The boat was intercepted, and a group of people from the river patrol team came up. It was said that someone had tipped off that the cargo carried by this ship contained contraband, so they came here to search it.
The so-called contraband items were actually two large boxes of iron pots and fifty or sixty iron shovels and hoes. They were not considered dangerous items. However, the inspection team could not find official labels on these iron products. Recognize the blacksmith's mark, which means that these things are privately cast.
In the past ten years, East has been implementing pig iron control. All iron products must be made by an officially recognized and registered blacksmith shop, and marked with the mark of the blacksmith responsible for casting, so that the source can be traced. In addition, All of them are privately made, and trading is strictly prohibited. Among them, iron farm tools that can be used as weapons are more strictly controlled. Once discovered, confiscation and fines are light, and prison sentences are common.
The owner of the cargo ship stood fearfully in front of the inspection team leader, trembling all over, and stammering: "It's all... entrusted to me by others to transport... It's not my thing, I don't know that it was privately cast... "
This was a clear attempt to shirk responsibility, so naturally the team leader would not believe it, and instead concluded that there was something wrong with him. After some quarrel, they decided to confiscate all the iron products and other cargo on the ship, and the entire people on the ship were also detained, waiting to be dealt with by their superiors.
When Vasily saw this situation, he was a little speechless. He thought that it was no wonder that the ship had such a deep draft, but there was not a lot of cargo on the ship. It turned out that such things were hidden, and he was really too careless.
Mingna gently tugged on the corner of his clothes: "What should we do now?"
"It should be no problem. We are just taking a free ride and have nothing to do with the owner. We just need to make it clear to the people in the inspection team." Vasily put on a smile and walked up to the team leader. He explained the situation between himself and Ming Na.
The captain of the inspection team looked at him suspiciously, then looked at Ming Na: "Even if you really have nothing to do with the ship owner, you are still very suspicious. Why are you hiding in the cabin all day?"
Vasily said hurriedly: "My little niece was sick a few days ago and is still very weak now. Of course she can't blow the wind. I stayed in the cabin to take care of her, so I didn't come out."
Minna coughed cooperatively, then leaned softly next to Vasily and whispered: "Uncle, I'm a little dizzy." Vasily hugged her quickly: "Really? Are you okay? Do you want more?" Put on some clothes? I'd better take you to see a doctor. It's very troublesome for children to get sick."
The captain of the inspection team did not have time to watch them perform the "uncle-nephew love" scene. He just said: "Bring your identity documents and take a look. If it can be proved that you really have nothing to do with the ship owner, it is not impossible to let you go."
Vasily quickly took out the voucher. His identification credentials were prepared by the Security Service. Of course there is no problem, but when it comes to Ming Na, there is some trouble.
Ming Na's identity certificate was originally at Qedon's home. When they were in school in the Magic City, Anlong and Dora sent the certificates there. More than a year ago, she traveled to Kamega with her grandfather and put all these belongings into the storage bracelet. Later, she transferred into the storage ring. Now his whereabouts are long gone.
The captain glanced at Ming Na again and again, and then glanced at the captain's dark brown hair. There is a strong tendency to suspect that they are related. Seeing that something was not going well, Vasily hurriedly explained to him: "When I was in Water City, I encountered a thief, and the money and the child's identity document were stolen. I had to ask a friend to borrow money before I could go on the road. But don’t worry, she’s such a little kid, she can’t be a bad person, please let us go.” After that, he quietly stuffed a gold coin over.
The captain pinched the gold coin and changed his smile: "That's right. I think this kid looks a bit like you. He must not be the same family as the captain, so..." He hadn't finished his words yet. An inspection team member came and whispered to him, and his eyes lit up: "Really?!" He immediately turned to Vasily and said: "Just wait on the boat first. I will let you go after consulting my superiors." Let's go." After saying that, he led the two team members and left, leaving a dozen subordinates to guard the people on the boat.
Minna and Vasily looked at each other, not knowing why he suddenly changed his tune. Looking at the whereabouts of the patrol team from the deck, they found that they were on another boat, and they were still noisily searching for "contraband". The few comments that came around seemed to be quite valuable goods.
Mingna pouted: "What should we do now? When will they let us go?!" She suddenly had an idea, pulled Vasily down, and whispered in his ear: "How about... how about we escape secretly? Like? We can all swim anyway."
Vasily laughed when he heard this: "No, they are river patrols and they are good at swimming. And if we escape, doesn't it mean that we admit that we have a problem? If we are caught, we will not be able to escape." He Seeing the disappointed look on Mingna's face, she smiled and said: "Okay, okay, little Mingna, just be patient. They are also performing official duties, have you forgotten? I am also a public official, there is no reason to return to my own country, We also have to conflict with people who are also public officials. Anyway, there are only less than two days left to get to Ito, and no one is chasing us, so it doesn’t matter if you go slower."
Ming Na muttered in a low voice: "Who knows if they are really performing official duties..." But she still sat down on the bench and waited for the inspection team's decision.
Vasily was amused again when he saw this. He caught a glimpse of the boat owner's family crying softly in the corner. He couldn't bear it, so he asked: "I see that you are also a businessman who has been in the river transport business for many years. You should know that contraband is not allowed." Yes, why would you do it knowingly?”
The captain lowered his head and said nothing, and his wife answered for him: "There is nothing we can do about it. Our lord's son is getting married this fall, and the taxes in the entire territory have been raised two months ago. We really can't stand it. For I only agreed to help others make more money, but I didn't expect to be reported..." She started to cry, and an old woman next to her cursed: "It must be the noble young master I met this morning! He wants to beat him My granddaughter’s idea is to harm us on purpose!”
Vasily glanced at the young girl standing next to him. Although her nose was red from crying, she still looked pretty. Someone was looking at her. He lowered his head shyly. He looked back at Ming Na. Both of them were helpless and had to wait patiently.
This delay lasted a whole day. The next day, when the sun rose high, the inspection team sent someone to inform Vasily and Minna that they could leave. However, their land and horses were seized as the private property of the ship owner. If they wanted to go back, they would have to wait a long time and go through a series of procedures. Vasily thought about it. Decided to give up the horse.
Mingna followed Vasily disembarked from the boat and took the land route. When she was far away from the river, she said: "Uncle Vasily, those patrol members are so annoying! I just heard them say privately. Your horses can be sold for a lot." Money, we discussed that after selling the horse, the whole team would go drinking together. How could they do this?!"
Vasily was startled. He sighed: "It's not surprising. Inspectors like them have a limited salary for a year. If they can't find some extra money, it will be difficult to sustain themselves. Over time, this kind of thing has become a routine. You see, you are used to it. Just do it.”
"I don't like it anyway! Also, that uncle captain is very pitiful. He just wants to make more money. It's all because of his lord's greed that he has to take risks!"
"Nobles..." Vasily felt the same way, "Many nobles are like this..."
"So, nobles are the most annoying!" Ming Na made a decisive conclusion.
Vasily blinked: "You are scolding yourself for what you said. Don't forget, your family is also a noble."
"That's different!" Ming Na said, "I never felt that I was a noble. When I was sold by slave traders, I also met many rich and noble people. On the surface, they seemed like serious people. In fact, it was very bad. I knew a girl. She was sold to the nobles for just one night, and she died miserably. I also received a lot of beatings, and I really hated them at that time. There were some kind-hearted uncles and aunts at that time. Give me water to drink, food to eat, and begged the slave traders for me. They have such good intentions, but they are very poor. Why can't they live a rich life? Why can those bad people live so comfortably? What if Nobles are so bad, I would rather be a commoner for the rest of my life!"
Vasily stopped and turned to stare at Minna with something strange in his eyes. Ming Na looked a little strange at him, and couldn't help but start to reflect on whether she had said something wrong, and whispered: "Well... I didn't mean that you shouldn't want to be a noble..."
Vasily smiled, picked up Minna and ran up the mountain ahead. Minna faced the wind and asked loudly: "What are you going to do?" "Of course we are on our way." Vasily rushed forward without looking back, "Over this mountain, we will soon reach Idong. This is shortcut!"
Ming Na followed him up the mountain with hesitation. Before she reached the halfway point, her feet were already weak. She pulled and tugged on the ground. Finally, she climbed to the top of the mountain. When she saw a piece of grass to rest on, she sat down on it and complained softly: "Just climb the mountain, why are you rushing so fast?"
Vasily did not answer. He stood on a big rock and looked ahead, with a bright smile on his face: "Mingna, come here and take a look."
Ming Na climbed up the stone in confusion and looked around, her eyes suddenly lit up.
On the other side of the mountain, there is a large gentle slope, covered with green grass and occasionally dotted with a few clumps of wild flowers. A group of white lambs are walking in the mountain, suddenly gathering into a pile, and then spreading out, revealing the middle. A young man with messy hair playfully pulled a blade of grass and put it into his mouth. The stream shining golden in the sun winds down the slope and merges into the Manado River not far away. On both sides of the river are endless farmland. The wheat is about to mature now. When the wind blows, there is a vast expanse of farmland. Golden waves.
The sky is blue, the clouds are as white as silk, reflecting the green mountains, green grass, colorful wild flowers, and golden farmland. Mingna murmured intoxicatedly: "So beautiful..." She stretched out her hand and felt the breeze Flow through your fingers.
"Every time I see it, I feel very beautiful." Vasily said, "This is my motherland. No matter where I go and how beautiful the scenery is, I always feel that the most beautiful one is here."
Ming Na nodded. She also agreed with this sentence, but said: "The scenery I saw in Mayton is not inferior to that here."
Vasily smiled: "That's the same, it's our place in East anyway." He turned to look at the land under the mountain: "Actually... every time I see nobles bullying civilians or doing other bad things, I feel sad. It's very uncomfortable. Are we people risking our lives and working hard to wander abroad for many years just to let the nobles enjoy happiness and the common people be oppressed? I am also a commoner, and I have suffered a lot since I was a child. When I think of what I have Nobles always benefit the most from working hard, so I feel awkward in my heart."
Ming Na hurriedly asked: "You think so too?"
"This is what I thought before." Vasily said, "But now, I know that what I do is actually more to prevent the country from war and disaster, as long as the country can be peaceful. Even if civilians are bullied, it is better than enduring The war is so painful. The disasters caused by the war are beyond your imagination. At that time, Weisha invaded the north of Shaonan. My mother fled to East and met my father. She often told me about that time Countless people died every day. Houses were burned, furniture was broken, valuables were stolen, and all villages and towns were empty. Have you been to Ori, can you imagine? That was three It was rebuilt ten years ago. It was originally in ruins... If, one day, there is a war in East, what will this beautiful land look like?" He looked back at Ming Na: "Mei Dun, Kidon, and Matt are familiar places to you, can you imagine them being turned into ruins?”
Minna thought for a while, shuddered, and kept shaking her head: "I don't want war." She hugged Vasily's arm: "So the Security Agency does such a great job, does my father do the same kind of work? ?Then I will support him.”
Vasily smiled and touched her head gently: "Good child. This is what I want to say, although the nobles are annoying. But we still have to do what we should do, because the place we protect is not the nobles. It is this A piece of land and the people living on it. If you feel that you can't stand the evil deeds of the nobles, then do your best to change it. Even if one person's power is very small, as long as everyone puts in a little effort, they can definitely change this country. Get better.”
Ming Na felt that she understood, but she seemed not to understand, so she nodded vaguely. Vasily was amused when he saw this, and pulled her down the boulder and said, "Okay, now that we've finished seeing the scenery, it's time for us to leave."
"Huh? But I haven't had a good rest yet..." Before Mingna could finish her words, Vasily carried her on his back: "I know your kid is weak, so let me take care of you next."
Ming Na smiled and hugged his neck: "Then please, it doesn't take any effort to go downhill anyway, so just go as fast as you can!"
"Ah! That's too much. I'm a human being too, and I get tired too... Oops, I'm going to fall, but I didn't fall, and I knocked Minna down..." Vasily was acting weird all the way, swaying left and right with Minna behind his back. The shaking made her giggle, and there were many dangers, but in fact there was no danger at all. The two of them rushed down the mountain before falling on the grass to rest.
In the evening of the next day, they arrived at Ito Castle, but unfortunately it was already time to close the city gate. With no choice, they had no choice but to stay overnight at a farmer's family outside the city, and received a warm welcome from the host. Minna drank the fragrant fish soup cooked by the aunt and ate the hot bread. She felt warm in her heart. Occasionally she caught sight of Vasily rubbing his calf, and she couldn't help but chuckle.
Early the next morning, at dawn, they said goodbye to the farmer's family and waited at the city gate. As soon as the city gate opened, they walked in.
This was the first time Ming Na came to Yidong City. She couldn't help but look around. Suddenly, she was blocked by the guards guarding the city. She learned that everyone entering the city must be searched to prevent people with malicious intentions from disrupting the security of the capital.
Vasily muttered in a low voice: "It's strange, this didn't happen before. Did something happen recently?" He tried to talk to the guard, but the other party ignored him and just urged him to finish searching him and leave quickly.
Ming Na carefully looked at the clothes of the guards and thought about her father's position. Could it be similar to the people here? While I was thinking wildly, I suddenly felt a line of sight looking at me. I looked around, but there was no one there. I was confused: "Uncle Vasily, there seems to be someone..."
"What's the matter?" Vasily turned around and asked her. Suddenly he caught a glimpse of a few familiar figures on the corner of the street and said with a smile, "Look, the aunt selling flowers over there and the uncle setting up the stall are all our informants."
Minna looked over, and sure enough she saw the two people looking back at Vasily, winking, and still pretending to be doing their own business. She asked: "What do you mean by informant?"
"It means that they are not official members, but they take our money and report what happens in the city for us." Vasily explained, "There are many such people, and they are found in all walks of life, in the main streets and business districts. , residential areas. Ah, look, walk from here, cross two streets, and there is the Security Department not far ahead. Let’s go there first.”
"Yes!" Ming Na responded, feeling very excited. What is it like where dad works? She wished she could see him right away.
Crossing two streets, a large gray and black building stood at the end of the street ahead. Vasily said with a happy face: "Look, there is the Security Department ahead. There are only two hundred meters left. Do you want to run over in one go?"
Ming Na looked over from a distance and saw that the road was wide open with no pedestrians at all. It was perfect for running at full speed, so she nodded vigorously.
"Okay!" Vasily made a running gesture, and Mingna followed suit. The two of them stared ahead, ready to sprint.
"Wha—" a sharp sound broke through the air, followed by a deep "poof." Vasily turned his body, and a black arrow tail appeared on his left arm.
Minna was stunned, and then she realized: "Vasili!" She was rolled to the roadside in Vasily's arms and hid behind a lamppost. Two more arrows shot over and inserted less than half a meter away from their feet.
Minna's head was pressed down by Vasily, but she couldn't help but look at the injury on his arm. She saw blood spreading on the sleeves, gradually turning black, and her voice trembled slightly: "Vasily, The arrow is poisonous..." She pressed her head, forcing herself to remember what kind of poison it was and how to cure it.
Vasily's breath gradually weakened, but he still persisted in pulling out the dagger secretly hidden on his body and deflected the arrow: "It's so... so careless. As expected, someone chased me..."
"What?" Ming Na raised her head, "You can't move so violently! The poison will act faster!" She turned around and saw a few abandoned wooden sticks in the open space behind her, and hurriedly picked up two of them. She dodged three or four arrows and waved the wooden stick to push the others away, but when the wooden stick came into contact with the arrow branch, the force was so strong that it almost knocked the wooden stick out of her hand.
Vasily's breath became increasingly short. He took out the cloth bag in his arms and gave it to Minna: "Take this... find a way to send it to the security agency... wait a little longer, someone will... come... run..."
"I don't want it, I can't leave you..." Ming Na was so anxious that her eyes were red, "Call someone quickly, don't you know a lot of informants? And your colleagues, call them to rescue you!"
"Now... none of them are here... It's strange... there's no one at the gate..." Vasily finally found that the Security Department was different from usual, but now it was too late, "Run quickly, think about your father, my poison... detox No, I know what it is...don't waste time, run quickly..."
After hearing this, Minna gritted her teeth, turned around and ran away with a loud cry. Looking back, she saw Vasily's body getting lower and lower, getting heavier and heavier, and gradually fell to the ground motionless. A dozen big men passed him and chased her.
She wiped the tears from her face and ran away when she saw the road or people. In Ito City in the early morning, there were few pedestrians. She didn't know where she was running. Suddenly she saw a crack in the wall by the roadside, just big enough for her to pass through. She hurriedly jumped into the wall and hurriedly ran past while listening to the footsteps of pursuit. , she slid down to the ground next to the wall, holding the cloth bag tightly with her hands, crying, but did not dare to make a sound.
"Who is it?" A voice came from the yard, and Ming Na stiffened.
(I’m surprised that I wrote so much...it’s a Mother’s Day gift...)