Chapter 179: Cotinus Coggygria Forest Red Leaf Town

Young master?

I thought he was a chivalrous warrior, but he turned out to be a young master from a wealthy family.

Rong Zhen silently retracted her steps and left quietly before the other person's gaze fell on her.

The master and servant obviously had something to say, so she should not go over and get in the way. She could wait until tomorrow morning to see.

After she turned and left, the man in the navy blue cloak turned his head to look over here, then turned back to stroke the mane of the chestnut horse, lowered his eyes and said to the old man in front of him, "Uncle Yu, don't call me Young Master in public."

Uncle Yu looked embarrassed: "But you are the Young Master, what else can I call you if not Young Master?"

"Call me Jingshu. You watched me grow up, and I always treat you as a real family member." The man who called himself Jingshu gave himself a name casually.

Uncle Yu hesitated after hearing this, and gently advised, "Young Master Jingshu, Master hopes you'll return home soon. What he did to you before was the work of a villain, and that's the family rule. Now that he has uncovered the truth, he's just waiting for you to return so that everyone can return to their proper place."

Jingshu smiled faintly. "Do you believe that? That man is also his son, and he's been carefully nurturing him for so many years. Now he's overthrown in an instant... Well, never mind. We have to face it eventually. I'll go back with you."

Yu Bo lowered his head and nodded, making it impossible to see his expression.

The content of the conversation in the backyard stable was unknown to anyone except the two parties involved.

When Rong Zhen avoided the situation and returned to the lobby of the inn in front, the chaos was still going on. With the people from Maple Leaf Hall watching, there was no big trouble.

The staircase was also cleared, and the newcomers, rookies, the old, the weak, the sick, and the disabled who were blocking the way there before now gathered around the young lady, crowding her around a table in the hall like the moon surrounded by stars.

Rongzhen thought she had revealed her identity as a young lady, but when she passed by and overheard it, she found out that she didn't need to show her true identity at all. She only needed to spend a little money and there were many people willing to serve her.

So no matter where you go, the rich are the boss.

Rong Zhen touched the gold, silver and treasures hidden on his body, and once again confirmed the correctness of his previous bargain.

It's very lively downstairs and it seems like no one is going to sleep tonight.

Rongzhen couldn't do it. The sleep she got in the first half of the night was not enough for her body to recover. Now, while they were all downstairs, she quietly went upstairs and returned to her room, covering her head to continue to recuperate.

When I woke up the next day, it was already bright outside.

The heavy rain stopped at midnight yesterday, and today's sky looks clear and sunny, which is suitable for traveling.

The escort mission they accepted last night had a note stating that if the weather was fine today, they would set off immediately.

When Rongzhen thought of this, the dizziness she felt after waking up immediately disappeared. She got up, washed up, and went downstairs to eat.

She was still dressed the same way, and the helper, who had tasted the sweetness of success, saw her coming down and had already diligently served her today's breakfast without the need for the overwhelmed waiter to give her any more instructions.

Everyone had the same breakfast: two plates of pickles, a bowl of corn porridge and two steamed buns.

The original owner had a small appetite, and Rongzhen was not used to the food here for the time being, so she could only force herself to eat the corn porridge with pickles, leaving two steamed buns and most of the pickles there, being stared at by the helper aunt from afar.

Rong Zhen beckoned her over, pushed the steamed buns and pickles over to her, and said, "Sit down and tell me about the situation in Hongye Town."

The helper's eyes lit up. She looked at the shop owner and the waiter who were too busy to care about anything else, and sat down with a sigh. She picked up the steamed buns and pickles and ate while talking.

Hongye Town is neither big nor small, consisting of two intersecting streets. There are hundreds of families living on the streets, all of whom make their living from the cotinus trees that grow all over the mountains outside the town.

"This cotinus coggygria is a treasure. It is the breadwinner and clothing provider given by God to our Hongye Town!" The helping aunt praised it highly.

The cotinus coggygria is indeed a treasure. Dyes can be extracted from its bark and branches, and the colors of the dyed cloth are very popular among dignitaries. The tree can be used to make building materials, furniture, and ornaments. The finished products are bright yellow in color, and no one dislikes them. The roots, stems, and leaves can also be used as medicine, which has the effects of clearing away heat, detoxifying, dispersing blood stasis, and relieving pain.

In addition, it has great ornamental value. When it blooms in spring and changes color in autumn, it attracts many tourists and students to Hongye Town for outings or to enjoy the scenery, bringing business opportunities to the town and its surrounding areas and increasing people's income.

In addition, the vitality of the cotinus coggygria is very tenacious. It can grow everywhere without special management. It has so many benefits and advantages that it is hard not to be loved by everyone. People always protect it and praise it highly when talking about it.

With such a treasure, Hongye Town is actually not poor.

However, with the limited productivity in ancient times and the double exploitation from the imperial court and the underworld, only a few wealthy families with strong backing and connections could really make gold from this treasure mountain. The rest of the people relied on them for shelter and could only maintain a basic standard of food and clothing. Even so, they were envied by people from other places.

Therefore, when the helper mentioned this, her face was full of pride, and even her bent back straightened up.

As for the wealthy families in the town, she was very aware of the crisis and did not mention them in detail. She only said that Mr. Liu's family, who was planning to move to the county town recently, was one of them.

The Liu family was in the dye business, and their business was in Hongye Town. They shouldn't have moved to the county town with their entire family. It was because they had offended a passing hero, and they were afraid that he would come back to retaliate against them. It just so happened that the daughter of a relative in Taolin County became the county magistrate's concubine, so they had a little support and decided to move their family there to seek refuge.

Rong Zhen followed up the conversation and praised: "Then this Mr. Liu is a very decisive person."

People in ancient times were very attached to their land, unlike modern people who can move to other places as easily as they do.

"Of course not. Master Liu is not only decisive, but also very generous. You definitely made the right choice to escort him. It's less work, more pay and better treatment!" The helper aunt gave a thumbs up, wiped her mouth and put away the finished dishes, then left with a smile before the waiter glared at her.

Rongzhen gave her two copper coins as a reward and secretly wrote down some of the information the other party mentioned during the conversation, including where the brokerage shop was, which brokerage shop had a more reliable economy, which area had a safer living environment, which area had easier people to get along with, etc. These were all the information she wanted to know.

Then she went upstairs to pack up and prepare to check out and leave.

The waiter tried to persuade him to stay: "Sir, would you like to stay another night?"

Rong Zhen shook her head. "The weather is fine today. Master Liu's moving team will probably be leaving soon. I need to rush over to meet them as soon as possible."

With such a legitimate reason, the waiter did not dare to delay or stop her any longer and took her to the accounting office to settle the bill for food and accommodation.

During this time, the waiter continued to push the issue: "We have some freshly baked beef patties in the kitchen. Would you like to take a bunch of them as a snack for the journey?"

Ah, beef patties, don’t mention beef, we can still discuss it, but forget it if you mention beef.

The accountant returned 250 wen of the 500 wen advance payment.

Rongzhen thought it was too expensive.

But when you think about the fact that you can find a temporary job that can earn five taels by staying here for one night, then the high price is worth it.

But the number of 250 was too weird. She pushed 50 coins to him while the waiter kept talking. "No beef patties, but if you have vegetable or vegetarian patties, give me some. And put some pears and carrots on them."

"We have vegetable cakes, vegetarian cakes and pears, but what kind of carrots are these?" The waiter wasn't sure if she was talking about the same kind of carrots they used to make shredded radish last night.

Rongzhen thought about it. What was carrot called at that time? Red radish? Red coral? Carrot? Golden bamboo shoot?

If that doesn’t work, just bring white radish, donkeys can eat it anyway.

The last thing he took with him was a bag of shriveled pears and red radishes, as well as a bag of freshly-fried shepherd's purse cakes and corn pancakes.

It seems that copper coins still have strong purchasing power for basic living supplies.

Rongzhen confidently mounted the donkey and, carrying a few bags of belongings, hurried to the gate of Liu's mansion, which he had already inquired about.

When they got there, there was indeed a long convoy ready to go, and many people from the underworld who had received the task of escorting them to Taolin County arrived one after another.

Mr. Liu had been doing business in Hongye Town for many years and was very wealthy, so naturally he not only hired people from the martial arts world to escort him, but also a team of bodyguards from the escort agency and a team of guards he hired at home. The three parties formed a solid force of mutual defense to ensure that Mr. Liu's family and the property he took away could arrive in Taolin County safely.

Rongzhen observed the situation and then followed everyone to the Liu Mansion’s housekeeper to register their names.

Of course, these are not real names. Most people in the underworld use pseudonyms.

Rong Zhen simply reported her name as a corpse picker, and the housekeeper took a look at her unexpectedly, so he arranged her to the outer edge of the protective circle. The other female heroes were guarding the women in the Liu Mansion.

Maybe it's taboo?

Rongzhen obeyed the arrangements indifferently. It is the same no matter where you are, as long as you are paid by others and are loyal to them.

As the sun rose, the temperature increased, and the road surface that had rained last night dried up. The convoy finally set off slowly.

Rongzhen rode a donkey to keep up with the main group, but he didn't have to rely on his feet like his other colleagues.

So it is not easy for people in the martial arts world to make a living. If you want to make a living in the world, you must at least have a pair of good legs, which can be used to take jobs to make money or to escape for your life.

As soon as the convoy left the town, the wild dogs in the cotinus coggygria forest heard the noise and ran out.

Rongzhen looked at the scale and realized belatedly that she had escaped the disaster last night thanks to the donkey. Fortunately, she picked it up last night and rode it here. Otherwise, if she had relied on herself, she would have died in the mouth of a wild dog before she could even get out of the town.

"Is there no one in town taking care of these wild dogs?"

It seemed that they were not even afraid of the caravan. They surrounded the caravan and only left after grabbing the minced meat that Mr. Liu had asked the butler to scatter.

A local escort heard her mumbling and replied, "Of course. When the cotinus coggygria flowers are about to bloom, the young masters and young ladies, students, and wanderers from the county and prefecture towns will come to enjoy the scenery and have fun. The town will then organize people to hunt in advance, just in time to replenish the meat for the spring banquet."

Rong Zhen was silent for a moment. What about normal times? Did they just leave the stray dogs alone, blocking people from entering and leaving the town?

The escort's face was full of meaning. Obstacles are also protection.

At least with these wild dogs around, ordinary people in the martial arts world won’t be able to easily cause trouble to Hongye Town and Huangluo Forest, unless you are a hero with great martial arts skills.

In addition, with these sources of meat, the town can also attract many organizations like Hongyetang to stop by and contribute to maintaining the stability of the town.

Rongzhen subconsciously wanted to ask if they knew that wild dogs eat people, but then she thought that they might not know, they just didn't care, so why should she point it out to spoil the fun? Maybe there was some taboo that she didn't know about.

The topic came to an abrupt end. We continued driving for a while, and when we were about to leave the range of the sumac forest, a group of people caught up with us from behind.

The protective circle tightened instantly, and the guards were all on alert.

But when the people got closer, they saw a group of old, weak and sick people guarding a pretty woman riding in a small tung oil carriage.

The housekeeper of the Liu family went to negotiate and learned that they were also going to Taolin County and wanted to follow the Liu family's convoy for a ride, but they would be responsible for their own food and safety.

Mr. Liu agreed generously and gave them a bag of corn and several cans of water.

Rongzhen saw that the young lady really enjoyed being the center of attention and had spent money to buy them a lot of luggage and belongings, and even two or three mule carts for transportation. She shook her head and expressed her confusion.

Mules are more expensive than donkeys. I wonder how long the young lady’s purse can last.

The two convoys continued on their journey, following each other in front and behind. Not long after, they met some acquaintances in front.

It was Jingshu and Yu Bo who set out earlier than the Liu family caravan. Because they took care of Yu Bo's health, they did not ride fast and were caught up by them.

Rongzhen looked ahead and then back, and for some reason, she suddenly felt like a storm was about to come.

It's not like last night's windy and rainy weather, but maybe, perhaps, probably...

Something happened!