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It turned out that after his brother had left, Deng, the head of the escorts, couldn’t stand being idle and began to accept some bodyguard work in his personal capacity—there was no choice, other than this, he didn’t have many other skills to make a living.

However, he only protected people, not goods, which is similar to private bodyguards; he would get paid for each day he worked.

He actually wanted to protect goods, but Qingning Prefecture is only so big, with a limited amount of business. If he were to protect goods, he would overlap with Strong Crossbow Escort Bureau’s business.

Deng Yifu used to be the deputy chief of Strong Crossbow Escort Bureau, but after getting injured, he was dismissed by the bureau. It could be said that the bureau was somewhat in the wrong, but he always remembered the kindness of the past and didn’t want to compete with the bureau for business.

He believed taking on some small jobs protecting people wouldn’t affect the bureau much—”This is purely making a living based on my cultivation level; this market, your Strong Crossbow Escort Bureau can’t monopolize it,” he thought.

In fact, in Xiyin City, there were many martial artists taking on these protection jobs, but Deng, the escort, was an intermediate-level martial master, with a high cultivation level. Moreover, he had experience working in an escort agency, which made him much more reliable than novices.

When it comes to trustworthiness, he had another advantage: being a native of Xiyin City. Compared to wandering martial cultivators, someone like him with known roots was much easier to earn clients’ trust—those who hired private bodyguards valued a sense of security immensely.

Because of these factors, Deng Yifu found it easier to get work and lived quite comfortably, sometimes even having the luxury of choice.

Not long ago, one of Deng Yifu’s regular customers approached him with plans to start a transport fleet, specializing in transportation, and invited him to become a shareholder.

The transportation industry in this world was conceptually similar to that of Earth Realm.

Those who had a carriage at home could engage in transportation, work independently, affiliate with other fleets, or even accept fleet dispatches—of course, this was more worry-free and increased safety, but profits were also slimmer.

As for Yu Family’s CheMa Trading Company, it was akin to a comprehensive transport company dealing with both goods and passenger transport.

Independent runners envied those with a fleet, but those with a fleet dreamed of growing into a company like CheMa Trading Company.

The regular customer sought out Deng, the escort head, firstly because he trusted him as a person, secondly because he valued Deng’s experience in Jianghu, and thirdly… Deng’s cultivation level was indeed quite impressive, and he had a certain reputation in Jianghu.

Organizing a fleet required investment, and if Deng wanted to become a shareholder, he had to put in money and also bear responsibility for escorting goods—why should others let him enjoy the benefits if he didn’t want to exert himself?

Having some savings of his own and borrowing some from the moneylenders, Deng started his new entrepreneurial venture after being dismissed.

About seven or eight days ago, he was escorting a batch of farm tools out of the country when, at the border of Qingning Prefecture, he was stopped by the county soldiers, who claimed to have received a tip-off that the convoy was hiding weapons.

Upon searching, the county soldiers really found weapons such as knives, spears, swords, and halberds among the farm tools, as well as two Strong Crossbows.

In Donghua Country, weapon management wasn’t very strict; people could carry swords on the street. However, there was a certain process for selling weapons. Generally, selling weapons across borders definitely required registration and record-keeping.

—You can sell weapons, but you must let the official government know; otherwise, it’s considered illegal arms trafficking, which is a serious offense.

When the county soldiers found the weapons hidden among the farm tools, the convoy faced legal troubles.

Deng Yifu was clear that someone had framed them. The convoy’s principal shareholder knew as well, but there was nothing to be done; the law was the law.

After pulling some strings in an attempt to find a workaround, the official response was that they were still investigating whether there was weapon smuggling; pay some bail, and they wouldn’t imprison you.

It goes without saying that once that bail money was paid, it wouldn’t be seen again— even if you were innocent, trying to get the bail money back would be a time-consuming ordeal.

The principal shareholder paid a hundred silver yuan; he was originally a well-known figure in Xiyin City with money, power, and prestige, so this sum wasn’t a significant loss for him.

But the bail money that Deng Yifu was asked to pay was much more, amounting to a staggering five hundred silver yuan.

He was just a minor shareholder, so why was the amount he had to pay five times that of the principal shareholder’s?

The reason was simple; Deng Yifu was responsible for this escort mission. The problem was undeniable, but the principal shareholder could potentially be “uninformed” and kept in the dark.

This amount of money was truly distressing for Deng the escort head. Consider that an intermediate-level martial artist working in an escort agency might earn only twenty to thirty silver yuan a month—and the escort industry is one of high risk, for just that much in earnings.

Even if he was still the deputy chief of Strong Crossbow Escort Bureau, it would take him two years of saving without spending a dime to accumulate such an amount.

For the Deng Family Brothers working with Feng Jun, earning a monthly salary of eight silver yuan was considered quite an attractive package for an average high-rank martial warrior.

Deng the escort head didn’t earn a small amount of money, but he had two martial cultivator sons at home, debts from a former life. Just when his sons were finally earning money and after he had invested all his savings into the fleet, he also ended up deeply in debt.

Without any accidents, he would break even in a year, but at present, he couldn’t scrape together even a hundred silver yuan.

He had to come up with the money no matter what. Currently, Deng was detained in the prefectural government office, the official government said, when he managed to get the money, that’s when they would release him—and even then, that wouldn’t be a true release, but just bail.

Lady Deng of the Escort Bureau was borrowing money from all over, and had barely managed to gather over two hundred by now. Unable to think of any other solution, she could only consider mortgaging the family estate to raise the rest.

The Deng family’s estate was not very large, just over an acre, but the residences in the city were still in high demand. According to the current market, it should be worth four to five hundred silver yuan.

Lady Deng approached a pawnshop, only to be offered eighty silver yuan—a mortifyingly low value for a live pledge.

A dead pledge was somewhat more valuable, fetching one hundred and thirty silver yuan.

Lady Deng nearly went mad with anger. So she had Deng Family Brothers’ friends and some agents from the brokerage house attempt to sell the family estate.

Initially, there was interest at three hundred silver yuan, but Lady Deng hoped to sell for more. However, after half a day, a new offer came in—for one hundred and forty silver yuan, not a yuan more.

Such a price slash was more cutting than a blow to the waist—it was downright bullying.

Enraged, Lady Deng exclaimed that there would be a day of reckoning. If all three men of her family were to die off, she would have nothing to say, but otherwise, they would seek revenge for this slight!

The person making the offer, introduced by an old friend of Escort Head Deng’s, could only relay a message through that friend, “It’s not that I’m heartless, but the Hall of Heroes approached me and insisted I not offer more than one hundred and forty silver yuan for your house.”

Shortly after, a representative from the Hall of Heroes arrived, wanting to buy the estate for one hundred and forty-five silver yuan.

Offering merely an extra five yuan, the visitor made it clear, “I can guarantee that nobody will pay more for your house.”

The Hall of Heroes didn’t completely dominate Xiyin, but those with the power to provoke them wouldn’t interfere over such a trivial matter either.

The two men Deng Lao Er encountered at the restaurant—one a peripheral member of the Hall of Heroes, the other a confidant of a moneylender—weren’t there by chance.

After Escort Head Deng’s mishap, the moneylender hadn’t kicked him while he was down. The due date for the borrowed money hadn’t arrived, and people in this realm cared much about their reputation, which valued even more than modern society’s banks.

Of course, the moneylender was also staying put because Escort Head Deng’s two sons had started to earn money.

The peripheral member of the Hall of Heroes who had come calling had his eyes set on the Deng family estate as well.

The more Deng Lao Er heard, the angrier he became. He struck the man from Hall of Heroes with more than twenty yin yang slaps, knocking out most of his teeth, “Damn it, do you scoundrels really think you can covet the Deng family’s property?”

Only then did the man realize he had been captured by none other than the second of the Deng family brothers. As the man tried to explain, Deng Lao Er waved his hand dismissively, “Gag these two first, and let’s head into the city!”

At the city gate, the guards saw the twenty or so robust men, all armed and looking formidable, and didn’t dare to delay, promptly checking their identities.

Spotting the waist token of the Yongyi Ducal Mansion Guard, the guards jumped with fright. After checking a dozen others and finding the same, they mustered up courage to inquire, “What brings you here on this day?”

The men from the Prince’s Mansion lifted their chins, dismissing the question with a curt, “None of your damn business!”

Relieved by this response, the guards breathed easy: these were indeed the Duke’s men, and not imposters.

As for the ten or so others, the guards couldn’t be bothered to check. Two writhing sacks were tied to the backs of a couple of horses, which the guards chose to ignore—after all, if these men dared to enter the city so boldly, they surely had nothing to fear from an inspection.

Needless to say, the guards still had to report the occurrence to their superiors. The Ducal Heir had just visited recently, and the Sage of the Prefecture had been especially attentive. It would be no different this time.

The city in the afternoon wasn’t bustling, allowing the horses to pick up some speed. Though they couldn’t gallop wildly in the city, the trot of over twenty horses on the cobblestone streets still conveyed a sense of a raging storm.

Deng Lao Er led his men through the streets and alleys, soon arriving at the entrance of their family estate.

The gates to the Deng estate were wide open, which wasn’t because of the family’s troubles. In such a society, households, except the homes of high officials and rich merchants, typically kept their gates open during the day.

In fact, with the Deng family being small and not thriving, the front part of the estate was rented to several tenants to supplement the household income, which meant the doors couldn’t be shut.

Most of the tenants were long-term renters. Seeing Deng Lao Er return with a troop, they hurriedly greeted him, “Second young master, you’re back?”

Deng Lao Er nodded, but before he could speak, angry shouts came from the back courtyard. His face changed, and he jumped off his horse and charged inside.

That’s when the training of the Yongyi Ducal Mansion Guard showed. Seven or eight of them followed him, while others watched the horses, some jumped out to guard the back, and two more took to the rooftops to keep watch.

Seeing their well-drilled actions, the tenants exchanged knowing glances: this was no small event.

However, if the Deng family could protect their property, they, too, would be able to rent in peace.

(The monthly ticket count is a bit low. We’re midway through the month—who’s spotted their monthly ticket?)