"Did you hear that?"

A middle-aged scholar wearing a square scarf gathered all the idle people in the teahouse celebrating the first lunar month with just one sentence.

Most of the idle people here are relatively well-dressed and clean, with rosy faces.

Mixed in were a few ordinary people wearing blue trousers and long black cotton-padded jackets.

"What? What happened?"

"What did you hear?"

The crowd surrounded the middle-aged scholar and started asking questions.

The teahouse waiter squeezed in from behind the crowd with a rag on his shoulder, a tea bag on his waist, and a large teapot in both hands.

The waiter took a separate tea bag from the tea bag on his waist and gave the middle-aged scholar a cup of tea.

"Are you going to talk about the massacre at the prefect's Yamen yesterday?"

The middle-aged scholar took a sip of tea.

The individual tea bags in the store are indeed more fragrant than the tea in the ordinary big teapot.

The middle-aged scholar had a happy expression on his face after sipping tea.

Putting down the tea cup, he patted the table gently with his palm and started to move his fingers.

"But I just wanted to talk about the massacre on Fuya Street yesterday."

The gossipy expressions on the faces of the onlookers suddenly became stronger.

Before the middle-aged scholar could speak, the crowd was already discussing quietly.

"What I heard is that there was a group of bandits from the mountains who came from nowhere. They felt that there was a lot of cash in the capital during the Chinese New Year, so they rushed into the house regardless and looted everything inside."

"Where are the robbers who are so cruel? They only want to loot property, but how come they kill all the people?"

"Then you don't know something. These bandits in the mountains are all capable of eating human flesh alive! What does it mean to kill a few people? If you don't eat those who died tragically alive on the spot, you are considered a gang of bandits.

It’s because the bandits wanted to run away early.”

There was a gasp in the crowd.

These days, especially those in the capital, they have the most intuitive feeling about the arrival of the Ming Dynasty.

Nowadays, in the streets and alleys of Yingtian City, in the kitchens of teahouses and restaurants, a lot of food leftovers are thrown away every day.

In Yingtian City, we haven't seen a beggar again for many years.

Whenever you wear ragged clothes, your complexion will look sallow.

As long as someone from the government in Yingtian City sees him, he will be dragged to the government almshouse without saying a word.

No matter what happened.

A new set of clothes, a spare set of clothes, and enough dry food for several days are the minimum guarantee.

If it is confirmed that he is a commoner living in the capital, the government will directly send this person to a government-run factory.

It is precisely because of this kind of generous treatment that in the early stages of the implementation of the policy, countless Yingtian people disguised themselves as people in distress and took the opportunity to get this kind of treatment.

It's just that the government is certainly not a fool.

After several follow-ups and verifications, it was found that although this group of people had not been punished, all their wages for working in the government-run factory had been fined.

I thought I was a little clever, but I didn't expect that I would end up working for the government for free.

After the initial rectification, the relief benefits provided by Yingtian Mansion were truly implemented.

Yingtian City is indeed very different now from before.

That's really the best place to be.

I haven't heard of bandits killing people and intercepting goods for many years.

But soon, a different voice came from the crowd.

"What I heard is different from what you heard."

"Oh? I'd like to hear the details!"

"This is actually what happened..."

As a result, a story about a vendetta quickly spread in the teahouse.

The three families living in the house across the street from the government office did so because they had offended people in the past. The three people who died the day before yesterday were only warned for the first time.

Those enemies are also very particular.

As long as these three families can apologize, they will stop killing people.

But these three families were all stiff-necked, but they remained unmoved. They even threatened the enemies on the opposite side to kill them if they could.

Now, how could the enemy on the other side endure it anymore?

So what if we moved to Fuya Street?

It's not like I lived in a government office.

kill!

So, what happened yesterday was that thirty-seven people died in that house.

This person is probably a storyteller.

A story about a vendetta was told so vividly that it was as if it had been witnessed with one's own eyes.

And the middle-aged scholar was not upset either.

Only after these people finished speaking, did they put the empty teacup on the table and take a look.

"Brothers, you are just hearing this. Let me tell you why."

As he spoke, the middle-aged scholar glanced at the waiter beside him.

The waiter was very sensible and immediately stepped forward to refill the scholar's water.

The middle-aged scholar saw everyone looking over again, and then he spoke slowly.

"This is not about killing people for cash, nor is it a so-called vendetta."

"There is a big secret in this matter!"

"I'm just afraid that you won't dare to listen to it later, and you won't dare to close your eyes at night after listening to it!"

The sense of mystery was suddenly evoked by this middle-aged scholar.

The onlookers squeezed in again.

"Say it quickly!"

"Brother, just say what you say. When it's almost time, I'll treat you to drinks and meat next door!"

"Yes, yes! We are all Yingtian people, how can we still be afraid of trouble? It's impossible!"

The middle-aged scholar raised his eyebrows and said, "Then I'll say it."

"explain!"

"Say it!"

The middle-aged scholar chuckled and began to talk: "Do you know who are the people in that house?"

"Of course they are from the Song family in Wuxi, Suzhou Prefecture, the Luo family in Changsha Prefecture, and the Qi family in Ji'an Prefecture."

As soon as the man finished answering, he continued: "These three families all entered Yingtian City years ago. The young ladies of the three families are the only three female officials in our Ming Dynasty today!"

The middle-aged scholar just smiled and asked softly: "Do you know why these three families came to Beijing near the New Year's Eve?"

The crowd whispered for a while.

Someone came in and whispered: "I heard from my second uncle's third sister's sister's husband's brother's old cousin, who works in the palace, that these three families escorted the ladies from each family to Beijing to wait for the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

As soon as His Majesty abdicates and the Crown Prince ascends the throne, he will present it to the palace to become the empress."

"That seems to be the case..."

"Speaking of which, in two days it will be the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. Recently, many officials from other places in our Yingtian City have returned. I heard that they are all busy waiting for the abdication ceremony."

The middle-aged scholar tapped his fingers on the table: "Yes! These three families came to Beijing just for this matter, to climb the dragon and the phoenix!"

The onlookers had a look of disdain on their faces.

But in my heart, I also lamented that girls from ordinary families like them had no chance to think about such things as climbing up the dragon and adhering to the phoenix.

The middle-aged scholar took a sip of tea and continued: "But you also know later that His Highness Taisun left the palace when he had a conflict in the palace. The West City project was started only after His Highness Taisun had a conflict with the palace.

Construction started.”

His Royal Highness Taisun!

The matter was suddenly brought up to the head of the emperor's grandson again, and the people watching were suddenly ablaze with gossip.

The middle-aged scholar added: "Perhaps you don't know that our Highness, the grandson, has never returned to the palace since the conflict with the palace, even on New Year's Eve!"
To be continued...