Chapter 7 The Storm is Coming
"Why are there so many more soldiers in the city these days?"
"Who knows? I don't know what they are checking when they come and go."
There were a few diners sitting at the roadside wonton stall. Most of them were peddlers and were the best-informed.
One of them lowered his voice and said, "You don't know yet?"
"What's wrong?"
"I heard that—" the man looked around mysteriously, "I heard that King Jing died, and now Jinzhou has a new city lord."
"Is it true? Who told you that?"
"Don't I have a nephew on duty at the guard station..." Several people were chatting excitedly, and they didn't think there was anything wrong with changing people. Anyway, the common people didn't care who was the city lord, as long as they could have enough food and clothes.
"Boss, please check out." A man in the corner, wearing a bamboo hat, a gray cloth shirt, and carrying a bow and arrow, shouted.
"Here you go, sir. You ate a bowl of wontons, four sesame pancakes, and two side dishes. It's twelve cents in total."
Zhao Xiao took out a copper coin from his arms and placed it on the table, pressed down the hat on his head, and stood up and left.
After leaving Jiangcheng that day, he found a place surrounded by mountains and rivers to bury King Jing. He avoided searches all the way and returned to Jinzhou alone at noon today.
When he entered the city, he found that the guards at the city gate had been replaced by a new group of people, so he simply disguised himself as a hunter and sneaked into the city.
After dinner, Zhao Xiao walked into a small alley. Seeing that there was no one around, he jumped onto the roof. Following his gaze, he saw the guardhouse that the vendors had mentioned.
It was getting darker and darker, and when it was time to get off duty, several people came out.
One of the men staggered towards this side. Just as he entered the alley, a man suddenly jumped down from the roof, grabbed his neck with one hand and dragged him into the abandoned woodshed next to him.
"Please spare my life! Please spare my life! I have a 70-year-old mother and three hungry children..."
"Shut up and look who I am!"
"Boss?" Wang Kun screamed in surprise when he heard the voice.
Zhao Xiao let go of him and jokingly said, "How come I didn't know you had three children?"
Wang Kun punched him in surprise: "I knew you would be fine!"
"Ugh!" The punch hit his wound right on the spot, causing Zhao Xiao to groan in pain.
Wang Kun shrank his hands and asked, "What happened?"
"I'm a little hurt."
Wang Kun quickly helped him sit down on the stone pier next to him, "Boss, I heard rumors that King Jing..."
Zhao Xiao sighed, "After we left the city that day, we encountered a group of robbers thirty miles away. These people didn't want money, and they rushed up to kill people without saying a word when they met."
"The enemy had more people and more power. We were chased all the way to Jiangcheng County. I was the only one left out of the thirty brothers. King Jing was also seriously injured and died."
Wang Kun's eyes turned red: "I should have expected this, otherwise Yang Ye would not have been so blatant to replace the city defense with his own people."
Yang Ye was the Sima of Jinzhou. Before Yang Yuanjing came, he was the local emperor of Jinzhou. When King Jing came, he lost his power and had no choice but to hand over Jinzhou to King Jing. Yang Ye was unwilling to do so and secretly joined the Four Kings. He must have played a big role in the robbery.
"What should I do now?"
Zhao Xiao said in a deep voice: "Your family members are all in Jinzhou. Although the guardhouse is not as good as before, at least you can still make some money. You should stay here peacefully and don't worry about this matter."
Wang Kun: "What about you?"
"I can't stay in Jinzhou." Once Yang Ye knew that he was back, he would never let him leave alive.
Wang Kun felt around in his arms, took out his purse and said, "Boss, take this money first, I'll get you some more when I get home!"
Zhao Xiao patted his shoulder and said with a smile: "No need, with my ability, I will never starve to death no matter where I go."
"The world is about to become uneasy, take good care of yourself, kid."
"Ah!" Wang Kun sighed helplessly. If he hadn't suddenly developed dysentery and vomiting and diarrhea that day, he would have probably reported to the underworld by now.
It was getting late and Zhao Xiao had other things to do, so he hurried to his room and walked towards the slums in the north of the city under the cover of night.
The slums were inhabited by poor people, beggars and gamblers, and of course it had been his home in the past.
Zhao Xiao is not a native of Jinzhou. Ever since he can remember, he has been following acrobatic troupes around to make a living.
The boss had a bad temper and would beat them to death when he was drunk. Zhao Xiao was lucky enough to not only survive but also learn a lot of skills.
Later, the class owner got drunk and beat someone up again. Zhao Xiao couldn't help but fight back and beat the class owner up, then sneaked out.
At that time, he was just over ten years old, begging in the streets. Fortunately, he was appreciated by King Jing and entered the guard post. He put on clean clothes and looked like a human being.
Now that King Jing is dead, Zhao Xiao knows that he is alone and powerless and will certainly not be able to take revenge, but he can still muddy the waters.
He walked to the slums with ease and found a land temple where seven or eight little beggars were sleeping. These children were like wild dogs, growing up on their own and had extremely tenacious vitality.
Zhao Xiao knocked on the window frame a few times, and the children woke up instantly, looking at the uninvited guest vigilantly.
"I have money, do you want to make money?"
Among the beggars, a slightly older child bravely asked: "How much money, what kind of work?"
"Ten taels of silver, recite a limerick. Tomorrow I want all the people in Jinzhou City to hear it."
Ten taels of silver is not a small amount. Even if you sell them to a pawnshop, you can't get them for less than ten taels!
"Come! Come!" The beggars came over as if they had seen a piece of fat meat.
Only the slightly older child frowned and said, "How can there be such a good thing in the world? You can earn so much money just by reciting a poem. Don't try to deceive me!"
Zhao Xiao raised his lips, thinking that this boy was quite scheming, so he didn't lie and said, "Of course there are risks. If you recite this doggerel, you might be arrested by the soldiers."
When the little beggars heard this, they instantly lost interest. Although they were poor, they were not stupid. They were afraid that they would not live to spend so much money.
The guy who had just asked the question stood up and walked over and said, "I'll take the job, but the money will be doubled!"
"Deal." Zhao Xiao took out twenty taels of silver from his pocket and handed it to him.
The beggar refused to accept the money: "I won't accept the money until the work is done. I will take your money tomorrow after I pass on the poem."
Zhao Xiao raised his eyebrows. This kid is very methodical and is a good candidate for development. However, he is in a difficult situation at the moment and he has no intention of cultivating talents.
"It's a dark and windy night, a murderous night. The four princes kidnapped Prince Jing. We are brothers, why do we need to do this? It turns out that there is no master in the capital anymore." Zhao Xiao recited the doggerel he made up to the other party, and listened to him recite it twice. After seeing that it was correct, he quietly put the silver into the beggar's hand.
The little beggar rolled his eyes and took the silver, saying, "Don't worry, sir. I will make sure this poem spreads throughout the entire Jinzhou city tomorrow."
Zhao Xiao nodded and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
"Wow!" The beggars screamed in surprise as they looked at his back. This guy is so powerful!
The little beggar hid the silver calmly, knowing that this was a warning from the other party. If he took the silver and didn't do the job, his end would be bad.
When he returned to the temple, a young beggar came up to him, held his clothes and whispered, "Sister, why aren't you afraid of him?"
Unexpectedly, this courageous little beggar was actually a girl. She rubbed her brother's hair and said, "Shh, don't call me sister here."
"Brother, how do you spread the poem?"
The girl held the silver in her hands and said with a twinkle in her eyes, "Don't worry about it, brother."
*
During the Mid-Autumn Festival, Song Qiao's eldest son Song Yutang rushed back from Dongzhou.
Song Yutang just turned twenty this year. He has a square face, thick eyebrows and a wide mouth. He doesn't look like a member of the Song family, but more like Qin's younger brother.
His personality is similar to that of the Qin family members. He doesn't like studying medicine, but is proficient in business. He has been managing the pharmacy's business almost entirely in the past few years.
As soon as Song Yutang entered the house, Qin received the news and hurried out to greet him. When she reached the second door, she was stopped by her daughter-in-law Fang.
"Mom, Yutang is discussing something with Dad and Uncle San in the study room up front. Let's go to the backyard and wait."
"What is there to say? Our son just came back and you didn't even let him have a rest." Qin reluctantly took her daughter-in-law back to the backyard.
In the study room in the front hall, Song Yutang put down his tea bowl and said, "Business has become increasingly difficult these days. When I went to Shaanxi to collect medicine and came back, the soldiers stopped the carriage and demanded money. If I didn't give them money, they would detain both the carriage and the people. How can I do business in the long run?"
Song Qiao was so anxious these days that he had several blisters on his mouth, and it hurt whenever he spoke. He had expected this to happen. Without his elder brother to take care of things in Beijing, it would be difficult to do business.
"Let's not talk about business first. Tang'er, have you heard that poem in Dongzhou City?"
Song Yutang said, "I heard it, but it's just a rumor on the streets, Dad, don't worry."
"I'm afraid it's not just a rumor..."
Song Lin's death means that something has gone wrong in Beijing, but no news has been heard from the capital. No one knows what the secret is, and the rumors that have suddenly spread make people feel uneasy.
Song Yuzhu, who was sitting next to him, suddenly asked, "Brother, have the prices of medicinal materials increased recently?"
Song Yutang didn't understand why he asked this. "It has increased, but not all of them. The prices of drugs such as Cirsium japonicum, Platycladus orientalis, and Sanguisorba officinalis have more than tripled. The prices of safflower and motherwort for women and licorice and Fritillaria cirrhosa for children have not increased."
Song Yuzhu thought about it in his mind and said, "If my guess is correct, I'm afraid we're going to have to fight."
Song Bai was puzzled and asked, "Zhu'er, how did you know this?"
"Thistle, Platycladus orientalis, and Sanguisorba officinalis are all medicines for stopping bleeding."
The three men understood instantly that if there was to be a war, the army would have to prepare in advance, and if there was less medicine, the price would naturally be higher.
Song Qiao took a sip of herbal tea and said, "Things are not going well right now. The pharmacy will not be receiving medicine for the time being. Let's settle the accounts and close it down when the time comes."
"Okay." Song Yutang nodded.
Song Bai: "We need to send someone to repair the old house. If a fight really breaks out and the city is in chaos, we can go back to the countryside to avoid the war."
Song Yuzhu nodded secretly in her heart. Throughout history, merchants were the most unlucky during the chaos of each dynasty. They were rich but powerless and were slaughtered like fat sheep. Hiding in the countryside was a good idea. As long as they kept their roots, they could make a comeback in the future.
After the two brothers had discussed it, Song Bai took Song Yuzhu away.
After they left, Song Yutang couldn't help but say, "I haven't seen you for a few years. Cousin Yuzhu has become more handsome and speaks more like a gentleman. By the way, why don't you see Yufeng?"
"Don't mention that rebellious son! He had a fight with Yumin yesterday and got hit in the face. Now he's locked up in the room and throwing a tantrum." He got so angry when he mentioned his second son Song Qiao. It seemed like this kid was born to be his nemesis!
Ever since Song Yumin was brought in a few days ago and arranged in Song Yufeng's courtyard, this kid has been looking for trouble again and again. But he can't beat Song Yumin, and he still can't change his bad habits even after being beaten several times.
Yesterday he went to provoke someone again. Song Yumin was sitting in the yard basking in the sun, and he took a basin of water and splashed it on him. As a result, Song Yumin got mad, so he grabbed him and beat him up, making him cry and scream, and his face was swollen like a pig's head.
"My little brother is already grown up and should understand things. Why is he still acting like a child and playing around all day long?"
Who says it isn't true? However, every time Song Qiao taught his son a lesson, Qin would stop him from beating or scolding him.
"Forget it, let him be. You have been running all the way, go and have a rest."
(End of this chapter)
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