allonlinenovel Chapter 123 'The image of an immortal and dignified being has been completely shattered'
Chapter 123 'The image of an immortal and dignified being has been completely shattered'
Just before falling asleep at night, Meng Fuqing habitually checked her spatial storage. The moment she saw the white wolf, she realized she had completely forgotten about it.
At this moment, the white wolf stared hungrily at the fence she had woven from vines, circling around it menacingly.
In the evening, Shan Qiyu found some wood and tarpaulin to set up a tent, and let Meng Fuqing sleep in the tent by himself so that he wouldn't be disturbed and unable to sleep peacefully.
Unseen by outsiders, Meng Fuqing appeared directly in the front yard of the villa.
Use the vines to find the cut chicken breast and then throw it in front of the white wolf.
Food fell from the sky again. The white wolf adapted well and wolfed it down before following the scent to Meng Fuqing, who was standing inside the villa.
It tilted its head and looked at Meng Fuqing for a while, then looked up and howled. Meng Fuqing reached out and used the tip of a vine to tie its mouth shut, and the howling stopped abruptly.
After leaving the space, Meng Fuqing quickly fell asleep.
It is unknown what Yan He said to the master she was loyal to, but the government made concessions quickly, with the only requirement being that those who settled three miles outside the city could not carry weapons.
The rule against carrying weapons made Du Zhong very unhappy. "What do those officials mean? Are they trying to double-cross us?"
"Perhaps they're worried we'll cause trouble again." Recalling the refugees' cheers yesterday, Qi Liang's tone was meaningful. "With refugees around, we still outnumber them."
Meng Fuqing knew the government wouldn't let them do as they pleased; the fact that they were only forbidden from carrying weapons was already beyond her expectations.
As for Xie Jin, he planned to bring people along.
Meng Bochang has also figured out Meng Fuqing and the others' intentions in the past two days. He stepped forward and said, "Selling grain requires a lot of manpower. My two sons are young and strong. They can carry grain and do accounting without any problem. Although Elder Du has a lot of manpower, we can't rely entirely on the brothers of Black Tiger Village."
Tiger and Ox, who had regained their vitality, stepped forward to agree. After discussion, they finally selected from among everyone those who were good at driving, strong enough to carry grain, and good at accounting.
Niu Er arranged for the driver, and Qi Liang, who was particularly strong, took on the heavy responsibility of directing the people to carry the grain with a dissatisfied expression.
These days, people who can do accounting are extremely rare. Since Meng Bochang couldn't take both of his sons with him, Meng Wan'er volunteered.
"I'm better at accounting than my dad, and I can run away quickly if something happens. I'll never hold anyone back."
Meng Wan'er's tone was somewhat urgent, and her eyes held a hint of hope; she simply wanted to do what she could.
Many adults showed disapproval. Meng Wan'er's parents were worried, but thinking that Meng Fuqing was there, they did not object.
So Meng Fuqing brought Meng Wan'er along as well.
Yesterday, when Meng Fuqing went to the city, Du Zhong had someone distribute the grain to be sold. Meng Fuqing alone had tens of thousands of catties of grain to sell.
Du Zhong received significantly more grain than Meng Fuqing, including what he brought from Black Tiger Stronghold. However, he had more brothers with him, so he could eat more and had less to sell.
Xie Jin kept only a cartload of refined rice and flour, and sold the rest.
The refugees who were waiting near the hillside yesterday saw Meng Fuqing and his group's actions and thought that things had not gone well and that the caravan was about to leave Yezhou. They hurriedly went up to ask, only to find out that things had succeeded.
Many refugees who could afford food followed the example of the convoy, wrapping themselves up tightly and happily bringing their families and belongings far behind the convoy.
After Meng Fuqing and Xie Jin left with the grain sellers, Du Zhong led the remaining men to ten miles outside the city. Although they were armed and could not enter the checkpoint, they could provide support from the outside at any time.
Three miles from the city gate, there is a small pavilion by the official road for travelers to rest. Behind the pavilion is a dried-up pond, and next to the pond is a large open space where carriages can park.
The pavilion was fumigated with sulfur, and curtains were hung around it. To prevent conflicts between refugees and civilians, a sufficiently large opening was made on both the side facing the city gate and the side facing away from the city gate.
The area within one zhang (approximately 3.3 meters) of the opening was fumigated with sulfur to prevent close contact, and people were made to start queuing from one zhang away.
After they had everything ready, the refugees who followed them started to line up.
Before any civilians could be seen in the direction of the city gate, a carriage slowly approached, and a familiar person stepped out of it—Yan He.
She still maintained her ethereal appearance, but as soon as she walked up to Meng Fuqing and opened her mouth, her true nature was revealed.
"Tell me, how will you thank me?"
Meng Fuqing asked bluntly, "Are you here to spy on us?"
Yan He flicked his sleeve and said with a smile, "What are you talking about! You should be glad it was me who came; anyone else would have been spying on you."
Thank you.
Yan He: ...
That's it?
Meng Fuqing: "You and the bigwigs in Yezhou are really the same kind of people, like the mythical creature Pixiu, only taking in and never giving out."
Yan He, who only received a thank you, gritted his teeth and said, "What's the difference between you and me?"
"Ten taels of silver back."
Yan He fell silent.
Xie Jin came out of the pavilion, looked up and saw the two people standing side by side. He paused slightly and walked over slowly.
"You possess internal strength, so why did you surrender so easily yesterday?"
Meng Fuqing glanced at Yan He in surprise. She could only tell that the man's steps were light, indicating that he must have practiced martial arts. However, she, as an outsider, could not tell whether he possessed internal strength.
Yan He rolled his eyes at Meng Fuqing. "What? Can't I possess profound internal energy and superior martial arts? As for why I surrendered so easily—"
She glared at Xie Jin, "One of you, and two others in the shadows, that's one against four, do you think I'm stupid?"
Just then, a commotion came from the direction of the city gate.
From a distance, one could see many people with their faces covered by cloths hurrying over on horseback.
Meng Fuqing knew that the two people in the shadows were Xie Jin's men. They had been secretly guarding her since leaving the city yesterday. Although it was out of good intentions, she didn't dare to use the vines much because someone was following her.
She coughed lightly and looked at Xie Jin, "Your people?"
Xie Jin only wanted to probe Yan He's background, but he didn't expect the other party to expose his secrets.
"Yesterday I sent them to help you leave the city. Since you didn't like it, I stopped them from following you."
Xie Jin lowered his eyes, his tone somewhat heavy. His face behind the mask was obscured, yet it inexplicably conveyed his sense of loss.
Meng Fuqing looked away. "Next time, just let me know beforehand."
"it is good."
Yan He looked at this person and that person with a strange expression, and clicked his tongue twice under his breath.
Meng Fuqing turned her head to look at him, "Your image of being a sage and immortal has been completely destroyed."
Yan He subconsciously looked ahead with a smile on his face, then realized that his face was also covered with a mask, so no one could see whether he was smiling or not.
When he glared at Meng Fuqing again, he found the two of them walking together toward the pavilion that was completely covered up.
She looked at the people who had come from the city and smiled almost imperceptibly, remembering how so many people still bought grain from Meng Fuqing's grain shop even though Meng Fuqing and others had to lower the grain prices.
She, who spreads rumors and misleads the public, cannot do it, but someone else has. Isn't that something to celebrate?
Before long, Meng Fuqing heard from the people in the city that the price of grain in the city had dropped. However, even if the price had dropped, it was not by much, which suggested that the cost of purchasing grain was not low.
The lines of people inside the city and refugees outside the city were very long. Many wealthy families in the city had stored up grain and sent their servants to buy it.
Anyone who broke the rules was ruthlessly expelled from the group by Qi Liang and his men. After making an example of them twice, no one dared to cause trouble again.