Wang Xiaoqi looked at the chaotic scene in front of him, and the more he thought about it, the more aggrieved he felt. He couldn’t help but shout, crying out, “Father, Mother, I miss you so much . . .”

His words made the surrounding people very quiet; after that, the soldiers actually cried together.

They came here to quell a rebellion almost two month ago, and they were unable to sleep and eat well these two months, which was really unbearable. They wanted to go back; they wanted to have a good meal and have a good sleep.

The imperial soldiers lost their fighting spirit, and as for the people in the Hongjiang Salt Farm . . .

Those who killed innocent people in Hongjiang Salt Farm were mostly killed by Jiang Zhen, who already killed a lot of people these days. As for the rest of those people . . .

The soldiers would kill ordinary people to earn military merit, so they were not willing to let go of the ordinary people in Hongjiang Salt Farm . . . Hongjiang Salt Farm was not very peaceful; it was chaotic with people being killed at random. Some were killed by the imperial soldiers while others ran into Jiang Zhen.

Not counting the old and weak, there were  more than 3,000 adult men around Jiang Zhen.

It was at this time that Zheng Yi sent another letter, informing Jiang Zhen that he had rented some sea-going ships and would personally bring people over to pick them up.

Zheng Yi also said that not only the old and weak had to leave on these ships, Jiang Zhen and others also had to leave because the court had sent another imperial envoy over, specifically to deal with the matters of the Hongjiang Salt Farm.

According to the empress dowager’s intention, he intended to convict all the people involved in Hongjiang Salt Farm. After that, there would be a new salt farm here, but this time, under the control of the empress dowager.

The imperial court had planned to clean up this place thoroughly, so there was no need for Jiang Zhen to stay here. He had indeed achieved his goal and was ready to leave.

“We can all leave?” Zhu Erlin’s entire body froze when he heard Jiang Zhen say that they could leave.

He always knew that if he took part in rebellion, at best, he would need to hide for the rest of his life or be killed by imperial soldiers, but just then, what did Jiang Zhen just said ?

Jiang Zhen said they could leave too? To live somewhere else?

“Yes, you can go too,” Jiang Zhen said, “but of course, you will have to pay.”

“Pay! I’ll pay! Hahahahahahaha!” Zhu Erlin agreed without hesitation. Compared to leaving, what’s a little money? Anyway they stole that money.

After Jiang Zhen and Zhu Erlin agreed on the price and Zhu Erlin paid almost all of his money, he suddenly remembered that there was a person they forgot.

That imperial envoy, they still needed to deal with him.

Not seen for a while, the imperial envoy, Zhou Maohe, looked even more like a savage these days.

Because of the poor living conditions in the mountains, many people were sick. But Zhou Maohe was still in high spirits; when he saw Jiang Zhen, he couldn’t help but  reprimand him loudly, “Jiang Zhen, are you planning to join the rebellion? If not, why hang out with them all day and leave me here?”

“Lord Zhou, I had no choice,” Jiang Zhen said. “Lord Zhou, actually, this was the safest place for you. You actually occupied Hongjiang Salt Farm. I don’t even know how many people out there want to kill you!”

Zhou Maohe froze. It took him a moment before he could look at Jiang Zhen again. “You didn’t come here solely to save me, did you?”

“How could that be? I’m here to save Lord Zhou.” Jiang Zhen’s heart jumped a little, worried that this lord Zhou noticed something.

Zhou Maohe waved his hand and sighed. “You don’t need to lie to me. I know you are a good person.”

Jiang Zhen probably came not to save him, but to save the people living by the sea.

Thinking of those people around him who were very grateful to Jiang Zhen and kept saying that Jiang Zhen was their savior, he also heard that Jiang Zhen had dissuaded Zhu Erlin from fighting head-on with the imperial soldiers, which made Zhou Maohe more and more sure of his suspicions.

This person was willing to go kill pirates to save people, and this time, he wanted to save people living by the sea . . . Although he looked vicious, in fact, he was a good person.

Jiang Zhen, who was issued a good person card: “. . .”

Under the persistent harassment of Zhu Erlin and his men, almost all the imperial soldiers retreated, and not long after, Hongjiang Salt Farm was much safer than before.

It was raining lightly, so the weather was not good, but everyone standing in the long line looked happy.

The light rain fell on Jiang Zhen’s face and hair, Water droplets splashed his hair; he wiped them with his hands and breathed a sigh of relief.

He didn’t come in vain this time. He saved a lot of people, got a lot of manpower, not to mention he also got a lot of money . . . With people and money, he would certainly do much better in the future.

“Jiang Zhen, you will not lie to me, right?” Zhu Erlin also wiped a handful of water droplets from his face as he asked uneasily.

“What do you have that I would want to cheat from you?” Jiang Zhen asked.

Zhu Erlin opened his mouth and suddenly realized that there was really no need for Jiang Zhen to lie to him.

If Jiang Zhen wanted to turn against them, he definitely had the ability to make them fight among themselves and force them to tell where their money was hidden, but Jiang Zhen didn’t do it. He also had been trying to find a way to feed these old and weak.

“What can we do in the future?” Zhu Erlin asked again.

“If you want, you can join the Jinzhen Escort Agency,” Jiang Zhen said.

“Really?” Zhu Erlin looked at Jiang Zhen excitedly.

Jiang Zhen nodded.

Zhu Erlin wiped a handful of water droplets from his face again, but this time, he not only wiped the cool droplets of rain that fell on his face, there were also warm tears mixed with it.

The army led by Jiang Zhen and Zhu Erlin was very large with tens of thousands of men. Such a huge team moved slowly, but still, they eventually reached the shore.

There were ten or so huge ships docked there; from a distance, many small boats could be seen stopping by the seaside while a crowd of people were moving around the beach.

Instead of rashly going there, Jiang Zhen asked Jiang Ming to take a look at the situation first.

Jiang Ming came back soon after, and when he came back, he was followed by a man wearing a huge hat and a thick straw coat.

It was not raining hard that day, but this man wrapped himself so tightly that it made others unable to see his appearance.

“Who is that?” Zhu Erlin was a little curious.

Jiang Zhen’s heart, however, started to beat faster. That was . . . 

The person wearing a large hat raised his head after approaching, letting Jiang Zhen and the others see his appearance clearly. Who would it be if it wasn’t Zhao Jinge?

“Jinge!” Jiang Zhen called out, then rushed toward Zhao Jinge, wanting to give him a hug.

But Zhao Jinge dodged. “Be careful . . .”

As he spoke, his chest moved, and then a small face peeked out from the straw coat.

 

Edited by: Faro

Proofreader: Xiao Hua

 

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