Martial Arts Crossover: My master tricked Huang Rong into becoming my wife!

In the blink of an eye, the setting sun hung obliquely on the mountaintop, casting long, thin shadows of the two men on the official road.

Huang Rong rubbed her slightly sore ankles, glanced sideways at Chen Yanzhou walking ahead with light steps, and cursed inwardly whether this man was made of iron? Carrying such a heavy Xuan Tie sword, he walked all day without even panting.

"Hey, Chen Yanzhou, how much longer do we have to walk?" Huang Rong called out weakly. "It's getting dark. If we keep going, we'll really have to sleep in the wilderness."

Chen Yanzhou stopped and looked into the distance, pointing to a faint light that could be seen ahead.

"See that? There's a place to rest up ahead."

Huang Rong looked in the direction he pointed and saw a sizable courtyard standing at the corner of the official road, with a somewhat tattered flag hanging on the flagpole, fluttering in the evening breeze.

As they drew closer, in the dim twilight, Huang Rong recognized the character on the flag—a large "义" (righteousness).

"A post station?" Huang Rong stopped in her tracks, her brows furrowing slightly. "Chen Yanzhou, are you confused? That's an official post station. Before we even entered, the postmen would have treated us like bandits and beaten us up."

In those days, official post stations were for messengers who delivered imperial edicts and official documents; ordinary people would be scolded if they got too close.

Chen Yanzhou glanced back at her, a smile playing on his lips: "That's just an ordinary post station. The one with this flag is different."

Upon hearing this, Huang Rong was pulled by the hand by Chen Yanzhou and strode towards the gate of the post station before she could even speak.

The wooden door of the post station was half-open, and the dim light of an oil lamp shone through, accompanied by bursts of rough laughter and the sound of slurping noodles.

Chen Yanzhou didn't knock and led his men inside.

Five or six men were sitting in the room, all wearing worn-out post station uniforms, feasting around a greasy long table.

Several large bowls of steaming vegetarian noodles and a plate of braised meat sliced ​​in varying thicknesses were placed on the table.

Upon seeing someone burst in, the men simultaneously stopped what they were doing and turned to look at the doorway.

"Where did you come from?" The burly man at the head of the group put down the large bowl in his hand, his eyes somewhat wary, and his hand unconsciously reached for the waist knife placed next to the stool.

Chen Yanzhou remained calm, and with a backhand, he unfastened the Xuan Tie Heavy Sword from his back. With a muffled thud, it landed heavily on the blue brick floor, causing the bowls and chopsticks on the table to jump.

The bearded man's gaze followed the heavy sword upwards, finally settling on the emerald green dog-beating stick hanging at Chen Yanzhou's waist.

"This...this is..." His lips trembled as he suddenly stood up, his movements so fast that he knocked over the bench behind him.

Seeing this, the others also looked at the green bamboo stick.

"The...gang leader?!"

The bearded man exclaimed in surprise, his voice filled with unbelievable elation.

He didn't even bother wiping the oil off his mouth. He went around the table and rushed to Chen Yanzhou in three quick steps. His knees buckled and he knelt down on the ground.

"Your subordinate, Zhao Da, the head courier of the Xiangyang West Route, greets the Chief!"

With a loud crash, the remaining postmen and porters in the room all realized what was happening. They hurriedly threw down their dry rations, knelt down in unison, and banged their heads on the ground with a loud thud.

"Greetings, Boss!"

Huang Rong stood at the back, somewhat bewildered. How did this official post station suddenly become a branch of the Beggars' Sect?

Chen Yanzhou waved his hand and said in a calm tone, "Get up, everyone. We're all brothers. Besides, when you're traveling, there's no need for so many formalities."

Zhao Da chuckled twice, stood up, and awkwardly rubbed his hands together. He looked at Huang Rong behind Chen Yanzhou, and when he saw her "panda eye," he was stunned for a moment, then quickly lowered his head, not daring to look any longer.

"Master, why did you suddenly come here? You didn't even send a message so I could have met you."

"Just passing by, taking care of some personal business." Chen Yanzhou put the dog-beating stick on the table. "Are there any rooms available? Prepare two clean ones, and get some hot food. We've been starving all day."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Dayi looked troubled, glanced at Huang Rong, and then looked at Chen Yanzhou.

"What? No rooms available?" Chen Yanzhou raised an eyebrow.

"There are rooms, but..." Zhao Da leaned closer and lowered his voice, "Chief, by sheer coincidence, a grain transport corps came from the south today and occupied all the large rooms in the backyard. Now there's only a storage room in the west corner that hasn't been cleaned up yet, and there is a large bed there, but... it's a bit shabby."

Before Chen Yanzhou could speak, Huang Rong spoke first.

"It's okay, I'm not that particular."

Chen Yanzhou nodded: "Okay, storage room it is then."

"Alright! I'll have someone make the bed right away! Boss, please have a seat, the food will be here shortly!" Zhao Da replied hurriedly.

The group quickly cleared away the leftover food from the table and replaced it with clean bowls and chopsticks.

Before long, several steaming plates of stir-fried cured pork, steamed eggs, and a large bowl of wild mushroom soup were served.

Chen Yanzhou led Huang Rong to sit down, and Wangcai also consciously lay down under the table leg, waiting to be fed.

"Zhao Da, sit down and talk," Chen Yanzhou said, pointing to the seat next to him.

Zhao Da sat down on one side of his buttocks with trepidation, his back ramrod straight.

"Are there still many refugees on this official road lately?" Chen Yanzhou asked casually, taking a sip of hot soup.

Zhao sighed, his expression growing grave: "Reporting to the leader, it's the same as always. The Jurchens are causing a huge disturbance, and many people are fleeing south. Our post station has a 'righteousness' flag, and we can provide relief to at least a few dozen people every day."

"Have they all been settled?"

"As per the leader's previous instructions, we directed all those with families who looked like honest farmers to the deep mountains to the west," Zhao Da said, a hint of pride in his eyes.

"A few days ago, the brothers in the mountains sent a letter saying that the few acres of wasteland they cleared this year are growing very well. The first batch of migrants who came to the mountains can now not only have enough to eat, but also have surplus grain to sell to us in exchange for salt and cloth."

Upon hearing this, Chen Yanzhou nodded with satisfaction and couldn't help but sigh.

"It's good if they can be self-reliant. In this chaotic world, giving them a bowl of porridge can only save one life, but giving them a piece of land can support a whole family."

Huang Rong sat to the side, sipping her soup and listening to their conversation without interrupting.