Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 16 Tenth Sister
Zhang watched as Xie Yuyan picked out a few pieces of silver and then weighed them with the scale next to him.

"Fifteen taels," Xie Yuyan said.

They didn't even need to care how many coins were taken; they could just find a few lead-filled fake silver coins to make up the difference.

That's really easy.

Zhang was always honest and upright in her life and never thought about these things.

“If you’re upset,” Xie Yuyan said, “just think about how the Third Branch’s land was taken away back then. These things belong to your Third Branch. It’s only right for people to fight for themselves when they are in dire straits. Sixth Brother is gone, we can’t let Qin’er follow the same path.”

After thinking it over, Zhang felt much more at ease.

Zhang pursed her lips: "What...are we going to buy?"

Xie Yuyan closed the box containing the broken silver, led Zhang Shi out of the small storeroom, locked the door again, and remained calm.

“Coal,” Xie Yuyan said, “has already been sent to Qin Ge’er to check on it.”

……

After leaving home, Yang Qin practically ran all the way to the market. He had drunk a full bowl of porridge and eaten half a sugar pancake in the morning, and felt like he had inexhaustible energy.

He has many things to do today and cannot afford to waste time.

The first thing I did was go to the pharmacy to get my medicine.

Yang Qin stood on tiptoe, watching the shop assistant weigh out the medicine. He kept a close eye on the medicine being dispensed, afraid that the shop assistant would give him some bad medicine residue because he was a child.

When the shop assistant handed him the medicine, Yang Qin carefully took out a piece of old cloth, wrapped it up carefully, and then put it into the bamboo basket.

The pharmacy owner couldn't help but chuckle. It was rare to see such a young child so attentive. He then asked, "This prescription is excellent. Which doctor did you hire?"

The pharmacy owner didn't look at the prescription carefully, but he knew at a glance what medicine the clerk had prepared. It was a prescription for replenishing qi and blood, and several of the ingredients were used cleverly, making it both effective and inexpensive.

“My sister-in-law wrote this prescription herself. She’s really amazing,” Yang Qin said proudly, raising his chin. “Would you like to buy it, shopkeeper?”

The shopkeeper couldn't help but laugh: "Buy this prescription?" He waved his hand. No pharmacy would openly sell prescriptions. Besides, while the prescription was good, it wasn't absolutely necessary.

Yang Qin laughed and said, "Don't regret it, shopkeeper. Who knows, someone else might buy it first one day."

The shopkeeper, seeing Yang Qin's thin clothes, clearly didn't take his words to heart.

Yang Qin never intended to actually sell the prescription. He knew that ordinary prescriptions wouldn't sell. Besides, it was written by his sister-in-law. Even if the shopkeeper wanted to buy it, he would have to go back and ask his sister-in-law for her opinion. He only said those things to show off.

After leaving the pharmacy, Yang Qin went straight to the market. He clutched the basket in his arms tightly and looked at the stalls set up on both sides of the street. Finally, his eyes were drawn to a pile of black things on the ground.

A burly man with a dark complexion leaned against a large tree. He stared intently at the steamed bun stall not far away, at the baskets of freshly steamed buns. His stomach rumbled, and he swallowed. He touched the coins in his pocket; the few copper coins were burning hot from his grip. After a while, he took a deep breath and reluctantly looked away. When his gaze returned to his stall, he noticed a child of about seven or eight years old standing there.

The burly man was getting annoyed because he hadn't been able to sell anything. He saw the child reach out and rummage through his things, and was about to wave him away when the child spoke first: "How much is this coal?"

The man was somewhat surprised, not expecting that the child really wanted to buy coal.

Before he could speak, the child continued, "I only want the kind that's really, really small."

"You..." The man's eyes were full of doubt, but after a moment he seemed to have figured it out and had no intention of responding. "Go find your master, don't come here to play."

This child is probably just teasing him. People used to buy crushed coal, but after winter came, two families who used crushed coal had accidents one after the other. The person who sold the crushed coal was also taken to the yamen for interrogation and has not been released yet.

The man knew this so clearly because the peddler lived in the same village as him.

Rumors are circulating that coal is poisonous. Although the government has not explicitly prohibited the sale of coal, with such a stigma, who would dare to use it? Especially the kind of crushed coal, it seems that even asking about it would bring bad luck.

The man wouldn't have made this trip if he hadn't been completely broke. But even at the market, he was selling large chunks of coal, which, as the locals say, is less toxic.

The man didn't believe in his heart that coal was poisonous. The fellow villager who was arrested, in order to prove his innocence, grabbed a handful and ate it in front of the officials. He is still fine to this day.

However, he had indeed encountered accidents involving coal. Right in their village, they were burning crushed coal, and as it burned, the people inside the house began to feel dizzy. Fortunately, the wind blew the window open, and the family regained some consciousness and escaped from the house.

Just as the man was pondering, an old woman came over, grabbed Yang Qin, glanced at the burly man selling coal with a hint of apprehension, and then pulled Yang Qin a few steps away.

"Grandma Li," Yang Qin called out. This old woman lived in Yong'an Ward and usually did odd jobs to supplement her family's income. When Yang's family held a banquet, Grandma Li even helped in the kitchen. Her sugar cakes were especially delicious, but Yang Qin had only eaten half a piece, which was secretly given to him by a brother of the same age in the clan.

Granny Li whispered, "Why are you buying coal? Didn't the court give your brother a pension? Isn't that enough for the winter?"

Yang Qin shook his head: "There are other places in the family that need money, and coal is cheaper than charcoal..."

Before Yang Qin could finish speaking, Granny Li said, "That still can't be used. Haven't you heard that coal is poisonous?"

Yang Qin said, "Some people in the clan also use it."

“That’s good,” Granny Li sighed. “Those scraps are terrible. They’ve killed countless people since winter started. Listen to me, don’t buy that stuff. If you really can’t, just get some charcoal on credit from the clan.”

Granny Li pondered carefully: "Don't you have a sister-in-law now? I'll keep an eye out for some work for her, like needlework or washing clothes for others, so she can earn some money."

Yang Qin pictured Xie Yuyan mending and painstakingly washing clothes under the lamp. For some reason, the image was strange and even a little... frightening.

Yang Qin quickly waved his hand: "No need, no need. My sister-in-law is not well and needs to take good care of herself. She can't do any work."

Granny Li clicked her tongue and said, "Your sister-in-law has also had a hard life."

Yang Qin did not want to argue with Granny Li any longer. He accompanied Granny Li for a while, then, making an excuse that he had other things to do, hurriedly returned to the willow tree.

The man selling coal hadn't left yet, but no one was buying his coal. He hung his head, looking at the coal he had painstakingly dug out, feeling miserable, when he looked up and saw the seven or eight-year-old child.

"You still haven't told me how much the crushed coal costs?" Yang Qin said to the man. "I really want to buy it."

As he spoke, he handed the bamboo basket to the man and said, "My mother and sister-in-law went to buy other things and asked me to look around for coal and find out the price so I can tell them."

The man was skeptical, and after a moment's hesitation, he said, "Haven't you heard anyone say... that crushed coal is poisonous?"

Yang Qin nodded: "My sister-in-law said that coal is not poisonous, it's just that it's being used incorrectly."

Yang Qin only started speaking and didn't continue. The man wanted to listen more, but found that the child refused to continue.

“I didn’t bring any crushed coal today,” the man said. “My home is in Sanhe Village outside the city. It’s the fourth house from the west of the village. If you really want to buy some, just go and ask.”

The man realized that the boy had only come to ask about prices and didn't intend to buy anything that day. Besides, he hadn't brought any broken coal with him. So he told the man where he was going, picked up the coal, and headed out of the market.

Although Yang Qin did not find out the price, he knew where the coal seller was, so he did not delay any longer and went straight to the patrol office.

The patrol office had to patrol the city at night and opened its gates early. Yang Qin saw the patrolmen coming and going from afar and was about to run over to ask where the clerk was when his arm was grabbed.

Yang Qin turned his head and met the man's eyes.

When the second patriarch arranged a marriage for his brother, this man came to his house, specifically accompanying the seventh master of the Xie family to deliver the betrothal gifts.

“Come with me,” the man said with a stern face. “My seventh master has something to ask you.”

Yang Qin looked around in the direction the man was pointing and sure enough, he saw a carriage parked not far away. Yang Qin was led by the servant to the carriage. The curtain was lifted and Yang Qin immediately smelled a strong smell of alcohol. Looking up, he saw a richly dressed young man lazily reclining on the carriage, with a maidservant massaging his thighs beside him.

The young man had his eyes closed, and a look of utter enjoyment appeared on his face.

"Seventh Master," the servant reminded him, "the person has been brought."

Only then did Master Xie lift his eyelids, revealing a pair of eyes with bloodshot veins and an unusually muddled gaze. After a long while, his gaze finally focused on Yang Qin.

Master Xie nodded, and Yang Qin felt his clothes being lifted from behind, and then he was thrown onto the carriage.

The carriage curtain was lowered, making the smell of alcohol even stronger, which made Yang Qin cover his mouth and nose.

Master Xie chuckled and said, "Children who haven't grown up yet don't know the benefits of wine and women, but... in these times, one wrong move and they might not have a chance to grow up."

As soon as he finished speaking, an object suddenly reached out and pressed against Yang Qin's chin, forcibly lifting his head. Yang Qin then saw Xie Qiye's arrogant and swollen face.

"Tell me, is my tenth sister really alive?"

Thank you to Tingshui Luoye for the 10000 coins reward, and thank you to DT籣, 琰脂虎1, and miya爱古言 for their generous donations.

Thank you everyone~
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(End of this chapter)