It only took three to five days from Gusu to Jinling. Before that, Du Ruo had already arranged for people to prepare everything. When he came out of Shu, he brought several of his subordinates with him. However, because Lu Yang was injured at that time,

, he stopped in Gusu and arranged for others to come to Jinling first.

When they arrived in Shuzhong, although Meng Qingping's injury was not completely healed, it was almost healed, so they did not stay any longer.

Because Du Ruo had to take the provincial examination, he could not accompany him to the capital. However, he had money and people. With a wave of his hand, he bought a carriage for Gu and his daughter, arranged for four people to accompany them to the capital, and bought five additional horses.

, and also gave Lu Yang and others a sum of money.

After all this hard work, even though Du Ruo's net worth is pretty good, his pockets are almost at the bottom.

But Mr. Du Sanye, no matter what time he is, has never been in the habit of being careless, especially when dealing with friends.

The next day after arriving in Jinling, Lu Yang and others went to the capital. Du Ruo took them all the way to the horse market to buy horses for them. They walked several streets and sent them outside the city gate before waving goodbye.

The sun is just right and the breeze is not dry.

Outside the city gate, several large horses and a carriage clattered with hooves.

As dust flew up, Meng Qingping looked back, took a deep breath, turned around, pulled the reins, and ran forward quickly.

Lu Yang also turned around, smiled, and left quickly.

Looking at the two cavalrymen who were getting farther and farther away, Du Ruo slowly stretched out his hand, held it in salute, and said softly:

"It's a long way to go, see you later!"

Outside the city gate, people were coming and going like a thread, some passed by, some might glance back, but most of them passed by in a hurry without even meeting each other.

A person will meet many, many people in his life, but they will never cross paths with them for a second time. Being able to become friends is fate, and being able to become brothers is a blessing. When parting, it is always inexplicable.

You will feel reluctant to give up.

Du Ruo looked at the end of the intersection for a long time, then slowly turned around, followed by two of his subordinates and Heitou.

In fact, I am not alone, but I feel lonely.

…………

"Master, we have no money." Heitou whispered.

Du Ruo held it in his arms and said with a chuckle: "I will come back after all the gold is gone."

Jinling City is more prosperous than Gusu City. It is a thousand-year-old city. It is known as the Second Chang'an and the second city in the world. The Qinhuai River, the largest fireworks place in the world, is also here. This city is really lively.

After arriving in Jinling, Du Ruocai finally saw the elegance of the big city. Not to mention the Jianghu people, there were countless scholars of the same kind. Especially since he lived in an inn not far from the Gongyuan examination room outside the rural examination room. There were no inns in the whole street.

There are eighty to one hundred, and basically all of them are contracted by the candidates.

"Master, we really have no money." Heitou muttered: "The inn outside Gongyuan is much more expensive than other places, and the food is also expensive. You need to replace your previous pens, inks, paper and inkstones, and you have lost a lot of them.

If it breaks, it will cost a lot of money..."

"I understand." Du Ruo turned his head, looked at the black head, and said, "Why haven't I noticed before that your ability to ramble is not weak? Didn't you stutter a lot before?"

Blackhead muttered: "Isn't this because I'm afraid of starvation? I'm forced to do it."

Du Ruo hit the black head with his folding fan and said, "Following me, have you ever been hungry?"

Blackhead thought for a while and nodded.

Du Ruo: "..."

Du Ruo knew that Heitou was really distressed. Meng Qingping and the others had basically lost all their money because of their escape this time. Moreover, even if they didn't lose it, Meng Qingping and the others didn't have much money. Whether they could afford a horse was a question.

As for Lu Yang, forget it. Although he comes from a noble family, in fact he is just an empty frame with no name. There are no big shots in the family, and there are not many financial resources. Otherwise, Lu Yang would not be wandering on the Yangtze River without entanglement.

It is normal for Blackhead to feel distressed. If Du Ruo spent this time, Blackhead may not have spent even half of it in his life.

Six horses and carriages cost more than 300 taels of silver. Including transportation and weapons, the cost was nearly 400 taels. You must know that although Daqin's economic development is very good, the annual expenses of an ordinary family of three are also

It's only about ten years old, so this is still a pretty good family.

Because the Juyi Gang has a dock and occupies most of Wutong Town's economy, its income has been very good in recent years. Du Ruo is also worth a lot. This time he came out with only five or six hundred taels of silver, but Du Ruo's expenses

It is also very big. From Shuzhong to Gusu City, money is spent like water, and in Gusu, I spend a lot of money.

Nowadays, it is normal for blackheads to cry about poverty.

They really don't have much money, especially according to Du Ruo's requirements for life, it is really impossible to survive until the completion of the provincial examination. Therefore, Blackhead now has a terrible headache and is in a particularly bad mood. He wants to call him a prodigal!

What irritated him even more was that Du Ruo didn't care about the price of food and rice, but he was not in a hurry at this time.

Blackhead followed Du Ruo, his two small eyes filled with indescribable melancholy.

Du Ruo, however, was still not nervous at all. He looked around and returned to the inn.

In fact, it’s not that he doesn’t know that he doesn’t have enough money, he also knows what it means to be a hero with a penny. Otherwise, why would so many masters work as diners for others? Isn’t it all because of lack of money?

However, he didn't feel that he was wronged in spending the money. He had to spend it as he should. He didn't go to the capital with him, and he felt a little guilty. Spending the money at least made himself feel a lot more comfortable.

As for Heitou's worries, he really didn't take them to heart at all. It was a bit difficult for him to come up with a large amount of money in a short time. However, it was just money to spend the period of the provincial examination. For him, it was a lot.

There are ways to get it.

The easiest thing is to go to the gambling house for a walk.

What's a bit more complicated is that with Du Sanye's business methods, he can quickly accumulate a certain amount of money. He has many ways to do this.

So, he is not in a hurry.

It is the heroic men who are stumped by money, not Du Sanye. The heroic men are stumped because they only have martial arts but cannot make money. They can only earn some hard money by using force. But he, Du Sanye, has martial arts.

No, but you can make money, very good at making money.

This is also a phenomenon of martial arts. Too many people who run in martial arts are very good in martial arts, but in the end they only do things for others. This kind of thing is the same in any era, and it is also applicable in this era.

Back at the inn, Heitou opened the door in front and suddenly saw a bundle on the table. He opened it and exclaimed: "Master, how did you get this money?"

Du Ruo took a look and saw that the baggage was exactly the one he had packed for Meng Qingping and the others. It originally had sixty taels of silver, but now there are still forty taels left. Du Ruo shook his head helplessly and said: "Put it away, eldest brother and

Qingping and the others... alas!"

Du Ruo knew that this was left deliberately by Lu Yang and Meng Qingping. It should be some of the words of the black head, which were overheard by them inadvertently. Moreover, they also knew that Du Ruo really spent a lot of money, and they were afraid that Du Ruo didn't have enough money, so they stayed quietly.

of.

Du Ruo sighed lightly. In fact, he was really not short of money.

…………

With the forty taels of silver left by Lu Yang and the others, plus Du Ruoben's remaining silver, it was more than enough to survive the provincial examination, so there was no need for Du Ruo to go out to make money. The only thing that made him a little uncomfortable

Just can't book an inn or rent a small courtyard.

However, there are so many inns on this long street called Zhuangyuan Street outside Gongyuan, and students are all here, so Du Ruo doesn't feel the need to be special.

Fortunately, he had sent someone over in advance and managed to find a sky-sized room. This was the only arrangement that made him feel relatively satisfied. However, the three black heads could only live in a very ordinary room with a ground-sized roof.

Although he arrived in Jinling yesterday, Du Ruo did not come to Zhuangyuan Street. He came here for the first time after seeing off Lu Yang and the others today. When he entered the inn during the day, he saw many scholars wearing Confucian shirts who could take the provincial examination.

People can be called scholars, after all, they are all scholars.

In fact, speaking of it, it is not that there are only so many scholars. The reason why it seems so crowded is mainly because these scholars go out for official business. Except for special cases where the conditions are really difficult, none of them are accompanied by three or two book boys.

What's more, the entourage brought by some young masters can gather two or three tables.

After returning to the inn, Du Ruo stayed in the room to review his homework. Except for taking a half-hour break during dinner, he never opened the door the rest of the time.

Heitou was always in the room, but he did not disturb Du Ruo and remained sitting at the door. As for the other two Juyi Gang members, they stayed in their own rooms and did not disturb Du Ruo.

As night falls, Zhuangyuan Street gradually becomes lively. In this inn, you can always hear the door opening. Many students begin to go out for activities, and you can also faintly hear some greetings outside the door.

In Du Ruo's room, Heitou stood quietly holding a knife.

The candlelight flickered, and Du Ruo turned a deaf ear to the complexity of the outside world. He was completely immersed in the book, sketching with a pen from time to time. It was not until almost midnight that Du Ruo slowly put down the pen, carefully put away the book, and stretched.

Seeing this, Heitou hurriedly brought a cup of tea and handed it to Du Ruo, saying: "Help... Master, you have been reading all day, let's take a rest!"

Du Ruo took the tea, took a sip, and said, "What's going on outside?"

Heitou said: "During the day, the scholars in the inn are basically reviewing their lessons just like you. Now, many people have begun to rest. It is very lively outside. The streets and alleys are full of people, shopping and...

Yes…and, anyway, there are a lot of people, I don’t know what to say, it’s just like a normal night market!”

Du Ruo smiled slightly, it must be as noisy as the night market, or even noisier than the night market. This Zhuangyuan Street is a feature in Jinling, just like the Qinhuai River.

Before the provincial examination, the popularity here would even exceed that of Qinhuai River, because there are too many scholars here. As scholars, there are not many poor people. Moreover, the literati are all noble, and money is the best to make. Doing business here is naturally very easy.

Good choice.

If it weren't for the government ban, it wouldn't be so quiet during the day. Fortunately, Du Ruoxuan's inn is already on the edge of Zhuangyuan Street, otherwise it would be so noisy that it would be difficult to concentrate on reading.

"Master, why don't we also go out for a walk? I heard that the Su family we met in Gusu City last time is also here. Instead of going to the Qinhuai River, he is in Zhuangyuan Street!" Heitou said.

Du Ruo put down his tea cup and his eyes narrowed slightly. He was a little curious about this Su family, but because of this, he was even more reluctant to see this person. Sometimes, it is safer for people to be less curious.

The pursuit in Gusu City a few days ago is inseparable from the Su family. However, it is still unclear what role the Su family played in it.

Seeing that Du Ruo didn't speak, Heitouyou muttered: "However, I heard that this Su family is just here and has not decided which brothel he will stop at. I'm afraid he won't be able to see him."

Du Ruo chuckled and said: "This Su family is a very good marketing person, so naturally it is impossible for him to show up so early..."

"Bang bang bang bang"
To be continued...