Maybe it was intuition, or maybe it was because his first impression of Ling Li was so good, but Su Jingyang always felt that there must've been something hidden from the public eye so he really wanted to see Ling Li again.

Putting other things aside, now that he had his advanced salary, it was very necessary to repay Ling Li's kindness.

A few days passed, Su Jingyang couldn't help but snatch glances outside the shop from time to time, whether intentionally or unintentionally, but it was for naught because he never saw Ling Li passing by again.

Liang Lu had visited two more times. Su Jingyang wanted to ask him where Ling Li lived, but he was afraid that Liang Lu would ask why he was so curious, so he had to keep his words to himself.

Due to the shop's good business, Su Jingyang was busy most of the time and time passed by very quickly. Five days had already passed, but the red mole on the palm of his hand still didn't darken.

Su Jingyang didn't know whether he should be happy or sad, plus, because of Ling Li's affairs, his mood was a bit complicated, which disturbed him.

He knew that it'd be difficult to fall asleep at night, so he simply stopped sleeping. Taking advantage of the moonlight and starlight, Su Jingyang half-closed the store door, sitting on the still warm stairs and chatting with an old beggar who was slept by the door at day.

The old beggar held Su Jingyang's half-eaten steamed bun in his dirty hands and gnawed at it, he stared at the night sky with his turbid eyes, his gaze gradually became distant.

Su Jingyang watched him intently, and immediately knew-- this must be someone with a story.

Although he never knew, he really did guess right.

It turned out that the old beggar was from Rongcheng. He said that he violated the law and was expelled and couldn't go back for years. He could return to home now, but his family was already long gone.

Su Jingyang sighed for a while, and couldn't help but curiously ask, "Where is this Rongcheng?"

It wasn't the first time he's heard of Rongcheng since he came here, and because of that he felt that this place must be very special.

Fortunately, the old beggar didn't care much about such a question that screamed ignorance. He snorted and explained it to him in an old and slightly hoarse voice: "That, it's a place that's difficult enter and leave. "

It turned out that Rongcheng was a city, but it had existed independently for almost two hundred years. Now it has a population of 700,000 to 800,000. It had its own laws and systems, and its farming and business circles were well organized, and was the equivalent of a small country. But for some unknown reason, although the Rong clan ruled the entire city, they have never declared themselves King.

Rongcheng's geographical location and environment was very advantageous, and its natural resources were surprisingly rich. It was located at the border of the Da Lin Kingdom. It is separated from the small town where Su Jingyang was now currently located by a mountain and a river. If you stood on the highest tower in town, you can see the smoke from Rongcheng rising above. But even though it was such a good place, the Kingdom of Da Lin had failed to successfully incorporate Rongcheng into their country in the past two hundred years.

Because every time a ruler from the Da Lin Dynasty had any of those intentions towards Rongcheng, he would suddenly suffer from illnesses and mental disorders, and that Emperor would nearly die before they could even attack the city! The soldiers who they brought with them would also muddled and uncomfortable, as if they had been caught by an evil spirit, it was very strange.

In fact, the predecessors of the Rong clan was a witch clan. Almost all the people there believed in witchcraft. Some people guessed that the events of the Da Lin Kingdom making troubles with Rongcheng must've been a powerful forbidden curse laid over the city that prevented enemies from invading. Some people said that if you attack Rongcheng, that person will definitely suffer a huge disaster, and were very worried. Anyway, at that time, Rongcheng was rumored to be very mysterious in the Kingdom of Da Lin.

After several setbacks, Da Lin signed a peace agreement with Rongcheng, and had no plans to fight Rongcheng, and the people in Rongcheng had the same minds and never picked a fight.

They stayed like this for a while.

It wasn't until more than fifty years ago that the city lord of Rongcheng and the Emperor of Da Lin talked with each other, and gradually began to relax some policies. Starting from the previous dilemma of entering and exiting the city to exchange of their needs, Rongcheng that had been closed off for many years now had more frequent contact with the outside world.

However, the people of Da Lin feared that the people of Rongcheng would harm people with their witchcraft. The people of Rongcheng were also very wary of the outside world and so they were hostile to each other, so the effect of the policy wasn't very ideal at the beginning. It took decades to gradually develop in another direction¹. However, to presumably prevent excessive population loss, the city lord at the time issued a decree prohibiting people from Rongcheng from marrying foreigners. Otherwise, they would be driven out of the city after their punishment was executed, and they will never be allowed to return forever.

This law shocked many people at the time, because the ancestors of Rongcheng had lived and grown up in the city for generations, and their sense of belonging had been deeply ingrained. In order to stay in the city in peace with their families, they held the law in outmost importance². But there was no lack of young people being charmed by the outside. They couldn't help themselves. The city lord at the time, Rong Ting, dealt that group of people mercilessly, he drove out those who violated the rules, and separated them from their families. The bloody lesson was public for all eyes to see, and after that, no one in the city would dared to commit it.

The old beggar was one of the people who were kicked out at the time, but later his wife left him and married someone else, so he lost his lover and was separated from his family. It was difficult for him to even get close to the city gate. Full of loneliness and desolation he had been wandering like this for most of his life.

It wasn't until the youngest city lord from the Rong clan, Rong Ci, took over that he began to change some rigid rules in his first two years. Some time ago, a new law was introduced that allowed the citizens of Rongcheng to marry foreigners. People who were expelled before could go also back and reunite with their families.

After hearing this, Su Jingyang sincerely commented: "This new Lord seems very humane," No wonder Liang Lu assumed at the time that he ran away from Rongcheng calmly. He must've thought that Su Jingyang was here to find a foreigner to have a relationship with.

The old beggar laughed and trembled all over. He hid the remaining steamed buns inside his beard, and said to Su Jingyang in a deep and piercing tone: "Humane? I think it's because this city lord is attracted to foreigners. He wants to marry a beauty back lawfully and make her the wife of the city lord as soon as possible. Of course he can't help but rush to change the rules!"

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Notes:

1- Added and changed some stuff

2- Added stuff