CHAPTER 183: CHAPTER 182: FIGHTING THEIR OWN BATTLES

Yu Xiaolian stared wide-eyed at the pearl.

She had never seen such a round and large pearl before.

Fu Zihan noticed Yu Xiaolian’s expression and knew there was a potential trade opportunity.

She immediately said that she had a box of such round pearls, about twenty, but more than a dozen were slightly smaller, and asked if she could trade the box for that expensive perfume.

Wasn’t just one of these pearls valuable? How could Fu Zihan have a whole box?

And then she even pretended to be poor, claiming she was out of money.

Yu Xiaolian was speechless; truly, she didn’t understand the world of the wealthy.

Yu Xiaolian nodded vigorously, "Yes, absolutely yes."

Even though she wasn’t familiar with the value of such big pearls, she shared the same thought as Fu Zihan: if you like something, you have to get it.

Fu Zihan immediately sent her servant to fetch the pearls.

When the small box of pearls was placed in front of Yu Xiaolian, she didn’t hesitate to trade with Fu Zihan.

Although these pearls were smaller than the one in Fu Zihan’s hand, Yu Xiaolian still felt it was worth it, even feeling she benefited from Fu Zihan.

Yu Xiaolian said, "Aren’t you at a loss trading a box of pearls for a bottle of perfume? I don’t know the price of this pearl either. What if one pearl is worth a lot of money?"

Fu Zihan cheerfully said she only needed to keep the biggest one.

The small pearls didn’t catch her eye; otherwise, she wouldn’t have casually left them lying around her room.

Small? Really small?

Not small.

At least in Yu Xiaolian’s eyes, they weren’t small.

The so-called small pearls of Fu Zihan were the size of a thumbnail and perfectly round, considered rare gems among pearls.

Fu Zihan was generous, and Yu Xiaolian couldn’t be stingy, so she included the osmanthus perfume as an extra gift to Fu Zihan.

When Fu Zihan left, Yu Xiaolian packed some fruit candies, two packets of cream rolls, and a packet of chocolates for her.

After sending off Fu Zihan, Yu Xiaolian ran to the back yard of the marinated meat shop to tell Mrs. Sun and Yu Changhe that Jiang Lin would come in the evening and asked them to prepare a few more decent dishes.

Yu Changhe practically watched Jiang Lin grow up and was delighted to hear he was coming.

Mrs. Sun also felt like meeting an old acquaintance in a foreign place and smiled, saying she’d personally cook a few more dishes.

Yu Xiaolian said, "I heard there’s a war in the south and a shortage of people. Besides scholars with titles, each household has to send at least one adult. I heard people on the street busy rushing to the market to buy someone."

Mrs. Sun, fearing Sun Fengshou might be caught for conscription, quickly said, "Then we should also hurry and buy someone. When the recruiters come, we can send the person. If we’re late, there might be no one left to buy."

Yu Xiaolian shook her head, "I guess you can’t buy an adult man now either."

Those families rushing to buy people are actually trying to save money.

After all, buying a servant only takes about ten taels of silver, and when the recruiters come, they can offer the servant to fulfill the military service.

If they have no one, they have to pay an exemption fee of thirty taels, which isn’t worth it.

In earlier years, when the court enforced conscription, many couldn’t afford to pay the military fee and didn’t want to go to war and die.

Many would flee into the mountains in groups, only returning home after the recruiters left.

Some even resorted to self-injury to avoid military service.

Self-mutilation leaves a life, but on the battlefield, they could lose it entirely. The common folk had no desire to fight for the court.

When Jiang Lin came in the evening, Yu Xiaolian dragged him directly into the marinated meat shop.

Mrs. Sun personally cooked a large table of dishes, eight in total, six with large portions of meat and two vegetarian.

Yu Changhe poured wine for Jiang Lin while inquiring about how Jiang the Hunter was doing.

Jiang Lin said, "My father has been serving as a Deputy General under Great General Yu since he joined the army; everything is well."

Mrs. Sun also looked up and observed Jiang Lin; just over a year had passed, and Jiang Lin had lost the childishness of the kid leader from River Bay Village, having gained some maturity and steadiness.

Though Jiang Lin came dressed in civilian clothes, he carried a sword. When Jiang Lin sat down to eat, Little Tiger and Su Jingyue ogled the sword placed on the next table in awe.

Little Tiger asked Su Jingyue, "Do you think this sword has killed anyone?"

Su Jingyue nodded firmly, "It probably has."

"How can you tell?"

Su Jingyue pointed to the hilt and analyzed carefully, "Look... the pattern on the hilt has turned black, probably because blood coagulated and wasn’t wiped off in time."

Little Tiger exclaimed and asked Su Jingyue, "Then how many people do you think this sword has killed?"

Su Jingyue shook his head, "I don’t know. But based on the buildup of blood residue on the hilt, probably a lot."

Little Tiger hefted the sword a little, "It’s so heavy!"

Su Jingyue, curious, weighed it in his hand, "It’s okay."

Little Tiger had never learned martial arts, but Su Jingyue had practiced with his brother, and ever since coming to Luocheng, he continued to practice early and late.

"Don’t touch the guest’s belongings!" Grandma Sun pulled the two youngsters away. The sword had killed many, a weapon of murder; what if the children were haunted by nightmares after touching it?

Jiang Lin took a sip of wine, which was so strong that he stuck out his tongue. Even though he’d had much wine in the army over the past year, he’d never had one this fiery. He quickly took a bite of food to ease the heat.

Food in the army wasn’t good, and meat was rare. Though he followed the young general and occasionally got to eat well, he’d never had such a feast.

This meal filled Jiang Lin’s belly comfortably.

After the meal, Jiang Lin talked about the Southern Border battles.

The opposing force to Yu Zhenwu’s army was led by the female general Cao Chengtong of Great Meng Country.

Speaking of Cao Chengtong, Jiang Lin’s eyes showed a trace of admiration, constantly praising Cao Chengtong as not inferior to men, a true heroine.

Although Cao Chengtong was their adversary, there was a time they lost the border town, and Cao Chengtong led her army into it.

At that time, Great General Yu believed the townsfolk would face massacre or be taken as slaves to Great Meng Country.

But things turned out completely different from what they expected.

Cao Chengtong did not order a massacre of the town, nor did she take the people to Great Meng Country as slaves.

At that time, the Emperor’s health kept fluctuating, sometimes good, sometimes bad, often issuing one order after another.

Changing decrees had become common.

The princes all wanted to get involved, hoping to stabilize the Southern Border battles, to earn credibility with the Emperor.

The Southern Border became extraordinarily lively in an instant, with people suggesting attacks, others defending cities.

Great General Yu was troubled by these princes but couldn’t do anything about them.

Under the efforts of several princes, the defending armored divisions got split into several factions, each fighting for their own.

As the saying goes, "When people work together, they can move mountains."

But their lack of unity and differing opinions allowed Cao Chengtong to seize the opportunity and take ten border cities consecutively.