The general kneels on the washboard again

Xiezhou is a remote place. It takes a full month to get here from Lingzhou even if you travel non-stop.

Now that the war is getting intense, some powerful people in the city have fled with their families, leaving only the elderly, the weak, the sick, or young and helpless children, looking depressed and pitiful.

The queue entering the city looked empty from a distance, while the queue leaving the city was very long.

Yue Niang couldn't help but sigh again. In her previous life, she lived in a prosperous era and could not feel the devastation of war. Now she was just passing by from afar, and the chaos had not really come yet, but Yue Niang still felt emotional.

After entering the city, I rushed to the Fu family's shop. It was a porcelain shop and the door was already locked.

Lian Xing took pictures for a long time before a kid dressed as a waiter opened the door: "What are you doing? You're disturbing my sleep."

Lian Xing also put on airs: "Little kid, this is the shop of the Fu family in Lingzhou."

The child rubbed his sleepy eyes and said, "Yes, yes, the shopkeeper is not here. If you need money, come back another day."

Lian Xing was stuck at the door. The child was a little angry when he saw that he couldn't close the door: "In broad daylight, you still want to rob the store?"

Lian Xing pointed at Yue Niang and said, "My young lady is from the Fu family in Lingzhou. The owner of this shop came to Beijing to check the accounts."

The child's expression relaxed a little upon hearing this, but a moment later, his face turned disdainful again: "Lingzhou? Fu family? Do they think I'm a three-year-old child? How could they be willing to send anyone here? Xiezhou is almost lost. At this critical juncture, this shop can be abandoned."

Yue Niang was amused: "Really?" She casually took out the key given by the shopkeeper from her waist and stuffed it into the door.

"Do you believe it now?"

The child believed it, but looked at Yue Niang with a hint of sympathy: "You really are from Lingzhou? You must not be doing well in the Fu family, right?"

Coming to Xiezhou now is tantamount to committing suicide, but the child didn't say it out loud for fear of hurting Yue Niang.

Yue Niang consciously added the second half of the sentence: "Coming to Xiezhou now is tantamount to committing suicide, right?"

The child also moved away from the door: "I didn't say anything, but don't stand outside the door, be careful of being photographed."

Yue Niang and her group followed the child into the store.

The decoration inside the store is the usual decoration of Fujia Porcelain Shop. It can be considered high-end in Xiezhou. I think the business is also good during peaceful times.

Even though there has been no business for a long time, these porcelains are still shiny.

Yue Niang asked the child, "Do you take care of it often?"

The child said proudly: "Of course, the master said that only by working hard can we have food to eat."

"Are you the only one in the store now?"

The child also answered every question: "There were two yesterday, but they are gone today. I have to say here, when I got up to sort out today, three or four porcelains were missing."

"Let them be." Yue Niang was helpless. In such a chaotic world, she just wanted to keep herself safe.

After looking around, Yue Niang's eyes were still fixed on the child: "How old are you this year?"

"Nine years old."

"Why not run away?" In fact, there are so many high-quality porcelains in the shop, and it would be enough to steal any one and run away.

"I'm an orphan and I have nowhere to go."

As he spoke, the child brought out a stack of account books that were taller than himself from the inner room: "Okay, the account books are all here, you can take a look for yourself."

Yue Niang flipped through the pages and asked him casually, "What's your name?"

"Ah Gou, my mother said that a humble name is easier to maintain."

Dong Zhu couldn't help but argue: "Didn't you just say you were an orphan? Where did you get the mother?"

The child laughed out loud: "Who isn't born from a mother? I used to have a mother, but she's dead now. Doesn't that make me an orphan?"

Dong Zhu quickly apologized: "I'm sorry, I didn't know."

Ah Gou was very open-minded: "Ignorance is not a crime, I don't blame you."

"You sound like you've been educated?"

Agou said, "I followed the shopkeeper and studied for a few days, but once Yexi Nation attacked, everything became a luxury."

Yue Niang continued to look through the account book. Actually, there was no big problem. She just hoped that someone would come and clean up this mess.

"I've taken a rough look. The confiscated accounts are worth about a hundred taels, and the outstanding accounts are over fifty taels. Add the waiters' wages and the four stolen porcelain pieces, and the total is almost a hundred and fifty taels."

Agou knew a lot: "The families whose accounts were confiscated have all moved away. No one knows where they went. As for the waiter, I am the only one left now."

Yue Niang instructed Lian Xing, "I'll write down the debts owed to these families. You and Dong Zhu will go and take care of it. As for the things the waiters stole, report them directly to the police."

Ah Gou pleaded for the two waiters: "Miss, please be merciful. They definitely don't have any other options. Just ask them to return the porcelain and don't report it to the police."

Yue Niang shook her head. "Ah Gou, people should have a bottom line. They have been working in the porcelain shop for so long, but I have never treated them unfairly. They could have waited for me to arrive and told me about their difficulties, but they didn't. Instead, they stole. Even if it was a helpless act, it was still a mean act."

There was white mist floating above Agou's head, but Yue Niang still tried to reason with him seriously.

This time he nodded seriously: "I understand."

To clean up the mess, just sort out what you owe and what others owe.

The account book is well organized in every detail. The shopkeeper is a capable person, but also a timid one. Now that he can go to Lingzhou, he can be regarded as a help to Fu Shiqing.

After one night, the Jiang family army successfully set up camp outside the city, but strangely, Jiang Songrui was not among those who came into the city to appease the people.

A bad premonition crept into Yue Niang's heart.

While the other generals were busy, Yue Niang caught Jiang Hu who came with her to comfort the people.

Jiang Hu was also surprised to see Yue Niang: "Miss Fu, why are you here? This place is very dangerous."

"Don't worry about me for now. Tell me, why didn't the Duke come?"

Jiang Hu's eyes wandered, his hands and feet moved unnaturally: "Well, ah, the general is naturally busy with the affairs of the camp, so we can just take care of this little thing."

How could Yue Niang believe him? "Really? The general came to comfort the people in the city. This is a way to appease the people and stabilize the morale of the army. But the general has not shown up for two days. What happened? Tell me quickly."

But Jiang Hu was also stubborn and still didn't tell Yue Niang.

Yue Niang's feeling of uneasiness became even stronger.

Jiang Hu had no way to deal with this, so Yue Niang had to go visit him herself.

Taking the soup she made herself, Yue Niang went to the camp, but instead of going in, she met Jiang Yunxiao, who was already a team leader, outside the gate.

"Yue'er, why are you here?"

"Brother Yunxiao."

Jiang Yunxiao pulled Yue Niang to a deserted place and said, "Yue Niang, this place is so dangerous. A war is about to break out. Why are you here?"

Yue Niang blushed and said, "I followed you here."

Then explain everything.

Jiang Yunxiao hugged Yue Niang emotionally: "Really? Do you really like me?"

The force made Yue Niang cough a few times and she slapped Jiang Yunxiao's arm hard: "I can't breathe, Jiang Yunxiao, let me go."

Only then did Jiang Yunxiao let go.

Yue Niang also got back to business: "It's all the same if we wait until you return triumphantly to discuss our affairs. The most important thing now is what happened to my uncle?"

Jiang Yunxiao's face also fell. "I came here today for this matter. Some people in the army have been trying to shake the morale of the troops these past few days, saying that my father has been poisoned. I don't believe it's groundless, so I thought of coming to take a look."

Yue Niang also nodded: "Then I think it must be true. I asked that stubborn Jiang Hu, but he couldn't get the answer. That's fine. You can go ask him, he will definitely know."

"Okay, then you should go back to the city first. It's too dangerous here."

Yue Niang handed the soup to Jiang Yunxiao: "Here you go, I've brought it all. I'm leaving first."

Jiang Yunxiao had a lasting aftertaste for this brief embrace and walked towards the military camp.

Jiang Yunxiao was very efficient. He sent Jiang Hu to reply at night.

"My young master asked Miss Fu to ask me if you have any questions." Jiang Hu looked aggrieved, probably because he was taught a lesson by Jiang Yunxiao with a stick.

Yue Niang frowned: "Is my uncle really poisoned?"

Jiang Hu nodded. "Yes, the general developed drowsiness not long after leaving Lingzhou. It's even worse in the past few days, staying awake for less than an hour each day. He even vomited blood last night."

"Have the people around you checked?"

Jiang Hu nodded again: "We have checked one by one, but there is no result."

"Take off your armor and give it to me."

Jiang Hu covered his clothes: "What do you want to do?"

"Enter the camp."

Yue Niang put on Jiang Hu's clothes and successfully sneaked into the tent. Jiang Yunxiao was guarding Jiang Songrui's bed.

Hearing footsteps, Jiang Yunxiao turned back vigilantly.

Seeing that it was Yue Niang, his eyes suddenly became red, but he was stubborn and didn't shed a tear: "Yue'er."

Yue Niang went forward to check, flipping through the medical book given by Fu Shichuan while reading it. Jiang Yunxiao tacitly did not interrupt.

After lighting the lamps and removing the candles until the second half of the night, they finally found a case with similar symptoms, and Yue Niang showed it to Jiang Yunxiao.

"Brother Yunxiao, look, this symptom is exactly the same as my uncle's."

Jiang Yunxiao also took the medical book and studied it: "Did your third uncle give you this book?"

Yue Niang nodded: "Yes, I think we can ask for help from Third Uncle."