Regardless of whether Emperor Rui was willing, once the injustice was redressed, how would the lives of over a hundred people in the Prince of Parallel Lines' mansion be compensated? How would Huo Sizhun's years of infamy be pacified? This was the greatest and most urgent problem that lay between Emperor Rui and Huo Qiyuan.
However, they also knew very well that if Emperor Rui truly agreed to these conditions, then his empire, his everything, and even his life, might be annihilated!
So, would he really agree? No one dared to speculate...
Huo Qiyuan and his group had traveled for three consecutive days. The closer they got to the capital, the later they traveled. During the day, they would drive the vehicle into shaded areas or inconspicuous places. When others were free, they would go hunting nearby, but most of the time they were observing the terrain. They also took the opportunity to check on the lives of the local people.
When Su Muqing had free time, she would drag Huo Qiyuan into the mountains to explore. Using a spatial detector, she would investigate where scarce mineral resources could be found.
Along the way, she had already discovered two mountains full of coal, and one salt mine. However, the salt mine had a lot of impurities, making purification very troublesome, so most people still relied on sea salt for their daily consumption.
Today, they stopped at a small town called Yong'an. It was still over six hundred kilometers away from the capital. As they entered the town, they happened to encounter a horse team transporting sea salt into the city.
Scarcity made things valuable, and salt in this small world was not cheap at all. Official salt sold for as high as fifty copper coins per jin, while private salt was ten to fifteen copper coins cheaper per jin.
The salt grains were particularly large and rough; they had not been finely ground, and after drying, they were directly bagged. When eaten, they had a bitter taste.
Therefore, even at thirty-five copper coins per jin, it was a huge profit for them, and those who couldn't afford it were always the lowest strata of the common people.
After this drought, coastal cities were the least affected. Although water was scarce, salt sold better. With money to be made, people could buy water. For a time, many people sought ways to sell private salt.
However, the number of people selling it had significantly decreased, because once caught by the authorities, confiscating their goods was secondary; they could be beheaded at any moment.
Money was a good thing, and everyone wanted to earn more of it, but if they earned it but couldn't spend it, it would be a loss.
At noon, the group casually found a restaurant. The restaurant was a three-story wooden structure that looked quite old. While chatting, they heard the shopkeeper say that they had only recently taken over from the previous owner.
The waiter was his son, the chef was his wife, and his elderly mother was responsible for odd jobs. The family ran this restaurant, barely making ends meet. With the current difficult times, there were days when they had no customers for several days.
The restaurant's dishes were very limited, and with the hot weather, they prepared even less, fearing that unsold items would spoil and be wasted. Besides some pork and chicken, there wasn't even any fish.
Actually, Su Muqing and the others weren't insistent on eating out; they were more interested in chatting with the shopkeeper to understand their living conditions.
There were seven people in Huo Qiyuan's group. Except for Su Muqing, the others were all burly men over 1.8 meters tall. In their twenties and thirties, and being martial artists, they could eat a whole pig in one meal. The ingredients available in the restaurant were far from enough.
Su Muqing and Leng Nuo exchanged glances. Leng Nuo, understanding her intention instantly, stood up and headed towards the city gates. They thought of taking out some prey from the space and then using the restaurant's kitchen themselves.
Huo Qiyuan guessed what they were going to do and didn't get up to follow. He continued to chat casually with the shopkeeper, discussing everything from the town's population to its highest official.
Fortunately, the shopkeeper was also a talkative person, and Huo Qiyuan's topics spanned a wide range, so he didn't find it strange. They chatted quite pleasantly.
The two walked all the way to the city gate. Under the scorching sun, there were very few people on the street. Most people were hiding in the shadows on either side to cool off, or groups of beggars were lying idly in small alleys. After exiting the city gate, Su Muqing looked around and saw no one else.
She quickly retrieved a wild mountain goat from the space and handed a couple of chickens to Leng Nuo to carry. Thinking that it had been a while since she had eaten pickled fish, and that something sour and spicy would be appetizing in this scorching weather, she caught two plump fish, each weighing seven to eight jin.
As the two walked down the street carrying so much meat, and dressed cleanly, clearly in expensive attire, by the time they returned to the restaurant, almost everyone on the street was staring at them.
Leng Nuo and Su Muqing both had keen senses and naturally felt the gazes falling upon them. Since there weren't many people walking on the street, they didn't find it strange that people were staring at them.
Upon returning to the restaurant, the shopkeeper was still talking animatedly with Huo Qiyuan. Suddenly! He saw Leng Nuo and the others swaggering in with large fish and meat. He was so startled that he stood up, his complexion changing from ruddy to somewhat pale.
Huo Qiyuan saw the two enter and looked at the shopkeeper's expression. He cautiously asked, "Shopkeeper, your restaurant's provisions are too limited, not enough for us to eat. This is the prey we hunted last night. Could we use your kitchen? We won't use it for free; we'll pay you rent, and we'll leave the remaining ingredients for you."
The shopkeeper did not answer Huo Qiyuan. Instead, he asked Leng Nuo with a worried expression, "My lords! Are you openly carrying these things through the streets? Has no one been watching you?"
"People are watching us! Everyone on the street has seen us. Besides, how is this considered openly carrying things? This is the prey we hunted ourselves. Are you saying you don't allow bringing in your own ingredients?" Leng Nuo placed the tied chickens and sheep on the ground, somewhat confused by the shopkeeper's question.
The shopkeeper took two steps forward to close the door, but saw people outside the door starting to gather around his restaurant. "Oh my esteemed guests! What kind of world is this now? You are carrying such good things... Just you wait! Within the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, everyone in the town will know!"
"Hmph! If they know, let them know! If we have our own things, do we have to ask permission to eat them? Should others come and interfere?" Leng Nuo picked up a cup of cold tea and drank it down, saying dismissively.