Chapter 62: 62 Borrowing a Blade to Cut the Grass and Remove the Roots

The morning light began to rise.

An Chenyu had been sitting in the courtyard tea shed since early morning, the breeze lifting her long skirt like a field of reeds, the light silk fabric clinging to the beautiful contours of her long legs, her embroidered shoes swaying gently, much like a lazy cat's tail.

She held a book, reading it intently.

In truth, she rarely read books anymore.

There were too many things to do; where would she find the time?

She should have been resting on her couch, for she was severely sleep-deprived.

But there were too many matters, and so many uncertainties; whether one succeeded did not depend on the individual at all, so how could she sleep?

Therefore, she had woken Ling'er up at the crack of dawn, had her brew a pot of tea, taken a book from her bedside, and come to the tea shed to read.

The book was a collection of poetry, speaking of wind, flowers, snow, and moon, joys and sorrows, and the melancholy of the seasons.

A rational merchant who had "sworn to revitalize the An Family and allow the An Family to complete a class leap in these chaotic times" should not, and would not, have been interested in such a book, yet she had taken it from Ling'er and was now discussing with her which verses were good and what meanings certain lines expressed.

A little while later, Tong Niangzi and Ying'er also arrived in the courtyard to practice their blade techniques.

Ling'er, meanwhile, went to look after the morning meal.

The young man walked out, yawning, and then headed toward Young Miss An.

When he arrived, An Chenyu put down the poetry book, sighed, and looking at the morning sun just about to rise in the distance, said: "With my eldest aunt's temper, at most in two more days, she will rush to Shanghe County in a frantic hurry."

Song Cheng said softly: "You don't know anything."

An Chenyu fell silent for a moment and said: "No, I do know.

My eldest aunt, like my eldest brother, has never been good at management, but is skilled at destruction and causing trouble.

If this were a time of peace and prosperity, I would slowly accompany them in their chaos.

But now... I no longer have the time, and the An Family no longer has it either."

She took a few deep breaths and said: "My eldest brother colluded with bandits to kill me, and Xi'er gave her life for mine; how could my eldest aunt not know about such a thing?

Since that is the case, then let her experience the taste of being intercepted and killed by bandits."

"My hands are covered in blood..."

"I never deny it."

"I only hope that the children of the An Family in the future can be a little better."

Song Cheng held her hand and said: "There will be such a day."

As he spoke, he looked again at Tong Niangzi in the distance.

Tong Niangzi was spirited and straightforward; sometimes she would pretend to have a bit of worldly wisdom, but in reality, it was very limited.

Therefore, someone always had to be hypocritical and utilitarian so that those around them could remain innocent and naive.

An Chenyu nodded slightly, suddenly showing a look of hesitation again, but feeling the warmth coming from the man's hand, she still said: "There are still some things."

"You should have said so earlier."

"Just as we guessed, the county will not allow the various factions to move; they must stay in whichever city they are in, and are not permitted to relocate at will." An Chenyu sighed softly, "The County Lieutenant has been quite good to us; he secretly revealed some news, saying that the three major factions have all sent Internal Affairs Disciples to each county town to hold the line, all to prevent chaos.

By now, the Internal Affairs Disciple from White Camel Manor coming to our Shanghe County should already be on the way.

You must know that the County Magistrate and the County Lieutenant are only Internal Affairs Disciples, so this Internal Affairs Disciple must surely be very strong.

That is not even the main thing; what gives me the biggest headache is that news from the north has been deliberately blocked.

These past few days, I have sent many people, but I have no idea how things are over at the Six Towns.

The roads are blocked... the information is cut off... but it must be very bad.

I plan to migrate out in small groups and then regroup once we reach the south; only then will it not be conspicuous.

But every small group wanting to move out requires paying a great price, finding a suitable excuse, and is filled with countless uncertain factors.

The County Magistrate and the County Lieutenant cannot decide either; any larger local faction that wants to leave must be decided by the arriving Internal Affairs Disciple."

Song Cheng said: "How are you doing with acquiring those pastures and horse farm factions?"

An Chenyu said: "I talked to them, but because the current situation is special, the transactions are shelved and have not proceeded. This includes selling off my An Family properties; that is also shelved and untouched."

"An Jie, where are your banknotes from?"

"From the Hanping Prefecture bank."

"Then exchange them all for real gold and silver."

"I already did."

"An Jie, if it really comes to it, we will just take the real gold and silver and leave, even if we have to develop again once we reach the south. It will be difficult, but it is still better than not being able to leave."

"That is what I think too, but the south is not like the north; there are fewer horse farms there, and fewer magical beasts. There are mostly mines, sericulture, and the like... and I am prepared to do pastures and magical beasts, as that is the only way to have autonomy in the future Ghost Tide.

Little Song, you know, right? This time, quite a few people and wild beasts actually survived outside the city; they all huddled together in a very small area, and their numbers are growing, but they are all in the suburbs and are not allowed to enter the city.

But this is enough to prove that in the future, only those who control large numbers of magical beasts and beast-taming will have the qualifications to securely protect themselves in the Ghost Tide.

This is movable safe soil, just like a... sturdy Yang Qi Boat, sailing on the vast Yin Sea." Song Cheng thought for a moment, suddenly grasped a point in the middle, and asked: "Not letting those people enter the city, is it because they are worried there are Ghost servants among them?"

An Chenyu nodded and said: "Those Ghost servants can blend into crowds; no faction would let them risk entering the city. But someone has to go out of the city, so... their entry into the city is actually just a matter of time."

As the husband and wife were chatting, Ling'er had already brought the morning meal from afar, and the girl in the pink dress, with her tea-like affectations, called out: "Husband, Young Miss, Tong Niangzi, Ying'er, time to eat."

Two days later.

South of Shanghe County, in the wilderness, the rain fell like heart-piercing needles, pattering down.

Two carriages, escorted by over a dozen fast horses, were rushing hurriedly toward the northern county town.

These cavalrymen were not wearing armor, but they were clearly mostly skilled martial artists.

The horses' hooves flew, splashing mud and water.

The wheels raced, fast enough to seem suspended in the air.

The curtain of the front carriage was lifted, revealing the face of a woman inside; her face was furious and ferocious, urging: "Fast! Faster!! Faster still!!"

This was none other than An Dafuren.

To ensure the rescue mission was foolproof, she even invited the Old Master.

The Old Master was also worried about his eldest grandson's safety; in fact, deep down, he had already wanted to hand over the entire family business to his eldest grandson.

In his heart, although that child An Zhangsheng was good-for-nothing, he was still his own flesh and blood after all; at worst, he could just have people assist him. He would learn eventually.

The reason he had previously handed it over to An Chenyu was, firstly, because of her talent and ability, and secondly, because he thought he could bind her with a son-in-law he had chosen himself. He never expected this girl would dare to recruit a son-in-law on her own; she truly did not understand the rules, did not know her place, and did not understand whose Ruyi Chamber of Commerce this actually was.

At this moment, the Old Master looked solemn, pondering how to save his eldest grandson.

As for the collusion with bandits, he could just pay more money.

And as for the looting of his own caravan, if it was looted, so be it; this at least showed that the child Zhangsheng was not entirely good-for-nothing, as he at least knew how to use schemes.

As for the dead Guan Xi, he was just a house slave; what did it matter if he died?

The Old Master had already decided that this time, no matter how much money it cost, he would save An Zhangsheng.

Gale winds whipped the rain, like a green dragon swimming through the lush, dense forest, where more than ten incredibly fierce elite Martial Artists, along with over ten bandits skilled in setting ambushes in the wild, were hiding their figures, like hunters waiting for prey.

Everyone had their faces covered with black cloth.

In the rain, a figure that looked young looked at the two strong, tall figures beside him and said, "Two uncles, kill them all in a moment. As for how to dispose of the bodies, let Wang Han and his men do it; they are veteran bandits and are professional in this regard."

One of the figures twisted his neck and lowered his voice, as if angrily speaking to the air: "Hang? Let you hang, I'm going to f*** your mother today."

The young figure looked a bit awkward and said, "Uncle, calm down, just kill them."

The other figure with a buzz cut said coldly, "I heard this thing sent Wang Han to intercept and kill Young Miss; Young Miss only escaped by the skin of her teeth. Today, we must let Wang Han kill her."

Damn it, wanting to cut off our martial arts school's path, I'll let you die first!

Xiao Hua, you did well this time; this kind of matter really shouldn't have required the Master to take action personally.

Hey, how do you think the Master trains?

How did he train to be so damn strong?"

The young figure shushed him and said, "Uncle, they're here, they're here, get ready to move."

These three speaking were none other than Zhao Hua, Xu Shifu, and Xiong Dashi, and beside them were many elite martial artists from the martial arts school, fierce and combative, not the kind to be trifled with.

This was only because they looked like civilized people in front of Song Cheng.

That day, An Zhangsheng was arrogant and domineering, having long since offended the martial arts school completely. Added to his purpose for coming, and Zhao Hua's mediation, this killing trap was set for today.

The carriages and cavalry arrived quickly.

In the wind and rain, several tripwires that had been hanging near the ground suddenly tightened and stood up.

The cavalry and carriages did not see them at all, and even if they had, it would have been too late; one after another, they slammed into the taut iron wires, and instantly, men and horses were overturned.

Martial Artists and bandits swarmed out from behind the forest.

The Madam and the Old Master poked their heads out, and after just a few glances, they discovered that their guards were being cut down rapidly, and even the leading expert of the Jin Realm was being suppressed and struggling to resist; the two were terrified and hurriedly shrank back into the carriage.

In an instant, Xiong Dashi wielded a large saber and quickly arrived in front of the carriage, thrusting it through the carriage in one strike, giving the Madam a fatal blow.

On the other side, Xu Shifu grabbed a large axe and arrived in front of the Old Master's carriage; he did not hold back, nor did he waste words, raising his hand and letting the axe fall. Poor these two from the Ruyi Chamber of Commerce who came to the rescue, they could not even enter Shanghe County before they, along with their accompanying guards, died halfway there.

Young Miss had "tried her best" to protect An Zhangsheng for a few days, for no other reason than to fish.

If An Zhangsheng had been beheaded, would the Madam have rushed over? It was just that she had not expected the Old Master to be fished in as well.

The next day was sunny.

The vegetable market.

An Zhangsheng and two attendants were escorted to the execution ground; as the token fell, the executioner sprayed a mist of wine onto his large saber.

The blade fell; the head rolled away.

An Zhangsheng, dead.

(End of this chapter)