Chapter 208: The world has an extraordinarily large number of strange people

"What the hell?"

"You say you traded a book for three thousand taels with Ruan Jintian?"

"Three thousand taels? Three thousand taels!?"

"Half an hour later."

"Inside the study, nothing had changed."

"Du Shanü could hardly hide her shock, repeatedly confirming:"

"\"Afang, are you deceiving me? \""

"\"When I went to see that brat this morning, he was tight-lipped, refusing to budge...... \""

"\"How could it be that in just a moment—no, half an hour—he would produce three thousand taels of silver? \""

"Is this silver?"

"No!"

"This is half her life!"

"With this sum in hand, if she budgets carefully, there might even be a surplus after finishing the workshop......"

"Besides, the commercial loan guaranteed by the county office is likely insufficient, but at least we won't have to live on pickles and plain congee every day!"

"With her rough disposition, if it were just her eating, she could actually bear it."

"But she can't bear that so many people are also constantly sharing her hardship!"

"Just like Chinu, he's willing to share her suffering, but he doesn't deserve to suffer his whole life."

"If there's something good, she'd also be eager to rack her brains to present it to him."

"What's more, it's not just Chinu; nowadays she also has two cities under her command, with plenty of common folk in those cities."

"Such food doesn't stave off hunger; eating a bowl of congee wastes half its strength. Given to commoners and soldiers, eaten in the morning, they're hungry by noon, with no strength left to train."

"If you can't even feed people enough, what's there to say about loyalty and reliability?"

"Du Shanü has always been open-minded, so hearing three thousand taels, she instantly became overly delighted."

"Chinu had already lost his temper earlier; now seeing his wife master with a look of having fallen for money, he still couldn't help but grit his teeth silently:"

"\"What's three thousand taels? Should we really give him a good face just for that? If she's the wife master, let alone three thousand taels, even thirty thousand, three hundred thousand, three million taels...... \""

"Du Shanü hurriedly covered his mouth:"

"\"Stop, stop, stop, good slave, even when bragging we need to state facts and rely on evidence...... \""

"She's recently begun to slowly understand some governmental affairs!"

"Ten million taels is roughly the total annual tax revenue of the entire Zhejiang Circuit!"

"Thirty million taels is basically half the realm!"

"She can understand Chinu thinking she's the best, thus feeling the world ought to be hers, but with only two cities so far, mouthing thirty million taels is just laughable."

"Chinu, his mouth covered, gave her a sidelong glance, then awkwardly sat beside her on a chair."

"The two were all lovey-dovey and jostling, yet looked especially harmonious."

"Chen Weifang then found a seat for herself and sat down, saying with a smile:"

"\"Wise Lord, there's no need for modesty; perhaps the Mandate of Heaven truly rests upon you. \""

"\"What Saner said is also correct; these three thousand taels are just the beginning. Going forward, not to mention a few thousand taels of silver and two cities, who knows—after the Northern and Southern Dynasties unify, you might still be able to expand your territory...... \""

"Du Shanü: \"...... \""

"Du Shanü: \"Me, me?! (? `Д? ′)\""

"Now she not only has to recover the lands taken by the Northern Dynasty, but she's even expected to expand her territory?"

"What on earth is up with these two today?"

"How could they suddenly have such huge expectations of her?!"

"Du Shanü was somewhat dumbfounded, she simply dared not respond to that, so she could only ask again:"

"\"Then how exactly did Afang get the money from Ruan Jintian's hands? \""

"Chen Weifang had been smiling all along; hearing this, she responded gently, becoming even more unhurried."

"His long, steady fingers picked up the tea on the table, slowly pouring warm tea into the small lidded cup beside him:"

"\"I sold him a book. \""

"Book?"

"Book?"

"Du Shanü's face still clouded with doubt; she glanced at Chinu before teasing:"

"\"Oh dear, look, good slave, there's also some private stash you haven't searched out! \""

"\"Afang had been hiding it until now to sell! \""

"Chinu lifted his eyes, instantly revealing a sharp gaze: \"Huh? (▼ヘ▼#)\""

"Chen Weifang, still pouring tea, saw this scene and her hand shook so much she nearly dropped the teapot:"

"\"Oh dear, you truly are my Wise Lord! Why do you still drag Saner here to cause me trouble? \""

"Is that even reasonable?"

"Could that even be considered talk?"

"All the private savings he'd accumulated over the years had already been cleaned out by Saner, so how could any trouble still be drawn to him!"

"And Saner—he really had terrible luck to end up with such a close friend!"

"Can love be eaten as a meal?"

"How could a single sentence turn him into a defector?!"

"Chen Weifang's loss stems from not knowing the term 'lovestruck brain'; she can only sigh helplessly:"

"No, no, that book is actually quite common; it's just a wild history of a mediocre ruler of the previous dynasty. If you casually go to a bookstall and look around, you'll surely find dozens of them."

Chen Weifang and Chinu exchanged a glance; Chinu understood and withdrew their gaze.

Du Shanü seemed to notice, and then smiled and said:

"Oh? That book is ordinary, so I suppose it's Afang who's not ordinary?"

A book that can be found anywhere, yet Afang managed to sell it for a sky‑high price—how could that not be considered Afang's talent?

What clever trick is hidden in this......

After all, the person is right here—just ask and you'll know!

Chen Weifang picked up the small cup with a restrained rim, sipped it carefully, and seeing that Chinu refused to speak, realized they would have to do it themselves.

"That's not it either...... It's this Ruan Jintian, who really is somewhat 'out of the ordinary'."

"He, he....."

Chen Weifang is usually eloquent, but this time they could only stammer 'he' a few times before managing to speak.

Moreover, Du Shanü fixed a burning stare on them, so Chen Weifang could only change the subject and talk about that 'book'.

"That book claims to be about strange tales, but in fact the author uses ghosts to satirize that foolish last ruler."

"The very first story in the book tells of a husband who, from birth, has a peculiar fetish: he likes to watch his wife making love with other men. So one day he pretends to go out, but actually, after leaving for a while, he sneaks back just to peek through the window......"

Chen Weifang repeated what they had told Ruan Jintian, then briefly explained the matter of that foolish last ruler.

Du Shanü understood at once:

"Isn't this just a green hat?"

No wonder the iron hooves of the Grand Ancestor could sweep straight in and overturn the former dynasty......

If they could even do something as absurd as forcing people to wear green hats for themselves, what else couldn't that foolish last ruler do?

Du Shanü was shocked, and for a moment didn't think of any connection between the wild history in the book and Ruan Jintian, merely sighing at the decline of morals.

But before she could finish her sigh, Chen Weifang suddenly spoke up again, uttering a shocking piece of news.

"..... This Ruan Jintian actually shares the same hobby as that foolish ruler."

"They had previously been sneaking around outside the study, trying to peek and eavesdrop, and happened to be caught red‑handed by me, so I blackmailed them into owing me an IOU, preparing to go back and break into the private treasury to raise money."

Du Shanü: "?"

Du Shanü: "???"

What, what is this thing?

Could it be that she stayed up too late last night sleeping with her obedient slave, leaving her mind a bit fuzzy?

What does it mean, Ruan Jintian wants to watch her and Chinu......

Absurd, too absurd.

If all the subjects under heaven were like this, what's the point of fighting for the realm?

No more fighting!

Just let it destroy itself!

?? Shasha: Destroy everything!