The two were curious and stayed to watch the excitement for a while, but they ended up seeing nothing.
When the yamen runners arrived, they heard the manager of the gambling house make his complaint. Whether what the gambling house people said was true or not, the yamen runners didn't care and immediately declared that the tribal people were cheating.
Zhao Jiaqi's feet turned, wanting to go up and argue, but Fan Zehao stopped her.
"There are many such false accusations, happening every day. Can you manage them all?"
Fan Zehao sighed, held the beauty in his arms, patted her back, and said softly, "These yamen runners are just following orders. It's better to manage things from the root than to manage these people."
Zhao Jiaqi, having calmed down, looked up at the composed man and nodded at him, "I was too hot-headed just now. I can't stand bullying, collusion between officials and merchants, and the suppression of foreigners. This is detrimental to our Yun Kingdom's reputation."
Fan Zehao smiled faintly, "This has always been a jungle out there. Them being bullied only shows that their country is not strong. There's an old saying, 'A strong dragon cannot overpower a local snake.' It doesn't matter if it's a dragon or a tiger, once they are here, this magistrate is breaking the law."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Jiaqi, whose temper had just subsided a little, flared up again, her face turning very unpleasant.
"Getting angry is useless. This place is far from the imperial city and the inner city. As long as the magistrate is on good terms with the prefect and the governor, they are kings here. Even if you manage it now, it will only be peaceful for a while. When you leave and come back a month later, it will be the same. Therefore, corrupt officials in this world can never be all killed or all investigated."
Zhao Jiaqi understood this logic, but seeing it made her still very unhappy.
"Wife, to put it plainly, in the eyes of the locals, foreigners are always outsiders. They will be bullied wherever they go, unless they are in their own country, where the situation is a little better. If you don't believe me, wait until you go to the Axi tribe and see for yourself."
Reminded by her husband, Zhao Jiaqi suddenly remembered her past life. These words had truly awakened her.
In her subconscious, she felt that all people were equal, regardless of nationality, but reality proved otherwise.
"Husband, you are right. Let's go back."
The anger that had risen in Zhao Jiaqi was extinguished by her husband's few words, and she was also made to see the reality of the situation. Only then did she refrain from acting like a saintly figure.
On the way back to the inn, her previous beautiful fantasies of traveling abroad were shattered within this hour.
The next day, before dawn, Xiao Ce woke up and began to supervise the packing of his entourage, making preparations for departure at any time.
After breakfast, their party set off. With the regent's token from the inner city, their passage abroad was quite smooth.
After passing the pass, they saw an endless grassland. On both sides of the road were slightly yellowish grasses, with a few herds of cattle and sheep grazing, and herdsmen not far away.
The clouds in the sky were blue, and cattle and sheep were abundant on the ground. There were no ancient streets or crowds of people. Even the houses had become yurts, and these yurts were not in rows; one had to walk a long distance to see one.
Zhao Jiaqi rode on horseback, led by Fan Zehao, galloping across the grassland, her mind and body completely unleashed, and she felt a completely different state of mind.
She smiled, "We all breathe the same air on Earth, why does this smell so different?"
Fan Zehao, having been explained the word "Earth" by his wife, naturally knew what it meant. He looked dotingly at the happy woman in his arms and said softly, "When you're in a good mood, everything you see and smell is different."
Although this explanation was not precise, it was fitting here. When one's mood is good, even eating bitter herbs doesn't feel bitter.
That afternoon, after traveling a distance, they arrived at a small place where more people lived, and it looked similar to a small town in their Yun Kingdom.
Upon arriving, they truly felt unaccustomed to it.
Especially when they saw the tribal people speaking to them, they could only see their mouths moving but couldn't understand what they were mumbling, and the urge to go crazy quickly surged within them, feeling as if a thousand claws were scratching their hearts.
Zhao Jiaqi felt that this trip was a failure. In the future, when she went to other places, she would first learn the language, otherwise, like now, they might sell them and still help them count the money.
She tugged at her husband's sleeve and whispered, "When I got here, I felt like these people were looking at us like monkeys."
Her wife's words almost made Fan Zehao burst into laughter like a pig. He suppressed his smile and said, "As long as you don't think of yourself as a monkey, why bother with what others think? Don't forget, we came here to travel, and it should be us observing them."
Zhao Jiaqi pouted and blinked her eyes a couple of times. What he said was true, but when you appear among people who are wearing almost identical clothing, you feel very out of place. Perhaps it was the same as the surprise they felt yesterday when they saw the tribal people in the small town.
Not long after, Shi He returned and said to them, "Master, Madam, your subordinate has just communicated with the boss here. The tents here are rented, costing a hundred wen per night. Regarding food, the boss also provides it, but it costs extra money."
One hundred wen per night almost made them doubt their lives.
"In our place, even the best inns in the small town are not this expensive. Once we go abroad, it's already this expensive."
Zhao Jiaqi pursed her lips and replied to her husband, "Going out is like being on a path of being fleeced without return. Only when we go back will the state of being fleeced end."
No matter when or in what era, fleecing tourists was always common.
Fan Zehao sighed. It wasn't that he cared about this small amount of money, but he felt that this trip had truly broadened his horizons.
He waved his hand, letting Shi He book a yurt. After all, they couldn't be galloping on the grassland in the middle of the night. Who knew if there were wolves here.
Thinking of wolves, he wondered how Er Lang was doing.
The yurt was spacious inside and had a distinct local flavor. Eating lamb and beef boiled in clear soup, dipped in the sauce provided by the boss, had a unique taste.
After eating, Zhao Jiaqi patted her bulging stomach and said sincerely, "The original flavor is the most delicious. If there were some oil dip, it would definitely be amazing."
Huangfu Xian, who was gnawing on a lamb chop, heard an unfamiliar word again and curiously asked her, "Sister-in-law, what is oil dip? And what does 'amazing' mean?"
"Oil dip is a mixture of various seasonings for dipping things. 'Amazing' means that this dish is so delicious, it's heavenly, and you'll fall head over heels for it."
After her explanation, Prince Xian and Prince Xiaoyao unanimously thought this was pure exaggeration, but they were quite interested in the oil dip.
As the group was eating heartily, Zhao Jiaqi's sharp eyes noticed some familiar faces passing by their yurt outside.
She got up and chased them to the outside of the yurt, repeatedly identifying the people ahead. These were the same people who had been gambling in the small town yesterday.
It was fortunate that they had left the yurt curtain open while eating, otherwise they really wouldn't have noticed these people. They hadn't expected them to return to the Axi tribe so quickly.