Five people sat around a table. Song Chen asked and they answered.
Occasionally, Song Chen didn't ask, but they would tell Song Chen when they remembered it. During the conversation with them, Song Chen also found out their origins. These people had become deserters a few years ago, but they didn't dare to go home.
It hurts my family, so I can only continue to stay here anonymously.
In the end, a few people got together and started this business.
However, they think they are very principled. They only attack the rich and never hurt anyone's name.
Things are not always done, usually only half of the money found is taken away.
"Do you know the specific situation at the border now?" The closer he got to the border, the more Song Chen felt a little uneasy.
"The barbarians are coming fiercely, and the border towns can hardly resist it. King Qi of the imperial court is leading the troops. I am afraid there will be a deadly battle in a few days. If you ask me, I should have sent King Qi here a long time ago. What are the people who were sent here before?
Ah, there are so many princes in the Da Rong royal family, but only King Qi has been on the battlefield, and he still defeated the barbarians with fierce force."
"In recent years, when the Hu people heard that King Qi was seriously ill and would not recover for a long time, they began to become arrogant again."
Song Chen had no interest in the King of Qi they were talking about. She was more concerned about border issues. According to them, the situation at the border was so tense now that it would be difficult for her to get cows.
"You have a way to enter and leave the border freely, right?"
Several people were silent.
Song Chen pointed at them, "Which of you drank water just now?"
The four people didn't know what was going on, and they all nodded dumbly. They were so frightened tonight that they sat down and talked for a long time, and they all drank several glasses of water.
"Just drink it. Now look at your arms to see if there is a red rash."
"Red rash?" Several people were shocked and quickly rolled up their sleeves. Sure enough, they saw a red spot on the inside of their arm. They were unaware of it before, but now they want to reach out and grab it.
But unfortunately, the more I scratched, the more itchy I became.
"You have all been poisoned by the poison that I specially prepared. Without my antidote, you will all fester and die." As he spoke, Song Chen took a shallow sip of water.
"You are such a cruel and cruel girl. You are so evil at a young age. Please come up with the antidote."
Song Chen drank water from the kettle just like them. When they were in trouble, she was fine. She must have taken the antidote beforehand.
"Of course there is an antidote, but the prerequisite is that you must be obedient first." In order to stimulate them, Song Chen directly drank all the water in the cup.
The same water poured from the same kettle would poison them if they drank it, but she would be fine if she drank it.
"You want us to do something for you?"
"To be precise, it's hiring." Song Chen promptly corrected him, "I have something I need to find someone to do right now. As long as you can help me get it done, the money will be yours."
While talking, Song Chen took the opportunity of taking out his sleeves and took out a silver note from the space, "Here is one hundred taels, you can take it now."
One hundred taels is not a small amount. Although they are doing shameful things in this inn, there are not many rich people, and those who are really rich will not run here alone.
Throughout the year, they don't have much money left on their hands, and they can barely make ends meet.
"Are you serious, give us these one hundred taels?"
Song Chen pushed the banknote forward and said, "These one hundred taels are yours, but there are conditions. You have to help me with something."
Several people's eyes were fixed on the banknotes. It had been a long time since they had touched such honest money.
However, greedy eyes are greedy, so what should be said should be said clearly.
"What do you want us to do? I first agreed that our identities cannot be exposed, otherwise we will die if we are caught. But although we are no longer in the army, we will never do anything to collaborate with the enemy and treason.
, if you are a spy sent by the barbarians, you should accept this idea as soon as possible."
"You are a spy sent by the Hu people. You have too much imagination. When did I, a native of Da Rong, become a spy? Don't worry, my matter has nothing to do with political warfare. However, it does.
It’s true that I was affected by the war.”
The two countries are at war, making border trade even more difficult.
Although Song Chen has not yet arrived at the border, the rumors here have already made her estimate the situation beyond the border.
When the thieves heard what Song Chen said, they immediately had no scruples, "As long as you are not a spy for the barbarians, everything is easy to talk about. Tell us what you want us to do."
"I want to buy a batch of cows. Do you have any ideas?"
"Cow? That's the kind of cow that can squeeze out milk? What do you want that beast to do? The stuff it squeezes out has a strong fishy smell, and it's quite unpleasant to smell."
As soon as they heard Song Chen talking about cows, the faces of these people all showed disgust.
"You don't have to worry about what I want the cow for. I just need you to contact me. Now the war is coming, and the border trade may be closed. You only have two days. If you don't help me get the cow after two days, I will
A trip is wasted."
If you want to return to Beiguan Village before the winter solstice, you can't stay here for too long.
They would continue to head towards the border town tomorrow, and she hoped that she would get the good news they brought when she arrived at the border town.
After some discussion, a few thieves decided that this could be done.
Isn't it just a matter of a few cows? They randomly ran on the Hu people's grassland, and cows were everywhere.
The boss of this group of thieves grabbed the banknotes on the table and held them tightly in his hand, "I took away the one hundred taels of silver. Remember what you said. The cow will help you find it and give us the antidote."
.”
"I promised you that you only have two days. If you don't find the cow in two days, you will beg to return the hundred taels to me."
She dared to give them money before the matter was completed, so she naturally had her back.
The whole pot of water was poisoned by her, but she was protected by the spiritual spring and was immune to all poisons.
She was not afraid that they would use the money she gave them to find someone to detoxify them. Only she could detoxify the poison she had given.
When she came here and saw the situation here, she began to worry. Not to mention that she used the space to put the cows back, she was afraid that she would not even see the shadow of a cow.
Unexpectedly, a group of thieves bumped into her and solved a big problem for her.
Early the next morning, shopkeeper Zheng prepared sufficient dry food.
They need to speed up in the next two days. They won't find a place to eat during the day, and they will just deal with it casually with a few mouthfuls of dry food.
At night, try to stay in an inn.
"Miss Song, how was last night? I seemed to hear some noise, but you didn't knock on the wall over there, so I didn't dare to come over rashly."
As soon as he saw Song Chen, shopkeeper Zheng asked her anxiously, worried about what happened to her.
But seeing Song Chen's expression as normal, he said, "It's okay. I was hungry and asked the waiter to bring me some food."
Shopkeeper Zheng didn't have any doubts about this, but it also confirmed Song Chen's guess that those stupid thieves were somewhat discerning and didn't just charge at anyone they saw.
Having said that, if you have such a brain, you can't do anything but this profession.
"I have estimated that we may have to walk for two days to get there, and we have to hurry up. The carriage may be bumpy on the road. Please bear with it for a while. When we get to the border town, we will find a way to meet the grassland people who raise cows.
Get in touch and see if we can find other ways to get the cows back."
Shopkeeper Zheng really didn't know what was so good about that cow that it was worth letting Song Chen take such a risky trip.
"Well, get to the border town as soon as possible and go back immediately after finishing your work."
**
two days later
When Song Chen and Shopkeeper Zheng arrived at the border town, there were several times more people patrolling the gate than in other cities they visited along the way. Everyone who came in or out was carefully questioned.
"Shopkeeper Zheng, what do you think?" Song Chen frowned as he looked at the soldiers patrolling at the city gate.
Shopkeeper Zheng shook his head, "The situation is not optimistic. We came at the wrong time. It looks like there is going to be a war."
Song Chen had known for a long time that there was going to be a war, but she didn't expect that the situation would change so quickly. She originally wanted to resolve the cow matter before the war started, but she didn't expect that it was still a step too late.
"We're all here. Let's go to the city first and then we'll see what happens."
Shopkeeper Zheng drove the carriage to the city gate, and soon several soldiers with swords came forward to question them.
"Where are you from and why do you want to enter the city?"
Shopkeeper Zheng smiled and took out the road guide from his body, "Several officials, please take a look."
The road signs clearly marked his identity, where he lived, and where he was going.
"The person sitting in the carriage is my young master. My master feels that the young master is still young and needs to be sharpened, so he specially asked me to take the young master out to the border town to see the business here. For this small gesture, a few officials will drink some wine."
Shopkeeper Zheng took the opportunity to slip in another ingot of silver.
The soldier skillfully put the money into his sleeve and handed the guide back to Shopkeeper Zheng, "Come in, come in quickly, don't block the people behind you."
"Hey, yes, yes, I'll drive in right away." Shopkeeper Zheng said with a smile on his face.
After entering the city, Song Chen got off the carriage and said, "It's the King of Hell who likes to make things difficult for little devils. There is no truer truth than this."
When entering a city gate, in addition to the guidance provided by the Yamen, you also need money.
If you don't have the money to push it through today, I'm afraid you will have to be interrogated for a long time at the city gate, and in the end you won't be able to decide whether to be an enemy.
Still doing this at this time, Song Chen felt that a general who could bring out such soldiers must not be a good person.
But think about it, didn't those stupid thieves also say something? The imperial court sent King Qi to come over and clean up the situation.
"Who says it's not the case? Whether they let you in or not is all a matter of their words." Shopkeeper Zheng shook his head helplessly, "We'd better find an inn to stay in first. After a short rest, I'll take you to inquire."