Zhao Jinge actually knew that it was best for him to stay.

Their daughter needs  someone to take care of her, Jinzhen Escort Agency also needs  someone to take care of it, and Fucheng’s side also  requires someone . . . Even if Jiang Zhen leaves, he couldn’t go with him.

Although he didn’t want to be separated from Jiang Zhen, Zhao Jinge gritted his teeth and still agreed, saying, “Jiang Zhen, you must be safe.” If something happened to Jiang Zhen . . . Zhao Jinge felt so uneasy that he didn’t even dare to think of this possibility at all.

Jiang Zhen nodded. He was only going to check the situation this time unlike before when he had to complete a certain task. He would not put himself at danger.

After talking to Zhao Jinge, Jiang Zhen made preparations.

He asked the canteen side to prepare some dried meat and fried rice as dry food, and then asked Zheng Yi for a lot of high-density alcohol, as well as some medicine and herbs. Then he began to ask his men to find people who were willing to follow him.

“It’s very dangerous to go out with me this time, and you may lose your life outside. But if you perform well, when you come back, you will all be members of Jinzhen Escort Agency and will receive a reward.” Jiang Zhen did not say where he was going but made it very clear that it would be dangerous.

Following Jiang Zhen out, it was true that you might encounter danger, but you may also get great opportunities . . .

“Boss, I’ll go!“ Wang Haisheng, He Chunsheng, and several others who had followed Jiang Zhen for some time immediately acceded.

These people used to be very simple, but after following Jiang Zhen and  having gone to the capital, their vision has  broadened as they have  experienced many things that caused their thinking to change.

They could earn a lot by working quietly and steadily in Jinzhen Escort Agency, but as long as they were human, they would have ambition. When one didn’t have money, they thought it’s good to earn one silver a month, but after one has  started earning one silver, they would  want to earn two silver; when they started earning two silvers, they would want to earn five silver . . .

“I’m going too!” others also began to say.

In the end, six of the ten escorts around Jiang Zhen wanted to go.

Of course, Jiang Zhen couldn’t take all these people with him, so he left Wang Haisheng and He Chunsheng to help Zhao Jinge take care of Jinzhen Escort Agency. Then he selected fifty strong people from the rest, including Jiang Ming, He Xiasheng, and the others who followed him to the capital.

He Chunsheng really wanted to go, but when he thought about his pregnant wife, he also thought that there were a lot of things that needed to be taken care of in the escort agency. In the end, he gave up the idea and only helped Jiang Zhen and the others pack their things.

Some time ago, Jiang Zhen asked people to help him make things for him, such as iron hooks and knives, so at this time, he took all of it out and distributed it to his people. In addition, he also taught his men some of the methods of survival in the wild.

He learned all these things in his last life; they were all very useful. However, his people couldn’t learn  much just by explanation. If he wanted them to learn well, he needed to teach them slowly, followed by training.

When these people had learned, their escort agency would certainly grow bigger and bigger in the future.

The night before departure, Jiang Zhen picked up the bamboo strips again.

He tied up the bamboo strips one by one then pasted them with white paper, finally making a  lantern that even he didn’t know was a rabbit or a mouse and then painted the exterior with bright colors and lit the lamp inside.

The lamp was hung in the room by Jiang Zhen. Zhao Mingzhu excitedly stared at it for a long time. When Jiang Zhen went to kiss her and blocked her view, she even slapped Jiang Zhen.

“Dad will make you a bigger one next year!” Jiang Zhen was not mad at his daughter’s slap, but instead bathed Zhao Mingzhu’s face with kisses. After  being kissed, Zhao Mingzhu fell on the bed giggling and then simply lay down to watch the lights.

“My child has a good temper.” Jiang Zhen could not help but sigh.

Zhao Jinge just glanced at Jiang Zhen and then continued to bow his head and sew.

He sewed some rice grains, ginseng slices, and other things on one of Jiang Zhen’s old clothes and told Jiang Zhen to wear it under a cotton-padded jacket.

“I will wear it.” Jiang Zhen kissed Zhao Jinge. Zhao Jinge helped him hide some food in the clothes, and he himself will also hide some weapons.

The day Jiang Zhen left, it happened to be the fifteenth day of the first month.

Zhao Liu didn’t know what Jiang Zhen was going to do, only that Jiang Zhen was going out again, so she got up early in the morning and made soup dumplings with glutinous rice flour for Jiang Zhen to eat. Then she made a pot of glutinous rice to knead rice balls and asked Jiang Zhen to take them with him.

“Mother, the soup dumplings you made look good.” Jiang Zhen actually did not like the sweet and soft dumplings, but it was Zhao Liu’s goodwill, so he wouldn’t refuse it.

After taking a bite, Jiang Zhen understood Zhao Liu’s heart even more clearly.

The dumplings were not filled with bean paste or sesame powder but with meat.

Zhao Liu probably knew that he did not like to eat sweet things, so she specially made dumplings with meat stuffing, which was quite delicious.

Jiang Zhen quickly finished a pot of dumplings, and by that time, Zhao Liu had already kneaded dozens of rice balls. She intended to give them to Jiang Zhen and those who followed him, so they could use them to pad their stomachs when they were hungry on the road.

The exterior of the rice ball was white glutinous rice while the inside was filled with pickles, fried peanuts, and repeatedly fried dough sticks. They tasted very delicious and were easy to carry.

Jiang Zhen equipped each of his men with a lot of things this time, but he did not let them wear their uniform; he wanted to see the situation of the Hongjiang Salt Farm while training his men by the way, but he didn’t want to go against the army of Daqi. Of course, he wouldn’t let his people wear the uniform to see that something was wrong.

After taking the rice balls given by Zhao Liu, Jiang Zhen and his men boarded the boat and headed for the sea.

The Hongjiang Salt Farm was located between Wexing Prefecture and Wuzhong Prefecture and was quite far from the Hecheng County, but it was not far away when you use the sea route to travel; also, that side was not as heavily guarded as rest of Hongjiang Salt Farm.

Fifty people sounded like a lot, but in fact, in the wilderness, especially in the forest, it was easier for them to hide. At this time, because of the existence of the Hongjiang Salt Farm, there were not many people living by the sea, which was almost like the wilderness.

Jiang Zhen took a compass and a simple map and bypassed the people guarding the Hongjiang Salt Farm near the main road of the river and led his men quietly into a forest and headed to the seashore . . .

Jiang Zhen brought people to the seaside, but at this time, Zhou Maohe was already trapped in a cave near the Hongjiang Salt Farm. The cave was big and a little wet, making all kinds of bugs crawl over them from time to time . . . All of this looked terrible and made Zhou Maohe’s hair stand up; however, those young men crowded in the cave did not care about any of these things and were all very calm and comfortable.

“You better let me go. If something happened to me, the court will not let you go . . .” Zhou Maohe said. He was powerless in the face of these men.

One of the men slapped the stone wall of the cave, and when he released his hand, a very thick red bug fell from the wall; it was slapped flat with the palm of his hand.

Edited by: Faro

Proofreader: Xiao Hua

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