The military camp was not far from the port, after all, the garrison in Liuzhou was essentially a navy, but the accident occurred in the camp's ordnance department, which was located in a relatively far place to keep it dry.
The incident had nothing to do with military equipment. After all, when the imperial court mobilized its troops, there was hardly any valuable weaponry left here; it was essentially a temporarily abandoned place. Fortunately, it was abandoned and sparsely populated, otherwise, it might have caused considerable panic...
"Ugh..." Fatty Zhou Haitao was the first to not be able to hold back. Although he had already heard from Maozi and the others, he still vomited profusely. Chen Qing also covered her nose, looking uncomfortable.
Beneath the strong stench of blood lay an extremely gruesome scene.
A hundred or so soldiers had their heads chopped off and boiled in a large pot, while their bodies were hung on large, shade-dried logs to be exposed to the sun!
"Ugh... Laoda... ugh, what's going on...?"
The fat man vomited up yellow fluid, and the Maozi beside him helped to comfort him. He was born a hunter and often dealt with bloody matters, but the scene before him still made him extremely uncomfortable. The first time he saw it, he was no better off than the fat man.
"They are General Yuchi's personal guards!" Wei Gongcheng moved closer, his expression extremely solemn. Although his tone was calm, his hands gripping the wheelchair were actually trembling.
"You could tell that?" Zhou Haitao couldn't help but ask, after all, the head had been boiled to a pulp.
Wei Gongcheng ignored him and instead looked at Chen Qing: " Lord Chen, what exactly did you mean by what you said to me earlier?"
Chen Qing fell silent, unsure of what to say for a moment.
He suppressed his nausea, carefully examined the corpse on the large log, and nodded, saying, "Boiling in water and exposing it to the scorching sun, though a bit brutal, is actually a good method."
"What do you mean, sir?" Even Wei Gongcheng, who was usually very composed, was now furious. He had also served in the north, and many of these soldiers were comrades-in-arms. He might not know their names, but they had all taken enemy blades for each other on the battlefield.
Now that he's died such a miserable death and been so humiliated, you actually call it a good method?
Chen Qing glanced at the other person and sighed, "You're right, General Yuchi Feihong is a pragmatic person."
Wei Gongcheng's hands trembled, and he asked incredulously, "You're saying... General Yuchi made these?"
Chen Qing nodded.
"That's impossible!" Wei Gongcheng immediately tried to retort, " The Yuchi Household wouldn't treat their own soldiers like that!"
"It was out of necessity..." Chen Qing said calmly.
"How could you be forced to do such a thing?"
"For example... what happened to General Wei a few days ago." Chen Qing looked at Wei Gongcheng: "If you knew that your comrade-in-arms had become a puppet and was about to commit violence against someone, would you have intervened?"
"I..." Wei Gongcheng suddenly realized what was happening, his face turning ashen. "The general told me that Painted Skin Mister is dead, and the brothers' revenge has been avenged!"
"This thing..." Chen Qing approached the pot, enduring extreme discomfort as he looked at the things floating in it, and said coldly, "It's much more troublesome than Painted Skin Mister!"
--
"Second brother, why are you staring at me like that?"
In a private room of a restaurant, Shen Laojiu couldn't help but speak up. From the moment they started eating, he could tolerate his annoying, wanton sister-in-law, but why was his second brother also giving him that strange look?
" Laojiu, when did you start eating so much?" Shen Yiyun asked curiously.
The Laojiu is named Shen Yizhuo, which is probably the strangest name among his brothers. However, this name was actually given to him after he was three years old, because when Laojiu very young, the Shen Family patriarch verified that he had the talent to inherit the Ancient Insect Art.
The word "turbid" means the turbidity of the five elements of black water, and the kidney essence is used to turbid the black water to nourish the unique hundred-eyed ghost insects of the Shen family.
Having witnessed so many disgusting things since childhood, Laojiu had a poor appetite and rarely ate meat. How could he possibly eat all the meat dishes that Murong Yunji ordered so cleanly now?
"I just feel... pretty hungry," Shen Yizhuo said honestly.
Shen Yiyun looked at the wound on Laojiu's face, his brows furrowing. The wound wasn't deep, so why hadn't it scabbed over yet?
But it didn't ulcerate... Maybe I'm just overthinking it?
He didn't believe that Yuchi Feihong had poisoned Laojiu. The Ancient Insect Art could taste all the poisons in the world, and Laojiu had grown up eating poison. If Yuchi Feihong, a martial artist, could poison Laojiu, then the Shen Family would truly be a laughing stock.
Having thought this through, he stopped dwelling on it and got down to business. "This prefect's words and actions are strange and inconsistent. What are your thoughts on this?"
"I think that man was definitely not married." Murong Yunji rested her chin on her hand, still recalling the heroic aura of the man she had fought.
Shen Yiyun was speechless for a moment, then looked directly at Laojiu.
"I... I think maybe that prefect has lost his mind?" Laojiu said, eating meat.
Shen Yiyun took a breath. She shouldn't have asked those two. Come to think of it, what brilliant conclusions could they possibly draw?
As she ate, Shen Yiyun recalled the events of the day.
He could naturally tell that Yuchi Feihong wanted to get rid of them as soon as possible so he could discuss other matters with the prefect.
But the prefect didn't seem to want to be with the general.
But then, after Yuchi took action, they compromised.
What does this mean?
Shen Yiyun couldn't understand it...
Just then, there was a knock on the door of the private room. Shen Yiyun looked up at the door and said, "Come in."
The door opened, and entered Shen Yiyan, the head of the Shen family's Rongsheng Trading Company.
"Sister-in-law, second brother, ninth brother!" Shen Yiyan greeted the three of them very politely as he entered the room.
"Alright, let's get down to business." Shen Yiyun smiled and gestured for the other person to sit down, even personally pouring him a glass of wine. "How's the inquiry about the real estate?"
He had personally witnessed the effects of the door gods. These door gods could indeed identify water ghosts and insect demons, and they also seemed to be able to inflict a status effect on the soldiers guarding the city, somewhat like the divine strike technique of the north. It was truly amazing. Regardless of whether it was some kind of technique of the new prefect, it had great potential for future development for Liuzhou.
If it weren't for the fact that this new prefect was engaged to the royal family, he would have wanted to marry into the family.
Looking back now, was it because the Emperor married Princess Yong'an to this prefect that the prefect had submitted such miraculous magical techniques to the royal family?
Regardless, the Shen Family still needs to try their best to obtain this technique. Chen Qing is currently protected by a powerful and formidable figure, so he cannot be moved for the time being. They need to go back and discuss it with Laoliu. However, they certainly cannot miss this opportunity to make business decisions.
With his keen eye, he could naturally see that Liuzhou had enormous potential for future appreciation, and acquiring real estate and commercial properties here first would never be a loss.
"I've inquired..." Shen Yiyan said with difficulty, "I heard that Proprietor Ye of Tianhua found a minor official named Zhou Haitao and found out the price the government wants to sell it for."
" Proprietor Ye?" Shen Yiyun frowned. "You let a woman take the lead?"
Upon hearing this, Shen Yiyan lowered his head in shame. "It was my mistake, Second Brother."
"She bought it?"
"No..." Shen Yiyan quickly shook his head. "The price was too outrageous, and Ye Xiaoqian and the official couldn't reach an agreement."
"Too outrageous? How outrageous?" Shen Yiyun asked curiously.
"Ten thousand taels per square meter!"
"Pfft!" Laojiu, who was rinsing his mouth with tea, choked and his face turned red. After catching his breath, he couldn't help but interject, "Is this guy surnamed Chen obsessed with money?"
Shen Yiyan agreed, sighing, "And they don't even let you choose. To buy one street-facing shop, you have to buy ten non-street-facing or upstairs shops, and the price remains the same—11,000 yuan per square meter!"
"No bargaining?" Shen Yiyun asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No bargaining..." Shen Yiyan shook his head. "According to Proprietor Ye, that official surnamed Zhou even said that if you want to buy it, you should do it sooner, otherwise it's not impossible for the price to rise to 100,000 later."
The three members of the Shen Family were stunned upon hearing this, but Murong Yunji burst into laughter first. "This pretty-boy prefect is quite confident!"
Shen Yiyun paused for a few seconds, then shook his head and chuckled.
Only Shen Laojiu said indignantly, "Only someone out of their mind would buy this."
Shen Yiyun glanced at Laojiu, then said, "Move the silver, buy it, buy as much as you can!"
Shen Laojiu: "..."
Shen Yiyan, however, showed no surprise and said in a low voice, "I guessed that Second Brother might make this decision, so at noon I sent a message to Suyang and the manager in Nanming to transfer cash over."
"You're quite quick-witted," Shen Yiyun praised. "You sent a message this afternoon; even if you haven't arrived yet, you should have replied by now, right? How much cash can you transfer from the two branch locations?"
Shen Yiyan hesitated for a moment, then said, "I don't know why... as of when I arrived just now, neither branch has replied."
"No reply?" Shen Yiyun's heart skipped a beat. "No reply from either place?"
For some reason, ever since he met Yuchi Feihong, he had felt uneasy, and hearing this news now intensified that unease!
"I'll leave this to you!" Shen Yiyun thought for a few moments and then stood up, "Sister-in-law, Laojiu, let's go back to Nanyang first!"
"Now?" Laojiu was taken aback.
Murong Yunji was rather reluctant; she still wanted to see the man.
"Hmm..." Shen Yiyun didn't explain, but looked at Shen Yiyan: "Go and book a boat for us, we'll go back tonight."
"Yes, Second Brother." Upon hearing this, Shen Yiyan stood up without even taking a sip of wine and said, "I'll go and take care of it right away."
However, he was somewhat puzzled by Shen Lao'er's actions.
After Shen Yiyan left, Laojiu looked at him suspiciously. "Second Brother, why are you in such a hurry? Your sister-in-law's three children haven't been redeemed yet."
"The prefect has already given us the terms, we'll just pay up." Shen Yiyun took a sip of wine and said, "We shouldn't stay here any longer, I have a bad feeling about this place."
He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he had a feeling that if he didn't leave now, he might not be able to leave at all...
Um, after reading the comments, were yesterday's two updates really that weak? Well, I don't think so.
The main boss of Volume 2 is about to appear, and there will definitely be several chapters of setup. Hehe, I can only shamelessly ask you, dear readers, to continue reading. This week's results will determine whether it can make it to the Three Rivers list. Those of you who frequently follow the rankings know how fierce Mofang this week. Whether it can make it to the Three Rivers depends entirely on you!