Chapter 394: Having the Life to Take, but Not the Life to Spend

"The medicine has been changed today; you should be able to walk normally by tomorrow."

Zhou Yanli crouched on the ground, applying the herb paste he had mashed to Bai Wei's ankle.

Men and women should not touch, so he did not touch Bai Wei's foot at all; he only used a soft cloth as a buffer, while his other hand held a wooden spatula to spread the ointment onto her ankle.

"Brother Yanli, thank you."

Bai Wei said softly.

Over the past few days, Zhou Yanli had been the one taking care of her, and to hide their identities, the two had temporarily referred to each other as siblings.

Although Zhou Yanli applied medicine for her every day, he remained perfectly respectful, not even touching a single strand of her hair.

In this remote little Fishing Village, the villagers lived in poverty, but their characters were very simple and honest.

Except for the time the village chief's wife came to make a scene, no one else had come to cause trouble; the villagers were curious about the two outsiders and would come to visit from time to time.

There were also kind-hearted aunties who brought clean clothes from their homes for Bai Wei to change into.

The village was too poor to have much food, and white rice and flour were scarce; the villagers mostly ate fish, and knowing she was recuperating at Ceng Popo's house, they often brought over fresh fish and shrimp they had caught for her to eat and nourish her body.

Bai Wei felt grateful in her heart, but it was a pity that her Jade Pendant was not with her; otherwise, she really intended to take out rice, grain, fish, and meat to help the villagers improve their lives.

Suddenly, a commotion came from outside.

Bai Wei was already able to stand; she leaned against the wall and hobbled to the door.

"What happened?"

Outside the courtyard gate was the open space at the head of the village.

Standing in the open space were dozens of soldiers carrying blades, as well as a group of terrified villagers.

The leading officer held the hilt of his blade in one hand and shouted loudly at the villagers.

"... The quota of twenty men for conscription was set by the government; your village must hand the people over."

The village chief hunched his back in a fawning manner.

"Military lord, the village has already been conscripted several times; there aren't many able-bodied men left. If you take another twenty people away, only the old, weak, sick, and disabled will be left in the village, and we won't even be able to go out to sea to fish."

"That is your business; we are only carrying out General Yang's orders," the officer interrupted rudely.

At this moment, the village chief's wife cried out.

"His father, our son is also on the conscription list; he is the only seedling left in our family, he cannot be dragged off to serve in the army."

The village chief was sweating profusely with anxiety, "Official, can you please make an exception..."

Before he could finish, the officer barked sternly, "Now that there is a rebellion in Beijiang, General Yang needs to expand his forces to prepare for emergencies. Your village must either hand over twenty able-bodied men or pay the head tax; otherwise, there is nothing to discuss."

The village chief's wife wept, "For one able-bodied man, you want a head tax of two hundred taels of silver. We are all fishermen; where are we supposed to get so much silver?"

"That is your business," the officer shouted, "If the village cannot pay the head tax by sunset tomorrow, don't blame me for bringing men into the village to grab able-bodied men house by house."

After speaking, he turned and waved his hand.

"Let's go."

The soldiers turned and left, leaving behind a crowd of miserable villagers.

The villagers surrounded the village chief, crying and shouting.

"Village Chief, they are conscripting again; there are no more able-bodied men in the village, what should we do?"

"We only had a conscription last year; the able-bodied men taken from our village were all dragged to the Vanguard Battalion and died in battle while fighting water bandits."

"Now they want to grab people again; how are we supposed to live?"

The village chief was also at his wit's end, sighing and groaning.

"It is General Yang's order; I have no way to stop it. My son is also on the conscription list; who wants to be grabbed as an able-bodied man?"

"Two hundred taels of silver per head; our whole family works ourselves to the bone and can't even earn forty taels of silver a year, where are we supposed to find this money?"

Bai Wei stood at the door, watching this scene with mixed feelings.

When she was in the modern era, she had only seen things about 'ancient conscription' in books; she never expected to see it with her own eyes today.

At this time, Ceng Popo walked over with a sorrowful face.

"What should I do? Two of my three sons were dragged away and both died in battle. Now the last one is left, and he is also going to be taken for conscription."

"Does Heaven really want us to have no descendants?"

Bai Wei felt distressed; she opened her mouth to speak, but did not know what to say.

One able-bodied man cost two hundred taels of silver.

For ordinary people in ancient times, this was not a small amount.

But for her, it was absolutely no problem.

She had just collected a large pile of gold, silver, and jewelry hoarded by the Fusang People into her space; if the Jade Pendant were still there, she could completely take out gold and silver from the space to pay this two hundred taels for Ceng Popo and also help the villagers make up this money.

Just at this moment, Bai Wei suddenly saw the village chief's wife sneaking away, clutching a small cloth bag.

Suspicious, she called Zhou Yanli and followed her together.

The two followed the village chief's wife to the outskirts of the village.

Outside the village was the beach by the sea; the surroundings were open and very quiet.

On the beach, a peddler was squatting.

The village chief's wife looked around, and seeing that no one was there, she hurried to the peddler and took a cloth bag out of her bosom.

"A Gou, look and see how much this thing can sell for."

"What is this?" The peddler took the cloth bag and opened it to look, "A Jade Pendant, where did you get this?"

"Don't worry about where I got it," the village chief's wife said anxiously, "Help me calculate quickly, how much silver can this Jade Pendant sell for? The officials are coming to grab able-bodied men, I have to get some silver to make up this head tax for my son."

"This Jade Pendant is very exquisite, but it's only half; I'm afraid it's not worth that much money," the peddler held the Jade Pendant and examined it, "Let me take a look first."

The two were negotiating the price and did not notice Bai Wei and Zhou Yanli hiding behind the reef at all.

Bai Wei crouched behind the reef, and at a glance, she saw the Jade Pendant in the peddler's hand, instantly holding her breath.

"Isn't that my Jade Pendant?"

In the peddler's hand was half a crystal-clear Phoenix Jade Pendant; it was unmistakably the one she had lost!

Zhou Yanli's eyes turned slightly cold, "So she was the one who stole the Jade Pendant."

Bai Wei was also furious, "After all this time, it was this woman who stole my Jade Pendant, and she actually had the nerve to come and take your fan."

"After Ceng Popo brought you back to the village, I went up the mountain to gather herbs, leaving you alone in the house. I'm afraid she snuck in and stole your Jade Pendant while you were unconscious." Zhou Yanli's handsome face was cold and stern.

Bai Wei clenched her fists, feeling both angry and anxious.

No wonder the village head's wife had come to pick a fight for no reason on the day she woke up, insisting on driving her and Zhou Yanli away.

It turned out the village head's wife had stolen the Jade Pendant while she was in a deep sleep, and after getting a taste of the benefits, she wanted to take advantage of them again to see if there was anything else of value on them, so she came to pick a fight and used that as an excuse to take Zhou Yanli's fan.

On the beach, the village head's wife took out Zhou Yanli's fan again.

"And this thing, take a look and see if it's worth two hundred taels of silver."

At this moment, a cold voice interrupted.

"My fan is forged from Profound Iron and is worth three thousand gold, but I'm afraid you have the life to take it, but not the life to spend it."