“Do you have a map? I’d like to see it,” Lu Yunxi asked Xie Zhiyuan, suppressing her excitement.
Xie Zhiyuan indeed had one. He took out a scroll—a map—and showed it to Lu Yunxi.
The map was crude, but for this era, it was already a rare treasure. Through the map, Lu Yunxi gained a more intuitive understanding of the current dynasty and the political situation. The country her father had now established was called the Yongsheng Dynasty, and the previous dynasty was called the Jin Kingdom.
This era was fictional, and the political situation somewhat resembled the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in Chinese history—extremely chaotic. The Jin Kingdom was surrounded by four countries eyeing it covetously. Later, various forces rose in rebellion, fighting for years until only three factions remained, all in the south, each declaring themselves kings.
Her father’s forces were the first to break into Jingdu, but the other two factions might not be willing to accept this.
The situation was far from ideal, with internal troubles and external threats. No wonder her father hadn’t brought them together earlier.
These matters didn’t need her concern. According to the book, her father would secure the north and stabilize the Yongsheng Dynasty—though it would soon be overthrown by the male and female protagonists…
Focusing on the present, she scanned the map and finally found Lingcheng. It was only five hundred li away from their current location, and they would pass through it on their way to Jingdu.
Lu Yunxi’s thoughts jumped around, but Xie Zhiyuan watched her profile, his eyes flickering. What was she thinking?
The river snail soup served for dinner received unanimous praise, especially from Lu Popo. As she was older, she loved such soupy dishes. Having sat in the carriage all day, she had initially lost her appetite, but now she drank a bowl of soup and ate half a bowl of rice, feeling much more energetic.
The next day, the group set off and arrived at Lincheng after two hours.
Lincheng was the largest city in the vicinity, and news naturally traveled fast here. At the moment, the city gates were heavily guarded, and the common people hurried about, occasionally whispering in hushed tones, as if a great disaster were looming.
The group could no longer enter the city together. In the end, it was decided that Xie Zhiyuan and Xie Heng would take the Lu siblings and a few guards into the city to purchase supplies and leave immediately afterward.
Actually, no one wanted Lu Yunxi to go, but she had her own plans and insisted. Lu Popo and the others couldn’t stop her, so they had to let her go, urging Xie Zhiyuan to protect her at all costs.
Once inside Lincheng, they headed straight for the West Market, where they could buy everything they needed.
Lincheng lived up to its reputation as a major city. The West Market was lined with shops, and the goods inside were dazzling in variety.
This was the first time the Lu siblings had seen such a scene. They looked around in every direction, finding it all incredibly novel.
To save time, they agreed to meet at Tianxiang Tea House in two hours and went their separate ways to buy what they needed.
Each person was accompanied by two guards. Xie Heng went with Lu Yunchuan, leaving only Xie Zhiyuan with Lu Yunxi.
Xie Zhiyuan stood in front of Lu Yunxi, towering a full head taller than her, exuding an intimidating presence.
Lu Yunxi didn’t particularly enjoy being alone with him. Although the events from the book hadn’t happened yet, they still made her uncomfortable.
“If you have something to do, go ahead. I’ll just wander around on my own,” Lu Yunxi said.
“My task is to protect you,” Xie Zhiyuan replied, his voice cool and detached.
“Lincheng seems quite safe,” Lu Yunxi countered. She knew that, according to the book’s plot, she would definitely reach Jingdu safely.
Xie Zhiyuan looked at Lu Yunxi, his gaze deep and unfathomable. “Are you afraid of me?”
Lu Yunxi looked up, meeting his gaze directly, and questioned, “Would you be afraid of a toad?” What she meant was that she was merely disgusted by the plot in the book.
Xie Zhiyuan raised an eyebrow. A toad? Him? Was he the toad lusting after swan flesh, making her dislike him?
Lu Yunxi had only instinctively used a metaphor earlier. After seeing Xie Zhiyuan’s reaction, she remembered that “toad” carried other connotations, especially given her father’s previous intention to marry her off to Xie Zhiyuan.
Explain? Forget it. As long as he stayed far away from her in the future, it would be fine.
She scrutinized Xie Zhiyuan, wanting to see how he would react.
Xie Zhiyuan showed no particular reaction, only the corners of his eyes twitched twice, like butterfly wings. Then he stepped aside, gesturing for Lu Yunxi to go first.
Truly deep and inscrutable, Lu Yunxi thought as she walked straight ahead, treating Xie Zhiyuan as if he were air.
After turning down two streets and buying some daily necessities and clothes, Lu Yunxi arrived at a blacksmith shop. According to the owner of the previous general store, this was the largest and best blacksmith shop in Lincheng.
Indeed, the shop was bustling with business, customers coming and going in a steady stream.
Lu Yunxi stepped inside.
Behind the blacksmith shop was a courtyard, from which waves of heat emanated—likely the forging area. To the left of the shop were shelves displaying various ironware, ranging from small iron needles to large iron pots and plows, everything one could need.
“Young lady, what would you like to buy? We have everything here. If nothing suits you, we also take custom orders,” a shop assistant greeted Lu Yunxi.
“I’ll take a look first,” Lu Yunxi replied, picking up an iron shovel to examine closely. She wanted to assess the ironworking technology of this era, knowing that the drill bits used for salt well excavation were crucial. Ordinary iron would quickly rust in brine.
The quality of ironware was evaluated by two criteria: the carbon and impurity content of the iron, and the manufacturing process, with the latter influencing the former.
The best iron would be steel—rust-resistant, combining both flexibility and strength, making it ideal for any purpose.
Next was wrought iron, and the lowest quality was cast iron.
Of course, steel also had grades, such as stainless steel or Alloy steel, but given the ironworking level of this era, Lu Yunxi never imagined such materials could be produced.
As for the manufacturing process, forged ironware was far superior in quality to cast ironware, hence the saying “tempered a thousand times.”
Lu Yunxi tapped the iron shovel in her hand with her finger. Forged, wrought iron—a decent shovel.
Putting down the shovel, she picked up a kitchen knife. The iron quality of this knife was even better.
Then she approached an iron pot but walked away after just one glance. It was a cast iron pot, and even for cooking, it would rust too much.
In this way, she examined all the ironware in the shop, leaving the assistant utterly confused. What was this young lady here for?
“Young lady, do you find nothing in my shop to your liking?” a rough voice suddenly asked.
Lu Yunxi turned around and saw a nearly two-meter-tall giant, his muscles bulging like an iron tower.
“Boss,” the assistant greeted the giant as he approached.
This giant was the owner of the blacksmith shop, inheriting the Deng family’s ancestral forging skills.
The giant’s voice was loud, immediately drawing the attention of everyone nearby.
Lu Yunxi was dressed in coarse linen clothes, with the most valuable items on her being the two small silver earrings. By all appearances, she looked like a country girl who had never seen the world.
This blacksmith shop’s Deng Hu was notoriously hot-tempered, and everyone could foresee the scene of this girl being frightened to tears.
Lu Yunxi sized up the burly man, yet said, “Indeed, I don’t think much of it. Do you have anything better?”
Upon hearing this, everyone was shocked. What was this girl saying? Deng Family Ironware was a renowned brand in Lincheng, and she claimed she didn’t think much of it?
Now things were about to get worse. Deng Hu might truly lose his temper, as he took immense pride in his craftsmanship and couldn’t tolerate anyone speaking ill of it.
Sure enough, Deng Hu clenched his fists, glaring angrily at Lu Yunxi. He felt she was here to cause trouble.
At that moment, Lu Yunxi picked up a small knife nearby and said, “I want something a little better than this.”
The small knife was only a palm’s length, dull and gray, tucked away in a corner of the shelf, completely unremarkable.
Deng Hu, however, suddenly suppressed his anger and looked at Lu Yunxi with surprise and suspicion. That small knife was indeed the highest-quality ironware in his shop. Setting aside the possibility that Lu Yunxi had luckily picked it at random, if she truly understood its value, she must be an expert!
“Anything else?” The crowd of onlookers grew larger, but Lu Yunxi wanted to leave. She didn’t want to reveal her identity here.
Deng Hu stood still, seemingly lost in thought.
Lu Yunxi turned to leave.
“Wait.” Deng Hu spoke up, then turned to the counter, retrieving a cloth bundle from inside. He said to Lu Yunxi, “What do you think of this?”
Lu Yunxi paused and looked at what he held in his hand. Her eyes immediately lit up—this dagger was more like it.
She walked over and examined the dagger closely. It was simple yet dignified, with a cold gleam shimmering as it turned. The material was excellent, and the craftsmanship even better—truly a rare and fine piece.
“Did you forge this dagger?” Lu Yunxi asked.
“Indeed.” Deng Hu was filled with pride. It seemed Lu Yunxi truly knew her stuff.
Lu Yunxi made a mental note of him. If she ever needed a suitable blacksmith for her salt well project in the future, she could come to him. As for the dagger, “How much?”
“One hundred taels of silver,” Deng Hu said.
The onlookers gasped upon hearing this. One hundred taels of silver? Was Deng Hu out of his mind?
Deng Hu glared at the people around him. What did these fools know? Even if they wanted to buy it, he wouldn’t sell it to them for a hundred taels of silver. Only today, having met Lu Yunxi, was he willing to bring out this dagger.
Countless nobles had coveted this dagger over the years, and he had only managed to forge this one piece in all that time.
Fine weapons weren’t like cabbages—they required the right timing, conditions, and skill to create!
Lu Yunxi was also taken aback. How much? One hundred taels of silver? She had never seen so much money before. The dagger was quite good, but in her opinion, it was nothing extraordinary—not something she absolutely had to buy.
She smiled awkwardly, rolled up the cloth bundle, handed it back to Deng Hu, and turned to leave.
“I have money here,” a voice came from beside her. It was Xie Zhiyuan. He thought Lu Yunxi didn’t have the money, so she wasn’t buying it.
Lu Yunxi ignored him. She simply didn’t want to waste that kind of money.
She left decisively, leaving Deng Hu stunned. He had thought Lu Yunxi was a connoisseur who would surely buy his dagger. Now, this…
“You don’t want it?” Deng Hu asked in disbelief.
“I don’t have that much silver. Besides, I don’t really want to buy a dagger,” Lu Yunxi said. Spending a hundred taels of silver on this dagger truly wasn’t worth it. If she could buy Deng Hu himself, she might consider it.
Deng Hu’s face darkened. He felt Lu Yunxi was still toying with him.
At that moment, a deep male voice said, “I’ll buy this dagger!” As soon as the words fell, the crowd parted, and a man walked in from outside. The man wore a luxurious black robe embroidered with golden patterns and a jade crown on his head, exuding an imposing aura of nobility.
Behind him followed six or seven guards, each standing tall and radiating a fierce presence.
Author’s Note: