On the main street of Gefeng, Su Zhenxue wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. It was the first time she had felt how heavy death could be.
Mo Susu’s eyes were red as well. “That’s why we have to work even harder—work hard to stay alive. It was these fallen heroes who traded their lives and blood for the peace and security we enjoy.”
She had only returned to Gefeng from Donghu Commandery yesterday, and had arrived just in time for the martyrs’ procession into the city.
Neither of them said anything more. They slowly made their way home.
Once they entered the courtyard, they did not go inside. Instead, they sat beneath the eaves and gazed at the sky outside.
After a long while, Mo Susu finally spoke. “You saw A Ruo too, didn’t you?”
Su Zhenxue nodded. “And General Hua. I never expected him to come to Gefeng as well.”
Mo Susu was puzzled. “Most of the martyrs who died this time were soldiers from Sizhou. I wonder what happened?”
Su Zhenxue shook her head. “I don’t know. The Gazette will probably report it in a few days.”
Mo Susu gave a quiet hum. After a moment, she sighed. “A Ruo still doesn’t know where we live, does she? Should we slip a note into her family’s home?”
Su Zhenxue thought it was a good idea. “All right. We’ll do it later.”
“I wonder how A-Ke is doing. The things those two are doing are both so dangerous.” Worry showed on Mo Susu’s face.
Su Zhenxue shook her head. “They’re doing great things. I’m sure nothing will happen to them.”
Mo Susu fell silent. After a moment, she changed the subject. “We’ve rented the wasteland and found people to work it. They’ve already begun clearing it.”
Su Zhenxue nodded inwardly. “Good. What about the tea seeds?”
Mo Susu already had a plan. “I asked the authorities about it earlier. They have ships that occasionally travel to Sizhou, so I asked them to bring some back for me. I’ll pay a high price.”
“People used to grow tea in Xianglu County too, but everything was abandoned after the barbarians invaded. When I have time, I’ll go there and see whether I can dig up some tea seedlings.”
It was not until evening that the two finally saw Hua Ruo.
The three friends had not seen one another in a long time, and they had endless things to talk about.
“It’s a shame A-Ke isn’t here,” Mo Susu said regretfully.
Hua Ruo had never expected that Yan Ke would become a diplomat. She was happy for her, but could not help worrying as well.
Swords and arrows did not discriminate, and Hua Ruo’s life on the battlefield was dangerous too. Still, she believed that dying in battle was the easiest way to die.
Diplomats were different. Especially when negotiating inside barbarian territory, one wrong move could mean that a person might not even be allowed to die.
Seeing that Mo Susu and Su Zhenxue were looking somewhat downcast, Hua Ruo changed the subject. “I heard that all three of you ran away with Hua Lang?”
At the mention of this, Mo Susu and Su Zhenxue could not hold back their laughter. Soon, the three of them were laughing together.
The next day, Mo Song finally recovered from the solemn and tragic funeral ceremony.
He was no longer in a hurry to meet Princess Jinyang. There was no point in rushing; according to what he had heard, the princess was still in Shouli County. So he decided to stroll around the streets.
Hua Yuanyi had the same idea, though he was not planning to go shopping. He intended to pay Yun Ci a visit.
The two ran into each other as soon as they stepped into the courtyard.
Xie Nanxiao had originally planned to have them stay at an inn, but Hua Ruo was wealthy and had purchased a courtyard in Gefeng long ago.
Naturally, Hua Yuanyi would stay at his daughter’s home. Mo Song shamelessly followed him. As for the other Sizhou soldiers who had entered the city, they were staying at inns as usual.
“Where are you going?” Hua Yuanyi asked Mo Song.
Mo Song replied, “Just taking a walk. Didn’t they say that Princess Jinyang is still in Shouli County? She’ll be back in a few days anyway, so I can’t be bothered to go there. I’ll just wait for her in Gefeng.”
Seeing that Hua Yuanyi was dressed quite formally, he asked curiously, “And you?”
Hua Yuanyi answered honestly, “I’m going to find General Yun and have a chat.”
He would have liked to spend more time talking with Hua Ruo, but unfortunately, she had gone to see her friends the previous night and had not returned yet.
This courtyard looked almost brand-new as well. It was clear that she rarely stayed here.
“This house is truly wonderful. And those glass windows—ah, never mind.” Mo Song sighed, thinking of the First Prince’s exorbitantly priced glass.
Sizhou had only one source of glass, while here, almost every household used it. He wondered whether the First Prince would vomit blood if he found out.
“Mm.” Hua Yuanyi gave a low reply. He thought the tables and stools were excellent too; they were very comfortable to sit on.
They had just left the alley and reached the street when the rich aroma of food wafted toward them.
The two men forgot their original plans almost simultaneously and walked toward the source of the fragrance in perfect unison. Come to think of it, they had not eaten breakfast yet.
Before long, they saw a tavern. A long line had formed outside it.
The two stopped for less than a heartbeat before hurrying over to join the end of the queue. The food smelled far too good. They wanted some too.
Hua Yuanyi’s aides were completely dumbfounded. Their esteemed general was actually standing in line outside a tavern?!
“General, how about I wait in line? You can go inside and rest,” his aide Hua Five suggested.
Hua Yuanyi glared at him. “I’m experiencing the lives of ordinary people. That’s enough. You lot don’t need to follow me. Go amuse yourselves.”
Hua Five: “…”
To be honest, he wanted to try the food here too. But judging from the general’s expression, none of them dared say another word. They hunched their shoulders and actually left.
They had also discovered that Gefeng was exceptionally safe.
More importantly, there were all sorts of novel things to see here. The prosperity of Gefeng was completely different from that of other places, and they wanted to look around.
The tavern was quite efficient. It was not long before it was Hua Yuanyi and Mo Song’s turn.
Mo Song could not help swallowing as he pointed at a long, golden object. “What is that?”
Sun Acao smiled as she explained, “That’s a youtiao. Would you like one?”
Mo Song nodded. “Two of those. And this one—what is it?”
“That’s a sweet fried dough cake. It’s sweet and delicious. Would you like two?”
Mo Song shook his head. “Five.”
The corner of Sun Acao’s mouth twitched. “All of these are fried in oil, so they can be greasy. Why don’t you start with two? You can order more later if they aren’t enough.”
Mo Song was insistent. “Isn’t there porridge over there? We can use that to cut the grease. What kinds of porridge do you have? I smell meat.”
Sun Acao quickly introduced the options. “We have vegetable porridge and meat porridge. Which would you like?”
She was very patient. Strangers came to Gefeng often, and it was perfectly normal for them not to be familiar with these new foods.
After finally placing their order, Mo Song sat down inside the tavern.
Although there were many people waiting in line, not that many stayed to eat inside. He saw many customers buying their food and eating as they walked, hurrying along the streets.
He picked up a youtiao and took a bite. It was crisp and crunchy, with the rich aromas of oil and wheat mingling together. Once again, he felt as if he might burst into tears.
Not even many members of the imperial family or nobility could afford the luxury of eating food fried in oil. Yet in Gefeng, ordinary commoners were already enjoying it.
He picked up one of the sweet fried dough cakes. It was a bright golden color, and its fragrance rose enticingly. He took a careful bite. The pure sweetness spread through his mouth, making him, a man who loved sugar, feel as though every taste bud had awakened. His entire body and mind relaxed in bliss.
Sugar, a precious commodity elsewhere, was something ordinary people in Gefeng could eat whenever they pleased. Just how wealthy was Gefeng, exactly?
As the tavern attendant had said, after eating one youtiao and two sweet fried dough cakes, he began to feel a little greasy. He scooped up a spoonful of meat porridge and took a bite. The rich flavor lingered throughout his mouth.
Hua Yuanyi, too, grew more and more silent as he ate.
At that moment, he understood, at least to some extent. He understood why the people and the authorities of Gefeng had shown such boundless reverence for the martyrs the day before.
Without their sacrifices, the common people in the city would never be enjoying such a good life.
After breakfast, the two went their separate ways. Hua Yuanyi headed to the county office, saying that he wished to see Yun Ci.
Mo Song, meanwhile, wandered aimlessly through the streets and soon arrived at a general store.
As he looked at the large glass panes at the entrance, he was once again reminded of the glass Fenggexuan had sold to the First Prince. It wasn’t even as large as the panes in this little general store!
The First Prince’s priceless glass, which he proudly displayed and showed off from time to time, was actually inferior in size to the glass in a small general store in the city of Gefeng.
Honestly, Mo Song felt that the First Prince was probably ready to vomit blood.
At that moment, he finally understood the meaning behind the name Fenggexuan.
Clearly, the goods sold by Fenggexuan were supplied by Gefeng. As for whether Chen Xi, the proprietor of Fenggexuan, was simply a merchant or someone sent there by Gefeng, it was difficult to say.
The profits were so enormous that even Mo Song was tempted to change careers and start selling glass.
He hurriedly reined in his wandering thoughts and entered the store. His first stop was the grain section, where he checked the prices.
Although he had already formed an estimate—after all, the breakfast he had eaten had not been expensive, which suggested that grain prices in Gefeng could not be too high—he was still rather shaken when he saw that fine grain cost less than three hundred wen.
In Sizhou, a dan of grain already cost one guan, and supplies were still in short demand.
Food and clothing were the people’s most basic needs. By looking at grain prices, one could get a general sense of the state of the local people’s livelihoods.
