Moyun City, Ping'an Quarter.
Creak!
The Black Gate opened. Zhou Yun'er carried a wooden basin outside and poured the dirty water onto the street, deliberately glancing toward the neighboring house. Her little face was gloomy.
"Why hasn't Uncle Jiang come back yet? Could it be..."
Thinking of what might have happened, she bit down hard on her lip, then shook her head fiercely, trying to dispel the thought.
She stood there in a daze for a while before returning to the courtyard and closing the gate again.
"Mother!"
Carrying the wooden basin, Zhou Yun'er entered the courtyard. All she saw were basin after basin of dirty clothes.
Zhou was bent over, scrubbing the clothes with all her might.
Seeing this, Zhou Yun'er couldn't help sighing.
She had been born into a wealthy family. Her father had been a capable man who ran a modest business in Moyun City. After several years of saving, he had accumulated enough to buy two courtyards, and their lives had been prosperous.
Those had been the happiest days Zhou Yun'er could remember.
But good times didn't last. The father she had thought could do anything suddenly came down with a terrible illness and passed away in less than half a month.
Zhou was only a woman and knew nothing about business, so she decisively sold off the family's assets and retreated with Zhou Yun'er to their two courtyards, living off their dwindling savings.
Given her family's circumstances, the money should have been enough to keep them comfortable for years to come.
But Zhou couldn't withstand the shameless pleas for loans from relatives and friends, or the nauseating extortion by local ruffians and hooligans.
Within just a few years, her family had become poor.
Recently, the Kunlun Divine Palace had begun collecting blood taxes across the