Chapter 99: You Are Not In Exile You Are Clearly Traveling!
Chapter 99: Contribution Value Soaring
"I have already reported this matter to the court. Now we have to wait for the court's arrangement, so these people don't need to continue on the road. We'll wait until the court's orders come down before making any decisions."
Xie Yunshang pointed to the people behind him, not only to help them gain rest time but also as a fact.
After all, nearly half of the bailiffs in the exile team were dead or injured, especially the captain of the bailiffs. Without the bailiffs to escort them, how could the exiled team continue?
Moreover, such a major incident would definitely require the court to send people to investigate and clarify the situation before making arrangements.
"No problem."
Magistrate Xu naturally wouldn't refuse. For him, there was no loss in doing so, and it was just a small effort. Besides, he still didn't know where the incident had occurred. If it had happened within his jurisdiction, he would need General Pingwei to speak up for him to avoid blame.
"Thank you, General. Thank you, sir!"
Upon hearing the conversation between the two, everyone felt grateful. They had been on edge for days, and now that they were entering the county, they could finally relax.
"In addition, these are the bandits who attacked the team. We need to borrow the jail cells to detain them and await the court's judgment!"
After Xie Yunshang finished speaking, soldiers pushed the bound bandits forward. Magistrate Xu was startled to see the bandits with arrows still stuck in them, shocked by their miserable appearance.
But he quickly regained his composure and arranged for the bailiffs to escort them to the jail cells. Then he looked at Xie Yunshang.
"General Xie, I have set up a feast in the city to welcome you and wash away the dust of the journey!"
As he spoke, without waiting for Xie Yunshang's reply, he turned to Master Chen. "Would this Master Chen also honor us with his presence?"
Xie Yunshang was initially inclined to refuse, but upon hearing the magistrate's words to Master Chen and recalling the food Master Chen had eaten during his exile, he couldn't help but feel sorry for him and agreed on his behalf.
Magistrate Xu was overjoyed to see this. He had thought he would be refused, but fortunately, he was clever enough to include Master Chen.
Sure enough!
He could tell that General Pingwei had initially wanted to refuse but changed his mind after looking at Master Chen.
Master Chen and the others naturally didn't mind. They were currently identified as prisoners, and both Magistrate Xu and Xie Yunshang held higher official positions than them.
They wouldn't take advantage of the fact that they had saved Xie Yunshang when he was young to act like elders and give him orders.
So, since Xie Yunshang agreed, as long as the requests weren't too excessive, he wouldn't object.
Magistrate Xu led Xie Yunshang and Chen Yuan away, but he didn't forget about the others, instructing the bailiffs to arrange rooms and food for them.
Although the others envied Chen Yuan for being able to accompany Xie Yunshang, they didn't dare to feel jealous or say anything. After all, they had been through a riot and a bandit attack, and Chen Yuan's presence indicated that they were not ordinary.
Moreover, their lives had been saved by Chen Yuan's intervention. If Master Chen hadn't stepped in, the bandits would likely have killed them all, or they wouldn't have survived until General Pingwei's rescue.
Seeing the bailiffs arranging rooms and food for them, they no longer felt envious but just wanted to rest.
On the other side.
"So, you're Master Chen." Magistrate Xu greeted respectfully, "It turns out we took the imperial examination in the same year. Unfortunately, I didn't achieve a good ranking, but you, Master Chen, became the top scholar."
As Magistrate Xu conversed with Chen Yuan, he was probing his identity. Upon hearing that Master Chen was a Ministry of Revenue official, he recalled the previous events.
Unfortunately, although they had taken the imperial examination in the same year, they didn't know each other. But with this common ground, the two had plenty to talk about.
Chen Yuan could see that Magistrate Xu seemed to respect him, but in reality, he was trying to curry favor with Xie Yunshang through him. Nevertheless, Chen Yuan pretended not to notice.
After a satisfying meal, Magistrate Xu also arranged rooms for everyone.
Even Chen Yuan's servants were included.
It was comprehensive.
Knowing that Chen Yuan and the others had experienced a bandit attack and were probably tired, Xie Yunshang didn't disturb them.
And indeed, Chen Yuan and the others were tired and went to rest early.
Early the next morning.
Chen Xue gathered with her parents.
"After this incident, the court will definitely send a new captain of the bailiffs. If they're easy to talk to and honest, it's fine. But if it's another Captain Sun, then..."
Chen Yuan sighed. Although the detestable Captain Sun had met his end, they couldn't feel entirely relieved; instead, they were more worried now.
"Dad, we don't need to worry. Captain Sun couldn't do anything to us before, and we've already overcome such perilous challenges with the bandit attack. What else could we fear?"
"True." Chen Yuan smiled. "Xue'er, you see things clearly!"
"However, we've already persuaded most of the bailiffs to our side. It's just those under Captain Sun that we're missing. Once they're all on our side, we can exile with peace of mind. But now, they'll surely send a new batch of bailiffs. We'll have to start over..."
"Indeed!"
Chen Xue furrowed her brows. It had taken a considerable effort to deal with those bailiffs before. With new ones coming, they couldn't possibly handle them the same way they dealt with Kuang Wei.
"Let's take it one step at a time!"
Seeing his daughter frown, Chen Yuan spoke up. "We'll see what kind of bailiffs arrive this time before making plans."
"Now, let's go into the city and stock up on some things."
"Agreed."
Chen Xue's eyes lit up. She wasn't tired anymore when it came to this.
"Our space has already cleared some land for growing crops, as well as vegetable and fruit patches, along with several livestock farms and a fish pond..."
Chen Yuan nodded. "We've already gathered quite a bit of grass for the sheep along the way. You mentioned wanting to buy pigs; we can go take a look..."
Pork wasn't as commonly consumed here, perhaps because they didn't know how to prepare it, as it had a strong odor. Additionally, the pigs here weren't white pigs but black ones.
Actually, Chen Xue wanted to see if there were any aromatic pigs available.
If aromatic pigs couldn't be found, black pigs would do; after all, with chili peppers, they could get rid of the odor.
A group of them found Xie Yunshang and expressed their desire to explore the city. Naturally, Xie Yunshang didn't object and even offered to serve as their escort, but Chen Yuan declined.
That would be a risk.
What if his daughter's space was exposed?
Upon hearing that the Chen family wanted to go out, Magistrate Xu also didn't object. He offered to send a few people to protect them, but Master Chen declined as well.
Chen Xue and the others didn't immediately go to buy pigs. Instead, they roamed around. Since they had discovered how to earn contribution points, they wouldn't miss such a good opportunity.
Whether it was technology, recipes, or handicrafts, especially those not yet recorded, Chen Xue bought them all and let the system collect them.
Then, Chen Xue saw her contribution points skyrocket.
The tens of thousands of contribution points she had spent earlier were quickly earned back.
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