Chapter 1 The Town South Pass

The war situation at the Zhennan Pass front line has become the most concerning matter for the entire Chu Kingdom.

Simply because the man leading the troops is named Tian Wujing, and simply because the army under his command is called the Jingnan Army.

The Chu people dare not slacken, because the Jin people once did slacken, and then the Jin Kingdom was gone.

The princess has not yet been found. Although General Li Mu of Congzhou City was ordered to lead troops back to aid the border, it is said that the Wu Zheng has also returned to Yingdu to oversee the situation.

However, the surrounding troops are still continuing to search for the princess's whereabouts.

Xia Yong City is not large. It is connected to Meng Mountain on one side and faces Qi Mountain remotely on another. With the blockades on the other two sides, not only are traveling merchants unable to pass through, but also those pedestrians who planned to earn some silver before the New Year to return home are forced to stay. There is also a gang called the Zhuyou (lard) Gang.

The Zhuyou Gang is the name of a beggar gang, with about thirty or forty members, all young boys and girls, that is, little beggars. They came together and formed a gang.

The name is not domineering, but it represents a yearning for a better life in the future.

Due to the external city closure, the Zhuyou Gang members, who originally planned to leave Xia Yong and go to Ju'an City at this time, had to stay in Xia Yong City and continue to endure their hard lives.

Originally, their gang leader was thinking that with the wedding of the princess and the eldest son of the Qu family, the gang members would go to Ju'an City, and they would be able to find several opportunities to "rejoice with the people". A few full meals would be a must, and if they were lucky, they could get some reward money distributed along the street, which would be a good start to the new year.

And on this day,

The Fan family was holding a funeral.

Madam Wen of the Fan family passed away due to illness.

The funeral of a wealthy family is naturally not a small matter. A funeral is enough to shock the entire Xia Yong City.

The Zhuyou Gang members, led by the gang leader, specially took out the gang's savings to buy a lot of coal and firewood, and burned a lot of hot water in the Ant People's Lane to take a bath.

These beggars rarely bathe on weekdays. Firstly, it is not so convenient to beg for money and food if they wash too clean. Secondly, the weather is cold in winter, and a layer of dirt on the body is equivalent to an extra layer of free warm clothes, and they are reluctant to wash it off.

But today is different. Although the beggars' clothes are ragged, they are clean. They went to the gate of the Fan mansion in groups to find work. The funeral matters are cumbersome and require a lot of people, so naturally there is work for them. After finishing the work, they can get a bamboo stick, and they can use the bamboo stick to receive lucky money.

It is also a red envelope, but different from the red envelope for happy events. The Fan family is generous and does not lack this small amount of money. For the Zhuyou Gang members, this is indeed a considerable gang income.

In a mutton soup shop across the street from the Fan mansion, a dirty child of about fifteen years old was holding a seven or eight-year-old girl in his arms and drinking mutton soup.

The older child eats mutton, and the younger girl drinks soup and eats biscuits.

The two of them consciously sat in the window seat of the shop. It is winter now, and the window seat is cold, and no one sits there, which can also avoid disturbing other customers and make the shop owner look at them more favorably.

There were also two bamboo sticks on the table of the two people, which were issued by the Fan mansion. The colors of the bamboo sticks were different. Some could be exchanged for money, and some could be exchanged for a snack.

Just then, a group of people walked into the soup shop.

The leader was a man dressed in brocade robes, who looked extraordinary. Beside him were two women and one man.

One woman was mature and beautiful, and naturally exuded a sense of charm when she sat down. One woman looked like a little maid, and there was also a man who consciously sat in the corner, drinking his own wine from a wine bag.

Ordinary people come to the soup shop, basically order a bowl of mutton soup and a pancake. The pancake is included when ordering the soup, which is considered a set meal.

And customers with better family backgrounds think that the mutton in the soup bowl is not enjoyable to eat, such as the table that just sat down, ordered three bowls of mutton soup, plus two plates of cold mutton, one plate of beans, and one plate of wild vegetable salad.

In this winter, drinking mutton soup with side dishes is truly a kind of enjoyment.

Xia Yong produces delicious food. Because of the Fan family here, there are many merchants coming and going, and the proportion of rich people is much higher than in other counties. Naturally, they are more picky about food. Moreover, guests gather, bringing many taste needs from other places. Delicious food also needs to be improved through continuous communication and collision.

Therefore, Zheng Fan was very satisfied with the soup in this shop.

When the shop owner came up to greet him earlier, he also said that Master Fan, that is, Fan Zhengwen, also liked their soup, and often sent people to order takeout to be sent to the mansion, so this time, their family also sent silver gifts for the Fan family's funeral.

The owner's words are true, because this shop was introduced to Zheng Fan by Fan Zhengwen.

Zheng Fan also asked Fan Zhengwen, with the Fan family's financial resources, wouldn't it be more convenient to take over this shop and have the chef enter the mansion?

Fan Zhengwen, who was busy "holding a funeral" for his wife, showed a rare sense of freedom and joked,

Said:

"If other people's women are really brought into the house, they won't be so exciting."

At first, Zheng Bo Lord thought that Lao Fan was joking,

It wasn't until he went back that he realized,

This guy has a double meaning.

When Zheng Bo Lord drinks soup, he doesn't tear the pancake and soak it in, because he once yearned for mutton paomo in his previous life, but later he went to eat paomo once and found it somewhat disappointing.

Later, when drinking soup in this world, he was willing to take two sips of soup and then bite a pancake, eating it clearly.

Therefore, Si Niang didn't help Zheng Fan tear it, but the disguised princess on the side took the initiative to take the pancake and began to tear it into small pieces for Zheng Fan.

Zheng Bo Lord was stunned for a moment and didn't stop her.

Food, if you make it go to heaven, its main role is still to satisfy hunger, but the added value on food is different.

Across the street, the young man continued to eat meat, and the girl was biting the pancake.

Zheng Fan saw that table and saw the young man staring at him, so he waved his hand.

The young man put down the soup bowl without hesitation and trotted over, and knelt down to Zheng Fan:

"Greetings to you, Master, good fortune and health to you."

"Why are you letting your sister drink soup and eating meat yourself?"

"Answering your question, Master, my sister has a bad stomach and meat is not easy to digest."

Zheng Fan nodded and said nothing more.

The young man took the initiative to say, "Master, are you going out of the city?"

Zheng Fan shook his head.

The young man hesitated for a moment and said, "If Master wants to leave the city, I have a way, but it will cost some silver."

"Who said we were going to leave the city? Even if we want to leave the city, can we leave now?"

"Looking at the attire of you, Master, and these grandmothers around you, I know that Master is planning to travel far."

"You do have some insight."

"Master, just leave it to me, I'll take you out of the city."

Zheng Fan still shook his head, waved his hand, and said, "Don't bother me."

"Yes, Master, I will retreat immediately."

The young man returned to his table, and seeing that his sister had almost finished biting the pancake, he hurriedly shouted:

"Boss, may you make a fortune, please give my sister half a pancake to eat, and later my brother and sister will take away the dirty water from the kitchen for you."

When the boss saw this, he smiled and shook his head, but also instructed the waiter to send two more pancakes over.

The boss knew who these two beggars were. The young man was the so-called Zhuyou Gang leader. Don't look at these beggars in this gang, but if they really want to do bad things, they can guarantee that your business will not go smoothly.

In addition, although these people are also begging for food, they are still loyal. Businessmen don't need to be angry with these Jianghu people. It's just a matter of two pancakes.

The young man divided another pancake to his sister, and he went to get a bowl of soup, refills are allowed, but no more meat, just soup.

After returning with the soup bowl, the young man continued to look at Zheng Fan's table while tearing the new pancake.

Zheng Fan and the others were eating and drinking, and no one was talking. After they had eaten almost enough, Si Niang went to pay the bill, and everyone got up to leave.

The young man also got up and let his sister run back by herself, while he followed Zheng Fan and his party alone.

As they walked, Zheng Fan stopped in front of a teahouse, and the group entered the teahouse.

The young man hesitated for a moment, touched his pocket, and also walked into the teahouse.

However, after entering the teahouse, the young man couldn't find any trace of Zheng Fan and his party no matter how hard he searched. While rejoicing that he had saved a cup of tea money, he scratched his head and walked out of the teahouse suspiciously, and then quickly went around to the back door of the teahouse, but still found nothing.

After a while,

The young man sighed and walked back to the entrance of the teahouse, but saw Zheng Fan sitting alone by the window of the teahouse, looking at him with a half-smile.

"Hehe."

The young man chuckled twice, not feeling embarrassed at all, and ran into the teahouse again, impolitely went to Zheng Fan's table, took out a teacup and poured himself a cup of tea. Zheng Fan ordered warm tea, which was not hot, and the young man drank three bowls in one breath.

Zheng Fan didn't ask the young man why he was following him, but silently took out a cigarette.

The young man then discovered that none of the people who had been with Zheng Fan were there.

At the opposite tea table, someone was playing chess.

The young man glanced over, feeling a little envious.

When Zheng Fan saw this, he reached out and called the teahouse owner to bring a chessboard over here.

Soon, a chessboard with a long history was brought up.

Without being reminded, the young man got up and helped Zheng Fan set up the chess pieces.

Zheng Bo Lord's chess skills are very poor, and the young man's chess skills are very deep. Before long, Zheng Bo Lord was checkmated.

Zheng Fan smiled and reset the pieces.

The young man got up again to help.

After playing two more games in a row, Zheng Fan lost two more games happily.

Zheng Bo Lord lost interest and didn't set up the pieces again, but stretched his back.

The young man got up, went to the teahouse waiter to refill the tea, and trotted back to pour it for Zheng Fan.

Zheng Fan didn't drink it, but left the tea money and got up to leave.

The young man immediately took the money to pay the tea money, and haggled over every penny to find the change, before hurrying out.

After running out, he found that Zheng Fan was standing on the street, and the young man immediately followed and stood beside Zheng Fan.

As if sensing that he had followed, Zheng Fan began to walk forward, and the young man continued to follow behind.

Zheng Fan walked into a small alley, and the young man continued to follow.

Zheng Bo Lord stood at the end of the alley and hesitated for a while, then walked out again, and the young man continued to follow.

After going around in a circle, Zheng Fan stopped at a cowshed, sat down on the haystack, and the young man squatted obediently in front of Zheng Fan, smiling foolishly.

Zheng Fan pointed at the young man and said:

"You really dare to keep following me."

The young man touched his head and said, "Following you might lead to death, but not following you will definitely lead to death."

"Where are you from?"

"Yo, Master, that's a broad question to ask."

The young man touched his pocket, and then took out three tokens from the lining of his broken jacket.

"This is from the Secret Intelligence Division, this is from the Phoenix Nest, this is from the Silver Armor Guard, and there are some signs from small countries, but I'm too embarrassed to carry them all with me.

If you want to ask me specifically which one I'm from, I really can't answer. I only know that since I gathered these little brothers to form a gang and wander around, many families have come to me, shocked me with their tiger bodies, and I took the opportunity to kowtow and worship, and then threw me a token."

The Silver Armor Guard, the Secret Intelligence Division, and the Phoenix Nest are the intelligence agencies of the three major countries, but these departments are not gods. They will concentrate all their efforts on the targets they care about and understand everything, but in other aspects, they find it difficult to fully take care of them, especially when developing these bottom-level eyeliner organizations, it seems a bit hasty.

Anyway, it's just giving a fake token, a little bit of silver, and promising a dream of a bright future, which is beneficial and not costly.

But this young man, perhaps because his gang is too suitable, actually picked up so many "dreams" from so many families.

The young man silently put all these tokens back, and said, "Master, it was originally the Silver Armor Guard who asked me to keep an eye on the Fan family, so I came, but who would have thought that I would run into you, Master."

"You recognize me?"

"Look what you're saying, Master, if I recognized you, wouldn't my life be gone long ago? I just have bad luck, and I was caught by you as soon as I came."

"Hehe."

Zheng Fan smiled.

At this time, the Fourth Princess came out of the cowshed behind, but the Fourth Princess had changed her attire and looked like a female beggar.

The princess's age is not that great to begin with.

The young man opened his mouth, as if realizing something, and then knelt down and kowtowed to Zheng Fan.

It wasn't that he had bad luck today and was caught by Zheng Fan;

But,

He was chosen by Zheng Fan.

"Take her out of Xia Yong City." Zheng Fan pointed to the princess behind him and said.

"I..."

Zheng Fan took out a piece of gold from his arms, yes, just a piece of gold, not made into a ingot, and placed it directly in front of the young man.

"I don't like talking about dreams with people, and I don't like others talking about dreams to me. I prefer to insult me with money.

Hopefully, you too."

"Yes, I obey."

The young man reached out and grabbed the gold block, holding it in his hand.

"Please show me when we should leave the city, Master?"

"You can leave later."

Zheng Fan got up,

Xiong Liqing walked over and reached out to help Zheng Fan pat the grass clippings on his trouser legs, but Zheng Fan grabbed her hand and stopped her.

"You will be free soon." Zheng Fan said.

Xiong Liqing smiled bitterly and said, "I originally thought you would arrange a better way for me, such as in a broken temple, or, a few more people would die. I don't like this outfit."

"Not many people would like it."

"I like the pants with small holes in them that Mr. Feng wears on his legs. Mr. Feng said that you like them very much. I want to wear them for you to see in the future."

"Maybe your dream will come true soon and poke me into small holes all over."

Xiong Liqing smiled and said, "Can I understand that you are afraid?"

"A little, but I think it's fun too." Zheng Fan said, "Actually, I didn't intend to let you and Si Niang be together."

"Yes, even if I stay by your side in the future, I won't be able to do big things." Xiong Liqing nodded.

Because she is a woman, she can understand women better.

"Have a good trip, see you at the Lantern Festival."

Xiong Liqing put her forehead against Zheng Fan's chest and stroked Zheng Fan's chest with her palms, and said, "Wait for me."

Then,

The young man took Xiong Liqing away.

Zheng Fan stood there, and a carriage slowly drove over. Fan Zhengwen was sitting in the carriage.

The driver was Weng Zanghai.

Zheng Fan got into the carriage, and Fan Zhengwen said with a smile, "Does Bo Lord feel a little reluctant?"

"No, the one who should feel reluctant is Brother Fan."

"I feel like I've already made a profit."

"That's good."

……

The next day,

Qu Peiluo, the eldest son of the Qu family, personally led three thousand elite private soldiers of the Qu family into Xia Yong City and went straight to the Fan mansion.