The 18th year of the Da Yong reign: The beginning of the story involves rescuing revolutionaries.

Hey, Wang Zhi recognized this sneaky girl at a glance; she was none other than the child kidnapped by the human traffickers.

These past few days she's been completely clueless, and I thought she was just scared out of her wits. I figured she might recover on her own, but now it seems this girl is much smarter than I imagined.

Wang Zhi quickly hid behind a large stone block, peeking out with one eye to secretly observe the girl.

He slipped outside, looked around to make sure no one was watching, and then tiptoed westward. Wang Zhi quickly followed.

He wanted to see what this girl was up to.

Even in the dead of night, gang members still patrolled the inner courtyard, but this girl seemed to have figured out their routes. Combined with her small stature under the cover of darkness, she always managed to evade the patrolling gang members.

Wang Zhi watched in amazement.

About the time it takes to drink a cup of tea later, the little girl arrived at the training ground in the west courtyard, but there was no one there in the middle of the night.

The place was filled with weapon racks, stone blocks, and wooden dummy stakes. She walked through these items and went straight to the wall. Wang Zhi hid behind a wooden dummy stake and saw that there were stacks of bluestone slabs piled up under the wall.

The tallest one on the stack is even taller than this girl.

The same stone slab was used by the brothers for their daily martial arts practice. The little girl nimbly climbed from the lower slab to the highest point, then jumped and successfully grabbed the protruding stones on the wall.

Only then did a look of joy finally appear on her youthful yet serious face.

"Has this girl trained?" Wang Zhi was secretly shocked by the strength with which she gripped the courtyard wall with both hands. Ordinary poor girls wouldn't have that kind of strength.

Judging from her face and complexion, she didn't seem like a poor child. However, the tattered clothes she was wearing were probably specially changed for her by Pei Jing, the kidnapper, to avoid attracting too much attention.

Of course, a child who could be abducted at a train station couldn't possibly be from a poor family, Wang Zhi thought to himself. He had already walked up to her; if he didn't come out soon, the girl would climb over the courtyard wall.

He deliberately amplified his footsteps, each step seeming to pound on the girl's heart. Clearly sensing something, the girl's forearms trembled, yet she still gritted her teeth and climbed on.

"Where are we going?" Wang Zhi's voice rang out from behind the maid.

The little girl cried out and fell off the wall.

He plopped down on the bluestone slab, then slowly turned around, shuffling his body down until his feet touched the ground. He glanced up at Wang Zhi, recognized him as the gang leader, and quickly lowered his head again, muttering, "I was looking for a toilet, and wandered over here. Just kidding."

Wang Zhi ignored her excuses and simply said, "It's interesting; it can talk."

The girl was inwardly groaning. Looking up at Wang Zhi's eyes, she thought to herself, "This man must be a devil."

"What's your name? Where do you live?" Wang Zhi asked.

The girl opened her mouth, then closed it again, which made Wang Zhi both angry and amused. He said, "You know how well you've been staying with me these past few days. I don't think you're stupid; you can tell right from wrong. But if you continue to pretend to be deaf and dumb, I'll have no choice but to send you to a brothel to be disciplined."

Finally, the girl spoke: "My name is Wang Lingguan, and my home is on Xinghua Street in Lidu."

"Leaving the capital? From the provincial government?" Wang Zhi was surprised. He had originally guessed that this girl was the daughter of a wealthy family in Zhaoyang City, but he never expected that she was from the provincial government.

Having saved the daughter of a wealthy family in the provincial capital, Wang Zhi thought to himself, "I should at least get a fair share of the money. I can't just save her for nothing."

He then asked, "You couldn't have gone to Zhaoyang City alone, could you? Where are your parents and elders? How could they have been abducted?"

Wang Lingguan, as if he had opened a floodgate, said, "I got separated from my brother and was kidnapped by that kidnapper. Can you take me back? My parents will definitely repay you."

"Sure thing, I'll send two people to take you back tomorrow." Sending this clever little girl away as soon as possible would solve a problem, Wang Zhi replied casually.

Unexpectedly, Wang Lingguan stepped forward, grabbed Wang Zhi's sleeve, and whispered, "I don't trust anyone else. Can you personally escort me back?"

"Will I personally escort you back?" Wang Zhi looked at the girl suspiciously. She met his gaze frankly, and he smiled, "I can, but that will cost extra."

He realized he really needed to go to the provincial capital. First, he wanted to find out who the provincial government officials were, and second, he wanted to search for meridian-opening medicines in the provincial capital. Apart from the widely circulated meridian-opening pills, other meridian-opening medicines were rare, and Zhaoyang City might not have them.

While we're at it, it wouldn't be a bad idea to take this girl back with us.

"No problem, my parents will agree." Wang Lingguan nodded solemnly.

"Is your family very wealthy?"

"I am my parents' only daughter, and they spoil me a lot."

"Alright, five hundred silver dollars, I'll take the deal." Wang Zhi nodded. Five hundred dollars was no small sum; it was equivalent to a year's profit for Wang Family's Qingfeng Restaurant.

He had originally intended to ask for a lot more than he expected, but to his surprise, the girl agreed immediately, and he thought to himself that he had asked for too little.

"Okay, pinky promise. You have to get me home safely, don't abandon me halfway." Wang Lingguan extended his little finger.

"Pinky promise? I, Wang Luoyun, am a man of my word. Do you think I would lie to a little girl like you? What a childish trick." Wang Zhi said disdainfully, but still extended his little finger and hooked it with Wang Lingguan's. The latter then pressed his thumb against Wang Zhi's thumb with utmost seriousness before finally letting out a long sigh of relief.

Wang Zhi found it quite amusing.

......

The next morning, Wang Zhi went to Wanliu Street and met with Afu alone at Qingfeng Tower. Afu did not ask what the gang leader had done the night before, but was relieved to see that the gang leader had returned unharmed.

Inside the private room, Wang Zhi gave Li Quanfu some instructions, saying that he was going to the provincial capital to leave the capital and that he would be in charge of all the affairs of the gang. Wang Zhi estimated that from Liuzhou County to the provincial capital, including the journey and the business, it would take at most four days, and he could return before the tenth day when the government ordered them to hand over the rebels.

That's a minor issue. Over the years, whenever he's been busy, Li Quanfu has indeed been handling all the big and small affairs of the gang. In Liuzhou County, Li Quanfu's reputation is sometimes more prominent than that of Wang Luoyun, the gang leader.

He then gave a series of important instructions, emphasizing the need to carefully discipline his subordinates and not to oppress the people. He also instructed that any poor peddlers who couldn't pay their dues should simply leave them in arrears for now.

He will gradually abolish these rules and regulations after he has dealt with the county magistrate and Zhou An.

The game "Da Yong 18 Years" is divided into two periods, with the overthrow of the Da Yong Dynasty as the dividing line. In the first half, rebels rose up everywhere, the court was exhausted from suppressing them, powerful families took the opportunity to expand their power, various high-ranking factions also entered the world, and various Western countries conducted business and preached in China until the Da Yong Dynasty was destroyed.

In the latter half of the new policy, foreigners figured out the details of the martial arts of the Great Yong and launched a war of aggression. Local families and clans raised local armed forces, forming warlord separatism and began to resist the aggression.

Before the fall of the Dayong Dynasty, Wang Zhiyao planned to establish Liuzhou County as his base of operations to prepare for the impending chaos and turmoil.

He transmigrated before finishing the game in his previous life, and in this life, he is even less willing to be a bystander drifting along with the tide.

After arranging things in the gang, Wang Zhi found his adoptive father, who was engrossed in reading newspapers behind closed doors, at the old house. He told his father that he was going to the provincial government. The father was very reassured and even asked him to bring back a few copies of the latest provincial newspapers when he returned.

Wang Zhi readily agreed. He then met with several of the Wang family's business managers, all of whom were trusted veterans. He figured it would only take three or four days, no big problem.

After everything was arranged, at noon, the sky was bright and the air above the dock in Liuzhou County was filled with the smell of tung oil and the musty smell of goods. The water of the Yazi River was yellowish, and the waves crashed against the wooden piles, surging up waves of fishy and salty smell.

The foreman's voice was like a broken gong as he brandished his whip, directing the laborers to unload the goods quickly. Two teams of militiamen in armor rigorously inspected every passing merchant and traveler, afraid of letting a single rebel escape.

Wang Zhi, dressed in a black outfit that accentuated his robust physique, held Wang Lingguan's wrist as they mingled in the queue to board the ship. The girl was still wearing that tattered, gray coat.

Soon, to the astonishment of the militia soldiers, the two boarded a large cargo ship bound for Zhaoyang City.