Chapter 48: The Decree of Our Lady, The Eighteenth Orphanage
"Come here and register, you just wanted to suffocate this baby to death, right?"
Hearing what the man with the flintlock said, Zail shivered even more. Her face was pale and she did not dare to say a word.
Seeing her fear, the man said:
"Don't be afraid, if you don't want this baby, register here and she will be sent to an orphanage."
"Orphanage? What is that place?"
Seeing that although the man looked ferocious, his tone was very gentle now, Zail couldn't help but murmured and asked.
She had never heard of this place.
The man glanced at her and explained:
"It is a newly established place of the Privy Council. There is one every five kilometers in Moscow."
"I sign, I sign!"
Zaire didn't dare to ask too many questions. With the man's somewhat surprised expression, she took the quill and wrote her name in the designated place.
She couldn't write before she was sold, but in order to better please the nobles, she learned it when she was young.
The man didn't ask too many questions. He took a look at the registered name, then wrote down his approximate address, asked about Zaire's relationship with the baby, and wrote his grandmother in the corresponding column.
Then the man said:
"This baby will be sent to the nearest 18th Orphanage. Please give it a name."
Zaire hesitated for a moment. She never thought that this child would live, nor did she think of a name. She racked her brains for a moment and said:
"Can you see Alice?"
Alice was the name of one of the beautiful actresses she saw when she was young and went to the opera with her noble master.
The man nodded indifferently, wrote "Alice" on the baby's name, and then said:
"If the baby survives in the orphanage, you can visit her, but you have to register her and you can't take her away."
Then he instructed one of them to put down a cloth bag and said:
"Here are three kilograms of rice, two bags of milk and 1/2 ruble. According to the Privy Council's decree of Our Lady, it is prepared for a woman who gives birth. The woman must survive and we will return for a visit later."
Then he stopped talking to Zaire, looked at the woman and said:
"Let's go."
After caring for the girl who had just given birth, the woman in uniform nodded, wrapped the baby in the cotton cloth she brought, and then walked into the night with the baby crying.
Through the open door, Zaire saw the men parting ways on the road.
One person was holding the baby and walking in one direction, while several others were walking in another direction.
Zaire stared blankly at the things they left behind. Her mind was still very confused, and she was confused by the decree of the Holy Mother, which she had never heard of before, and by these sudden arrivals.
She knew that the Privy Council was a high-ranking institution, but when did it have anything to do with lower-class people like them?
After regaining consciousness, Zaire untied the cloth bag and looked at it. His expression couldn't help but become excited. He looked at his daughter who was still unconscious and shed tears in his eyes.
What was inside was exactly what the man said: three kilograms of rice, two large bags of milk and a silver ruble. The silver ruble was 1/2 face value.
Zaire was so ecstatic that she picked up the silver ruble and kissed it again and again. It had been so long that she had not seen the money.
And according to what the man said, it seems to belong to her?
Even if it is for my daughter, it is still money!
She is a serf...
For a moment, looking back on half his life, Zaire couldn't help but feel sad. He turned around and hugged his daughter and cried.
Then I thought that these people would come again, so I didn't care about crying anymore, and quickly prepared to breastfeed my daughter.
…
A nimble woman in uniform hurried back with registration information and a baby girl who had just been named Alice.
She was going to send the baby girl to the nearest 18th Orphanage. On the way, from time to time she saw people in the same uniform holding a baby in their hands just like her.
Although they met, they all just nodded and no one spoke. Some walked a little slower because they were feeding their babies.
Soon we walked to the neighborhood. Even where the common people lived, there were many drunkards and beggars, but they did not dare to provoke these uniformed people.
Even the usually noisy and chaotic neighborhoods began to quiet down, leaving only the sound of loud horns.
"Everyone, listen, Notre Dame was established by the Privy Council. Anyone who dares to throw a baby into a ditch or suffocate it with anything else will not be tolerated by Notre Dame's punishment department once found. The woman will be punished every year before the age of 45.
There will be forced procreation, and you don’t know how many men you will breed with every day until it is detected that you are pregnant.”
"After the age of 45, you will be punished to work in Siberia until you die!"
"Don't do these things that have serious consequences. Don't be afraid of giving birth to a baby. You can't afford Notre Dame to raise it, and don't worry about damaging your reputation. Hang your baby down in a bamboo basket or other things at night. We
I don’t know who you are, and neither do others. If you want to meet your children in the future and leave their names, we will send them to the nearest orphanage under Notre Dame.”
The loudspeaker was made of iron sheets and was issued by the newly established Notre Dame Cathedral under the Privy Council. If a person held it and shouted, the whole street could hear it. Some citizens were curious and wanted to watch secretly, but they were all warned. Some even
They were also fined 10-50 kopecks at the door.
10-50 kopecks, this is a sky-high price!
Those citizens who peeked in immediately felt their hearts bleed, and they would be locked up immediately if they appeared for the second time. After that, no one would dare to watch the fun again.
The woman in uniform holding Alice had good eyesight. In this novel and strange atmosphere, she saw a bamboo basket being hung down from time to time.
There was crying inside, and then a man wearing a white cross armband immediately ran over and took the baby away, and the bamboo basket was quickly pulled by the rope and put back.
Nedra had never done work of this nature before, and for some reason, the cries seemed to ring in her heart, making her almost shed tears.
She glanced down at the baby in her arms, scratched her little face, and hurried towards her destination amidst the recurring sound of horns.
The 18th Orphanage is a series of wooden houses with strict fire management. The wooden house in the middle is the largest. Nedra carried the baby to the largest house. She did not dare to say much and quickly wrote down the information sheet.
handed it to a nun.
The nun wrote Alice's name on a small sign and tied it around the baby's ankle.
Then Nedra glanced at Alice who was placed on the small cotton bed, and did not talk to the other people who came one after another with the baby in their arms, and entered the night again.