Chapter Thirty-Six: Rushing to Qingzhou

  A whole set of purple clothes, under which are black cloud boots, looks more spirited, and the saying that people rely on clothes and horses rely on saddles is absolutely true.

  With his hands behind him, Chen Jiu shuttled through the crowd. The color purple originally represented nobility, and wearing a deep purple robe, an air of magnificence naturally came forth.

  "Going to Qingzhou with Mr., I couldn't possibly walk all the way there," Chen Ji thought gloomily.

  "Cong You Bing, Cong You Bing, Cong You Bing."

  "Venison meatballs, delicious and tender."

  "Deep-fried tofu, delicious and addictive."

  One after another shout woke up Chen Jiu: "They say the dragon meat in heaven, the donkey meat on earth. This donkey meat is absolutely a great wonder of the world, can't help but eat it."

  Arriving at a donkey meat restaurant, Chen Jiu rubbed his somewhat sunken belly: "Boss, bring us a pot of donkey meat dumplings".

  "Alright, sir, please wait for a moment."

  As he sipped his tea, Chen Jiu's gaze turned to the street outside, and suddenly an interesting scene caught his eye.

  "Boss, I'm not selling this donkey anymore."

  "Why not sell? We've already agreed on a price, and besides, this price of mine isn't low. If I didn't see that you donkey have a hint of spirituality, I wouldn't even buy it."

  The donkey seller was a simple and honest man, who at this time had a red face: "You said to sell the donkey, but you didn't say that you want to sell it to a donkey meat restaurant. I'll tell you, if I wasn't in urgent need of money, I really wouldn't have sold this donkey."

  The buyer was a somewhat cunning merchant: "I'm telling you, brother, with this money I could almost buy half a horse. Are you so greedy that you want to pass off this donkey as a horse?"

  The man suddenly became anxious: "What's wrong with this donkey of mine? Although it is a donkey, it runs faster than a horse and has more strength than a horse. It's just that its height is not as high as a horse."

  The crowd burst out laughing at this, and the vendor immediately became unhappy: "Hey, I haven't even sold it yet, go find someone else to buy your 'horse'!" After saying this, the onlookers dispersed one after another, leaving only the donkey seller's face bright red.

  Chen Jiu looked at it with interest and said to Xiao Er: "Go and invite the man who sells donkeys to come up and tell a story."

  The little boy ran down and talked to the donkey seller in a low voice, after that, he saw the donkey seller lift his head and look towards this window.

  Chen Jiu raised his wine cup and made a gesture of respect.

  The donkey seller saw Chen Jiu dressed in luxurious attire and gave a stiff bow.

  Chen Jiu casually tossed a few pieces of silver to the waiter and had him shooed away.

  "Please sit down, don't be formal." Chen Jiuzi stretched out his hand and made a gesture for the man to take a seat.

  The man sat down clumsily and Chen Jiu poured him a cup of tea: "I heard you talking downstairs earlier, is it really true that there's a donkey in this world that can run faster than a horse?"

  When he heard the donkey, the man suddenly came to life: "Young master, I'm not bragging, this donkey is indeed faster than ordinary horses. Look at those leg bones, they're almost as thick as those of a thousand-mile horse. If you ask me, this is absolutely a rare donkey king that appears only once in a thousand years."

  Chen Jiou heard what he said was interesting, then said: "Since you urgently need money, why don't you sell that donkey to that merchant?"

  "Don't laugh at me, sir, but I've loved donkeys all my life and never been too fond of horses. This donkey is a rare divine creature that appears only once in a thousand years. How could it be slaughtered just like that? Even if I starve to death, I won't sell it."

  Chen Jiu nearly spat out the tea in his mouth when he heard that this donkey was the most beloved of his life: "Alright, alright, name a price for this donkey. I'm on my way to Qingzhou and I'm short one mode of transportation. If this donkey is truly as amazing as you say, then I won't be stingy with a little bit of money."

  At this time, a small second end came up with a plate of dumplings: "Young master, the donkey meat dumplings you ordered are here."

  Looking at the Han man opposite him, Chen Jiuyi smiled: "Give him a plate too".

  "No, no, no need, I don't eat donkey meat." The man hastily waved his hand.

  Chen Jiuyi's mouth corners revealed a hint of a smile: "Then let's give him a plate of mutton, don't tell me this donkey meat restaurant only has donkey meat".

  Xiao Er heard this and broke out in a cold sweat, muttering to himself: "We're a donkey meat restaurant, not a mutton restaurant, of course we wouldn't have any mutton."

  "There's a mutton shop just across the street, I'll help you buy some." The waiter seemed to be inspired and didn't answer directly, but instead came up with a solution.

  Chen nodded: "Alright, you go down first".

  Looking at the man opposite him, Chen Jiu picked up a dumpling: "Tell me, how much do you want to sell this donkey for?"

  "Fifty taels of silver," said Da Han, glancing at Chen Jiu with a nervous expression.

  Chen Jiou put down the dumplings: "Brother, you really think this donkey of yours is a divine donkey."

  The Great Han bowed his head and said: "Or forty taels will also work".

  Chen Jiuyi shook his head: "I'm too lazy to haggle with you, I just bought this donkey for fun because I had too much money and nowhere to spend it. Forty taels is forty taels, go downstairs and get that donkey cleaned up for me."

  After finishing speaking, Chen Jiu stuffed the dumplings into his mouth: "Damn it, a losing business. I'm just burning money because I have too much of it. This money is too easily earned to be cherished."

  That man didn't even wait for the mutton dumplings and went downstairs to borrow a bucket of water from a small shop, starting to scrub the donkey.

  After finishing the meal, Chen Jiu settled the bill and came downstairs to look at the busy man: "Alright, no need to sweep anymore. Here are 40 taels of silver. Don't waste that plate of mutton dumplings upstairs."

  After finishing, Chen Jiu took over the reins and led the donkey slowly towards the direction of the city gate. Along the way, Chen Jiu bought a canvas cover, the kind that is placed on the back of the donkey, which can hold some goods and money.

  After settling down at an inn next to the city gate, Chen thought about his future path. Now that he had encountered a great Confucian scholar, the road to Qingzhou would naturally be unimpeded, and he wouldn't fear the Black Mountain Old Demon's attempts to rob him on the way. Once he arrived in Qingzhou, what should he do? Should he just cultivate and then hide in the state government for the rest of his life?

  Tonight, Chen Jiu unusually didn't meditate and went to bed with his clothes on. The next day, as soon as the sky was bright, Chen Jiu led a donkey to arrive outside the city, dug up his own gold, this gold had gone through several major disasters, there were almost ten thousand taels, which was absolutely a huge fortune.

  Ten thousand taels of gold and some trivial things were piled on the donkey's back, but to his surprise, there was no change, still standing upright. Chen Jiu couldn't help but exclaim: "Is this really a donkey?"

  "Master, you've arrived," Chen Jiu said towards a horse carriage.

  Li Hui sat in the carriage, looking at Chen Jiu through the window: "Hmm, we've wasted a lot of time, let's get on the road early".

  The carman was a man of over thirty years old, with thick joints on his fingers and robust physique, looking like he had some kung fu skills.

  Thinking about it, if there's no one with abilities to protect him, who can guarantee the safety of this great Confucian scholar? Although it's said that great Confucians also have some fighting power, compared to cultivators and warriors, there's still a big gap after all, as different professions have their own specialized skills.

  Chen Jiu once again witnessed the wonder of this donkey, which was actually able to keep up with the speed of the horse carriage. It's truly a divine donkey.

  Nothing much happened on this road, Chen Jiu wiped out the largest stronghold in the area, and those small mountain bandits will probably behave for a while.

  Once again passing through a familiar mountain, which is not far from the mountain stronghold, the carriage driver suddenly stopped the horse and said to the great Confucian scholar: "Sir, a strong smell of blood is coming from the mountain, I'm afraid something has changed".

  Chen looked at the big man in surprise, didn't expect this guy to be so formidable, even knowing that someone had died on the mountain.

  If Chen Jiu knew that someone had died on the mountain and still felt sorry for him, then this big man could feel that someone had died on the mountain. This cultivation was absolutely not simple.

  Thousands of people have died on the mountain, and Chen Jiuxin is well aware of this, but he will never say it out loud.

  The great Confucian inside hesitated for a moment, then said: "Most of the people in this mountain forest are just local bandits, if they die, it's just death, no need to add any more unexpected trouble, returning to Qingzhou is the main task".

  Now that the host has spoken, of course, Da Han does not have the qualifications to object, Chen Jiu is well aware and will not make trouble.

  A group of travelers arrived at this legendary Qingzhou Prefecture after a month of bumpy journey.

  Qingzhou Prefecture was one of the eighteen prefectures of the Wang Dynasty, with a long history dating back to the Emperor Yang of Sui era.