Daqian Night Emperor

Chapter 13: Offending the Noble

In the market, next to a stall selling steamed buns.

The children each held a donkey meat hot pot in their hands. They did not take the seats with sunshades reserved for the nobles. Instead, they squatted by the wall and ate so ravenously that their faces were greasy. The food smelled so delicious.

These young boys were the children of the hard-working laborers at the west city dock. Their families were poor and they could not afford to go to school. They usually caught chickens and chased dogs in the slum area, and occasionally committed petty thefts.

Li Yulu also lived in the slum area in the west of the city, but his background was much better than those poor children.

His father learned reading and writing from the owner of a pharmacy when he was an apprentice in the pharmacy in his early years. After Zhao's Trading Company settled in the west of the city, he was lucky enough to become a small manager in the company, responsible for counting the goods shipped from the dock.

Father Li felt that he was much better off than the poor laborers at the dock simply because he could read and write, and he attached great importance to the saying "learning can change one's destiny". Therefore, he spared no effort to cultivate his son, saved money to buy him a study, hired a teacher, and helped him pass the imperial examinations.

It’s a pity that although Li Yulu worked hard and studied diligently, he was not a good student. After studying for half his life, he only passed the exam and became a scholar.

Two months ago, Li's father passed away, and Li Yulu had to observe a three-year mourning period. He would not even be eligible to take part in the next imperial examination, let alone become a juren and an official.

The family's finances originally depended entirely on his father. Now that his father has passed away and there is still a frail mother to take care of, the burden of supporting the family falls on Li Yulu.

Li Yulu was not good at studying, but he was smart. He originally just wanted to find a job in a trading shop, but after a round of visits to the trading shop, he came up with a better way to make money than being an apprentice or a clerk - acting as a waiter.

He couldn't do it alone, so he went back to the slum area and asked the young kids from his neighbors to help him. He just wanted to give it a try, but he didn't expect that the business would be good.

Sometimes, the money that these children who followed him earned in a day was more than what their father, who worked hard at the dock, earned!
Li Yulu was also hungry. He finished a whole steamed bun in just a few bites, and was only three-quarters full.

He looked at the two remaining steamed buns in the oilcloth bag with lingering satisfaction, and then put the silver and money hidden in his sleeves in the bag. After hesitating for a moment, he wrapped the oilcloth, wrapped the two steamed buns and put them in his arms.

"Okay, eat well and then work hard in the afternoon! The sun is not very bright today, don't just run away with a number, the store checks on people from time to time!"

Just as Li Yulu was shouting at the children under his command.

On the other side of the long street, several market guards holding wooden sticks walked towards the fire stall aggressively, led by a manager with a greasy mustache.

The steward came to the fire-baked food stall, stroked his mustache, looked around at the people around him, and finally his eyes fell on Li Yulu. He pointed and ordered his attendants: "Take him away!"

Li Yulu was so frightened that his legs went limp on the spot. He thought to himself, "It's over, it's over. As expected, the people in the market have noticed it after all!"

When two tall and strong city guards held his arms on the left and right, he didn't know where he got the courage from, and shouted at the top of his lungs: "I am responsible for my own actions! It has nothing to do with these children..."

"Oh yeah, and these furry kids too. Take them all away!"

……

Li Yulu and the group of children followed the people from the market tremblingly, and were finally brought to a shop.

"Isn't this... a grain store?"

Li Yulu was a little confused. He thought that he and his men would be locked up by the people in the market, or beaten and thrown out of the market, but he didn't expect that they would be brought to the grain store.

He noticed that there were quite a few workers in the grain store at this time, some sitting on ladders removing the plaque on the store door, or moving things out of the store.

It's quite lively with people coming in and out.

What is this...doing?

Before Li Yulu could figure out the situation, he was kicked on the butt.

"What are you standing there for? Go and help move the things!"

Why...

Before he could utter this sentence, he turned around and saw the fierce-looking market guards holding sticks. He swallowed his words and went over to help the workers move the goods. The children under him also helped to move the grain in the grain store, packing the grain and rice and moving it to the donkey cart outside the grain store.

New rice and old rice were packed into bag after bag.

Donkey carts loaded with bags of rice stopped one after another.

After working for two or three hours, all the things in the grain store were finally moved out, leaving only an empty shell of the shop.

Li Yulu felt dizzy and his hands were rubbed with blood marks by the rough rice bag.

Although he was born in a poor family, his family had never let him do any heavy work since he was a child. It can be said that he could not carry anything with his shoulders or hands. The hard labor today almost cost him his life.

He leaned on the cargo board behind the donkey cart, gasping for breath.

But before they could rest for two minutes, another supervisor came over with a whip in hand and urged them:

"Why are you taking a break? Take a break after you get the stuff to the destination!"

Li Yulu had no choice but to force himself to get up and help.

On the cargo bed of the donkey cart, the bags of grain are piled high and there are no hemp ropes to secure them. They may fall down at any time, so someone is needed to hold them up from behind.

Li Yulu followed a donkey cart carrying bags of grain and rice, and followed the donkey cart towards the outside of the market.

The feeling of hunger and thirst made his vision blurry, his legs felt sore and swollen, and they didn't feel like his own.

He could only empty his mind and numbly follow the team forward.

I don’t know how long it took.

I only heard a voice from the front of the donkey team:
"stop!"

The donkey cart stopped, and Li Yulu didn't react in time. He staggered and almost fell to the ground.

When he held the cargo pallet and looked forward, he was surprised to find that the West City Wharf was in front of him.

Outside the dock, a large cargo ship belonging to the Zhao Company was docked at the shore. The planks were lowered from the hold and laid on the harbor. Poor workers in linen clothes were walking barefoot back and forth between the ship and the shore, carrying boxes of goods off the ship.

On the northwest side of the dock, there are several large wooden warehouses, which are where goods are temporarily stored at the dock.

The donkey cart team coming from the market town was moving the grain into one of the granaries in an orderly manner.

Grain store... big warehouse at the wharf...

Li Yulu chewed these words silently in his heart, and a figure gradually emerged in his mind.

At this time, the shop manager with a mustache came towards him, holding a water bag in his hand: "Have a drink of water."

Li Yulu took the water hose and drank it eagerly.

Before today, he had never felt that plain water could be so sweet.

After Gulugululu had swallowed a bellyful of water, he put down the hose and returned it to the Dog Oil Manager Hu, saying thank you: "Thank you very much."

Manager Dog Oil Hu put away the hose, snorted and said, "Do you know why you are here today?"

"I know." Li Yulu smiled bitterly, "I just spoke nonsense today and offended you."

(End of this chapter)