Zhi Xuan

In early spring, the northern land is still cold and cold, and there are occasional cold rains, but the eastern capital is already red and green, with apricot rain and pear clouds.

Different from the Western Capital City and Bei'an City, there are few stone and rammed earth buildings in the Eastern Capital City. No matter the clan, Chinese or common people, they like to build houses with mud bricks, and then decorate them with various colors of paint to paint paintings on the walls and roofs.Walking in the square, you will be surrounded by strong colors, and people who first arrive in the city will be dazzled and feel dizzy.

The two main roads in the city can accommodate three chariots in parallel.

The Clan Square, Guoren Square and Shuren Square are built along the main road, and there are fork roads between each square.

There are canals dug beside the road, with squares as the boundary, each connecting different rivers and waterways, the narrow ones are no more than half a meter, and the wide ones can sail a boat.In the summer rainstorm, most of the ditches are filled, and the clans can go in and out by car or boat, which can be called a wonderful scene.

The slave workshop is located in the west of the city, and the large and small sheds and wooden houses are crowded together, which looks extremely messy.

There are a large number of slaves living in the workshop, and most of them are ragged and skinny.

In front of the crowded huts were skinny children, all barefoot, covered in mud, and covered in lice.The children's limbs were extremely thin, but their stomachs were bulging. They were unable to walk due to hunger, and could only crawl on the ground. They looked very scary.

There are almost no old people in the workshop, and most slaves do not survive their prime of life.The heavy labor and the whipping on the body consumed their lives prematurely, and few of them lived to the age of 40.

Dangdang!

There was a sound outside the square, which was the signal to summon the slaves.

Then voices came from the originally silent shed.

"Food distribution, hurry up!"

The slaves scrambled towards the gate of the workshop, holding broken clay pots and wooden bowls in their hands, crowding in front of the gate, struggling to raise their arms, waiting for the corn to be sprinkled.

The door of the square was closed tightly, and several soldiers in sackcloth climbed up to the wall of the square, with unhulled millet and grass seeds at their feet, while beating on the shield, they shouted: "Don't squeeze!"

There were also several soldiers standing on both sides. Seeing that the slaves were still crowded, they drew their bowstrings on the spot and shot several arrows into the crowd.

Arrows flew out, and screams continued to ring out.

The smell of blood mixed into the air, and the crowd dispersed quickly, leaving seven or eight dead bodies on the ground.Several other people were not shot, and they were rolling and crying on the ground holding their wounds, leaving a lot of bloodstains.

The slaves were intimidated and did not dare to continue crowding.

Only then did Zu Wu put down his bow and arrow, opened his pocket and started distributing food.

Most of the slaves in this workshop are captured savages. They can receive one handful of corn and three handfuls of grass seeds every two days.

Thirty percent of the detainees in the slave workshop were barbarians. They were not worthy of eating corn, and grass seeds were distributed only once every five days. Starvation to death was a common occurrence.

Zu Wu scooped up the millet with a wooden spoon. The millet had not been shelled, and there were a lot of stones in it. If he picked it out carefully, the weight could be reduced by one third.Grass seeds were slightly better and more abundant, and were more the staple food of slaves than millet.

After distributing the millet and grass seeds, the soldiers announced loudly that they would plow the fields outside the city in the next day, and the slaves would get up early and assemble. All men, women, and children had to go to the fields, and even half-grown children could not rest.

The slaves had long been accustomed to such an arrangement, and no one made a sound, let alone resisted.

The soldiers were very satisfied, and in a good mood, they threw a few sacks at will, which immediately caused the slaves to loot them.

Seeing the chaos in the workshop, the soldiers laughed like a group of monkeys.

The slaves didn't care at all, and fought fiercely for the sacks containing grain.

In less than a moment, the sack was torn apart, and the millet and grass seeds remaining in the gap rolled to the ground.

Relying on their small stature, several children passed through the gaps in the crowd, ignoring being stepped on, grabbed millet and grass seeds on the ground, and swallowed them together with the soil.

Seeing this scene, Zuo Wu laughed even harder.

"Throw them all down." One of them said.

The remaining sacks were also thrown out, which immediately triggered a second round of looting.

The same scene happened in different slave workshops, almost every time the food was distributed.

Zuwu was designed for fun, and seeing slaves lying on the ground like livestock always made them laugh.

The slaves were there to survive.Not to mention the remaining millet and grass seeds in the sacks, the sacks that were snatched back can be used to mend clothes, and even a small piece is lucky.

Having had enough laughs after distributing the food, Zu Wu climbed down the ladder and down the wall of the workshop, ready to go back and return to his command.

Several teams gathered together, and when they mentioned the excitement just now, they laughed again.

A young soldier seemed unbearable, but was patted on the shoulder by his colleagues and said with a smile: "It's just a pig and dog, why bother."

When the few people were talking, a fast horse suddenly entered the city, crossing the long street without slowing down, almost bumping into a few ordinary people.Immediately, the knight glanced at it, but didn't stop. Instead, he swung his whip vigorously and ran straight to the monarch's mansion.

Only clansmen and countrymen can ride horses in the city, and those on horseback are dressed in silk clothes, obviously of good status.The common people who were knocked down got up from the ground. Due to their status and status, they couldn't be held accountable for their injuries, so they could only admit that they were unlucky.

Immediately the knight was none other than Liang Sheng who was rushing back in the starry night.

The assassination of Zhixuan failed, and he was likely to be caught alive. Realizing that something was wrong, Liang Sheng was so anxious that he could only rush back to the Eastern Capital to report the matter to the Marquis of Eastern Liang.

He once thought about running away, but quickly dismissed the idea.

The whole family is in Dongdu City, if I run away, none of my family members will be able to survive.What's more, he was born in the Liang family, reluctant to abandon the Guo family, and took the risk to return with a trace of luck in his arms.

Before arriving at the Monarch's Mansion, Liang Sheng got off his horse, showed the jade ring to the guard in front of the gate, and told his purpose of coming.

I don't know whether to say his luck is good or bad, when the waiter reported, Dong Lianghou and Shi Ziba were both in the front hall, discussing the arrangements for spring plowing.

"Liang Sheng?" Hearing the servant's words, Shi Ziba's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately had a bad feeling.

Seeing his son's expression, Dong Lianghou's gaze was like a knife, and he said in a deep voice: "My son, do you have something to hide from me?"

Shi Ziba's forehead was covered with cold sweat, and he didn't dare to meet Dong Lianghou's eyes.He dispatched people without telling Dongliang Hou, but what he did was assassinate.Let it go if the matter is successful, if not, he may not be able to bear the consequences.

On the surface, Dongliang Hou is gentle and refined, seemingly kind, but in fact he is cold-blooded and domineering, and acts ruthlessly.Even if it is his own son, once he is angered, it will definitely not end well.

Shiziba had three brothers who were executed by the order of Dongliang Hou, and one of them was still a son of the eldest son!

Thinking of this, Liang Ba couldn't help feeling a little regretful. He was too impulsive before and dispatched the dead in a fit of anger, without thinking about the consequences of failure.Things may not be going well now.

Before Shi Ziba could think of an excuse, Liang Sheng was brought into the palace by his servants.

Seeing Shi Ziba present, Liang Sheng couldn't help feeling guilty.Thinking of the purpose of this trip, he gritted his teeth fiercely and knelt down in front of Donglianghou with his knees bent.

"The minister apologizes to the king!"

Seeing Liang Sheng's actions, Shi Ziba immediately knew that the assassination failed.Thinking of Liang Sheng coming to see the monarch directly without notifying him, and guessing his purpose, anger ignited in his chest, and he glared at him.

Wanting to save his life, Liang Sheng avoided Shi Ziba's gaze, lowered his forehead, and prostrated himself on the ground.

"What crime?" Dongliang Hou asked.

Liang Sheng didn't dare to hide anything, so he told the truth about the assassination of Zhixuan, and stated that the assassination failed, and he was likely to be caught alive by the other party.

"I'm ashamed to treat the king and my son, I'm guilty!" Liang Sheng didn't dare to defend himself, and kowtowed continuously after the matter was finished, until his forehead bled.

"Enough!" Marquis Dong Liang shouted abruptly to stop Liang Sheng, then grabbed a pen and knife and threw it at Shi Ziba, "You did a good job!"

Shi Ziba instinctively dodged, but still failed to dodge completely.The sharp pen cut open his left ear, and blood flowed immediately.

Seeing Dong Lianghou's anger, Shi Ziba covered his ears and dared not speak out, feeling fearful in his heart, but even more angry and unwilling.

The Marquis of Dongliang was furious, but he couldn't draw his sword to kill his son.After all, Liang Ba is his eldest son and has been canonized as the eldest son. Unlike other children, he can't move easily, at least he can't do it himself.

Even so, he was still angry.

Thinking about how he was so smart all his life, how could he give birth to such a stupid son.Do things only according to preferences, without considering the consequences at all.Let alone a small country, it is still the same for a big country, it is simply extremely stupid!

But things have already happened, regretting is useless, we can only try to make up for it.

Marquis Dongliang stood up, paced around the hall with his hands behind his back, his brows furrowed tightly, and he didn't say a word for a long time.When he didn't speak, Shi Ziba and Liang Sheng didn't dare to make a sound, and didn't even dare to raise their heads.

In an instant, there was no more noise in the hall, only the footsteps of Marquis Dongliang echoed.

After an unknown amount of time, Marquis Dongliang finally stopped, his eyes fell on Liang Sheng, and he said, "Liang Sheng, please set off quickly and take your son to Nanyou Country."

Liang Sheng raised his head suddenly, met Dong Lianghou's eyes, realized what this order meant, and fell into an ice cellar in an instant.

"Your Majesty ordered Sheng to go to Nanyou?"

"Of course." Dongliang Hou continued, "I said to the outside world that you betrayed the Liang clan long ago, and that you were the envoy of the Nanyou Kingdom in all your attacks and assassinations, with the intention of framing Dongliang. Now it has been revealed that you have absconded with your son, and you have just arrived at the Nanyou Kingdom Killed."

Listening to Dong Lianghou's words, Liang Sheng's head was buzzing, and his eyes turned black.

"If you do what you say, and make meritorious deeds, I will save your son's life and protect your family's inheritance." The Marquis of Dongliang did not blindly oppress, but gave both grace and power, which Liang Sheng could not refuse.

He knew that there was no way out, if he refused, it would be impossible to leave the monarch's mansion today, Liang Sheng had no choice but to bend down on the ground and obey this order.

After Liang Sheng left, the Marquis of Eastern Liang ordered Shi Ziba to go to Xiyuan Kingdom, where the He Yuan family married Prince Huai and proposed marriage to the Yuan family.

"Father, am I going to die?" Shi Ziba's face turned pale.

The assassination of Zhixuan failed and he was caught alive. Liang Sheng may not really be able to confuse the public, but he is trying to cover it up.Under such circumstances, if he appeared in the Western capital, wouldn't he be throwing himself into a trap, taking the initiative to hit the knife's edge?

"You must go." Marquis Dongliang was decisive, not allowing Shi Ziba to refuse.

In his opinion, even if Zhi Xuan knew the truth, he might not kill someone in front of Wang Zihuai.Even if he was wrong in his prediction, if Zhi Xuan actually took action, there would be no hindrance to Dongliang, but the benefits would outweigh the benefits.

If Liang Ba died in the Western Capital, no matter how much evidence Zhi Xuan had, it would be useless.At that time, it will not be Xiyuan who will send troops, but Dongliang!

Witnessing Dong Lianghou's attitude, Shi Ziba understood that the matter was irreversible.

He suddenly felt cold, as if he was in a world of ice and snow, his blood was frozen, and he could no longer feel any warmth.