Chapter Ninety-Three
The two quickly finished dressing and left the Sak Palace together in a carriage.
It's unusual that there's no snow today, so the streets can be cleaned up properly.
The snow was so heavy and thick that after it was cleared, thick snow walls were left on both sides of the street, creating a rare sight.
They went to a restaurant together. It was cold today, and restaurants in Qin usually start adding charcoal fires, just like the Jasmine Garden of the Si family did before.
But this restaurant, located in the capital and not far from the palace, always had high rents, so it must have belonged to a wealthy merchant, yet it didn't even burn charcoal. The lack of sunlight inside made it feel even colder.
"Shopkeeper, why aren't you making charcoal?" Si Yanmo asked casually.
The shopkeeper, also wrapped in a thick cotton coat, found it difficult to walk. With a helpless expression, he explained to the two, "Judging from your accents, you two are not from around here, are you? We can't afford to produce charcoal here, please forgive us, esteemed guests."
"How could you not be able to start a fire? You must be making a lot of money here."
Despite the frost disaster, there were still quite a few casual customers in the shop. Right now, there were a few people drinking liquor sitting next to the two of them.
But the shopkeeper sighed, looking like he wanted to say something but didn't dare to, "Please don't ask, if you feel cold, we have private rooms upstairs that can help keep out the chill."
This left Si Yanmo even more confused. She glanced at Zhou Yanqing, but he didn't say anything. He simply asked the shopkeeper to take the two of them to a private room.
Although the room was a little warmer than outside, it was only slightly better, and the two of them absolutely could not take off their fox fur coats.
After the shopkeeper closed the door to the private room, Zhou Yanqing spoke, "Now that we are all alone, could the shopkeeper tell us more about this matter?"
So that's what it meant.
Si Yanmo then realized that she had asked a rather rash question, and that this matter seemed to be more complicated than it appeared.
The shop owner finally found someone to vent to, and then poured out all the things he had never dared to say before.
Although it's a bit cold here, the coal mines are plentiful, so there's no shortage of charcoal.
Until the current Sak King, also known as Wu Zhao, came to power. He embarked on massive construction projects, doing nothing for the people, but instead built a magnificent palace for himself.
The entire palace was connected by ceramic pipes, which facilitated the transportation of heat to all parts of the palace. The amount of coal burned each day was almost equivalent to the entire capital's monthly coal consumption.
The coal was not allowed to be sold privately. The government had sent all the coal to the palace, so ordinary people like them couldn't even buy it. They could only get a small amount each month, which wasn't even enough to keep their homes warm, let alone use it in this restaurant.
"Then we can't use charcoal?" Si Yanmo asked.
Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper became even angrier. "We'd like to, too, but you two gentlemen, look at how many forests Sak has. Most of them are near the border of Qin. How far is our capital from there? Transporting them over would be far too expensive; we simply can't afford it."
After hearing what he said, Si Yanmo didn't know what to say for a moment. It felt as if a large wad of cotton was stuck in her chest. It wasn't heavy, but it made it hard to breathe.
After the shopkeeper finished speaking, his eyes were a little red, but he knew that he could only talk about it and no one could help them.
Life goes on, and he's already considered lucky.
Just a few days ago, he heard that the Wang family next door couldn't stand the cold and chose to drink arsenic, and all five members of the family, including the child, died.
In this freezing weather, with no one to collect the body, it wouldn't decompose. If it weren't for someone who was freezing to death and wanted to borrow some charcoal from his house, no one would have known about it until next summer.
This is the fate of ordinary people like them. As long as the king doesn't care, they can only be like ants, and they might be crushed to death one day. Anyway, no one will remember them.
“Yes, it will.” Si Yanmo couldn’t bear to see the shopkeeper, a grown man, so helpless like a child, and comforted him, “Maybe one day another person will appear here, a wise ruler.”
The shopkeeper laughed, but there was a hint of panic in his eyes. "Young lady, you can't say things like that. It's just that there aren't many people around here, and the walls don't have ears, otherwise you would have been taken away."
He took a deep breath and forced a smile. "I was just saying it offhand, it's nothing. Please order, distinguished guests."
Si Yanmo and Zhou Yanqing locked eyes; they knew this place was easier to breach than they had imagined.
Of course, that statement wasn't meant to be a joke...
After they finished eating, the two strolled around the streets together.
Perhaps it was too cold, because there was hardly anyone outside; only sparrows occasionally appeared.
The surrounding houses were so quiet that not even a wisp of smoke could be seen.
Si Yanmo asked curiously, "The shopkeeper said they can't afford to burn charcoal here, and it's probably even colder inside during the day. So where do you think the Sak people go to keep warm?"
As soon as she finished speaking, a wisp of smoke slowly rose, turning into a smoke ring and dissipating into the clouds.
Zhou Yanqing looked over and said, "It seems we've found it."
The two followed the direction of the blue smoke and arrived at an ancient temple.
Indeed, this is the only place that can still provide charcoal at this time.
The Digu Temple here is larger than the one in Qin'an City, and there are always people guarding the entrance.
They were more of a show of guarding than actually doing it.
The fortune teller there, seeing that the two were dressed in finery, knew they were no ordinary people and greeted them warmly.
In order not to reveal his identity, Zhou Yanqing lied and said that his name was Li Mo, a wealthy merchant from Qin, and that he and his wife had come here to pay their respects.
The diviner was also very dutiful, leading the two inside while explaining the origins of the Digu Temple.
This temple was built when Sak came under the rule of the Great South in the early years, and the statues inside were bestowed by the then Southern Emperor.
It wasn't very big back then, but it was renovated after the current Sak King took over, and that's how it looks today.
No wonder!
Si Yanmo sighed inwardly.
The style of the carvings between the roof tiles and pillars is very similar to that of the Sak Palace. Who else could it be but his work?
She and Zhou Yanqing followed the fortune teller inside and, sure enough, saw a large crowd gathered in the hall in front of the Emperor's statue.
This Sakbi is colder than other places, and its temples are built differently from those elsewhere.
In most temples, there is an open space in front of the statue of the emperor, but this place is different. It is built with beams like a house, and the surrounding area is completely blocked by stone walls. In addition, there is a sufficient supply of charcoal fire on weekdays, so it is quite warm.
Temples in Da Nan do not allow people to be driven away, so most people choose to hide here when natural disasters occur, which is a kind of place to go, just like the Yun Ji Temple before.
However, Si Yanmo noticed that although the people hiding here all looked thin and weak, their clothes were not ordinary coarse linen clothes.
It is clear that these people were not ordinary citizens; they must have held at least a supervisory or administrative position.
She couldn't help but question the "inclusivity" here.
Just as Zhou Yanqing was pretending to offer incense and talk with the fortune teller, she secretly sat down next to a little girl and asked, "Little sister, how old are you?"
Most Sak people, like those on the Qin border, are used to being warm and friendly, and will chat with even strangers.
The little girl wasn't intimidated at all. "Seven years old."
"So what's your name?"
"Wu Keran".
She chatted with the girl casually, and successfully found out that the girl's father worked at the Bu Academy.
She suddenly remembered that the divination institutes in Qin would issue orchid talismans to verify the identity of diviners, and Sak would certainly do the same.
She looked at the diviner who was talking to Zhou Yanqing, and sure enough, she saw a similar orchid charm on his waist.
So Si Yanmo called a group of children to her side and played a game of guessing objects and people with them.
To avoid alerting the enemy, she first took out her bell and asked, "Guess who will wear this?"
The children chattered amongst themselves, some talking about the little girl next door, some about the pretty older sister, and some about Yun Ji...
She quickly became friends with the children.
Of course, she didn't forget her purpose, and finally, when the group of children were having fun, she took out her orchid talisman.
"Then guess this..."
Before she could finish speaking, a child raised his hand, "My dad!"
The boy next to him objected, "My dad has one too!"
Sure enough, almost every child then revealed their father.
Si Yanmo immediately realized what was happening, but just then, a fortune teller hurriedly dismissed the group of children, his eyes filled with gloom as he looked at her.
Fortunately, Zhou Yanqing came over, took her hand, and said affectionately, "Why are you playing with children again? I think I should take you to Yunji Temple to pray for a child!"
His lighthearted words eased the atmosphere, and Si Yanmo quickly put on a coquettish young lady's act, "Do I need to beg? With you being as ravenous as a wolf every night, if we hadn't only been married for half a year, I estimate we would have had a whole litter of children by now."
The two whispered intimate words, and the fortune teller, feeling embarrassed to listen any longer, left.
As Si Yanmo and Zhou Yanqing walked out, they whispered in his ear, "Everyone who can come here is a family member of a fortune teller."
Zhou Yanqing understood. The temple, which seemed to embrace all rivers, now had an entry threshold, showing that there was no longer any affection between the officials and the people here.
"What about the others?" Si Yanmo couldn't help but ask again.
He sighed, "Maybe it's like that shopkeeper said, either wait to freeze to death or end it all."
“Their desire to resist is no less than that of the disaster victims.” Si Yanmo realized that taking over this place might be simpler than they had imagined.
Wu Zhao himself has already won over too many hearts and minds for Sano.
The problem is that the people here are not like the fleeing disaster victims, and there are gathering places right under the palace. Any slight movement could be discovered by Wu Zhao.
“The people here aren’t the first choice for the resistance.” Zhou Yanqing squeezed her hand, her tone calm, “but they will be a great boost.”
Hearing him say that, Si Yanmo suddenly thought of something, "Speaking of boosting, we seem to have an unexpected surprise."
Zhou Yanqing frowned, and it took her a while to realize that she was referring to Wu Lan.
"What use is that guy to you?"
"Have you ever heard the story of the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind?" Si Yanmo revealed a mysterious smile.
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