“This price is truly too high.” The manager twisted his beard and shook his head.
Although goat meat was precious, ten taels was simply asking too much; the usual market price of seven or eight taels was considered fair.
Xie Hanshuo had intentionally inflated the price, leaving room for negotiation.
After several rounds of discussion, the two parties finally agreed on a price of eight taels.
Xie Hanshuo added a pheasant as a bonus, and in the end, both sides were satisfied.
The manager paid the silver and, stroking his beard, said with a smile, “If you manage to get more wild game on the mountain in the future, you should come by our place often.”
The manager’s words were quite flexible; he hadn’t explicitly promised to place an order, likely wanting to assess the quality of the goods before making a final decision.
Xie Hanshuo nodded in agreement, and after collecting the silver, he briskly pushed his cart away.
Turning toward the North Market, he left his handcart in front of the shop owned by Butcher Qian, whom he knew well.
The two had known each other for two years and had some friendship. Butcher Qian waved his hand readily, “Go ahead and be at ease; I will keep an eye on your cart.”
After leaving behind the words, “I’ll treat you to a drink when I have the time,” Xie Hanshuo left, carrying only the remaining pheasant.
The North Market was a place where all sorts of people mixed, quite far from the county magistrate’s office, but an inconspicuous hundred-household office was located there.
Although the military post here was not significant, it handled tasks for the yamen and held a certain amount of influence and connections.
Xie Hanshuo carried the pheasant and stepped through the courtyard gate, seeing several young, unfamiliar military servants drilling in the yard.
“Is Vice-Lieutenant Lin in?”
“He is.”
Someone passed the word along.
Not long after, a burly man strode out.
He wore a long saber at his waist, his brows sharp and imposing; it was none other than Lin Qingxuan.
Seeing that the visitor was Xie Hanshuo, Lin Qingxuan’s face lit up with surprise. “Brother Xie! What brings you here today?”
“I came to the city to sell some wild game and stopped by to see you.”
The two entered the room to talk. Lin Qingxuan poured a cup of hot tea and said with a touch of apology, “When you got married a while back, it happened to coincide with my business trip to the prefectural city, and I couldn’t have a celebratory drink. Since you’re here today, we must have a few cups!”
Lin Qingxuan had a straightforward personality, and the two had always gotten along very well.
Hearing this, Xie Hanshuo shook his head and said, “I don’t have time today; you and your brothers should just eat this pheasant.”
Lin Qingxuan didn’t stand on ceremony; after taking the pheasant, he followed up by asking, “What about that matter we discussed last time—have you considered it?”
Xie Hanshuo had been looking for an opportunity to bring it up. Seeing that he had asked, he replied with a serious expression, “I came here today specifically for this matter.”
“Now that I am married, I am afraid I cannot accompany you on the trip to Mohanguan. On the day you set off, Brother Lin, I will certainly prepare food and wine to see you off.”
Lin Qingxuan had long expected that he might not want to go. He patted Xie Hanshuo on the shoulder and sighed, “It’s a pity to waste your skills! If you and I, brothers, went together to earn military merit under the command of Prince Yu, why would we ever worry about not having a day to shine?”
His words were full of regret.
Although Lin Qingxuan had ambitions, he was only a low-ranking military officer of the ninth grade.
He was unwilling to be trapped in a small town, so he had made arrangements, wanting to use the opportunity of the war at Mohanguan to join the army and secure a future for himself.
He had heard that Prince Yu was skilled in warfare and felt this was his chance.
He had originally wanted to invite Xie Hanshuo to go with him, but now it seemed he would have to head to the border alone.
Lin Qingxuan sighed regretfully; he truly appreciated Xie Hanshuo’s excellent martial arts.
The story of how they met dated back to when Lin Qingxuan was being hunted by underworld forces.
At that time, he was working for the imperial court and had inadvertently offended people in the Jianghu, being chased by over a dozen people into the wild forest outside the city.
Just as his life hung in the balance, Xie Hanshuo happened to be passing by on his way to the city and fired arrows from afar to save him, allowing him to escape.
Xie Hanshuo’s archery was exquisite, and his skills were extraordinary.
Lin Qingxuan cherished his talent and felt it was a pity for him to spend his days hunting, so he had intended to invite him to join the Black Cavalry under Prince Yu to plan for a better future.
However, Xie Hanshuo politely declined, “I don’t have Brother Lin’s grand ambitions, and I truly cannot bear to leave my wife to travel far north. I don’t seek to achieve great things; I only wish to live a quiet life with her.”
“Moreover, if I leave and she is left here alone, I fear she would struggle to survive.”
He would rather go into the mountains every day to hunt and earn some hard-earned money than be separated from Ye Yao to chase after uncertain wealth.
If he went and never returned, wouldn’t that condemn her to a lifetime of hardship?
Therefore, this was absolutely impossible.
After hearing this, Lin Qingxuan understood.
They were newlyweds, and the couple was deeply in love; naturally, he couldn’t force the matter, so he said, “Since that is the case, I won’t force you.”
With the matter settled, Xie Hanshuo rose to say goodbye.
Seeing him walking in a hurry, Lin Qingxuan couldn’t help but be curious and asked offhandedly, “Why is Brother Xie in such a rush?”
Xie Hanshuo didn’t hide it. He curled his lips into a smile and said, “I have to hurry to the village today to pick up my wife and bring her home!”
Leaving the cart with Butcher Qian was fine, but if he left the city too late, he wouldn’t catch the village ox-cart.
If he had to rely on his own two feet to walk to Xinghua Village, he feared he wouldn’t arrive until dark.
Xie Hanshuo was worried that if he arrived late, Ye Yao wouldn’t be able to wait and would head home alone.
If she encountered danger on the road, how helpless would she be as a weak woman?
Therefore, he was anxious to be on his way.
Lin Qingxuan was slightly stunned upon hearing this; he hadn’t expected that a man who seemed so cold, hard, and taciturn could be so concerned about his wife at home.
…
After the ox-cart jolted for over an hour, Xie Hanshuo finally arrived at Xinghua Village.
This village was even more remote and impoverished than Liuye Village. It was sparsely populated, and most families barely managed to get by on a few plots of thin soil.
The most destitute family in the village was the Jiang family.
About twenty years ago, the Jiang family fled here as refugees. Because there was no room for them in other villages, they had no choice but to settle in this desolate Xinghua Village.
At that time, there were a few ownerless thatched huts in the village, so the eldest son of the Jiang family moved in with his three younger sisters and an infant daughter still in swaddling clothes.
The eldest Jiang brother had a disability in his leg, and his wife had passed away early, leaving behind only the young daughter.
Even more unfortunately, the youngest sister had suffered brain damage from a high fever during childhood and remained mentally impaired to this day.
Fortunately, the second and third sisters each had their own strengths. The second sister married a peddler from the same village, while the third sister, Jiang Ruolan, married into the Ye family of Liuye Village because of her excellent cooking skills.
The Ye family had possessed several plots of land back then and could be considered a wealthy family in the village.
Ye Yao’s mother, Jiang Ruolan, had enjoyed a few years of stable life.
Unfortunately, good times did not last; she overworked herself and died young due to illness.
When Jiang Ruolan was alive, she earned a good deal of money with her culinary skills and frequently helped her maiden family.
It was precisely with her support that the Jiang family had managed to buy a few thin plots of land and establish a foothold in Xinghua Village.
But ever since Jiang Ruolan died of illness, the remaining members of the Jiang family—the old, the foolish, and the disabled—not only lost their support but became a burden instead.
The second sister, Jiang Yufang, who lived in the same village, was terrified of being entangled and dragged down, so even though she didn’t live far away, she rarely stepped foot through that dilapidated courtyard gate.
The Jiang family’s residence was remote, the houses were in disrepair, and the roof was just haphazardly covered with some weeds, showing a scene of utter poverty.
Only a single wooden door could be considered sturdy.
“Knock, knock, knock—”
The sound of knocking suddenly rang out, breaking the silence in the courtyard.
“It must be that damned bunch coming again! Father, don’t stop me, I’m going to fight them to the death today! At worst, I’ll just lose my life!”