novelraw Chapter 364 - 113: Thunder Skill 4
Chapter 364 - 113: Thunder Skill 4
"If the situation becomes tense, I’m afraid they will conscript the commoners to resist the rebels. Brother Wen, alone, can still hide, but the Ling Family has nowhere to escape."
"I don’t even know how many have died or been injured!"
"Conscript?" Fang Zheng frowned slightly:
"Brother Linghu, do you have a way to get out of the city?"
"Brother Wen wants to leave?" Linghu An turned his head to look and shook his head:
"I advise you to think clearly. The walls of Zhaonan Prefecture are high and solid. Staying in the city guarantees safety. Outside, rebels are everywhere."
"But it might not be safe."
Fang Zheng’s gaze flickered, seemingly lost in thought, but in fact, he had already used mana with the Celestial Secret Compass to calculate the upcoming fortune.
What would happen if he left the city?
In an instant,
The Celestial Secret Compass provided an answer.
Minor misfortune!
Will there be danger?
Fang Zheng stroked his chin. With his current strength, he’s quite formidable; encountering danger likely means facing a Flawless Martial Artist.
So, stay in the city?
With a thought, he infused another wave of mana into the Celestial Secret Compass.
What if he stayed in the city?
In an instant.
The Celestial Secret Compass provided an answer again.
Minor misfortune!
What is going on?
Fang Zheng was speechless.
Both leaving and staying in the city results in minor misfortune, so should he just sit and wait for death?
However, shortly after, he realized, with the rebel army besieging the city, it’s indeed a dilemma; there’ll be danger regardless of leaving or staying.
’Fate is indeterminate, changing according to circumstances!’
Everyone’s fate changes every moment; divination can only serve as a reference and cannot completely eliminate disasters.
If it could,
Someone like Master Jiuyuan wouldn’t have died young.
Once his thoughts settled, Fang Zheng became calm, continued chatting with Linghu An for a few moments, and seeing it was getting late, he stood up to bid farewell and left.
Afterward, he went to the black market.
He spent money to buy the latest intelligence from the Thousand Mechanisms Pavilion.
’It turns out the former incarnation of the Thousand Mechanisms Pavilion was the Imperial Court’s intelligence organization. No wonder their information is so timely. Perhaps they still have subtle ties with local government offices.’
’Heh...’
’Master Jiuyuan also purchased false information from the Thousand Mechanisms Pavilion.’
’It seems the information from the Thousand Mechanisms Pavilion cannot be fully trusted.’
In the records left by Master Jiuyuan, there is information about the Thousand Mechanisms Pavilion, things that a master and martial sect encounter are naturally different from ordinary people.
The origins of the Thousand Mechanisms Pavilion and the internal strife of the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion are somewhat known.
"Swish..."
Flipping through the scroll, Fang Zheng appeared thoughtful:
"It seems conscripting townsfolk to resist the rebels is set in stone, but it hasn’t been implemented yet as they fear inciting unrest among the townsfolk."
"Once the rebels draw nearer and the situation becomes tense, conscription will naturally begin."
"Hmm..."
"The situation isn’t too dire yet; if I leave the city, there are still ways. Later on, it might be difficult."
"Leave the city..."
Fang Zheng lightly tapped the table, thinking rapidly.
Linghu An and the Thousand Mechanisms Pavilion both have escape routes, but he does not intend to place his safety in the hands of others.
Square Porcelain!
"I, too, have a way out in Zhaonan Prefecture!"
*
*
*
The rebel army was encroaching, Zhaonan Prefecture imposed a nighttime curfew, and people couldn’t move freely during the day either. Each market district was limited to ten outside movement quotas per day.
These ten people are primarily responsible for purchasing supplies.
The soldiers patrolled constantly, arresting anyone found outside for no reason and putting them in jail immediately, silencing the whole city; only South Market was slightly lively.
Market,
People crowded, shouts are endless.
"Seven Markets want three hundred jins of rice, ten jins of fine salt, fifty jins of cured meat, two rolls of cloth..."
"Hurry up!"
"Follow the cart!"
"Yi Chou Market wants eight hundred families’ rice..."
"Why so much grain?" A registering civil servant looked up, frowning:
"The official has ordered, each market’s grain has a quota, no hoarding, a maximum of three hundred jins, more than that, I can’t approve."
"Sir." Someone approached, stealthily slipping a piece of silver, clasping hands with a smile:
"You might not know, our market has two large families, with many servants and nurses, three hundred jins is truly not enough."
"Please be accommodating."
"Hmm..." The civil servant’s eyes flickered, secretly squeezing the piece of silver, then nodded expressionlessly:
"Since there’s difficulty, it’s not impossible."
"Go ahead!"
"Thank you, thank you!"
The person continuously thanked, holding the approval slip to enter the market to purchase grain. Even though the government pressed prices, grain prices still soared.
More than double usual!
Inside the South Market.
Square Porcelain.
Entering early winter, Lu Wei hurried into the shop wearing long clothing, face full of urgency, surprisingly drenched in sweat in such weather.
He quickly approached a beautiful woman, saying:
"Shopkeeper!"
"Panicky, what kind of manners is this?" Wang Qi’s face sank:
"Can’t you see I am attending to guests?"
"No it’s..." Lu Wei’s eyes flickered, speaking softly:
"The Master has arrived."
"The Master?" Wang Qi was stunned, paused before reacting who ’the Master’ referred to:
"What did you say?"
"Why would he come here now?"
"I don’t know." Lu Wei showed a bitter smile:
"But he’s indeed at my home now, waiting for the shopkeeper to come over, and also wants to see this year’s branch account books."
Wang Qi’s face darkened; disregarding attending guests, she gave a signal and headed to the back.
Along the way,
Quick-paced.
"Did you say anything?"
"No." Lu Wei hurriedly shook his head:
"Shopkeeper, you know me, I’d never betray you even with ten guts!"
"Hmph!" Wang Qi snorted coldly, then said:
"Did the Master bring anyone along?"
"This..." Lu Wei hesitated, then said:
"He didn’t bring anyone, just came alone."
"Hmm?"
Wang Qi paused, looking skeptical: