Chapter 271: Three Springs County
Editor: Atlas Studios
By the time all of this was done, their stomachs were already growling. Only then did Mu Yangling bring the gray pheasant over from the side of the fire and remove the clods of earth. As the feathers were stuck to them, they were plucked off together. The fragrance wafted into their noses. When Mu Yangling peeled the entire pheasant and placed it into the pot Xiuhong had brought over, even she couldn’t help but drool when she saw the fragrant pheasant.
Mu Yangling grabbed a drumstick and gently pulled it out. The dry goods inside were also revealed. She gave Bowen and Xiuhong a drumstick each and said, “There’s no rice. Go heat up the pancakes and eat them.”
Bowen and Xiuhong couldn’t help but start eating. Mu Yangling had no choice but to go to her bag and heat up the pancakes that Shu Wanniang had made for them. The three of them finished the pheasant and even ate five pancakes. There was only the dry goods in the pheasant’s stomach left in the pot.
Xiuhong and Bowen were already hugging their stomachs and shouting, “I’m so, very full.”
Mu Yangling touched their stomachs and turned around to heat up the fire for the sheep. When everyone was almost done digesting, Mu Yangling patted them and said, “Go in and sleep.”
The quilt on the floor was a little warm, making it especially comfortable to lie on it. Xiuhong and Bowen took off their cotton clothes and squeezed under one quilt each.
Xiuhong was sleeping outside, and Mu Yangling was in the same bed as her. Her bow and arrow were placed beside her hand, and there was also a dagger which she kept on her at all times. With her eyes open, she listened to the movements around her before slowly closing her eyes.
That night, Mu Yangling got up three times to add firewood to the fire. The fire never extinguished, and the temperature near them never dropped.
Early in the morning, after she woke up, she added a few handfuls of rice to the pot and placed it over the fire with the dry goods.
When Xiuhong and Bowen opened their eyes and woke up, the two of them realized that the sky was already bright outside. Mu Yangling had already fed the sheep hay. Seeing that they had woken up, she said, “You’re awake? There’s hot water in the kettle. Quickly wash your face. We’ll leave after eating porridge. We should be able to reach the county of Three Springs County at noon, and stay there for a day and see if we can sell some.”
Three Springs County was a county under the jurisdiction of the Xingyuan Prefecture. It was a fortress that connected the north and south, so it was considered prosperous. Mu Yangling and the others naturally couldn’t drive a group of sheep into the city like this. If the sheep accidentally damaged or dirtied someone else’s things, they wouldn’t be able to compensate them even if they sold themselves.
Therefore, Mu Yangling rented a place from a family in the village outside the city for 30 copper coins a day.
There were many merchants who rented houses in the village because they could not enter the city in time. However, there was no one like Mu Yangling who could not enter the city because she had so many live sheep with her. Therefore, the villagers watched them curiously.
Mu Yangling chased the sheep into the fence and said to Xiuhong and Bowen, “Pack up and follow me into the city.”
“Sister, are we leaving our sheep here?”
“I paid the landlord for them to help take care of the sheep.” Otherwise, if only the two children, Xiuhong and Bowen, were left here, they would probably not be able to guard these sheep. It was better to hand them over to the landlord. Since they were the local tyrants here, no one would offend them. There were precedents.
Perhaps to intimidate the villagers, after chasing them out, Mu Yangling entered the fence and grabbed a sheep with one hand, easily bringing it out.
The villagers were stunned. Then, they clicked their tongues. This sheep must weigh more than a hundred catties, not to mention that the sheep was even struggling.
Mu Yangling held one in each hand without any difficulty. Even if the onlookers had any designs on the sheep previously, those thoughts were completely dispelled by now.
Indeed, as the saying went in the martial arts world, ‘Among those who traveled alone outside, single children, women, and old people were the last types of people one should provoke.’
This was because the martial arts world was fraught with danger to begin with. Since these three types of people dared to travel by themselves, it could be seen that not only were they capable, but they were also ruthless.
Mu Yangling and the other two were rather young. The boy looked to be only about six or seven years old, but he was not afraid of so many of them. It was obvious that he was not someone to be trifled with, either.
Mu Yangling found the landlord and took out 100 copper coins for him. “There are still 298 sheep inside. Count them. Our contract expires at tonight’s sunset. If I don’t come back by then, you don’t have to watch over them for me.”
The landlady was already counting sheep with her son. After a while, she nodded at the family head. The landlady put away the 100 copper coins and handed over a piece of paper. After writing the number 298, he did not know how to write the rest. He scratched his head anxiously.
Mu Yangling took the pen from him and filled in the words “goats” before signing her name. “Take a look and see if it’s right.”
The landlord bowed and said, “Geez, Miss, I can’t read. Wait for me, I’ll get someone to take a look.”
These documents were all written in advance by the people in the village who were literate. Some asked them to look after their luggage, and they just had to fill in the numbers.
After finding a literate person to read it, the landlord nodded. “No problem. Just sign it.”
After the landlord signed it, he and Mu Yangling each kept a copy.
Only then did Mu Yangling pick up the two tied sheep and enter the city. She wanted to find a sales channel, but she didn’t have time to slowly herd the sheep into the city.
Mu Yangling first placed the sheep in a corner, then went to the market to buy pork. She asked, “Boss, do you have mutton?”
The butcher looked up at Mu Yangling and shook his head. “It was sold out in the morning. You’re only here now. It’s long gone.”
“Is mutton that easy to sell?”
“It’s alright. There’s not much mutton in Three Springs County, and it’s winter. Everyone likes to eat mutton.”
“Then how much does the mutton here cost per catty?”
“It depends on what mutton. Goats cost 43 copper coins a catty this morning, and grassland sheep cost 50 copper coins a catty.”
“Does the price of mutton differ every day?”
“It’s not to the extent of changing every day, but now that the weather is getting colder, everyone likes to use mutton to stew soup. The closer it is to the new year, the more expensive it will naturally be. Young lady, why are you asking in such detail?”
“It’s nothing. Thank you, Boss.” The first thing Mu Yangling did when she came out of the market was to go to the mutton restaurant in the city. The boss there looked at Mu Yangling’s sheep and heard that they were grassland sheep raised by Hanzhong Prefecture. After thinking for a moment, he said, “Miss, name a price.”
“It depends on whether you’re talking about one sheep or going by catty.”
“What’s the price for each case?”
“In terms of catties, it’s 28 copper coins per catty weighed raw. If it’s weighed after slaughtering the sheep, It’s 40 copper coins per catty. If you’re buying the entire sheep, it’s 3 taels per sheep regardless of size.”
The boss muttered, “It’s a little expensive.”
Smiling, Mu Yangling said, “The grassland sheep outside are sold for 50 copper coins a catty now, and will only become more and more expensive as new year approaches. Boss, even if you cooperate with the butchers, it will definitely not be as cheap as mine. It took me three days of walking to rush here from Hanzhong Prefecture from afar.”