Chapter 65

Chapter 65

That night, all members of the caravan took turns resting, guarding the bandits while also staying vigilant against potential attacks from their accomplices.

Although the caravan was prepared, some were still injured. Fortunately, the caravan carried medicine, and there were people who knew how to clean and bandage wounds.

The next day, just as the sky was beginning to lighten, the caravan set out for the nearest county town.

Dong Sifang had two carts cleared to tie up the bandits and load them on, and also forcibly demanded that the village head bring two people to accompany them to report the previous night's events to the authorities.

This was not the caravan's original route, so Dong Sifang ordered Manager Wang to wait outside the city with the main convoy, while he took a few men and the villagers into the city with the bandits.

Pei Mu and Zhong Yizhu, as unrelated escorts, also went along to testify.

As soon as the two carts full of blood-soaked, half-dead men entered the city, they frightened the bystanders. Fortunately, the man Dong Sifang had sent to report arrived in time with the court officers, calming the people and escorting the group toward the county magistrate's office.

When the commoners learned that these were captured vicious bandits, their panic subsided, and they began to denounce the criminals.

Meanwhile, the caravan members and the couple, Pei Mu and Zhong Yizhu, appeared in court. After explaining the situation to the county magistrate, they learned that this group was a band of vicious outlaws who had fled all the way from the eastern coast.

This area had many forests and mountains, which indeed bred some banditry. The bandits hid in the mountains and were difficult to eradicate, but none had been as ruthless as this.

The magistrate's expression was stern: "This gang of eighteen men has blood on their hands, having committed multiple murders and robberies along the way. Targeting your caravan was not just about stealing goods—they likely intended to take over your identities and flee north through the pass to completely evade the authorities' pursuit."

Zhong Yizhu shuddered at the thought. If Dong Sifang had been deceived into letting them join the caravan, or if they hadn't noticed something off about the villagers in time... the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Dong Sifang was no pushover. He had brutally interrogated the bandits the previous night, learning that they had wiped out a nearby mountain stronghold, gathered intelligence on passing caravans, and set their sights on them.

It seemed like pure bad luck that they had run into them, but that was the nature of trade on the road—danger could come from anywhere, and one misstep could mean dying in a foreign land.

Now that the villains had been captured, it was both a relief to the people and a stroke of luck for the magistrate, who could claim credit for the deed.

The magistrate praised them lavishly and specifically informed them that two other prefectures had issued bounties for these bandits. Once word reached them, the reward money would be delivered.

The magistrate still had to try the bandits, extracting more confessions and finding where they hid the stolen goods. That was no longer their concern.

The caravan members and the couple took their leave, and the magistrate told them to pick up the bounty on their return trip.

As for the villagers, the magistrate would handle their case based on testimony from both sides. Zhong Yizhu, Pei Mu, and Dong Sifang did not drag them into it any further.

Leaving the county office, Dong Sifang looked at the couple, then back at the government building, and said in a low voice, "This bounty may not come through, but if it does, you two will definitely get a share."

Pei Mu and Zhong Yizhu acknowledged this. Zhong Yizhu glanced back at the courtroom, now out of sight.

Good and evil will be repaid. He hoped that after these men were executed, the souls of the innocent dead would find peace...

The group left the city. The doctor Manager Wang had called for re-bandaged the injuries of the wounded caravan members. They then continued the journey, returning to their original route toward the next stop.

No more incidents occurred after that. The journey was uneventful, just the usual hardships of travel—just as Pei Mu had originally planned.

After that night, the caravan members grew friendlier and more attentive to the couple and often invited them when they cooked hot meals. Zhong Yizhu rarely said much, sitting close to Pei Mu, listening to the others tell thrilling or amusing tales from their travels around the campfire. That was the most relaxing and fun part of the long trip.

Two weeks later, the caravan finally entered Quzhou Prefecture.

The caravan would rest here for a day, and since Pei Mu and Zhong Yizhu had reached their destination, they said goodbye.

Having grown close, Pei Mu and Zhong Yizhu bid farewell to the others and made a point of going to see Dong Sifang to say goodbye in person. They swapped addresses, having met by chance, and maybe they'd meet again in six months.

Pei Mu and Zhong Yizhu did not stay with the caravan. They found an inn fairly close to the city center.

On the first night in Quzhou Prefecture, they both slept deeply.

After two weeks of sleeping outdoors and bumpy roads, Zhong Yizhu hadn't gotten sick, but his face had thinned. Pei Mu wasn't too uncomfortable, but having been tense for the whole journey, he was finally able to relax. He held Zhong Yizhu in the soft inn bed and they slept until broad daylight.

The inn in Quzhou Prefecture was more expensive than those in Songyun County, but it was worth it. The room had a brazier, filling it with a warm, cozy glow. Pei Mu nuzzled Zhong Yizhu, who was still asleep, feeling all his fatigue from the past days disappear.

Zhong Yizhu was also fully rested. When Pei Mu woke him, he was still warm and sleepy. He smiled at Pei Mu and reached up to hug his neck and rubbed his cheek against him.

After all that upheaval, peace and comfort felt wonderful. As they snuggled and rubbed against each other, things gradually became more intimate.

Pei Mu was uncharacteristically gentle. Zhong Yizhu was wrapped in the quilt, as if immersed in a warm spring. In this unfamiliar place, he dared not make a sound.

When it was almost over, Pei Mu bit Zhong Yizhu's lips, muffling his moans into soft, vague hums that only he could hear.

When they finally went out, the sun was already high in the sky.

They both changed into the nicer clothes they had packed. They had worn plain clothes while traveling to avoid notice, but now that they were in Quzhou Prefecture to purchase goods and negotiate business, they had to look clean and presentable.

It was late January, and Quzhou Prefecture seemed slightly warmer than Rongyang Prefecture. With the sun shining, Zhong Yizhu took off his cloak and looked curiously at the shops along the streets.

Quzhou Prefecture appeared less prosperous than Rongyang Prefecture, which was to be expected. Rongyang's water transport made trade and commerce more developed. With so many traveling merchants, it was hard for it not to be bustling.

Still, as a prefectural city, it was much livelier than Songyun County. The unfamiliar place felt different too, and many shop displays were different from those in Rongyang and Songyun. Zhong Yizhu found it fascinating and planned to take a good look around if time allowed after their business was done.

Especially the incense shops—that was where his heart truly lay.

The two wasted no time, heading straight to their destination—

the largest spice market in Quzhou Prefecture.

As soon as he reached the entrance of the spice market, Zhong Yizhu's eyes lit up.

Pei Mu carried Zhong Yizhu's cloak in one hand, keeping an eye on him from the corner of his eye, and naturally didn't miss the change in his expression.

Following Zhong Yizhu's gaze, he saw the entire street filled with spice stalls. There were merchants selling in bulk, as well as local villagers offering small quantities of self-harvested spices. All kinds of spices, of various qualities, were piled up as far as the eye could see. Compared to this, Spice Street in Songyun County was like a small minnow.

Zhong Yizhu cheerfully pulled Pei Mu inside.

Pei Mu knew what spices the stall needed. They had made a list before setting out. Since the spice business was Pei Mu's idea, and he couldn't accompany him every time, he didn't plan to interfere much.

Leaving the selection of spices to Pei Mu, he set about hunting for things he personally liked. The incense he made would never be static; he loved making incense enough to constantly experiment and create new blends.

"Would you like to take a look, young man? These are Five Cloud Seeds we harvested and processed ourselves."

"One-year, two-year, five-year Phantom Butterfly Wood—don't miss this while passing by!"

The spice market was bustling. Unlike the vendors in Songyun County who looked down on a young man, these merchants greeted people warmly and loudly, drawing in customers.

Zhong Yizhu felt like a mouse diving into a pile of rice. He walked around until his legs ached, but his harvest was plentiful.

After looking around, he felt they had made the right choice. The variety of spices here was very comprehensive, though the rare fragrances he used to love were a bit scarce. Still, it was a much better market than the one in Rongyang Prefecture.

After comparing the wholesale prices here with those in Rongyang, Pei Mu also reached a basic conclusion.

Spices from Anchuan Prefecture almost completely dominated the Rongyang market. One reason was that water transport was cheaper than land transport, and the other was the issue of precedence. Since Anchuan's spices had already captured the market, Quzhou's spices naturally faced resistance from spice merchants. This was the fundamental reason why Chen Fusheng and others' spice business had failed.

However, he saw an opportunity he could seize.

Based on what he had gathered over many days at the docks, the spice merchants from Anchuan had raised prices several times in recent years, especially in the last few years. This had already caused discontent among some merchants, but with no other options on the market, they gritted their teeth and kept using them.

The spices from Quzhou Prefecture were priced much lower than those shipped from Anchuan Prefecture, and even factoring in land transport costs, they could still undercut the current prices of Anchuan spices. If he could push Quzhou's spices into the market, it would break the monopoly that had dominated the spice trade.

This was not something he could achieve on his own at present, but it was a direction he could work toward.

After walking through the market once, Pei Mu had a clear idea in mind and was about to discuss with Zhong Yizhu which merchants to place orders with, when he heard the young man’s crisp voice from nearby, directed at someone else.

“This isn’t old-tree incense at all. You’re passing off a five-year-old tree's incense as ten-year-old, and on top of that, it’s from a young tree. Someone’s buying it for a birthday gift, and you’re still cheating them—where’s your conscience?”

Zhong Yizhu had been inspecting and sniffing the spices he had bought when his ears caught the words “top-grade sinking incense,” and his gaze followed the sound.

A richly dressed man stood at a small stall, where the vendor, an old man with white hair and beard, was holding a piece of incense and talking up a storm.

The old man spoke in a mysterious tone, his expression full of the joy of finding a kindred spirit. In a low voice, he introduced the incense as being harvested from a fifty-year-old tree and aged for over a decade, claiming it was top-grade. He said he had come out to sell it himself because he didn’t want to be lowballed by merchants—unfortunately, few could appreciate it.

The man was completely taken in, his hand already reaching into his pocket.

Zhong Yizhu initially didn’t want to meddle or stir up trouble, but the man excitedly said to his servant, “Dad loves this stuff the most. Buying this for his birthday will surely make him happy.”

This spot was at the edge of the spice market, with relatively few people passing by and the stalls spaced sparsely apart. Even so, Zhong Yizhu’s yell drew everyone’s attention.

The old man instantly became furious, fuming as he glared viciously at Zhong Yizhu.

“Where’d this kid come from, spouting nonsense and ruining my business! What do you know about it?”