Chapter 111 Running away
"It's so scary! I can't imagine how loud I would scream if this thing bit me." Pan Yingying rubbed her arms, still feeling scared.

He looked up and met Yu Chaosheng's eyes, and somehow, they both burst out laughing.

Pan Yingying glared at him, "Didn't you say you didn't want to run just now? But you ran faster than me!"

Yu Chaosheng crossed his arms and rolled his eyes, "I didn't do that to protect you and me, otherwise I would have to stay and fight this snake for three hundred rounds."

Pan Yingying didn't believe what he said and was too lazy to argue with him on this topic. She turned around and looked for Fat Tiger, who was shivering in the doghouse that had run into the tent.

Yu Chaosheng did not stay to watch the men deal with the black snake. After this trip, the depression in his heart suddenly subsided a lot.

By the time he went to the small shower tent nearby to take a shower, he had completely forgotten about Qu Xiang coveting him.

Batian was not injured, he was just frightened. After a meal of fresh beef, he became lively again. However, he had a psychological trauma and did not dare to go out for a walk alone for a while. He had to be led by Pan Yingying or Yu Chaosheng.

Five days later, the Taoyuan Village group arrived in Jinping County, a small county town next to Jinzhou.

The group of exiles escorted by Liang Ye had just arrived in Lingyun.

The Lingyun County government was in a state of chaos. Liang Ye asked out of curiosity and found out that the governor of Liangzhou and his daughter who had married into the capital had died in a house somewhere in Lingyun County.

For some reason, Liang Ye suddenly thought of Yu Chaosheng and always felt that the matter was related to them.

Qi Yanniang went into the city with a basket on her back to do some shopping and accidentally ran into Qi Fang and her daughter and her cousin Xie Qionghua. After they had chatted for a few words, they ran into the escort officers who were collecting supplies from the county government.

After both parties greeted each other, Liang Ye asked curiously, "Why didn't you leave?"

Qi Fang smiled and said, "We opened a shop here."

She pointed to a shop that was still under renovation. There was a brand new plaque on the door that read "Taoyuanzhai."

Xie Qionghua covered her mouth, not daring to look at the officials, and whispered, "The village chief said that he wants to open our Taoyuanzhai all over Dayu."

Liang Ye pondered over what Xie Qionghua said, and thought that Brother Chaosheng had great ambitions.

Liang Ye left the city with the supplies he had received and the fugitives who had come into the city to buy things. He touched the letter in his arms with a gloomy expression.

Qi Yanniang returned to her own cart carrying a basket of supplies. She lowered her voice and told Grandpa Qi what she had heard from Qi Fang and the others.

Old Master Qi took a deep breath, took off his worn-out shoes, pulled out a dagger from his calf, picked up the sole, and took out a small oil-paper bag from it.

The oil-paper bag contained banknotes. He glanced at the Qi family members who were staring at him with burning eyes, "Pack your things, we will leave soon to seek refuge with the Liu family kid."

Although the other members of the Qi family did not understand why, since the head of the family had spoken, there was no reason for them not to do as he ordered.

Behind people's backs, Old Master Qi took out two silver bills from the oil-paper bag. After thinking for a while, he took out two more. Finally, he took four silver bills and went to find Liang Ye.

Not long after, Grandpa Qi waved to the Qi family, indicating that they could leave.

The Qi family pushed a cart into the city, ready to find an inn to pack up and buy a few horse-drawn carriages, otherwise they would not be able to catch up if they just relied on their legs.

Seeing the Qi family leave so brazenly and blatantly, many voices emerged among the exiles.

Liang Ye curled his lips and said, "I won't beat around the bush with you. They paid for their lives. If you have the money, you can do the same."

The head of the Wu family gave a look to the younger generation of his family, and one of them said, "Liang Tou'er, how much silver did you get?"

Liang Ye's hand gently brushed the hilt of the sword, squinted his eyes, and said slowly: "The Qi family is still short of 53 heads, and taels of silver notes are required. You may as well calculate it yourself." As soon as he said this, the originally boiling crowd suddenly fell silent.

Especially the Wu family, they have a large population, and they take few heads of bandits when they kill them on the road. So, it takes at least 100,000 silver notes to get out of the bandit group.

However, if I really take out so much silver bills, how will I live in the future?

Those who have been able to preserve their family fortunes until now are not fools. Those people in Taoyuan Village must have their reasons for going to Yaocheng. Seeing that the world is about to fall into chaos, they certainly want to go to a stable place and start over.

But the question is, should I gamble my remaining assets on this?
Liang Ye lowered his eyelids. He had just received a letter from home. The situation in the capital was unstable, and his father asked him to make plans early. His family had already returned to their hometown in Yuan County.

Liang Ye's father, Liang Yantao, was a minor official in the Ministry of Works, and his father-in-law worked in Shuntian Prefecture. Although both of them were ninth-rank officials, they were well-informed. The fact that they could write him such a letter meant that the time had come.

He was not a particularly smart man, but he had been brave since he was a child. Otherwise, he would not have done so many things along the way, turning a blind eye after taking the tributes and letting the convicts go out for fun.

Finally, let’s do something big so that the brothers under me can have some money to rely on.

Liang Ye made up his mind and added fuel to the fire.

"Brother Chaosheng and the others should be arriving in Jinzhou soon."

Those who were still hesitating gritted their teeth and stepped forward with the silver bills.

If we delay any longer, we will really fall behind the people in Taoyuan Village.

Liang Ye gave Feng Er a wink, and Feng Er understood and took out the list from his bag.

Whenever he received a banknote from a family, Feng would write down the family's name.

After all the names on the list were crossed out, Liang Ye bowed to everyone.

"Everyone, the mountains remain green and the waters flow forever. We bid farewell now."

He spoke it in a casual manner and acted even more casually. He turned around and called on the officers under his command to mount their horses, and left without looking back.

The remaining prisoners looked at each other in confusion. Are they... free?

The old lady of the Wu family slapped her thigh and said, "What are you still standing there for? Go to the city and buy a carriage!"

Everyone reacted immediately, and those who could take on the responsibility from every household went into the city to buy carriages and horses, while the others stayed where they were to sort out supplies.

On the other side, Liang Ye and his group of officials rode their horses for a long distance before finding a deserted place to divide the banknotes.

The officers didn't know why their boss did this, but they always believed that he had his reasons.

Liang Ye was not stingy and gave each of them eight thousand taels of silver, and reminded them that it would be best to exchange the silver notes for some gold and silver on the way home.

He didn't say it explicitly, but it might not be long before the banknotes in his hand would become waste paper. He just mentioned this.

Liang Ye and Feng Er were going to their hometown Yuan County, so they had to separate from other officials halfway.

Before leaving, he repeatedly warned her not to show off in public after returning home, and to quickly find a safe place for her family to live temporarily, and he would contact them when the time came.

These people had been with him when he was in the capital, and they had done so many things together along the way, so naturally they were very convinced of him.

(End of this chapter)