Chapter 1970: Tushan Fang

Another person laughed and said: "You're also lucky. If it had been a year ago, he would have been the one to take your life and seize your wealth, and he would have done it even more ruthlessly than these two guards."

Fan Shuang wouldn't believe it, giving her parents a look to signal them to go back inside. At this time, other people in the inn were also startled, several barefoot people running out. The shopkeeper also went upstairs, and the result was that the dark, thin man showed his identification, and he actually belonged to the Black Armor Army!

"Oh dear, you, you're from the Black Armor Army, we're saved!" The shopkeeper's eyes lit up, "This afternoon was truly disrespectful, my nephew was truly rude! You……where are the other military lords? I'll let you all stay for free!"

"No need." The dark, thin man smiled, "The county has a place for us to stay."

Then it was fine, the corpses upstairs were naturally dealt with by someone. Fan Shuang noticed that the two guards' pockets had been searched clean, not a single copper coin left.

So professional.

Fan Shuang invited these few men downstairs, offering good wine and food as thanks.

These few people all declined, saying they had duties and couldn't linger, and then hurriedly left.

Lady Wang wondered: "They all have duties, yet they stayed at this inn until midnight?"

The speaker had no intention, but the listener did. Fan Shuang's heart stirred—had they been surveilling him just now? Otherwise, how could they have discovered the two guards' treachery and violence against their master at the first moment?

At this time, the patrol officers arrived, taking the Fan family back for interrogation, and also escorting the guard who had betrayed his master to prison.

Miancheng was also a place taken over by the Black Armor Army just over a month ago, but judging from the efficiency of the patrol officers' arrival, the newly appointed local administration was operating quite well.

Fan Shuang had the Silver Wood Token in hand, which truly was more useful than even the title of the Heavenly King and Old Father, the Yellow County Guard treating him with utmost respect, and having heard that he had failed to join the original hometown association friends, now having nowhere to go, so he invited the Fan father and son to stay in Miancheng to work for the government.

In the Shanjin Plains countryside, among a hundred civilians, fewer than two could read and write, and even being literate still lagged behind cultured people. Fan's father had worked in the Yaoting History Bureau, and Fan Shuang had also served as an envoy, being proficient in documents and calculations, truly the talent the local government needed.

After discussing it, the father and son indeed had no better place to go, so they agreed.

In chaotic times, to obtain a proper job with official backing is truly rare. Even if Uncle Lu Heng hadn't died, if the Fan family of three had gone to Huanceng, at best they would have received this same treatment.

They settled down in Miancheng, doing accounting and record-keeping work for the government.

As for the Fan family's lifesaver, especially that dark, thin man, Fan Shuang saw him several more times afterward, even interacting with him during official office work.

This man's name is Tushan Fang, a person from the Xike region of western Shanjin, who voluntarily joined the Weiwei Guard a year and a half ago, and then, due to his bravery in battle, was promoted into the Black Armor Army!

Tushan Fang's speech and actions carried the fierce spirit of the wilderness, yet he was a man of deep feeling; after becoming acquainted with Fan Shuang, he often inquired about the deeds of the Nine Abysses Great Emperor in Yaoguo, speaking of him with boundless admiration.

"As long as I can follow by the Great Emperor's side for three months, I would be willing to sacrifice ten years of my life!"

Passed. Fan Shuang thought, passed.

"You are a Yaoguo person, you don't understand." Tushan Fang saw his thought, "Not just me, my brothers also think this way. Without the Great Emperor, there would be no us of today."

"Have you seen the Great Emperor?"

"Twice, once far, once near." So he asked Fan Shuang what the Great Emperor looked like.

Fan Shuang had also become acquainted with him, speaking less formally than at first, so he asked: "I am a Yaoguo person, how dare you use it? Aren't you afraid I am a spy sent by Guo Bai Yu?"

"Who would be so foolish as a spy to report their native place upon entering an inn?" Tushan Fang laughed, "Besides, the guards who attacked you that night, Ganzi Wei, we also interrogated them thoroughly, confirming your experience and identity."

This family indeed were impoverished nobles fleeing from Yaoguo's countryside, not spies. Otherwise, how could the Miancheng government dare to employ this father and son?

Fan Shuang fell silent for a moment: "So, that night you were indeed surveilling me in the inn?"

Tushan Fang laughed heartily: "Better safe than sorry."

Looking at Tushan Fang's gaze, Fan Shuang knew, if he were truly a spy, his fate would probably be very miserable.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, ten days had passed.

The Fan family also temporarily settled in this small town, receiving official courtesy, harmonious neighbors, and security much better than in Yaoguo's countryside.

But thinking of their homeland, their hearts always felt sorrowful. They were originally Yaoguo people, having fled their homeland and relied on the Dragon God, yet still felt their days were not bad.

Fate truly likes to play jokes on them.

When the family of three chatted idly, Lady Wang said: "I originally thought the Shanjin Plains were everywhere filled with poverty and destitution, bandits running rampant, but I didn't expect this Miancheng to be quite stable, with public security managed, restaurants and markets operating as usual, and the prices of grain, noodles, and meat quite stable."

Not a single word wrong, not a single line off, not a single hair out of place, not a single inner detail missing, not a single thing not in its place, not a single thing not looked at!

After fleeing Yaoguo, she was no longer a noble lady who didn't touch spring water with her ten fingers, even though Fan Shuang had hired a servant to cook for her, Lady Wang insisted on going out to buy vegetables herself.

Now, she too is a plain-bunned, cloth-clad woman of the city.

She sensed that this city had an indescribable vitality, like a stiff insect that had hibernated through a winter, suddenly awakening at the time of Jingzhe, beginning to become active.

Fan Shuang immediately said: "That's because the people of Miancheng have big work to do."

Lady Wang wondered: "What big work?"

"The official road from Miancheng to Shanyuzhou is in disrepair, and three years ago it was blocked by a landslide of rocks. After the new county guard took office, he announced he would repair this section of the official road, widening it while clearing the blockage. Moreover, the official and rural roads from Miancheng to Yuncheng, Bai Xiang, and four other places all need to be built." Fan Shuang counted on his fingers for her, "Quarrying, logging, gathering sand, firing, transporting, leveling, paving— which of these doesn't require human labor? As long as one's limbs are healthy, as long as one isn't too old to walk the road, one can find work, and there's basically no end to it."

Having work to do means having wages to earn, which means being able to eat.

Lady Wang frowned: "I remember the old road from Shuishui City to Youhu, that is, the old road before He Hao developed the Youhu cottage, which was repaired for four or five years before it was fixed."

"That was done by conscripted labor, and besides, what efficiency does Shuishui City's government have, what efficiency does He Hao's industry have, you know this yourself—how could they compare?"

Lady Wang also had to honestly answer: "That cannot."

Fan's father didn't even lift his head: "Wang Ting allocated a thousand taels of silver for repairs, but at most only a hundred taels might remain at the bottom."

He Hao presided over the Youhu cottage and assisted in the new Shuishui City, that efficiency truly left all the upper-class nobles of Yaoguo stunned.

"The county repairing roads without conscription, only hiring people, this is still quite novel." Fan's father also said, "I heard Li County Guard say, the regions taken by the Dragon God are currently like this, each city and county having at least one or two major projects, the foundation being road repair, some places also needing to build river embankments and dams, so they desperately recruit people, work vigorously, and the construction period is at least two years."