Taming beasts starts with understanding bird language

Jiangnan is located in the south of Tiancang Kingdom and is separated by the Tiancang River.

The Tiancang River is the mother river of the entire Tiancang Kingdom. It can be said that all other rivers in the Tiancang Kingdom are branched off from the Tiancang River. For hundreds of years, the Tiancang River has nurtured countless children of the Tiancang Kingdom and is an important source of water for the survival of the Tiancang Kingdom.

The area south of the Tiancang River is the entire Jiangnan region, and the area north of it includes many important cities of the Tiancang Kingdom.

A city like Nancheng, although named Nancheng, is actually located in the area north of Tiancang River. To be precise, Nancheng does not belong to the Jiangnan area, but it borders the Central Plains area and is located in the south of Tiancang Kingdom.

It took Gu Chan and the caravan seven days to take the official road from South City to the Tiancang River ferry.

The caravan arrived at Dujiang Town at dusk that afternoon.

This town has the only safe river crossing in the southern area and is also an important turning point for Tiancang Kingdom’s water transportation. Usually, many merchant ships will stop here to rest, replenish supplies, and then continue sailing.

Fortunately, since they were taking the official road, Gu Chan and the others did not encounter too much danger and could be said to have had a safe journey.

After dark, Gu Chan led the caravan to an inn in Dujiang Town and settled down.

After checking into the inn, Gu Chan discovered that the whole town was extremely lively at night. Not only were there many street stalls, but people from all over the country were also crowded in an endless stream.

Sitting in the lobby on the first floor of the inn, Gu Chan ate while looking at the bustling scene outside the window. She couldn't help but smile knowingly and said, "It really is worthy of being the most developed commercial area in Tiancang Country. This small town at the river crossing is so bustling. If we cross the river and reach the Jiangnan area, I wonder how much more lively it will be!"

"Yes! The further south we go, the hotter it gets. It doesn't feel like winter here anymore." Ma Zheng said as he took off his thick cotton jacket.

Di Lin and Yuan Jie did not say anything, but looked at the people sitting in the inn.

After looking around for a while, Di Lin whispered in Gu Chan's ear, "Boss, I always feel like something is wrong here. Look at the people sitting in the inn. It seems like everyone is secretly looking at us. This is completely different from when we were in the Yuanlai Inn in Nancheng."

"Yeah! I also feel something is wrong, as if they are looking at some prey." Yuan Ying also shouted.

After the two of them said this, Gu Chan noticed this.

She did not deny that what they said was indeed true. At this moment, the group of people sitting in the lobby on the first floor of the inn were eating and stealing glances at them from time to time, as if they were sizing them up to see if they could afford to offend them.

This feeling still makes me feel uncomfortable.

At this moment, the waiter came over with a pot of wine. After placing the wine on the table, he looked at Gu Chan and said with a smile, "My dear guest, I guess you are a caravan that has just arrived in Dujiang Town, right?"

"Yes! What's wrong?" Gu Chan asked with a smile.

"We have some rules here. Do you want to know?" the waiter whispered.

Gu Chan became interested and said, "I do! Tell me about it!"

"Two taels of silver." The waiter stretched out his hand directly to Gu Chan.

Apparently, using money to gather information is an established rule here. It is also a very important source of income for waiters like them, otherwise he would not be so casual.

After realizing this, Gu Chan didn't waste any words and directly took out two taels of silver and handed it to him.

After the waiter collected the silver, he smiled and said, "We have three major rules in Dujiang Town. First, this place is only for resting and replenishing supplies. Caravans are not allowed to trade with each other. Second, there are green shops and red shops here. Men go to the green shop and women go to the red shop. Don't go to the wrong one, otherwise you will bear the consequences. Third, after midnight here, it is best to stay in the inn and don't go out. If you insist on going out, you will bear the consequences yourself."

"Oh! This is quite interesting! This is the first time I've heard of it!" Gu Chan said with her eyes wide open, quite surprised.

She really didn't expect that in such a small riverside town, there would be three such bizarre rules. It was simply quite shocking!

Di Lin asked, "Little Second Brother, we can understand the first of these three rules, but what do the last two rules mean?"

"I won't say more about this. This is the rule here. You just need to think it through yourself." The waiter said with a strange smile.

After saying that, he turned and left without further explanation.

Gu Chan touched her chin and muttered, "Interesting. It seems we have to go out for a walk tonight. I want to see why we can't go out after midnight."

"Boss, what is Hongpu?" Ma Zheng suddenly asked.

Gu Chan spread her hands, bewildered. "How would I know? This is the first time I've heard of this! Before, whether I was at the border, in Zhongyuan City, or in Nancheng, I had never heard of a place like Hongpu."

"Brother Di Lin, Sister Yuan Jie, do you know?" Ma Zheng looked at them again and asked.

The two of them also shook their heads in confusion, indicating that they knew nothing about it.

After all, they have been living in the Central Plains for many years and have never been to the south of the Yangtze River, so they don't know much about the local customs and culture here.

Gu Chan slapped the table with her hand and said decisively, "Okay, after dinner, let's arrange for everyone to rest, and then the four of us will go out for a walk. I want to see what's so special about this town."

"Boss, why don't we just be obedient and stay in the inn, and cross the river tomorrow. There's no need to cause trouble for ourselves!" Ma Zheng said in a trembling voice.

"You know shit. Now that you're here, you should go and see it all. Otherwise, if people ask us about our side and we don't know the answers, wouldn't that be embarrassing?" Gu Chan lectured him unhappily.

After hearing her say this, Ma Zheng finally put aside his worries.

After that, the four of them quieted down and continued eating.

Half an hour later, the four of them had eaten and drunk their fill. Di Lin went to arrange for the remaining eight people in the caravan to stay. Then he left the inn with Gu Chan and the other two and went to wander around the town.

Since it was still more than an hour before midnight, the streets were still bustling with people, and there was nothing wrong at all.

After walking around for a while, Gu Chan said, "There's nothing abnormal now. Let's go! Let's go find a red shop to have a look."

“But didn’t the waiter say that only women can enter the Red Shop?” Ma Zheng reminded.

"Go over first! Just stand outside and take a look. You don't have to go in!" Gu Chan said with a smile.

After saying that, she took the lead and walked forward.

Ma Zheng and the other two followed her with great interest.