Chapter 165: Silver
Editor: Atlas Studios
In the end, the Hu family parted on bad terms. Mu Yangling did not know about this, but she had not expected the relationship between the two families to deteriorate to this extent.
However, the most important thing to her was naturally her family. In any case, the Hu family were irrelevant to her. If the relationship with them worsened, so be it. Shee would just not interact with them in the future.
Mu Yangling was very optimistic about this matter.
However, Mu Shi wasn’t as nonchalant. He had a good relationship with Hu Man and didn’t want to become enemies with him just like that. Therefore, he closed his eyes and said, “When I recover, I’ll speak to the Hu family about this. Since you were the one who promised them this, we can’t blame them instead.”
Mu Yangling muttered, “At that time, Old Hu was being aggressive, so I came up with this idea. I didn’t do it willingly.”
Glaring at his daughter, Mu Shi said, “Grandpa Hu is so much older than you. He’s your elder. Should you be addressing him as ‘Old Hu’?”
“Why are you blaming her?” Great-aunt protected Mu Yangling and said, “Is he acting like what an elder should be like? Since he dared to do such a thing, he shouldn’t be afraid of gossip. I don’t care what the relationship between you and Hu Man is like. But in any case, you’re not allowed to give in to the Hu family. If not, they’ll think the Mu family is a bunch of pushovers!”
“Aunt!” Mu Shi had a headache over Madam Ma-Liu’s stubbornness, but there was nothing he could do.
Shu Wanniang was sitting on a stool embroidering. At this moment, she couldn’t help but say, “Husband, other than the second branch of the Hu family, there’s no one in that family worthy of being friends with. If you feel bad, just tell the people in the village later and express your attitude. In the military camp, as long as you have a good relationship with Second Uncle Hu, there’s no need to spend so much effort to repair the relationship between the Mu and Hu families.”
Only then did Mu Shi remain silent. Seeing this, Madam Ma-Liu knew that he had agreed. She snorted and pulled Mu Yangling out.
When only the couple were left in the room, Mu Shi took out a bag of silver from the bag he had brought back and handed it to her. “Keep these well just in case.”
Shu Wanniang was surprised. “Why are you giving me the money? You should give it to Ah Ling.”
In the past, Mu Shi was in charge of the Mu family’s finances. Later on, when Mu Shi went to the military camp, his daughter was in charge. Shu Wanniang had never been in charge of the family’s finances.
Seeing that his wife didn’t ask about the origin of the money, Mu Shi smiled and said, “I’ll give some to Ah Ling too, but that child spends money freely. This is for you to keep safe. In the future, when our family runs out of money and needs it urgently, you can take it out. Since I’m in the military camp, it’s inconvenient for me to come and go. There are many things that I can’t take care of at home.” Mu Shi continued after a pause, “We obtained this money after killing someone. Are you afraid?”
Shu Wanniang took the money bag from his hand and said in a low voice, “Since you even dared to kill someone, what am I afraid of? Besides, didn’t you say that that person is an evil person?”
Mu Shi heaved a sigh of relief. He didn’t want to hide what he had done from his wife, but he was afraid of scaring her if he told her.
Mu Shi was not so worried about his daughter. He handed the other bag of silver to his daughter. Before he could tell her the origin of the money, his daughter had already opened the money bag and asked, “Did the general reward this or did you snatch this after killing that person?”
Both of them knew that ‘that person’ referred to the Crown Prince of the Jin Kingdom, Wo Ben.
Three black lines slid down Mu Shi’s forehead. In the end, he said, “I obtained this after killing him. There are 68 taels of silver in this bag. Keep it well and don’t spend money extravagantly.”
Mu Yangling tied up the money bag and looked at her father with bright eyes. “Dad, just you wait. Your daughter is doing something big. When I succeed, I will definitely earn a lot of money.”
“You’re talking about raising rabbits, right? I only saw you throwing money in, but I didn’t see you taking money home. Who told me that this was a capital-free transaction back then?”
“That’s because the rabbits have yet to grow up.”
“Even after they grow up, it’s a long cycle. I forgot to ask you last time. I only found out today that the money will only be distributed when Young Master Fan’s trade caravan returns from the south. You’re even giving the first batch to Young Master Fan for free. Then do you think our family can earn any silver before next year?”
Frowning, Mu Yangling said seriously, “Father, I know that the cycle is a little long. Before that, I could only go up the mountain to hunt from time to time to supplement the family’s expenses. However, there’s nothing I can do about it. The cycle of breeding and planting is long to begin with. I only know how to hunt. I want to earn a lot of money easily, but I don’t have the ability. Even if Fan Zijin wants to earn money, he has to tirelessly organize a trade caravan to go south out of his own pocket. It’s still unknown if this trade is profitable.”
Mu Shi frowned and looked at her. Mu Yangling said to him sincerely, “So, Father, if I lose money in this business, you can’t beat me up.”
Mu Shi’s hand, which was hanging by his side, itched, but he did not raise it in the end.
However, Mu Yangling had already jumped up and ran away.
She took the money bag back to her house and took out all the money to count it. In the end, she hid the 60 taels.
The remaining money should be enough for ordinary household expenses. Coupled with the income from hunting every day, it was more than enough. This way, she didn’t even have to worry about buying nourishing ingredients for her younger brother.
Mu Shi was not the only one who received the money. Qi Haoran and Fei Bai, who had returned with them, received as much money as him.
It could be said that everyone who followed Qi Haoran to Hanzhong Prefecture had plundered some silver. However, only he, Qi Haoran, and Fei Bai returned alive with the silver. As for Bai Li, his duty was to guard Qi Haoran closely. Even though everyone was already dividing the silver in full swing, he was unmoved and stayed by Qi Haoran’s side throughout.
They had set up an ambush in the forest in the suburbs to surround and attack the Crown Prince of the Jin Kingdom. Of course, at that time, they did not know that the young man in embroidered clothes was the Crown Prince of the Jin Kingdom. Qi Haoran simply hated the other party for snatching the Han children and killing them like this.
He only went with the thought of getting rid of evil for the people. After killing someone, he naturally had to clean up the battlefield.
Other than Fei Bai, Mu Shi, and Bai Li, the rest of the people who followed Qi Haoran were all veterans from the battlefield who were familiar with doing these things. In the end, they even stripped the clothes of the well-dressed Hus. At that time, they even joked that these clothes could be exchanged for a lot of money.
Mu Shi was still not used to it, but Qi Haoran was the fastest to get acclimated, for he had long run out of money. This time, he had secretly run to Hanzhong Prefecture using Zijin’s money. It was great that this group of people was so rich. When he returned, he could repay all his debts and still have a lot of money left.
Qi Haoran took the initiative to take off the clothes of the most gorgeously-dressed young man in the lead. This was how the seal of the Crown Prince of the Jin Kingdom was discovered.
Holding the seal, Qi Haoran knew at a glance that he had gotten into trouble. No matter how much he disliked studying, he could recognize the words on the seal.
At that time, Qi Haoran only knew that he could not let anyone find out, at least not before they escaped from Hanzhong Prefecture.
He also knew that these children would die if they returned. After weighing the pros and cons, he still could not bear to harm them. He sold these children to the human traffickers, pretending that these children had nothing to do with them.
It was because this action delayed their escape and revealed their whereabouts that the enemy caught up with them so quickly.
However, Qi Haoran did not know that not only had his actions saved those twenty-odd children, but they had also helped him to hide himself.