join patreon.com/worldoffanfiction for advanced chapters and to support the daily update
The journey to Xiaocheng was not smooth.
Not to mention jackals, tigers, leopards, poisonous insects, and ferocious beasts, just the bandits who had fallen to brigandage and blocked roads for robbery were enough to make one nervous. To avoid unnecessary trouble, Shen Tang and her companion tried their best not to sleep in the wild.
However, the top priority was to buy two new outfits for Young Master Shen. Qi Shan's own clothes were almost worn out.
He came out of the cloth shop with a cloth bag in his hand.
Tailoring was out of the question. He could only pick two men's shirts from ready-made clothes that were roughly the same height as Young Master Shen.
With inner and outer garments, plus the set he lent Young Master Shen, three sets should be enough for rotation.
"Young Master Shen, it's time to go..."
Qi Shan was about to call Shen Tang to hit the road and reach the next village before dark, but Shen Tang, who should have been waiting at the door, was nowhere to be seen.
Where is she?
Dare to run around in an unfamiliar place?
He was about to go look for the disappeared Shen Tang. Before he could take a step, his peripheral vision caught a familiar pure white streak across the street—that tall, snow-white mule obediently lay on the ground. Even when passersby gathered around it in a circle, they couldn't stop its randomly flicking tail.
Qi Shan: "..."
"Folks, come and see, freshly picked green plums, three coppers a catty, sold until they're gone..."
As he approached the crowd, he heard a familiar hawking sound.
He saw that familiar Young Master Shen, sitting unceremoniously on the ground, with her hair roughly tied into a bun with straw rope. A cloth was spread in front of her, piled with a small mountain of green plums. Beside her was a large basket, also full of green plums.
She seemed not at all ashamed, enthusiastically selling green plums.
As long as someone came to buy, she would greet them warmly, calling out "young master" or "young lady," or "big brother" or "big sister," her mouth dripping with honeyed words.
She also didn't forget to advertise the green plums,
saying they were of good quality and cheap, with thin skin and large fruit, and that eating them could not only quench thirst and relieve heat but also beautify one's appearance, truly an essential fruit for midsummer.
Qi Shan stood in the crowd and watched for a while. He noticed that most of the people buying green plums were women, each buying three or five catties. Not to mention that green plums were very cheap, buying them was a bargain. Just letting this handsome young master call them "big sister" or "young lady" was also a good deal.
If Young Master Shen wasn't too young, enthusiastically friendly, beautiful, and had pure, innocent eyes, the men on this street would probably have dragged him into an alley and beaten him—what was he doing flirting with these married women and young ladies for no reason?
Calling everyone "young lady" or "big sister" was frivolous.
Before long, Shen Tang's green plums were completely sold out. She put dozens of copper coins into her purse, stood up, and brushed the dust from her bottom. She seemed to have long known that Qi Shan was nearby.
She asked with a smile, "Yuanliang, are you finished?"
Qi Shan looked annoyed, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.
"I'm finished. What are you doing?"
Others sold wine by the roadside, but Young Master Shen sold green plums on the street?
Shen Tang shook her jingling purse.
"I'm out of money, that's what Yuanliang is asking..."
Didn't he know how poor she was now?
He couldn't possibly reach out to Qi Shan for money, could he?
The two of them were not related by blood, and they were mutual tools. Neither owed the other anything. Shen Tang couldn't possibly shamelessly treat him as an ATM.
Under Qi Shan's complex gaze, Shen Tang returned the basket to another vendor, redeemed her mortgaged Wenxin Seal from him, and put it back on her waist. With the money she had just earned, she bought some salt, wine, and other pickled side dishes.
"Knowing you're short on cash, why did you give money to Master Tian and his group?" Qi Shan said, throwing the cloth bag into the cloth sack carried by the motorcycle. Ever since he discovered that Shen Tang could condense motorcycles for twelve hours a day without tiring, the motorcycle had been given a new job.
Both their luggage was entrusted to it, saving them effort.
Two days ago, after parting ways with Tian Zhong and his group, Shen Tang took out a few pieces of broken silver from her bosom and gave them to them, along with over a dozen biscuits.
"Firstly, those few pieces of broken silver weren't earned by me." She had collected them from the first killed official. She didn't feel bad using someone else's inheritance. "Secondly, Tian Zhong and his group were injured and penniless. Even if they had a place to seek refuge, they had nothing on them. It was uncertain if they could even survive the journey to their destination."
After some thought, she gave away a few pieces of broken silver.
Shen Tang, as a stay-at-home artist from a peaceful era, always felt pity for others and would help if she could.
Qi Shan seemed to disbelieve, and asked, "Is that the only reason?"
Shen Tang tilted her head, confused.
"Isn't this the only reason? What else could it be? Is it a conspiracy to be a good person now?"
Qi Shan: "..."
Seeing Shen Tang's expression was not feigned, he didn't know what he was imagining, and his expression changed unpredictably, making people confused.
Shen Tang didn't understand, so she could only be cautious: "Yuanliang?"
Qi Shan looked at her deeply, sighed, and said, "Nothing."
But he took a wrong step, and his figure flashed three zhang away.
Shen Tang, left behind: "...Damn it!"
Since there's nothing wrong, why are you running with a spiritual curse?!
He kept bullying her for not being able to ride a motorcycle and use "Chasing Wind and Sneaking Shadow"!
Because she was really poor, Shen Tang could only sell homemade cakes, green plums, and malt candy along the way.
The price of green plums and malt candy fluctuated according to the local people's attire. Those well-dressed and clean paid a few more coppers, while those with patches and disheveled hair paid a few less. The price of cakes followed that of local vendors. Since it was a business with no capital, she tried not to disrupt the market too much.
Qi Shan didn't comment on her considerations.
Of course, what he was complaining about Shen Tang in his heart was unknown.
Young Master Shen was the most miserable Wenxin strategist he had ever seen. Even at his most destitute, he had never been like this.
But she found joy in it, so he couldn't say much.
The two rushed and finally approached the territory of Sibao County.
Calculating the time they spent on the road, it was probably slower than the Gong family's second batch of exiles.
"Yuanliang, I recently heard from the common people in the market that Sibao County has four great treasures, and the people are well-fed and clothed... But why?"
Shen Tang, holding the motorcycle, followed Qi Shan, looking left and right.
The streets were empty, and all they saw was desolation. Occasionally, they would see passersby with sallow faces and emaciated bodies, as if a bag of bones in a tattered sack, swaying with every gust of wind.
These passersby were also timid. If their gaze accidentally met Shen Tang's two unfamiliar faces, they would shrink their necks like frightened rabbits and hurry away.
Qi Shan sighed, "Sibao County was one of the first counties attacked by Geng Country. The six nearby counties, three of them were plundered empty. Sibao County was particularly severely affected. It will be difficult to restore its former prosperity..."
Every household was draped in white mourning clothes, holding funerals. The wailing and sobbing never ceased.
Qi Shan was not surprised by this scene of desolation.
Who chose Xin Country as the battlefield for the war between the two nations?
The people of this land were destined to suffer.
However, when the two finally arrived in Xiaocheng after much difficulty, they found that the city inside and outside were two completely different worlds.
Outside the city, corpses lay everywhere for a thousand li. The wuwu sound of the night wind was like thousands of lonely spirits crying in unison near their ears.
And inside the city—
Crowds surged, and songs and dances filled the air.