Ask the mountains and rivers

Chapter 38 Establishing Prestige
The weather in Changping County is bitterly cold, making survival difficult. It's not uncommon to see women working in the fields or going out to do chores. The streets are bustling with women.

Pei Qinghe was tall and straight, with bright black eyes and a refined, heroic air. Pei Yan was robust, with thick eyebrows and large eyes, looking like a young man. Pei Yun had fair skin, a slender and graceful figure, and a beautiful face.

The three girls, each with a distinct air and appearance, were strikingly different. Men, women, and children on both sides of the street craned their necks to look at them. Among them were a few frivolous glances from men.

"Where did this beautiful young lady come from? She's stunningly beautiful! Tsk tsk!"

"Qiu Da, haven't you always been single? I think that young lady in the blue cotton coat is quite nice."

"Go and ask the girl if she's willing to marry him."

Pei Qinghe and Pei Yan were still young, while Pei Yun was already an adult. Her slightly bulky blue cotton coat could not hide her beauty, and she was quickly spotted by local thugs.

Pei Yun frowned, not wanting to cause any further trouble, and quickly lowered her head.

Pei Yan's face turned red with anger, and she clenched her fists, ready to punch someone: "Cousin Qinghe, don't stop me..."

Before she finished speaking, Pei Qinghe had already strode over. In full view of everyone, she kicked Zhao Da, who was grinning maliciously, flying, and punched the other two.

One had a nosebleed streaming down his face, while the other clutched his stomach and groaned in pain. The worst off was Zhao Da, who was kicked several meters away, rolling on the ground seven or eight times before crashing into a low wall. He probably hit his head and immediately passed out.

A gasp rose from the street, then silence fell instantly.

Pei Yan excitedly pumped her fist, her cheers ringing out loudly in the quiet street.

Pei Yun felt a warm glow in her heart, yet also a little uneasy. She whispered to Pei Qinghe, who had turned back gracefully, "Aren't we being a bit too high-profile by coming here today to buy farm tools and seeds?"

"What if someone reports this to the authorities? Won't the county officials come after us?"

Pei Qinghe remained calm and composed, saying, "Don't worry. Yesterday, Guard Gao gave the Prince's letter to Magistrate Wang. The magistrate won't make things difficult for us."

"Let's go to the ironware shop."

Amidst the awe and fear of the crowd, Pei Qinghe and his two companions strode away.

"Should we report this to the authorities?"

"Hey, mind your own business. Qiu Da is always causing trouble, and he deserves to get himself into trouble this time. Let's go, let's hurry up and leave. If Qiu Da wakes up and tries to extort money from us, we'll be in big trouble."

In no time, the surrounding people scattered.

The two thugs, who had been beaten, were able to move after a long while. One had blood all over his sleeves, and the other was sweating profusely from the pain. They helped each other to the low wall and shook the unconscious Zhao Da vigorously.

Zhao Da was finally shaken awake, but before he could even open his eyes, he vomited all over the floor.

"Qiu Da, let's go report to the authorities!" the thug, his face covered in blood, spat out.

Another person, clutching their stomach, gritted their teeth and forced out, "Yes, we can't let them get away with this!"

Zhao Da cursed as he vomited, "Why report to the authorities... Go get some men, we'll fight back."

There were only two blacksmiths in Changping County, a father and son. Their two blacksmith shops were next to each other. The older blacksmith was good at making farm tools, and the younger blacksmith also made farm tools and would take on some sword-making jobs on the side.

These kinds of jobs, which violate official laws and taboos, are not uncommon in all walks of life in Changping County. After all, the Yanshan Mountains are just a few dozen miles outside Changping County, home to five or six bandit gangs of varying sizes. Bandits are also human; they need to exchange the gold and silver they steal for food and drink, and if their weapons break, they need to take them to the blacksmith to be repaired.

"We want to buy iron plows for tilling the fields." Pei Qinghe's voice was neither loud nor soft, drifting past the furnace and into the old blacksmith's ears.

The old blacksmith didn't look up, but continued to clang and bang on his tools: "Iron plows are very expensive, three taels of silver each."

Ordinary people, even if they work hard all year without eating or drinking, can't save up three taels of silver. An iron plow can be passed down as a family heirloom. "I'll buy ten iron plows."

The old blacksmith thought he had misheard and looked up in astonishment.

A pretty young girl in a blue cotton coat took out some silver. Six silver ingots, each weighing five taels, were neatly arranged in front of the old blacksmith: "Thirty taels of silver for ten iron plows."

The old blacksmith's eyes suddenly lit up, blazing like flames. He slammed down his heavy hammer, strode over, and stretched out his large, fan-like hand to take the silver.

Pei Qinghe flicked his wrist, and the silver was put into his silver pouch: "I'll pay ten taels as a deposit first. Once the ten iron plows are made and delivered to Pei Family Village, I'll pay the remaining twenty taels."

Iron plows are precious items; iron shops typically only have one or two samples. Ten iron plows would take at least ten days to forge.

The old blacksmith readily agreed: "Don't worry, Miss Pei. I've been blacksmithing all my life, and I'm best at making iron plows. There are two in the shop; take them with you first. I'll deliver the remaining eight iron plows to you in ten days at most."

The old blacksmith took out ten taels of silver as a deposit and presented two iron plows.

Each of the iron plows weighed about ten pounds and was wrapped in cloth; Pei Yan and Pei Yun each carried one on their backs.

Next, we'll go to the grain store.

There are two grain shops in Changping County with different signs: Huifeng Grain Shop and Guangyuan Grain Shop. In fact, they are owned by the same person.

The Shi family was the largest grain merchant in Youzhou. They were also a prominent grain merchant family in the northern provinces. They were wealthy and powerful, a prominent clan in the north.

Unfortunately, great success breeds envy. In its previous life, amidst war, Shijiawu Fortress was repeatedly attacked by displaced bandits and mountain brigade members, and was also targeted by several garrison armies, forcing it to surrender a large amount of grain as military provisions. Later, when the Xiongnu cavalry invaded Youzhou, Shijiawu Fortress was looted and emptied, and then burned to the ground.

At that time, the Pei family army was just beginning to take shape, and her title as General Pei was not yet widely known. She felt quite regretful about the massacre at Shijiabao... mainly because she regretted not being able to kill the group of Xiongnu cavalry and seize the mountain of money and grain.

Pei Qinghe stepped into the grain shop.

A boy was walking out. Caught off guard, he almost bumped into a girl coming from the opposite direction.

Pei Qinghe reacted quickly, dodging the attack.

The boy was caught off guard and stumbled forward.

"Young master!"

Pei Qinghe's eyes flashed, and she reached out to grab the boy's clothes from the back. The brocade robe was soft and smooth. Pei Qinghe used some force to hold on firmly.

The boy narrowly avoided falling, but his neck was quite constricted by his clothes. He managed to stand up and coughed heavily a few times.

Several tall and sturdy servants rushed over and hurriedly helped the young man in brocade robes up, asking, "Young Master, are you alright?"

"It's all my fault for being a step too late."

The young man in brocade robes choked on a blast of cold air, coughing until his face turned red, tears and snot streaming down his face, looking quite disheveled.

After a moment, the young man in brocade robes finally recovered. He wiped the corners of his eyes with his sleeve and then noticed that the girl who had helped him earlier had stepped aside and was standing casually with her hands behind her back.

Those dark eyes shone like stars.

A slight upturn at the corners of her lips held a faint, almost imperceptible smile.

(End of this chapter)