Chapter 143 – A Cunning Switch
Long Yu’s brows furrowed as he stared at the men holding iron shovels.
They looked quite ordinary, very much like the common people of Great Chu. But, their movements betrayed them. Ordinary people without martial arts skills, even if they were strong, would find it hard to dig stones with an iron shovel for such a long time. Yet these men, whose backs were wet with sweat, implying they had been digging for a while, still moved effortlessly. They clearly had internal energy.
“Murong Xiaojian, did you notice?”
Murong Qinjian, as a healer, had more understanding of human body functions than Long Yu. Since Long Yu had noticed, he naturally noticed too.
“Those men on the slope are martial artists. They are not ordinary people, but they disguise themselves as ordinary people to dig saltpeter here. They’re very likely to be agents from Rongdi.”
“Hmm.”
Long Yu nodded in agreement.
Murong Qinjian looked up at Long Yu. “Undoubtedly they are people from Rongdi. Long Yu, shall we stop them or quietly leave?”
Long Yu counted the heads below the slope, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, a total of eight people, and their martial arts skills were unknown. It would be rash to stop them. They may not be able to capture all eight. If one of them escapes back to Rongdi, it would be like stirring up a hornet’s nest.
“Murong Xiaojian, is there any stone that looks similar to those saltpeters below?”
Murong Qinjian immediately understood what Long Yu was thinking. “Long Yu, you want to play a trick on Chunyu Hanfeng of Rongdi? You’re really cunning.”
Chunyu Hanfeng sent people to collect saltpeter in order to develop new weapons. If Long Yu replaced the saltpeter, Chunyu Hanfeng’s development of new weapons would stall. In this way, the recent threat of Rongdi to the Great Chu could be dissolved. If Chunyu Hanfeng was even more stupid, he might attack the Great Chu with the failed new weapon, and Long Yu would take the opportunity to teach him a good lesson.
Long Yu’s mouth twitched, coldly replied: “In dealing with enemies, not being cunning means being foolish.”
Murong Qinjian’s mouth twitched.
He felt extremely fortunate inside.
“Long Yu, I’m glad we’re friends.”
While talking, Murong Qinjian opened his eyes wide and took a good look at the gray-white stones on the slope below, and said, “I do know something that looks very similar to those saltpeters below.”
Long Yu’s heart stirred: “What is it?”
“It’s talcum. Natural talcum is similar to the saltpeter below, grayish-white, gleaming faintly in the sunlight. Moreover, talcum is a very common medicine. All major pharmacies and medical halls have it in stock. It should be easy to obtain.”
Long Yu nodded: “In that case, let’s hurry down the mountain to collect talcum.”
The two used their movement skills and left quietly down the Four Sisters Mountain.
On the way down the mountain, Murong Qinjian asked, “Long Yu, aren’t you worried about those people from Rongdi digging around the clock? That would make your plan of substituting saltpeter with talc much harder.”
Long Yu smiled faintly and said, “It’s impossible. This is the territory of my Great Chu. Chunyu Hanfeng is afraid of attracting my attention, so he only dared to send a few people to collect saltpeter. How could they be digging day and night?”
Murong Qinjian thought a bit, and felt Long Yu’s analysis made sense.
“That’s right. There are several villages under the Four Sisters Mountain range. If those Rongdi people were digging here day and night, they would have alarmed the villagers at the foot of the mountain long ago.”
The two descended the mountain, left Daxing Town, and headed straight for the county city of Xize.
……
The scene switched to a clothing store in Daxing Town.
Yan Xiaosi led Ms. Zhong and the Yan sisters into the store. She looked around, then turned to the shopkeeper and said, “Shopkeeper, please fetch that piece, that piece, that piece, that piece, and that piece of clothing for me to take a look.”
Yan Xiaosi pointed out five sets of clothes. Two sets for Yan Shuyun, and one set each for Ms. Zhong, Yan Shuqin, and Yan Shuxue.
Ms. Zhong and the Yan sisters were stunned by her action.
Yan Shuqin said, “Xiaosi, why are you asking the shopkeeper for so many?”
Yan Xiaosi’s gaze swept over Ms. Zhong and her three sisters.
“It’s not that much. It’s just five sets of clothes. Two for Third Sister, and one each for Mom, Eldest Sister, and Second Sister.”
Ms. Zhong felt warmed, saying, “Xiaosi, your mom still has clothes to wear. Your mom doesn’t need it. You should buy a set for yourself.”
Yan Xiaosi shrugged, replying, “I’m a man. What’s the point of dressing up? As for Mom, you became a widow at a young age. You should take advantage of your youth and dress up so you can remarry.”
Ms. Zhong’s face turned red at her words.
The shopkeeper was a bit speechless. The son was really open-minded, so eager to dress up his mom and hoping for her to remarry.
“Miss, this cyan dress suits your skin tone and temperament.”
Ms. Zhong looked embarrassed as she stared at the dress the shopkeeper handed over.
“Xiaosi, I…”
Yan Xiaosi knew what she was going to say, which was probably: Mom will not remarry in this life, but will spend the rest of it taking care of you four.
However, she didn’t want Ms. Zhong to do that. She had lived the first half of her life for her daughters and shouldn’t have to spend the second half of her life doing the same.
She took the cyan dress from the shopkeeper and stuffed it into Ms. Zhong’s arms, “Mom, go try it on. It’s just a piece of cloth. It won’t cost much.”
Worried that Yan Xiaosi would say something even more outrageous, Ms. Zhong had no choice but to take the clothes and head for the fitting room. Yan Shuqin and Yan Shuxue were about to speak, but Yan Xiaosi preemptively said, “Eldest Sister, Second Sister, both of you are already of marrying age. You should dress up nicely to find good husbands. I’m only fifteen this year and I’m a boy, so I’m not in a hurry to get married. No one would pay attention if I dressed up. I’ll wait until I get married.”
Yan Shuqin and Yan Shuxue looked at each other, their lips trembling slightly.
Did their little sister forget that she was a girl because she wore men’s clothes all the time?
Seeing Yan Xiaosi so adamant, they didn’t say anything else and took their new clothes to the fitting room.
Yan Xiaosi waited outside, watching as her mom and sisters changed into their new clothes and emerged from the fitting room.
As the saying goes, people rely on clothing, horses on saddles. Just by changing into ordinary coarse cloth clothes, her mom and sisters seemed to have transformed. The eldest sister wore a green dress, looking youthful and beautiful. The second sister wore a pink dress, appearing charming and vibrant. The third sister wore a floral dress, looking cute and a bit playful. Their mother wore the cyan dress, looking five years younger. “Xiaosi, does it… does it look good?”
