Travel to the mountains and make a fortune in silence

"Halt! Who are you?" The man on duty at the first checkpoint at the village entrance spotted the unfamiliar faces from afar and immediately blocked their path. "What business do you have in our village?"

The leading man reined in his horse, dismounted, and strode to the sentry post. He clasped his hands in greeting and said, "Brother, I am a guard from the Mu family. I have important matters to report to my master." As he spoke, he took out an exquisite jade pendant from his pocket and showed it to the man on duty.

The person on duty took a closer look and recognized the jade pendant as the Mu family's token. He immediately became very enthusiastic: "So you're from the Mu family. Please come in. The Mu family is all at the Wu family's wedding banquet today. I'll take you directly there."

Gu Yong thanked the people on duty, then looked at the open gate behind him: "You should close the gate quickly, strengthen the guard, and then go to the city wall to keep a close watch."

Wang Changyuan looked at Gu Yong with suspicion and asked in confusion, "Brother, why are you suddenly asking us to close the door? Did something happen?"

Gu Yong said with a serious expression and a firm tone, "Listen to me, you won't go wrong."

After saying that, he said no more.

Seeing that Gu Yong's tone was firm and he didn't want to say more, Wang Changyuan, though still having doubts, didn't press further and readily agreed, "Okay."

Wang Changyuan is the captain of the patrol team, and his subordinates obey his every word.

He then dispatched a subordinate to lead Gu Yong to the Wu family's residence, while he and the others went to close the heavy gate and securely bolted it shut.

Immediately afterwards, Wang Changyuan arranged for ten strong men to climb the city wall and defend it closely.

These men were all armed with crossbows made of bamboo, standing ready in case of any unforeseen events.

Wang Changqing led Gu Yong to the front of the Wu family's house, where a lively banquet was underway in the courtyard: "This is the Wu family. They are welcoming their new daughter-in-law today, and it's quite a lively affair."

Gu Yong cupped his hands in thanks to Wang Changqing, saying, "Thank you for leading the way, brother."

Wu Zihao, who was having dinner in the courtyard, inadvertently caught sight of two familiar figures standing at the gate. After whispering a few words to the people at the table, he hurriedly got up and walked towards the gate: "Gu Yong, Gu Liang, what brings you two here?"

Gu Yong looked grave and pulled Wu Zihao aside, saying anxiously, "Young Master, something terrible has happened! Something has occurred in the county town!"

Upon hearing this, Wu Zihao's expression instantly turned serious: "What happened?"

Gu Yong took a deep breath to calm himself down, then said in a deep voice, "The county town... has been occupied by the Japanese!"

Wu Zihao looked at Gu Yong in astonishment, "What exactly is going on?"

"This very morning, a large number of soldiers suddenly appeared in the county town! We couldn't understand a word they were saying, and these soldiers quickly took control of the county government office and arrested the magistrate! Not only that, they killed many people and even abducted quite a few girls, right there in the street... and..."

At this point, Gu Yong's voice rose considerably in anger, "They are simply a bunch of inhuman beasts!"

When Gu Yong recalled the horrific scene he had witnessed that morning, his anger burned fiercely and was difficult to quell.

His sudden increase in volume attracted the attention of the people eating in the courtyard. Everyone stopped eating and looked over curiously.

This morning, as usual, Gu Yong led his men to practice their light-body skills in the mountains outside the city.

When they stepped onto the street, they discovered that there were many soldiers there.

These soldiers were not only numerous, but they also spoke a language that no one had ever heard before.

Seeing this, Gu Yong knew the situation was bad, so he quickly led his men to hide and secretly observe the soldiers' every move.

Then he witnessed the heinous atrocities that had just been described.

Gu Yong dared not delay for the slightest and hurriedly led his men back to the Mu residence.

Upon returning to the mansion, he immediately ordered everyone to hide all the servants, grain, and valuable ornaments in the tunnels.

After everything was arranged, Gu Yong personally directed everyone to decorate the mansion as if it had been uninhabited for a long time, in order to deceive people.

Finally, he felt relieved and led everyone through the tunnel to a farm on the outskirts of the city.

They even blocked the entrance to the underground passage in the mansion.

After having those people hide in the farm, he immediately took the two men to Aoshan Village to deliver the message.

"I understand. Come in and have something to eat." Wu Zihao thought that they had been busy all morning and probably hadn't eaten anything, so he invited the two of them to come in and sit down and have something to eat.

The two had been busy since early morning, without even having time to drink a sip of water. They were now feeling quite hungry, so they stopped refusing and followed Wu Zihao into the courtyard, found a place to sit down, and began to feast.

Wu Zihao turned around and called Wang Qing'er, Wu Zixuan, Wu Zixu, and Village Chief Wang to the side hall.

"Brother, why are Gu Yong and the others here?" Wu Zixuan asked curiously.

Wu Zihao said with a grave expression, "Gu Yong said something happened in the county town. The county town has been occupied by the Japanese, and even the county magistrate has been arrested..."

Then, he recounted to everyone what had happened in the county town in detail.

"Japanese?" Wang Qing'er murmured to herself, as if she had remembered something.

Suddenly, the incomprehensible language she had heard at the county dock that day flashed through her mind.

Yes, that's the Japanese language!

No wonder it sounded familiar; it was the Japanese language.

These Japanese devils are truly villains no matter the dynasty.

So it seems the county's docks were probably secretly controlled by the Japanese long ago.

Perhaps this dock was built by the Japanese.

And that wealthy businessman is either a Japanese or an inside agent for the Japanese.

The more Wang Qing'er thought about it, the more terrifying it became, and a chill ran through her.

If the Japanese are so meticulous in planning this small Wuyang County, what about the other places in Dongliang Kingdom?

Did they secretly plan these conspiracies all along?

It seems that the Eastern Liang Kingdom is about to be drawn into war again.

Wang Qing'er's mood grew increasingly heavy, and she couldn't help but worry about the future of the Eastern Liang Kingdom.

With Dongliang in chaos, her life will certainly not be easy, even though her wealth is now comparable to that of a country.

Wang Qing'er was lost in her own thoughts and completely oblivious to her surroundings.

When she came to her senses, she realized that Village Chief Wang and Wu Zihao had already left.

"Where are Zihao and Village Chief Wang?" Wang Qing'er asked, somewhat bewildered.

Wu Zixuan looked at her: "They went to set up defenses. Sister-in-law, what were you thinking about just now? You seemed so engrossed in your thoughts."