Chapter 210

【It is already night.】

【The distance to Jiakang City is no more than thirty miles, reachable by a fast horse, but as the night deepens, the gates of such a large city are not easily entered.】

【Although Jiakang City does not impose a curfew, the night inspections are much more meticulous.】

【In such a prosperous place, the queue to enter the city under the cover of night is very strict, and everyone must show their identity; you worry about disturbing the people in the city, which is clearly not your wish.】

【This trip to Yanjing should be kept low-key.】

【Your group decided to rest peacefully at the post station outside the city and set off tomorrow.】

【Jiakang City, as a major town, has a post station every five miles and a pavilion every two miles.】

【This post station is specifically for providing a place to rest; larger post stations are also equipped with postmen, fast horses, grain, and grass, all fully stocked.】

【In the past, such convenience could only be enjoyed by those holding official positions or carrying official travel documents. Ordinary people traveling could only stay in simple village inns and had no way to enjoy them.】

【However, in recent years, the wind of reform in the Yan territory has been blowing strongly, and the prosperity of commerce is unprecedented.】

【The system of post stations has also changed accordingly; within the post stations, there are specially set up commercial stations for merchants or travelers to stay, which only requires spending silver.】

【What's more, there are also free post stations for people to stay and eat for free, and naturally, there is profit to be made, mostly when the city council and the prefect are replaced.】

【Large households in the city often perform "good deeds" to win over supporters, distributing salt and oil, opening flowing banquets, and even opening free post stations to win the hearts of the people and their votes.】

【Three years ago, during the election in Jiakang City, some large households even opened voting places in brothels to get more votes; although this move was quite absurd, it also reflects the weight of public opinion today.】

【However, the "corruption and bribery" behind the scenes is naturally supervised by the "Mercury" department of the Prince of Yan's mansion.】

【Follow the law, and punish the lawless.】

【In the "Political Essentials of Governing the North" written by the Prince of Yan, it is clearly stated that public opinion voting accounts for one-third of the weight in the appointments of the Prince of Yan's mansion.】

【However, this is not all; the remaining two-thirds are determined by the Prince of Yan's mansion and various assessments.】

【The last sentence of "Political Essentials of Governing the North" was written by the Prince of Yan himself.】

【"The methods I write can also change with the times; there is no absolutely perfect policy in the world, only constant exploration, with the people as paramount."】

【Originally, this decree ended here, but after many discussions by the Prince of Yan's mansion and the prefects of various cities, a crucial sentence was added.】

【"The Prince of Yan has the power to veto any decree."】

【"The laws of the world cannot be applied to the Prince of Yan."】

【These words were not written by the Prince of Yan, but were added by later generations.】

【And the people of the Yan territory all think it is right and feel it should be so.】

【The core concept of the book "Political Essentials of Governing the North," besides "the people are the foundation of the state," also has a key point: the Prince of Yan's mansion is above all industries; all worldly activities must pay tribute and taxes, and the mansion also holds absolute power over decrees and military orders.】

【The Prince of Yan's mansion also bears the right and obligation to protect the people of the Yan territory.】

【Thirty miles outside Jiakang City, there is a post station with a grand scale that can accommodate more than three hundred people, which is the largest in the vicinity.】

【This post station has a commercial station, and you can enjoy a night of peaceful sleep just by spending silver.】

【Just as you were about to dismount and settle down in front of the post station gate, the merchant caravan that had been following you for the past two days also seemed to sense something and stopped in a tacit understanding.】

【A young nobleman in fine clothes walked over quickly.】

【Accompanying him were seven or eight guards with swords, their momentum quite full.】

【The Seven Sons of Zhongnan had already led their horses into the stables of the post station, busy settling things.】

【Li Lanjiang found Lu Yu and headed to a nearby open space, wanting to spar again. Lu Yu seemed indifferent to this, and just happened to be itching for a fight, so the two left together.】

【Seeing this scene, Ye Shengnan shook her head helplessly, "Brother Li always likes to find trouble for himself."】

【The group was preparing to walk into the post station; except for you and the fifth, Yang Su, the people present were only Ye Shengnan, Su Ziyin, and Ji Qinxin.】

【Two men and three women.】

【Just at this moment, a young nobleman from behind hurried over to stop the five of you; he was tall, wearing a high-quality white brocade garment, with a Huan'an jade belt tied around his waist, hung with dazzling pendants and jade stones, exceptionally luxurious.】

【His appearance was handsome, but his pair of peach-blossom eyes carried a hint of vanity, mostly a sign of physical deficiency.】

【This merchant caravan had actually been following behind you all along, but they were all ordinary people, and even the dozens of guards among them were only second or third-rate martial artists in the Jianghu, which did not attract your attention.】

【The young nobleman bowed politely: "Excuse the intrusion, but could you please stay a moment?"】

【His words were polite and his manners were appropriate, but he could not hide the arrogance in his eyes.】

【Yang Su frowned slightly; seeing that his Martial Uncle had not spoken, he did not say anything, just stood quietly to the side with an unkind look.】

【Ye Shengnan had a look of watching a good show; the corners of her mouth lifted slightly, and her eyes revealed a bit of playfulness.】

【The young nobleman's eyes looked straight at Ji Qinxin, this stunning beauty on the Rouge List.】

【Seeing her by chance two days ago, he was deeply attracted by her beauty, lamenting how there could be such a beautiful woman in this world.】

【The originally boring journey had become interesting because of meeting such a beauty.】

【And, coincidentally, they were all heading to Jiakang City.】

【This made him feel that this was a heaven-sent fate, a marriage given to him by heaven.】

【He wanted to come up and greet her several times, but unfortunately, this team of carriages was traveling too fast, and they were a merchant caravan with goods, so they could barely keep up.】

【Finally, the caravan was going to stop at the post station.】

【His heart was filled with joy, feeling this was a heaven-sent opportunity, so he hurriedly got off the carriage and walked over quickly.】

【He himself was a person from Jiakang City, familiar with the local customs, his family was also a wealthy merchant, and he had an uncle who was a councilor in Jiakang City.】

【The young nobleman was a bit reluctant to move his eyes away from Ji Qinxin, and only then did he look up and down at the group, secretly evaluating them in his heart.】

【The young nobleman saw that most of them seemed to be Daoist priests, and the group was led by this middle-aged man.】

【He looked at the middle-aged man, whose dress was quite shabby, and the clothes on his body seemed to have been mended many times, appearing quite old. For some reason, his appearance was quite familiar, but he couldn't remember it for a moment.】

【The few people accompanying him were also wearing blue linen Daoist robes, showing no signs of being expensive.】

【There were also two women on the side; if they were ordinary, they would be considered pretty, but compared to this white-clothed woman, they were far behind.】

【This white-clothed woman was extremely beautiful; judging from his years of experience in the flower districts, although she was dressed quite conservatively, under the tight wrapping of the white gauze, it was still difficult to hide that undulating figure, especially the sudden enlargement below the waist, like a full moon.】

【One only needs to experience this figure once to know that this is a beauty among beauties.】

【Most importantly, looking at her walking posture, her legs were tight and there was no gap; she was actually still a virgin, which is rare and hard to find.】

【The most precious thing in the world is a moment of spring night; if there is a touch of bright red, one must drink a pot of good wine.】

【The young nobleman asked leisurely: "Are you all planning to stay at the post station?"】

【Su Ziyin answered impatiently: "Isn't that a waste of words?"】

【She came from a wealthy and noble family, and she was most familiar with this kind of playboy who had power and money at home, appearing gentle on the surface but actually extremely lewd behind the scenes, so her attitude toward him was quite cold.】

【The young nobleman was not angry, but smiled at the crowd: "Do you have any official status?"】

【Hearing this, you shook your head and answered: "No official status."】

【The smile on the young nobleman's face became even brighter, as if he had expected it.】

【"Then I'm sorry, the commercial rooms in this post station are full."】

【Su Ziyin glanced at the entrance of the post station, where three wooden signs were still hanging, which meant that at least more than half of the rooms in the post station were still empty.】

【Post stations usually leave a few guest rooms for emergencies, but these rooms are mostly prepared for official couriers.】

【If the rooms were full, there would be no wooden signs hanging; with the scale of this post station, there should be at least a hundred rooms left.】

【"What nonsense are you talking about? This post station clearly has hundreds of guest rooms," Su Ziyin retorted unceremoniously.】

【"Is that so?"】

【The young nobleman pretended to look at the wooden signs on the post station in doubt. At this time, a guard who had just been in the merchant caravan had already trotted forward.】

【The guard held a bunch of keys in his hand and respectfully handed them to the young nobleman: "Young Master, all the guest rooms in the commercial section of the post station have been rented by us."】

【The young nobleman nodded faintly, took the large bunch of keys, and had a smile on his face.】

【"See, I said, the rooms in this post station are all full."】

【Su Ziyin had already seen through that this person was doing this on purpose; he stood at the door to block them, just to let his guards rent all the rooms in the commercial section, thereby forcing them unable to stay.】

【Inside the post station, there is no explicit rule that they cannot be rented out completely; such wealth and arrogance,】

【Ye Shengnan looked closely at the young nobleman in front of her, the corners of her mouth curling into a playful smile.】

【Ji Qinxin also frowned slightly, secretly thinking that this person had bad intentions.】

【If Yang Su encountered such an arrogant person on weekdays, he would immediately punish him severely, but now seeing his Martial Uncle's expression as usual, he had to suppress his anger.】

【The young nobleman caught a glimpse of Ji Qinxin's frowning state; every frown and smile of the beauty was like a spring breeze, moving people's hearts.】

【His heart was filled with joy, feeling that this trip was very rewarding.】

【Compared to this, what are the gold and silver spent on renting the post station?】

【The young nobleman looked up at the sky, the twilight was getting thicker, and he said slowly:】

【"You don't need to look elsewhere; the gates of Jiakang City are closed, and besides, it is the time of the Prince of Yan's Heaven Sacrifice, and people heading to Yanjing are endless, so the surrounding post stations are all full."】

【"This post station was temporarily added, and I dare to assert that there are no other empty rooms."】

【"Along the way, you must have seen the number of carriages made up of merchant caravans and commoners with your own eyes."】

【Ji Qinxin thought to herself that it was indeed as he said along the way.】

【The caravan was endless, all commoners dragging their families, including white-haired old men with their grandchildren, and middle-aged couples with children, all heading north to Yanjing.】

【She couldn't help but wonder, what kind of reputation does this Prince of Yan have to attract so many people to follow him?】

【Ye Shengnan smiled like a flower at this time and said to the young nobleman: "Young Master, what do you think we should do?"】

【The young nobleman seemed to have been waiting for these words, his expression revealing a bit of expectation.】

【However, he noticed that the middle-aged man at the head of this group remained silent and had not spoken.】

【He gazed at the middle-aged man's face, feeling more and more familiar, but it was difficult to remember where he had seen him specifically.】

【The young nobleman quickly searched his mind for the appearance of his elders and the councilors and military defense personnel in Jiakang City, but none of them matched this person, so he stopped worrying about it!】

【He turned to look at Ji Qinxin and said with a slightly excited tone: "I just want to get to know this young lady, is that possible?"】

【"Excuse me, young lady, may I ask your name?"】

【Hearing this, Ye Shengnan's laughter grew stronger: "Young Master is really throwing money like dirt, just to win a beauty's smile; this romantic act is truly admirable."】

【The corners of the young nobleman's mouth curled into an obsessed smile, his eyes full of admiration:】

【"Don't talk about a thousand gold, even ten thousand gold, how could it be worthy of this young lady's stunning appearance?"】

【You used your Heavenly Human realm on the side, looking at the top of Ji Qinxin's head, only to see black Qi lingering, and having realized something, it really is a fate of many disasters.】

【Fate is full of twists and turns, not under one's control.】

【"My request shouldn't be too much, right?" he asked softly, his tone revealing a bit of expectation.】

【"If you all agree, tonight's room expenses will all be on my account."】

【A cold light flashed in Ji Qinxin's eyes, and she did not answer.】

【"Young lady, do you know that my family has thousands of acres of fertile land, and three generations of ancestors have been officials?" The young nobleman seemed to see the woman's displeasure, but felt that her frowning state had a unique flavor.】

【Suddenly, his tone changed: "And, if you follow him, you will likely suffer for a lifetime. If you follow me, you will definitely be able to wear gold and silver, and you will never need to do any work again, just enjoy the blessings of the world."】

【The young nobleman became more and more excited, actually associating Ji Qinxin with you.】

【Ji Qinxin, who was originally full of anger, couldn't help but blush slightly upon hearing this.】

【Seeing this, the young nobleman understood in his heart, and a triumphant smile curled at the corners of his mouth.】

【He thought to himself that it must be the money that moved her.】

【There is no woman in this world who cannot open her legs; it's just that the price you offer is not enough.】

【He used to throw thousands of gold in the flower buildings by the Yuetang River until he was satisfied.】

【Yang Su was already furious, just waiting for his Martial Uncle's order to let this arrogant person see the power of the Daoist.】

【You suddenly turned your head to look at the official road of Jiakang City, and everyone couldn't help but look along.】

【Just see!】

【A long dragon-like cavalry team holding torches drove from afar, with a large number of people, as many as several thousand.】

【The sound of horses' hooves was deafening!】

【In the night, a loud eagle cry pierced the sky at the right time, adding a bit of murderous aura.】

【A look of helplessness appeared on your face.】

(End of chapter)