Lu Meiyu whispered, “Although my good items aren’t cheap, they don’t have to be this expensive. You’re traveling far, who knows how long before you return—how could you not have money? Keep the gold leaf safe.”
She then looked at the visibly moved Zhao Hai: “If you have silver, a little loose change will do.”
Zhao Hai grinned foolishly, and the expression of being moved vanished from his face.
Just as expected!
Qingsheng sister-in-law wasn’t greedy for money, only for reasonable money.
He rummaged through his belt and pulled out a tael or two of small silver coins.
“Is this enough?”
Lu Meiyu thought for a moment—it was indeed enough. Actually, a tael of silver had considerable purchasing power!
Naturally, she accepted it: “Don’t worry, the items will satisfy you.”
As soon as she said it, she felt as if she were engaging in some dark transaction, speaking in secret code!
Thinking this was amusing, she laughed, revealing her white teeth.
Jing Yi looked at her in astonishment—this woman could entertain herself and amuse herself!
But, he had to admit, seeing her laugh so easily made him happy too.
Perhaps it gave him more confidence in the “good items” she had promised?
After another day of rest, by the third day, Jing Yi felt much better.
Early in the morning, seeing Lu Meiyu arrive as usual, he could hardly contain himself: “Can we go up the mountain today?”
“Yes. After breakfast, we’ll go.”
Lu Meiyu answered briskly.
But what she didn’t expect was that rumors about her had begun to spread.
Others dared only to whisper quietly, but the Liu family dared to shout aloud.
“Those two were just staying and eating at Zhao Granny’s house. What’s it got to do with her? She even went so far as to bring meat and vegetables over.”
“Isn’t it because she saw that they weren’t ordinary people and wanted to gain some benefit?”
“I think she’s not just trying to benefit herself, she wants to climb high branches and leave this village. Doesn’t she realize—nobody would look at her? A woman who already has two kids!”
These whispers reached Zhao Granny, making her hands tremble with anger.
“Meiyu was just worried I’d be too tired cooking alone and helped a little—how could your black-hearted gossip twist it so?”
But her rebuttal carried little weight; people said what they wanted regardless.
Until Lu Meiyu stepped out: “You say I’m climbing high branches? This high branch is yours—do you want to climb it?”
The crowd fell silent for a few moments.
Who wouldn’t want to climb?
Lu Meiyu then glared at the Liu family: “The Liu family is the funniest—late at night in the dark, you let your daughter Liu Cuicui dress up like a flower, smother her face with pounds of flour, and come here. Too bad, these two nobles don’t care!”
Her voice was loud, and the two men inside the house turned red with embarrassment.
She recalled that damned “rustic charm”…
Madam Zhang’s face turned red with anger: “You silly girl, did those two take a liking to you?”
“I saved their lives! I’m their lifesaver. I’m not afraid to tell you—soon you’ll see me enjoying good food and drink, because they gave me a thank-you silver. How about that? They didn’t have to notice me, but I noticed their silver!”
Lu Meiyu paused, enjoying the expressions on everyone’s faces, then continued with a smile: “They just asked for directions and gave me a tael or two of silver as thanks. Remember that? I saved their lives, you tell me—how much silver is that worth?”
The crowd was stunned.
Who cared about who was flirting with whom, or who wanted to climb high branches?
Silver! Large amounts of silver—that was tangible, that was what mattered!
They couldn’t help asking how much silver, acting as if they hadn’t just been gossiping.
“That’s enough for the three of us to live on for two years,” Lu Meiyu said proudly.
Madam Zhang reached out indignantly: “You’re a daughter-in-law of the Liu family—you should respect us.”
Lu Meiyu laughed: “Are you dreaming again? Not long ago you slandered me, and now shamelessly want silver? Silver, I have it, but your Liu family won’t touch a single coin.”
She then took out a small piece of silver and waved it: “This is silver, tempting, isn’t it? Guess how much of this silver I got?”
Her words made the crowd’s eyes gleam with envy.
Especially Madam Zhang, who lunged forward to grab it, wanting to snatch the silver directly.
Lu Meiyu nimbly dodged, and Madam Zhang fell flat on the ground.
She immediately screamed: “Everyone saw it! Lu is disrespectful to her in-laws and pushed me to the ground!”
She was blatantly lying.
But the crowd, jealous of the silver in Lu Meiyu’s hands, lost all reason—no one spoke up for fairness.
Lu Meiyu sneered: “Afraid of my weapon now?”
Madam Zhang stiffened and scrambled up quickly.
How could she forget about that thing? The silver was too tempting.
Finally, Aunt Li spoke a word of reason: “Everyone disperse. This noble was bitten by a snake and saved by Meiyu. She deserves the thank-you silver, doesn’t she? She’s lucky—we aren’t.”
Indeed.
Lu was just lucky!
In a few simple days, she had earned a large sum of silver.
But others couldn’t envy her—they simply had no connection to the noble.
No, even if they had, no one dared go to that Wild Man Peak.
It was all because Lu risked her life, practically hanging by her belt, to get it!
With that thought, the crowd finally calmed.
Silver wasn’t easy to earn!
After sending the crowd away, Lu Meiyu returned indoors with an indignant Zhao Granny.
“Meiyu, why did you reveal you got silver? Wealth should be kept hidden—if you reveal it, people will covet it,” Zhao Granny worried.
“Zhao Granny, if I don’t say, I’ll still need to use the silver later. Then it would attract attention and even slander. By saying it openly now, I save words later. Anyone daring to touch my silver, I won’t be polite.”
Zhao Granny considered this wise. With a large sum of silver in her possession, Meiyu naturally would enjoy life. If she didn’t make it clear now, it would cause more trouble later.
Jing Yi apologized: “It’s all our fault for involving you.”
Lu Meiyu was surprised—these ancient people really thought differently!
“How can you say you burdened me? Didn’t I get a large sum of silver? Besides…”
“Another hundred taels,” Jing Yi quickly added.
Lu Meiyu smiled. Could this be a conditioned reflex already?
“I also need to thank Lady Lu for letting me keep the gold leaf. After we finish, we’ll still need to return, and likely spend quite a bit of silver.”
Jing Yi heard clearly—others called her Lu, so he addressed her as Lady Lu.