Chapter 179 Arriving in Jinling and Hearing the Sound of the North
The Jinling Wharf was bustling with people and lively as usual, but in the past few days, many people who looked distressed had swarmed in. Most of them were refugees who had fled from the other side of the river. Even though they were on solid ground, they were still terrified.

Ji Maidong, who had received a letter from Ji Ding of Danyang Prefecture via a carrier pigeon, had been waiting at the dock early. In the afternoon, he finally saw a ship with a large "Ji" sail floating on the river coming against the wind from downstream. Ji Maidong smiled, told his men to take care of the carriage and horses, and he stepped out of the tea house and waited for the ferry at the dock.

Ji Mo, standing at the bow facing the wind, looked from afar at Ji Maidong who was waiting below. When the housekeeper who had watched him grow up waved to him excitedly, Ji Mo also rarely showed his emotion and smiled happily.

As soon as he stepped off the deck, Ji Maidong came to greet him, "Seventh Master, you are finally here."

Ji Mo helped the person who was saluting to his feet and asked with concern, "Uncle Dong, how are you? Is everything okay in Jinling?"

"Okay, okay, Master Qi, don't worry, everything is fine. Master Qi, we have already made arrangements at the Qiji Pavilion here. Do you want to go there directly? Or..."

Ji Mo nodded again, "Just go." Then he thought of something and asked, "Uncle Dong, is the guest house ready?"

Ji Maidong said: "Don't worry, Master Qi. Ji Ding sent a message saying that Master Qi is bringing a distinguished guest. You guys dare not neglect him. Everything has been arranged."

"That's good."

"Seventh Master, I wonder who this distinguished guest is?"

The master and servant asked this question while standing at the dock. Just then, Li Yaoguang had already gone down the deck with his family.

Ji Maidong followed his master's line of sight and looked back, and immediately saw Li Yaoguang who had changed back into women's clothes. At first he didn't pay much attention, but just kept looking at her. Suddenly he remembered, and Ji Maidong slapped his thigh in surprise and pointed at Li Yaoguang.

"Ah, this, this, this..." Isn't this the boy who came to Wuding with the jade ring? How did he suddenly become a girl? And the most exaggerated thing is that she actually found her master! Obviously, the situation was like that at that time, and the people he sent out couldn't find him!
Ji Maidong was so surprised that he even looked at his master, "Seventh Master, what's going on?"

Ji Mo knew this would happen. He nodded to the surprised Ji Maidong and said helplessly, "It's the right person. It's her. We are one. Uncle Dong, don't get excited."

Seeing this, Li Yaoguang also came up and bowed to Ji Maidong, "Manager Ji, we meet again. Are you okay? I apologized for what happened in Wuding before. I disguised myself as a man for convenience when I was out. Now that we meet again, I apologize for my apology. Please forgive me."

"I dare not, I dare not." Ji Maidong dared not accept it and waved his hands repeatedly. However, he admired the little girl in his heart. In addition, as Ji Ding said in the letter, his master really recognized this girl, so Ji Maidong hurriedly greeted her.

"We are all family. Come, come, the carriage is ready. Please get in, Mr. Qi and Miss. We will be back soon."

As the number one manager of Qijitang, Ji Maidong was much more powerful than Ji Ding. Needless to say, Ji Maidong's enthusiasm was even greater than when he was in Wuding. He hurriedly and politely led the people to the convoy behind him, but Li Yaoguang did not move.

"Wait a minute."

Ji Maidong: "Miss, do you have any other instructions?"

Li Yaoguang shook his head and looked at Ji Mo, "Brother, Sister Gu and her crew haven't reached the shore yet. I want to wait for her and ask them about their plans."

Ji Mo understood, called Ji Maidong, and told him to settle the others first. He then accompanied Li Yaoguang to wait for Gu Qinglou's ship which was lagging behind.

Ji Maidong, who received the order, secretly looked at Li Yaoguang, then at his own master, and was impressed.

Brother! No wonder, no wonder.

While Ji Maidong was making the arrangements, Gu Qing's ship quickly docked. Seeing Li Yaoguang coming over, Gu Qing assigned tasks and the people got off the boat.

"Sister Gu, what are your plans next?" Li Yaoguang asked as soon as they met.

Gu Qing glanced at the busy convoy behind the two of them and knew that their benefactor did not need them to worry about him.

This is good. My benefactor is a noble lady from an official family. It is not appropriate to have too much contact with people like them in public, so as not to ruin my reputation, Gu Qing said hurriedly.

"Sister Yaoguang, please don't worry about us. We sisters have been to Jinling before and have some friendship with Qingyin Pavilion on the Qinhuai River. We plan to go there first. After dealing with this building ship, we can reopen Linhai Pavilion on the Qinhuai River or buy a flower boat to make a living on the Qinhuai River. Both are ways out."

"Is that so? That's fine too. Take care of yourself, Sister Gu. I'll come find you once I'm settled."

"it is good."

The two exchanged contact information and addresses, said goodbye to each other, and Li Yaoguang got on Jiqitang's car and headed for Qijitang's property in Jinling.

After escaping to Jinling, they felt completely at peace. According to Li Yaoguang's plan, no matter how good the Qijitang was, it was someone else's place and they would not live there for long. After all, it was not their home.

The day after moving in, Li Yaoguang couldn't help running out, ready to look around, familiarize himself with the situation in the city, and by the way, inquire about information so that he could buy some property and settle down.

She asked Manager Ji and found the economic center that he had praised so much. She made an appointment with an economic agent to look at the house. However, because there were so many refugees who could not escape recently, the houses in the city were in great demand and there were no ready-made houses. She had to register her intention to buy a house and the size of the house, paid a deposit of one or two taels of silver and left.

Teahouses and restaurants are the hubs of information distribution, and sometimes the news that circulates is faster than the official gazette.

After leaving the Economic Museum, Li Yaoguang, who didn't want to go back so early, simply found a busy market, found a good teahouse, sat down, ordered a pot of tea and four stacks of cakes, and pricked up his ears while sipping.

A few tables over, there were scholars dressed like scholars;
There were men dressed in silk who looked like merchants;
There were also men wearing shorts, who looked like they were part of gangs;

They sat in groups at their own tables, clearly separated from each other, but they were all talking about recent events in the North.

A skinny guy at the table with the Bundled Gang spoke first, his voice not low.

"Hey, brothers, have you heard about it? It's so tragic in Yangzhou on the other side of the river. I heard from people who escaped that the bodies of the people in Yangzhou city can be piled up to the roofs. Those are all human lives!"

"Humph! It's the incompetence of the imperial court. What do those officials do for a living? Yangzhou is an important town in Yancheng. Where is the governor? Where are the generals who guard it? Are they all dead?"

The scholar was so excited that he couldn't help but interrupt and sneer, "Hey, they are just a bunch of greedy and cowardly officials. They can make money, but they can fight to the death to resist the enemy... Ha!"

A businessman sighed and expressed his own opinion, "It's not to blame. After all, this prosperous Yangzhou has always been peaceful. Who would have thought that there would be a brutal barbarian attack? We didn't expect it, we weren't prepared, and we were caught off guard..."

The short-sleeved man was not convinced by the merchant's words. He immediately got angry, slammed the table, stood up, pointed at the merchant and shouted, "Bah! They are all excuses! You are just a bunch of weaklings!"

The merchant was used to being a master and had a bad temper. He immediately said, "Hey, you are a jerk. Why don't you go? It's just a river. There are boats at the ferry. If you have the courage to kill the enemy, I will pay for the boat. Do you dare?"

The short hit was provoked and sneered, "Bah! Merchants are arrogant!"

"What's wrong with merchants? Without merchants, goods would flow north and south. What would you eat and drink? Ha, you actually look down on us!"

The atmosphere suddenly became tense, and an old man at the gang fighting table couldn't stand it anymore. Thinking that there was no deep hatred between the two sides, he was ready to settle the matter peacefully. He stood up and subdued the fierce guy on his side, with a kind smile on his face, and kept pressing down with his hands, acting as a peacemaker.