Entering the Imperial City for the First Time

  Opening her eyes, she felt a deep-seated pain all over her body. This was what it meant to be back from the dead. She blinked her eyes and gazed up at the vast blue sky, then closed them again.

  It wasn't until much later that she woke up again, struggling to push away the cotton cloth stuffed into her mouth. Her lips were dry and cracked from lack of water, frozen in a grimace, making it hard for her to speak. She forced her jaw shut, the muscles on her face twitching, causing her to furrow her brow. "What happened?" she muttered, as if asking herself, yet also seeming to be questioning something else.

  She really doesn't know who she is, what happened to her. Coincidentally, she has already forgotten herself. For someone who has already forgotten themselves, what can we say? She doesn't know what happened to her body, doesn't know how she fell to the ground, or was she originally sleeping here?

  "Umm... it hurts so much." I struggled to get up, looked at the starry sky that was about to dawn, and saw that the horizon had already started to turn pale white. My stomach growled, announcing that I was hungry.

  Her face climbed up, and at this time, no matter how weak she was, she would become strong for survival. She came down from the steep cliff, and if she didn't die, it was considered a big deal. Her whole body must have been injured somewhere. Yan'er walked in vain, wherever there was a road, she went forward, but the scattered wild fruits on the side of the road were not enough to fill her stomach. She didn't know how long she had walked, but one thing was certain: she hadn't walked far at all. For someone as weak as her, who had just gone through a life-and-death struggle, it was impossible to walk much distance. Anyway, she just followed the road and moved forward instinctively. When she got tired, she sat down by the side of the road to rest for a while. The sky also brightened up during her slow and lazy movements.

  The sound of horses' hooves came from afar, getting closer and closer. Fortunately, there are roads, so it can be said that the working people in ancient times were great, with roads connecting every village and town, haha.

  Her face followed the sound and looked forward...

  The horse carriage stopped in front of Yan Yan because this girl was indeed blocking the only small path.

  "Which family's girl is this?" The old aunt on the carriage board looked at the girl in front of her, who was dressed in tattered clothes and had a messy hair, and said sincerely that her current face didn't look good anywhere, and she couldn't see her former pretty appearance.

  "Call me?" Her face weakly replied

  The old aunt looked up and down in a circle, looking at the old man who was driving the carriage: "Yes, girl, which family's daughter are you?"

  Her eyes were half-closed and swollen on one side "I don't know either, who are you guys?"

  Wow, it seems that the other party doesn't know who they are either. This child is probably a silly and foolish woman. The aunt looked at her family's old man with inquiring eyes.

  "Miss, which family are you from? We'll send you back home." The old man finally spoke up, his tone sincere.

  "I don't know either," her face is now telling the truth, she doesn't know anything from waking up to now, and she doesn't even think about it. She just knows that I'm hungry, I'm tired.

  The old man took a glance at his face and turned to look at his partner: "I think our daughter is a bit spoiled." He pointed to his head as he spoke.

  The old aunt didn't get up, sitting on the carriage board, following the old man's gaze to examine her face. Her clothes were dirty and tattered, with only a hint of red visible, like a wedding dress that was now torn and worn out, hanging loosely on her body. There were no adornments on her head, her greasy hair was all tangled together, her face was covered in black mud, and her eyes had lost their luster.

  The old aunt thought for a moment, jumped off the horse cart and touched her face.

  "Really?" Yan'er looked at her aunt who was about to pull her hand and instead smiled.

  A friendly feeling.

  Her small hands were all wounds and mud, she pulled Aunt Lala's hand.

  The old lady pinched the 'wedding dress' on her face, stretched her neck and approached, although the clothes were tattered and dirty, but she could absolutely tell whether it was high-quality fabric or not.

  "Old man, the fabric of this girl's clothes is silk, tsk, tsk, tsk. I've lived for half my life and I've never worn anything made of silk." As she spoke, she couldn't help but stroke the wedding dress with a hint of envy.

  "Hey! Look at them, what are they up to." The old man was somewhat displeased. They were originally peasants from the countryside, how could they afford silk? These things were only for wealthy families.

  A wealthy family!?!

  "Old lady, you think this young girl might be a miss from some rich family?" The old man stared at his boss with wide eyes.

  "Hmm, maybe so, miss. Take me to your place and we'll send you back home." Eight out of ten that she's encountered something, otherwise why would she look like this.

  Her face watched them without saying anything.

  The old couple talked and persuaded their daughter for a long time, but she just shook her head, saying she didn't know. The old couple felt very frustrated.

  "Alright, let's get going first. We're headed to the Imperial City, and it's a long way ahead. If you're tired, miss, just come up here and rest for a bit, and we'll hurry along afterwards. There's a town up ahead, and we can figure things out then." The old man nodded at his wife, indicating that she should make some space for her.

  Without thinking, he directly climbed onto the horse carriage, which was much better than walking.

  All the way, the old couple kept asking Yan'er, but unfortunately, Yan'er couldn't remember anything about her own life, her name, or even how she became like this.

  That side of the facial family is considered to have gone mad, this good living person said that they were gone and didn't know where the bandits had gone either. How can this be used to give an account to the Mo family? Moreover, what happened to their own daughter who went missing? Both inside and outside the city have been inquired about, but there is no trace of her whereabouts.

  While searching for the madman on this side, the family on the other side had already hitched a free ride on a small horse-drawn carriage and galloped towards the imperial city.

  This Longguo's largest is the Imperial City, where the emperor lives. The old couple went to join their daughter, and their son-in-law had done some small business in the Imperial City a few years ago. These two old people, now old, could only rely on their only daughter, bringing Yaner this weak-minded girl, three people, carrying their luggage, walked for about a month, finally arriving at the Imperial City in a daze.

  The imperial city is not just prosperous, the old couple has only gone to the town to buy things, this is the imperial city, it's really different. Just as they entered the city gate, there were so many soldiers guarding the city gate, and suddenly felt much more majestic.

  The child sat in the carriage all along, and on this road, the old couple couldn't ask anything out. Looking at the child, he wasn't particularly foolish or particularly clever. The old couple had almost spent all their money, sitting at the entrance of the city's steamed bun shop, buying two hot buns with steam rising from them. Auntie broke one in half and handed it to Yan'er, who giggled and took a big bite. The old man quickly ate a bun, filling his stomach a bit. Hurrying along in the carriage, they looked at each storefront, wondering which one was their daughter's and son-in-law's shop. Along the way, they asked big and small shops alike, but this imperial city was too vast - the north of the city belonged to the emperor, while east and west were filled with streets and alleys. It would be impossible to find it in a day. The old couple decided to settle down for now and continue their search tomorrow.

  Her face is silly and followed them, not caring about so much, some eating and sleeping is enough, it's said that in the early years when people didn't lose their memory they also lived like this.

  "Old man, our savings are almost gone. This imperial city is so big, when can we find our son-in-law?" The old woman looked at the old man with a worried expression. Yes, they had never thought that Lin'an City would be so big, with so many people and shops. It would take three or four days to search for their son-in-law's family, one by one. The couple's savings were almost depleted, and as they gazed out at the bustling streets crowded with people, they felt bewildered.

  When one is full, he thinks of lust; when poor, he thinks of food. In such a situation, people's starting point is instinctive. The two of them turned their thoughts to Yan'er, and without any money, the couple would probably not last until they found their daughter and son-in-law and would likely die in a foreign land.

  "Come on, child, Auntie will take you to have some good food." The old lady suddenly grabbed one side of Yan's face, which had been quietly still, and looked at him with a kind and benevolent expression, as if he was the only savior left.

  The old woman pulled the child along, walking and looking around, not knowing where to send her off to. Anyway, no matter how much she sold this child for, she wouldn't send her to those dirty places. The old woman thought to herself, why not send her to a wealthy family as a maid? At least in a wealthy family, they wouldn't have to worry about food and clothes, and it would be more secure than other places. With that thought, she specifically went to explore those spacious courtyards and large estates.

  She wore a light purple blouse that set off her beautiful face. She muttered to herself about today's annoyances, "It's so hot outside, and I still have to go out and find a servant girl to bring back home, it's really killing me." As she spoke, she used a silk handkerchief to fan away the heat.

  The sharp-eared old woman was already leading Yan'er to wander around, and when she heard that the young lady from this household was busy buying a maid, she immediately pulled Yan'er over, curtsied, "Miss, ah, I heard you're looking for something?"

  Xue Qing gazed at the two women in front of her with a skeptical expression, her ears still quite sharp. "What's going on, old lady? I'm here to select a new maid for the manor, could it be that you're trying to sell your daughter?" Anyway, she had already spoken, looking for a maid, and rushing over to ask questions, it was clear they were selling one.

  "Yes, yes, miss, my husband and I are from a distant place, we came to rely on our relatives, but we can't find them, our money is running out, we're old, and only this child is left, really have no way to go, miss. Just now the old slave heard that you want to find a maid, take a look at my niece."

  The general's mansion is not like other places, the general is a hot-tempered master, and those who serve here must speak less and do more. If you don't find a maid, she will have to go herself. Moreover, it's essential that they can't be too beautiful, or else the master of the house might do something out of line again.

  Look at this girl, she seems to be quite taciturn, always following behind others. The maids in the mansion were all trained by her, and judging from how she looks at people, she still has some confidence. This girl doesn't seem very bright, leading her into the mansion is just right.