Shangjing City.
In previous years, the southern part of the city would be bustling when spring arrived in March. Caravans from all over Zhongzhou would crowd the streets and alleys. Inns and merchant guilds, in particular, would be swamped with people, and there were at least several hundred brawls and fights to deal with every day.
But this year, the streets were nearly empty, with only the occasional cart passing by, transporting the corpses of slaves.
Stranger still, the countless slaves who once filled the city had vanished. Only when members of a few prominent families went out could one occasionally see slaves following and serving them.
Furthermore, in previous years, tens of thousands of slaves would be toiling in the farmlands stretching as far as the eye could see outside the city after spring's arrival. This year, however, the fields were desolate. Not a single person could be seen in the endless farmland.
