In fact, although Cheng Ruyi was slightly annoyed by Tian Fenfang's overly enthusiastic behavior, she felt absolutely no dislike for her.
Greed is human nature; who doesn't want to make a lot of money? She wanted to too!
Furthermore, Tian Fenfang didn't directly ask her for money. She discovered a business opportunity through Cheng Ruyi's skills and then thought of opening a shop together to make money. In fact, she has quite a business mind and courage.
However, Cheng Ruyi is currently too busy to be in two places at once. If it's just an ordinary shop that doesn't make much money, there's really no need to waste any more energy on it.
Besides, if she really wanted to run the shop well, she would definitely be encroaching on other people's interests. The power distribution in the prefecture city is complex and complicated. Not to mention her, even the Zhou family needs to be careful.
So making money isn't the biggest problem; the real challenge is how to keep what you've made!
Cheng Ruyi had actually said these words to Tian Fenfang as well. Although He Zheng worked in the government office, he didn't have any real power. To put it bluntly, he was just a low-level worker. If something happened, he might not be able to protect him.
The Tian family had been running a candied fruit shop in the prefectural city for so many years, and Tian Fenfang had been exposed to it since childhood, so she must have some understanding of the ins and outs of the business. Therefore, after listening to Cheng Ruyi's words, she expressed her understanding.
In fact, Cheng Ruyi wanted to help the He family. Although the He family was currently living a relatively comfortable life, they would not have enough resources to protect themselves if things really got chaotic in the future.
Therefore, she made a request to Tian Fenfang: she would only consider cooperating with her if the other party could find a reliable backer.
This could be considered a small test she set for herself. After all, if the shop were to actually open, it would require Tian Fenfang to manage it on a daily basis, and without shrewdness and foresight, it wouldn't be enough.
With the departure of the He family, the Cheng family returned to their previous lives.
Taking advantage of a rare free time, Cheng Ruyi went to the county town to visit Guo Qinglan for the New Year and also to relieve her psychological problems.
The courtyard that Guo Qinglan rented was in a very quiet location. Even during the Spring Festival, there was no noise. If it weren't for the few red lanterns hanging in the courtyard, there would be almost no trace of the Spring Festival.
"Sister Cheng, has something happened to you lately? You seem a bit strange today."
Perhaps because Cheng Ruyi's behavior was somewhat unusual, Guo Qinglan and Guo Xiaoyu exchanged a glance and then asked her directly.
Having not yet figured out how to start a conversation, Cheng Ruyi thought for a moment after hearing this, then mustered her courage and said, "Actually, I have a question I'd like to ask you, but it might be a bit impolite, so I'm hesitant about whether I should ask it..."
Guo Qinglan expressed her incomprehension, saying that this Sister Cheng was good in every way, except that she was too polite and courteous. "We are already so familiar with each other, and we know each other so well, what is there that we can't ask each other?"
Cheng Ruyi: "Well... if you don't want to answer, just pretend you didn't hear me~~"
"Stop beating around the bush, just say what you have to say!" Guo Xiaoyu hates roundabout ways of speaking the most.
Cheng Ruyi glanced around to make sure Luo Xiuwei was taking a nap in the room and wouldn't wake up for the time being, before asking in a low voice, "Have you... ever killed anyone?"
Upon hearing this completely unexpected question, both Guo Qinglan and the other person were visibly taken aback.
"Of course I have!" After a moment's realization, Guo Xiaoyu was the first to speak up. "Putting aside everything else, I also killed someone a year ago during the Lantern Festival. Didn't you see it then? What kind of problem is that?"
Compared to Guo Xiaoyu's thick-skinned nature, Guo Qinglan was relatively mature and sensible. After thinking for a moment, she roughly understood why Cheng Ruyi had asked that question.
“I have killed before. I killed someone when I was very young. I was only ten years old that year. I was caught by my enemies when I secretly went out to play. In order to escape, I killed the thief guarding me when they were not paying attention, and that’s how I managed to escape.”
Although Guo Qinglan spoke casually, Cheng Ruyi could easily imagine that the scene must have been incredibly harrowing. A ten-year-old girl... It was hard to imagine what kind of psychological impact this event would have on her.
Seeing Cheng Ruyi's incredulous and pitying expression, Guo Xiaoyu said with a hint of pride, "What's so special about that? I was only six years old when I killed someone for the first time! That beast deserved to die. He not only killed my mother, but he also tried to kill me. Humph, he doesn't deserve it!"
After listening to their conversation, Cheng Ruyi suddenly wondered if she was being a bit dramatic.
Living in such a turbulent era with lax laws, murder was actually very common. For a moment, she didn't know whether it was the tragedy of this era or the true law of survival.
Guo Qinglan had been paying close attention to Cheng Ruyi's every move, so when she noticed that the other woman's emotions were obviously not right, she immediately comforted her: "Sister Cheng, killing is indeed wrong, but if you are going to die if you don't kill the other person, preserving your own life is the most important thing. Even the government cannot sentence you."
"Really? Does Da Yue have such a law?" Cheng Ruyi had lived in a society governed by law for thirty years in her previous life. In fact, her biggest psychological obstacle was not murder, but the feeling that she should be punished by law for breaking the law.
"Of course! Our escort agency is always on the road, fighting and injuring people are commonplace, and even murder is a frequent occurrence. If we were to be arrested and thrown in jail every time, our escort agency would have been wiped out long ago!"
Guo Xiaoyu chimed in, "Yeah, yeah. I've heard from my senior brothers and sisters that if someone gets hurt, we don't have to worry about it. If a lot of people die, we just need to inform the local government. We're doing our escort business openly and honestly. They were wrong to rob us, so they deserved to be killed."
Oh, I see... It seems she should try to find a copy of the Dai Viet Code to study!
"Is Sister Cheng troubled by the bandit attack on the village?"
Guo Qinglan thought about it carefully. Cheng Ruyi wasn't a江湖人士 (jianghu person, someone who engages in martial arts and chivalry), so she wouldn't be fighting and killing all the time. The only time she had a chance to take action recently was probably the bandits about half a month ago. She remembered that Cheng Ruyi not only led people to guard the village, but she also rushed to the front to block the enemy. So... she thought that time must have left a shadow that has been affecting her until now.
Cheng Ruyi thought about it and nodded. After all, they were all bandits, so it was all the same thing.
Guo Xiaoyu finally understood. "So that's why! I didn't expect you to be a coward too? Hahaha, you weren't having nightmares, were you?"
Guo Xiaoyu couldn't help but laugh at the fact that Cheng's sister, who usually seemed fearless, actually had something she was afraid of.
"Xiaoyu!" Guo Qinglan sometimes really had a headache. Guo Xiaoyu was good in every way, but her outspokenness often bothered her. "Sister Cheng is just an ordinary person. It's only natural that she would be worried and scared when she first encountered something like this. You mustn't be rude!"
After saying that, Guo Xiaoyu realized that it seemed a bit inappropriate. She glanced at Cheng Ruyi guiltily and said softly, "I... I didn't mean anything by it... I'm sorry."
"It's alright. Compared to the bandit incident, I think what you experienced was far more shocking." Cheng Ruyi genuinely believed this. She had never imagined that someone could have experienced such terrifying things while still a child, and more importantly, that such things were actually quite ordinary for them...
This wicked world!
Seeing that Cheng Ruyi not only didn't cheer up, but seemed even more depressed, Guo Qinglan had to change the subject, "By the way, speaking of which, have you heard about the iron mine being discovered in Wolong Village before?"
"Huh? Oh right! Wasn't she also inquiring about this? I almost forgot!" Cheng Ruyi immediately looked up upon hearing this. "I've heard about it! I was just about to ask you about this matter. Are the bandits of Wolong Village related to the bandits who attacked our county?"
"How did you guess?" Guo Qinglan was somewhat surprised, inwardly marveling at how perceptive this Sister Cheng always was in certain aspects. "So the second-in-command of the Green Dragon Gang is actually from Wolong Village! The Zhang family has always been Wolong Village's spies in our county!"
After Luo Xian discovered Liu Wei in Wolong Village, he originally wanted to immediately send people back to the county town to arrest Zhang's family. However, he wasted a whole day due to the issue of the ownership of the iron mine, which led to the news leaking out. In the end, only Zhang Sheng's wife, who was Liu Wei's sister, his youngest son, and his brother Zhang Li's family were arrested, while Zhang Sheng and his eldest son Zhang Jichang had already escaped and disappeared.
The Zhang family is currently imprisoned in the county government dungeon. To prevent Zhang Sheng from returning to break them out, he even "borrowed" several guards from Guo Qinglan to keep watch at the government office day and night.
Because of the Zhang family's wealth, Luo Xian was not too disappointed that the iron mine would eventually be jointly developed by the Xizhen Army and the Nanyang County Garrison. The Zhang family had been expanding wildly in the county for more than ten years and had been doing extremely profitable business, so even though Zhang Sheng took away some of the wealth, what remained was still quite considerable!
Although the law required the wealth to be handed over at each level, Luo Xian, as the county magistrate, could still extract a considerable amount of money from it, which would be used to settle his affairs after his promotion.
Cheng Ruyi had already heard from her uncle He Gang a few days ago that the iron mine would eventually be jointly developed by the Xizhen Army and the Nanyang County garrison. As for the Zhang family's future development, that was also within her expectations. However, none of that mattered. What she was most concerned about was something else entirely...
"Qinglan, have you found out anything about Wolong Village? I'm very curious about what exactly happened that night."
"You've come to the right person about this!" Guo Qinglan's tone suddenly became excited. "When Luo Xian arrived at Wolong Village, he found that everyone in the village was asleep, and they were all fast asleep and couldn't be woken up no matter what! Isn't that amazing?"
Cheng Ruyi: ...Hehe, how could something produced by the system not be amazing!
"Later, during the search, everyone discovered a message on a wall in the main hall, realizing that it was all the work of the Taoist Xuanzhen!"
"You have no idea, this Wolong Village..." Guo Qinglan suddenly stopped here, then glanced at Cheng Ruyi before continuing somewhat awkwardly, "In short, they are extremely evil and do all sorts of wicked things. So, after learning about the evil deeds of Wolong Village, Xuanzhen Daoist said that he decided to act on behalf of Heaven and kill only those who deserved to die. He also said that if anyone wants revenge, they can come to him anytime!"
At this point, she stood up even more excitedly, grabbed Cheng Ruyi's hands, and said happily, "Listen to these words! How bold and spirited! This senior must be a hermit with an otherworldly air and refined demeanor. If it weren't for the Wolong Village's outrageous behavior, he wouldn't have come out of seclusion! Don't you think he is worthy of our utmost respect?"
Cheng Ruyi recalled the old Taoist's disheveled and unkempt appearance... it was really hard to associate him with the image of a sage, so she forced a smile and said against her will, "I admire you greatly... Do you know the background of this Xuanzhen Taoist? Could you tell me about him in detail?"
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