Xie Yuancheng rubbed my head and we continued on our way. I wanted to see more, but all the scenes were just fleeting glimpses.

"Ying'er, sit down first, otherwise I'll get distracted."

"I want to see, these things are so different from before." I didn't turn my head to look, I just leaned against him.

"We'll come to see you later when we get to the city. Don't worry, Ying'er was so good this time. I'll show you around properly."

Xie Yuancheng turned his horse around and went into another alley. The alley was lined with houses and trees, and it took him almost an hour to get out. He wasn't tired, but I felt tired even sitting down.

Just outside the city, before he even dismounted, he saw some people carrying fish trying to enter the city, but they were all stopped. Xie Yuancheng prepared to go the other way, but before he had gone far, a plump old woman rushed up to him.

That's how she got here. I just saw her carrying a basket full of fish on her back, and she's here in the blink of an eye. I tightened my grip on Xie Yuancheng's hand. These people shouldn't be from Linyang; their clothes are strange.

"Sir, we raise a lot of fish on the hill behind our house. They weigh about three or four pounds each when we catch them. They taste great whether boiled or steamed, and they're not greasy at all."

"Auntie, we don't need it." Xie Yuancheng was still quite polite to her; he hadn't been rude to the crazy girl who had been chasing after him earlier.

“Oh, you should buy it. My granddaughter can carry things weighing seventy or eighty pounds.”

The old woman ran back again, and Xie Yuancheng rode away on horseback. However, I saw her leading a little girl over, with a large basket full of fish on her shoulder.

She's only a few years old, yet she can carry so much on her back, and she keeps giggling like an idiot. Could she have gotten stupid from the weight of the basket? Xie Yuancheng was already far away when they arrived, which was a good thing. If it were the domineering Marquis, their lives would be in danger.

"Ying'er, stop looking. Some strange people have been appearing outside the city lately. Let's go take a look."

"It is indeed quite strange. Did you see that little girl carrying fish on her back just now? With so many fish on her back, I was really worried that she would collapse under the weight."

"She's a stranger, you don't even know her, why are you worrying about her!"

“My little Chengcheng~” I turned around and hugged him: “I just think her family is too harsh on her. But those fish shouldn’t have been expensive. It’s fine if the city people buy them and send them away. It can also help their family out.”

"You're wrong again. They've come several times, and they sell the most expensive fish. Those merchants were kind at first, but they kept coming back. They charged twenty or thirty taels for those fish just now. They're basically treating the city folks like fools."

"So expensive?" I thought about those fish carefully; they were already rolling their eyes and not jumping around anymore, and they weren't fresh.

This kind of good intention is too expensive. Linyang is still developing, where would they find spare money to invest in such things? Besides, even if they did invest, the other party might sell inferior goods as superior ones and take the opportunity to resell them.

"Yes, we've already started investigating the background of this group. So far, it shows they're not from any of the surrounding small villages or towns. If we can't find out their background by today, we'll send them out directly."

"Isn't the outermost city gate very high and guarded? How could they have been allowed in?"

"The city gates are all sealed now, so it's very strange that they were able to show up. Maybe that gate wasn't guarded properly and let them in."

Xie Yuancheng was deep in thought; he was probably thinking that if they were discovered, they would definitely execute all the guards. I advised him to think more positively, and that he could find out the truth this time he was out.

"Where are we going? Aren't we going to investigate these people?" I saw him continue walking forward without any intention of stopping.

"Go find the teacher. He's in Fenghua Village right now. He should know the answer to this."

"Then I'll be able to see my teacher today." Maybe my teacher will be in a good mood today and teach me a trick or two.

"Ying'er, don't overthink it. Even if the teacher is willing to teach you, it depends on whether I agree to you learning."

"I really don't know how you know, you can always guess so accurately." I turned around and asked him, but Xie Yuancheng wouldn't say. I'll press him for an answer later.

Fenghua Village wasn't far away; it took only half an hour to reach it by horse. There was a pointed fence at the entrance of the village, but the people at our door tore it down.

After dismounting, I grabbed Xie Yuancheng and wouldn't let him leave: "Tell me quickly, how do you always know? Have you put something on me?"

"No, I guessed what you were thinking right away."

Xie Yuancheng picked me up and carried me. I patted his shoulder but it didn't work. In the end, I was amused by his appearance.

"Hehe~ Put me down quickly, it's too uncomfortable to rest my head on your shoulder."

"You still dare to complain? I'm not letting you down now. Lie down properly, or I won't let you into the house!"

"You're so stingy! What if someone you know sees you? You'll lose face. I don't care, I don't go out often anyway."

"Ying'er, the teacher is across the street." Xie Yuancheng smiled mischievously, and I quickly buried my head in his arms to hide. I'm still not used to being too close to him when there are many people around.

"You're finally here! Come in quickly, there's something new to discover." The teacher's voice rang out, and I didn't dare to look up.

When we came in, Xie Yuancheng finally put me down. I stood obediently beside him, afraid that they would tease me. Although they wouldn't, they would bring it up later.

"Teacher, there are more and more people outside the city, and the street stalls too. Now they even dare to chase after us."

Xie Yuancheng started complaining as soon as he sat down, just like a child. He must treat his teacher like his own father to be so at ease.

"It has all been found out. They are either women or girls, the weakest of the weak. So many people who saw them tried to help, but once they did, they were entangled with them."

After their family fortune was completely depleted, they would take the money they had extorted and use it as funds for the extorted families to rebuild their lives. This would allow them to solidify their position as the ringleaders, and once they found an opportunity, they could control everyone.

I was horrified. They were so capable; were they just bored and playing with people? The teacher explained that they wanted to rely on a wealthy family to gradually ascend to power.

“This is a good thing. Let them all go to the capital. There are more opportunities there. This place is just a fiefdom and cannot accommodate such great beings as them.”

Xie Yuancheng's face was full of schadenfreude. I also want the Crown Prince and the others to suffer. They schemed against Linyang before, so it's time for them to taste the bitterness.

"No, this kind of thinking is unacceptable. Dazhao is still our place of survival. If no one stops us, we will all become tools under the feet of these people in the future."

The benefits of Linyang are being widely discussed in the martial arts world, so they want to use Linyang as their strongest backing. You can tolerate this? You're probably planning to burn through a huge amount of money to build another city.

The teacher glanced at him sideways. Xie Yuancheng was rarely talked to, so I had to listen carefully.