Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 47 Words that are not benevolent and filial are not worthy of the attention of ghosts and gods.

A person's knowledge is related to their cognition, their living environment, and their education.

For example, someone like Yun Ce knows that destroying a perfectly good country is not a good thing, nor is selling off someone's beautiful people. Even if the country is really good and the people are really beautiful, it must be done secretly. At the very least, setting up some human trafficking gangs to silence public opinion is a good idea.

Among the group, aside from a few naive little girls and a few girls who didn't like to see themselves as human beings and always felt like they were commodities, Feng An was the kindest and most upright one among them.

Yet even a scholar who had received the most orthodox Han Dynasty education condoned the destruction of a country and the slave trade. His anger stemmed from his feeling that General Liu Xiang and his men had done a sloppy job.

Sheyang City has this perception and tradition: there must be many slaves in this city. This was the first label Yun Ce attached to Sheyang City before he even entered it.

After entering the city, Yun Ce's premonition came true.

The roads in Sheyang City were well-constructed and wide. The central stone-paved road was for horse-drawn carriages, while the two dirt roads on either side, less than three meters wide, were for horses. There were also two other roads on the sides for pedestrians.

It was afternoon in Sheyang City. Because the weather was not hot, there were not many people riding in carriages or on horseback. However, the pedestrians on the blue brick paths on both sides were quite numerous.

Yun Ce noticed that there were many trees planted on both sides of the pedestrian road. Looking through the not-so-dense woods, he could see even more people hurrying back and forth behind the trees.

Seeing Yun Ce looking towards the woods, Liang Kun laughed and said, "That's the slave road."

Without the man needing to explain further, Yun Ce immediately understood the meaning behind his words: people walk on human paths, and slaves walk on slave paths. It seemed that Sheyang City was a city with strict laws.

There were far more humanoid creatures on the slave road than on the main road, meaning that Sheyang City was a city with more slaves than ordinary people.

If Hong Guniang and Pei Chuan want to take over Sheyang City, they should start with the slave group. If they can do ideological work with the slaves, taking over Sheyang City in a place where even walking is divided into different classes will not be difficult.

Eji made another good deal. She sold all the bird legs and meat strips that hadn't been sold on the road at a roadside eatery, and at a good price.

Clutching a handful of green coins, Eji was delighted and wanted to take the group of people to a restaurant for a meal. However, after finding out the price, Eji came out crying and rudely demanded that Yun Ce help her get back the bird leg and meat strips she had sold. Of course, the money would not be refunded because the restaurant owner had cheated her.

Yun Ce also thought so; money earned by taking advantage of other people's ignorance is deception!

So, amidst the horrified looks of Feng An and Liang Kun, and the excited cheers of the girls, Yun Ce, after negotiating with the shop owner, was able to get the ingredients that E Ji had been tricked into returning to her. The shop owner even invited them all into the shop for a big meal.

During this meal, Feng An ate with trepidation, Liang Kun ate with unease, Yun Ce ate with complete satisfaction, and E Ji and the others naturally ate with peace of mind.

Even after they had eaten and drunk their fill and were about to leave, the shop owners and employees who had been piled up by Yun Ce did not come out to see them off, showing a complete lack of service awareness.

Once again on the street, Yun Ce looked at the flow of people and said to Feng An, whose eyes were still wandering around, "In a city full of slaves, force is the greatest power, and as for me, I have nothing but force."

"So, you beat Peng Zeng, killed the Thunder Smoke Beast, and even allowed Eji and the others to strip him naked, all to demonstrate your martial prowess?"

Liang Kun's perspective on things is quite insightful.

Yun Ce explained, "Pingyuan City has fallen. Even a wandering knight like Peng Zeng knows that, so the people of Sheyang City must know by now. The problem is, why is there no movement here at all?"

Feng An shook his head and said, "Deploying troops is a complicated process that takes time."

Yun Ce sneered and said, "I just asked the shop owner why the food prices are so high, and he told me it was the master's order."

Who is the host?
It was Han Dongcheng, the clerk of Sheyang City.

This person knew that Pingyuan City had fallen and that the bandits would definitely come to Sheyang City. The reason they did nothing was because they wanted to make a fortune. While the rest of the people in the city were still unaware of the truth, they planned to stockpile a batch of grain and fodder, and then sell it to make a big profit when the bandits arrived.

Making money was their priority. As for that idiot Peng Zeng going to Pingyuan City alone claiming he was going to wipe out the rebels, he unfortunately became their convenient excuse. If a superior asked, they could say they sent people to quell the rebellion.

Feng An looked at the sun overhead and asked in confusion, "We've only been in the city for less than an hour, and you've already summarized so much?"

Yun Ce laughed and said, "Let's go. Let's find a place to rest first. We need to go to Sheyang City to change our travel permits later. We must do this as soon as possible. If we are late, they may not issue us travel permits at all."

We stay in the hostel!

Eji liked staying at the guesthouse because the things there were very useful, and if something happened to the guesthouse, she could take those things with her.

The inns in Sheyang City are better than those in Pingyuan City, and most importantly, the furnishings in the rooms are more abundant.

This time, with a large group, Yun Ce booked a small courtyard and instructed E Ji not to wander off. He then took Feng An and Liang Kun to the travel permit office. Yun Ce understood the travel permit office; ancient dynasties valued the stability of the land and its inhabitants, disliking people constantly running around. He reasoned that prolonged wandering would either turn people into bandits or rebels. The travel permit office was a place that issued travel permits to people, prohibiting them from leaving without one.

Of course, Yun Ce, Feng An, and Liang Kun are now scholars, and scholars have special privileges. While the common people are not allowed to wander around, scholars can use the guise of studying abroad to make connections everywhere.

With the magnanimous recommendation of Zhang Gongya, the city lord of Pingyuan City, Liang Kun, who seemed to be the easiest to talk to among the three, naturally gained the respect of the county clerk in charge of the area where they were staying without any obstacles. The clerk specially invited them into the adjacent government office to learn about the recent situation in Pingyuan City.

"Pingyuan City was massacred?"

After hearing Liang Kun's introduction, the registrar Peng Jing exclaimed in surprise.

"It was more than just a massacre. The rebels set fire to Pingyuan City, burning the once magnificent West Pavilion to the ground. Zhang Gongyaliang also died in battle beneath the West Pavilion, beaten to death by a pig demon."

"A pig demon? Are you looking closely?"

"A human body with a pig's head, what else could it be but a pig demon?"

Peng Jing pondered for a moment and said, "The pig demon can't speak. I've heard that the pig demon once threatened Zhang Gong's magnanimity."

Just then, Yun Ce's somewhat impatient voice came from outside the government office: "Use the seal for me!"

Just as Liang Kun was about to apologize to Peng Jing, he saw a woman in a long, trailing dress emerge from behind the screen blocking the inner room of the government office. Before he could even get a good look at her, she had already left the office.

Peng Jing got up and followed, and Liang Kun had no choice but to get up and go outside the government office as well.

Yun Ce was most annoyed by the government departments' procrastination. Even though the procedures were complete and the due fees had been paid, they should have gotten things done quickly. But instead, they started drinking tea after accepting the documents.

If this were in Silver City on Earth... hehehe...

Back in Sheyang City, Yun Ce was still restless and impatient, and couldn't help but urge again, "Use the seal on me!"

The clerk rolled his eyes impatiently, wanting to continue drinking his tea, when he noticed a beautiful young woman standing between them. Thinking she was there to deal with him, he quickly stood up to give Yun Ce his travel permit, only to hear the young woman say to Yun Ce, "Say that again!"

Yun Ce glanced at the girl, pushed her aside, and went to the clerk, saying, "Use the seal on me!"

The clerk, unaware of the situation, still swallowed his anger and stamped the travel permits for Yun Ce and his companions. Regardless of what entanglement Yun Ce had with this seemingly important young woman, he prioritized clearing himself of any trouble.

Then the girl who had been pushed away by Yun Ce screamed, "You pig demon!"

Yun Ce glanced back at Feng An, then at Peng Jing and Liang Kun who had just left, muttered "crazy" under his breath, and prepared to leave.

The girl panicked and grabbed Yun Ce's sleeve, saying to Peng Jing, "He's the pig demon!"

Yun Ce smiled and looked at the young woman, saying, "My name is Liu Chang'an. Who are you, young lady? Are you in such a hurry to get married?"

The girl said to Peng Jing again, "He is the pig demon who killed my father."

Yun Ce raised his hand and lifted his nose, imitating a pig's grunt, "Oink oink, I'm a pig spirit!"

Peng Jing pulled the girl aside and said to Feng An and Liang Kun, who both looked puzzled, "This is Zhang Gongyaliang's daughter, named Zhang Min. Like you, she just escaped back from Pingyuan City."

As soon as Peng Jing finished speaking, Yun Ce, Feng An, and Liang Kun all exclaimed "Eh!" and looked at the girl in front of them with disdain.

Zhang Min said to Peng Jing, "Sir, it was this man who impersonated a pig demon and killed my father. I saw it with my own eyes."

Before Peng Jing could even suspect Yun Ce, he saw him take out a white copper seal from his pocket and place it in his palm. Peng Jing took it and saw that it was the seal of the city lord of Pingyuan City.

Zhang Min, with tears streaming down her face, pointed at the seal and choked out, "This is the seal that was taken away by the pig demon."

Peng Jing was about to order the constables to come out when he noticed that the disdain on Yun Ce and the other two's faces had deepened. He then suppressed the urge to call the constables out and looked at Yun Ce, asking, "Do you have anything to say?"

Feng An said disdainfully, "When Zhang Gongyaliang died in battle, his four sons huddled in the carriage and none of them came out to help their father. After Zhang Gongyaliang died in battle, none of his children jumped out to collect his body, leaving his corpse to be crushed into mincemeat by passing carriages and horses."

The words spoken by such an unfilial and unrighteous person are so offensive that even ghosts and gods dare not listen.

(End of this chapter)