He started by killing his abusive father, and from then on, he embarked on the road to wealth.

Chapter 116 Spreading the News

The next day, Xie Jin woke up early. The chains binding him had been removed without him noticing, but he was completely unaware of it while he was asleep.

Not only were Mu Feng and his companion astonished, but even he was surprised.

Thinking of the last person I saw before going to sleep last night, he lowered his eyes and remained silent, but the beating of his heart in his chest was unusually unsteady.

He used to have a traitor in his life, and after being exiled, he was constantly pursued. He always carried tranquilizers with him, so his sleep was never good. Yesterday, when the poison took effect, it was the most restful night he had ever slept in a long time.

When I stepped out of the train carriage, most of the people at the rest stop were already busy.

"How are you feeling, young master?" Mu Sheng, who had been waiting by the carriage, stepped forward to ask.

"It's alright." Xie Jin was dressed in thin clothes, but he seemed not to feel the cold. He looked at the place where Meng Fuqing was resting and asked, "Where is Meng Fuqing?"

"Miss Meng has taken people to Yezhou City," Mu Sheng succinctly informed Xie Jin of the results of their discussion last night.

Upon hearing the name of the Duke of Wei, a hint of sneer flashed in Xie Jin's eyes. "General Wei is still vigorous despite his old age, but I wonder how many times he can save the Great Yan by himself?"

He faced the direction of Yezhou City and said, "Send two people to Yezhou City. If nothing happens, fine. But if anything does happen, provide immediate assistance."

"Yes."

At the gate of Yezhou City, Meng Fuqing, who had passed the checkpoint inspection, led his horse in line to wait for a doctor's consultation.

She was accompanied by Niu Er, one of Niu Er's brothers, Huang Daji, and two quick-witted bandits chosen by Du Zhong.

"Boss, they won't let us into the city dressed like this, will they?" Niu Er followed behind Meng Fuqing, his face mostly covered by a mask, only his eyes were visible.

He felt uneasy and couldn't help but look around at the surroundings. His exposed eyes darted around, making him look furtive and ill-intentioned.

Meng Fuqing turned to look at them and muttered, "If you guys acted normally, maybe you could let us in."

Huang Daji chuckled, "Brother Niu Er, you're too sleazy."

"Get lost! How much better can you be?"

After exchanging a few words, Meng Fuqing walked up to the doctor.

The doctor, who was also wearing a face mask, looked at Meng Fuqing's attire strangely, perhaps because he had never seen refugees do this before, and gestured for her to sit down.

"Remove the covering, and then observe, listen, inquire, and feel the pulse, just like we should not neglect."

Meng Fuqing didn't say much and simply took it off.

After taking her pulse, the doctor took out a red token and handed it to Meng Fuqing, waving for her to leave.

The red card meant that Meng Fuqing could enter the city after paying the silver.

She got up and quickly put on her mask. While waiting for Niu Er and the others, she carefully recalled what she had seen and heard since entering the checkpoint.

The officials in Yezhou were not as incompetent as she had imagined. At least along the route from the checkpoint to the city gate, she did not see any corpses by the roadside or in the weeds, so they must have been cleared away.

This area is much safer than their usual lodgings.

Thinking this, she looked at the refugees queuing up. Most of the refugees who wanted to enter the city had plenty of money, but even so, they were still being tormented.

After careful observation, Niu Er and the others each took a red card, and Meng Fuqing directly took out five taels of silver and handed it to the guards at the city gate.

Having seen many refugees who hesitated and dawdled when paying, the guards were quite fond of Meng Fuqing for paying so readily.

He weighed the silver ingot in his hand, and before he could speak, another guard said, "People can come in, but horses must stay behind, otherwise you'll have to pay extra silver."

Upon hearing this, Niu Er and the others' faces darkened. They didn't care whether the guards gave them a friendly look or not; they just felt that the guards were truly shameless.

It's as if Meng Fuqing has eyes in the back of his head. Whenever they express dissatisfaction, Meng Fuqing turns his head and glances at them, and no matter how unhappy they are, they have no choice but to back down.

Meng Fuqing took out another tael of silver from his money bag and stuffed it into the guards' hands, saying, "Please have a little wine with the two of you, and I'd appreciate it if you could look after me for a bit."

Seeing that the young girl was so cooperative, the two guards stopped making things difficult for her, had the horses tied up in the makeshift stables, and let her into the city.

Compared to the area outside the city, the main streets of Yezhou were not much busier, with few people and people hurrying by.

This made the refugees, like Meng Fuqing, seem leisurely in comparison.

The Qingzhou earthquake also had a significant impact on Yezhou; collapsed houses could still be seen along the way, adding to the desolate atmosphere.

They dared not linger on the street and went straight to find the largest grain shop in Yezhou City.

When they arrived at the grain shop, they realized that the reason the city was so deserted was because all the hustle and bustle had been concentrated in one place.

A long queue stretched along the street in front of the grain store, disappearing around the corner, with no one knowing how much longer it would go.

Meng Fuqing instructed Niu Er to check if there was a place in the city that sold tung oil, and if so, to buy some.

He gave the other three a few more instructions, and the five of them immediately dispersed.

She walked forward with the queue, and as she got closer and closer to the entrance of the grain shop, the people in line thought she was trying to cut in line and became dissatisfied.

"Little girl, if you want to buy grain, please line up at the back. You can't cut in line!"

"You're a refugee from out of town, aren't you? You dare cut in line? I'll beat you up!"

……

Meng Fuqing stopped and looked at everyone blankly. "I just wanted to ask about today's grain prices."

Knowing she wasn't trying to cut in line, someone kindly told her, "Why aren't you thinking straight? Just ask someone directly."

Today's grain prices are posted at the grain store entrance: 960 coins per dou for coarse rice, and 880 coins per dou for dark flour. A household can buy at most two jin per day. Seeing that you can't afford refined rice and flour, I won't bother talking to you anymore.

"So expensive?" Meng Fuqing muttered under his breath, "It would have been better to buy it outside the city. It's a waste of one or two taels of silver."

A scholar who was close to her heard what she said and thought he had misheard. After thinking for a moment, he decided to ask her. But when he saw Meng Fuqing about to leave, he quickly called out to stop her.

"Hey, little girl, what did you just say? You can buy grain outside the city? Where does grain come from outside?"

These words immediately attracted the attention of the surrounding people.

Meng Fuqing stopped in his tracks, turned to look at the scholar, his eyes flickering, and stammered, "You, you misheard!"

Seeing her like this, the scholar immediately realized he hadn't misheard.

He disregarded the fact that he was still in the ranks and walked straight up to Meng Fuqing. "Miss, may I have a word with you in private?"

The people who overheard the conversation immediately became dissatisfied.

"Scholar Dou, we're neighbors, we see each other all the time. It's not very fair to eat alone!"

"That's right. Right now, apart from those wealthy families, who doesn't lack food? The grain available at the grain shops is decreasing day by day. If this continues, people will starve to death!"

"Young lady, why don't you tell me how much grain costs outside? If grain prices in the city keep rising like this, my family won't be able to make ends meet..."

……

Meng Fuqing shook his head. "Please don't ask anymore! There is indeed a merchant caravan outside the city that plans to sell grain to the refugees. My family found out the price before sending me into the city to inquire about the grain price. They won't stay outside the city for long. I need to get out of the city as soon as possible! Yezhou City is under martial law. You can't leave the city. Why waste your time?"

There was a moment of silence upon hearing this.

The commotion they made caught the attention of the grain shop clerk, who quickly went inside to inform his manager.

The man called Dou Xiucai said, "Leaving the city is not difficult, but we dare not leave. There are too many refugees, which could easily lead to disease. Going out and coming back in is the real difficulty."

At this moment, a clerk from the grain shop walked up to Meng Fuqing and said with a smile, "Miss, my manager invites you in."