Heaven rewards diligence; he fought his way through chaos to become a saint.

There's a saying: "Don't hit someone in the face."

Ye Ci didn't understand why he didn't hide; was he ashamed enough?

Or is it more enjoyable to get beaten up?

But then I thought about it again, and the most important thing for a martial artist is to preserve his life, so he might just be someone who doesn't care much about saving face.

On second thought, he realized that Edward Silver still had some sense of shame.

He was probably afraid of being seen in the cafeteria and goingssip, so he deliberately appeared in front of everyone in advance.

"My master also said that if the opponent's skills are up to par, that slap could seriously injure me... Alas, I still lack real combat experience and am not good at fighting with others."

"Junior Brother Xiao is too modest. You won five matches in a row, and the disciples of the Fierce Tiger Martial Arts School already had an advantage. They took advantage of your unpreparedness to strike you with a palm, which was a sneak attack. It made me angry just watching it."

Meng Zhaoting comforted them, and then told the other disciples about the competition last night.

Xiao Hua's record of defeating six opponents in one battle caused a huge uproar within the martial arts school.

His short time in martial arts training has yielded such remarkable results, sparking much discussion among his disciples.

There are strong and weak levels of Ming Jin (a type of martial arts skill), and Xiao Hua is clearly a strong one among Ming Jin practitioners.

Another matter is that he has been favored by the Commandant. There are many wealthy families in the courtyard who, upon hearing that he has been praised by the Commandant, have taken the initiative to flatter and befriend him.

After all, in this chaotic world, even the county government has less influence than the local military camp, which is a real big shot.

In the crowd, his bluish-purple face swayed, beaming with a smile, like a swaying blue military medal.

At least, that's what Ye Ci thought.

This kid certainly has something to brag about. The Ming Jins who were able to attend the banquet last night were all top fighters from various martial arts schools.

The quality will definitely surpass that of the Black Tiger Gang.

Pity……

If the Black Tiger Gang's spy hadn't been eliminated, the one who attacked Xiao Hua might have been a master of internal energy.

Ye Ci didn't intend to help him; he just took a wrong turn. Who could have guessed that the Black Tiger Gang was involved with the Blood Nourishing Ganoderma!

Ultimately, the culprit behind this whole affair was the Commandant, for the banquet he organized...

……

Then.

He stopped thinking about it, calmed his mind, and continued practicing his stance training.

We must seize the time and attempt a second breakthrough.

After practicing until noon, Ye Ci went to the canteen as usual.

"It's a mess."

Holding his rice bowl, Jiang Ding'an sat down opposite him, slammed the bowl on the table, sat down casually, muttered something, and then ate heartily.

"Senior Brother Jiang."

Ye Ci responded and asked while eating, "What's wrong? What's all this mess?"

Jiang Ding'an said irritably, "The fighting in the south has gotten fierce again. It's said that the southern barbarians have gone mad. Tens of thousands of cavalry broke through the border and fought their way through Jiaozhou Prefecture. I heard they're heading straight for Yizhou. I don't know what's going on, but it's made my family afraid to escort any more goods there..."

"It's not that bad, they won't be able to kill us," Ye Ci said confidently. "If they really were to kill us, the county garrison would be on high alert long ago, and the commander wouldn't have time to host a banquet."

"That's not necessarily true. Let me tell you... the imperial court is running out of troops. Several prefectures have seen large-scale uprisings, with families recruiting refugees, and the court can't suppress them all."

"That was indeed a bit chaotic."

"Also, something strange has happened in the city. Yesterday, the captain was fine at the banquet, but this morning he went crazy... My father said his eyes were bloodshot, and this morning he even pulled several skilled men from the escort agency to arrest gang members on the streets. Even your third and fourth senior brothers were pulled away to arrest people. Can you really clean up these gangs? The more you arrest them, the worse they get..."

After listening for a while, Ye Ci casually remarked, "That captain is indeed a bit crazy."

"By the way, things haven't been peaceful outside the city lately either. I heard that some rebels have arrested some farmers and forced them to pay their taxes. Who knows, someone might be planning to target Songjiang County, since our county is considered quite prosperous in the area..."

It is noteworthy to hear that rebels outside the city are arresting people.

Ye Ci was a little worried about his second aunt. After thinking for a while, he decided to bring her over first.

After finishing the meal.

Ye Ci asked Jiang Ding'an, "Senior brother, if I want to buy a house in the county, approximately how much money would it cost?"

Jiang Ding'an casually replied, "That depends on the size of the house. If it's a smaller one, three or four thousand taels would be about right."

"The second courtyard..." Ye Ci guessed.

The house wasn't very big, but it was enough for the Ye family.

Jiang Ding'an waved his hand: "It depends on the location, but it will cost at least eight to ten thousand taels."

Ye Ci took a breath, deciding to put the matter of buying a house aside for the time being, and then asked:

"Senior brother, I want to bring my second aunt to the city. If it's not about renting a house, I'd like a place where gang members generally wouldn't dare to bother her."

"Then stay on Paoma Street. Almost all the head镖师 (bodyguards/escorts) of our镖局 (escort agency) live on that street, but the rent isn't cheap, and you'll have to find an empty house."

That afternoon, Ye Ci returned to the village and saw his second aunt chopping firewood in the yard.

"Second Aunt," Ye Ci called out.

Hearing the noise, Auntie looked up, a look of surprise crossing her face: "Xiao Ci, we've only been in the city for a few days... Your grandma said you've grown taller and stronger, but I didn't believe it."

Ye Ci's gaze swept over his second aunt's gray, patched clothes; she wasn't wearing the new clothes Ye Ci had bought for her before.

"The weather's getting colder, why are you still dressed so lightly..."

"It's alright, Second Aunt has work to do. It would be a waste if those new clothes got worn out. She can wear them during the New Year."

"Oh, right." Second Aunt seemed to remember something, went inside and then came out again, handing over a purse: "This year, after paying taxes on our rice, we had some left over... Later, some rebels came to buy grain, and not wanting to cause trouble, I sold it to them. This is a little over five taels of silver..."

Ye Ci was taken aback.

silence.

He went into the kitchen and saw that the rice and noodles that Li had brought were gone, leaving only some corn.

"If the rebels wanted to buy it, I sold it too."

My second aunt followed behind, speaking with some unease: "I'm all alone, I can't eat much, and I don't work during the off-season anyway... I've heard that practicing martial arts is very expensive, a single dose of medicine costs several taels of silver. I'm not very knowledgeable, but I've inquired about it. After reaching the Ming Jin level, people are very short of money, so many martial arts masters simply give up learning..."

Ye Ci took a deep breath and said, "Second Aunt, I'm here to take you to the county town. Our family has plenty of money."

As he spoke, he took out a twenty-tael silver ingot.

Second Aunt stood there, stunned.

Silver comes in denominations of one tael, two taels, and five taels, as well as ten taels, twenty taels, and fifty taels.

This was the closest she had ever been to a silver ingot that cost twenty taels.

This time, no matter what his second aunt said, Ye Ci brought her into the city.

With all sorts of rebel armies coming to requisition grain, how can Longpan Township remain peaceful?

Let alone the countryside, even the outer city is probably not safe. In the end, we'll likely have to defend the inner city to the death.

Upon entering the county town, Ye Ci took out a hundred taels of silver from Mu Mu to show everyone, falsely claiming that he had received financial assistance from a wealthy family. In any case, it was more than enough to appease the women in his family.

Grandma Li, without suspecting anything, said to her second aunt, "Xiao Ci has many friends who all like to give him money."

Mu Mu, standing to the side, lowered her head and thought to herself: Who wants to be his friend? That's a killer.

"Is that so...?" Auntie's eyes were filled with confusion.

Anyway, with her second aunt coming to the city, Ye Ci saved a lot of time, as she handled renting the house and negotiating the price.

Three days later, with the help of several bodyguards from the escort agency, the group moved again.

The landlord eagerly offered his help: "This house only costs ten taels a month. The house has just been renovated, it's warm in winter and cool in summer, the yard is paved with bluestone slabs, and the well water is crystal clear..."

This time, the four "old, weak, sick and disabled" people were all somewhat dazed after they actually stepped into the mansion.

It feels like a dream.

Yao Yao was the first to jump up happily. She first ran to the well to turn the waterwheel, but her second aunt pulled her back.

"Children are not allowed to go near the well."

"..."

Everyone busied themselves in their new home and had a reunion dinner before Ye Ci left home for the martial arts school.

He thought that everything was fine now, and the only one who was sad was probably Niu Erdan.

Before I knew it, my second aunt had gone to the city.