Young hero, stay put and don't be reckless.

Chapter 34 It works really well

Jiang Xun traveled on the official road for three days.

On the first day, he was still thinking to himself: Master should be able to catch up, right? How could someone who has been on the run for twenty years be caught so easily?

The next day, he began to comfort himself: maybe he took a detour, maybe he hid, maybe he was following behind to see if his apprentice was trustworthy.

By the third day, he didn't want to think about anything anymore. He just kept walking north—until his legs were weak, his shoes were worn out, and the book "The Divine Journey of the Azure Lotus" in his arms was almost falling apart from being read so many times.

The fourth day, the fifth day...

Finally, we arrived in Yunzhou.

Jiang Xun stood at the city gate for a long time, looking up at the mottled plaque, with only one thought in his mind.

This place is far inferior to Jiangning Prefecture.

The city wall was half its original height, and it was still made of rammed earth. Several pieces of the outer layer of plaster had fallen off, revealing the yellowish adobe bricks underneath.

There were only a few soldiers at the city gate, just two of them, dozing off against the wall, their spears leaning precariously against the wall, the red tassels on the spearheads almost completely bare.

Upon entering the city, it was even more dilapidated.

The streets are wide, but full of potholes—it rained a few days ago, leaving puddles of muddy water.

The shops on both sides were sparse, selling all sorts of things, with dilapidated storefronts and old, faded signs that rustled loudly in the wind.

There were quite a few people on the street.

Some wore fur robes with knives at their waists, walking with a swagger; others wore fur hats with dark red faces, speaking in voices loud enough to lift the roof off.

There were also a few who looked like they came from the north, riding tall horses and rampaging through the streets, splashing mud all over passersby, but no one dared to say a word.

Jiang Xun noticed that the women here walked with a confident stride, unlike the gentle and graceful women of Jiangnan. They all walked with their heads held high and their eyes sharp and decisive.

"The local customs are definitely different when you're near the northern border," Jiang Xun muttered to himself.

He walked halfway down the main street, and his stomach started growling.

Passing by a steamed bun shop, the steaming buns were displayed in the steamer, and the aroma of meat wafted into my nose.

Jiang Xun swallowed hard and slowed his pace.

The steamed bun shop owner was a plump middle-aged woman with flour on her hands. Seeing him standing still in front of her stall, she greeted him warmly, "Young man, how many would you like? They're fresh out of the steamer, thin skin and lots of filling!"

Jiang Xun touched his waist and smiled awkwardly: "Let me see, let me take a look first."

"What are you looking at? If you're not buying, don't block the way!" The plump aunt's face changed, and she swung the rolling pin in front of him.

Jiang Xun walked away awkwardly.

When I escaped from Jiangning Prefecture, I only had a few pieces of silver on me, and I had spent almost all of them by rushing along the way.

Now I only have a few dozen copper coins left, I need to think of a way to get money.

He recalled what his master, the master thief, had said: "Young man, in our line of work, stealing is the lowest level, robbing is the middle level, and robbing the rich to help the poor is the highest level."

Your master was a powerful figure back in the day, stealing from corrupt officials, tyrants, and unscrupulous merchants. I wouldn't even take money from the poor, even if it were given to me for free.

"Robbing the rich to help the poor..." Jiang Xun muttered to himself, his gaze sweeping over the well-dressed merchants on the street.

Surely there are unscrupulous merchants in Yunzhou too?

He decided to find a place to stay first, and then slowly inquire about the situation.

The inns in Yunzhou City are not expensive; the cheapest shared room costs only twenty coins a night.

Jiang Xun gritted his teeth, paid the money, and checked into a place called "Ping An Inn" in the south of the city.

The dormitory room was crammed with seven or eight people—traveling peddlers, refugees fleeing famine, and an old beggar whose sour stench could be smelled from a distance.

Jiang Xun didn't mind at all—he had lived in a dilapidated temple when he was a child, so what was a little smell to him?

He put the bundle under his head and closed his eyes, pretending to sleep.

As evening approached, he got up and went out to find food.

There was a noodle stall on the street, selling a bowl of vegetarian noodles for five coins.

The soup was bland and the noodles were coarse and hard, but he ate it greedily, even drinking every last drop of the soup.

The noodle stall owner, an elderly man in his fifties, noticed that he was eating quickly and gave him another bowl of noodle soup, casually asking, "Young man, are you from out of town?"

"Yeah, I came from the south." Jiang Xun wiped his mouth. "Boss, I have a question for you. Who's the richest person in Yunzhou City?"

The boss was taken aback and looked him up and down: "Why are you asking this?"

Jiang Xun had already prepared his explanation: "I run a small business and I'm looking for a big merchant to partner with to transport tea from the south to sell."

The boss said "Oh," and lowered his voice, "If we're talking about money, then the east side of the city has half the city's wealth."

"Qian Bancheng?"

"Qian Wanguan, Boss Qian. He's in the grain business, and it's said that he owns half the shops in Yunzhou City, so people call him 'Qian Half-City'."

The boss spoke of this person with a somewhat complicated tone.

"However, this person has a bad reputation. I heard that he colludes with the government to buy grain at low prices and sell it at high prices. The people all hate him."

Jiang Xun's eyes lit up: "Colluding with the government?"

"That's right. Last year during the drought, he hoarded rice and sold it for 500 coins a bushel. The poor couldn't afford it and had to eat tree bark. The prefect not only didn't care, but also sent troops to protect his grain." The shopkeeper sighed, "In this world, the rich are the boss."

Jiang Xun then asked, "Besides Qian Bancheng, who else?"

"There's also the Zhao family in the west of the city, who deal in furs; the Sun family in the north of the city, who run a pawnshop; and..." The boss thought for a moment, "There's also a man surnamed Zhou, who deals in medicinal herbs, but he's not clean either. I heard he has connections with the northern border and sells illegal drugs."

Jiang Xun secretly memorized these names, chatted with the shopkeeper for a few more minutes, and then paid and left.

As night deepened, the streets became sparsely populated.

Jiang Xun wandered around the city and roughly figured out the locations of several large houses.

Qian Bancheng's house is located in the east of the city, covering a vast area with high walls made of blue bricks and two stone lions crouching at the entrance.

Above the door hangs a plaque that reads "Qian Mansion," with gold lettering on a black background, exuding an unbelievable grandeur.

Jiang Xun walked around the house, thinking to himself: This house looks grand, but the guards are sparse and ordinary. There are only two gatekeepers dozing at the door, and there is not even a patrol in the backyard.

"That's right. In a place like Yunzhou, with the government backing them up, who would dare to mess with them?" Jiang Xun sneered inwardly. "Then let's start with you."

But as he stared at the high courtyard wall, he felt a little uneasy.

It's my first time doing such a big job, it would be a lie to say I wasn't nervous.

Moreover, I've only been practicing "Azure Lotus Divine Journey" for a few days, so I don't know how effective it is.

He was wondering whether he should go back and practice before coming back when he suddenly heard laughter and the sound of string and wind instruments coming from inside the wall; it was quite lively.

Jiang Xun patted his flat stomach, then suddenly took a deep breath and pushed off with his feet.

At the same time, he silently recited the incantation in the booklet and easily leaped onto the wall.

He stumbled when he landed and almost fell on his backside.

He steadied himself and grinned.

Master's lightness skill is really amazing!