It was still dark outside the window, but the crowing of cocks broke the silence of Linzi city. The turmoil in the city yesterday seemed to still be fresh in front of our eyes. The servants got up when the cocks crowed. They only wore thin socks tied around their calves with thin ropes, and walked quietly in the room.
The servants started working in the morning, fetching water, cooking, or cleaning the corridor.
But after all, they are a common people's family, not a noble family, so the rules are not that strict, and they will get together and talk while working.
"The king is back." The servants leaned against each other.
The maid whispered, "The master asked us to buy more food last night."
“Linzi may be closed.”
The servants looked at each other and thought it was very likely.
"If the city is sealed, merchants inside the city can't leave, and outsiders can't come in." The maid was a little worried, "The fish that Madam likes to eat must be fresh."
Linzi is a plain with only a river outside the city. Farmers outside the city would carry baskets on their backs into the city every day to sell vegetables.
However, the farmers outside the city could not produce enough food to feed the entire population of Linzi City.
Therefore, the people still have to rely on grain merchants for food.
However, various countries do not welcome merchants very much. Merchants will not stay in one place for a long time. Many of them are spies from other countries. Whenever they arrive at a place, they may spread rumors, collect information, and bribe officials.
They cannot serve the country, have no moral principles, and will do anything for money.
So the monarchs liked the goods they brought, but were also aware that they were a threat.
But to the common people, merchants are still very likable. Most of them have never left their homeland in their entire lives, and all their knowledge of the outside world comes from merchants who travel far and wide. If there were no merchants, they would lack a lot of things.
For example, needles from Lu, cloth from Zhao, and bacon from Wei, they would not be able to buy them without merchants.
The upper class is afraid of businessmen, but cannot do without them.
The lower class likes merchants and wishes that countless merchants could flock to Linzi to bring more and cheaper goods to the people of Linzi.
"Madam's appetite has been getting worse since she became pregnant." Another maid sighed, "She has become thinner since she became pregnant, and there is no flesh on her face."
The maids were worried because many merchants had left when Zuotu was in control of the government.
The merchants would not do anything without profit. They thought that the State of Chen was going to be in chaos, so they immediately packed up their property and belongings and left.
Anyway, you can do business anywhere, and there are plenty of places to choose from if you leave Linzi.
"The soybean paste that the master likes to eat is no longer available." The maid sighed, "The master only asked us to buy more yellow rice."
The person next to him whispered, "The price of yellow rice is high."
The grain price in Linzi has always been high. Although it is a major grain-producing country, its grain price is the highest among all countries.
There are no secrets in the royal capital, but any secret will be made known to everyone. Less than three days after Zuo Tu took control of the government, all the people in Linzi knew that Zuo Tu was disrupting the government.
The scholars would even take to the streets to curse Zuo Tu, believing that he was not a royal bloodline and that controlling the government was an attempt to steal the country, which would never last long. They wanted to see Zuo Tu bring about his own destruction.
Although the scholars did not have much respect for the Marquis of Chen, they all believed that he was the legitimate monarch and that the land of Chen was granted by the emperor and was legitimate.
Fortunately, Zuo Tu was not a fool, and he did not harm these scholars by allowing them to run to the streets and curse every day.
After a long time, the scholars were tired of scolding. After all, they were scholars and could not do much except using their mouths. Even if they wanted to find someone to "support the Chen family", they had to have generals willing to listen to them.
The maid in the inner room came out jogging: "Madam is awake. She said she wants to eat fresh fish noodles."
The maids who were working looked at each other, and the short maid said to the others, "I'll go out and take a look."
"Take the money." The maids sighed, "If you can't buy fresh fish, buy some dried fish. I don't think the lady will be angry."
The short maid nodded, picked up the bamboo basket and walked out the door.
She is a hereditary servant of this family, and her parents and brothers have all been slaves of this family for generations.
Rather than saying that she is a slave, it would be better to say that she is half a master and the confidant of the masters. She grew up with the young masters and ladies and is also educated. Things like purchasing are usually done by servants who are valued.
The maid walked cautiously on the road. Linzi city was quieter than usual. There were almost no people on the roadside, and the teahouses that used to be open for guests were all closed. She looked at the wheel tracks on the road and timidly took a detour.
After walking for a while, she finally reached the place where she used to buy fish.
Farmers from the surrounding areas would carry their shoulder poles to the walls of the inner city and sell their wares before daybreak.
The patrolling soldiers would charge them some money, but not much. If it were more, the farmers would not come again.
But today she didn't see a single farmer.
The maid stood there, the expression on her face turned bitter. The lady's appetite had been poor since she became pregnant, and she could only eat fish, which she used to find fishy. The master and the lady truly loved each other. When the master married the lady, he said that after marrying her, he would never take a concubine in his life and would not make her sad.
But the lady had been married for eight years and finally got pregnant, but she became thinner.
The master couldn't eat because of this, and the servants in the house were all worried, fearing that something might happen to his lady.
If something happens to the lady, the master will not be able to survive.
The master even asked the doctor whether his wife's health could recover if he didn't have the child.
Unfortunately, the doctor said that if the abortion was forced, my wife might not be able to bear it.
The master then gave up and became depressed every day, staying with his wife all day long.
The maid saw it all and was anxious. She wished she could suffer for her mistress. She was so anxious that tears welled up in her eyes.
"What's wrong?" A man passing by saw the young lady standing by the wall crying and asked with a sly smile, "Which young man made you sad?"
The maid sniffed and wiped her eyes, not caring about the man's frivolous tone: "The fishmonger didn't come."
The man was flattered to see that she was willing to talk to him, and he said quickly, "I'm here! Why aren't you here? But they all went to the south of the city. People over there were watching the fun, and the fishmongers saw that there were many people over there, so they went there to sell their fish."
"Really?" The maid's eyes lit up.
The man touched his nose, lowered his head slightly and said, "Can I still lie to you? The scholars have all gone there. Yesterday, the king returned to the city and brought back a few people. They all said that there was a miracle in the south of the city. I was about to go there too."
The maid didn't care about whether it was a miracle or not, she only cared about buying the fish.
So she bowed slightly to the man to show her gratitude, and then immediately walked towards the south of the city.
The originally deserted street became more and more crowded as we got closer to the south of the city, but most of them were young people - they looked like they had sneaked out of their homes, with dust still on their bodies from climbing over the wall.
The maid looked at the two young men in front of her with their butts and backs covered in dust, and a smile appeared on her face.
The two young men said as they walked, "Isn't it that the Lord has returned to the city? Why did he leave us at home? Could the Lord be willing to kill someone? The Zhao thief dare not do it, and the Lord has a soft temper, so he will not do it either."
"Besides, there are no thieves in our house."
"Humph! Those who surrender to the thieves are all rats! The most shameless ones!"
"Now that the Lord has returned to the city, we should come out openly. The Lord of Chen has returned, this is a happy occasion!"
"When we get home, I'll say it was you who helped me climb over the wall."
"What?! It was you who brought me!"
…
The maid lowered her head and smiled.
When they reached the south of the city, the maid was shocked by the scene in front of her. Are there so many people in the south of the city?
She saw that almost everyone had gathered together to form a human wall. These people included peddlers, gentlemen in fine clothes, and young couples.
The maid saw the fishmonger carrying his load at a glance and she immediately walked towards him.
When the fishmonger saw her coming, he immediately stood up and smiled at her ingratiatingly: "The fish were caught this morning, they are all fresh, and they were still alive when I skewered them!"
The maid squatted down and picked around in the frame. Finally, she picked up two fish strung together by willow branches. She took out some coins from her waist pouch, handed them over, and asked, "Why are so many people crowded here? Did something happen?"
The fishmonger's face flushed as he said, "Wasn't the house of the Weiguo merchant burned down? They said a group of people came last night. No, I don't know if they were human beings. There was light on their heads. They were able to build a house overnight. It was different from an ordinary house. Now, everyone has come to see it."
The maid was a little surprised: "Overnight?"
The fishmonger nodded: "That's right! They all say it's a miracle! Some people were kneeling in front of the house earlier!"
Hearing this, the maid also wanted to squeeze into the crowd to take a look. She was itching to do so, but she remembered that she still had to take the fish back, so she hesitated for a moment, put the fish in the bamboo basket, and walked towards home.
She walked quickly, wishing she could go home immediately so that she could release the fish and come back to watch the fun.
The fishmonger looked at the fish in the basket. The good fish had all been picked out, and the only ones left were small fish. So he no longer devoted all his attention to his business. He picked up his shoulder pole again, moved left and right, and squeezed in, trying to get inside to see what the house looked like.
The further you squeeze in, the more you hear.
"Look at that window, it's colorless! I don't know what it's made of, and I don't know which country's craftsmen have such skills."
"Where can you find a craftsman with such skills? I heard that the moonlight cup would cost several cities to exchange. This is much bigger than the moonlight cup. A window like this is more valuable than our Linzi."
"I don't know what this house is made of. The roof is so flat. Aren't you afraid of snow accumulation in winter?"
“The wall is so smooth that it doesn’t even look like it was carved by humans.”
"It was built overnight. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it."
“No one dared to knock on the door.”
"Hahahahahaha, if someone came out of that room at this moment, I'm afraid everyone here would scatter!"
The fishmonger smelled of fish, and there were water stains and mud on his cuffs, so he squeezed along the way and people along the way had to give way to him.
He finally squeezed to the front of the crowd, opened his mouth in astonishment, and exclaimed in a low voice: "Wow..."
Before he finished sighing, he and everyone else gasped - the door of the room was actually opened!
The transparent door opened to both sides, what a strange and erotic technique! But before everyone could sigh, they saw a man in strange clothes walking out from inside - his arms were exposed, his hair was shaved, and there was only a layer of stubble on the top of his head.
Nowadays, shaving one's head is a criminal law, and anyone with shaved hair can be seen as a criminal.
But this person doesn't look like a sinner at all.
He was not tall, but had a great aura, and with a smile on his face, he actually looked quite kind. He first raised his hands and clasped his fists, but in his hands he held a trumpet-shaped object, and no one knew what it was.
People saw that although he had an amazing aura, he was just an ordinary person, with no more eyes or mouths than ordinary people, so they were not afraid. Some people even shouted, "You are the owner of this house?! How was this house built? Did you really invite a monster with a glowing head to repair the house last night?!"
The crowd was chattering. This was Linzi, their home, and the people in the house did not attack them, so they did not think they were in danger. Instead, they felt that they were the hosts and the others were the guests.
"Everyone, be quiet!" The man put the trumpet-like object to his mouth. His voice was like a bell, and even the person standing at the back of the crowd could hear it clearly.
It was like pouring cold water into a frying pan; the crowd immediately boiled over after a brief silence.
"So clear! Is this the way to transmit sound over thousands of miles?!"
"I don't think so. I'm afraid this person practices martial arts and has internal strength!"
"...You've heard too many stories, haven't you? Where does the inner strength come from? If there is inner strength, why don't we see people flying?"
"I think it's the trumpet's fault!"
"I think so. I've discovered before that if you cup your hands like a trumpet and put them to your mouth, the sound is louder than if you don't cup them."
"But no matter how big the speaker is, it can't make such a loud sound, right?"
Seeing that they were not only not quiet but were even more noisy, the man could only say, "Everyone, be quiet! This is my master's property. He just moved here. If you are wealthy, why not come in and take a look."
Everyone was shocked: "It's actually a shop?!"
"Such a big house! It's actually a shop?!"
The man shouted again: "If you don't have much wealth, please don't come in."
This was the first time that the immortal only did business with the rich. Wu Yan didn’t understand it at first - in the past, the immortals always took better care of the poor.
Or the immortal told him that if he really let the poor people in, they could buy meat and grain at a low price, then what about the people who used to make a living by selling vegetables and fish? Their source of income was cut off, and they either became bandits or stole and robbed.
The immortals even stopped selling food and vegetables and only sold alcohol and those "rare things" that could not be eaten or drunk.
After Wu Yan understood, he felt that the immortals were very kind-hearted and cared about the livelihoods of the common people. He himself would never have thought of this.
Someone shouted from below, "What does it mean to have a rich family? Since you are running a business, why should you care about family wealth? Isn't it enough to have money in hand?"
Wu Yan shouted, "The things inside are very expensive and rare in the world. I'm afraid that you may have money now, but you will be bankrupt when you leave."
"If you don't believe it, you can come in and take a look."
"No crowding or trampling," Wu Yan shouted, "otherwise you will be kicked out."
After saying that, Wu Yan returned to the supermarket.
The people of Linzi were left staring at each other in dismay. They all wanted to go in, but none of them wanted to be the first to go in. So some people shouted, "What are you crowding here for? Aren't we going to go in?!"
A young man was pushed out from the crowd. He was wearing a red robe and staggered, almost falling to the ground. As soon as he stood up, he cursed loudly: "Who the hell pushed me!"
The one behind him shouted, "Sir, why don't you go in and take a look?"
"I'm afraid you don't have the courage."
"Nonsense! How can you not have the guts?! The men of my Chen country are not spineless!"
The spineless young man gritted his teeth and cursed the person who pushed him in his heart, but he still said, "How could I be afraid? I just want to go in and take a look. I'll go in right away!"
After saying that, he straightened his back, acted fearlessly, raised his head, and walked to the square house with firm steps like a rooster about to fight.
He took a deep breath and walked up the steps.
The steps were wide and not difficult to walk on. When the young man reached the door, he was dazzled by the scene at the door before he had time to look at the two doors that led to who knows where.
There is a bright light inside the door. I don't know what kind of lighting is used. Ordinary houses are always dim even during the day. If you want to read books in the room, you have to use a bean lamp. But this house is not darker than outside, it is even brighter!
The young man looked down at his feet again. This was definitely not a floor paved with slabs of stone. It was so shiny that you could see your reflection in it. He had never seen anything like this before.
The young man was about to faint, but luckily he was still a teenager, so he slowly calmed himself down and walked forward.
"What would you like to see, sir?" A smiling woman came forward.
The young man's eyes involuntarily fell on her arms. The two thin arms were very pale. He looked at her face again and was so scared that he took a step back. There was actually a scar on her face!
This scar made the originally beautiful woman look terrifying.
Feng Ling knew that the scar on her face scared the other person, but she still smiled and said, "Don't worry, sir. I'm not a bad person. If I were a bad person, how could you get here? Besides, there are so many people outside. They won't do anything to you in public."
The young man quickly said, "I'm not afraid! What should I be afraid of? What is there to be afraid of? It's just a scar. I have one too!"
Feng Ling smiled and said, "It's not on the face."
The young man blushed. He was too embarrassed to say that his scar was on his butt. It was from when he was a child and was naughty, so his father beat him with a bamboo stick. The cut left a scar after it healed.
"What do you want to see, my dear?" Feng Ling asked, "Do you want some wine or some clothes? Or some rare things? Or jewelry?"
The young man was a little surprised: "There are so many things? Most of the shops I see usually only sell one thing."
Those who sell cloth only sell cloth, and those who sell wine only sell wine. He has never seen so many things sold together.
The young man couldn't help but ask, "What is the floor made of? It doesn't look like stone to me."
Feng Ling explained: "It's ceramic tiles, just like pottery, they have to go through firing."
The young man gasped, "So many! All fired?! I heard from those pottery makers that most of the pottery that comes out of a kiln is broken. How many kilns have been wasted to cover this place?"
"What about your lamps?" the young man asked again.
Feng Ling smiled and said, "My dear, do you still remember that this is a shop?"
She said softly, "My dear, you should keep your doubts to yourself. It would be better if you buy the things and come back to figure out the answers yourself."
The young man still wanted to ask, but no matter how he asked, the girl just led the way and did not answer.
Finally, the girl stopped, turned to face him and said, "This row is full of drinks. If you don't want them, I'll take you to another place."
The young man doesn't like wine, but his family does. His parents are both wine lovers and they drink at every meal.
He muttered quietly, "He doesn't answer any questions. He's like a dumb person with a long mouth."
Feng Ling looked at him and smiled. The young man was startled and immediately kept silent.
He finally turned his eyes away from Feng Ling, and then his face changed drastically when he was shocked by this new world. He murmured, "What...what is this..."
Countless shelves glowing silver stood before him, filled with all kinds of goods, so many that he couldn't see the end of them.
He was like a mouse that had fallen into a granary, with all he saw was "oil and grain". His face turned red and he became angry. He no longer cared about what those shelves were or how the lights turned on by themselves, and he couldn't help but walk to the middle of the shelves.
"All this wine... is actually served in moonlight cups?" The young man looked at the wine bottle, he didn't even dare to touch it.
The young man looked closely at the bottle and found that it was covered with "silk cloth" made of something unknown, and there were even words on it!
The handwriting is clear even though the characters are so small, and they are not carved.
The young man wanted to ask again, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he found that the girl leading the way was now some distance away from him, as if to avoid answering his question.
He could only bear with his own problems.
He carefully picked up a bottle of wine and was about to ask if he could have a basket to put it in when the girl handed him a red basket. The young man took the basket and found that it was not made of bamboo and he didn't know what it was made of.
This time he learned his lesson and stopped asking questions. He just put the wine in the basket.
The girl asked him, "Did you bring enough money?"
The young man was very proud at this time: "I am the son of the Zhang family. Everyone can be short of money, but my family cannot be short of money."
The girl asked again: "I didn't ask about your family, I asked you."
Young Master: "When I buy things normally, I always take the things away first, and you can just go to Zhang's house to get the money."
The girl shook her head and said, "We pay on the spot. If you don't have much money, you'd better take less. Otherwise, you won't be able to pay when you check out, and we'll have to send someone to your house to redeem you."
Although the goods can be returned, Feng Ling doesn't want to do so every time she checks out, so she asks them to bring enough money first.
The young man was stunned. He lowered his head and asked in a low voice: "Is my set of jade enough?"
He wore a set of jade on his waist, not just one piece of jade, but a string of them.
Feng Ling: "I don't know. Young Master, why don't you take a little first? After you've settled the money, you can see how much is left and you'll know how much you can exchange."
The young man nodded: "It can only be done this way."
If he were in another store, he would have argued with this woman long ago, but this place was too strange and he didn't dare to argue with someone else on their territory.
It's just that this moonlight cup, no, moonlight bottle is so exquisite and rare that it would be a pity if he couldn't take them all back! He didn't want others to buy them, it would be best if only he had them!
·
"Why hasn't he come out yet?"
"Was he murdered?"
"Why doesn't anyone go in to take a look? They just take a look and come out, at least to let us know what's inside!"
"Why don't you go?"
"What about you? Why don't you go?"
The entrance of the supermarket was bustling with people, and people were craning their necks to see when the young man would come out and what he would buy inside.
Is this strange house really harmless?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
