Upon returning to Baolin Residence, Song Liyun prepared to go to Qili County.
Now, Xue Zhuang and his group go to the county every other day to sell vegetables and acorn noodles, and they have saved more than ten taels of silver a month.
The group decided to buy a mule cart out of their own pockets for others to use.
Song Liyun and Han Ming were going to the county, so they took a ride together.
What angered Song Liyun was that her family clearly kept a chrysanthemum-green horse.
Even now that his injuries have healed, he won't let her get close at all.
Only Song Zhenping could put some things on the horse's back.
With mule carts available, the journey to Qili County takes only one hour.
After successfully arriving outside Qili County, Song Liyun realized that this place was different from her last visit.
There were more people on the road, especially along the river where you could see waves of people heading to the city.
Some of these people walked, while others drove pack carts loaded with goods.
The ice on the moat has melted, and pedestrians need to cross the river via a pontoon bridge.
Bridge toll: 10 coins per person.
The price for livestock to cross the river is fifty coins.
Xue Zhuang and his group always came in groups of three: two would carry vegetables into the city, and one would drive the cart into the village to collect acorns, thus saving them the city entry fee.
Having learned from her previous experience of entering the city, Song Liyun handed over the twenty coins she and Han Ming had paid for crossing the river.
I had only taken a few steps on the pontoon bridge when I heard a commotion behind me.
A hoarse voice said gruffly, "No, you'll have to pay an extra fifty coins if you bring goods into the city."
Song Liyun turned around and saw that Xue Zhuang and the other man who had been following behind her had been stopped.
The vegetable baskets they were carrying were also opened, exposing the lush green vegetable leaves to the air.
"Wow, there are vegetables for sale now?" exclaimed a person crossing the river next to Song Liyun.
When Han Ming saw that Xue Zhuang and the other man were being stopped, he was about to turn back to help, but Song Liyun stopped him: "Let's see first."
Song Liyun did not leave the leather and horn cup outside; she had already put them back into her spatial storage.
At this moment, the basket slung over her arm contained only a water pouch and a few sesame seed cakes.
Han Ming carried a load on a shoulder pole, covered with a lid, so no one could see what was inside.
Xue Zhuang and his men had made at least ten trips to sell vegetables, and they were all quite familiar with the guards at the gate.
Seeing that he had stopped them, Hu Qing, who was standing next to him, smiled and stuffed a handful of copper coins into their hands: "Just a few rotten vegetable leaves to exchange for some money. You guys have worked hard. Have some wine to warm up after your shift."
This Hu Qing is one of the five people that Song Liyun saved. He is now working very hard selling vegetables with Xue Zhuang and is also very good at handling things. He came to Baolinju to express his gratitude later, and now he is very respectful to Song Liyun.
Unfortunately, his attempt to curry favor was shoved away by the roadside constable, scattering the copper coins on the ground, with a few even rolling into the river.
"Who's your brother? Pay up and stop talking nonsense!" The constable's attitude became even worse.
What's going on?
Because of Xue Zhuang and his group's obstruction, several people who wanted to enter the city stood silently at the pontoon bridge, clearly indicating that these people's practice of blocking the road and charging extra fees was already commonplace.
Behind Song Liyun, the man in the cotton robe started muttering again: "He won't be able to keep going for long, he won't be able to keep going for long."
"Brother, what do you mean by that?" Song Liyun couldn't help but ask, seeing that this man couldn't keep a secret.
"Hey! If I'm not mistaken, you should be from Broken Gold Town! It was all because of the Di barbarians who came to your town before the New Year."
The man put down the roll of bedding he was carrying on his shoulder and began his long-winded speech.
While listening to the man's rambling account of the Di barbarians' attack on Suijin Pass at the end of the twelfth lunar month, Song Liyun kept an eye on Xue Zhuang and his group's movements.
"...Now there's nothing going on in Suijin Town, and everyone says there's nothing going on in Qili County, so the refugees have all come here."
Hey, grain prices in the city have been skyrocketing since yesterday…
Song Liyun was speechless. Even though Suijin Town hadn't been robbed, these people from Qili County were sending refugees here, causing grain prices to rise, and they were blaming the people of Suijin Town for it!
In fact, those who can enter Qili County are not necessarily poor.
Fortunately, Xue Zhuang and his companions did not argue much with the constables. In addition to paying the river crossing fee, they also had to pay an extra fifty cash in taxes before they were able to leave.
Upon entering the city, Xue Zhuang, his face dark with anger, first arranged a time to return to town with Song Liyun in the afternoon, and then hurriedly left.
He hadn't expected Song Liyun to see him in such a pathetic state, being threatened by someone, but he couldn't postpone the agreed-upon delivery time with Tianxiang Restaurant.
The city was indeed more crowded than last time. The streets were bustling with people, and you could see vendors pushing carts or carrying loads, hawking their goods to passersby.
Song Liyun and Han Ming went directly to Wan Chun's fur shop. The middle-aged man was seeing a customer off, and there was a rabbit skin that hadn't been put away on the counter.
Upon seeing Song Liyun enter, the middle-aged shopkeeper's eyes lit up, and he quickly came over to greet her, saying, "It's been a long time since I've seen you, young lady. Please come in and have a seat."
He had already given Song Liyun a heads-up last time, and now he's come to her door again, so there's definitely something going on.
He received a share of twenty taels of silver from that carpet.
Song Liyun didn't stand on ceremony with him, leaving Han Ming to wait outside, and went straight to the private room inside, where she "took" a set of horn cups from the basket in the crook of her arm.
The middle-aged shopkeeper's face lit up with delight when he saw the horn cups: "Young lady, how much do you plan to sell these cups for?"
Song Liyun calmly asked, "What price do you want from me, shopkeeper?"
The middle-aged shopkeeper estimated for a moment and said, "The workmanship of this set of cups is average, so I can't give it a high price. I can only estimate it at fifty taels. If you are willing to wait until there is a buyer before taking payment, you can get eighty taels."
Song Liyun shook her head: "Let's trade in cash!"
The middle-aged shopkeeper was delighted to see that Song Liyun did not haggle.
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