"......" After she spoke, the noise in the room suddenly stopped. Tang Chen really thought that Wang Yanzhou had returned, and jumped off the bed.
She stood up and looked around. It seemed that there was no one else in the room except her. "Strange, there's no one here. Am I seeing things?"
The wet nurse who was sleeping in the side room heard some noise in Tang Chen's room, and quickly put on her coat and came over holding a lamp: "Madam, what's wrong?"
Tang Chen patted his face with a bewildered look on his face, then poured water while whispering, "Nothing, nothing, I just fell asleep. It's still early, wet nurse, go and get some rest."
The nurse yawned subconsciously and said, "Yes, Madam, if you have any instructions, please call me anytime."
"Um."
From that day on, the rustling sounds in Tang Chen's room never stopped late at night, but no matter how she got up to check, she couldn't find anything strange. Three or five days later, Wang Yanzhou was not there again, and Tang Chen was completely afraid to sleep at night. After hearing what she said, the wet nurse also paid attention to it deliberately, but she slept in the side room, and it was quiet at night and she couldn't hear any sound. Tang Chen also said that it might be because her sleep quality was not very good recently, and her mind was a little confused at night, so she let it go.
But during this period, strange things happened one after another in the small town below the palace.
As usual, the two elderly couple of the Wu family got up early in the morning, with Old Man Wu feeding the chickens and Granny Wu watering the flowers. This day, Granny Wu had already cleaned the yard, but Old Man Wu had been in the backyard and had not come back.
Worried that something might have happened to this elderly man, Granny Wu quickly put down her work and went to the chicken coop to check. As she approached, she saw Old Man Wu hunched over with a dustpan, staring at the chickens. "Old man, what's wrong? You've been feeding the chickens all morning."
After straightening up and stretching himself a bit, Old Man Wu waved his hand and said, "Old woman, come and count. Is this number wrong?"
Upon hearing this, Granny Wu hurried over and began to carefully count the chickens. These chickens were their lifeblood, and they couldn't afford to have any problems. "...There are indeed a few missing. Did they run away?"
Before the couple could figure out why their chickens were missing, Aunt Wang from next door called out, "Uncle Wu, are your chickens missing too?"
When Granny Wu heard this, she hurriedly asked, "Hey, how did Aunt Wang know? Did she go to your house?"
Aunt Wang sighed helplessly, then put her hands on her hips and shook her head. "Several of my ducks are missing, and the fence looks broken. Do you think it could be a weasel?"
Old Man Wu had been a hunter when he was young. Right now, there was plenty of food in the mountains, and those animals were afraid of people, so it was unlikely they were weasels. "We live in a town, and there are a lot of people around. Weasels shouldn't come, right?"
Aunt Wang said, "Alas, who can tell? We're at war now, so strange things can happen."
At first, only a few families lost some chickens, ducks and other livestock. After only two or three days, some of the idle hooligans who used to wander the streets disappeared one by one.
At first, everyone was wondering if they had finally come to their senses and were joining the army to defend their country. It wasn't until this group of hooligans went to the government office to report the crime that they realized they hadn't joined the army, but had mysteriously disappeared.
When the thugs disappeared, some people were just watching the show, even applauding. It wasn't until someone close to them disappeared that everyone started to get nervous. Within a few days, the entire Qingliang Valley, once high morale, became a place of panic and lethargy, with no one looking like a good person.
After realizing that the situation was not good, the Qingliang County Government, which was already short of staff, could only report the news to the military camp.
"Lord Carillon."
Zhong Qin was sorting through the intelligence sent back from various places. Seeing the visitor sweating and anxious, she put down her work temporarily, adhering to the principle of prioritizing things. "What's wrong?"
"Something happened in the valley." After the visitor told Zhong Qin about the recent disappearances in the valley, Zhong Qin suddenly stood up from her chair and asked, "How could so many people disappear? When did it start? Why didn't you report it earlier?"
The visitor also said with a guilty conscience: "At first, those who disappeared were all small-time hooligans in the town, and no one cared much..."
Zhong Qin said there was no reason for these people to disappear at around the same time. If one or two people were missing in the mountains, it would be normal. But with such a large number of people, it seemed someone was deliberately plotting something behind the scenes. "Besides this, are there any other strange things going on?"
The visitor continued, "Besides the unexplained disappearances of some people, many poultry have been lost in this town, but it seems weasels and wild dogs are to blame."
Zhong Qin pressed the issue, "Has the government office heard about these things?"
The visitor bowed and said, "It has been reported, and the government office has already sent people to investigate. However, they are really short of manpower, so I have no choice but to come and bother Master Zhong Qin."
After thinking for a moment, Zhong Qin made the arrangements: "Add more patrols, and have the government office notify the residents of the valley that there is a curfew. Do not go out after dark unless necessary."
"yes."
The panic-stricken atmosphere in Qingliang Valley did not seem to affect the Qingliang Palace. It was just that Tang Chen had not slept well in the past few days. Not only was he almost a national treasure, but his spirits were not as good as before and he was particularly easily distracted.
Just now, while talking to Liang Shuyi, I don’t know what happened, but my mind suddenly wandered away: “Tang Chen, Tang Chen.”
Tang Chen took a while to react before he came back to his senses: "...Ah, what happened?"
Liang Shuyi frowned slightly and asked, "What's wrong with you lately? Why are you always absent-minded?"
Tang Chen rubbed his temples tiredly, then forced himself to say, "Maybe I haven't slept well recently. It's okay."
Liang Shuyi saw that something was wrong with her condition. She didn't know if she had been too worried about Wang Yanzhou recently, or if there was something wrong with her body. "Do you want to ask Chen Xin to come and take a look?"
Tang Chen hurriedly said, "No, it's nothing. I'm just bored at home lately. How about we go out for a walk?"
This suggestion was a good one. The scenery was just right in spring. She hadn't been out since returning to Qingliang Valley in winter. "Okay, I haven't been out for a long time either. The peach blossoms have been blooming recently, and the town must be very beautiful."
Tang Chen stood up and said energetically, "Let's go. I'll call Wang Ruo and the others to join us."
Going out for a walk is good, but as a mother, you always have to worry more: "If we go out, what will happen to these two children?"
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