Chu Lian didn’t get out of the warm pen immediately. She simply lifted the curtain and watched.
It was only when she was sure that everything was working smoothly here that she sent the order to move to the next spot.
Just like Chu Lian had predicted, they were already back in the He Estate in the afternoon.
Chu Lian was so tired out from the long trip out that she quickly ate a simple meal and went off for her afternoon nap. He Sanlang took this chance to summon Laiyue in for some questioning.
Laiyue’s excitement showed all over his face. The moment he entered the room, without any prompting from He Changdi, all of his words were already spilling out of his mouth like beans.
“Third Young Master, Third Young Madam is amazing! This servant is starting to wonder if Third Young Madam is the reincarnation of the God of Wealth! She actually managed to find a business opportunity out here in this desolate north.”
Hearing this, He Changdi frowned. He made a ‘mm?’ sound to prompt Laiyue to explain further.
Laiyue trembled and quickly held back his excitement to make a proper report.
When Laiyue finished reporting everything he had seen today, He Sanlang was dumbfounded.
With the convenience of the snowboats, Chu Lian had sent some men out to Suzhou to trade for large amounts of basic necessities. For example, coarse cloth, salted vegetables, coal, lamp oil and assorted grain crops. Following that, they had split them up and brought them to a few designated areas.
The barbarians who lacked these basic goods could trade for them with their livestock: yaks, horses and goats.
A single fat yak would get the barbarians only a single small jar of salted vegetables in return. Laiyue’s eyes were about to pop out of his head from the absurdity.
If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he probably wouldn’t have believed it.
Back in the capital, a single yak was worth at least ten taels of silver, and it was a rare commodity!
Even though their Third Young Madam was so ‘ruthless’, the barbarians were actually pleased while trading. They even looked like they had just scored a great deal instead. It made Laiyue completely flabbergasted to watch.
The law in the Great Wu Dynasty prohibited the trading of important resources like salt and iron to other countries. Chu Lian was an upright and law-abiding citizen, so instead of selling salt, she sold salted vegetables! Anyway, the barbarians weren’t picky about it, they were happy as long as it was salty.
He Sanlang hadn’t expected Chu Lian to have come up with such a brilliant money-making idea. Even if they didn’t process the barbarians’ livestock, they could sell them as they were for at least ten times the original value of the goods they traded them for.
It was an extremely profitable trade.
He Changdi shook his head. When he thought of how their estate had been unable to gather a thousand taels for his mother’s monthly medicine costs, he smiled helplessly.
However, as a man, he couldn’t let his wife tire herself out trying to earn money for the family. It was time for him to start making his own plans to earn money now.
While thinking so, he waved Laiyue over and whispered into his ear.
This time, it was Laiyue’s turn to be stupefied. His body completely froze up.
He gulped hard and asked while trembling, “T-Third Young Master, what you’re saying… is… is true?”
He Sanlang’s expression hadn’t changed throughout this exchange. He calmly nodded in response, “Bring Tang Yan here tomorrow afternoon. Tell him that I have something to discuss with him.”
Laiyue nodded forcefully, “This servant will do as you say!”
The afternoon was the most idle period of the day for the northern border camp. Sima Hui was too bored to stay in camp, so she would frequently bring her guards along with her to the He Estate to look for Chu Lian.
Although she was never able to get a welcoming expression from He Sanlang each time, Sima Hui had already chosen to ignore it.
Chu Lian had found a chance to return the horse amulet that Sima Hui had given her and she had explained the whole story to Sima Hui. Sima Hui was a smart person and didn’t reject the returning of the gift. She simply turned to her female adjutant, who then offered up a gilded jade headdress to Chu Lian that was even more valuable than the jade amulet.
He Sanlang was furious when he found out.
After the day of the Lantern Festival had passed, the imperial decree from the capital finally reached the north.
Anyone who had contributed to the war efforts in the army were all given some reward.
Only the ones who had achieved great merits like Great General Qian, He Changdi, Sima Hui and Captain Guo were to receive their rewards back in the capital.
Everyone knew that the Emperor had bestowed the title of marquis upon He Changdi.
Although many of them were envious, they admired him first and foremost. It was He Changdi who had contributed the snowboats in time and gone to Su City with an elite group to bring supplies back to save them. He had even gone up against the northwestern army and Xiao Bojian to do so. Without him, the northern border troops wouldn’t have been able to come out victorious in the war.
Although transporting the supplies was a small matter, it had been the key to victory. The dangers he had faced while doing so weren’t any less than facing the Tuhuns in battle. Furthermore, He Sanlang had killed just as many Tuhuns on the battlefields as they had.
Thus, his brothers-in-arms in the army were all happy and satisfied to see that he had been bestowed a noble title.
Since they had already received the imperial decree and their next set of orders, the worries of the northern border troops dissipated. Great General Qian then decided to bring all of the men who had contributed outstanding service back to the capital for their rewards.
Since her mother-in-law, Countess Jing’an, was still awaiting the Snow Mountain Mists flower to treat her illness, Chu Lian couldn’t stay too long in the north either.
On the twentieth of the month, Chu Lian made preparations to return to the capital.
He Sanlang’s injury wasn’t completely healed yet, so they had to avoid jolting him too much on the journey back. This meant that he couldn’t travel too quickly. Thus, Great General Qian ordered He Changdi and his wife to set off earlier with General Sima and the others. In four or five days, General Qian would catch up to them with the rest of the men.
