The Ming Dynasty took an unconventional approach

Chapter 396: So Famous

Two years is not a long time. The head escort relaxed his brows and said with a smile, "Yes, our escort agency has a farm in the suburbs. There is a village near the farm. If the ladies trust me, I will temporarily arrange for them to stay in my farm. I will build a few houses for them and rent the land to them. They can also grow some vegetables to sell in the city."

He said, "As long as they don't go far away, it won't be a big problem. After two years, the matter of Wanchunlou will fade away, and then they can go to the county government to apply for a travel permit. They can decide whether to stay or go home."

Pan Yun agreed.

The two men agreed on the price of escorting and arranging the people. Pan Yun left a deposit and agreed to send the people over tonight.

Hongyan walked beside her and couldn't help but look back at the head escort who was smiling like a flower and asked her, "You only met him once and you believe him?"

Pan Yun: "First, I inquired about the reputation of the escort agency; second, I can read faces."

Pan Yun pointed at his eyes and said, "My talent is to break through all illusions and strike directly into people's hearts. This chief escort has a righteous heart. Since he promised me, he will definitely do it."

"So it can't be done?"

"Then he must be dead, right?" Pan Yun said, "Some people value integrity and reputation more than their lives, more than anything else in the world."

Hongyan: "Then you must not be such a person."

Pan Yun: "Who said that? I am trustworthy, okay? I also cherish my reputation."

Hongyan: "You have feathers?"

"We're talking about reputation..."

The two of them walked to the street while talking. Pan Jun looked at the bustling street and took out a string of copper coins and gave it to Hongyan, "Here, buy whatever you like to eat. Let's go buy them breakfast."

Yes, although it was time for lunch, they were having breakfast now.

The two of them strolled back to the inn, their hands full of food.

When I opened the door, the girls had already woken up and were huddled quietly in the room, not daring to make any loud noise.

Pan Yun put a lot of food on the table, "Come and eat, and take a rest after eating. I will count the places where you will go and stay. I have already discussed it with the escort agency."

The abducted girls came from different places, but two or three of them lived not far from each other. Moreover, all of them were abducted from north of Jinan.

Pan Yun said as he recorded, "It seems like this is a gang that committed the crime, and they have different routes. This gang must be responsible for the north, selling girls from the north to the south, and then selling girls from the south to the north, so that their families will never be able to find them for the rest of their lives. Wow, how cruel."

All the girls shuddered.

Among the thirteen girls, six were abducted and the remaining seven were sold by their families.

A girl pointed at the two girls lying on the wooden board and said, "They were sold here together with us. We were eight people in two cars, and two of them died on the way."

Pan Yun frowned: "Do you still remember what those traffickers look like?"

“I remember,” the girl gritted her teeth and said, “I will remember even if I turn into ashes.”

"Come on, let's draw a portrait." Pan Yun took out another piece of paper and drew a portrait based on their description.

Miaozhen and Miaohe in the next room woke up and ran over to see the girls. When they saw Pan Yun drawing a portrait, they stuffed a bun into their mouths and took a pen and paper and said, "Come on, tell me where you are going and I will write it down."

After a moment's hesitation, the girls began to report the address. They were still very nervous. As they reported, they whispered, "Lady, can those escorts be trusted?"

Miao Zhen said: "If the escort agency is to continue, reputation is the first priority. We have paid the money, and the escorts must complete the task even if they die."

She paused and continued, "However, you must be on guard. You will go north together and observe more on the way. If the escorts do anything improper, you must be careful to warn them. If necessary, you can go to the government office."

Miao Zhen whispered, "The government office is always more trustworthy than outsiders. You should keep the money we give you."

Although Miaozhen looked younger than them, she was advising them like an older sister.

Not only were they taught what to pay attention to on the road, but they were also taught how to deal with escorts, yamen runners and various situations they might encounter on the road.

Several girls were stunned, but one of them couldn't help hugging her and said, "You look like my sister."

"I don't know the names of the heroes yet. Please let me know. I will definitely report them in the future."

Miao Zhen glanced at Pan Yun and immediately gave their names, "We are all Taoists from Mount Sanqing. My name is Miao Zhen, this is my junior uncle Pan Yun, this is my junior sister Miao He, next to me is my senior brother Wang Cong and my third senior brother Tao Yanbai, oh, this is Hong Yan, the mountain god of our Mount Sanqing is called Pan Gong."

In case they forgot, she took out a piece of paper, wrote down their names and gave it to them.

The girl held the paper to her heart and promised, "When I return home, I will definitely invite my parents to Mount Sanqing to thank them for their kindness."

Miao Zhen: "No, no, the journey is long and it's too much trouble. Just express your gratitude in your heart."

Hongyan was stunned, and approached Pan Yun and asked, "Is this how you became famous in the martial arts world?"

Pan Yun: "Small things add up to big things, and little things add up to a lot."

Reputation is something that needs to be accumulated bit by bit. It's not like you've done anything bad, so why should you be afraid of it being publicized?

After drawing the portrait of the trafficker and memorizing the address, Pan Yun looked at the three people on the bed, "Where are you three? Now that you are awake, tell me where you are going."

Everyone looked at the three people.

The three of them have been rescued, but they have been silent, but they are all listening.

The youngest one said, "My name is Zhuo Ling. I live in the capital. I want to go back to the capital."

The older girl next to her said in a hoarse voice: "My name is Chang Yunqiu, I am also from the capital, and I want to go back to the capital." Another girl said: "My name is Hua Yueqiao, the second child in the family, also known as Hua Erniang. I am not going home, and I hope you can arrange for me to stay with the other sisters."

Pan Yun nodded, wrote down the situation of the three people, and asked Zhuo Ling and the others, "Where do you live in the capital?"

She paused and then said, "Or, where do you need an escort to take you?"

The two paused, thought for a moment and then gave an address that was only down the street.

Pan Yun asked Miaozhen to write it down.

After getting the address, she said, "You guys take a rest. I'll go out and buy you two sets of clothes. I'll take you to the escort agency after dinner in the evening."

Pan Yun asked Miaozhen and others to stay to protect and watch over them, and she only called Wang Cong to go along.

Wang Cong finally remembered what he had forgotten last night, and said excitedly to Pan Yun, "Master Junior, guess how much money we searched yesterday?"

Pan Jun: "A lot?"

Wang Cong: “A lot.”

"That's great. It will cost a lot to arrange for them this time. You can settle the expenses later."

Wang Cong: "What about the remaining money?"

He lowered his voice and said, "Little Master, this is the first time I've done something like robbing someone's house. Even though the origin of their money isn't good, it's not a good idea for us to do something like this, right?"

Pan Yun looked at him with appreciation and nodded, "It's not good. I didn't intend to use their money. After sending them away, the remaining money will be divided into two parts. One part will be distributed to the people along the way, and the other part will be given to the girls in Wanchun Tower."

Wang Cong: "Are we so free? Why don't we go to Beijing?"

"The Imperial Guards are here. It's better to stay still than to move," Pan Jun said, shaking his head. "As the saying goes, the most dangerous place is the safest place. The Imperial Guards certainly didn't expect Hu Jing to be staying in the inn at this time."

"We will set off after they leave," Pan Yun said, "Whether they go south or north, they will miss us."

Wang Cong thought for a moment and nodded, "Yes, Mr. Hu's injuries are serious. The carriage was moving very slowly yesterday, and he was still bleeding. He needs to recover for a few days."

The matter was settled.

Pan Yun waved her hand and said, "Let's go buy some clothes and a purse!"

Wang Cong held her back, looked her over carefully, and shook his head, "You can't go like this, you have to disguise yourself."

So the two of them found a secluded alley and disguised themselves. When they came out, Pan Yun became a shop assistant and Wang Cong became a peddler with a mustache.

The two men swaggered towards the pawnshop.

Wang Cong said: "Everyone should keep a low profile at this time. Old clothes are better than new clothes, and clothes in pawn shops are cheap."

Not only clothes are cheap in the pawnshop, but wallets are also cheap.

Pan Yun and Wang Cong were led to the storeroom by the clerk. "Look, those five rows of shelves are full of clothes, socks, purses, bags, etc. Put the things you have chosen in the basket and go to the front to check out."

This was Pan Yun’s third time to come to the pawnshop to choose things, but this was the largest pawnshop warehouse he had ever seen.

Pan Yun dragged the bamboo basket forward and exclaimed, "As expected of a state capital, even the pawnshop is bigger than those in the county town or the countryside."

Wang Cong was used to it. "Of course. You have never seen a pawnshop in the capital. Their pawnshops have more than ten warehouses, which are divided into categories. Things like cloth will not be piled up with other sundries."

"When we get to the capital, I'm going to visit the pawnshop."

Wang Cong also liked to visit pawnshops, and upon hearing this he immediately said, "I'll take you there."

He said: "I only visited it once, but after that, I couldn't forget it."

Both of them were longing for the pawnshops in the capital.

The old clothes collected from the pawn shop have all been cleaned and are sold individually or in sets. The prices are different and are marked on each shelf.

Not expensive at all.

Wang Cong took out a half-worn fine cotton dress and showed it to Pan Yun, whispering, "Look, he sells this whole dress for 65 wen. If it were in a cloth shop, it would cost about 120 wen just to buy the fabric for this dress. If it were in a ready-made clothing store, the price would be between 180 and 240 wen. So even though this dress is half-worn, it's a good deal."

"The interesting thing is that if someone pawns this set, they can get at most twenty cents. If he hires someone to wash it, it will cost him less than half a cent. With this combination, he makes more than twice the money."

Pan Yun: "Pawnshops are making huge profits."

Wang Cong said: "My dream since childhood has been to open my own pawn shop."

Pan Yun: "With your ability, it's just a piece of cake, why don't you open it?"

Wang Cong was worried, "because I don't have the money."

He said: "To open a pawnshop, you need a lot of initial capital and a keen eye. These things are just extras for the pawnshop. The real money is made from antique paintings, calligraphy and porcelain, and jewelry. If you can get a good piece of these, you'll have wasted a year's work."

"Those antique paintings and calligraphy may cost thousands or tens of thousands of taels each. How many do you think I can take in?"

Pan Jun patted his shoulder and said, "You have a long way to go. Keep working hard."

(End of this chapter)