Chapter 41: Unexpected Gain ( 1 )

Chapter 41: Unexpected Gain ( 1 ) Seeing Yao Zhi was back, Da Zhu quickly opened the gate and greeted her, "Young master, you are back."

Yao Zhi nodded at him and went to open the two-story building’s door while saying, "Inform our brothers to help move the grains."

Soon after, a group of soldiers and burly men were busy carrying sack after sack of grain from the warehouse. They worked for two hours and filled up all the carts.

It was noon when they returned to the General’s mansion. Before they parked the carts, the soldiers were already waiting for them.

This time, it was a battalion officer and five hundred soldiers who moved the grains to their carts. They were used to carrying weight and didn’t need any tools to weigh the grains.

While the soldiers were working, Bai Yunxiao observed the young man standing in the distance. He stared for a long time and etched his appearance into his mind.

When they finally finished moving the grains, he rode on his horse and said, "Move out!"

Following his order, the soldiers pushed the carts and marched out. The army was waiting for the provisions, and they couldn’t delay any longer.

Only after they had left did Steward Han lead Yao Zhi into the main hall.

Inside the hall, Xue Ya’er had been waiting for them.

When Xue Ya’er glanced at Steward Han and saw him nod, the weight pressing on her heart finally lifted. With so much grain, her husband would be able to turn the situation, win the war, and return safely.

This time, they didn’t waste time on meaningless courtesy. After they exchanged simple greetings, Xue Ya’er led Yao Zhi to the backyard where the General’s private treasure was located.

Since she was disguised as a young man, Steward Han and Xue Ya’er’s personal maid followed them to the treasury to avoid rising suspicions and tarnish the Madam’s reputation.

They walked for twenty minutes before they entered a small courtyard.

Inside this courtyard, there was only one main building and three small buildings. Each building was locked, and the courtyard entrance was guarded by two soldiers.

When they saw them, the soldiers cupped their fists and bowed slightly. "Madam."

Xue Ya’er nodded at them and said, "Open the gate."

After Lu Qianxuan married his main wife, he handed over the keys to his private treasury and gave his wife full authority to manage it. So when the soldiers heard this, they opened the courtyard gate and gestured for them to enter.

Yao Zhi looked around as she walked into the courtyard. She thought that the General would have a lot of treasures.

Unexpectedly, when Xue Ya’er opened the door of the main building, there were not many treasures inside. Besides several locked wooden boxes, the shelves were half empty.

"Young master Lei, you can take a look and pick the treasures you like," Xue Ya’er said with a smile.

Following her words, her personal maid unlocked the wooden boxes and opened the lids, showing the scrolls, books, and small items inside.

Yao Zhi nodded, looked around, and checked the items that piqued her interest. According to their agreement before, she could choose treasures with a price equal to or under four thousand taels of silver.

Since she didn’t plan to keep the treasures, she ignored the big items and focused on paintings, books, and accessories. In this era, these items, although rare, were still considered cheap.

She didn’t understand painting and asked, "Madam, how many paintings can I choose?"

When she heard this, Xue Ya’er was taken aback. She thought that this young man would choose the rare red corals or other ornaments such as porcelain or jewelry.

After a moment, she regained her composure and replied, "Young master Lei, these paintings were painted by the General and have no fixed market price. You can take as many as you like."

Yao Zhi nodded and pointed at the jade accessories. "How about these accessories?"

Besides jade pendants, there were also jade hairpins, bangles, earrings, thumb rings, and tassels stored in a wooden box. Xue Ya’er took a look and said, "These items are cheap. Based on the current price, the price should be around two to ten taels of silver each."

Hearing this, Yao Zhi was pleased and said, "Then, I won’t be polite. Madam, I want all the paintings and the jade accessories."

Steward Han used the abacus to calculate the price for a while before he said, "Madam, there are 3,670 taels of silver left."

When they heard this, Xue Ya’er was embarrassed.

Although she had her dowry and the General received some rewards from the court, they used most of their income to subsidize the army. So, they indeed didn’t have many treasures.

"Young master Lei, how about you choose from the shelves? Those are rare treasures given by my Father-in-law, and they are precious," she asked.

Since the owner already said so, Yao Zhi didn’t refuse and said, "Madam, I want all the books and also some fabrics."

Steward Han looked at her for a moment before he asked, "Young master Lei, are you sure you don’t want to choose other treasures and only want these items?"

Turning to him, Yao Zhi asked, "Why? The General mansion doesn’t have enough fabric for the exchange?"

Although her words were arrogant and carried a hint of provocation, both Xue Ya’er and Steward Han were offended. They even thought that this young man was giving them a way out of this embarrassing situation.

Xue Ya’er’s mother was the daughter of a merchant who married her father, who was a poor scholar back then. Her father never took a concubine, and besides her, there was only her younger brother at home.

So when she married the General, her parents, maternal grandfather, and maternal uncles prepared a lot of dowries for her, which included three fabric stores located in nearby cities and two fabric workshops located in this town.

The amount of her dowry had become the talk in her hometown for years now.