In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

Chapter 333 The host and guest enjoy themselves

Li Hu's quick agreement was not unexpected to Chen Dao. The imperial court was also a distant and unreliable entity to Li Hu. He might have a sense of awe towards the court, but he would never have any loyalty to it.

On the contrary, Xu Zhiwen's face showed a struggle.

Honestly, Xu Zhiwen had no good feelings towards the current imperial court, even though it had given him the opportunity to become an official and allowed him to achieve upward social mobility.

However, as a scholar with ideals and ambitions, Xu Zhiwen looked down on the current court. As he once said, the food he ate was grown by the hard work of the people, the clothes he wore were woven by the people stitch by stitch, and his salary was paid by the people through taxes bit by bit.

Xu Zhiwen never believed that what he received was given by the imperial court, but rather came from the people.

However, the imperial court continued to exploit the people, which naturally aroused Xu Zhiwen's dissatisfaction.

For this reason, Xu Zhiwen did not have much loyalty to the imperial court, however...

He was, after all, a scholar, and the ideas of loyalty to the emperor and patriotism were always engraved in his mind. It was obviously not an easy thing for him to make the decision to betray the court.

"call."

Xu Zhiwen let out a breath, and after struggling with his thoughts for a long time, he said in a deep voice, "I agree, but I have one request."

"Magistrate Xu, please speak freely."

Chen Dao's eyes lit up.

"I hope that my friend Chen can help me wipe out all the bandits in Taiping County."

"no problem."

Chen Dao readily agreed, as eliminating the bandits in Taiping County would also benefit Chenjia Village, after all...

With the robbers gone, the trade routes to Chenjia Village will be much smoother.

"From now on, we're in the same boat."

A smile appeared on Xu Zhiwen's face: "I hope Brother Li and young friend Chen will take good care of me."

"Easy to say, easy to say!"

Soon, Chen Dao's family began to host a banquet to entertain Xu Zhiwen and Li Hu. At the same time, Xu Zhiwen and Li Hu also received the Cloud Shadow Palm rubbing they had been longing for.

For a time, both host and guests enjoyed themselves immensely.

…………

…………

Two days later, in Taicang County.

Looking at the goods Zheng Qiuyan brought back, Zheng Qing asked, "These are the Blood Feather Chicken and the Crimson Blood Chicken?"

"good."

Zheng Qiuyan nodded with a smile.

"This chicken is quite extraordinary."

Zheng Qing said with a smile that whether it is a Blood Feather Chicken or a Crimson Blood Chicken, the feathers are bright red. Even he, who has seen a lot, has never seen a chicken breed with such feathers.

“I plan to sell these two types of chicken at Zheng Baolou Restaurant. What do you think, Father?” Zheng Qiuyan asked.

"How much do you plan to sell it for?"

"Blood-feathered chicken 100 taels, red-blooded chicken 200 taels."

"Can!"

Soon, the Blood Feather Chicken and the Crimson Blood Chicken were sent to Zheng Bao Lou, which was not far from the Prefect's Mansion, and began to be sold.

The next day.

Inside the city, Shen Yi walked hurriedly down the wide street, his brow furrowed with worry.

Shen Yi is a martial artist in the county who does not belong to any faction; perhaps it would be more appropriate to describe him as a freelance martial artist.

For a free-spirited martial artist, the biggest challenge is undoubtedly the availability of cultivation resources.

Without the support of a powerful force, it is extremely difficult to have enough resources for cultivation. Although martial artists can work as guards or part-time bodyguards and earn generous rewards, the expenses of cultivation are also enormous. It is difficult to support the expenses of cultivation with the income earned by oneself alone.

"Ugh."

Shen Yi touched his purse. A while ago, he found a job as a guard, helping a merchant escort goods to the prefectural city (the political center of Qingzhou), earning 50 taels of silver. Adding this to the 50 taels he had saved up before, he had a total of 100 taels, which he planned to use to buy some medicinal herbs from Zheng Baolou.

Shen Yi had been stuck at the peak of the eighth rank for a long time. Due to a lack of sufficient resources, he was unable to advance his realm. Fortunately, he had finally saved enough silver to buy some medicinal herbs to help him break through.

However, Shen Yi couldn't help but feel uneasy, because the medicinal herbs for breaking through realms couldn't guarantee a martial artist would break through to the next realm. If he couldn't succeed this time, he would probably have to save up money for a long time again.

"I hope it will be successful on the first try."

Shen Yi's gaze hardened as he stepped into the Zheng Bao Lou, a vast and magnificently decorated building.

"Welcome to Zheng Bao Lou, sir."

As soon as Shen Yi entered, an old man hurriedly came to greet him.

Shen Yi looked up at the old man and asked in surprise, "Manager Wei, why are you personally receiving us today?"

The reception work at Zheng Baolou is usually handled by Zheng Baolou's employees; it is very rare for the manager to personally receive guests like this.

"Of course, it's because the building has new arrivals."

Manager Wei smiled and said, "Zheng Bao Lou has some new items today. Would Brother Shen like to take a look?"

Shen Yi was a regular customer of Zheng Bao Lou in the county town. Although he wasn't a particularly big customer, Manager Wei had a good memory and still remembered his name.

"forget it."

Shen Yi shook his head. He came today to buy medicinal herbs for breaking through realms and had no interest in anything else.

"Brother Shen, don't be in such a hurry to refuse."

Shopkeeper Wei smiled and said, "This new batch of goods is something useful for martial artists. I can guarantee you'll be interested."

Seeing Manager Wei's confident demeanor, Shen Yi became interested and nodded, saying, "Then let's take a look."

"Brother Shen, come with me."

Soon, Manager Wei led Shen Yi to the second floor of Zheng Bao Lou.

Zheng Bao Lou usually has three floors. The first floor sells ordinary goods such as grain, salt, and cloth, while the second and third floors usually sell medicinal materials used by martial artists.

Manager Wei, who led Shen Yi to the second floor, led him to a shelf and pointed to the chicken coops on the shelf, saying with a smile, "These are new arrivals from Zheng Bao Lou. The smaller ones are called Blood Feather Chickens, and the slightly larger ones are called Crimson Blood Chickens."

Shen Yi carefully examined the bright red Blood Feather Chicken and asked curiously, "This chicken has a rather unique appearance. I wonder what it's used for?"

"Blood-feathered chicken: chicken blood can nourish qi and blood, and chicken meat can nourish the body and replenish qi and blood."

Shopkeeper Wei pointed to the smaller Blood Feather Chicken and said, "The Zheng family has already had someone test it. The Blood Feather Chicken's blood has an extremely potent effect, which can help martial artists quickly increase their qi and blood. It is especially effective for martial artists who are in a bottleneck, helping them to break through quickly."

"what?!"

Shen Yi's gaze towards the Blood Feather Chicken changed instantly, and he asked incredulously, "Manager Wei, are you lying to me? How can there be such a magical breed of chicken in this world?"

"I, Zheng Baolou, have always been honest and fair in my business dealings, so how could I possibly cheat people?"

Shopkeeper Wei said confidently, "I would stake my life on it; the effects of this Blood Feather Chicken are absolutely real!"

Upon hearing this, Shen Yi couldn't help but gasp. He trusted Zheng Baolou's reputation, and his earlier questioning was merely an instinctive reaction under extreme shock.