Chapter 1 The Road to Zhongzhou

Having bought a carriage, Jiang Chen and Jing Yue embarked on the road to Zhongzhou.

Four days later, they arrived at Baozhou Prefecture, the first major city after leaving the capital.

As one of the important transit points to the capital, Baozhou Prefecture was extremely prosperous and lively, with merchants from the north and south seen everywhere.

Even Jing Yue, who was driving the carriage, was surprised.

Jiang Chen, however, didn't feel much.

Perhaps Baozhou Prefecture was considered prosperous in this era, but compared to the era Jiang Chen had experienced, it was too backward.

After specifically staying in Baozhou Prefecture for a day to replenish food and water, Jiang Chen and Jing Yue set off again.

About a hundred li after leaving Baozhou Prefecture, there was an uninhabited mountain road.

The surrounding area was extremely quiet, with few people in sight.

Sitting in the carriage, Jiang Chen felt something was wrong.

Jing Yue, who was driving the carriage, became even more vigilant.

"Young Master, something is not quite right. Should we take another route?" Jing Yue suggested.

Jiang Chen shook his head and said, "It's alright, let's continue forward."

His purpose for coming out this time was to personally see what the current situation of Great Wei was like.

If he turned around and left whenever he encountered a problem, it would go against the purpose of his trip.

After another quarter of an hour, Jing Yue saw several long benches lying across the road ahead.

"Whoa—"

Jing Yue reined in the carriage and described the situation to Jiang Chen.

After listening, Jiang Chen said, "Go and remove the benches."

"Yes!"

Jing Yue jumped out of the carriage and walked towards the benches.

After taking a few steps, several voices came from both sides.

"This little brother, sorry!"

After getting closer, the person smiled and said, "My mistake, it's a girl."

Jing Yue glanced at the carriage without any trace and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that no one was going to the carriage.

"What do you want?" Jing Yue asked.

"Nothing much."

The leading man smiled, rubbed his hands, and said, "Just want to get some money for food."

"Robbery?"

Jing Yue snorted coldly.

"Girl, you can't say that."

The man immediately denied, "Robbery is what bandits do, we're just begging for food."

Hearing this, Jiang Chen walked out of the carriage and moved closer.

Jing Yue was shocked and retreated, blocking Jiang Chen, "Young Master, be careful."

"It's alright."

Jiang Chen signaled Jing Yue not to be so nervous.

He had already seen that although these men were acting like robbers, the weapons in their hands were quite shabby.

Not to mention gleaming long sabers, they didn't even have a single short knife, only sticks and the like.

Obviously, these people were not professional robbers.

Seeing Jiang Chen appear, this group of people panicked a bit.

Jiang Chen's calmness and aura made them feel somewhat at a loss.

"What do you want?"

The men raised the sticks in their hands and shouted sternly.

"Nothing, just want to chat with you." Jiang Chen smiled.

"Chat?"

The group of people was very surprised and shouted, "Can't you see what we're doing?"

"Of course, I can see."

As Jiang Chen spoke, he reached out to Jing Yue for a small piece of silver and said, "You want this, right?"

Seeing the silver, the other party nodded repeatedly.

Jiang Chen threw the silver to the other side and then said, "Now can we chat for a few words?"

With the silver in hand, the group of people relaxed a lot, and the leading man said, "What do you want to talk about?"

Hearing this, Jiang Chen knew that his judgment was correct, these people were definitely not professional robbers.

Otherwise, what kind of robbers would be so moralistic, only chatting after robbing?

"I heard that the disaster relief funds in Zhongzhou were embezzled some time ago, are you also like that?" Jiang Chen asked.

"No."

Several men shook their heads together.

Jiang Chen became a little curious and said, "Then why?"

"Why so many whys?"

The leading man laughed and said, "Our ancestors have been doing this for generations, this is our profession."

Jiang Chen was a little surprised, "You mean, you've always been doing this?"

"That's right!" The man nodded.

Jiang Chen then turned to look at Jing Yue and found that she was also very surprised.

Robbing on the road can also become a profession?

"Anything else you want to ask?" The other party said impatiently at this time.

"Doing this, doesn't the local government care?" Jiang Chen asked again.

"Of course, they don't care!"

The other party looked at Jiang Chen strangely, "We haven't done anything harmful, why should they care about us?"

Jiang Chen and Jing Yue were speechless by the other party's confidence.

Robbing on the road is not a harmful thing?

However, Jiang Chen did not continue to ask, he could see that in the eyes of these people, getting some money on the road was really nothing.

It was just that they thought so in their hearts.

Getting into the carriage, the other party did remove the benches as expected.

After walking a li away, Jiang Chen said, "Go to the county town that governs here."

"Yes!"

Two hours later, the carriage arrived outside a county town.

Jing Yue looked at the long line of people at the city gate and said, "Young Master, it seems that there is a city entry fee to enter the city."

"City entry fee?"

Jiang Chen lifted the curtain and glanced at it. Sure enough, he saw soldiers at the gate collecting money from the people entering the city.

"Let's go in and take a look too," Jiang Chen said.

Following the crowd, it was soon Jiang Chen and Jing Yue's turn.

"How many people?" The soldier asked.

"Two," Jing Yue said.

The soldier stepped forward, lifted the car curtain, and confirmed that there was only Jiang Chen inside, then said, "Three copper coins per person, six copper coins for two people."

After paying the money, the soldier handed a sign to Jing Yue and then waved his hand, signaling that they could enter the city.

"What is this sign for?" Jing Yue asked curiously.

"First time here?" The soldier looked at Jing Yue strangely.

"It's my first time here," Jing Yue replied.

"You'll know when you come out," the soldier said.

After speaking, the soldier urged, "Hurry up and enter the city, don't delay my work."

After entering the city, Jing Yue handed the sign to Jiang Chen and lowered her voice, "Young Master, should we go directly to the county government?"

Jiang Chen said, "No hurry, let's find an inn to stay first."

"Yes."

On the way to find an inn, Jiang Chen carefully looked at the sign.

The sign was written with the time "wu shi" (11am-1pm), as well as the date of the day, and besides that, there was also a "two".

"Is this a record of the time of entering the city?" Jiang Chen frowned.

After finding an inn and settling down, Jiang Chen left the inn with Jing Yue and came to the street.

It was already afternoon, and there were not many people on the street, but not few either.

However, everyone was in a hurry, as if something was chasing them.

"Don't you think it's strange?" Jiang Chen said.

Jing Yue nodded. For dark guards, it was normal to do things quickly, because what they were pursuing was efficiency.

But why were these people also in such a hurry?

An old man passed by Jiang Chen, and Jiang Chen stepped forward and said, "Old man, I'd like to ask you something."