The rural doctor bought a husband who was very treacherous

Chapter 261 Lively

The day of the Banquet of Nations is approaching.

Kyoto is even more lively during the New Year than in previous years.

Because it is autumn now and the weather is neither too cold nor too hot, there are more and more acrobatic performers on the streets.

Of course, these artists were arranged to perform in specially designated places.

The place where the nobles in the capital live is still very quiet.

More and more merchants from neighboring countries and foreign countries came here. Walking in the bustling South City, you can often see many foreign merchants with curly hair.

Su Tang took Chunmei and others, covered their faces with veils, changed into ordinary clothes and went shopping.

From time to time, the attention of several people was attracted by the stalls of those foreign merchants.

Su Tang is okay, she has seen the world.

But this is ancient times after all, and even the goods shipped from foreign countries are similar to the products of medieval Europe. Su Tang still picks them up and looks at them from time to time, and will buy if she likes them.

"Mirror, mirror..." A number of women gathered in front of a stall, looking at the novel objects in front of them excitedly.

"Miss, I'll go and take a look." Qiumei and Dongmei are the most lively ones. Whenever there are many people at a stall, they are the first to check it out.

Not long after, Dongmei squeezed out of the crowd and said, "Miss, it's a peep show."

These maids have all been to Su Tang's space, and they have all seen modern mirrors in Su Tang's space. Naturally, they have no interest in the peep show on the stall just now.

"Oh, that's nothing special. Let's go to the next one." There were quite a few people gathered in front of the peep show stall, and Su Tang didn't want to squeeze in with them.

"Hehe, you're talking big as if you're some noble person. I'm afraid you can't afford such a beautiful peep show, so you're saying it's not rare." At this time, someone was standing at the edge of the crowd, looking at Su Tang and others.

Su Tang took a look and found that it was an old acquaintance, Xuanyuan Mengyao.

Xuanyuan Mengyao was holding a small mirror in her hand, glancing at Su Tang and her group from time to time.

Among Su Tang and her group, only Su Tang covered her face, while Chunmei and the others showed their true faces.

But it just so happened that Xuanyuan Mengyao knew Chunmei and the others. After all, when Su Tang attended palace banquets in the palace before, she always brought Chunmei and Xiamei with her.

Su Tang had no intention of paying attention to Xuanyuan Mengyao. This person was now just a figurehead in Emperor Jing's eyes. It was said that she had entered the palace several times to ask for an audience with Emperor Jing, but was rejected by him every time.

Nowadays, Xuanyuan Mengyao lives in Kyoto. Although the courtyard is a princess's mansion given by Emperor Jing, it is not as grand as Su Tang's mansion.

In addition, the man Xuanyuan Mengyao married was just a third place winner of the imperial examination from a common family. Now he only had an idle job as an editor in the Hanlin Academy, and his salary was pitifully small, which could not support the huge expenses of the princess's mansion.

Therefore, Xuanyuan Mengyao's life is not good now, at least not as glorious as when Queen Xie was in power.

Seeing Su Tang was about to leave, Xuanyuan Mengyao actually took half a step to the side, blocking Su Tang's way.

"You're really a dog that can't change its bad habits. Have you forgotten what it looked like when you peed your pants? Then let me help you recall it." Su Tang's voice sounded beside Xuanyuan Mengyao. Xuanyuan Mengyao seemed to have just remembered the past and took a few steps back in horror.

Her eyes opened wide, "This is on the street, you, you dare!!"

"I dared to do it in the palace, so why shouldn't I dare to do it now? Sister, you want to experience that ecstasy again, right? I'm afraid you've fallen in love with that feeling?"

After Su Tang finished speaking, she also looked at the hem of Xuanyuan Mengyao's skirt.

That look was a blatant reminder to Xuanyuan Mengyao.

Xuanyuan Mengyao's hand trembled, and the peep show she had just bought fell to the ground.

The mirror and the bluestone slab made a crisp collision sound, and the mirror instantly shattered into pieces all over the ground.

"Miss, be careful." Chunmei and Qiumei immediately stepped forward to block the broken mirror, fearing that the fragments would hurt Su Tang.

Su Tang patted Chunmei's shoulder and said, "Let's go."

After everyone left, the maidservant beside Xuanyuan Mengyao called out to her, "Princess."

"Pa!" Xuanyuan Mengyao seemed to have just woken up and slapped the maid on the face, "Why are you shouting?"

Then she turned around and squeezed into the stall where she was selling mirrors, and shouted at the foreign merchant, "What kind of broken mirror is this? It breaks when you drop it. It's not as solid as our Dayong bronze mirrors. Pay me for it!!"

Su Tang and her group were not walking fast, but they heard Xuanyuan Mengyao's loud yelling.

She could only shake her head. Even a girl who was raised with luxury would lose her manners like Xuanyuan Mengyao after losing her wealth. It seemed that she had to continue working hard to make money.

The street was crowded with people, and someone touched Su Tang.

Su Tang subconsciously grabbed the man's arm. There was almost no flesh on the arm. Su Tang felt as if she was holding dry firewood. Chunmei immediately stepped forward and captured the man.

"Take it out." Su Tang spread her hands and looked at the man.

The man was not tall and it was obvious at first glance that he was a teenager. At this moment, the teenager lowered his head and clenched his hands tightly.

In fact, Su Tang didn’t have any valuables with her, such as a purse to hold money, which she usually kept in her space.

The only valuable things on her body were the few hairpins and hairpins on her head, but if someone reached out to steal the ornaments on her head, it would be blatant robbery.

"What? You dared to steal, and after being caught, you still don't dare to take it out? Aren't the children in your Tzu Chi home all very strong-willed?"

As soon as Su Tang finished speaking, the young man suddenly looked up at Su Tang, his eyes full of shock.

The object in his hand was pried open by Chunmei and taken out. It was a purse, but it did not contain silver or money, but some refreshing herbs.

"Miss." Chunmei handed the purse to Su Tang, pointed at the young man and asked, "Do you want to send it to Jingzhao Prefecture?"

"No need, take him to a remote place over there." Su Tang said, pointing to an alley.

Soon they arrived at the alley. Outside was a bustling and bright street market, but this alley was deserted.

The young man was carried by Chunmei all the way to the alley without making a sound or struggling, as if he had accepted his fate.

"Are you curious about how I know you are a child from the Tzu Chi Home?"

"I've bought Song Mo and the others before. Your memory isn't that good."

Hearing Song Mo's name, the boy looked up again. This time, Su Tang was wearing a veil, but Chunmei and Xiamei were not covering their faces.

"It seems he recognized it."

Su Tang didn't want to buy these children who had a habit of stealing before, but when she saw them stealing today, she changed her mind.

Forget it, just take these kids in as well, and then see if they can be reformed. If they still can't be reformed, then let them all go. Anyway, Su Tang won't treat these kids who have a habit of stealing as her own.

Kyoto is bustling today, and these children have probably been sent out.

"How many of you have?" Su Tang asked the young man.

After hesitating for a moment, the boy whispered, "There are eleven more."

"Can you find them all?"

"Are you going to buy us?" The boy looked up at Su Tang, with a glimmer of anticipation in his eyes.

"Ah."

Seeing Su Tang nod in agreement, a smile appeared on the boy's face.

"I'll go find them."

Su Tang gave Chunmei a wink, and Chunmei immediately let go of the boy's collar.

The boy imitated an adult and bowed to Su Tang, then ran out of the alley. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared into the crowd.

"Miss, if you let him run away like this, what if he never comes back?" Xia Mei asked worriedly.

"No. Let's go to the entrance of the alley and wait." After saying that, Su Tang took Chunmei and the others to the entrance of the alley.

Standing at the entrance of the alley, Su Tang observed the people walking around and the quaint street scenes.

She suddenly had a wonderful feeling, as if she was standing quietly in the long and profound river of history.

Before my eyes, the years pass by like flowing water, bringing with them endless vicissitudes and changes.

She saw the pace of time rushing forward, leaving everything behind mercilessly.

The rise and fall of those ancient dynasties are like the brilliant yet fleeting scenes of drama on stage.

At the same time, the figures of ordinary people also shuttled back and forth in this historical picture, together constructing a magnificent picture.

"Miss, someone is coming this way." Chunmei's voice interrupted Su Tang's thoughts.

Following the sound, I saw a few children running towards this side through the crowd.

Soon, several children stood at the entrance of the alley, looking at Su Tang and others who were also looking at them.

"Go wait inside." Su Tang gestured to the child who had just come over to go into the alley first.

The children nodded obediently and strolled into the alley.

Every once in a while, one or two children would run out from the bustling crowd. They would run in a hurry and stop at the entrance of the alley politely.

The last person to come over was the boy Su Tang had met before. "They are all in the alley. Go and see if they have arrived yet."

The boy nodded, bowed to Su Tang, and walked into the alley.

Soon, the boy came out and said to Su Tang, "There are still two missing. They said they saw those two people coming over, but they didn't see anyone at the entrance of the alley."

The young man's brows were tightly furrowed, with a deep frown between his eyebrows.

"That must be because they changed their minds. Miss, we don't have to wait any longer." Chunmei said in a deep voice.

"No, those two are girls. They would do whatever we ask them to do. They would never..." The young man couldn't continue talking here. He suddenly felt uneasy.

These children who learned to steal have been caught before.

Most of the time, the captured children would be sent to Jingzhao Prefecture, but more often they would be pinned to the ground and beaten half to death by those who caught them. Some children would even die because they were not given timely medical treatment.

If they are girls, they will be taken directly to brothels and sold by the people who caught them.

"Which street are they usually on?" Su Tang looked at the boy and asked.

"It's on West Second Street in South City."

After the young man finished speaking, Su Tang said to Chunmei, "You and Xia Mei send them to the Prince Qi's Mansion first. I'll go to West Second Street to take a look."

"Yes." Chunmei responded and turned to walk into the alley.

The young man suddenly knelt in front of Su Tang and said, "I will take you there."

He just heard it, and didn't expect that the nobleman in front of him was from the Prince Qi's Mansion. Although Su Tang has not revealed her specific identity yet, these children who have been hanging around in the streets since childhood know that there is only one young female master in the Prince Qi's Mansion.

The person in front of me is actually the Princess of Qi! !

"Well, that's good." With a young man who is familiar with the two people leading the way, it should be easier to find the place.

Su Tang followed the boy with Qiumei and Dongmei.

Several people shuttled through the bustling streets, and soon they took a shortcut to West Second Street in Nanshi.

This place was as lively as the street where Su Tang and the others had just been, and the street was filled with the sounds of hawking.

At first glance, there was no disturbance on the entire street.

Su Tang looked at the young man who was anxiously leading the way in front and said, "Slow down, let's not get separated. If we do get separated, you can go to Prince Qi's mansion to find Chunmei."

"Yeah." The boy turned around and replied.

At this time, Su Tang was facing away from the sunlight. Although she was wearing a veil so her face could not be seen clearly, the woman in the boy's eyes had already overlapped with the Guanyin Bodhisattva in the temple.

As the boy was not tall, he was able to move nimbly among the crowd at a fairly fast pace. Soon he had walked the entire West Second Street, but had not yet spotted the two girls.

If it were a normal day, this street would be where the two girls usually go to work, and you should be able to find them if you walk along it.

When he came over to deliver the message just now, he came here first. At that time, the two girls talked to him excitedly.

Logically speaking, the two girls should have gone to the alley over there first.

The boy walked to a stall selling steamed buns at the end of the street and asked the old woman selling steamed buns, "Auntie Sun, have you seen my two sisters?"

The old woman who was buying the steamed buns looked at the boy for a while before she remembered who he was. "He was just wandering on this street. But it seemed like they bumped into some noble person and they kept apologizing to that noble person."

"I just searched a street and didn't see them." The boy said anxiously.

"Did you go somewhere else to play again? It's so busy today, so it's not surprising if I don't see you for a while. But you didn't leave West Second Street from my side." The old woman didn't think much about it and handed a white flour bun to the boy, "Eat it. It's so busy today, my buns are selling well. I'll give you one as a token of my gratitude."

If it were any other day, the boy would have certainly accepted it with joy, but today his two close sisters were nowhere to be found, and he had no mood to take the steamed buns. He just said thank you and turned to walk into the crowd.

Su Tang and the others followed not far behind the boy, and seeing his anxious look they could only follow him silently.

This time, the boy asked all the street vendors he knew and didn't know along the way, and finally he got the whereabouts of the two girls.

"The two of them bumped into a nobleman and were dragged to the alley over there by his men." An old man pointed to an alley and shook his head.