Xiaotan Town, Linjiang Prefecture, Jiangxi Province is the only way to go to Nanchang. There is an inn that has been opened for more than 20 years in the town. The shopkeeper was named Dong and a native of Linjiang. In the past, the inn business was quite good, but after the Qing army occupied Jiangxi, the inn business was getting worse every year. After the Taiping Army came, the business did not improve anyway. After the end of the year, it could barely feed. The reason was that there were fewer people. Since ancient times, people were doing business, and people were prosperous, developed, and lively. There was no one, so they were naturally cold.

Manager Dong didn't know other places, but he knew the situation in Xiaotan Town best. In the 17th year of Chongzhen, there were more than 20,000 people in the town, but now there are only more than 1,000 people left. Xiaotan Town is still a major transportation road, and the population of Linjiang Prefecture has been reduced so much that other places don't want to know.

Although Jiangxi, when entering the winter moon, is not as cold as the north, it has been more than 30 years, and it is also very cold. Manager Dong remembers that when he was a child, it was rare to see snow, but when the Chongzhen Dynasty, it would snow in Jiangxi every year. Sometimes the snow fell heavily, and it was covered in white everywhere. There was no passing pedestrian in the town for ten or half a month, as if it was isolated from the world.

On this day, if it weren’t for the generations of generations living here, Manager Dong would really want to move his family to Guangdong in the south. No matter what, going south will always make you feel warmer. But the older this person is, the more he misses his hometown, the more he cannot live in the place where he grows.

It didn't snow today, but it was very cold and the wind was howling. Manager Dong felt that it was impossible for anyone to stay in the hotel, so he went to the door panel early and asked the only one of his friends to rest. He went to his room to boil a pot of wine and drank a few sips of eggs made by his wife. It felt so pleasant. While drinking, he heard the door panel being knocked and shouted vaguely.

"Who? He knocked on the door so late!"

Manager Dong reluctantly poked his head out of his room in a cotton jacket and shouted to his friend: "Zhuzi, go and see who it is."

"Why!"

The guy who asked Zhuzi quickly responded, ran to the yard quickly, pulled out the door bolt and opened the door. As soon as the door opened, the cold wind blew in, making Zhuzi unable to help but shrink his neck.

Accompanied by the sound of the wind, five or six people entered the shop. Zhuzi looked out, and two others were leading a few horses in the cold wind.

"Is it that the guest wants to stay in a hotel or eat?"

Zhuzi asked while looking at the people and found that they were wearing hats on their heads, but they didn't have braids on their heads, so they must have been snatched off long ago.

"Enjoy both a hotel and a meal."

The person who spoke was a young man, who was very handsome, dressed in a brocade fur coat, and looked very rich. Beside him was a very graceful woman. Zhuzi only glanced at him and felt that this woman was really a fairy in the sky and looked very beautiful.

Manager Dong also put on his clothes and came over. When he saw so many people coming to the store, he was a little surprised. When he saw the young man and woman, he knew at a glance that the two must be husband and wife, and he might have been a young couple from an official family.

In addition to the young couple, there were three men in costumes and a middle-aged man. The three men in costumes were tall and burly and looked quite fierce. But shopkeeper Dong and Zhuzi were both used to it. People who were walking outside these days were either officials or businessmen. Most of them were rich. If there were no bodyguards, they would be robbed on the road.

The middle-aged man was dressed as a scholar, very tall, half a head taller than Zhuzi, with a very heroic face and looking very eye-catching. The middle-aged man said a few words to Zhuzi, and Zhuzi went out to lead the two outside and their mounts to the backyard, and later led the two men back.

The middle-aged Wen Shi glanced at the young man, and after the other party nodded, he threw a ingot of silver to Zhuzi and ordered: "I reward you with this silver. Go and get some food immediately, and move quickly!"

The ingot of silver that middle-aged Wen Shi threw to Zhuzi was more than one tael, which was generous enough. Zhuzi worked hard this month but only half a piece of money. When did he see so much silver? Even if he meets generous customers on weekdays, he will only give rewards for a few copper coins. He would be grateful for it. Now he has got so much money out of thin air. Zhuzi is still not happy and is crazy. He opens his mouth wide and can't stop his ears. He looks at the silver in his hand in disbelief, and he almost uses his teeth to bite the silver ingot.

Manager Dong was also jealous, but he accidentally turned around and locked Zhuzi's silver. He smiled and knocked Zhuzi's head. Zhuzi reacted from the surprise. He put the silver in his arms in his panic, and went to the kitchen to cook for the guests. Those people seemed to have seen many reactions to poor people like Zhuzi when they saw the silver. They looked at each other and their mouths were slightly raised.

The woman seemed unwilling to stay at the bottom and said a few words to her husband. The young man hurriedly signaled Manager Dong to take them to the room. Manager Dong nodded and took them to the second floor. When he went upstairs, Manager Dong noticed that the middle-aged scholar and several guards had never surpassed the young couple, and they were half a step behind from beginning to end, looking very respectful. The young couple seemed to be used to their steps, and there was no discomfort when they walked calmly in front of them.

The small place has limited conditions. Manager Dong has already brought the young couple to the best room in his inn, but the woman seemed to be unsatisfied and felt a little unwilling to do so. The young man still spoke a few words and stopped talking. The middle-aged scholar and a few guards were very casual, and they seemed to be used to being outside and not paying attention to anything.

Zhuzi and Manager Dong's wife were busy cooking in the kitchen. After the rice was ready, Manager Dong invited the guests to come down to have a meal. The young woman was unwilling to come down, so the young man had to ask Manager Dong to make a serving to go upstairs. He went to the lobby with middle-aged scholars and others to have dinner. Manager Dong specially asked Zhuzi to make a stove and after the meal was hot, everyone felt warm.

During the meal, several people didn't speak, and shopkeeper Dong was also tactful and knew that he must be from a wealthy family and was not happy to talk too much. So he tilted the abacus beads on the counter. While eating, there was a knock on the door outside, and someone was calling the shopkeeper to open the door. Shobo Dong and Zhuzi were both surprised, and then he was happy again: What good day is there? There are still guests here?

"Zhuzi, go and open the door!"

Manager Dong waved Zhuzi to open the door quickly. After the door opened, Zhuzi screamed like a ghost, and was so scared that he stepped back.

When Manager Dong met the people who were having dinner, his face changed drastically. It turned out that a large group of soldiers rushed in.

When the officer in charge saw the shopkeeper, the client and the customers in the store were frightened by their soldiers. He laughed and said to the guests who were eating: "Don't be afraid, we are the Taiping Army, and we will not disturb the people. You can eat yours."

After saying that, he gave a few instructions to his subordinates outside. Soon, a woman in the palace dress walked into the house with the help of a maid. The woman in the palace dress smiled slightly when she saw the person in the house, but did not dislike him at all. Instead, she asked in a whisper: "Where is the shopkeeper?"

"The little one is here, the little one is here!"

Manager Dong knew that a big man had come, and smiled all over his face, and was careful. Seeing him like this, the woman in the palace dress knew that he was afraid of him and was about to say something, but the person behind him suddenly pointed at the guests who were eating and shouted: "Fu Honglie!" (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!