Chapter 18 The experience of the beggar's den

Now, let's talk about what happened three days ago—— Hendon ran quickly down the stairs of the flat, across London Bridge, and into the Sarzac Forest. He searched everywhere in the forest, but there was still no trace of Edward.Hendon thought to himself: "According to the results of my inquiries along the way, some people did see a boy like him brought into the forest by a young man, so they must be here, but this area is too It's too big... It's not easy to get this little clue now, as long as I continue to search hard, I will definitely be able to find it." Hunton looked around, but he couldn't find the prince.Seeing the setting sun, Hunton was already so hungry that his stomach was growling and he was extremely tired.With heavy legs, he came to an inn next to the Sazak Forest, and walked in exhaustedly.After eating something, Hendon decided to stay here for a night before making plans.When he was lying on the bed, he was still thinking about how to find the child.

Hendon tossed and turned, and he suddenly thought: "By the way, if the boy can escape, he will definitely come to me. He thought he was going to meet me, so he was deceived. The poor boy is in this world, He has no relatives, friends, or anyone who can protect him. Now, no one cares about his safety except me. After this deception, he will definitely have a fear of London. Even if he wants to go back to London to find me, I'm afraid I dare not go back again. So, where else could he go to find me? Well, the boy knew that I was going to Kent. I remember that day when I told him about my life experience, he was very Interested, very excited to hear. Based on this, he may come to find me at Hendon Manor in Kent. However, he has no money with him... Oh, come to think of it, doesn't he know how to beg?— Yes, yes, he will definitely do it!"

Hendon was relieved that his thoughts were reasonable, and then he blew out the candle by his pillow and got ready for sleep. Early that morning, Prince Edward was tricked out of the apartment by the young man.Naturally, he would not have thought that this young man was a liar pretending to be Hendon's friend, let alone that there was another accomplice of his on the street, trailing behind them. The accomplice standing on the side of the street had his left hand tied with a bandage and hung on his left shoulder, his left eye was covered with gauze, and his head was wrapped with a bandage; he was walking with a limp, leaning on a stick made of wood.

When the young man led the prince into the Sazak forest, he purposely turned around and walked towards the depths of the forest.His purpose is to prevent Edward from escaping. Edward walked in the forest for a long time, his feet were worn out, and it was very painful to walk, but he hadn't seen Hendon's figure yet, so he couldn't help asking angrily, "Where is Hendon? Since we have to go It’s so far away, he should come to greet me in person, this is the proper etiquette! Now I don’t want to leave even a single step!” The young man pretended to reply: "Hendon was seriously injured in the forest. His eyes and wrists were bandaged. Don't you want to go and see him? If not, then don't go."

"My God, he was hurt? Why didn't you tell me sooner? Then let's go! Hey, don't be slow, let's go. Who hurt Hendon? Well, let's say he was hurt Man is a duke, and I will definitely avenge him." Edward took three steps and made two steps, and quickly ran deep into the forest. This area is sparsely populated, and there is no other sound except the chirping of small birds.The trees are tall and eerie.There is only a small piece of flat land here, on which stands a hut. It seems that it should be a place where local people put their things. The roof and eaves are already in dilapidated condition.

"Here we are, right here." The young man walked in while talking, and Edward followed him in. When he saw that the room was empty. "Where's Hendon?" The young man suddenly changed his expression, glared at Edward and said, "Why is Hendon here? Haha, I lied to you." The young man called.At this moment, Edward heard a sneer. This terrifying laughter came from outside the door, and a stout man came in with the laughter.This guy is exactly the fierce man who has been trailing behind Edward. Edward scolded angrily: "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

The fierce man and the young man exchanged glances, and then they cursed: "Hey, you little bastard! Be sober, and take a good look at my face. I just put on a little disguise, can't you recognize you?" Is your father? What an idiot! Raising you for so many years in vain!" While cursing loudly, he untied the bandages wrapped around his hands and eyes, and his limping legs became straight, and he immediately showed his true appearance. He is John Conti of the slums . Edward became even angrier and shouted: "How can you be my father, you trash? My father is dead. I don't even know who you are. I am a prince, no, I am already a king now If you really hid my faithful servant Hendon, bring him here quickly. If you don't do what I order, I will definitely punish you severely!"

John also said furiously: "Hmph, although I know that you are insane and don't care about you; but if you continue to talk nonsense, don't blame me for doing it. If you don't let you know how powerful I am, you will I won’t be obedient. Think about it, this is the only house in the forest, no matter how loud you shout, no one will hear you, so even if you talk nonsense, I’m not afraid of being heard ;If you go to other places and you still talk nonsense, it will be terrible. You are not allowed to say that kind of crazy talk in the future. You listen carefully to me, we are now murderers, so we can't stay here anymore, And we'll have to change our names. So from now on I'll be John Hobbs and you'll be Jack Hobbs. Got it? Remember it well and don't forget."

"Stop talking nonsense, my name is Edward." "Bah, you brat, shut up, let me ask you: Have you met your mother since we separated? Do you know where your two older sisters are? Tell me quickly!" "You are not allowed to ask such inexplicable questions. My mother has been dead for several years, and my sister is in the palace." The young man couldn't help laughing, and said, "Hahaha, there's really nothing we can do about him." Edward was very angry and wanted to hit the young man, but John stopped him and said, "Hey, Hugo, don't talk to this little lunatic. This guy is crazy, and the more you talk to him, the more crazy he is... Hey, Jack , come here, sit down, and be quiet. Now, I'll give you something to eat. But if you don't obey, I'm going to beat you up. You kid, you must remember the taste of my fist! Give me sit down!"

Knowing that he couldn't escape now, Edward threw the wooden stick on the ground, away from the two rascals, went to the innermost corner of the hut, climbed onto the pile of straw piled up like a hill, and lay down directly. John and Hugo were still sitting at the door, looking at Edward from time to time, and the two were whispering there.Edward closed his eyes and lay down on the straw, lost in sad thought. "Ah, my father has passed away! And I am trapped here again, what should I do?..." All that Edward had suffered since he left the palace and lived in the streets was nothing compared to the news of his father's death.Because he always firmly believes that he has the hope to return to the palace, and he believes that no matter what hardships he suffers, he will one day ascend the throne.But now that his father is no longer alive, what will he do in the future?

The more Edward thought about it, the more sad he became, and tears filled his face.Because he didn't sleep well last night and walked for such a long time today, he fell asleep in the straw pile before he knew it. After a long time, Edward was awakened by the noise, laughter and singing around him. He opened his eyes and was petrified by the eerie scene in front of him. In this hut, there are about twenty people.These beggars, men and women, are sitting around a big fire, drinking to their heart's content.I don't know when, it was already dark, and now the outside of the house is pitch black, and the red flames inside the house illuminate the gang of beggars. They are like a group of demons dancing wildly, making people sick.There were also old women and little girls among the beggars, and they were as drunk as the others, and joined in singing a gibberish song: "Hey, look at the ears, it must be a mule; look at the horns!" The long one is probably a cow." Some people were knocking on empty tin cans indiscriminately, and some people were dancing wildly.The pillars of the hut were rotten, and seemed about to collapse under the tumult.On the ground far away from the fire, there were two skinny dogs lying on their stomachs. They were tools used by beggars pretending to be blind to lead the way to the street for begging. After such a noisy carnival lasted for a while, a man called "Old Man" looked around and said, "Wait a minute, there seem to be two or three newcomers here tonight, let them Let's introduce ourselves briefly... Conti, by the way, your name is Hobbs! Hobbs, you are not a newcomer, you are an old friend after a long time! Long time no see, tell us Tell me about your recent situation. You go first." "Well, old man, I have nothing to say. I just slipped and killed a priest, and I killed him with the club." "What! You killed a priest? That's amazing. Come, I want to toast you." The old man toasted John, and the others took turns to toast him.John was at once hailed as a hero, and made himself think it a very honorable thing. Then, the second newcomer said to everyone: "Old man, I have nothing to admire, and I have nothing to tell you. My name is Wiens, and I was originally an honest and decent tenant farmer. The rented land was taken back by the landlord. I had nothing and was kicked out of the village. In desperation, I had no choice but to wander around and beg. One day, I met the police and he yelled at me: 'You rascal, As a British citizen, don't you know that British law prohibits begging?' So I was put in prison at once, they stripped me naked, beat my back furiously with a leather whip, and burned me My face was branded red with a branding iron. You can tell by looking at my face carefully." "Oh, how pitiful it is. Beggars will suffer a lot if they come across the police." "Old man, you don't know that someone like me who was released after only half a year in prison is considered quite lucky. Some of my friends have been imprisoned for more than two years and have not been released yet. Released. I heard that it was because his saluting posture to the prison guards was not good, and he failed to please the guards. Bah, these guards are really disgusting! How can anyone in the world want to beg for food? If it is not desperate, How did they get down to this point. They arrested us regardless of the situation, whipped us, branded us with fire, and imprisoned us for more than two years. They can do whatever they want, where is there any law?" Edward pretended to lie on the straw pile, and while he quietly listened to the conversation of the group, he was surprised that there was such a severe punishment.He thought in his heart that this kind of legal clause must be amended as soon as possible. This is simply a great shame to the country! ... Unknowingly, he leaned half of his body out of the straw pile and listened more carefully to the conversation of this group of people. The third person began to say: "Old man, my name is John El, and I used to have a beautiful family. I am a farmer, and my life is free every day. But now, I have become a lonely family. My wife and children are dead. Yes. Let me briefly tell you what happened: my mother is a very kind person and knows how to behave in the world. Whenever someone in the village is sick, the villagers will always invite her to take care of the sick, and she can also get a certain amount of money. Remuneration. Once, a patient died inexplicably, and the doctor couldn't tell the cause of the patient's death, so he believed that my mother used magic to kill the patient. It's so pitiful that they sentenced my innocent mother to death like this Branded and chained to death in front of the people--you see, old man, that's what's called English law now! That's English law that's honored!--so I don't want to live in the village any more, I wandered around with my wife and two children, so we had no other way to make a living except begging. So we went door to door along the street to beg. Who knows that the law in our country stipulates that even if people starve to death, no one will care, But if you beg for food, it is against the law. Exactly what Wiens said just now, we were arrested not long after, and we were brutally beaten. My wife was not in good health and couldn't stand such brutal beatings. I was beaten to death alive... I cried a lot. After burying my wife, I continued to wander and beg with my two children. Unfortunately, I was caught by the police again. It is said that because this time Repeated crime, so the crime will be added to the crime. I was dragged in the street to warn the public. It took a long time before I was finally released from prison. It is so miserable, my two children, wait When I found them they were starving to death and I saw only two bodies... Old man, brothers and sisters, please don't laugh at me and cry again, let's all drink and say long live the laws of England. Bastard, this Who the hell made the law!" Suddenly, a majestic voice came from the straw pile in the corner: "Yes, this law must be amended! And it must be amended as soon as possible!" Everyone looked back in surprise, only to see a ragged young man crawling out of the straw pile and walking towards this side. Everyone shouted in unison: "Who are you? Whose family are you?" With a solemn expression, Edward looked at the crowd and said, "I am the current King of England—Edward VI. I am really sorry to hear what happened to you. Unreasonable legal regulations are simply a great shame for the king. I will definitely let the ministers revise it!" "What, you are the King of England?" Hearing Edward's words, everyone immediately jumped up and down with laughter, and the laughter was deafening.Edward scolded angrily: "You guys are rude! I am amending the law to benefit you. What are you laughing at?" As soon as Edward finished speaking, everyone laughed wildly again. John Hobbs raised his hand to stop everyone and said: "Hey, brothers and sisters, please listen to me. This guy is my son. I didn't want to say it, but everyone should have seen it, this guy is crazy He always thinks he is His Majesty the King. Please forgive me and ignore him." Edward stared at John and cursed angrily: "I am really the king. You will be punished sooner or later, just wait and see. If you kill someone, I will definitely execute you. Just accept your fate." "What are you talking about, little bastard, do you want to report me to the police station? If you talk nonsense again, I will never let you go!" John was so angry that he stood up suddenly. "Well, don't be angry! Hobbs, what can you do if you just beat him up?" The old man pulled the furious John Hobbs aside, and advised: "Hey, in front of the king and the old man, you must watch your words and deeds. If you want to beat my son violently in front of me, I will not agree to it." Yes. Your son is crazy, you should love him more and care about him." The old man then persuaded Edward: "There is something wrong with you as a son. No matter how insane you are, you shouldn't threaten your father with such words. It's okay to say this in front of our own people." It doesn't matter, if you talk nonsense outside, it will be troublesome. You must never speak nonsense in the future. You have to understand that it is against the law for you to say that you are the king. Why can't you say that you are a minister? , I think you should be a minister or a general. You talk nonsense that you are a king, which is wrong. What do learned people say about this? Come to think of it, they call this The crime of treason is the same as the crime of treason. Although we may have done some bad things, but absolutely no one thinks of rebelling. Everyone respects His Majesty the King very much. Now, let everyone express our respect to His Majesty the King Come and show your respect—please shout together: Long live His Majesty the King!" "Long live Long live Long live!" The gang of beggars, at the request of the old man, all shouted Long Live the King of England. At this moment, Edward's face showed a gratified expression.He happily accepted the worship of the group of people, nodded his head lightly, and replied very naturally: "Good people, I am very happy!" Everyone burst into laughter again.But this time Edward didn't show any anger. He thought to himself: "I can endure your ridicule for a while, because you don't know the actual situation, so you laughed at me like this. But you did say long live for me just now , and everyone worshiped with a solemn attitude, so I will forgive you."