Everyone stared dumbfounded at the two bare hills in front of them and the boulders valley between them.
"Sir, is this really the Broken Gold Beach?"
The old farmer who led the way was honest and kind, and he wasn't impatient at all. He spoke slowly.
"Yes, this is the Broken Gold Beach north of Xiaojin Village in Nanxi County."
After saying that, he glanced at everyone, a hint of sympathy in his eyes.
"Did you not give them any benefits when they registered their household registration? How did you end up here?"
Everyone looked grim. Although the two minor officials had grouped them together, they hadn't actually offended the person behind the scenes.
Li Lao Er forced a smile and gave the old man two meat buns.
This is the dry food I bought in town yesterday for the road. I don't have much to do now, so I have to take it out.
The old man was very happy and went back to find his grandson.
The entire village of over ninety people, young and old, stood in silence for a long time in front of the two small hills before the village chief finally spoke.
"Don't worry, everyone. Even if this place isn't great, it's still better than the deep mountains. At least there are no wolves, no bandits, and no barbarians. As long as we put our efforts in the same direction, we can make a living."
Li Lao Er quickly added, "Uncle is right. The grain that Young Master Ye gave us earlier is enough to feed our whole village for two months. Let's build sheds first, settle down, have a good meal, and then think of something else."
Li Laosi and Liu Biaotou also stepped forward. They were young after all, and although they had countless wounds, large and small, they were almost fully recovered in just a few days.
At that moment, they immediately gathered their men, went up the mountain to cut down trees to build sheds, chop firewood for fire, and move stones to build earthen stoves.
In an instant, apart from the few seriously injured, everyone in the village got busy.
As night fell, several simple shacks were erected against the foot of the mountain, and porridge and flatbreads were cooked on the earthen stove.
The women even dug up a lot of wild vegetables nearby, washed them, and simply mixed them up, which tasted quite refreshing.
The group ate in silence, feeling neither at ease with the dust settling down, but rather suspended in mid-air, unsure of what the future held.
Jiayin was held in her mother's arms, eating small bites of rice porridge. Because it contained minced meat and wild scallions, it tasted very good, and she insisted on eating more than half a bowl.
Tao Hongying was overjoyed and discussed with her family, "Tomorrow we'll go to a nearby village to see if we can get some radishes and cabbages. If there are any hens, we'll buy one too. Fu Niu and Mother need to take good care of themselves."
Li Laosi nodded and said, "You guys go ahead. I plan to go a bit further and take a look around Xindu City. We're new here and don't know anything, so we should at least ask around and see if we can change our place of residence."
Upon hearing this, Liu, the head镖师 (bodyguard/escort), said, "You go ahead, I'll stay here and keep watch."
Li Lao Er also said, "I'll also go into the city. When it comes to gathering information, I'm more familiar with it than you are."
After the meal, the group found the village chief and Uncle Zhao, discussed it briefly, and that was how they made the decision.
Mr. Wen and Mrs. Cui sat by the campfire, wanting to say something, but neither of them were the type to make empty promises, so they swallowed their words back.
The next morning, Li Lao Er and Li Lao Si took two young men from the village into the city.
The journey of thirty li, without a large blue mule to take them, took the four of them an hour. By the time they entered the city, the sun was already high in the sky.
Weizhou Prefecture was originally just a relatively prosperous area in Jiangnan, but it suddenly became the new capital. The impact and changes it suffered cannot be explained in a single sentence.
The price of a courtyard in the city, which was originally five hundred taels, has jumped to two thousand.
Prices for grains, salt, and all sorts of other goods skyrocketed.
Many of the original residents complained bitterly and simply sold their houses, took a sum of money, and moved to the countryside.
In this way, after half a year of gradual replacement, the prefectural city was almost entirely filled with aristocratic families and relatives of civil and military officials from the capital.
A speck of dust in the era can feel like a mountain on an ordinary person's head, but for these wealthy and powerful families who have amassed centuries of wealth and power, dust is just dust.
Xinduli, the commercial street is still bustling with people.
Women dressed in New Year's attire walked by, their mouths and noses covered by silk fans, laughing sweetly.
A young master in a wide-sleeved robe, waving a folding fan, swaggered through the city.
Young master?
Li Laosi grabbed his still-stunned second brother and the villagers and quickly hid behind a wonton stall.
"Second Brother, I saw that damned General Jiao who refused to help us that night. You two go buy things and gather information first. I'll go with you and see what's going on. We'll meet at the city gate in two hours."
After saying that, he didn't wait for his second brother to nod before turning around and disappearing without a trace.
Li Lao Er glared angrily. This younger brother was too bold, daring to run around here.
But he had no choice. He quickly found a pharmacy, bought the few medicinal herbs that the divine doctor was short of, then went to a butcher shop and bought some pork bones and pork. Finally, he found a lively little teahouse at the city gate and sat down.
The teahouse was filled with all sorts of people; one was talking about a fight between families in the city, another about a brawl in a village outside the city that resulted in a death—it was a chaotic scene.
Not to mention that Li Lao Er frowned more and more as he listened, Li Lao Si followed Jiao Gongzi all the way to a bluestone alley behind the commercial street.
The alley was very clean, and red lanterns were hung in front of each house.
Young Master Jiao and his three companions, chatting and laughing, knocked on the gate of one of the houses. Immediately, a young woman dressed in light clothing smiled and welcomed them inside.
Li Laosi raised an eyebrow, realizing that the brothels in this city were not actually brothels, but rather clandestine brothels.
He wandered around the area, and when he saw no opportunity, he went around to the back.
There was actually a small river behind the courtyard, with trees planted along its banks. Every house had a path leading to the river from its back door, where people usually did laundry or took a boat ride.
He thought for a moment, then hid in a tree and stared at the small courtyard.
He waited for more than an hour, and seeing that the sun was already starting to set, he was even considering giving up.
Just then, Young Master Jiao finally went to the outhouse in the backyard to relieve himself.
He could no longer restrain himself, so he went straight up to him and, taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, picked up the laundry mallet and knocked Jiao Gongzi unconscious with it.
Young Master Jiao was half-drunk and never imagined that someone would plot against him. He collapsed and knew nothing more.
Li Laosi carried the man out of the yard, stripped him naked, stuffed his underwear into Jiao Gongzi's mouth, wrapped his head with his clothes, tied his hands and feet, and then gave him a beating.
Young Master Jiao was woken up by the beating and rolled on the ground begging for mercy, howling like a pig being slaughtered, but unfortunately, all of it was choked up.
He quickly fainted from the pain, then woke up again from the pain...
By the time Li Laosi had vented his anger, Jiao Gongzi was covered in bruises and had hardly any healthy skin left.
Li Laosi gave him a final blow with a club, knocking him completely unconscious. Then he tore off the turban he was wearing, threw him onto an empty, bare boat, and untied the mooring ropes...
The small boat, now free of its tethers, drifted away with the current.
On the deck, the naked Young Master Jiao lay half-dead, completely unaware that his "secrets" were about to be revealed to the entire city of Xindu...
Li Laosi ran quickly to the city gate, met up with Li Laoer and the others, and successfully left the city. Only when they reached a secluded place did he burst into laughter.
"Second brother, I just avenged everyone!"
"You got your revenge? What happened?" Li Lao Er and the others asked curiously, while Li Lao Si kept laughing.
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