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

"Miss Zheng, why did you come in person?"

Chen Dao, lying on the recliner, looked surprised and was quite taken aback by Zheng Qiuyan's personal arrival.

Zheng Qiuyan glanced at Chen Cheng, who was practicing Cloud Shadow Palm in the courtyard, and said, "We've made progress on the medicinal herbs you're looking for."

"Oh?"

Chen Dao's expression brightened, and he straightened up to ask, "Has the Zheng family found those three medicinal herbs?"

"Found it, but there was a slight mishap."

Zheng Qiuyan said in a deep voice, "A few days ago, we learned that there were Fire Spirit Mushrooms, Fire Fruits, and Golden Melody Fruits for sale in the Yuezhou region. So we sent a manager from the Zheng family and a team of martial artists to Yuezhou to purchase them. The purchase went smoothly. Manager Qian, who led the team, successfully bought six fruits at a price of 5000 taels each and successfully transported them back to Qingzhou. However..."

A flash of anger crossed Zheng Qiuyan's eyes as she said, "Manager Qian was detained by the city guards when he was transporting goods through Qingzhou Prefecture."

"what?"

Chen Dao was stunned and said incredulously, "How dare the city guards be so bold? They even dared to touch the Zheng family's goods?"

It's no wonder Chen Dao was so surprised; this was just too outrageous. The Zheng family caravan was backed by a prefect, and the city guards?

Generally speaking, the city guards of Xia Kingdom are not of a high rank, even the city guards of Qingzhou Prefecture are no exception. How could a mere city guard dare to intercept the goods of a prefect?

"Young Master Chen, you are unaware of this!"

Zheng Qiuyan said with a wry smile, "The city guards of Qingzhou Prefecture are different from those of other places. Strictly speaking, the city guards of Qingzhou Prefecture are not city guards, but rather the troops of the Qingzhou Army!"

Qingzhou Army?

Chen Dao's face darkened. The Xia Kingdom has three types of armies. The first type is the three major camps in the capital, collectively known as the Capital Army, with a strength of 60 men.

The second category is the Great Wall Army, which is responsible for defending against the barbarians outside the Great Wall. The number of soldiers is not fixed and depends entirely on the willingness and ability of the Great Wall Army's commander.

The third category is the state army. Each state has an army of 10 men stationed near its capital, which is convenient for suppressing rebellions within the state and suppressing powerful families.

The Qingzhou Army belongs to the category of state-run armies, and its numbers are as many as 100,000!

"If it were just the Qingzhou army, that would be fine!"

Zheng Qiuyan continued, "But the Qingzhou Army is different from the garrison troops of other prefectures. The Qingzhou Army is commanded by the Qing King."

"The Azure King?"

Chen Dao glanced sideways.

Zheng Qiuyan immediately explained, "The Prince of Qing is the younger brother of the current emperor."

"..."

Chen Dao remained silent.

If the advanced medicinal herbs were intercepted by the city guards, the Zheng family and he could still find a way to deal with it, but they were intercepted by a prince's men...

Chen Dao really didn't know what to do.

Although Chen Dao has gained some power, he is not yet at the point where he can provoke the behemoth that is the imperial court.

"The King of Qing has loved martial arts since childhood."

Zheng Qiuyan continued, "He is brave and skilled in battle, and has an extremely strong ability to govern troops. After coming of age, he was granted the title of King of Qing and commanded the Qingzhou Army. Under the command of King Qing, the Qingzhou Army is extremely powerful. There are rumors that the Qingzhou Army is the most powerful army in Xia Kingdom besides the Great Wall Army. Although the rumors are exaggerated, it is indeed true. King Qing is tyrannical, but he treats the soldiers of the Qingzhou Army very well. Since King Qing obtained the command of the Qingzhou Army, the army's pay has never been delayed, and daily training has never been missed. It is completely incomparable to the three major camps in the capital and the Yuezhou Army in Yuezhou."

Chen Dao frowned even more deeply. He knew that this Green King was extremely difficult to deal with, and it was unlikely that the advanced medicinal herbs that had been confiscated would be returned!

"What are you going to do?"

Chen Dao looked up and asked. He didn't believe that the Zheng family would give up that batch of medicinal herbs so easily. After all, the total price of that batch of medicinal herbs was 6 taels of silver. Even for the Zheng family, losing 6 taels of silver suddenly would be painful.

"I intend to go to Qingzhou Prefecture in person."

Zheng Qiuyan, who had already considered this, replied, "That batch of medicinal herbs cannot be lost!"

Just as Chen Dao had thought, the loss of 6 taels of silver was absolutely unacceptable to the Zheng family. Fortunately, it was not the Green King who confiscated the medicinal herbs, but only two low-ranking soldiers, so there was still room for maneuver.

"Then let's go together!"

After thinking for a moment, Chen Dao also decided to head to the prefectural city. Advanced medicinal herbs were equally important to him. "Miss Zheng, have you found out who detained the medicinal herbs?"

Zheng Qiuyan nodded and said, "The ones who confiscated the medicinal herbs were Qingzhou soldiers named Fan Lao Er and Pan Ga. If nothing unexpected happens, these two should hand over the herbs to Wei Hua, the commander of the city guards."

This is why Zheng Qiuyan planned to go to the prefectural city in person. If the two soldiers handed the medicinal herbs over to the Prince of Qing, then the Zheng family would have no choice but to give up.

But they handed it over to the commander of the city guards...

Then there's still room for negotiation on this matter.

After all, the commander of the city guards was, strictly speaking, only a low-ranking military officer. Given the position of the Zheng family patriarch as the prefect, he could get Wei Hua to give him some face. At most, he could just give Wei Hua some money.

Compared to money, Zheng Qiuyan valued the batch of medicinal herbs more, because not only Chen Dao needed them, but Zheng Qing also needed them to break through to the fifth grade!

"Alright! I'll set off with you tomorrow."

Chen Dao nodded, then changed the subject and asked, "Does Miss Zheng know about the White Lotus Rebellion in Yuezhou?"

"know."

Zheng Qiuyan nodded emphatically. News of the White Lotus Rebellion had spread throughout the Nine Provinces. How could she not know?

Zheng Qiuyan even listened to Qian Wu's description of the situation in Yuezhou and knew what state Yuezhou was in now.

"Miss Zheng, aren't you worried that Qingzhou will be affected by the rebellion?" Chen Dao asked tentatively.

"Don't worry."

Zheng Qiuyan shook her head and said, "With the Qingzhou Army here, the White Lotus Sect won't come to Qingzhou to cause trouble!"

The White Lotus Sect was able to defeat the Yuezhou Army because the Yuezhou Army was corrupt and had serious problems with embezzling funds, while the Qingzhou Army, under the command of the Qing King, was powerful and had a real force of 10 men. It would not be easy for the White Lotus Sect to enter Qingzhou.

"As far as I know, the King of Qing has mobilized some of the Qingzhou army to be stationed on the border between Qingzhou and Yuezhou, and they are currently in a standoff with the White Lotus army. Several battles have broken out between the two sides. At present, the Qingzhou army has won more battles than it has lost, while the White Lotus army has suffered heavy losses."

"What about Liangzhou?"

Chen Dao frowned and asked.

Chenjia Village, or rather Taiping County, is located on the border between Qingzhou and Liangzhou. Logically, the Qingzhou army should have stationed troops here to guard against the Liangzhou rebels, but Chen Dao has never seen a single Qingzhou soldier in Taiping County.

"Liangzhou..."

Zheng Qiuyan thought for a moment and said, "Liangzhou is different from Yuezhou. The White Lotus Sect in Yuezhou poses a greater threat, so both the imperial court and the Green King pay more attention to the White Lotus Sect in Yuezhou. As for Yang Zheng in Liangzhou..."

This person had little desire to conquer cities and seize territory; instead, he diligently governed Liangzhou. If the imperial court hadn't intervened, that great battle in Liangzhou might never have broken out.