After handing over his duties to Zhao Qingluan, the magistrate of Hei County packed his bags and left immediately, as if Hei County were in the presence of a raging flood.

Zhao Yonggeng and his entourage declined to comment on this.

Because the former county magistrate had just left, the house hadn't been cleaned.

Zhao Yonggeng's family and the bodyguards stayed at the Black Cliff Mountain Inn, one of only two inns in the county town.

The name comes from a mountain in the area called Black Cliff Mountain.

People near and far may not know where Tihei County is, but everyone knows Tihei Cliff Mountain.

Black Cliff Mountain is known for its large number of tigers. A male tiger can weigh around 500 jin (250 catties), and a female tiger can weigh around 300 jin (150 catties), so their killing power is considerable.

People say that there are at most two tigers on a mountain, one male and one female.

But Black Cliff Mountain, whether it's because the mountain is too big or because of the tiger family, has a lot of tigers on it.

The local people's idea of ​​relying on the mountains for their livelihood is not feasible.

At most, we can pick some wild vegetables and gather a few mushrooms at the foot of the mountain.

As for going any deeper into the mountains, I dare not.

After all, there aren't many people who have mastered unparalleled martial arts skills.

The villagers living near Black Cliff Mountain have built very high walls around their homes.

The worst-case scenario is that if you wake up in the middle of the night and a tiger comes down from the mountain and eats your family, that would be a real problem.

Because of safety concerns, locals devised a method for making mud bricks, which is why brick and tile houses are used more frequently in Hei County than in other places.

With Zhao Yonggeng's help, Zhao Qingluan quickly became familiar with the procedures in the county government office and also summoned the pavilion chief, village chief, and head of the village.

We have gained a preliminary understanding of the situation in Hei County.

As for resolving the tiger problem at Black Cliff Mountain, that can be discussed later.

After all, tigers generally don't come down from the mountains. If a wild animal does come down from the mountain, it means a great disaster is about to occur.

For example, the drought ten years ago and the blizzard five years ago caused tigers to gather and come down from the mountains, resulting in the loss of many lives and livestock.

Zhao Qingluan became increasingly alarmed as he listened, feeling as if Hei County was cursed, with a disaster occurring every five years.

Suppress your worries and get to the bottom of things in the government office first.

Zhao Yonggeng, along with his wife and daughter, stayed in Hei County for five days before leaving for their destination, Mocheng.

It is said that Mo City is located in the far north.

The winters there are far more severe than anywhere else, with only three months of frost-free period per year. Wheat is the main crop grown there.

As for other special crops in the area, Zhao Yonggeng didn't find any when he arrived in Mocheng. However, there was a small, grainy thing that was quite rare and sold for a very low price.

It costs about three coins a pound and has a strange name: Dushi (都柿). It tastes pretty good, with a pleasant balance of sweet and sour.

I bought two pounds of it while shopping and brought it home.

Unexpectedly, the women in his family paved a path to economic success for him.

The Zhao family's main force headed northwest, and the first part of the journey was relatively smooth, given their prior experience.

Once outside the former Taifu Palace, the places they passed through were completely unfamiliar.

We even got lost on the way.

The Zhao family's Mandarin wasn't very good, and when they arrived in Shanzhou Prefecture, the locals had a heavy accent.

And there aren't many people who can speak Mandarin.

Therefore, asking for directions leads to one joke after another.

"Uncle, how do I get to Xishanpo?"

"What? You're asking about the place next to Sisi Mountain? That road, just keep going."

The old man answered very seriously.

Coincidentally, when the Zhao family's main force arrived at the foot of the temple mountain, they saw a number of pilgrims.

After a moment of silence came laughter. Since we'd passed by a temple, let's go up the mountain and pay our respects.

One group was left to guard the belongings, while the rest went up the mountain to worship the gods.

Naturally, they had to donate some money for incense oil. On their way down the mountain, the Zhao family also rescued a pregnant woman.

I don't know what she was thinking. Just wanting to have a boy, she went to the mountain to worship the gods, and then she had a miscarriage after coming down from the mountain.

There were no clinics or pharmacies nearby, and the old woman could only wail and cry. Passing pilgrims glanced at her and then silently retreated.

The reason is simple: they dislike the bleeding from pregnant women, considering it unclean and fearing it might bring bad luck.

Upon seeing the old woman's face, the Zhao family knew she was not someone to be trifled with.

But human life is at stake. No matter how badly the adults commit crimes, the baby in their womb cannot be harmed.

There are over a thousand steps, and we're right in the middle now. There's nothing here; even if you want to take a horse-drawn carriage, you have to go to the foot of the mountain.

Zhao Qingyan pushed aside the onlookers and said, "Alright, stop crying. I can help you get your daughter-in-law down the mountain."

But if anything happens to your daughter-in-law, you can't extort money from me.

Otherwise, I'll make you regret being born.

I'll take your daughter-in-law to the nearest clinic at the foot of the mountain. You can settle the bill for the medicine yourself later.

The old woman looked at Zhao Qingyan's clothes and her face showed bitterness.

“Miss, you seem to be a very kind and righteous person. You came to worship the gods today and donated all the money you brought to incense oil.”

"Miss, would you like me to pay for it first?"

Zhao Qingyan chuckled. If she hadn't seen the old woman instinctively reach for her belt, she would have believed it.

He straightened up and said, "Hehe, it seems you don't want your daughter-in-law's baby to be born."

Otherwise, what family would let their pregnant daughter-in-law climb such a high mountain to worship the gods?

You clearly have malicious intentions; you don't want your grandson anymore. And maybe it's not just that; you might even want to get rid of your daughter-in-law as well.

Tsk tsk tsk, I never expected this, I never expected there to be such vicious people in this world?

"I'm guessing, perhaps your son has married into a wealthy family, and this daughter-in-law is getting in his way, so you want to get rid of her as soon as possible."

As Zhao Qingyan spoke, she quickly reached out and grabbed the old woman's collar, precisely pulling a money pouch from the old woman's waistband.

Despite the nauseating smell, Zhao Qingyan opened the money pouch and poured out about ten taels of loose silver.

He then knelt down and handed the silver to the pregnant woman.

"Open your eyes, I know you can hear me."

Look at all this pure white silver.

Your old hag insisted she didn't have any money and was trying to extort money from me, the one who was supposed to save you.

Give me a straight answer: do you want to live?

"If you want to live, I'll take you to a clinic; it'll cost this much money. If you don't want to live, then you can lie here until you bleed to death."

As she spoke, Zhao Qingyan put the money back into the smelly money bag.

Those around her previously felt that Zhao Qingyan talked too much nonsense.

That's too pragmatic. Shouldn't saving lives be the priority?

When he saw the silver again, he realized that he had wronged Zhao Qingyan.

The old woman realized that her purse had been stolen, and she lunged at Zhao Qingyan with her claws outstretched.

"Where did this little slut come from, daring to steal my money? I'm going to kill you!"

Before he could finish speaking, Wang Caixia tripped him and knocked him down.