Ink panel: Hunting the sun and surveying the sky from the bow

Shen Qing lowered his head and poured himself another bowl of wine. He stared at the bowl full of wine in his hand and remained silent.

He now seems to vaguely understand why the four major bosses have been able to monopolize business in the county for so many years, allowing tens of thousands of households and hundreds of thousands of people in Taiping County to rely on them for their livelihood.

The four major families in the county have strong foundations, complicated relationships, and mutual protection. In addition, they all have powerful martial arts masters.

No one can challenge them.

And the children born in these families are born with golden keys in their mouths, and they are not comparable to the mud-legged ones.

Maybe when you were still in your mother's womb, you may have taken various tonics to nourish your qi and blood.

Not to mention waiting until after birth.

The precious medicines and spiritual plants that they don't usually see are just commonplace for them.

It is bound to be a smooth path for these disciples of our family to practice martial arts.

They are the bastards who wallow in the ravines, afraid that they can't even reach a toe.

But Shen Qing didn't feel discouraged at all.

No matter how awesome they are, they can't compare to a cheater.

Shen Qing picked up the bowl in his hand, drank the wine in one gulp and said, "Who is holding this blood bird's nest now?"

"In the hands of a scoundrel named Kong Tianyu, he is a farmer from Jinzhou who has a lot of strength and some crops." Ouyang Tieniu took a sip of wine, moistened his throat and continued: "He is Smart man, Wang Mazi trusts him very much. He was present when the hunter gave Wang Mazi the blood bird's nest. Later, when that incident happened, I secretly saw him taking the blood bird's nest."

"Where does he live?"

"It was right in the middle of Ouma and Lao Ba's shantytown, and they haven't escaped now."

Shen Qing frowned and said, "Now that so much time has passed, the blood bird's nest may not be in his hands anymore, right?"

"It should still be there." Ouyang Tieniu lowered his eyebrows and said, "Just yesterday I heard a few gossips."

"What gossip?"

"In order to prevent the young masters of Song Gongming from breaking through so smoothly, several other big owners also secretly set high prices for any of the treasures. The price is higher than the other. The Kong Tian jade must be sold at a high price, no matter how high the price is. Will take action so soon."

Shen Qing nodded, did not continue the topic, and said, "Eat vegetables and wine."

The food at Fengweifu does not contain MSG or modern condiments, so the taste is only average in Shen Qing's eyes.

But I have to say that this is the most satisfying meal Shen Qing has had since time travel.

Shen Xiaohu, Xiao Zhi and others all ate until their bellies were full.

When it was time to pay the bill, Shen Qing realized that just this table of food had cost him eleven taels of silver, which made him speechless.

It's really not cheap anymore.

After leaving Fengwei Mansion, Shen Qing didn't do much to persuade him to stay. He parted ways with Ouyang Tieniu and others and dispersed.

At this time, he had no real plans to recruit Ouyang Tieniu and the others as his subordinates.

In his opinion, even if he really wanted to accept his subordinates, it would be safer to find them in Hongshan Village.

They are all from the same village and can be trusted.

People outside are always unstable.

After Shen Qing came out of Fengwei Mansion, he took Shen Xiaohu directly back to Linfeng Hall without wandering around the inner city too much.

He didn't have much silver on hand before, so he planned to go back to Hongshan Village to get some money before returning.

Now that he got a sum from Zhao Ba, which was enough for him for two to three months, there was no need to rush back.

…

After Ouyang Tieniu and Yang Zhaoping came out of Fengwei Mansion, they walked towards the outer city.

After walking for a while, Ouyang Tieniu's face was filled with worry.

He regretted a little bit that he was too precious about his life at noon today and didn't show his superiority. He said a lot of things to Shen Qing that he shouldn't have said.

During today's lunch, he could see that Shen Qing didn't trust him at all.

Although he acted very polite, he actually controlled the distance carefully, which made him feel a little worried.

After thinking about it, Ouyang Tieniu said to Yang Zhaoping, "What do you think of Shen Qing?"

"He's very strong. He's not as sophisticated as his age. He's very independent." Yang Zhaoping added without hesitation: "He's not someone who's easy to get close to."

"I think so too." Ouyang Tieniu then asked: "What do you think now?"

Yang Zhaoping had been hanging out with Ouyang Tieniu for a long time and knew what he was talking about.

"We have no good place to go now, so I suggest we follow him. Your brother seems to have a good relationship with him, and trust can be gradually established in the future. You must have an idea, that is, we are going to be with those dirty scoundrels in the outer city. It’s different, we are loyal rogues, we need to be ambitious, we can’t act haphazardly.”

"What you said makes sense." Ouyang Tieniu nodded: "Then let's go grab the blood bird's nest?"

Yang Zhaoping was stunned for a moment, then leaned closer and said, "You mean...submit a certificate of recognition?"

Ouyang Tieniu hooked Yang Zhaoping's shoulders, brought him closer, and said in a low voice: "Shen Qing has a bad impression of us now. It will undoubtedly be better if we give him a certificate. Blood Bird's Nest is an opportunity."

After thinking for a while, Yang Zhaoping finally agreed: "Yes, we can't just sit back and enjoy the success. That won't go far. I'll do this with you!"

"Good brother, come with me. I know where Kong Tianyu lives."

…

Most of the houses in the shantytowns in the outer city are made of simple bricks and wooden boards. They are in disrepair and look dilapidated.

Kong Tianyu's home is particularly inconspicuous in this dilapidated area.

The tiles on the roof are uneven, and some have been broken, revealing the wooden beams inside.

In the house, there is almost no furniture except a shabby bed and a few chairs.

At this time, the sloppy Kong Tianyu walked in from outside, turned out a wooden box under the bed and hugged it tightly.

The box looks inconspicuous, just some wood blocks pieced together, barely in the shape of a box.

But Kong Tianyu saw that the box was intact, as if a huge stone was put down in his heart.

He stared at the wooden box, but his eyes were full of expectation and longing.

Kong Tianyu carefully opened the box, revealing the scene inside.

A bright red, crystal clear blood bird's nest lay quietly inside, exuding an attractive aroma.

"Fortunately, I held back and didn't make a move. The Zhou family outside has offered a price of 120 taels. The Zhou family's housekeeper has already agreed to my request. Whether I can make a fortune and live a life of luxury depends on this."

Just as he was daydreaming, a large stone was suddenly thrown into the window and hit the bed, scaring him.

He quickly closed the wooden box and held it in his arms, shouting, "Who?"

Kong Tianyu leaned against the door and looked out through a three-inch-wide gap in the door.

There was nothing outside.

It should be a prank by the nearby urchins.

Just as he was thinking this, a sharpened wooden stick suddenly poked into his eyes through the gap.

"Ah!"

A shrill scream burst out from Kong Tianyu's throat.