Xiao Chen's clone saved Mei Tiantian who was far away in Pomare Village, while his real body was standing outside another town at this time.
This town called Goyo is still in the hands of the local lord Baron Paragus. Unlike most of the small nobles around him, this baron is not loyal to the nearby big lords. On the contrary, his family has obtained this fiefdom for a long time and has always been directly loyal to the King of Iberia. However, after the old king passed away, he seemed to be quite dissatisfied with the queen, so now he does not obey anyone's orders, and no longer participates in exchanges between the nobles of the kingdom. Most of the time, he stays in his own town and manages this territory.
Goyo Town is a town based on agriculture and forestry, and it also governs several villages. The main source of income for the locals is to provide food, vegetables, and wood to the surrounding cities. The food and vegetables produced in the town are of high quality and sell well in the surrounding areas, so the residents of the town live a good life. After the Tower of China took control of Suero, it also asked Baron Paragus to submit to the Tower of China. However, the other party drove the envoy out and rejected the request, but did not persecute or embarrass the envoy. For this town that refused to give up resistance but did not show too much threat, the Tower of China, which was facing a powerful enemy, could only ignore it for the time being.
This town is not a major transportation hub, so there are not many merchants coming and going. Most of them are grain and timber merchants. Therefore, when Xiao Chen appeared in the town in disguise, he did not attract any special attention.
Walking on the gravel road in Goyo Town, Xiao Chen found that the town was a bit old, but whether it was the style of the houses or the clothes of the people, they all looked quite good. This was not common in remote villages, which often meant that the local economy had a good foundation and the lord's management of the place was also quite good.
The atmosphere in the town was relaxed and normal, and the townspeople did not have the tension of wartime at all. Cypress City had informed Baron Paragus five days ago about the outbreak of plague in the empire and the infiltration of sick enemies, but it seemed that the baron did not tell his townspeople about this news.
What exactly was the Baron planning? Xiao Chen felt that he should talk to him, but before that, he wanted to get some information from all sides, so he walked into a tavern that looked quite lively.
It was after dinner, and many local residents liked to come here for a drink at this time. There were quite a few people sitting in this small pub. The appearance of a stranger like Xiao Chen surprised everyone present.
The boss behind the bar saw Xiao Chen and greeted him, "Welcome, stranger. There haven't been many customers from outside recently. Where are you from?"
"East of Suero." Xiao Chen walked to the bar and said to the boss with a smile: "I want to do some business, so I came here to check out the supply. What's going on? Is business slow recently?"
"Business? Business has naturally been bad since the war. What do you want to buy? The wood here is very good and is most suitable for making furniture and other things. Chat with the guests in the tavern, and you will definitely find something useful." said the tavern owner.
Xiao Chen sat at the bar, bought a glass of beer, and asked, "But business is bad everywhere recently. Have you heard? The imperials from Heimuguan have broken in and are roaming around. Many merchants don't go out. In the past, they could talk to bandits, but the imperials never give anyone face."
The tavern owner said, "Of course. The imperialists have done a lot of bad things in the east. I have relatives there, and they say that the imperialists are more vicious than the worst horse thieves."
Their conversation attracted the attention of some guests. One of them said, "We all know that the Empire broke through the Blackwood Pass. They said that it was because Orgas was too shameless to hand the pass over to the Chinese Tower, and then the Chinese Tower was too incompetent to guard the pass at all. For many years, the kingdom has never lost the Blackwood Pass, but now it is gone."
"Who cares? He's far away from us anyway." A man who looked like a farmer said nonchalantly.
"Yeah, but we're in a remote area here, so it should be fine." The others agreed.
"Especially with Lord Paragus guarding this place, we have nothing to fear," said another.
Xiao Chen said: "Have you heard that the imperialists have an epidemic in Heimuguan? Many people died. They sent those sick soldiers to attack various villages to make everyone sick. Fights broke out in many nearby villages."
"I haven't heard of it." Everyone present shook their heads. One of them said, "People in our town rarely go out recently. The Baron said that the war outside is too dangerous, so he asked everyone to run less. Anyway, the crops we grow can support ourselves."
Another person agreed, "Yes, Lord Paragus should know what is good for us. If he didn't tell us the news, it means there is no need for us to care about it. If he asks us to stay in the town, then we should stay there obediently."
Xiao Chen was surprised by their attitude. In most places he had been, the relationship between the lords and the people was not harmonious. In many places, the conflicts between the two sides were even fierce. Lords whipped or even executed the people who resisted, or the people rioted against taxes and boycotted the lords. These were all common occurrences. But here he found that these people really trusted Baron Paragus.
"It seems that Baron Paragus treats you well?" Xiao Chen asked.
The people around nodded.
"How is it good?" Xiao Chen asked again.
This time the atmosphere around suddenly turned cold, and the residents looked at each other, as if they were a little reluctant to talk too much.
Xiao Chen was very surprised by this. He took a sip of beer and waited for others to speak, but they stopped talking and drank. The tavern owner came over and said vaguely, "It's just a small matter. As long as the lord doesn't oppress everyone, everyone won't oppose the lord, and the relationship will be good, right?"
"This still sounds a bit strange. I don't think such a small thing can make everyone trust him so much." Xiao Chen tapped the table lightly with his fingers. Ripples that were invisible to the naked eye spread out from his fingertips and enveloped the surrounding area.
The tavern owner, who was about to leave without saying anything, suddenly said to Xiao Chen, "You are right. In fact, there are some things we don't tell outsiders, for fear of causing trouble for Lord Paragus." (To be continued)