si-mexico Chapter 726 Money grabbing
Chapter 726 Money grabbing
Chapter 726: Grabbing Money
The chariot traveled on for another four and a half days and arrived at another city at noon on the fifth day.
The city is run through by a large river, which is fast-flowing, wide and deep, and never freezes even in winter.
Because both sides of the river belong to the same city, people on both sides naturally have to travel back and forth. On weekdays, people travel by boat, but it has been raining these days, and many boatmen dare not risk sailing, so the boats are stuck at the dock, and people who want to cross the river can only wait.
Tianya was familiar with this place. He told everyone, "If we go further, there will be many mountain roads. If we want to go faster, we have to walk over the mountains. If we want to take a carriage and take the official road, we have to take a detour. It has been raining for several days recently, so it must be difficult to cross the mountains. Even if we use Qinggong, we cannot guarantee safety completely.
Another option is to take a boat, but it was raining so hard and the waves were so strong that the boatman was unwilling to even go to the other side."
Feng Zhaolian frowned when he heard this. "Are we going to be delayed here? We are already in a hurry, how can we delay?"
The carriage stopped by the street, and many people looked in their direction, but no one lingered for long. This was a city, not a small county, and although the carriage was magnificent, there were such carriages in the city, and the people were used to it.
Ye Wenyan lifted the car window curtain and looked out. The rain was still falling, sometimes heavy and sometimes light. There was also a wind and it was very cold.
Yun Xiao said: "It shouldn't be this cold even if it's windy in this season. The weather is abnormal."
The weather was indeed abnormal. It had not been normal since leaving Lin'an City. But today was even more abnormal than usual, because the cold wind made people feel a little bit like it was already late autumn. Ye Wenyan even heard passers-by casually say: "This damn weather, if it gets this cold, it will snow, right? I found all the winter cotton robes this morning." She listened to this and looked carefully at the people walking. Sure enough, people were wearing thick clothes, and many of them were wearing cotton robes, but even so, they were still shivering from the cold and jogging all the way.
She also felt a little cold, so she hurriedly lowered the curtain and looked towards Shi Liyuan with some concern.
Shi Liyuan sensed her emotions and quickly pulled her back to his side, comforting her: "It's okay, I'm here, don't worry."
"But can you use magic?" Ye Wenyan asked him in a low voice, and at the same time confessed his own situation, "My storage bracelet can't be opened again, and my spiritual power is completely gone. Although I'm not as seriously ill as on the 15th of every month, I still feel very uncomfortable without spiritual power in my body."
She wanted to wrap herself up with clothes, but when she moved, she remembered that she was still wearing a summer skirt, which was very thin and could not be wrapped up.
There was a cloak in Quan Qinghua's bag. He took it out and handed it to Ye Wenyan: "Make do with it for now."
Ye Wenyan didn't bother to be polite with him, but just glanced at Feng Zhaolian. Feng Zhaolian laughed at that moment, "I'm not unhappy because he gave you a cloak to wear. Besides, I don't need that thing. If you don't wear it, do you think you can let these grown men wear it?"
Ye Wenyan laughed, "I know you are not afraid of the cold, but you'd better buy some warm clothes later, at least don't let others think you are too strange. We should try not to attract attention during this trip. If necessary, you and the Fourth Prince can call each other husband and wife or brother and sister, so that it will be easier for others to accept."
Feng Zhaolian smiled and raised Quan Qinghua's chin, calling out, "Husband."
Quan Qinghua shuddered and suddenly felt a little regretful for giving the cloak to Ye Wenyan because he was also feeling cold.
Feng Zhaolian was not satisfied with his reaction: "What? You don't like being called husband? I'm the one who was taken advantage of. You're a grown man, why should you be embarrassed? Anyway, don't even think of calling me brother or sister. Husband and wife are husband and wife, and I have the final say."
He did not argue with her, but just nodded and said, "As long as you are happy." Feng Zhaolian succeeded, and the whole person was happy. Ye Wenyan had already instructed Ji Duo and Ji Rong to find a shop selling ready-made clothes in the city and buy more thick clothes to keep warm. Whether traveling by water or by land, in such weather, it is definitely not possible not to change clothes.
Tianya got off the car to find out the situation. When he came back, he not only brought hot meat buns, but also brought back news from the dock: "The waves on the river are very strong, and the boatmen are unwilling to go. So we only have two choices, one is to cross the mountain, and the other is to take a long detour. Masters, please decide!"
Everyone looked at Shi Liyuan, asking him for advice. Shi Liyuan thought for a while and asked, "Are all the boatmen unwilling to leave?"
Tianya shook his head. "Not really. There are a few boatmen who dare to take the risk, but they ask a very high price. It would take more than 20 days to sail from here to the last dock in such a storm. They want 5,000 taels of silver for one boat, and refreshments are not included."
"Five thousand taels?" Yun Xiao was a little surprised. "How much silver should a boat normally cost?"
Tianya said, "On normal days, when the weather is good, you can get on the boat from here and get off at Danzhong City in Sunan Prefecture in ten days at most. Those who want to take the boat pay per person, three taels of silver per person. If you want to stay in a better room, you have to pay more. I have inquired about it. If a boat is full of people, plus the rooms are equipped with the best refreshments, and everyone sits from beginning to end, the maximum amount of money can be collected is two hundred taels of silver."
"Usually, a boat costs 200 taels, but now they want 5,000 taels? They should just go and rob people!" Feng Zhaolian was so angry that she laughed. "They don't raise the price so much, they are just ripping people off. Besides, if someone can come up with 5,000 taels of silver, why would he need to drive a boat? He can just buy a boat and hire a few assassins. This kind of person still wants to do business? It's a big joke."
Ye Wenyan thought that this matter was not that simple. Five thousand taels, if someone could really take out five thousand taels to take a boat, they must be a wealthy family, and they must be in a hurry to travel. This matter sounded like someone was casting a net, waiting for them to take the bait, because on the way to the south, they might be the only ones who were really anxious, and they would not care about the amount of silver.
Who was keeping an eye on them? Someone from the capital? The regent? Or someone else?
"Let's bargain with the boatman and ask him if he will sail for 3,000 taels." Ye Wenyan made a decision. "We still have to go by water. Going by land takes too long and we can't afford it."
But Tianya was puzzled, "Miss Fourth, there is not much difference between three thousand taels and five thousand taels."
"So it's just a gesture, just a play. Since someone has set up the game, we can only know what the game is for by joining in, and maybe we can also find out who set up the game."
Tianya understood, "So they are coming for us. Okay, I'll go right away." He rushed into the rain and went to the dock again.
After waiting for a while, Ji Duo and Ji Rong came back.
Unfortunately, I didn't buy any thick clothes, because it was summer now, and no clothing store would sell winter clothes. Fortunately, I bought a lot of cloaks, one for each person to wear behind their backs, and one more for each person to cover their legs. When Tianya came back, he said that the boatman agreed. He wanted three thousand taels of silver notes that could be exchanged in this city, and he could set sail after the silver notes arrived. But three thousand taels did not include food and drink, and it was impossible to bring food and drink on board, and I had to prepare silver for food.
Feng Zhaolian was so angry that she kept cursing. Shi Liyuan casually handed a silver note to Tianya, but was stopped by Quan Qinghua.
"Your Excellency, it is not necessary. Your banknote is stamped with the Heavenly Seal of Yanhua Palace, so it is not appropriate to use it."
Shi Liyuan was stunned for a moment, then he realized the matter of the Heavenly Seal and felt a little embarrassed for a moment. It seemed that all he had in his hand were official silver or similar silver notes. If it was inconvenient to use them, wouldn't it mean that he had no money to spend on this journey?
Ye Wenyan was also embarrassed. She did have the usual banknotes and silver, but for convenience, she threw them all into the storage bracelet.
Now the bracelet couldn't be opened and she was penniless.
Looking at Quan Qinghua again, he was already instructing Tianya to go to a place to get silver. When Ye Wenyan heard the place was called something like "Ge", he remembered that he was a wealthy man. In addition to Lin'an City, he had properties all over Northern Qi.
Tianya quickly took out the banknote and gave it to the boatman. Their carriage also arrived at the dock. The boatman said that the boat would leave on time at 3 p.m. and that they had reserved four of the best guest rooms on the boat, so they could move their things in first. As for the other guest rooms, they would be reserved for other people.
Feng Zhaolian was very angry and asked the boatman: "We spent three thousand taels of silver to charter the boat, why are there other people?"
The boatman said, "I will sail if you give me only three thousand taels of silver, but I didn't say that you guys have reserved the boat. Four upper rooms are enough for you guys, and I have to keep the others to sell. I can't just take you guys on such a big boat. If there are those who are not afraid of big waves and want to go with us, I will definitely let them on board!"
A commoner who wanted to take the boat said, "That's right. It's a waste to have only a few of you on the boat. We also paid for the boat ride. It used to cost three taels of silver per ride, but now it costs ten taels of silver per ride. The room is charged separately. So it's not just you who paid a high price, we paid a high price too. Miss, you can't be unreasonable. You didn't book the boat."
Feng Zhaolian gritted her teeth in anger, "Alright, you can take advantage if you want, but if something happens during the voyage, it will be your lives, and no one can blame anyone."
"What can possibly happen?" a woman said, "You are such a vicious girl. You dare to say anything to occupy this boat. Let me tell you, these boatmen have been sailing on this river for at least ten years. They have experienced stronger winds and waves than this one, and nothing has ever happened. So you don't need to scare us with such words."
"That's right. We all live by the river. We don't know whether boats can sail on the river as well as you, a foreigner, do."
People were accusing Feng Zhaolian one after another, and at the same time they were busy walking towards the boat, one faster than the other.
Feng Zhaolian snorted coldly and said nothing more. He just walked back to Ye Wenyan, took her arm, and whispered: "See? They all asked for it. So we don't need to have any psychological burden. They will have whatever fate they are destined to have!"