As the carriage approached the city gates, it slowed to a crawl.
Inside, a young nobleman dressed in fine silks reclined against the soft cushions. A rare look of satisfaction crossed his handsome, pampered face. “The roads in Yecheng are actually quite smooth. I barely felt any bumps along the way.”
Suddenly.
A strange odor drifted in through the gaps in the curtains.
It was a foul mix of sour rot, sweat, and other indescribable stenches.
Frowning, he casually lifted the carriage curtain.
He looked out.
A crowd of ragged refugees was packed outside the city gates. Families, with elderly folk and young children in tow, were all gaunt and sallow-faced, looking like walking corpses.
The queue wound haphazardly.
It stretched from the city gates all the way past a distant dirt mound.
“Why are there so many refugees outside the city? What on earth is Uncle Cheng trying to do? My father said Yecheng just survived a plague. They must be dirt-poor by now. Why is Uncle still putting on a brave front and taking in refugees?”
“He’s truly just as senile as my father!” The nobleman let the curtain fall, covering his nose and mouth with a handkerchief. He muffledly ordered the guard driving the carriage outside, “Hurry, get us into the city.”
The guard cracked his whip to urge the horses forward, but as they neared the gates, a city guard blocked their path with a spear. “To the back of the line.”
Seeing this, the guard retrieved an exquisite gilded calling card from his robes. “Brother, my young master is Fang Shuo, the son of the Governor of Chaoyang.”
The soldier didn't even spare a glance at the card.
“What does who your young master is have to do with me? The refugees outside have been queuing for two miles. Everyone waits. If you want to enter the city, follow the rules and line up at the back.”
Hearing this, the guard quickly caught on. He pulled out a heavy pouch of silver from his chest and offered it to the soldier. “Brother, you might not know, but our governor is an old friend of Governor Cheng. Could you do us a favor and let us through first?”
“The rules for entering the city were set by Governor Cheng himself. The governor said everyone must queue up properly, no matter who they are!”
The soldier's face went cold. “Take your money back. We don't do things like that here in Yecheng. If you try to bribe me again and cost me my job, I won't let you off lightly!”
In the past, no one would have wanted this job guarding the city unless their family was starving. There was no extra money to be made in the army, and they had to live in constant fear of being sent out to fight bandits, only to end up as casualties.
But things were different now. Whether one worked in the newly opened workshops of Yecheng or joined the military, the governor's office paid everyone a monthly salary on time.
A saying had spread throughout both Yecheng and Xindu City: “If one person joins a workshop or the army, the whole family will never go hungry or cold.”
Initially, Yecheng had a severe labor shortage. As long as someone was capable of doing the work, anyone could apply, regardless of gender.
But as more and more refugees arrived in Yecheng, competition in every trade grew increasingly fierce.
Thus, the governor's office followed Xindu City's example and issued a new decree: candidates for all city positions and workshop jobs had to undergo examinations, with only the best being selected.
He had only secured his current post as a city guard by beating out nearly two hundred competitors in the examinations.
He still remembered the day he received his official papers from the governor's office. His family had looked at him with immense pride—proud that he had secured a good job with a monthly salary, and proud that he had become a city guard, a position now respected by the common people.
The story of the two hundred righteous men of Xindu City who defied death to help the Divine Lady slay the evil dragon was legendary.
It had already spread far and wide across both Xindu City and Yecheng.
It was precisely because of such heroic deeds that everyone aspired to become people of great righteousness like them.
The guard returned to the carriage with his money pouch, a troubled look on his face. “Young Master, the people of Yecheng are truly strange. They won't look at the calling card, nor will they accept money. They insist we line up.”
Fang Shuo furrowed his brow. “Even better. I have no interest in a backwater like Yecheng anyway. Let's head home.”
The guard urged, “Young Master, we haven't even met Governor Cheng yet. If we return to Chaoyang like this, the master will surely be furious. How about I line up while you wait in the carriage?”
Fang Shuo waved his hand dismissively, telling him to get on with it.
This wait
lasted from broad daylight until the stars shone bright in the night sky.
The guard was nowhere to be seen, and with his eyelids growing heavy with sleep, Fang Shuo leaned back against the cushions and dozed off.
He slept straight through until dawn.
Fang Shuo opened his eyes groggily, only to be met with the sight of an unfamiliar, desolate wilderness. He was completely dazed.
“Wasn't I inside the carriage?” he muttered, sitting up abruptly as he looked around. “Where is my carriage?”
There was nothing but weeds as far as the eye could see.
A cold gust of wind blew past. He looked down, only to realize he was lying on a pile of dry hay.
His silk robe was gone.
His jade belt was gone.
Even his boots were gone.
All he had left on his body was a crumpled inner tunic, and his feet were shoved into a pair of old cloth shoes of unknown origin.
“Who stripped me of my clothes?!” Fang Shuo's voice echoed across the empty wilderness, but there was no reply.
He seemed to finally realize what had happened.
His face turned from blue to white, and then from white to red. His lips trembled for a long time before he finally spat out a line through gritted teeth.
“Really, vile people from a wretched land indeed!!!”
*
Meanwhile.
A carriage was parked in a bamboo grove. If Fang Shuo were here, he would have recognized it as his own.
Inside, the little fox tossed all of Fang Shuo's garments out of the carriage window. “Host, isn't it a bit unethical for us to steal his carriage and dump him in the wilderness?”
While it was quite thrilling, its conscience was giving it a sharp nudge.
“Chaoyang City is relatively prosperous and has suffered no natural disasters, so it would be difficult to earn Shock Value there through conventional means.” Yun Shu sat in Fang Shuo's carriage, nibbling on his pastries. “That's why we must use this Fang Shuo to secure Chaoyang City first. Only then will I have a legitimate reason to go there and farm Shock Value.”
“Even though we farmed over two million Shock Value points using the coal mine and sugarcane recently, it's still far too little.”
According to the book's timeline, the Governor of Chaoyang was on the verge of passing away. He had only one son, Fang Shuo, so inheriting the governorship was practically set in stone.
In the novel, Fang Shuo was described as someone without much talent or malice. He simply loved pleasure, and his main philosophy when facing trouble was that nothing was too difficult in this world as long as one was willing to give up.
She remembered that in the novel, just as Shen Jue was about to lead his troops to siege the city, Fang Shuo surrendered immediately, opening the gates to welcome him in.
The little fox followed her lead, reaching out a paw to grab a pastry from the white jade plate. Taking a big bite, it asked, “Host, how are you going to use Fang Shuo to take Chaoyang City?”
It chatted as it munched on the pastries.
Wow, these were actually incredibly delicious, much better than the pastries in Xindu City and Yecheng!
“Just eat and stop nosey-ing around.” Yun Shu had no intention of sharing all her plans with the system, lest it cause unnecessary trouble.
“Oh, alright.”
The little fox obediently went back to eating.
Yun Shu picked up the gilded calling card beside her, flipped it open to scan the contents, and then gently closed it.
It turned out Fang Shuo was actually related to Cheng Ji. In that case, she would have to take very good care of him.
She would ensure his experience in Yecheng was truly unforgettable.
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