Armed with a machete and a gun, armed with a system, they fled the famine.

"Alright, young lady, please wait a moment, it will be ready soon."

The butcher deftly wielded his knife, cutting off a large piece of pork belly with alternating layers of fat and lean meat.

Judging by appearance, it should weigh over ten kilograms.

He didn't weigh it; he wrapped it in a lotus leaf and handed it directly to Zhao Yan.

"The extra is for you, young lady. Please come again if you need anything else."

Today's deal was incredibly satisfying.

When the old women come out to buy meat, they buy it by the ounce or two.

This young lady is not only incredibly beautiful, but also very generous.

One order filled all the meat he usually had to sell for most of the day.

One word: cool!

Zhao Yan accepted the meat without hesitation, nodded calmly to the man, and then headed north of the city with Yang Sanlang, carrying their baskets on their backs.

Back in their temporary home, the two put the grain and meat into the kitchen.

Her gaze fell upon the two bundles of firewood piled up at the kitchen door, and Zhao Yan suddenly realized that she seemed to have overlooked something.

Oh, right.

Isn't it said that everyone has to pay an entry fee and an exit fee to enter and leave the city? How did the old farmer who sold firewood to Yang Sanlang get in?

Zhao Yan glanced at the man in the courtyard with a questioning look, and suddenly wondered: Could it be that the old farmer and the yamen guards at the city gate have some kind of secret relationship?

Lost in her own thoughts about the relationship, she didn't notice Yang Sanlang's dark eyes glancing at her.

Looking at his beautiful wife in front of him, Yang Sanlang suddenly felt very happy and curled the corners of his mouth.

Yan'er just looked at him.

No!

You should ask Yang Sanlang about this.

Zhao Yan spent a lot of time daydreaming and wasted her time. She calmed herself down, walked over to Yang Sanlang, and asked, "Sanlang, tell everyone what you heard from the old farmer who sells firewood."

"Furthermore, since everyone has to pay to enter and leave the city, how did the old farmer get into the city? And how is he going to get out?"

Yang Sanlang's expression became much more serious. When Yuan Yutang and the others looked over, he hurriedly spoke up to explain to them: "Uncle Yuan, it's like this. This morning I met an old farmer who sells firewood. He told me that the magistrate of Wei County issued a notice today, saying that everyone who enters or leaves the city must pay a fee. The fee to enter the city is five taels of silver, and the fee to leave the city is even more, twenty taels per person."

Before he could finish speaking, Chen An clenched his fist in anger and slammed it into the mottled wall.

"Is Magistrate Wei crazy? I've never heard of anyone having to pay a toll to leave the city in my entire life. If I could see him, I would definitely slap him a few times!"

After saying that, he spat angrily onto the ground.

What a load of rubbish! Shameless! He's obsessed with money!

Yuan Yutang frowned, stroked his white beard, shook his head and chuckled, "Twenty taels for leaving the city? How could he even think of that?"

"I thought this Magistrate of Wei County was a good person, but I didn't expect him to be just like those incompetent officials who hold positions without doing their jobs. He wants both fame and money, and he is hypocritical and two-faced."

His weathered eyes looked at the crowd, and he couldn't help but feel worried. There were twelve of them, and each of them had twenty taels of silver, which added up to two hundred and forty taels of silver.

He has that silver.

But he knew that this was the first time they had gone through this together, but it wouldn't be the last.

In the future, whenever they passed through a large or small city, they would likely have some of their silver confiscated by the local government.

Wei County is a thousand li away from the capital, and there are hundreds of cities and towns of all sizes in between.

They won't pass through all the cities, but they'll pass through at least twenty.

Yuan Yutang dared not think about it, nor could he.

Because neither he nor Zhao Yan and the others could possibly have enough financial resources to support all the expenses along the way.

Zhao Yunchen and the others were also filled with righteous indignation.

What a load of rubbish a county magistrate!

Instead of trying to solve problems for ordinary people, they just like to squeeze money out of honest people like them.

Why doesn't God just strike him dead with lightning!

Just when everyone was worried about this matter, Yang Sanlang suddenly said, "That old farmer also told me about a secret passage that allows people to freely enter and exit the city walls without being discovered."

Upon hearing about the secret passage, everyone held their breath and turned to look at Yang Sanlang.

Zhao Yan's eyes lit up, and she asked impatiently, "What secret passage? Where is it?"

"It's at the base of a wall, quite far from the North Gate," Yang Sanlang explained slowly. "It's a large hole, big enough for an adult to pass through. This is a secret, so everyone needs to keep it a secret and not tell anyone else."

"Yes, we understand," Zhao Yan nodded solemnly.

That old farmer… Zhao Yan didn’t know how to describe him.

He was willing to tell Yang Sanlang such an important secret. I wonder if he's missing a screw in his head? Or is he just kind-hearted?

Tian Xiu'e suddenly interjected, "If only one person can pass at a time, what are we going to do with our carriage and all this stuff?"

Yes.

There were also carriages and bundles, the bundles were easy to handle, but the carriages...

"We'll see when the time comes. If it doesn't work out, one person can drive the carriage out of the city gate, and we'll wait for him on the road," Yuan Yutang said calmly.

“That’s one way to do it,” Zhao Yan agreed.

The horse-drawn carriage is absolutely essential; it's the best mode of transportation in this era.

Moreover, Chen An's legs are not good for walking for long periods of time, and children like Xiaomi and Tianbao are not suitable for long journeys. There needs to be a vehicle or something similar so they can rest.

"We'll talk about that later."

Yang Sanlang turned to look at Zhao Yan and said, "That old man took me to familiarize myself with the way this morning. I need to go back to get firewood later. Yan'er, would you like to come with me to familiarize myself with the way?"

Zhao Yan was overjoyed and readily agreed.

"Okay, I'll go with you."

Zhao Yunchen originally wanted to go along to take a look, but it was still daylight, and Zhao Yan was worried that a teenager who had not learned martial arts would not be able to hide his whereabouts and might expose the city cave, so she did not take him out.

"You stay here and lend Aunt Tian a hand."

Before leaving, she gave Zhao Yunchen some instructions to try and distract him from his depressed mood.

Yang Sanlang, carrying Zhao Yan lightly, deliberately avoided the crowds and headed towards the foot of the north city wall.

"right here."

Upon arriving at the location, Yang Sanlang stepped forward and parted the wildly growing weeds at the base of the wall, revealing a deep, dark hole at the bottom of the city wall.

Yo.

The opening is quite large; no wonder even an adult man can pass through it.

Zhao Yan stepped forward with bright eyes and bent down to peer into the cave.

As soon as their eyes peered into the cave, they unexpectedly met a pair of panicked eyes...