This Liao Zhai is not right

I walked all the way to the outskirts of Yangzhou City, and I don't know how many hearts I won over.

Seeing the towering Yangzhou city gate from afar, Su Su asked, "We are about to enter the city. Where should we go to find Zong Zimei?"

"Let's go to Hongqiao first. My mother has asked someone to rent a house in the city a while ago. It's a good place for you and me to stay."

Chang'e took Su Shu and continued walking towards the city. There were crowds of people along the way, stalls and shops were lined up one after another, and restaurants and hotels were everywhere.

It was now the hour of Chen, also known as the eating time. There was little smoke from cooking in the city, and pedestrians and vendors all ate outside. Su Su even saw vendors carrying stoves on their shoulders and selling hot water for washing faces and offering shaving services along the way.

There were refugees everywhere outside the city, but the city was prosperous, which was truly an eye-opener.

"Yangzhou is indeed the most prosperous city in the south of the Yangtze River, with people from all walks of life."

Looking around, it was clearly only morning, but the hotels and restaurants were already crowded with people. The scholars coming and going were talking endlessly, either about the autumn provincial examinations or guessing whether the new emperor would hold a special examination to admit Jinshi in the spring of the following year. The doors and windows of the pleasure boats on the river were open, and the guests who had been lingering in the land of pleasure all night came ashore with trembling feet.

There are all kinds of things in life.

"Where is Hongqiao in Yangzhou? How long will it take to walk there?" After walking for a while, Su Su couldn't help but ask as he saw more and more people walking around.

Chang'e looked around and said, "Red Bridge is two miles northwest of the city. We are almost there."

Calculating the distance, I did walk about two miles after entering the city, and the Red Bridge was not far ahead.

Walking through the streets and alleys, the river shaded by willows comes into view. Not far ahead, the red bridge built across the river is hidden among the willows.

After walking across the river on the red bridge and passing through several alleys, Chang'e stopped in front of a small house facing the river.

The door of the house was locked tightly and there was dust at the entrance, as if no one had lived there for a long time.

Unlock the door and push it open to enter. The courtyard has white walls, green tiles and stone paved floors. To the left of the door there is a lush and verdant osmanthus tree.

The house is located in the downtown area. You can see the river just by opening the door. It has a sense of tranquility in the midst of bustling city. Although there is only a main hall for receiving guests and two side rooms on the left and right, the rent should not be cheap.

Mrs. Lin really spent a lot of money to catch a rich husband.

Standing in the courtyard, Su Su only saw Chang'e making a seal with one hand, and a whirlwind rose out of thin air. In the blink of an eye, the fallen leaves and dust in the courtyard were gathered together. Then she did the same in the main hall and the side rooms, and soon the whole house was clean.

"I need to go out and buy some bedding." Looking at the newly tidy house, Chang'e said thoughtfully.

Su Su instinctively felt that something was wrong and asked, "Didn't you say that as long as Zong Zimei's life was saved, the cause and effect would be resolved? You don't plan to live here for a long time, do you?"

"The White Lotus sect is about to start an uprising. It will be difficult for the surrounding prefectures and counties not to be affected. It will take quite some time for everything to settle down..."

It seemed that Chang'e only intended to secretly protect Zong Zimei so that he would not have to worry about his life, and would make any plans after the White Lotus Sect accomplished its goal or was suppressed.

"So you really plan to live here for a long time, and you tricked me into coming here too!"

Su Su was speechless for a while. If the White Lotus Sect members started a rebellion, it would definitely not be quelled in ten days or half a month. Although it only took her a few hours to travel underground between Yangzhou and Guobei County, she could not withstand such a tossing and turning.

Passive work is not allowed!

The easiest way to save Zong Zimei's life is to cut off the foundation of the White Lotus Sect's rebellion.

If you can't rebel, you won't have to worry about your life.

"What can I do if I don't stay long? I'm just a weak woman with little magical power. Can I stand up and eliminate the unrest?" Chang'e walked in front of Su Su and deliberately pretended to be weak.

Chapter 39 I am a good person

Weak girl?

Su Su almost laughed out of anger when she heard Chang'e describe herself as a weak woman. If she wasn't afraid of being held down and rubbed again at night, she would have to say something.

"When shooting a person, shoot the horse first; when capturing a thief, capture the leader first. As long as we eliminate the White Lotus leader Zhao Hufa who has deceived the people, and catch the White Lotus demons who fled to Yangzhou from Guobei County, they will at least have some peace for a while. Then you can find a reason to let Zong Weng take Zong Zimei to leave Yangzhou and return to his hometown in Taiyuan, right?"

"But this is only a temporary solution. As long as the traitors in Yangzhou City are not eliminated, even if the White Lotus Demon is gone, there will still be the Blue Lotus Demon and the Red Lotus Demon who will jump out and rebel."

Chang'e nodded and said, "Of course I know this, which is why I am quite distressed. Zong Weng left Taiyuan for some reason and came to Yangzhou to live. He will definitely not leave easily, so this disaster is unavoidable. Do you have a solution?"

"Take advantage of the dark night and strong wind to knock out all the members of their family, young and old, and take them away, and send them to Guobei County to settle down." Su Su gave his suggestion.

Kidnapping and taking away is simple and brutal, and protecting someone's life is as easy as taking something out of a bag.

There is no need to even buy bedding to spend the night in Yangzhou, as you can return to Guobei County tonight.

Unfortunately, Chang'e stepped forward quickly, grabbed Su Su's waist, and said, "You are deliberately teasing me. Although the Zong family is not a wealthy family in Yangzhou, it is not a small family either. If you rashly use any means, the Guangling City God will find out. Then we will be accused of being bandits, and we will never be able to clear ourselves even if we jump into the Yellow River."

Yangzhou not only has the ghost soldiers from the City God Temple of Guangling Prefecture patrolling back and forth, but it is also located on the bank of the Yangtze River. As the most prosperous place in the south of the Yangtze River, no one knows where the enlightened masters who have sneaked into the world of mortals are hiding. They usually don't show up, but if they see you want to use extraordinary means to kidnap the whole family of Zong, they may jump out to enforce justice.

Therefore, it was obviously unrealistic to kidnap the entire Zong family and take them to Guobei County in the dark of night.

The matter now comes back to how to deal with the White Lotus demon who is about to cause chaos.

However, Su Su held the opposite opinion: "In my opinion, the chaos in Yangzhou has little to do with this group of white lotus demons. As the most prosperous city in Jiangnan, it is also a land of fish and rice, so there is no shortage of food. The root cause is excessive exploitation. People in the city can still sell their labor in exchange for some wages, but the refugees outside the city don't even have this opportunity. They can only go hungry, and at worst they have to sell their children."

There was no shortage of money or food in Yangzhou City, but outside the city there were refugees who were starving.

Su Su guessed that this was most likely related to the fact that Shuntian Prefecture had been besieged for several months by the barbarians who had entered the pass. The barbarians from outside the Great Wall came south mainly to plunder, and they brought very little food and grass. The prefectures and counties surrounding Shuntian Prefecture had already been looted during the siege.

Even if the people managed to survive the war, they would become penniless after being robbed and would have no choice but to become refugees and head south to escape the disaster and beg for a living.

This is also the reason why the number of refugees has increased sharply in recent months, and even in Guobei County, a poor and mountainous area, many refugees have fled here.

It was certainly correct for the refugees to flee the war-torn areas and head south for shelter, but after months of siege and with the help of armies from all directions, Shuntian Prefecture's food and grass had long been consumed.

You should know that Shuntian Prefecture has a population of nearly five million, and the amount of food consumed every day is countless. Currently, the food is transported via the Grand Canal to feed these nearly five million mouths. And Shuntian Prefecture was not the only place that suffered from war and looting in the north.

In other words, most of the grain in Yangzhou City needed to be transported to Shuntian Prefecture for emergency relief. Any mistake would result in the loss of lives, so there would be no extra grain to help the refugees.

It is no wonder that Su Su and Chang'e saw officials actively dispersing the refugees gathered outside the city on their way into the city.

On one side, there were officials who were afraid to provide relief to the refugees for fear that problems with the grain transport would result in the loss of lives; on the other side, there were refugees who had traveled long distances and were almost starving to death.

Together, they painted a picture of the prosperous Yangzhou city and the starving refugees outside the city.

Listening to Su Fu's well-reasoned analysis, Chang'e thought thoughtfully: "In this case, doesn't it mean that the unrest in Yangzhou can no longer be stopped by human power?"

"Yes!"

After looking around and seeing that there were no strange people nearby, Su Su continued in a low voice: "Human power is limited. At this time, the gods should be doing things to enjoy the incense and prayer power. As a result, these earthly gods are pretending to be dead. I will fight hard to collect the incense and prayer power, and I will show my spirit to drive away the disaster. I am submissive."

"We can go to Lingnan where rice can be harvested three times a year to get some food back, and then hire refugees to work on infrastructure projects, such as building roads, digging canals, and building bridges. This will consume the energy of the young and strong refugees, so that they won't have any wild thoughts. It also doesn't take much divine power to prevent disasters before they happen."

"They are unwilling to do such a simple thing. They are all insects who only eat and get paid without working. Keeping these rubbish will only make the world's rice more expensive!"

Hearing Su Fu's sharp criticism that the gods of the land in Shuntian Prefecture were all useless and only ate but did not work, Chang'e pinched her waist and smiled: "The walls have ears, don't say that."

After Su Su's analysis, Chang'e easily figured out how to solve the current dilemma.

He leaned close to Su Su's ear and continued, "What do you want to do? Take advantage of the gossip of the living world to ruin their reputation and bring them all down?"

"Why bother."

Su Su crossed his arms and said with great pride, "Doesn't the White Lotus demon like to cut down mountains and destroy temples? If they want to start an uprising in Yangzhou, the one they can't avoid is the City God of Guangling Prefecture. He will fan the flames and kill people with borrowed knives, so that the two evils will fight fiercely!"

"What happens next? When two tigers fight, one of them will be injured. By the time the City God of Guangling Prefecture and the White Lotus Demon decide the winner, the situation in Yangzhou will still not have changed. Aren't we doing useless work?" Chang'e was a little puzzled.

Su Su explained, "Hey, the White Lotus Demon jumped out and fought with the City God of Guangling Prefecture. A civil uprising is imminent. Even if the officials in Yangzhou City are all pigs, they should have thought that the crime of delaying the grain transport is greater, or the crime of inciting a civil uprising and killing officials for rebellion is greater, right? It is a serious crime that deserves beheading, but it is nothing when it comes to rebellion. Anyway, the blame can be put on the White Lotus Demon!"

Officials are always conciliatory and compromising. For example, if you say that refugees are gathering outside the city and are starving and need to be given food relief, they will definitely not allow it. But if you advocate that the refugees stand up and kill the officials in rebellion, they will come to mediate and be willing to send food relief.

Su Su called this the rebellion effect.

Chang'e tightened her hands around Su Su's waist and said, "Luckily you were born late. I need to keep a close eye on you, otherwise you will cause chaos in the world."

"Don't talk nonsense. I am a kind person and I never do bad things."

Su Su argued.

Chapter 40 Making Animals

Discuss a strategy.

Su Su followed Chang'e to the street to buy bedding.

In her estimation, it would not take more than a few days to instigate the City God of Guangling Prefecture to notice the White Lotus Sect members hiding in Yangzhou and then start a massacre.

So it’s no big deal if you don’t buy bedding.

But Chang'e insisted again and again, saying that she was weak and did not cover herself with a blanket when sleeping at night because she was afraid of catching a cold, and she came up with all kinds of excuses.

Helplessly, Su Su could only let it go.

"I should have brought some gold ingots from the land temple earlier. It's really inconvenient to have no money on hand. Should we hide outside the city and look for some unclaimed money buried in the ground?"

Yangzhou was a prosperous city, so there must have been a great deal of gold, silver and other valuables buried underground. If there were no owners, they could be taken away and spent.

While thinking, I avoided oncoming vehicles.

A heart-wrenching cry suddenly came from across the street.

Su Su looked up and saw that the crying and shouting came from the backyard of the hotel across the street. There were many pedestrians around, but they seemed not to hear the heart-wrenching crying and continued walking around as usual.

"Did you hear that?"

Chang'e, who was hiring a driver to deliver some items to the small house in Hongqiao, was stopped. The driver nodded slightly, indicating that he had heard the heart-wrenching cry before.

"You wait here, we will go across the street to eat something first." Chang'e threw a small bunch of copper coins to the driver, asking him to stay where he was and wait and not to wander around.

The driver took the small bundle of copper coins. Although it was not much, it was enough for him to have a full meal. He thanked him repeatedly, "Thank you for the reward, sir. I will wait here and not go anywhere."

Su Su and Chang'e sat down in the hotel across the street.

It was almost noon, and the overcast weather in the morning did not result in rain. Instead, the scorching sun shone through, completely dispelling the previous slight spring chill, making the weather extremely hot and humid.

The hotel has three floors. The top two floors are for accommodation, and the bottom floor sells drinks and food.

"The world is becoming increasingly chaotic. A few days ago, I went south to Nanjing for business. The round trip was only 400 miles, but I encountered five gangs of robbers. Fortunately, I hired a bodyguard, otherwise I would have lost all my money."

"If the south of the Yangtze River is still like this, the north may be even more chaotic."

"Who says it's not true? Although the siege of Shuntianfu has been lifted, the barbarians who invaded last year are still lingering at the border. I don't know what they are up to."

"Everyone, please come closer. I have heard some rumors from the northern merchants. They said that the barbarians outside the Great Wall captured the late emperor alive and used this as a threat to extort money and food from the important towns on the nine frontiers."

"Hiss... Don't say that casually."

"It's just nonsense, don't take it seriously, don't take it seriously."

The diners in the hotel were talking at once, chatting about all sorts of things. While chatting with each other, they often lamented that the situation had become increasingly chaotic recently, and at the same time told some scandalous secrets and rumors, which made everyone who heard it laugh.

When the waiter saw Su Shu and Chang'e sitting down, he quickly brought tea, bowls and chopsticks, bowed and said, "Gentlemen, would you like some food? Our stir-fried dishes and cold dishes are all good!"

After that, the waiter recited a long list of dishes like a percussive talk, and then stood aside, waiting for Su Su and Chang'e to order.

However, the two of them didn't come to the hotel to eat. They just ordered a few dishes and asked the waiter to prepare them.

"When I entered the store just now, I heard a lot of noise in the backyard. I'm afraid there are a lot of livestock locked up. If the stench wafts over, wouldn't it be disgusting? What restaurant would lock up livestock in the backyard!" Su Su looked at Chang'e and pretended to be angry.

Seeing Su Su's dissatisfaction, the waiter who was about to ask the kitchen to prepare the dishes suddenly stopped.

He stepped forward again, bowed and explained, "There is no shed for livestock in the backyard of our inn, only a stable for guests to rest their horses and donkeys. This morning, a guest tied five donkeys in the stable. The sun is shining brightly now, and the donkeys are getting irritable and restless. I hope you will forgive me for disturbing them."

It turned out to be a donkey.

Su Fu and Chang'e looked at each other, becoming even more confused.

If it was a donkey, how could it cry heart-wrenchingly like a human?

"So that's what's happening. Since they are so irritable and crazy from the sun, why don't you lead these donkeys to a cool place and give them some water to cool them down?" Su Su asked again.

The waiter kept silent. In their line of work, they would always hear statements from customers that were hard to tell true from false. If they couldn't control their mouths and keep secrets, they would not be able to keep this job for long.

What to say and what not to say must be considered in your heart.

Taking a few glances at Su Su and Chang'e, one can easily identify their attire of a Confucian cap and robe, which can only be worn by scholars who have passed the imperial examinations for the title of scholar. Their looks and demeanor are even more extraordinary, and one can tell at a glance that they are young masters of wealthy families.

After observing his expression, the waiter naturally knew everything and said, "The guest who came to the city to sell his donkey has a strange temper. He left as soon as he said he would leave, and he specifically told me not to give water to the donkey. Now he hasn't come back for most of the day. I'm really afraid that the donkey will die of heat."

Finished.

The waiter was about to leave, muttering, "It's not a big deal if the donkey gets tanned and goes crazy, disturbing the customers. It would be a big problem if it dies of the heat. I have to remind the shopkeeper to avoid any complications later."

The waiter first asked the kitchen to prepare the meals ordered by Su Shu and Chang'e, and then found the innkeeper to tell him that the donkey in the stable was getting hot and restless, and had disturbed the guests in the restaurant in the front yard. He suggested leading the donkey to a cool place and feeding it some cold water to prevent the donkey from being burned to death and then getting entangled with the guest.

The innkeeper agreed immediately and the two of them went straight to the backyard.

"I'll follow over and have a look."

Seeing this, Su Su stood up and followed the two of them into the backyard.

Just as the waiter had said, there were no other animals kept here. There was just a small stable against the wall, with five restless donkeys tied up inside, kicking and braying.

Su Su heard a chorus of heart-wrenching cries. He looked closely and saw that they were indeed coming from the five donkeys tied to the stable.