CHAPTER 464: CHAPTER 464: HOW MUCH IS MODESTY WORTH?

As soon as those words were spoken, the people around Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion went crazy.

How could the Young Madam say such things? Who would keep someone who constantly wants to kill them by their side? One careless moment and they could be dead!

By then, their master would go crazy again.

Firstly, being with Zhen Xu could sharpen her martial power.

Her combat power has been increasing rapidly, thanks in large part to Zhen Xu’s influence.

Secondly, whenever someone tries to kill her, Zhen Xu instinctively protects her.

Because he feels that after trying to kill Pei Shu’er for so long without success, he would be upset if someone else succeeded.

As he said, only he could kill her.

He could even act as a temporary bodyguard, even if he was a bodyguard wanting to kill her.

Moreover, she wasn’t alone except for Zhen Xu.

At least she also had Lin Fengying.

Additionally, she could try to win over Zhen Xu.

If she were merely a modern soul, she might not dare to gamble.

But she had so many advantages, so many things in her space, so much knowledge, there would surely be something that interests Zhen Xu, right?

Besides, this was a War God indeed; if she could win him over, the benefits would be immense.

Zhen Xu was initially stunned, then raised his eyebrow with a glimmer of interest in his clear eyes.

"Very well."

After returning home, Tang Zan frowned upon hearing the news and then arranged for several hidden guards from Division Tian to secretly protect Pei Shu’er.

He didn’t know what Pei Shu’er wanted to do, but regardless, he had to ensure her safety to the greatest extent possible.

Xuan Yi stopped in front of Tang Zan and said, "Master, there’s movement at the border, Shiqi may not be able to suppress it."

Tang Zan nodded, "I know."

At night, Tang Zan tormented Pei Shu’er for a long time.

It was mainly to punish her for planting a time bomb by her side, and also because of the reluctance due to their impending separation.

Not until Pei Shu’er was drowsy and about to sleep did Tang Zan embrace her waist.

"Tomorrow, I will be leaving for Gulan Military Camp."

Pei Shu’er was wide awake, turning to face Tang Zan, a bit reluctant.

"Then I’ll send you some things."

Tang Zan shook his head with a smile, "No need, too many things, and I can’t bring them back."

Pei Shu’er said, "In ten days, I’ll have the people from Deserted Mountain come to pick them up, and they can also bring some soap and cakes made by Deserted Mountain, and when returning, they can carry strategic resources, so it won’t be a wasted trip."

After all, Deserted Mountain had previously bought many carriages to bring refugees back; those carriages are now used for transporting supplies.

Anyway, Pei Shu’er has money now; compared to those wealthy merchants, this is just a drizzle.

But now her income is steadily increasing, and it would be a waste to let that money sit idle.

Tang Zan kissed Pei Shu’er’s hand.

"Listen to the lady."

Mainly, Pei Shu’er also had to provide for the people of Deserted Mountain; the surplus would be transported to the military camp.

Now, Gulan Military Camp has many new soldiers, and with the encouragement of Prefect Xie and several nearby prefectures, many refugees have joined the military camp.

The Gulan Military Camp now has a strength of twelve thousand.

From the previous two thousand, it has grown to twelve thousand strong and robust soldiers, a qualitative leap indeed.

However, because too many soldiers joined at once, the court couldn’t supply enough uniforms, so many don’t even have the army uniform of Dayan.

But this item is officially issued by Dayan; anyone making it privately would be in great danger.

This time, along with the army uniforms, came the Emperor’s decree.

He explicitly ordered not to increase soldiers further, and asked Tang Zan to find a way to sustain them.

Moreover, with so many additional soldiers, taxes increased, making it hard for Gulan Military Camp to survive.

The people of Gulan Military Camp had serious grievances against the Emperor, but they didn’t dare to voice them.

Tang Zan had to order more land reclamation and farming.

But daily training had to keep up, with spare time spent planting.

Luckily, Deserted Mountain had rain, allowing crops to mature quickly.

Plus, with the grain donated by Pei Shu’er earlier, they barely managed to make ends meet.

Yet, many resources are still in short supply, and over time, problems are sure to arise.

Now, the strategic supplies Pei Shu’er wanted to buy included salt, some herbs, and cotton and linen cloth.

These items would be distributed upon reaching the military camp.

In Jingzhou City, hearing about Pei Shu’er’s large orders, cloth merchants rushed to Pei’s immediately.

They were afraid that if they were late, such a big order would be taken by someone else.

Most of these merchants were from out of town.

Any business dealing in cloth came here.

But the cloth merchants from Jingzhou came just to watch the fun.

After all, they heard Pei’s was involved in a large order, but Pei’s hadn’t been notably active in the cloth trade.

So this large order might just be relatively large, meant for her servants probably, not that much after all.

Pei Shu’er selected some fine cloth from out-of-town sources and signed the orders.

Seeing the numbers on the order, the merchants from Jingzhou were shocked.

Five thousand bolts of cotton cloth?

Why would there be so many?

Then they heard Pei Shu’er sigh.

"It’s still far from enough."

Once the cloth merchants from Jingzhou heard this, they couldn’t remain reserved.

Such a large order could undoubtedly elevate their business to a new level if obtained.

How much is restraint worth?

Moreover, Pei Shu’er’s "far from enough" clearly indicated her need for more orders than this.

No one remained reserved, quickly stepping forward to promote themselves, their faces breaking into wrinkles with smiles.

"Manager Pei, we can do it, our Zhang’s Cloth Shop is the largest cloth merchant in Jingzhou City."

Pei Shu’er immediately asked, "Did you bring any sample fabrics?"

The shopkeepers were stunned; when they came, they didn’t think much of Pei Shu’er’s order, not worth competing for.

Who would bring sample fabrics?

Now they instantly regretted it.

Pei Shu’er smiled, "I need to see the sample fabrics first before deciding. I have seen samples from other cloth merchants, after all."

These merchants immediately dispatched their maids and attendants to fetch the sample fabrics, adding instructions at the end.

"Be quick."

This time, other cloth shops also arrived upon hearing the news.

Stunned by the scale of the scene, they froze.

So many people?

With so much competition, wouldn’t it be a case of too many monks and too little porridge?

Some smaller shops couldn’t possibly compete with the large cloth shops present here.

The most important thing was that Li’s Cloth Shop was also here.

Li’s Cloth Shop ranked among the top in Jingzhou City.

They felt hopeless.

Simultaneously, they were somewhat regretful, knowing they shouldn’t have been so proud initially and should’ve appeared more humble.