Edict

"Come, come, everyone gather 'round. I'll introduce a new brother to you all!"

Gu Jianming clapped his hands and shouted, gathering the few people training in the yard. He pointed at Xu Yi and said, "This brother Xu Yi has newly joined our Furong Town Patrol Section. From now on, we'll all be brothers sharing the same pot of rice, so you all need to look out for each other!"

As he spoke, Gu Jianming introduced each of the others to Xu Yi.

It was then that Xu Yi learned that, including himself, the six people standing there constituted the entire official security force of Furong Town.

Xu Yi politely clasped his hands in greeting to each of his colleagues, presenting a proper and respectful demeanor, which earned him favor from several of them.

After a simple meet-and-greet, Gu Jianming dismissed the group and led Xu Yi towards the main hall.

What followed was a series of routine procedures: filling out paperwork, receiving uniforms, and collecting identification tokens...

Finally, after detailing the monthly benefits and a salary of fifty taels of silver, Gu Jianming slammed a thick copy of the Great Yue Royal Court Edict onto the camphor wood table in front of Xu Yi and said, "Find some time to read this. Starting today, you are a constable of Furong Town." With that, he turned and walked out the door.

Xu Yi hadn't expected that with such a simple process, he would transform into a civil servant of the Great Yue Royal Court.

Xu Yi was very satisfied with this change, as he had not only gained a new, legitimate identity but also become someone within the system.

Even as the lowest-ranking constable, Xu Yi believed he could at least partake in the public power of the Great Yue Royal Court.

The key to everything, he suspected, lay within this thick Great Yue Royal Court Edict.

After his soul transference, Xu Yi possessed not only the calmness and strategic foresight of his past life but also the meticulousness and patience of his current one.

He found a sunlit window and sat down, opening the window to let in the lush greenery outside. He then opened the book and began to read quietly.

His soul power was extraordinary, allowing him to maintain a high level of concentration. He finished reading the substantial Great Yue Royal Court Edict in just two hours.

While he couldn't claim to remember every single word of the one hundred and eight thousand, six hundred and fifty-four articles, statutes, and regulations within, he had grasped about eighty to ninety percent of them.

The sun outside had begun to wane, its rays weakly clinging to the peak of Huiyin Mountain.

It was getting late. Thinking of the delicious meal at noon, Qiu Wa had eaten, but Uncle Mu was still waiting. Xu Yi quickly got up, grabbed the backpack containing his clothes and identification token, and hurried out the door.

About fifteen minutes later, Xu Yi held two food boxes, identical to the ones from noon.

Now, he was truly a man of means. The meal at noon, though extravagant, had cost him just over two taels of silver.

According to official prices, one Crimson Gold Coin was equivalent to a hundred taels of silver. Furthermore, because Crimson Gold Coins were the currency of the upper world and rarely circulated among the populace, the market price was merely what the government imposed when exchanging silver for gold coins from the common folk.

In reality, in the black market, one Crimson Gold Coin could fetch over one hundred and fifty taels of silver, yet even then, they were scarce.

Currently, Xu Yi's fortune, not to mention the two Gold Cakes each worth a thousand gold coins, and the more than ten gold coins he had confiscated from Elder Feng, could sustain his lavish eating habits for over ten years if used for food expenses.

With such wealth, how could Xu Yi possibly be stingy with food and drink?

The sun slanted westward, and a gentle evening breeze swept across the clear Dragon Whisker River, its surface shimmering with light. Xu Yi strolled through the center of town, gazing into the distance at the picturesque landscape, the scattered sails of returning boats, all of which met his eyes.

As dinnertime approached, people, tired from their day's work, sought their own leisure. Furong Town entered its most bustling and lively period of the day.

Taverns and teahouses were packed with customers, and various vendors, like swarming locusts, appeared from nowhere, scattering across every available open space in town.

His ears were full, his eyes were full; Xu Yi felt his senses were almost overwhelmed!

At this moment, the marketplace came alive, and his life seemed to come alive as well.

Passing through the fragrant Peach Crisp Alley, he could see the pier from afar. Calculating the time, it was neither too early nor too late. Perhaps Uncle Mu had just docked and come ashore. Xu Yi thought he would go there to meet the old man.

He had taken only a few steps when his handsome, sword-like eyebrows suddenly knitted in surprise!

"Oh my, Old Mu, which deity did you pay homage to today to catch such a Great Green Carp!"

"Tsk, tsk, come look, everyone! Old Mu has really struck it rich today. This Great Green Carp must be at least two hundred catties!"

"Wow, this one Great Green Carp is probably worth half a year's work for us!"

"Old Mu's luck has arrived. Why aren't there any other small fish? It just had to be this Great Green Carp that got caught!"

"Cai Laoxi, have you lost your mind? With this one Great Green Carp, everything else is secondary. What need is there for those other small fish?"

Uncle Mu was struggling to haul the fishing net onto the shore. Brown sweat had not yet evaporated from the scorching heat on the green stone slabs when the Great Green Carp, stretching over a zhang long in the net, was spotted.

Fishermen returning late quickly gathered around the astonishing catch. Upon seeing the size of the Great Green Carp, they let out continuous sighs of amazement.

The Great Green Carp was a specialty of the Nielong River. Its flesh was tender and fatty, and its brittle bones were fragrant. When used in fish soup, it was a top-tier ingredient, highly prized by the nobles in Guang'an City.

However, such fine ingredients were rare. Great Green Carp mostly inhabited depths below three zhang, making them extremely difficult to catch. Even seasoned fishermen occasionally obtained them only through sheer luck.

As a result, the price of Great Green Carp remained high. A fish like the one before them was conservatively estimated to be worth over a hundred taels of silver, a truly remarkable catch for ordinary fishermen.

Just as everyone was crowding around to watch the spectacle, the crowd was quickly parted.

"Get out of the way, all of you! I heard a Great Green Carp was caught, aren't you going to let this young master feast his eyes?"

A black-robed youth, flanked by seven or eight burly men in green, rudely pushed through the throng, shouting before he even reached them.

With a tearing sound, the black-robed youth's hands, like the sharpest steel drills, easily ripped through the tough fishing net as if it were tofu. He grabbed the fish's head with one hand and effortlessly pulled the Great Green Carp out.

"Tsk, tsk, what a fish, what a fish! A fine Great Green Carp. I was just worrying about not having good ingredients to entertain honored guests. Isn't this a gift from heaven?"

The black-robed youth held the Great Green Carp, looking it over from all sides, and pontificated as if the fish naturally belonged to him.

"My lord speaks the truth! This is fate!"

A middle-aged man in blue silk and a gold belt squeezed to the front and flattered him. He then said, "Old Mu, hurry up and put this Great Green Carp into the hold."

"Hey, hey, Zhou Yaya, wait a moment, just a moment."

Uncle Mu responded repeatedly, calling out to a few familiar fishermen, and was about to catch the Great Green Carp.

It turned out the middle-aged man in the golden sash was the head of the fishery, Fishery Head Yaya. The daily catch of Uncle Mu and the others was collected by him. Although the price was low, it was convenient.

The Great Green Carp was rare. If it were sent to the market, it would definitely sell for a high price, but Uncle Mu was honest and unwilling to take advantage. When Zhou Yaya gave an order, he had no objections.

Meanwhile, just as Uncle Mu and two sturdy fishermen were about to catch the Great Green Carp, the black-robed youth waved his hand gently, causing the few men to catch nothing.