The group bypassed the prefectural city and headed south. After three days of hard work, they had not yet left Pingzhou when Zhou Yu’s bad premonition came true. They were trapped in the county town and could not leave.

The two families had a hard time during these three days. A donkey of the Wu family was snatched away by patrolling soldiers, and the Zhou family also lost three taels of silver and some food.

Although he was annoyed by the frequent reckless extortions, he was treated the same as ordinary people along the way, and the caravans were safe. Not only would they not be extorted, but they would also be personally escorted for a while.

Yang Xi was furious. They could extort merchants and wealthy families but ended up bullying the common people. The people were already suffering enough under the heavy taxes and levies, yet they were still being fleeced!

Now that the group cannot leave the city, Zhou Yu discussed with Brother Wu, “We can’t leave for the time being, it’s not cost-effective for us to stay in an inn. I want to find a broker to rent a yard. What do you think, brother?”

Wu Shan said in a muffled voice: “I’ll listen to you.”

The atmosphere in the Wu family was not good. A donkey cost more than six taels of silver. The whole family was heartbroken, and they were already exhausted after being trapped in the city and unable to leave.

Zhou Yu took Third Yang to find a broker. It was still easy to rent a house in the county town. Every family was having a hard time, and the people in the county town would not miss the opportunity to make money.

Soon, he rented a U-shaped courtyard in the west of the county town for two hundred wen a month.

Wu Shan was surprised that the yard was nice and there was furniture in it. “How much did you pay for the rent?”

Zhou Yu looked at Third Yang, “This kid paid the money.”

Wu Shan looked at the group of boys. They looked very excited and didn’t know what to say. He felt a little nervous. “This boy has bad intentions.”

Zhou Yu said: “Since he has paid the money, you don’t have to worry about it, brother.”

He also had to digest it well. Today, Third Yang revealed his family’s assets to him!

As he spoke, Zhou Yu helped his wife clean up the house, and soon he had put all the assets in order.

Yang Xi said with a sense of accomplishment: “I have accumulated all the assets without realizing it.”

Zhou Yu also lamented, “One sled is not enough.”

“Then I won’t buy more donkeys. The Wu family’s is a lesson.”

Zhou Yu frowned, “I thought Pingzhou was safe, but it turns out that Prince Jiang has some ulterior motives.”

Yang Xi concluded, “No place in this world is truly safe.”

Zhou Yu was a little annoyed, “I don’t know what happened to close the county.”

Yang Xi guessed, “It’s probably related to the Prince’s visit to the capital, but I don’t know what role Prince Jiang played in it.”

Zhou Yu’s tone was more relaxed, “Fortunately, the Xu family couldn’t track us down.”

The Xu family did not find any traces. When they found something wrong and wanted to investigate again, they encountered a second heavy snowfall. They checked the pass and household registration but still found no news. Lord Xu was very angry and had to send people to guard the Zhou family’s ancestral home.

The houses in the yard were allocated, with Yang Xi and Zhou Yu in one room. When they were resting at night, Zhou Yu mentioned Third Yang, “Third Yang talked about his family’s assets today.”

Yang Xi was no longer sleepy, “It must be a lot.”

Zhou Yu said leisurely, “This kid took a lot of gold, silver, and silver notes with him when he escaped. He hid some of them because it was difficult to carry them with him. When he arrived in the capital, he found a way to get a temporary document to enter the capital. He was worried about the silver notes, so he exchanged all the silver notes that could be exchanged. He also proudly said that he had robbed several places where the silver was hidden.”

Yang Xi, “Black eating black?”

Zhou Yu smiled, “Well, he used himself to fish, and relying on his good skills, he robbed several families in the refugee area and made a lot of money.”

Third Yang’s original words were that these families were not good people. They openly robbed other people and even stole a lot of money from the dead.

Yang Xi admired him, “This kid is really brave.”

Zhou Yu chuckled, “He said that including the jewelry, there were more than 5,000 taels of silver. He hid most of it and only took some valuable jewelry and some gold and silver.”

“This kid really trusts you.”

She believed that Third Yang was not lying.

Zhou Yu snorted, “This kid has made a lot of moves. He is very good at winning people over.”

Yang Xi squinted her eyes, “This is a natural talent. The third and fourth sons of the Wu family follow him every day. Big Brother Wu is so angry.”

“My little brother also started to call him Brother Yang.”

Yang Xi was even happier, “I think his skills are pretty good.”

Third Yang taught with all his heart. No one was stupid. If you don’t give your heart, you won’t get anything in return.

The two families could not leave the county, so they could only inquire about why Pingzhou was closed. The entire Pingzhou was closed and people could not leave. Within two days, the officers and soldiers began to check the household registration of every household. Outsiders also had to check their travel permits. Many people without travel permits were found and all of them were taken away.

The Zhou family was now just ordinary people, they had no information channels, and the news was very delayed.

After checking twice, Zhou Yu spent money to get the news from the yamen runners that Prince Jing secretly entered the capital and now escaped from the capital and his whereabouts were unknown.

After hearing this, Yang Xi asked, “Prince Jing went to the capital. Do you think Prince Jiang has noticed it?”

Zhou Yu tends to think, “I noticed it. It might be Prince Jiang who informed the Emperor about him. Now Pingzhou is arresting Prince Jing on a large scale. Prince Jiang first wants to show his loyalty and gain the Emperor’s trust. Second, Prince Jing’s fiefdom is connected to Prince Jiang’s, so Prince Jiang has set his sights on Prince Jing’s fiefdom.”

Wu Shan was dumbfounded. “Brother, how did you come up with this little information?”

Zhou Yu, “Prince Jiang gave free food to the people in his fiefdom and sent soldiers to inspect Pingzhou, which already explains a lot.”

Wu Shan was a little confused. “Prince Jiang only has palace soldiers. How can he command the Pingzhou garrison?”

Zhou Yu smiled and said, “The officials in Pingzhou are all the people of Prince Jiang.”

When he inquired for information, the yamen runners kept praising Prince Jiang, which explained everything.

Yang Xi said leisurely: “When something happened to Prince Jing, it was Prince Jiang who threw out a target to attract the attention of the court.”

Wu Shan remained silent. As expected, his foresight was only for survival and he still could not change his vision. Seeing Zhou Yu and his wife, he felt a lot more at ease. It turned out to be the right thing to follow them.

Third Yang had been listening quietly, and Sister Yang gave him a big surprise.

When Yang Xi saw Third Yang’s sparkling eyes, she couldn’t help laughing in her heart. This kid managed to squeeze into the discussion meeting.

The next day, there was more news that the Pingzhou defenders received the Emperor’s order to encircle and suppress the remnants of King Jing. King Jing’s forces were leaderless and had not actually developed. They saw an opportunity in the rioters, but it had only been a short time since the rioters formed, and King Jing’s forces were still developing.

Pingzhou dispatched troops quickly and ended it quickly, but it brought suffering to the people in King Jing’s fiefdom.

When the news came back, the city gate was finally opened.

Zhou Yu and his party did not look happy. If they were to go south, they would have to pass through Bozhou, which was the fief of King Jing. Bozhou was in chaos and the people were trapped in Bozhou.

Even if they were not citizens of this state, they were not allowed to leave. The reason was very sufficient: King Jing and his descendants were on the run, and not a single citizen could be allowed to leave!

Wu Shan, “What should we do?”

Zhou Yu, “We must leave.”

If they didn’t leave now, it would be more difficult to leave in the future. The purpose of Prince Jiang trapping the people was to get labor, and strong laborers would be the source of soldiers in the future.

Zhou Yu looked at Third Yang, “What do you think?”

Yang Xi knew that Zhou Yu would test Yang San, so she looked over.

(End of this chapter)

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