At the same time, Village Head Qin Hui sat in his home with a teapot resting on the table beside him.
“Father, Qin Ming has returned. I saw two sacks of grain loaded on his horse.”
“Hm?”
Qin Hui paused in surprise and said, “Grain prices have been soaring everywhere lately. Where did he get the money to buy so much grain?”
“I don’t know…”
“In the past, when that brat went hunting, the best he could manage was a rabbit or a pheasant. There’s no way that could be exchanged for this much rice. Did you see which direction he came from?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“He was gone all night yesterday… Looks like he went to Yu Family Stronghold.”
“Father, are you saying Qin Ming joined the bandits in a robbery last night?”
“He carries a token from Yu Family Stronghold. If his hands weren’t stained with blood, how could he possibly earn a place among them?”
Qin Hui frowned slightly before continuing.
“For the time being, you brothers must not provoke him. Don’t even go near his house.”
“But Father, are we really supposed to do nothing? Brother Erzhu is still bedridden and can’t even move!”
At the mention of this, the eldest son, Qin Dazhu, spoke with obvious anger.
“Father, something’s wrong! Come outside quickly!”
Just then, Qin Hui’s second son rushed into the room in a panic.
“What happened?”
“Did something happen to your Brother Erzhu?”
The father and son immediately questioned him.
“There seems to be a group of government soldiers coming up from the foot of the mountain!”
“Government soldiers?”
Qin Hui shot to his feet.
“Come on, let’s go take a look!”
With a wave of his hand, he led his two sons outside.
The moment they stepped into the courtyard, they saw villagers pouring out of their homes.
Looking downhill, they spotted a cavalry unit riding directly toward the village.
The riders wore armor and carried bows and spears.
“Father, what should we do?”
“Hurry and go welcome them!”
Seeing the approaching force, Qin Hui’s eyelid twitched.
For the past two years, because of the increasingly tense fighting along the borders, troops had occasionally been transferred from the south to reinforce the northern front.
Qin Family Village happened to sit beside one of the major routes leading north.
Marching armies often stopped nearby to replenish their water supplies and gather fodder for their horses.
As village head, Qin Hui was obligated to provide assistance whenever troops passed through.
“Quickly! Everyone, go greet them!”
His two sons immediately shouted to the villagers.
The villagers hurried out of the stockade.
However, when Qin Hui opened the village gates, the cavalry was already charging toward them at full speed.
The leading officer wore iron armor and carried a cavalry lance.
He looked imposing and powerful.
More than a hundred riders followed behind him, all equipped with standard Great Zhou military armor and weapons.
Their equipment was excellent, clearly marking them as an elite force.
“Everyone kneel!”
As the cavalry approached, Qin Hui immediately ordered the villagers to kneel.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
To Qin Hui’s surprise, the cavalry showed no intention of stopping.
The commanding officer didn’t even spare them a glance.
The entire force thundered past without slowing down.
A cloud of dust swept over the villagers.
Within moments, the hundred riders had vanished into the distance.
“This…”
“Father, look over there!”
Just as Qin Hui was struggling to understand what had happened, his second son suddenly pointed toward the north.
Far beyond the river, more than ten miles away, flames and black smoke could be seen rising into the sky.
“That direction… That’s Yu Family Stronghold!”
Qin Hui cried out in shock.
“Yu Family Stronghold?”
“The soldiers… are they suppressing bandits?”
The two Qin brothers exchanged stunned looks.
Mixed with their shock was a trace of wild excitement.
“There’s no mistake!”
The confusion on Qin Hui’s face quickly gave way to fervent excitement.
Stroking his beard, he stared intently at the increasingly obvious flames.
“It looks exactly like the bandit suppression campaign three years ago! Flames reaching the heavens! And that cavalry unit we just saw, every single one of them was an elite rider. Not a single infantryman among them! They’re specifically targeting the mounted bandits of Yu Family Stronghold. Fast as the wind, leaving no survivors!”
His tone was firm and decisive, carrying the satisfaction of a man finally seeing his enemies brought low.
“Heaven truly has eyes! Those damned bandits are finally getting what they deserve!”
“Father, this is wonderful!”
“If the bandit stronghold has been destroyed, then Qin Ming is finished too! Isn’t he one of those bandits from Yu Family Stronghold? This is the perfect opportunity to arrest him and hand him over to the authorities. We can finally avenge Brother Sanzhu!”
The eldest and second sons spoke excitedly.
The Qin family hated Qin Ming with every fiber of their being.
Previously, however, they had feared retaliation from Yu Family Stronghold and had not dared act against him.
But if the government troops truly wiped out the bandits, then the Qin brothers would have nothing left to fear.
“Don’t rush.”
Qin Hui straightened his back and spoke calmly.
“We still don’t know the outcome of the campaign. Over the next few days, I’ll gather information. If Yu Family Stronghold has truly been destroyed, then it won’t be too late to deal with Qin Ming afterward.”
…
That evening, Qin Ming and Fan Niang sat beneath the dim glow of an oil lamp, eating dinner together.
Since their house stood at the very back of the village near the mountains, neither of them knew anything about the events that had unfolded below the mountain earlier that day.
On the table sat a plate of rabbit meat, a plate of boiled wild vegetables, a dish of pickled vegetables, and a pot of white rice porridge.
Though the meal was simple, Fan Niang ate with unusual contentment.
For a young woman who had spent her entire life in poverty, these days were already the happiest she had ever known.
“You work hard hunting in the mountains. Eat more.”
Fan Niang continuously placed pieces of rabbit meat into Qin Ming’s bowl while she herself ate only pickled vegetables and boiled greens.
“You should eat more meat too. Our family has money now, and hunting isn’t difficult for me. We could eat meat every meal if we wanted.”
“Even if we have money, we can’t spend it carelessly.”
Fan Niang raised her chin slightly.
Her eyes sparkled with hope for the future, yet her expression remained serious.
“I’ve already worked it out. We should find a way to buy a spinning wheel. Autumn is almost here. Once the weather turns cold, the price of coarse hemp cloth will definitely rise. If I weave cloth and sell it then, we’ll earn quite a bit more.”
She counted on her fingers while carefully calculating the household finances.
Qin Ming chuckled.
“How much money could that possibly make?”
“Don’t underestimate it!”
Fan Niang immediately protested.
Her bright eyes gleamed with confidence.
“A bolt of hemp cloth sells for two hundred copper coins right now. Once autumn and winter arrive and the weather gets colder, the price can easily rise to around two hundred and forty copper coins.”
She knew these prices by heart.
In this era, cotton had not yet become widespread.
Cotton cloth and cotton-padded clothing were still rare.
Ordinary people generally wore coarse hemp garments.
Such clothing was breathable but provided little protection against the cold.
As a result, furs remained the preferred choice for winter warmth.
Garments made from sheepskin, fox fur, or sable fur were soft, thick, and excellent at blocking out icy winds.
However, fur clothing was extremely expensive.
Even the cheapest sheepskin coat cost several taels of silver.
As for fox and sable furs, prices often reached hundreds or even thousands of taels, luxuries affordable only to wealthy nobles and high-ranking officials.
For common people, earning money still depended largely on coarse cloth and hemp garments.
That was why the price of hemp clothing always rose somewhat during winter.
“…With a loom, I can weave five bolts of cloth every three days. That would sell for around seven hundred copper coins.”
“You mean you could earn seven taels of silver a month?”
Qin Ming was genuinely surprised.