didn't say much, after all, there was someone watching them in secret.

Li Ziyu and Kong Xun had just returned to the garden pavilion where a group of young ladies and their brothers or fiancés were, when they saw the maid Si Lingling stopping a servant who was in a hurry to go to the main hall to report something.

"The princess asked me a question, and you didn't answer."

The servant lowered his head slightly, thinking about it and realized there was nothing he couldn't say, so he reported back: "A large group of people came to the gate of the palace, begging our prince to make a decision for them.

They said that the newly harvested grain this year was robbed by mountain bandits, and the county governor's office increased the taxes and levies, and the people hoped that the prince could save them.

After hearing this, Si Lingling had already lost interest in listening further, but she saw Kong Xun looking towards the gate frequently.

So he took everyone to the gate of the palace to watch the excitement.

This is a dire strait for the common people, but in the eyes of these rich young ladies and gentlemen who have no worries about food and drink, it is just a fun thing to watch.

"Please, butler, let us meet the prince. The prince is kind-hearted, and he will definitely make the decision for us."

"Yes! I beg you, butler. If the prince cannot save us, we will starve to death this year."

"Bang, bang." For a moment, in front of the gate of Prince Liang's Mansion, hundreds of ragged people were lying on the ground, banging their heads, and their foreheads were red and swollen.

It's obvious that life is unbearable, otherwise no one would be so bored as to torture themselves.

"Hehehe," Si Lingling pointed at the skinny child and said with a smile, "Look at that little guy, his head is bigger than his body, his eyes are sunken, his cheekbones are high, how can he be so ugly?"

"That's right, that's right." Another aloof young lady agreed with Si Lingling and said, "Look at that person. Not only are some of his clothes too long and some too short, but they are also patched up. Why doesn't he change into new clothes when he goes out?"

Following the young ladies out were several wealthy young masters from Lingnan City. Even in winter, they were still holding a folding fan in their hands.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

He gently fanned his nose and said with disdain in his eyes: "Let's go back. The sour smell on these people is nauseating."

When Kong Xun heard what these high-handed young men and women said, a cold light flashed in the depths of his eyes.

He remembered that when An Xin took them traveling, they passed by a wealthy family and saw a few little beggars waiting there shivering in the middle of winter.

At that time, Chen Qibao asked curiously: Why don't those beggars find a place to hide from the wind, and what are they doing standing at the back door? Then he heard An Xin's answer without any emotion: Waiting for food.

Sure enough, soon the back door of the house was opened from the inside, and a servant came out. The words he said were even more biting and chilling than the cold wind at that time.

“My master said that beggars like you often hang around outside our house, which will affect the feng shui of our house.

From now on, even if the leftovers in our house are thrown away to feed pigs or dogs, we will never give them to you to eat again."

In the end, those beggars who did not get any food were forcibly driven away by the servants who were guarding the house with sticks.

Kong Xun remembered that he, Yuchi Yi, Gao Tai and Chen Qibao were all so angry that their eyes turned red.

At that time, only the head of the mountain, with a cold face, spoke in a deep voice, a passage that he still remembers vividly.

"The rich are feasting and drinking, while the poor are freezing on the streets. The difference between prosperity and decline is just a matter of seconds..."

An Xin said that this was written by a man named Du. She read it by chance and thought it was quite appropriate for the situation at that time, so she couldn't help but speak it out.

Before they left, the family heard that all their money had been stolen, and that they quickly fell into poverty due to poor management and lack of sufficient liquid funds.