The disgraced official I took care of was actually Zhu Houcong's childhood friend.

Chapter 369

Zhou Chu felt like he had a very long dream, in which he traveled to the future and became a PhD in history.

When Zhou Chu woke up groggily, his mind gradually cleared up, and he realized that he wasn't dreaming, but had actually experienced something.

However, the memories of the previous life are becoming more and more distant. After all, the human brain can only remember so much. When new things come in, old memories have to be pushed out.

Zhou Chu's memories of his previous life were becoming increasingly hazy.

"Young man, you're awake. Drink this bowl of porridge. I added some chicken to it."

Dazhu's mother brought a bowl of porridge to the bedside and said.

The doctor specifically instructed us not to eat foods that could trigger allergies or other adverse reactions. However, chicken is fine to eat at any time, as it is neither a trigger nor an adverse reaction and is very nutritious.

In fact, Dazhu's family only raised three old hens. In order to take care of Zhou Chu, they had already killed one of them. This one was also cooked, and the meat was dismembered and then put into the porridge little by little to feed Zhou Chu.

Although Dazhu's father was a hunter and farmer with little education, he knew the saying "help a man to the end and see him through to the end." Since he had chosen to save Zhou Chu, he naturally had to go all out.

Dazhu and Erya looked at the porridge with shredded meat and subconsciously swallowed. Their family had raised this old hen for more than three years, and the chicken soup made from it was always glossy. Erya and Dazhu still missed the chicken soup from that day.

That day, a large pot of chicken soup was stewed. They each received a bowl, and the rest was saved along with the shredded chicken meat. They used the chicken soup to cook porridge for Zhou Chu every day.

Zhou Chu took a couple of sips and felt much warmer. He naturally noticed the reactions of Er Ya and Da Zhu next to him.

"I'm full, give it to them."

Zhou Chu said.

When Dazhu's mother heard this, she turned around and glared at Dazhu and Erya.

"Don't worry about them, they just finished eating and are just craving something."

After she finished speaking, she scooped up a spoonful with a wooden spoon and put it near Zhou Chu's mouth. Zhou Chu had no choice but to continue eating.

Soon, Zhou Chu finished the bowl of porridge, and the flame of hope in the eyes of Da Zhu and Er Ya beside him was extinguished.

"Young man, my name is Zhang Damin, this is my son, Zhang Dazhu, this is Erya, what's your name?"

Dazhu's father, seeing that Zhou Chu had finished eating, finally spoke up and asked.

"My name is Zhou Chu."

Zhou Chu answered truthfully.

"Then I'll call you Brother Chu. The one who treated you just now was my third uncle. He said you're no ordinary person; you have knife wounds all over your body, and you're probably carrying a huge burden..."

Zhang Damin hesitated before speaking.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chu immediately understood what Zhang Damin meant.

"Don't worry, I was ambushed by bad guys. They're too busy running for their lives to care about me. There won't be any trouble."

Zhou Chu explained.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Damin breathed a sigh of relief. He was genuinely afraid that Zhou Chu had offended some important figure, and if that were the case, he wouldn't dare to keep Zhou Chu around.

"I was overthinking it."

Zhang Damin said embarrassedly.

“I’ll call you Uncle Zhang. You saved my life, it’s like giving me a second chance. Don’t worry about such trivial matters.”

Zhou Chu smiled.

At this moment, Zhou Chu woke up. Every word and action of his was full of composure. Zhang Damin was also quite knowledgeable, and it was precisely because of this knowledge that he appeared very reserved in front of Zhou Chu.

Have you seen my horse?

Zhou Chu looked at the group and asked.

If it weren't for the black horse, he probably wouldn't have escaped death. At the critical moment, this divine horse actually rushed out to save its master, which Zhou Chu didn't expect.

“Outside, your horse was amazing; it carried you all the way here.”

Upon hearing the mention of the black horse, Dazhu immediately became excited and danced with joy. After all, this was the first time in his life that he had ever seen such a magnificent horse.

Their entire village only had one old horse, which belonged to the village chief. It was used to pull carts and transport mountain goods down the mountain to sell.

Compared to Zhou Chu's black horse, that horse was like heaven and earth.

Hearing this, Zhou Chu breathed a sigh of relief, but felt that he would have to make do with the black horse, since it could only eat grass in the mountains, which was much worse than its usual rations.

Zhou Chu felt around his waist and finally managed to unfasten a piece of silver from his belt. This was something that Zhou Chu had had sewn onto his belt before, so that he could have money to spare in case of an emergency.

In fact, besides the silver, Zhou Chu's belt also had many precious gems sewn in the middle, which most people would not notice because they were sewn in the middle. However, these gems were more of a curse than a blessing for Zhang Damin's family, and this piece of silver would probably be difficult to spend.

After all, most mountain dwellers use copper coins, and suddenly taking out silver would easily attract the attention of others.

However, Zhou Chu couldn't care less about that now. His body was in such a state that he needed some nourishment, which would naturally cost money.

"Uncle Zhang, where is this?"

Zhou Chu did not rush to take out the silver.

"Our village is located at the foot of the mountain, only a dozen miles from Shaoxing City."

Zhang Damin said.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chu immediately realized where he was. Shaoxing was more than a hundred li away from Yuyao, and it would take more than a day to send a message back and forth, unless he rode a fast horse like Wuzhui.

Zhou Chu dared not easily alarm the local officials, for who knew what their attitude was towards him? If anyone harbored ill intentions towards him, given his current state, it would be difficult to defend himself.

"Uncle Zhang, this is all the money I have left. Buy something nice, but be careful not to attract unwanted attention."

As Zhou Chu spoke, he handed the silver coin, worth about five taels, to Zhang Damin.

Zhou Chu said that he only had this much silver, just to prevent Zhang Damin's family from being tempted by his wealth. Although Zhou Chu knew that the family was not that kind of person, he would never test people's hearts.

Fortunately, the silver and gems were sewn into the middle of the belt, and there were even many silver notes stuffed in the middle. The two outer rings of the belt were blocked with hard objects, so even if an ordinary person touched it very carefully, they would not be able to find out what was going on.

Otherwise, the doctor would probably have discovered these things when he stopped Zhou Chu's bleeding earlier.

Zhang Damin was a little dizzy when he suddenly saw such a piece of silver. Ordinary people like him usually spent copper coins. Even if they had seen silver, it was always the silver of the big shots. When had he ever touched silver himself?

Zhang Damin quickly wiped his hands and carefully took the silver.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing, I won't be targeted."

Zhang Damin said confidently.

On the other hand, the salt merchants imprisoned by Yun Jin could not withstand such pressure. They were afraid that others would sell them out. Not long after they were imprisoned, one of the salt merchants wanted to see Yun Jin.

"You're not the only one who wants to see me. Now it's up to you who provides the most information to survive."

Yun Jin looked at the salt merchant and said.

Upon hearing this, the salt merchant's expression changed. He had originally intended to hold back, but now he realized that the initiative was no longer in his hands.

"The one who assassinated Lord Zhou was Li Xian, the president of the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce. He selected more than a thousand people from among the family members of officials who were exiled because of Lord Zhou's investigation, trained them, and these were the people who assassinated Lord Zhou. We were just providing a place for Li Xian and these people to hide."

The salt merchants dared not conceal anything and revealed everything without hesitation.

Upon hearing this, Yun Jin's eyes flashed with a cold light.

"Li Xian!"