Chapter 438 – Goodbye to old friends
The anger in An Zheng’s heart had already reached its peak, and the tens of thousands of people around him had starved to death; The citizens of Da Xi city had always lived a prosperous life. Even if a natural disaster were to happen here, with the efficiency of the Da Xi government, they would be able to deliver the relief supplies soon. How could they starve to death?
Da Xi’s teleportation nexus was very dense. Basically, any large city would have one. Whether it was transferring food from other places or from Holy See’s account, it would not take long.
Before An Zheng came, he asked for a map of Da Xi from Tan Taiche’s store. The map was very detailed. If only he brought the Heaven Defying Seal with him, the map inside the Heaven Defying Seal was even more detailed. An Zheng unfurled the map, and upon closer inspection, he realized that there was a very big city about six hundred miles ahead, called the An Gu.
It was only then that An Zheng remembered that he still had some understanding of the ancient city of An. Back then, because of a case, he had come into contact with the City Lord of An Gu city, Zhou Shen, before, and their relationship was not bad.
The system of government administration in Da Xi was different from that of other countries. The city lord was equivalent to the government governor of State of Yan. These city lords were born big families and forces in the city, and were appointed by the Holy See.
Although the Zhou Family was not the only family with power in the area, because there were some Zhou Family officials in the Holy See, the Mayor would naturally not be left to any other family. An old man from the Zhou family was working in the Eye Division of the Holy See. He was one of the famous fortune-tellers of the Great Xi world.
Although An Zheng didn’t really believe in stars, but the Holy Emperor Chen Wunuo cared a lot about this. Aesult, although the people from the Star Gaze Division didn’t have any actual authority, their status was very high. This old man of the Zhou Family had been in the Department of Stargaze for seventy years, and could say a few words in front of Holy Emperor Chen Wunuo.
Zhou Shen was a very righteous person, this was An Zheng’s initial judgement. At that time, the case was handled by a member of the Zhou Family, it would be very troublesome if Zhou Shen did not help. But when Zhou Shen confirmed that An Zheng’s evidence was conclusive, he exterminated the marriage and personally sent the person to An Zheng.
An Zheng had a long conversation with Zhou Shen before in the ancient city of An, he knew that was an ambitious person, and his biggest dream was to make the ancient city of An interfect place where one could stay up all night without leaving a trace. Zhou Shen had said several times already, that he wanted nothing evil to happen to the ancient city. People could live their lives as they pleased without worrying about being harmed.
It was very difficult, but Zhou Shen had done well. At that time, in order to protect the interests of the common people, he had dared to confront the people of the other large clans of the ancient city and had fought a few battles head on. Therefore, in An Gu, Zhou Shen actually didn’t have a good relationship with many people in the aristocratic families. The commoners loved him, but even the people of the Zhou family had some complaints about him.
After all, if a person from a clan became the city lord, if the clan did not reap any benefits, then the city lord would naturally suffer some rejection.
However, it was fortunate that Zhou Shen would not be caught red-handed, coupled with the fact that that old man from the Star Gaze Division had been especially good to Zhou Shen since childhood, and the Zhou family members couldn’t shake the position of City Lord of Zhou Shen.
Since this was an event that occurred within the ancient city of An, then with Zhou Shen here, it would naturally be easier to investigate. An Zheng calculated that these commoners would probably die within a few hundred years, possibly within a few dozen. The last time he came, it was already thirty years ago. He had not been here at that time and did not know if it had happened.
However, An Zheng believed in his judgement of others. He knew that once Zhou Shen knew about this, he would definitely investigate. Zhou Shen did not mention anything, which meant that this matter should have happened before he became the city master and he did not know of it. Now, it was time to investigate who the previous city lord of the ancient city was.
An Zheng organized his thoughts and immediately started moving. With his speed, six hundred miles was nothing. If he kept going with all his strength, he wouldn’t even need a single day for An Zheng to be outside the ancient city of An.
It was almost exactly the same as it had been thirty years ago, and the ancient city of An still looked as orderly as ever. There were very few defenders at the city gate, and that was confidence. This was because security in the ancient city of An had always been very good, and the citizens wouldn’t casually cause trouble.
As for those people from the large families, everyone knew Zhou Shen’s temperament. If there was nothing to do, why go against him?
Although the soldiers guarding the city gate were few in number, they were all extremely vigorous men. They could immediately tell that An Zheng had come from afar, even if his clothes didn’t have a speck of dust on them.
“Halt.”
A soldier leading the group walked over and stopped An Zheng: “May I ask where you came from and what you’re doing in the ancient city of An? When will you be leaving? ”
An Zheng thought about it, for the time being, he didn’t need to reveal his identity as the protector of the State of Yan, fortunately, he was already prepared. He took out a slip of paper and handed it over to the soldier, “I am Qing Zhai’s shopkeeper from State of Yan.
His card could not be more real. Tan Taiche had given it to him personally in the first place. Although Qing Zhai did not have much influence in the Da Xi Empire, with hundreds of branch stores open, he was quite famous.
The soldier looked for a while, but naturally did not see any loopholes, so he let them in after asking.
After An Zheng entered, he stopped and turned to ask the soldier: “May I ask if the mayor is in the city yet? I’ve received a request from the City Lord to meet me. ”
The soldier replied, “It’s been thirty years since the mayor left the ancient city. It looks like you haven’t been back for a while.”
An Zheng knew that the soldier was still probing him, so he smiled and replied, “This is my first time in the ancient city of An, when I was a few years old, I started travelling together with my family.”
The soldier smiled and said, “It’s hard work for you guys in this business, but you guys can make money.”
An Zheng: “You have good eyes, you can also come to Qing Zhai later on.”
The smile on the soldier’s face became even wider. “Stop fooling around. These people just watch a lot of people every day. They can see people well, but they are just laymen.” If you are not afraid that we will ruin Qing Zhai’s business, we brothers will go and seek you for wealth. ”
An Zheng laughed as he cupped his fists and said his goodbyes.
After entering the city gates, An Zheng purposely did not walk very fast. There did not seem to be any change in the city, but An Zheng had a faint uncomfortable feeling in his heart. A city that hadn’t changed in decades might not necessarily be a good thing.
Following the main street and walking straight ahead, An Zheng naturally remembered where the City Lord’s Mansion was, but he still pretended to ask someone. He had a feeling that someone was watching him from behind, and was secretly moving away.
When he arrived outside the City Lord’s mansion, An Zheng realized that there were some changes. Thirty years ago, when An Zheng came over, there were still a few guards guarding outside the City Lord’s Mansion. Now, however, there was not a single person around.
An Zheng walked in and an old man who was cleaning the door looked back at him and said indifferently: “If there’s anything that needs to be done, I’ll have to trouble you to write an appointment in the book at the door. The City Lord is too busy. What is between the people and the people is written in the book on the left. The matters between the commoners and the aristocratic families were written in the book in the middle. The matters between the people and the court are written in the book on the far right. ”
After he finished speaking, he lowered his head and continued sweeping the floor.
An Zheng passed over the name scroll: “Please inform me that I am sent by Owner Qing Zhai. I have something urgent to request a meeting with City Lord, I am very, very anxious.”
There was also Qing Zhai in the ancient city of An, so the old man did not suspect anything. He stood up and looked at An Zheng, then was slightly startled: “I really want to see that kind of expression in your eyes … Oh, it should be him. However, thirty years have passed. How old are you? Besides, he’s dead. ”
An Zheng’s heart was violently shocked!
This old man had seen him thirty years ago?! He was in the process of investigating a case and was used to remembering people he had met before. However, compared to this old man’s memory, he was truly ashamed of himself. Even after thirty years, he could still remember the look in his eyes. An Zheng thought about it, seeing the old man’s face, he had a faint impression of him, as though he was working in this room 30 years ago.
At that time, Zhou Shen had just become the City Lord and there weren’t many people around him. After all, there weren’t many people from the Zhou Clan that were willing to work with him. It was only because that old man from the Star-eye Division had sent some people to assist him that the City Lord’s Mansion was able to operate smoothly. Perhaps this old man was one of the people that the old man from the Zhou family had sent.
The old man shook his head and sighed as he walked away. It was obvious that he felt that it waity that Fang Zheng had died.
An Zheng looked around, basically, there were no changes in the City Lord’s Mansion. It was as simple as before, but very clean. There weren’t any expensive flowers, plants, or trees growing inside. They were all very common species, but they were all well tended. Zhou Shen was the type of person who would not waste or enjoy something that was not extravagant. His entire being was a little rigid, but he was not inflexible.
After waiting for about ten minutes, the old man walked back while trembling, “You can enter from here and follow the path to the left until you reach the City Lord’s study. He is currently receiving guests. I’ll have to trouble you to wait outside for a while.”
An Zheng cupped his fists in thanks, and then walked forward.
The old man turned to look at An Zheng, and muttered to himself: “What a strange young man.”
An Zheng kept walking along the small path, and after passing through the courtyard, he arrived outside Zhou Shen’s study. Inside, he could vaguely hear someone talking, and An Zheng was standing outside waiting.
There were a few trees planted in front of the gate, like pecans. For some reason, when An Zheng saw the peach tree, he couldn’t help but think of Feng Xiuyang who had exchanged his life for the peach tree’s.
The voices of the people in the room were not loud, and An Zheng was not willing to eavesdrop on their conversation, he just stood at a distance and looked at the flowers and plants in the small courtyard.
Not long after, there was an argument in the room, and the voices became louder and louder. An Zheng subconsciously turned his head to look and just happened to see a young woman slamming the door as she walked out. The woman looked around sixteen or seventeen years old. She might have been older, but she exuded a youthful aura.
There were some female cultivators with powerful cultivations who could still maintain their youthful appearance even at such a young age, but they definitely did not have such an aura of youth. Although he looked young, just a glance was enough to reveal his true age.
The girl was obviously angry and her face was pale. She glanced at An Zheng and was slightly stunned. Then, she pouted her lips and ran off, carrying along a burst of fragrance.
She had a very good figure. Although she couldn’t be considered to beerless beauty, her appearance was still first-rate. As he ran, his chest rose and fell slightly.
“Those who have come to see him are not good people!”
The girl scolded An Zheng before she quickly ran out. When she glared at An Zheng, her eyes were filled with disgust.
An Zheng was stunned, he thought to himself, what does that mean?
With the sound of footsteps, Zhou Shen slowly walked out from inside, and sighed while standing at the door. He glanced at An Zheng and smiled apologetically: “I’m sorry, that is my daughter, she has been spoiled too much since she was young. You are Qing Zhai’s man? What can I do for you? ”
Daughter?
An Zheng was slightly surprised. Thirty years had passed, but many changes had still occurred. But, they had never heard that Zhou Shen had a wife. He had said before that he would never marry in his lifetime for the sake of the citizens of the ancient city.
Maybe it was An Zheng’s habit, to look at others with his eyes, so at this moment, he saw that Zhou Shen’s eyes were flickering.
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