A veteran of the frontier army, after marrying a wife, fought his way through the northern border.

"My husband is also quite skilled in martial arts, far beyond what ordinary people can compare to. He doesn't need me as his bodyguard. You're really joking."

Last night, she deeply felt that Luo Yunxiao's physical strength was far beyond that of ordinary people, and that she was like a small boat, rising and falling in the stormy waves.

If she hadn't begged for mercy, she was sure this man wouldn't have gotten tired even after a whole night of this.

terrible!

"I couldn't be happier to have you as my personal bodyguard."

Luo Yunxiao whispered in her ear, teasing Qin Hongxiu until her face turned red.

"You're so unruly this early in the morning! If you don't get up soon, the sun'll be high in the sky!"

Qin Hongxiu broke free from Luo Yunxiao's embrace, got out of bed, and went outside to practice her boxing.

Her body was flushed from the arousal, and only a round of boxing could calm the churning blood within her.

While eating breakfast, Su Yunshang and her sister also noticed that Luo Yunxiao seemed to have become a few years younger.

The sweet-talking Su Yushang couldn't help but tease, "My husband has become increasingly dashing and spirited lately."

Luo Yunxiao was overjoyed by the praise: "You have such a sweet tongue. You and Yunshang are truly elegant and beautiful, like fairies descended to earth."

"And then there's Hongxiu, a woman of exceptional beauty, whose talent rivals that of men."

"It is my greatest blessing to be able to marry all three of you."

As he spoke, his left hand began to gently rub Qin Hongxiu's waist.

Since he was going to praise them, all three women in front of him deserved it; he wouldn't show favoritism.

Qin Hongxiu spat at him lightly, too embarrassed to do anything but shovel rice into her mouth.

Hearing Luo Yunxiao's praise, the Su sisters covered their faces and chuckled shyly, their cheeks flushed, and even the millet porridge in their mouths tasted sweet.

It was freezing cold outside, but inside the house it was filled with the warmth of spring and a harmonious atmosphere.

After the meal, Luo Yunxiao asked his three wives to prepare the dry food they would take to the county town.

Today is the 14th day of the tenth lunar month, and the cold wind is like a knife.

There are still two weeks until I report to the auxiliary military camp.

He went to the village chief's house and borrowed a donkey cart.

Zhao Dezhu's family has two donkey carts, and Wang San borrowed one of them early this morning.

Fortunately, we arrived not too late; there have been many villagers coming to the city to buy things these past few days.

Otherwise, the remaining donkey cart would also be borrowed by someone else.

Luo Yunxiao carried a short spear on his back and had the three ladies sit on a donkey cart.

They carried various mountain goods and animal hides and headed towards Pinglu County.

He carried the lance on his back just in case.

In this chaotic world, it always feels unsafe to be out in the world without a weapon.

Pinglu County is the second largest county in Youzhou, and it is 25 li away from Chenjia Village.

The journey involves a section of winding mountain road.

Without a donkey cart, a round trip would take four hours.

With a donkey cart, a round trip can be completed in just two hours.

Fortunately, everything went smoothly on the road, and the group arrived in Pinglu County around noon.

The city wall of Pinglu County is no more than three zhang high, and its body is mottled and full of arrow marks.

There were more than a dozen county soldiers on duty at the city gate.

They checked passersby, especially those posing as beggars and Tartar spies.

The entire county town has a population of about 6,000. The town is divided into four areas with the cross street as the center.

The East Market was the most bustling, selling grains, salt, and cloth, and many people were already making purchases there.

The market opens at dawn and closes at dusk.

West Market was a market for medicinal herbs and furs, a place to sell mountain products.

Nanshi is a workshop area, a gathering place for blacksmiths, carpenters, and leatherworkers.

Luo Yunxiao found a quiet place to stop the donkey cart and fed the donkey some hay to let it rest for a while.

Su Yunshang untied her bag and took out some Solomon's seal and dried dates for the group to eat.

Luo Yunxiao ate a few pieces of soft, sweet, and glutinous processed Solomon's Seal, nodding repeatedly, feeling quite full.

After a short while, the group first went to the West Market to sell their mountain produce.

There are three pharmacies in the West Market that can purchase medicinal herbs.

The most famous is Baicaotang, whose owner, surnamed Song, is an old acquaintance of Luo Yunxiao.

Compared to the other two pharmacies, Manager Song's prices for medicinal herbs were fair, and he treated everyone honestly, regardless of age.

"Hey, Lao Luo? You've gotten even more energetic in the past two years."

Manager Song had a big smile on his face.

"Shopkeeper Song, how have you been? I have some medicinal herbs I'd like to sell."

Luo Yunxiao placed the forty-year-old ginseng, Panax notoginseng, and Polygonatum on the counter.

Shopkeeper Song's eyes lit up, and he picked up the old ginseng and exclaimed, "What a fine product! It's at least forty years old."

"I'll offer fourteen taels, is that alright?"

Luo Yunxiao smiled and said, "Fifteen taels for a fixed price, just for good luck."

If I ever have any more old ginseng in the future, I'll look for you first.

"Fine, fifteen taels it is."

"How about I offer twenty taels for the old wild ginseng, along with these Panax notoginseng and Polygonatum?"

"make a deal."

Luo Yunxiao left the pharmacy with the heavy silver coins in his hand.

They then went to the West Market and sold deer and fox pelts to fur traders.

One deer hide cost one tael, and a wild fox pelt cost two taels; for a total of three taels, they sold.

The mountain goods and furs sold for a total of twenty-three taels of silver, which, together with the three taels and seven mace he already had, brought his total to twenty-six taels and seven mace.

Auxiliary soldiers receive a monthly military pay of two hundred cash, and it would take them ten years of not eating or drinking to save up twenty-six taels of silver.

If you buy all of them as millet, you can buy 325 bushels.

It's enough for Luo Yunxiao and his three wives to eat for two and a half years.

They've definitely made a small fortune!

With the heavy silver in his pocket, Luo Yunxiao finally felt a sense of security.

No matter how strong your fighting power is, you can't do it without money.

A man with money is a hero; a man without money is nothing.

As Luo Yunxiao's combat power increased and his physique returned to that of a young man, his appetite greatly increased.

In the past two weeks, most of the forty catties of rations distributed by the government have been used up.

So he took the three women to the East Market and bought fifty catties of millet.

Ten catties of wheat flour, two catties of salt, and one catty of lard.

I also bought some cured pork and pickled vegetables.

It cost a total of two taels of silver.

They went to the cloth shop again and had a set of winter clothes made for each of the three women, including a change of cotton overcoat. Including the labor cost, it cost one tael and five mace.

Su Yushang felt a little sorry for the money, so she quietly pulled Luo Yunxiao aside and said that all she needed to do was buy the fabric, and she could make the winter clothes herself.

Luo Yunxiao held her hand and smiled freely: "My wife doesn't need to save money for me. We spend money to buy satisfaction and convenience. In the future, your husband will have plenty of money."

Seeing that Luo Yunxiao insisted on spending money to have winter clothes custom-made, Su Yushang had no choice but to give up in frustration.

Luo Yunxiao thought Su Yushang was good at managing her household.

This shows that she truly considers him her husband, which is why she saves him money.

The group found a shop selling tattered armor.

After some haggling, Luo Yunxiao spent two taels of silver to acquire a set of tattered iron armor.

These armors all came from military camps and were mostly damaged, so they were naturally cheap.

With the armor plates, Su Yushang was able to repair and complete her silver-patterned luminous armor.

Luo Yunxiao gave Su Yunshang five taels of silver and asked the three of them to go to the market to buy some cosmetics, fruits, and snacks for girls.

He was going to the blacksmith shop in Nanshi to order a weapon.

After wandering around for a while, he came to Old Li's blacksmith shop.

The shop owner's surname is Li, he is over fifty years old, and has a burly build.

He walks with a limp, and his right leg is somewhat disabled.

Luo Yunxiao handed the two ring-pommel swords to the shopkeeper and showed his auxiliary soldier's badge: "I want to order a horse-slaying sword that is eight feet long and weighs fifteen catties."

Use the two knives I provided, and add some other ingredients.

How much is the processing fee, and how many days until I can pick it up?

The reason for showing his auxiliary soldier's waist badge was that there was a sign in front of the blacksmith's shop that read, "Border soldiers can get a discount of one coin with their waist badge."

Master blacksmith Li stopped wielding his hammer and looked Luo Yunxiao up and down.

He then looked at the two rusty border army standard ring-pommel swords he had brought.

He noticed that the inscriptions on the hilt of the knife, including the names of the supervisors, craftsmen, and military units, were already blurred.

"Tsk, how did this military knife get so rusted? Where did it come from?"

Luo Yunxiao had already thought about this question, how to answer if someone asked about the origin of the knife.

"The money I won from gambling, the bookmaker said he got it from a vagrant. Can we combine the two bets into one?"

"I'm strong, and the single-edged sword is too light and doesn't suit my hand."

Master Li glanced at Luo Yunxiao, his tone carrying the caution characteristic of a veteran: "According to the border army's rules, if a soldier dies in battle, his weapon is either recycled and reforged, or registered."

Where would a refugee get two military knives? They were most likely dirty weapons sold privately by deserters.

Private transactions are illegal, let alone melting it down and recasting it.

If this knife were engraved with the insignia of the commander's personal guard, and you dared to melt it, the enforcement team could drag you out and behead you.