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

Dugu dreams of escaping!

But she is an empress, and her word is law. How could she break her promise?

But if he doesn't run away, will Shen Anzhen make excessive demands and actually consummate their marriage?

For a moment, her mind was in complete turmoil...

Shen An was thinking about buying the position of squad leader, which needed to be done as soon as possible.

They agreed with Deng Dong that they would come back to sell next time they had goods, and then they left Wanbaozhai.

After walking a few steps out of the shop, Shen An noticed four people following him. It was clear that Deng Donglai was still up to his old tricks and had sent people to follow him in an attempt to find out more about him.

"Brother, should we take them on?" Shen Xiaoqi was eager to try again.

Shen An's expression darkened. If he didn't teach them a lesson this time, Deng Donglai would definitely become even more arrogant.

"Dry!"

After finishing speaking, Shen An headed towards an empty alley.

These four were just ordinary servants. Shen An and Shen Xiaoqi hid in the alley and launched a sneak attack, knocking them to the ground.

Shen An stomped on the leader's head: "Go back and tell your manager that if he dares to send anyone else, he'll be the one getting beaten up! Get out!"

The four of them never dreamed that these two people, who were so thin, would be so powerful!

Not daring to linger, they scrambled away.

Although Dugu Meng was filled with apprehension, she still greatly admired the Shen brothers' decisive and swift action.

Fifteen minutes later, Shen An arrived at Hengyun Teahouse.

The owner of this teahouse, Zhou Renli, was a middleman planted by the county magistrate to handle the buying and selling of positions.

Shen An told Shen Xiaoqi and Dugu Meng to wait at the door, and then he pushed the door open and went in.

"Sir..."

As soon as the waiter approached and opened his mouth, Shen An immediately slipped a tael of silver into his hand: "I want to see Manager Zhou."

The waiter fiddled with the silver coins, then led him to a private room on the second floor with a fawning expression: "Please wait a moment, sir, I'll go and inform my manager!"

About half an hour later, the door was finally pushed open.

A refined-looking middle-aged man in his forties walked in, dressed in a silk robe and holding a folding fan in his hand. He sat down opposite Shen An.

Looking at Shen An, who was wearing a blue cloth long gown and had a straight back, he didn't seem like a poor person.

Zhou Renli picked up his teacup and took a sip: "Who are you? What do you want with me?"

Shen An didn't beat around the bush: "Manager Zhou, my name is Shen An. I'm a corpse carrier at the mass grave in Qingtian Village. I want to ask you to help me buy the position of head of the mass grave, and I also want to help my two brothers escape slavery."

Zhou Renli narrowed his eyes, genuinely surprised that the person before him was a corpse carrier. He tapped his fingers lightly on the table twice: "Buying a position as a headman and escaping slavery requires a lot of money. Where would a lowly corpse carrier like you get the money?"

"Manager Zhou, I was lucky. I dug up a few corpses and found a great bargain." Shen An's face showed a hint of smugness.

Zhou Renli didn't doubt it; if corpse carriers wanted to make money, this was the only way.

"You got incredibly lucky, you turned your life around!"

"Who says otherwise? My ancestors' graves are emitting auspicious smoke," Shen An said with a smile.

Zhou Renli snorted: "The head of the squad is already taken. If you want it, you'll have to pay double, one hundred taels."

"It costs twenty taels of silver per person to be freed from slavery. Can you afford that?"

"I can produce it."

Shen An took out a silver note from his pocket and handed it over: "One hundred taels for the position, forty taels to help the brothers get rid of their slave status, and twenty taels for hardship fee, totaling one hundred and sixty taels."

Zhou Renli was very satisfied: "You've got some sense, kid. It's better to leave the mass grave to you than to Wang Bantou."

He gathered the banknotes into his pocket: "Can you write?"

Shen An nodded.

"Oh? You were an educated man before you fell on hard times? Write down your and your brother's addresses and identification information. The government will send you a letter of appointment and new identity documents tomorrow."

Zhou Renli asked the waiter to bring Xuan paper, and Shen An picked up a brush to write.

He and Shen Xiaoqi wrote their own names, while Dugu Meng used the identity of Liu Xiaosi.

Zhou Renli took it and looked at it, then stood up and said, "The county government only gave you the position of squad leader. You are not part of the official staff. Whether you can truly control the mass grave depends on yourself."

"Yes."

Shen An nodded; he understood the rules.

As Zhou Renli walked to the door, he turned back and added, "Officer Wang and Constable Ma have a close relationship. If you touch him, you'll have to handle Constable Ma's side properly."

"Thank you for your guidance, Manager Zhou."

"Take care of yourself."

Zhou Renli closed his folding fan, turned around, and left.

Shen An stood in the private room, his expression turning cold.

It's best if Officer Ma doesn't cause him any trouble, otherwise, if he gets carried away and people die, it won't be up to him to decide.

After leaving the teahouse, Shen Xiaoqi and Dugu Meng were waiting for them on the street.

Shen Xiaoqi, with half a candied hawthorn skewer still stuffed in her mouth, rushed to greet Shen An as he came out: "Brother, is it done?"

"It's done. The appointment letters will be delivered to you tomorrow, and you will be freed from slavery."

"That's great!" Shen Xiaoqi was so excited she almost jumped up.

"But Deng Donglai might send more people, so leave as soon as possible!"

"Brother, will you still do business with Deng Donglai in the future?"

"No way. Blood charcoal is a valuable commodity; we don't need one greedy buyer like him! We can sell it to someone else. Let's go back!"

As the three of them returned, Dugu Meng breathed a sigh of relief, but the relief hadn't completely subsided.

With the position of squad leader secured, the threat posed by Squad Leader Wang's death diminished significantly.

But what about her promise to Shen An?

Should she stay here or run away?

at the same time.

Inside Wanbaozhai, Deng Donglai was bowing to a woman in red.

The woman was about twenty-five or twenty-six years old. She had sharp eyebrows, a high nose bridge, and thin, tightly pursed lips. Her face was angular and distinct, as if it had been carved with a knife.

Dressed in a red outfit that hugged her narrow waist, she exuded a military-like agility and sharpness.

She twirled a pinch of charred blood between her fingers, her eyes gleaming coldly: "This stuff is more effective than any wound medicine on the market. If this kind of medicine were everywhere, how would my godfather's business survive? Have they even investigated the people selling it?"

"Commander Luo, we haven't figured him out yet. I sent someone to follow him, but he beat them up. This man is incredibly skilled; he's no ordinary person!" Deng Donglai said in a low voice.

"Or you're just incompetent."

Luo Li put down the powder: "No matter what, we must find out his background and dig out who's behind him. Godfather will never allow such a powerful enemy to affect his business."

Upon recalling Luo Li's background and her adoptive father, Deng Donglai trembled with fear: "Commander Luo, rest assured, I will handle this matter properly!"

It was late at night when Shen An returned to the village.

From a distance, one could see a crowd blocking the entrance to the house; Feng Guaizi and eight corpse carriers had completely sealed off the road.

When Feng Guaizi saw Shen An, he led his men to greet him and pointed at Shen An's nose, cursing, "The agreed deadline is approaching! Where's the money? If you haven't raised enough, stop talking nonsense and come with us to the county government to turn yourself in!"

Don't try to scare us by saying we were also involved in killing Wang, we've already discussed it, this is all your fault!

Shen An didn't rush to reply.

Now that there are still a few days left until the agreed ten days, shouldn't Feng Guaizi squeeze all his money out of him and then send him to the county government office?

Why can't you hold back now?

Under the moonlight, he could see clearly that Feng Guaizi and the others all had injuries on their faces.

He immediately realized that these people had gone to the battlefield to collect hair, but had run into a brick wall.

After being beaten up by the local forces, they felt they couldn't collect any more hair and had no way to make money, so they came to turn against them in advance.

"I've already bought the position of class leader, and the appointment letter will be delivered tomorrow," Shen An said calmly.

"Bought it?"

Feng Guaizi paused for a moment, then sneered, "I've inquired. Wang Bantou has never saved more than fifty taels in his entire life. You think you can risk your life to scrape together the remaining fifty taels? Brothers, hold him down!"

Just as several men were about to pounce, Old Zhao jogged up from behind: "Wait! What if Shen An is telling the truth!"

"Impossible! Tie him up!" Feng Guaizi simply didn't believe it.

Before his downfall, he was a businessman and knew how difficult it was to make money, let alone in this chaotic and famine-stricken world, where he was just a mere corpse carrier!

Shen An calmly drew his sword, bowed his head and wiped the blade: "If you don't believe me, you can wait here for the result."

"But if you insist on making a move tonight, I can't control how many people I might hurt with this knife."

Feng Guaizi was not one to back down easily, so he immediately changed his tune: "Heh, you dare threaten us? I'll give you another chance for Lao Zhao's sake. If no one brings the letter of appointment tomorrow, don't blame us for being ruthless."

"Then it's settled." Shen An yawned and walked straight inside.

Feng Guaizi and the others dared not stop them and made way.

As soon as Shen An entered the courtyard, Feng Guaizi immediately whispered to the others, "You all saw it, right? Shen An is going to attack us. Quickly tell those who are pretending to be dead. If Shen An really runs away, we won't escape unscathed!"

The others' expressions changed immediately, and they went to call for help.

Feng Guaizi sneered, "Shen An, Shen An, we seven or eight of us may be afraid of you, but we've called all the corpse carriers over, what are we afraid of you for!"

Tomorrow you can expect to be sent to the county office and beheaded!

And since I've done a good job by escorting you to the county government, this position as head constable is mine, haha!