Konoha Aogen

Ye Xuan and Afterimage rode their horses slowly, playing while walking, and it took them three days to arrive at "Kurong City".

After returning to the city, Afterimage went straight to the "Mowen Tower". After confirming that no one came to the fourth and fifth floors in the past few days when he and Ye Xuan were away, he immediately started to make arrangements for "Chen Feng".

According to the rules, only Can and Ye can intervene in the business on the fourth and fifth floors. Of course Mu Qing'er has the right to know everything, but she doesn't want to care about it, and she's not good at it. Gui Moth can't keep a secret, and Han Xing and Guyan are both upright and stubborn, so they can't touch such an exquisite thing.

Ye Xuan came to the "City Lord's Mansion" where he rarely appeared. At this time, there was a small light gray wooden sign hanging at the door of Mu Qing'er's study, indicating "I am taking a nap, please don't disturb me for minor matters." Ye Xuan gently pushed the door open and entered the inner room. Mu Qing'er was already woken up. She had been sleeping lightly since "that night." It's reassuring and heartbreaking.

"Young Master." Mu Qing'er was lifted up and was about to get out of bed when she saw Ye Xuan had come nearby and simply sat lazily on the head of the bed.

"It's okay, don't worry." Ye Xuan sat down on the edge of the bed, gently held her ankle with his right hand, and kneaded it nonchalantly.

"Yeah." Mu Qing'er nodded and said no more.

Ye Xuan stopped talking and rubbed his thumb lightly on the thin, smooth skin under his ankle. The two of them sat facing each other in silence. Ye Xuan enjoyed the silence of having nothing to say, especially after spending a few days with the afterimage.

"Is everything okay in the city?" After a long time, Ye Xuan asked casually.

"Xiao Mo... had a fight with Yun Luo and said he didn't have any enmity but made friends." Mu Qing'er replied calmly. If Ye Xuan didn't ask, she obviously had no intention of mentioning it.

"Yun Luo? Why?" Ye Xuan was deeply impressed by that little girl. He had met not only in "Yun Da"'s house, but also in "Wang Yue Tower", but the two of them never said anything beyond the scope of etiquette. talk. Every time Ye Xuan sees "Yun Luo", there is either "Yun Da" or "Qing Chen" around him.

"I said I didn't have any enmity, so... I didn't ask in detail." Mu Qing'er lowered her head slightly, with a hint of shame in her indifferent voice.

"If you dare to harm the daughter of the Yun family, see how I deal with her!" Ye Xuan said bitterly.

…………

Walking out of the main entrance of the "City Lord's Mansion", Ye Xuan walked through the main street and came to the "Wangyue Tower" not far away. "Qingchen" was accompanying other guests, so he had to turn around and go to the nearby "Qianjin Pavilion". I haven't made a date with the bad friends I often play dominoes with, so I'll try my luck alone.

Of course, there was no one in the "elegant room", and the scattered tables on the third floor were quite deserted at this time. Only the first and second floors were a bit lively, but most of them were playing "dice". Suddenly, Ye Xuan's eyes lit up. Among the gamblers sitting around the table on the second floor, he saw a figure wearing a dark green robe.

"Xue Rang?" Ye Xuan walked closer to make sure he was not blinded.

The man called "Xue Rang" turned around and saw Ye Xuan, stood up with a wry smile: "Brother Ye." After saying that, he and Ye Xuan walked to a quieter place without taking the chips on the table.

"Are you still playing with this?" Ye Xuan said sarcastically. Those who play "dominoes" look down on those who play "dice", and even the city lord is unavoidable.

"Relax." Xue Rang looked worried.

"What's wrong?"

"How many droughts do you think it takes to kill a locust?" In the middle of winter, the windows were closed tightly, but Xue Rang seemed to be looking into the distance when he spoke. Although he didn't expect anyone to hear him, Ye Xuan hurriedly pulled him to the elegant room on the third floor.

"What are you going to do?" Ye Xuan asked in surprise.

"My little sister wrote that the 'Feng Dazhao' was causing trouble again. My father was caught in the middle and was in a dilemma. He was so angry that he became ill." Xue Rang sighed.

"Are you seriously ill?" Ye Xuan was extremely concerned. Half of the money he earned over the years was deposited in the Xue family's "Tonghui Bank."

"It's not serious. My little sister wrote in plain text and her wording was careful. I guess that my father's illness is probably an act of pretense. But... it's not a good idea to continue like this. Give Fenglin City a good start and give it to the Feng family 'Those people are making a real mess."

"What did you do this time?" It was obviously not the first time Ye Xuan heard similar complaints.

"'Fengshayan' actually had a high price at the sale, and got into trouble with 'Muxue', the daughter of 'Mu Dongyang'. In the end, they got into a fight for some reason, and 'Fengshayan' suffered a loss. People from the 'Feng Family' 'Mu Dongyang' smashed all the shops in the city. Well, they said they smashed them, but in fact they just robbed them.

After doing this, he refused to give up and forced the 'Mu family' to hand over their daughter. The 'Mu family' has sent their daughter somewhere long ago. The 'Feng family' can't find her, and the 'Mu family' can't open a shop. It's just a stalemate. No matter how this matter ends, I'm afraid that a large number of businessmen will move away. "Xue Rang said angrily.

"Feng Shayan, who is it?" Ye Xuan pretended to have a vague impression of the name. He didn't want people to feel that he cared more than normal about the personnel and affairs of "Fenglin City".

"The daughter of the 'Four Spears of the Wind'. Alas... the 'Big Wind Spear' is a thorn, just stuck in the flesh, and everyone just tolerates it. But this 'Four Spears of the Wind' turns out to be a stick. As long as he is here, the wound will only get bigger and bigger, and the rot will become deeper and deeper." Ye Xuan felt that Xue Rang's metaphor was very good.

"It's not easy for Boss Xue to be the 'president'." Ye Xuan sympathized.

"How many 'droughts' can it take to kill a 'locust'?" Xue Rang repeated the question just now.

"Are you fucking serious?" Ye Xuan stared into Xue Rang's eyes.

Xue Rang tilted his head, said nothing, and looked solemn.

"If you risk your life, maybe seven to ten will do. If everyone wants to escape unscathed, no amount will be enough. You can gather seven 'droughts' that 'don't care about life, have no bottom line, and are willing to obey orders' at the same time." "?" Ye Xuan asked in a deep voice.

"No." Xue Rang said frankly: "Where is your mercenary group?"

"No!" Ye Xuan replied categorically: "Even if I could, I wouldn't touch the Wind Spear for money."

Xue Rang sighed desperately, then seemed relieved. If Ye Xuan said he could, he didn't know what would happen.

There are four major banks in the world today. In other words, one big, three small, four banks. The Xue family's "Tonghui Bank" was one of the "big" ones, and it was the only one south of Tianhe. The business in Beidi was divided among three companies: "Baoshang, Kaiyuan, and Risheng." The wish of "Tonghui Bank" to move northward has not been realized for many years.

Thirty-seven years ago, "Kurong City", which was far away from "Tianhe", resisted the pressure of falling out with "the three major banks in the North" and forcibly introduced "Tonghui Bank" and deposited a large amount of gold and silver. At that time, apart from "along the Tianhe River", the only branch of "Tonghui Bank" in the "deep north" was "Kurong City". After the money was deposited, it could not be cashed out in the northern cities. No one understands why the "Konoha Family" would do such a thing.

"Xue Rui", the head of the "Xue family", was so happy that he went to "Kurong City" in person to discuss various matters, and later directly stayed with his second son "Xue Rang" who was traveling with him. He stayed for thirty-seven years. During this period, "Xue Rang" only returned to the south twice.

Among the "Xue Rui" group, the one who impressed Ye Xuan more deeply was his adopted daughter "Yu Yao" who was in a wheelchair. It was said that she was the orphan of an old friend in her early years. No matter where she went, "Xue Rui" would personally support her. Holding her. Taking care of every detail is better than your own.

With "Kurong City" as its root, "Tonghui Bank", under the leadership of "Xue Rang", spread its branches in the north and gradually connected with the south, truly realizing the ambition engraved on the "front side of the silver coin" - Huitong The world.

Exile Diary - Excerpt (8)

We continued sailing north but saw nothing more. The sun was too strong during the day, so I had to stay in the cabin most of the time, and only came out to enjoy the sea breeze in the evening. I have experienced so much during these days, and I enjoy the boredom these days.

The sunset this evening is very gentle. With her bare feet, Anese lay comfortably in the hammock she made out of sheets, letting the waves rock gently. When he saw me approaching, he didn't get up to salute. He just opened his eyes lazily and asked softly: "Princess, do you want to lie down? It's very comfortable."

"Anese, we should settle the matter about kicking me in the face."

Anese got up in a hurry and tried to get off the hammock in a very embarrassed manner. The hammock was soft and she was deeply stuck in it. The more she tried to get out of it quickly, the harder she struggled to get out. It was funny. After struggling for a while, Anese finally stood in front of me, leaning forward, as if hesitating whether he should kneel or not.

"Princess, it was very critical at that time. I...I...asked the princess to punish me." Anese knelt down anyway. She has always been a clumsy person, but it's not like she hasn't thought of her words for so many days, unless she doesn't think about it at all.

"If you take the initiative to ask for punishment, maybe I can spare you, but it looks like you don't intend to mention this matter again."

"Weize knows his mistake, please punish me princess." Anese stopped defending, her tone still sounded aggrieved. Every time she was punished, she would call herself "Weize" according to the rules. That was her slave name before I gave her the name "Anese". In Kunst, one of every dozens of female slaves is named Weize. Anyway, they don't need to socialize with outsiders, as long as they don't have the same name within each family.

"Go get the whip," I ordered.

"Yes, princess." Anese stopped being pretentious and seemed to have completely entered the "Weize" state.

She walked back to the main cabin, took out a soft whip and held it in front of me with both hands. Then she turned her back to me and hugged the foresail mast.

"When can you choose your own posture?" I cursed in my mind and didn't bother with her.

The soft whip was lightly curled and hit the deck with a crisp sound. Anese shrank but did not tremble. This bitch is not afraid of me at all!

I never let Anese bleed, not even once since I was little. This "soft whip" was specially made for her when I was a child. It is completely different from the "horse whip" used to treat other female slaves. Because of this, my father laughed at me a lot.

……

After the "storm" ended, Anese's body was already soaked with her own sweat, and her long and straight legs could no longer support the weight of her upper body. She collapsed on her knees, still holding the mast tightly with her hands.

The Endless Sea at this time was particularly quiet. Anese was like a little wild flower that had just been beaten by wind and rain, trembling slightly and curling up.

I feel better.

Exile Diary - Excerpt (9)

There was a storm today and I was terrified. I've seen wilder hurricanes, but then I lived in a palace, not a boat. There was no warning, no black clouds drifting from the distance, but the clouds above suddenly turned black, this damn endless sea.

Fortunately, the sail was furled in time, otherwise Anese and I would have been feeding the fish. Two days ago, if I had beaten Anese to pieces like I did to the other slave girls, if she had been slower in reefing her sails today, we would have been dead. My father was right when he said, "Do good deeds and you will be rewarded with good deeds."

Another reason why we can survive is actually the "clown fish". Even the bard can't make up such a ridiculous story.

The clownfish is a funny-looking fish in the "Kunster" offshore. The male fish is as big as my father's foot, and the female fish is as big as my foot. The book says that there were no such fish in the ancient times, so when did they appear?

The ferocity of clownfish is outrageous, and I always felt it was a form of revenge for their comical appearance. No one has ever seen a clownfish escape. Faced with any living creature in the sea, they seem to only do one thing, and that is to bite, biting like crazy.

If a fisherman goes out to sea in a small wooden boat to fish, the fishy smell on the boat will attract a large number of clownfish when he comes back. When they smell the smell, they will rush to bite them, not caring what they bite, and the fisherman's small wooden boat will be bitten through. , and then the fish and fishermen on the boat will be torn apart by the clownfish.

It is said that clownfish are also found in several "inland seas" of Wolfgangga. I don't know if this is true, but they are not found in the "freshwater lake" of Kunst, where I learned to swim.

Because of the clownfish, the fishing boats Kunst can go out to sea are much larger than those in freshwater lakes. His father’s fishing boats are larger and made of the best wood. His father's job was to collect taxes and kill people. Of course he didn't have to fish himself. Hunting and fishing were his biggest hobbies.

I have no interest in fishing, but I like to go out to sea with my father. I always thought my father was timid and didn't dare to sail too far from the coast. I never dreamed that my coming-of-age ceremony would be a journey with "no return and no end in sight". Now this fishing boat is the only thing that can make me "feel" my father.

In short, all the above saved my life today. Thanks to my father and the clownfish.

Exile Diary - Excerpt (10)

I can’t remember how many days we were drifting on the sea. I only know that we were sailing north. Still nothing and I started to feel restless. Anese seemed calm.

Anese's indifference made me feel at ease, but also made me jealous. Why can she enjoy the present while I am the only one worrying about the future!

In any case, I firmly believe that there must be land and people outside "Wulfganga", and they are people who can write. I believe this more than anyone in Wolfgangga.

This is not unfounded, for I have a black stone in my bedroom with something clearly written on it, but no one recognizes it. It was definitely words, and completely different from the words of "Wulfganga".

There are many languages ​​and writings in Wolfgangga, but they are all very similar. People from the empire can understand most of what they say even without translation, but the writing on this black stone is completely different. The words "Wulfganga" are like "waves", and the words on the black stone are like the "hammer" used by the divine guards.

I was fascinated by this black stone when I first saw it. My father said that it was something older than my grandfather. Even my grandfather didn’t know when it appeared in the Kunst family’s collection.

I asked my father for this black stone to put in my bedroom. My father was a little worried at first. He was afraid that the symbol on the black stone was a curse. I asked my father, did it curse the "Kunst family" to be humble kings for generations to come? My father laughed heartily and gave me the black stone. When the father thought about this black stone and his daughter whose life and death were unknown in the "Endless Sea"... Based on his ignorance, he would probably feel that there was really a curse on the black stone.

Everything in my room that can be carried onto the ship is now on the ship. Of course, such an important black stone will not be left behind. I used to be obsessed with it, but now it's my belief.