Pang Hu's background is simple. He lived outside the prefectural city and worked as a tea broker, acting as an intermediary to connect tea merchants during the tea harvest season in various tea-producing areas.
The bandits kidnapped him so that he would become a spy and report the whereabouts of every tea merchant.
It's December now, and in a little over a month, Yashan will have its first spring tea harvest. At that time, merchants from other places will flock there, and the bandits want to make a fortune.
Pang Hu refused. As the middleman, selling the client's whereabouts would be tantamount to cutting off his own life. He had already been detained in the bandit's den for ten days for not cooperating.
Jiang Zhi asked curiously, "Where are your family members? Didn't you report it to the authorities?"
Pang Hu smiled wryly: "I usually only go out for ten days or half a month at a time, and my family has no idea. They just think I'm doing business on some tea mountain."
Jiang Zhi remained silent. Sichuan and Chongqing produce tea and wine.
Of the ten famous liquor brands, six are from Sichuan. As the starting point of the Ancient Tea Horse Road, Sichuan has a large tea production. The first batch of spring tea each year is the earliest and is also the base tea for the whole country. With proper packaging, it becomes a famous tea from various regions.
Teahouse culture is everywhere, with no particular rules; one can sit all day with just a cup of jasmine tea.
With so much tea to sell, there is a need for many tea and wine merchants from other places. Those robbers who target foreign merchants are truly cutting off the lifeblood of the locals.
"What happened to those robbers?"
Jiang Zhi didn't ask Nie Fantian about the bandits; instead, she asked Pang Hu.
She used to think that even thieves have their code of honor, and that when robbing people on the street, they only take the money and not risk their lives.
However, Jiang Zhi felt that this act of kidnapping a middleman to target foreign businessmen was unforgivable, and that whatever Nie Fantian did was justified.
Pang Hu glanced around and saw that Qin Shi and Li Laoshi hadn't noticed him before whispering, "Nie Yingxiong has already killed the leader and three of his trusted men. Now the second-in-command is in charge."
oh!
Jiang Zhi didn't even frown when she heard this.
Since he wants to achieve great things at such a young age, Nie Fantian needs not only to have superhuman abilities, but also to have certain methods and cunning.
After entering Xujia Village, Nie Fantian was able to calmly face his "aunt" who had tormented him in every way, without mentioning a single word about the past. Considering his 19-year-old mentality, this was already quite remarkable.
Moreover, the male protagonist acts prudently; there are no way to kill all the bandits on the street, and eliminating them all would only bring trouble upon himself.
Killing the eldest brother and supporting the second brother would actually help build connections and save the trouble of cleaning up the mess.
Thinking of this, Jiang Zhi glanced at Nie Fantian, who was silently riding his horse ahead.
They were about to arrive in Jincheng and meet his relatives, but no one knew what would happen.
He had just killed four people on the mountain, but Nie Fantian showed no emotion whatsoever; he was terrifyingly cold-blooded.
At this moment, Nie Fantian remained silent and calm. Once the hatred he had been suppressing in his heart was unleashed, it would surely be ruthless.
As they approached Jincheng Prefecture, the official road became wider and straighter, and their journey quickened.
Around noon, we arrived at the ten-mile-long pavilion outside the city. There were ancient cypress trees and people selling hot porridge and flatbread. Many people entering the city stopped here.
Pang Hu suggested that Jiang Zhi could rest here for a while: "Madam Jiang can have a Juntun Guokui here. It's a famous snack in Jincheng. It's fragrant, crispy, crunchy, tender and melts in your mouth. I always let tea merchants from other places try it when they come to Jincheng."
After resting, it will take another half hour to enter the city, find an inn to stay in, and then we can go shopping.
Having escaped the bandit's den, Pang Hu was extremely grateful to Nie Fantian. Instead of rushing home, he wanted to accompany Nie Fantian to the city to find his relatives.
Jiang Zhi was more than happy to have a local guide, and even the departure and rest times were arranged perfectly.
Jincheng Prefecture had 100,000 households, stretched nine and three-tenths li through the city, and circled the city for forty-eight li. It was comparable to the ten-li long street of Chang'an City and was one of the largest cities in the country.
Although Nie Fantian and I obtained some information from Magistrate Zhang, finding relatives and acquaintances in such a large city would still be troublesome.
When Jiang Zhi wanted to stop the car for a rest and buy cakes for everyone, Nie Fantian didn't object. He just silently walked to the side, gazing at the ancient cypress trees in a daze, feeling out of place among the joyful crowd entering the city.
If you can still see the aura, it must be filled with black mist.
Jiang Zhi sighed, recalling that when Er Rui was nineteen, he was still hiding in the mountains, digging up kudzu roots and picking up rabbits to amuse Peppa Pig every day, laughing like a fool.
The girl in front of me is also nineteen years old, but she has been rolling around in piles of corpses for more than two years. She has a tragic past and now she has to face a happy family with a wicked father and daughter.
Upon seeing food, Xiaoman, Qinshi, and Li Laoshi ran quickly, and led by Pang Hu, they took out their money and bought some. The group of people surrounded the pancake stall, making a ruckus.
On the other side, Jiang Zhi walked to Nie Fantian's side and said, "Xiaotian, we're about to enter the city. What are your plans? Do you want to acknowledge your maternal grandparents first, or find Du Baolin and Xu Xiaolan first?"
This was the first time Jiang Zhi had spoken to Nie Fantian since he returned, and the first time she had mentioned her background.
Years of scolding, the death of Da Rui, the injury of "uncle"—these things weren't Nie Fantian's fault, but they weren't something he could just let go of.
Nie Fantian turned around, his face still expressionless, but his gaze suddenly turned cold, filled with naked killing intent. He gritted his teeth and said, word by word, "I will make them pay for their blood debt!"
As she listened to his words, a gust of wind blew by, and Jiang Zhi involuntarily shivered.
People gradually become indifferent and cold-hearted by repeatedly tempering themselves and discarding meaningless emotions. Nie Fantian was not born this way.
The thought that the first thing the father and son would say upon meeting was "death" made Jiang Zhi feel a little sorry for Nie Fantian. She didn't say anything more, but simply patted his arm lightly: "Don't think about it now. You're dressed too lightly, and it's windy here. Let's go get something to eat first!"
Let's take things one step at a time. This is Jincheng Prefecture, unlike the wilderness where people can go missing.
Fighting and killing in the city would be dealt with by the government, so even if Nie Fantian showed his identity token, it would be useless.
Jiang Zhi didn't notice that her casual pat on the shoulder caused the icy coldness in Nie Fantian's eyes to quickly fade.
Watching his "aunt" walk away, then looking at Xiaoman who was standing around the pancake stall, and thinking about his cousin who had become mature and steady and was about to have both a son and a daughter, Nie Fantian felt envious.
Through Xiaoman these days, he learned a lot about Xujia Village.
Now my aunt is the village head, every family in the village has a house, every household has grain, and they can work in the workshops. The children can also go to school.
Even Xiaoman had an official position, built a tall house, and had a fiancée.
Although these things he once dreamed of no longer attract him, they still make Nie Fantian admire and envy them.
Jiang Zhi did not notice the change in Nie Fantian. After everyone had a simple meal of tea and flatbread, they began to enter the city.
The city gate guards required everyone to show their household registration and travel permit, and also checked each person to see if they were carrying any prohibited equipment.
Jiang Zhi, Qin Shi, and Li Laoshi were all farmers. They presented their household registration documents, and Xiaoman, with a certificate issued by the county government, also passed through smoothly.
The city gate guards were about to attack Nie Fantian and his men, who were carrying bows, arrows, and longswords, when a grain ration order silenced them: "Military secret, no questions asked by unauthorized personnel!"
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