After resting at home for three consecutive days, I finally shook off the fatigue from the long journey.
I strolled through Shenyang city, the streets unusually lively, with every household preparing for the New Year.
Changsun Ling'er and the others had also been sent back to Chang'an by Fang Er's helicopter, and Lai Yifa followed Fang Er, reporting on the changes in Liaodong during this period.
The business at the market had been booming, especially the shops from the eight tribes of the grassland.
I don't know where they hunted these white bears, but now a single pelt was fetching over a thousand guan.
And honey, which used to be as expensive as gold, could now be bought for one guan a half jin, enough for people to enjoy during the festival.
The young rams culled from the sheep farm, except for those with poor health who were castrated, had already been sold in two batches, all bought by merchants from all directions.
Upon hearing that they were breeding stock from our sheep farm, they eagerly bought them up. Even ordinary ones could sell for ten guan.
The good quality ones, those with slightly darker heads and large ears that could droop, started at twenty guan.
~~~~~~wΑp.kanshu伍.net
Fang Er had anticipated these matters, so he wasn't surprised. However, what Lai Yifa said next caught him off guard.
"My Lord, more than half a month ago, a group of child traffickers came to the city."
"Were they caught? Child traffickers are human traffickers, Fang Er hated these people the most."
"Of course! Those traffickers were unlucky to have dared to reach for the second daughter of Wu Shiyue, the Duke of Ying and the Sima of the Protectorate Commandery of Liaodong."
Fang Er was stunned and quickly asked, "Wait! You're saying Duke Ying, Wu Shiyue, is now the Sima of the Protectorate Commandery of Liaodong?"
"Indeed, not long after you left, he came to take office," Lai Yifa replied.
"Continue with what happened next!"
"Yes, my Lord. Duke Ying's daughter also studies at the academy. She always goes home early after school, but that day she didn't."
"Duke Ying sent people to search from the Protectorate Commandery to the academy but couldn't find her. Later, they heard that other families in the city had also lost children, and only then did they realize child traffickers had come."
"Do you know how it ended?"
Lai Yifa paused, building suspense.
"Bang!"
"Speak!"
Fang Er had no patience for this. He felt that human traffickers shouldn't exist in this world, and furthermore, Wu Shiyue's daughter had been abducted.
If his memory served him correctly, Wu Shiyue only had three daughters, and the second one was the future Wu Meiniang!
"Heh heh~" Lai Yifa rubbed his head where he was hit and continued with a smile.
"Duke Ying, unable to find his daughter, became anxious and directly dispatched a thousand Protectorate troops to search the entire city, and sent two thousand more outside the city."
"Finally, they received news that a few old women were taking four or five children towards the north of the city."
"When the army arrived, Duke Ying's daughter was leading those children to a restaurant."
Fang Er: ???kΑnshu伍.ξà
"A restaurant?"
"Hahahaha, it's hilarious when you talk about this. Those old women, who were child traffickers, were instead sold off by Duke Ying's daughter."
"Not only that, but they weren't sold to be wives, but to be servants!"
Lai Yifa couldn't stop laughing, not having finished his story.
Human traffickers being sold by the children they kidnapped – this story would be a joke no matter when it was told.
But this joke had truly happened!
"Where are they? Were those child traffickers caught?"
Fang Er pressed.
"They were caught, all of them. They're locked up in the Protectorate Commandery's prison, and they say they'll be executed after the New Year," Lai Yifa said, patting his chest to calm himself from his laughter.
"Let's go! To the Protectorate Commandery of Liaodong!"
With news of Wu Erniang, what was the point of wandering the streets? He wanted to see the little girl first.
The group, who had just reached Shenyang's North Gate, changed their route and headed towards the Protectorate Commandery.
As the New Year approached, the Protectorate Commandery had become quieter. Those who were supposed to be on holiday had taken their leave, leaving only a few officials on duty.
"Greetings, my Lord!"
The guards at the entrance of the Protectorate Commandery immediately bowed upon seeing Fang Er.
"Is Duke Ying here?"
Fang Er asked.
"Yes, yes, yes. I'll take you in."
The guard led Fang Er and his entourage into the Protectorate Commandery.
The backyard of the Protectorate Commandery should have been Chai Shao's residence, but he was still staying at Fang Er's house.
The reason was that it was far inferior to the Duke of Anguo's mansion.
Upon entering the backyard, they saw Chai Shao and Liu Dacheng also present. A table had been set up in the courtyard, and they were playing Mahjong with two other people.
Lai Yifa recognized these two and quietly introduced them to Fang Er.
Liu Dacheng: Nine Wan
Duke Ying: Two Tiao
Chai Shao: Peng! Eight Tiao
The other person, Prefectural Clerk Zhou from the Prefectural Governor's office, pondered for a long time after drawing a tile before playing it: One Tong.
Chai Shao: Gang!
Pushing out the three One Tong tiles, he looked approvingly at Prefectural Clerk Zhou and reached for the end of the tile pile on the table.
As soon as he got the tile, he was overjoyed.
"Hahahaha, Great Four Winds, eighty-eight times! Gang Kai Hua, four times! Give me the money, give me the money!"
He then pushed the tiles onto the table in front of everyone.
East East East South South South West West West North North North Fa Fa
"Hiss~~"
Duke Ying gasped.
Liu Dacheng and Prefectural Clerk Zhou were in agony. The bet was fifty wen, and this one hand cost them...
"Wait, how much did we lose!"
"Quick, calculate how much we lost!" Liu Dacheng said to Prefectural Clerk Zhou with a pained expression.
Prefectural Clerk Zhou reached behind his back and pulled out an abacus.
After a series of clicks, he said with a ashen face, "A total of ninety-two times. The base bet is fifty wen, totaling 4600 wen."
"I also declared a Gang, losing an extra fifty wen."
His monthly salary as a clerk in the Prefectural Governor's office, along with various benefits, was only about ten guan.
In one go, he had lost half of it. Coupled with his previous losses, he figured he'd have to spend the New Year hiding under his bed.
"Hahahaha, Father Chai has such lucky tiles!"
Fang Er, who had been waiting for them to finish the round, walked over with a smile.
"Your subordinate greets Duke of Anguo!" Liu Dacheng and Prefectural Clerk Zhou quickly stood up to salute.
Duke Ying Wu Shiyue also stood up, looking at Fang Er and smiling, "Hahahaha, you must be the Duke of Anguo, what a handsome young man!"
"Don't talk nonsense, give me the money!"
Chai Shao was a little displeased. The money hadn't been collected yet, and his son-in-law had come to chat. What if these guys defaulted?
"Heh, Duke Chai is unhappy? Alright, here you go~"
Wu Shiyue smiled, took out a silver ingot from his embrace, and threw it onto the table.
Seeing this, Liu Dacheng and Prefectural Clerk Zhou could only take out their winnings, but what they produced were pieces of paper.
These were small denomination deposit slips from the bank, one guan per slip.
Nowadays, these had almost replaced heavy whole strings of copper coins in Shenyang. A guan weighed over seven catties, and no one would carry them around aimlessly.