More than ten miles east, we left the mountain and walked onto the official road. We could see a small city called Linshan City, which was the county seat in charge of Shanjiabao.
The county master's name is Wu Feng, a member of a family of officials who came from the academy. It is said that there are people behind him, all the way to the capital.
In short, it is okay to be greedy, but the sky is high and the emperor is far away, and no one can control him.
And I heard that he was good at martial arts and had caught bandits and flower pickers.
Exactly what it is like, God knows.
…
If there is a blockade on the road, it is not called a checkpoint if you can go around it.
One side is close to the mountains and the other side is close to the river. If you want to take a detour, it is not impossible. It will take hundreds of miles to walk.
Yamazaki and Shandai had to pay ten taels of silver to pass. It was as dark as the checkpoint outside the capital.
Therefore, all crows in the world are as black as black.
…
There is no need to pay to enter the city, so just go to the city and have lunch.
The city looks quite affluent, with brick and tile houses.
But the people seemed to be indifferent. Looking around, you couldn't see many brocade clothes, but you could see patches on the common clothes.
Obviously, it is that small group of people who are rich now.
…
I found a big restaurant, handed the eight horses to the guy outside, and went in to sit down and eat.
The number of guests was not bad, they were all rich and well-dressed people, eating, drinking and swearing.
Shandai looked at the menu on the wall and ordered four dishes and one soup.
Crucian carp and tofu soup, braised pork trotters, stir-fried diced chicken, four pieces of braised duck, and roasted lamb.
The food came quickly and was well cooked.
The pig and duck feathers are all clean, and the crucian carp is also fresh and the portion is sufficient.
After finishing the meal and paying the bill, here comes trouble.
Killing customers is not for people to eat, but for horses.
Four dishes and one soup for one person cost four taels of silver. Although it was a bit expensive, it was acceptable.
The roasted mutton is grilled over charcoal fire, and the charcoal is also silver.
The four pieces of braised duck had four palms and four wings, so I ate them from two ducks.
A pig only has four hooves, and one hoof is more expensive, which is normal.
The problem is that a meal of feed for one horse costs two taels of silver, and for eight horses, it costs sixteen taels of silver.
Normally, a total of only two taels of silver would be considered expensive.
Shan Dai was so angry that she slapped the table, "You should have a certain limit when it comes to blackmailing people."
The shopkeeper blew his beard and said, "Who is blackmailing you? We only have so much money. If we don't pay, we will keep the horse!"
The waiter agreed, "By the way, arrest them and bring them to court. Two people ride eight horses. Who knows if you are horse thieves!"
"It turns out you are interested in horses," Shan Dai snorted coldly, "Steal? You should find eight horses from the capital horse racing stable and show them to me secretly! If you can't find them, believe it or not, I will cut your five horses into pieces!"
The restaurant suddenly became quiet. The shopkeeper and the waiter looked at each other and started sweating together.
They originally looked down on Yamazaki and Shandai. Although Yamazaki was wearing a brocade dress, one look at the accessories showed that he was not a rich person.
Rich people like to wear jade, not to mention hats and belts, they always wear one on their fingers.
He can't even afford a jade ring, so he is obviously a country bumpkin.
So I thought the horse was good and thought about keeping the horse.
Horses are expensive in the south. A good horse is worth several hundred taels of silver, and eight horses can be sold for two thousand taels.
The sub-county master gave 75% to 1,500 taels. They took 25% and still had 500 taels.
But now if you meet someone from the capital, it will be a hard fight.
At this time, a team of police officers walked in.
The first one was a handsome young catcher, "Dad, what kind of trouble is going on in your store?"
"It's nothing." Yamazaki didn't want to be too fussy, "We are calculating the accounts. How much is the total? I didn't hear clearly just now?"
The implication is that one more thing is worse than one less thing. Let's start over as if the previous unpleasantness never happened.
"Uh..." The shopkeeper hesitated.
But the waiter immediately reminded, "Shopkeeper, they are guilty, there must be something wrong."
Shandai slapped the table, "You have a guilty conscience, you must be mentally ill, you just want to extort money and extort people because they are good for you.
"Even if it's a black shop, there's no such thing as robbing powerful items in broad daylight, right?"
The shopkeeper suddenly became anxious, "Shut up, someone has robbed you!"
Shandai curled her lips, "Then tell your son yourself how much gold foil you gave my horse. A meal of fodder costs me sixteen taels of silver."
"Everyone is commenting on why fodder costs so much!"
A large group of people gathered outside to watch the fun, but no one said anything, they just watched silently.
However, this also made the atmosphere heavy enough.
The waiter shouted, "You have eight horses. Each horse needs a piece of salt and two liters of concentrated feed. Is two taels of silver a lot?"
"Go away, who gave the horse a whole piece of salt and two liters of concentrated feed? If you feed the horse like this, I should ask you to pay for my horse."
"Anyway, if your horse eats something, you have to pay for it."
Yamazaki nodded, "Since you won't give in, let's judge in public. Let's pick a horse to kill now."
"Let everyone see if there is anything you mentioned in the horse's belly. If there is, I don't want you to pay. I will give you twenty taels."
"If not, you, the waiter, will pay with your life, not only for you, but also for your whole family."
The atmosphere suddenly became stagnant, and the catcher coughed lightly, "This young master, how can a human life be compared to a horse's life?"
Yamazaki laughed, "It really can't be done. My horse came with me all the way from the capital. In this small town, it died at the hands of villains for no reason. I didn't implicate this city, so I'm merciful."
The head catcher was also sweating, "Dare you, dare I ask Young Master Gao's name?"
Yamazaki shook his head, "I don't want to tell you, but you should decide quickly and don't waste my time."
Among the drinkers, an inconspicuous man in brocade clothes stood up and said, "Hey, Mr. Yamazaki, don't you want to play the trick of pretending to be powerful?"
Yamazaki was amused, "Oh, a secret agent from the imperial court actually came out. Does this count as being exposed on your own initiative?"
The secret agent was a little embarrassed, "Young Master is a commoner, intimidating officials, and arrogantly talking about implicating people..."
Yamazaki laughed and said, "Are you sure I'm a fox pretending to be a tiger? You should know that the emperor wants me to see him."
"When the time comes, I want a third-grade official. Do you think the emperor will give it to me?"
"I don't need to take action personally. The county magistrate of this city will naturally kill all these people today and give their heads to me."
"Even if this little catcher is one of his brothers-in-law, this shopkeeper is his advantageous father-in-law."
"But for his official position, this is nothing."
"As for this little waiter..."
"Master, please spare my life, Master, please spare your life..."
The waiter's legs became weak and he knelt on the ground, kowtowing and begging for mercy. His head was broken.
Yamazaki shook his head, "Stop kowtowing. Killing someone is just a nod. I won't take your life for a few taels of silver. It's not worth it."
"Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir."
"This is ten taels of silver. If you have less, you can supplement it, and if you have more, you can buy medicine."
"Thank you, sir, thank you, sir."
Yamazaki looked at the secret agent, "Okay, I have to leave. Is there anything else you want to teach me?"
The secret agent handed over his hand and said, "Since you have met me, please come with me."
Yamazaki shook his head and laughed, "Are you sure it's now?"
"I stayed in Stone Forest Mountain City for a long time, and I didn't hurry up all the way home."
"But no one invited me all the way here."
"Obviously the emperor wants me to go home and see what changes will occur."
"I can't run away anyway. It won't be too late to wait until after my eldest brother's wedding, so don't worry about me for now."
"And when you say this now, do you mean you didn't receive the order, or do you just want to make mistakes and erase the problems that suddenly popped up to reveal your identity?"
"Do you think you can get away with it?"
…
