103: Chapter 103 Jinhuai County City

After crossing Qingshan Ridge and traveling ten more li along the trade route, they had finally left Jinhe County. For the remainder of the journey, the Pei family caravan proceeded smoothly.

As for the mountain bandits, they chose to steer clear after noticing the large number of men and horses in the Pei family caravan.

Past the borders of Jinhe County lay Jinling County.

Jinling County bordered the prefecture city and was also a plain region, but in every aspect, Jinling County was incomparable to Wuyang County.

There were eight third-class aristocratic families in Jinling County alone; among them, six were ordinary third-class families, and two were veteran third-class families.

Beyond that, the wealth and luxury of the Jinling families were far beyond what the Jinhe families could match.

The news of the Pei family escorting grain did not cause much of a stir when it reached Jinling County.

Similarly, the trade routes in Jinling were much easier to travel than those in Jinhe County.

The carriages moved steadily along the Jinling County trade route; it was hardly any worse than the streets of Wuyang County.

This wasn't Pei Qingyun's first time here, so he naturally didn't feel much of anything.

He had even been to even more prosperous provincial capitals.

But it was different for the guards in the caravan. Many of the young guards had never left Wuyang County since they were children.

Even though some guards had been outside Wuyang County, they were few and far between.

Arriving in this Jinling territory, they felt a sense of novelty and kept looking around.

This was a common phenomenon among low-level Martial Artists.

Some original inhabitants of towns might not even leave their town for their entire lives.

Perhaps because the previous trade route had been too bumpy, Pei Qingyun unconsciously drifted into a dream as soon as they entered Jinling County.

Over two double-hours passed in a flash.

The haze covering the sky gradually dissipated, and a glow of dawn rose on the distant horizon.

Facing the direction of the dawn, everyone saw a massive city. The city was like a giant fortress, possessing a magnificent Aura. The thick city walls stretched for several li, appearing like a majestic barrier between the earth and the sky.

As the caravan drew closer, everyone finally saw the full view of the city.

The city walls were ten zhang high, constructed from massive stones fitted together. On the giant stone directly above the city gate, three large characters were strikingly carved: Jinhuai Prefecture.

"We've traveled all night and finally reached Jinhuai Prefecture."

"This Jinhuai Prefecture city really is majestic."

In the crowd, someone couldn't help but let out a sigh of admiration.

Like the Pei family caravan, many caravans from other counties had also traveled thousands of li to come to the prefecture city.

These caravans all had one thing in common: they had all rushed here through the night.

The Pei family was one of them, except that the Pei family caravan had the largest number of people. They were extremely conspicuous among the many caravans, causing many people to glance at them frequently.

Pei Tianlin didn't care much about this.

Having reached the prefecture city, the Pei family caravan's mission was more than half complete.

From Wuyang County to Jinhuai Prefecture city, the Pei family caravan had spent a total of about six double-hours, with less than half a double-hour of rest in between.

The journey wasn't overly difficult, but everyone was still somewhat exhausted.

Now that they had reached Jinhuai Prefecture city, everyone could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

To enter the prefecture city, a caravan like theirs needed travel documents. The Pei family had prepared these long before setting out.

However, at this time of day, there were simply too many caravans trying to enter the city.

After waiting for about half a double-hour, the Pei family caravan finally entered Jinhuai Prefecture city as they wished.

The roads in Jinhuai Prefecture city were very wide, enough to accommodate several carriages side-by-side. The Pei family caravan, which had been stretched out like a long dragon, now formed several rows.

According to memory, the area where the Chen family was located was the South City Street of Jinhuai Prefecture city.

The Pei caravan had entered from the north, and it was still a significant distance to reach South City Street.

After walking for about half a double-hour, the Pei family caravan arrived at the large granary designated by the Chen family for the grain handover.

At this moment, a middle-aged man from the Chen family granary came forward to meet them.

Upon seeing the Pei family caravan, the middle-aged man did not have the arrogance typical of a second-class aristocratic family. Instead, he said politely, "I am Chen Ye. Greetings to you all."

Pei Tianlin returned the courtesy, saying, "Pei Tianlin of the Wuyang Pei family."

"According to the agreement between our two families, my Pei family needs to transport a total of eighty thousand dan of grain to the Chen family granary. There are seventy thousand dan here; I'll trouble Granary Master Chen to conduct the count."

"Elder Chen Yuansi spoke to me about your Pei family's matter yesterday. I thought you wouldn't arrive until the afternoon, but I didn't expect you to come so early in the morning. My unloading crew hasn't arrived yet. If you aren't in a hurry, you can wait here for a while."

Pei Tianlin didn't want to delay any further and suggested, "Granary Master Chen, how about this? Just show us where this batch of grain needs to be unloaded. We have enough manpower here to unload it directly to the designated spot for you."

Chen Ye said, "Then I'll trouble you. Follow me."

Under Chen Ye's guidance, the Pei family members arrived at a massive granary.

"You can unload the grain here, and I will count it simultaneously. If there are no issues with the quantity, I can report it upward sooner."

"No problem," Pei Tianlin responded.

Under Pei Tianlin's arrangement, the Pei family guards began unloading the cargo. It must be said that Martial Artists worked very quickly.

In less than fifteen minutes, the seventy thousand dan of grain were unloaded.

With Chen Yuansi's instructions, Chen Ye did not intentionally make things difficult for them. After a count, the seventy thousand dan of grain were officially handed over.

On the other side, Fuyuan Escort Agency had also safely transported their grain into Jinhuai Prefecture.

At this point, the Pei family's grain escort mission had come to a Perfection conclusion.

After entering Jinhuai Prefecture, Pei Qingyun separated from the Pei family caravan.

The Pei family also had its own properties in Jinhuai Prefecture city. However, compared to their properties in Wuyang County, the properties here in the prefecture city were not worth mentioning.

There were fewer than ten shops.

But his predecessor couldn't be blamed for not expanding into the prefecture city market.

In this Jinhuai Prefecture, there were simply too many aristocratic families. For an outsider like the Pei family, whose strength was at the bottom tier of aristocratic families, wanting to establish larger properties was not that easy.

Not to mention, the competitiveness of the Pei family's properties was only average when placed in the prefecture city.

If they expanded their business extensively, it was highly likely to result in losses.

No matter which world it was, technology was the core of competition, followed by one's own capital.

Of these two points, the Pei family held an advantage in neither.

Based on his memory, Pei Qingyun quickly found one of the Pei family's shops, "Wenxianglai Restaurant."

The name was simple and easy to understand; it was a proper restaurant.

The reason he chose this place was mainly to satisfy his appetite and, at the same time, check on the business operations of his own restaurant.

So, Pei Qingyun was very direct and asked the restaurant manager for the account books.

Nothing was faster than checking the account books.

After a round of auditing, Pei Qingyun found that the restaurant's business situation was quite a bit better than he had imagined.

However, this action of his truly gave the restaurant manager quite a scare.

After eating and drinking his fill, Pei Qingyun chose a guest room and went straight to rest.