In a chaotic and famine-stricken era, I picked up an empress to be my wife.

"Didn't I tell you before? I'm the daughter of a wealthy merchant in the capital. If you don't touch me tonight, after my men come to rescue you, I'll have my father give you several women, and you can do whatever you want with them. How about that?" Dugu Meng replied.

Shen An shook his finger: "Not interested."

"Why? Don't tell me you're not interested in women, I don't believe you!" Dugu Meng frowned slightly, her tone probing.

"If you don't believe me, then just think that after I've seen your face, no other woman can catch my eye," Shen An said.

Dugu Meng was stunned for a moment. She couldn't tell whether Shen An's words were true or false, but being a woman after all, she was still moved by such praise.

Shen An didn't give her time to recover: "So, don't try to fob me off with so-called female charms; that's not an unexpected benefit."

"Then what about this one!" Dugu Meng drew the short sword, pressed his thumb against the end of the hilt, and spun it a few times.

A hidden slot popped out from the blade, and she took out a letter from it and handed it over.

Shen An took the letter and unfolded it.

There is only a handprint on it, without any words.

"What do you mean?"

"If you can leave Yangnan Prefecture, you can become a Silver Seal Customer of the Helian Merchant Alliance with this letter."

Shen An's gaze narrowed slightly.

He had been in this world for half a year, and although he worked as a corpse carrier, he had been secretly gathering information about this world.

The Helian Chamber of Commerce is one of the three major chambers of commerce, with business spanning seven countries. It grants different levels of guest licenses based on the amount of transactions, divided into three levels: green token, silver seal, and gold token.

Although the Silver Seal is a mid-range item, even ordinary high-ranking officials and nobles might not be able to obtain it.

Holding this license not only allows you to enjoy more favorable buying and selling prices, but also gives you access to the business alliance's information channels.

If we can actually get it, it will give us another option, whether we're doing business or running away.

Unfortunately, Yangnan Prefecture has been plagued by war for a long time, and bandits are rampant. The Helian Merchant Alliance has long since withdrawn from this place.

This letter is useless now, but once we leave Yangnan Prefecture, it will be a door.

Shen An folded the letter neatly and put it in his pocket: "I'll keep this."

"Then you're not allowed to touch me tonight!" Dugu Meng subconsciously took two steps back.

Shen An looked up at her: "I won't touch it."

He then changed the subject: "It's hard to say what will happen tomorrow, and we'll need you to come and meet us."

Dugu Meng nodded.

She knew in her heart that Officer Ma's invitation was a trap, far more dangerous than Officer Wang's.

"Miss Dugu, you should rest early." After saying that, Shen An turned around, opened the door, and left without looking back.

Dugu Meng stood there, staring at the door for a while.

My mind kept replaying Shen An's words: "Other women are hard to catch my eye..."

The next morning, Shen An went to the mass grave and questioned Old Zhao.

"Were Feng the Cripple and his gang behaving themselves last night?"

"Squad Leader Shen, they didn't dare leave the mass grave even once last night!" Old Zhao said with a hint of satisfaction.

"They're smart enough to know what's good for them. Today I'm going to the county town to see Officer Ma. You keep an eye on the mass grave for me."

Shen An patted Old Zhao on the shoulder, then turned around and met up with Shen Xiaoqi and Dugu Meng. The three of them left Qingtian Village.

Upon entering the city, they were checked as usual, but they did not search them. They did not discover that Dugu Meng was dressed as a woman. The guards did not recognize the crossbows and simply rummaged through them before letting them pass.

Shen An first went to the market and picked out three horses. Then he led the horses around to the street next to Mingyue Teahouse and asked Dugu Meng to wait for him at the alley entrance.

Shen Xiaoqi was arranged to lie in ambush in a low building opposite the teahouse.

Around noon, Shen An entered Mingyue Teahouse alone.

Ma Tianming had already arrived.

As soon as Shen An entered, Zhang Meng, one of Ma Tianming's men, led him to a private room on the second floor.

Today, Ma Tianming was dressed in an ordinary long gown, holding a teacup in his hand, and looked more refined than his usual fierce demeanor.

"Hey, Shen An's here! Have a seat!" Ma Tianming waved his hand in greeting, his tone very warm.

Shen An stood at the door, bowing slightly: "Officer Ma, I am but a lowly corpse carrier, how dare I sit with you?"

Ma Tianming didn't offer any more concessions, and the warmth on his face faded somewhat: "You do know the rules, so stand there then."

He waved his hand, and his men closed the door.

Ma Tianming put down his teacup, his face turning cold, and slammed his hand on the table: "Shen An, did you kill Wang Bantou?"

Shen An feigned shock and said, "Officer Ma, how dare I kill Captain Wang! Didn't he run away? When did he die?"

Ma Tianming ignored his words and pressed his gaze on him: "You didn't kill him? Then where did you get the money to buy his place? You're just a corpse carrier, you couldn't possibly have saved up that much silver."

I suspect you killed him, took his money, and bought his position.

Shen An deliberately lowered his head: "I really didn't kill Wang Ban Tou. I was just lucky. When I was burying the bodies, I found about a hundred taels of silver on one of the corpses..."

As he spoke, Shen An's hand had already quietly reached for the knife behind his back.

If Ma Tianming persists in his attack, then we'll have no choice but to strike first.

But Ma Tianming's tone suddenly softened, and he chuckled: "You really got lucky."

Don't be afraid, it was just a routine procedure.

I know better than you how much wealth Wang Ban Tou has.

Even if you take all his money, you still can't afford an official position.

I will continue to investigate his death; I will not wrongly accuse you.

Ma Tianming picked up the teapot, poured Shen An a cup, and handed it to him, saying, "Drink."

Shen An understood that Officer Ma was trying to establish his authority before getting down to business.

He pretended to be trembling as he took it and took a small sip.

Ma Tianming sat back down in his chair and tapped his fingers on the table: "Now that you've taken over Wang Bantou's position, you have to continue doing what he used to do for me."

Shen An realized that the real issue was about to be addressed!

"What does Officer Ma want me to do?"

"Hehe, it's not a big deal."

If you're the foreman at the mass grave, just overreport the number of corpses that are brought in each day.

"For example, if one hundred bodies are sent, you report four hundred, understand?" Ma Tianming said casually.

Shen An understood what this meant.

The false reporting of the number of corpses was either used to embezzle military pay or to help others claim military merits.

Either way, it's a capital offense.

When the time comes, Ma Tianming will simply say "I don't know," and all the blame will fall on him.

"So? Are you in or not?" Ma Tianming stared at him, his smile deepening. "If you do a good job, I'll hand over all the mass graves in Qingyang County to you to manage."

"Yes, I will! Officer Ma has given me a chance, how could I dare not do it!"

Shen An's words caught Ma Tianming off guard. He stared at Shen An for a few moments, then burst out laughing.

Shen An probably hasn't even grasped the depth of this matter.

At most two months, someone from above will come to investigate. If he is obedient enough, he will be put in charge of the rest of the mass graves, and he will be used as a scapegoat!

What Ma Tianming didn't know was that the reason Shen An agreed so readily, besides the fact that he simply couldn't refuse, was that he could see that Officer Ma was looking for a scapegoat so that he could manage other mass graves in the future.

At that time, all the resources of the mass graves will belong to him.

He will use this opportunity to acquire more dead people's hair and monetize it, which is better than him making a big fuss about acquiring other people's hair.

Most importantly, it allows them to win over other corpse carriers from mass graves and expand their own influence!

In the future, it remains to be seen whether he or Constable Ma will regret their actions today!

"Haha, Shen An, you really gave me a surprise today!"

Ma Tianming stood up, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "Don't leave at noon, I'll treat you to a meal."

"Thank you, Officer Ma," Shen An bowed in thanks.

Half an hour later, Shen An left the teahouse.

On the second floor of the teahouse, Ma Tianming stood by the window, watching Shen An's figure disappear from sight.

Constable Zhang Meng leaned closer and whispered, "Boss, I always felt that Shen An was a bit strange. Wang Ban Tou's death is definitely related to him."

Ma Tianming raised his hand and tapped him on the head: "Do you think I can't see it? I'm using him first, and it's not too late to kill him after the matter is done."

Before he could finish speaking, a rapid sound of horses' hooves came from downstairs.

A red figure rode straight to the teahouse entrance; it was Luo Li, the one who had asked Deng Dong to find Shen An earlier!

Upon closer inspection, Ma Tianming realized that this woman was someone even their county magistrate had to curry favor with.

He hurried downstairs and ran to her, saying, "Greetings, Commander Luo!"

Who are you?

"I am Ma Tianming, the head constable of Qingyang County."

"Oh, you're the head constable? That makes things even worse."

Luo Li twirled the long whip in her hand, her gaze sweeping across the tea room: "I'm here to find someone! Can you help me find them?"

"Commander Luo, may I ask this man's name?"

"I don't know his name."

Luo Li looked down at him and said, "All I know is that he is a man, in his twenties, rather thin, who can refine a black powder with excellent hemostatic effects. He is always accompanied by two young attendants. Does this teahouse have such a person?"