Chapter 63: Won Money

After Pear Blossom finished talking with Dong Yun, she was about to leave. She still needed to report to her parents and then head into the city. She asked Zuo Qi to tie up “Wu Juren” and send him to the Dart Bureau. Murong Jin still didn’t know what was going on, and there was the matter from this morning in the village, which also needed to be discussed and a plan formulated.

Before leaving, she hesitated for a moment and said, “With all the commotion this morning, no one should be coming this afternoon. But you never know what could happen. If nothing is going on at home, you should still take Fubao to my house. It will be better with my mother and the others there, rather than having no one watching over and keeping watch at your place.”

Dong Yun replied, “Okay, you just go ahead and handle your matters. The bandits are after me, but I’m still a living person. You can’t tie me to your waist and take me everywhere, can you? Right now, the village is united as one, so if the bandits come again, they shouldn’t be able to harm me. I can hold on until you come back.”

Hearing this, Pear Blossom finally felt a little relieved. She had been worried that Dong Yun would be frightened after the events of the morning. Of course, she liked that Dong Yun depended on her, but she also knew that leaving everything to be resolved by staying in the village was not the solution.

However, looking at Dong Yun, who didn’t seem like the type to put all her hopes on others, she appeared delicate on the outside but was very stubborn at her core.

Pear Blossom thought about what the system had relayed to her earlier on the way back: no one, no matter their methods, could make her submit. She couldn’t help but feel a chill run down her spine. The woman in front of her seemed cold as ice, but she was fiercely strong-willed.

Pear Blossom nodded and said, “The teacher is at home alone, bored, with no one to talk to. You’re literate and well-informed, so you can spend time with her. You’ll have something to talk about.”

Dong Yun’s expression darkened slightly when she heard this, but she just responded perfunctorily, “Alright, I understand.”

Only then did Pear Blossom take the horse and head home.

Dagen and Daniu were busy tending to the injured, and at home, only Mrs. Xiong and the younger siblings were present. Xia Xunyan had also come out of the cave and returned to the house. Xinghua was telling her about what had happened this morning.

When Pear Blossom arrived home, Fubao was leaning in Mrs. Xiong’s arms, looking listless and clearly frightened by the events of the morning.

When she saw Pear Blossom, the little girl pouted and reached out her hand to her.

Pear Blossom affectionately lifted her into her arms. The little girl obediently snuggled into her chest and didn’t say a word. Her big, dark eyes stared intently at a single spot.

Pear Blossom had to leave again and couldn’t comfort her properly. She called her mother into the main room and pulled out a stack of silver notes from her arms.

Seeing this, Mrs. Xiong’s eyes widened. She had seen silver notes before and could vaguely recognize a few of the numbers. Though she couldn’t say for sure, she could guess that this stack was definitely not a small sum.

Pear Blossom extended four fingers at her.

The Xiong family would certainly not be foolish enough to mistake such a thick stack of silver notes for four hundred taels. If it’s not four hundred taels, then it must be four thousand taels. Even with both hands on the stack, she couldn’t stop trembling.

“Heavens, I’ve never seen so much money in my life…”

Pear Blossom left two thousand taels for her and kept the rest. “Earlier, I asked you how much we would need for expenses in this life, and you said one hundred taels would be enough. But now that I earn more, I’ve kept more for the family. From now on, whatever I earn, I’ll keep for myself. If you run out of what I’ve given you, just come to me for more.”

Mrs. Xiong had no words left. Such a large sum of money was like unimaginable wealth to her. From now on, she would never need to envy anyone else. Even the Liu family, who had always looked down on her, didn’t have this much money.

With this realization, Mrs. Xiong smiled so widely her eyes nearly closed. “This is enough, enough! With so much, our family could never spend it all in several generations.”

“Mother, please help keep an eye on Sister Dong over at her place,” Pear Blossom said as she leaned in close to her mother’s ear. “Just know this: without Sister Dong, I wouldn’t have earned this money. Don’t ask anything more.”

Upon hearing that the money was related to Dong Yun, Mrs. Xiong hurriedly said, “When have I not looked out for her? I treat her like my own daughter. Even with Fubao, I’ll probably be kinder to her than to my future biological granddaughter.”

Pear Blossom agreed with this. Mrs. Xiong had indeed treated Dong Yun and her daughter without hesitation, and Pear Blossom’s suggestion was just to make her mother continue to care for them without any burdens or doubts. Although Dong Yun was making great efforts to integrate into the village, she still carried a sense of pride inside, and it was better for her mother to take the lead in dealing with the villagers.

With both families on good terms and protected by her father and Daniu, anyone in or out of the village would have to think twice before trying to provoke them.

Pear Blossom continued, “Mother, this silver doesn’t include my dowry. If I marry, I will decide for myself, and I’ll prepare my dowry. If I’m not ready, don’t worry.”

Mrs. Xiong paused for a moment. With her daughter speaking like this, she understood. To be honest, with a child so capable and able to earn money, no ordinary family would want to send away such a golden goose. She didn’t know if it was because Pear Blossom didn’t like the men in front of her or if she truly didn’t want to be with anyone. Her only concern was that her daughter might end up lonely without a companion.

But that didn’t matter. The family had so much silver, and with three younger siblings, even if Pear Blossom didn’t want to marry, they could support her. As for what others said, let them talk. In her earlier years, she had been cautious and still got talked about and excluded, and look at where it had brought her.

Still, she carefully tested, “Your Aunt Qin mentioned a match with Dabao. He’s not young anymore. If you’re really not interested, I can tell her not to bring it up again to avoid causing trouble.”

Pear Blossom simply replied, “Refuse it.”

Mrs. Xiong knew it was pointless to persuade her further, so she accepted the silver notes and said, “Alright, I understand.”

After Pear Blossom handed Fubao over to her, she said, “The world is chaotic right now, and power speaks. As long as people don’t provoke us, it’s fine. But if they dare to overstep, don’t be afraid, just do what needs to be done. No matter how big the problem, we can resolve it with silver now. Your father and Daniu will protect you, and if they can’t, I’ll be back soon and will take care of things for you.”

Mrs. Xiong smiled, “You’re more reliable than your father. After being beaten down for so many years, I’ve finally turned things around. I can’t bear any injustice now.”

Pear Blossom also smiled, “It should be like this. Well, I need to go to the city later.”

“Alright, I know. Go on with what you’re doing. Little Fubao will stay with Grandma Xiong today and won’t go anywhere.”

After giving the instructions, Pear Blossom drank some water from the stove, mounted her horse, and headed toward Jinyang City.

At the Dart Bureau, Zuo Qi was still there. When he saw Pear Blossom, he immediately asked, “Is she alright?”

Pear Blossom shook her head, returned the horse to him, and said, “She’s fine, but those people won’t let it go.”

She then recounted what had happened earlier that morning.

When Zuo Qi heard that it was people from Baihu Mountain Manor (White Tiger Villa), his eyes filled with coldness as he gritted his teeth and said, “These scoundrels. Once I get to the bottom of it, I’ll deal with them.”

“Master, Sister Dong knew I was with you as soon as she saw the horse.”

Zuo Qi was stunned for a moment, then slapped his head in annoyance. “What did she say?”

“Nothing, but she didn’t seem happy. Her position is delicate, and yours is too. I’ll take care of the gambling den business. I’ll talk to Murong Jin and come up with our own way to deal with them.”

Zuo Qi was indeed troubled. Although he was now a thousand-household, the military camp had various factions, and the political situation was unstable. With someone above searching for people, if he suddenly sent someone to deal with Baihu Mountain Manor, it would definitely raise suspicion.

After hesitating for a moment, he said, “You handle it for now. If it becomes unmanageable, let me know. Try not to get the yamen involved. If you really need help, the head of the previous catch has some connections with me. You can go to him if you need anything.”

Pear Blossom agreed, saying, “Then you go ahead. I’ll talk to Murong Jin about how to handle those people from the casino.”

Zuo Qi nodded, was about to leave, then paused and asked, “Do you have any silver to spend? If not, I have some here.”

Pear Blossom shook her head, smiling. “I’m not lacking in silver right now.”

Zuo Qi didn’t doubt her. When it came to such matters, his honest disciple was the most straightforward. If she had it, she’d say so, and if not, she wouldn’t. He didn’t worry further and rode back to the military camp.

After entering the Dart Bureau, Murong Jin finally asked, “How do you know that person? He clearly looks like a soldier, and he should have a fairly high rank.”

Pear Blossom replied, “My father used to serve in the military and made a small contribution, which got him some recognition. I ran into him today, and he helped me out with a small favor.”

Murong Jin clicked his tongue and said, “Why does it feel like you always manage to surprise people unexpectedly?”

Pear Blossom smiled, “For others, my meeting you could also be considered a surprise.”

Murong Jin felt that this wasn’t wrong, so she stopped dwelling on it. She called for Lin Mu and Xu Shi, and they all entered the room to discuss how to deal with the casino matter.

By the time they were about to leave, Pear Blossom turned to Murong Jin and said, “Help me get a horse. Just register it under your Dart Bureau’s name. These are exceptional times, and I don’t want to waste too much time traveling.”

Murong Jin replied grumpily, “I already told you before, it’s because you refused it.”

Pear Blossom said, “It’s different. That’s the Dart Bureau’s horse, and business is business.”

With that, she took out thirty taels of silver and handed them to her.

Murong Jin refused without thinking, “Do you think I’m short of that little bit of silver?”

“Just said business is business. Otherwise, I’ll walk.”

Murong Jin was at a loss, but she was no stranger to Pear Blossom’s personality. She reluctantly accepted the silver and said, “Tomorrow, I’ll send Shi Tou to handle it. You can ride the Dart Bureau’s horse back tonight, and once your horse is registered, we’ll switch.”

She emphasized the words “your horse” with extra force.

Pear Blossom grinned, glad to have her own horse to use, with no burden since she paid for it, and at the moment, money was not a concern.

---

West Market Casino.

The black-faced man, Manager Tao, listened to the report from the others, his face darkening as he slammed the table and cursed, “Useless! You can’t even handle a woman. What good are you to me?”

The man with the mustache and Scar stood quietly, and the mustached man quickly responded with a sad face, “Who knew the people in that village were so tricky? We didn’t know what kind of poison the widow fed them. They were fearless, charging at us, and even though we’ve cut down several of them, we couldn’t stop them. Even Scar almost lost his head…”

Manager Tao shot Scar a look and said, “Look at you. What can you even accomplish? Last time you were supposed to deliver that little girl to the villa. What happened? You lost her and even cost two of our men their lives. This time, we finally set a trap for the widow, and after all that effort, a bunch of unarmed villagers chased us away. What good are you at this point?”

Scar hung his head, unable to say a word.

Just then, someone knocked and entered, reporting, “my lord, we went to Wu Sandian’s house, but he wasn’t there.”

The mustached man became anxious, “my lord, what if the people from that village kidnapped Wu Sandian and reported us to the authorities? It would be bad if we have to pay silver, but if news spreads that we set a trap to cheat a guest, no one will dare to gamble with us anymore…”

Manager Tao, hearing this, slammed the cup onto the table and cursed, “You know it’ll be bad if it gets out, but why didn’t you use your brains before doing something?”

The mustached man and Scar exchanged looks, both inwardly grumbling. This was not the first time they had done such a thing. It always went through Tao’s approval. Now that things were going wrong, he was putting the blame on them.

“The county magistrate is our man,” Scar quickly reminded.

Manager Tao grunted, “The county magistrate is our man, but the county chief isn’t. The situation is becoming more chaotic. The owner wants to expand his influence and cooperate with the county chief, but this Zhang is hesitant, considering this and that, unwilling to make a move. The money is still taken, but when it comes to doing the work, he’s wishy-washy. Who knows if he’ll end up using this incident to bite us back.”

The mustached man thought for a while but couldn’t come up with any good solution, so he said, “Then… should we just apologize like that little girl suggested?”

“Have you ever heard of our casino apologizing to anyone? If the owner finds out that we can’t even handle a small village, then we should just quit!” Tao glared at him with wide eyes.

The two men immediately fell silent, shrinking back. After a long pause, the mustached man asked, “So, sir, what should we do next?”

Manager Tao looked at the two men and said, “What else can we do? Wait. Send someone to spread word near the village, saying we have people in the government. Let those troublemakers know that even if they report us, they won’t win. As long as we block that route, they’ll definitely be too afraid to go to the authorities. If they don’t go to the authorities, they won’t dare come here to cause trouble. As long as they dare show up at our door, on our turf, they won’t get away with it.”

The mustached man and Scar immediately gave him a thumbs-up. “Sir, you’re really something. If they don’t dare come to our door, this matter will be over.”

It’s just a pity about that beautiful widow from Daliushu Village.

Tao grunted, his face still sour. “The Jinfeng Tower was just destroyed the night before, and now our casino has this issue. It’s really cursed!”

“Sir, could it be that someone’s targeting Baihu Mountain Villa, specially causing trouble for Jinfeng Tower and our casino?”

Tao rubbed his chin and shook his head, “Who would have the guts and ability to go against the villa owner? As for the casino matter, that’s something we brought upon ourselves. As for Jinfeng Tower, we’ve been investigating, but we haven’t found anything. The few scoundrels who took the silver haven’t been caught, so it’s hard to say.”

He glared at the two men again, “The owner lost a lot with Jinfeng Tower, so we can’t afford any mistakes here at the casino. These next few days, stay sharp, and don’t cause any more trouble.”

However, after discussing for an entire night, by the afternoon of the next day, someone came to report to Manager Tao that two young girls had arrived at the gambling house. They had already been playing for a whole day and had nearly won all the money from the customers. People outside knew that a formidable presence had arrived at the West Market casino and no one dared to come in to gamble anymore.

Manager Tao had seen people with good luck before, but it was rare to see young girls coming to gamble. With curiosity, he asked, “How much did they win?”

“Replying to the master, they won one thousand taels.”

Upon hearing this, Manager Tao’s legs went weak, nearly collapsing onto the ground. “What? One thousand taels! Did our people not intervene?”

Usually, a casino has its own rules. Once a customer wins above a certain amount, the casino will intervene. The dealers are instructed either to use loaded dice or have their own people act as customers to skim off the money.

There were instances where someone won thousands of taels, but it was all part of a ploy to mislead and attract more gamblers.

But these two girls were clearly not part of their operation.

The attendant quickly replied, “Master, our people intervened, and the props were changed, but they still couldn’t win against these two. Right now, the two girls have already left with the money.”

“Left? Are they just eating free food? How could you let them go?” Manager Tao slammed the table angrily.

“Master, these two girls can’t be stopped. One of them is the young lady of the Longwei Dart Bureau. Murong Jiutian has pampered her to the extreme. If he knew that we detained his daughter in the casino, he’d probably tear our place apart!”

“Murong Jiutian’s daughter? How did this young girl come to gamble here?” Manager Tao anxiously paced around the room.

The attendant added, “The other girl who came with Miss Murong is said to be from Daliushu Village.”

“Daliushu Village? What kind of place is that? Do I know this village?”

“Master, it’s the village where the incident happened yesterday, the one with the scar-faced man and the troublemaker.”

Manager Tao’s heart skipped a beat. “So, it was a trap from the start.”

Just then, the manager and the scar-faced man hurriedly entered. Seeing that the attendant had already explained the situation, the scar-faced man, looking troubled, said, “Master, we didn’t expect someone from Daliushu Village to know Murong Jiutian. If we had known, we wouldn’t have—”

Manager Tao angrily threw his cup to the ground, smashing it into pieces. “One thousand taels! How much do we earn in a month? Look at what you’ve caused! If the master finds out, we’re all finished!”

The attendant, trembling, said, “Master, the two girls also said…”

“Say what?” Manager Tao barked.

“They said… said the money was too easy to win and that they plan to come back tomorrow…”

“How outrageous—how outrageous!” Manager Tao immediately flew into a rage, shouting, “Look at the mess you’ve made!”

The scar-faced man gritted his teeth and said, “If worst comes to worst, I’ll take care of the girl from Daliushu Village!”

“Take care of her? Didn’t I hear that you almost had your throat slit by that little girl and nearly wet your pants? Now you want to harm her? She’s already done more than enough!” Manager Tao was fuming. “I told you, a simple village girl, yet she has so much power. Turns out, she’s from Murong Jiutian’s family!”

The manager quickly suggested, “Master, why don’t we contact Murong Jiutian and ask him to control his precious daughter? This matter could be resolved easily. In the past, when he escorted goods, he always showed respect to our master; surely he’ll give us some face.”

“Respect? That’s just mutual courtesy. If we go to him now, it’s a favor we owe him,” Manager Tao groaned, distressed.

The others fell silent.

After a while, Manager Tao suppressed his anger and finally said, “Contact Murong Jiutian and ask him to come to Jufu Tower for a chat.”

The manager replied, “I heard that Murong Jiutian left for Yecheng three days ago. I’m not sure if he’s back yet…”

“Hasn’t he returned? Can’t you find out?” Manager Tao scolded.

The manager hurried off and came back after a while, reporting, “Longwei Dart Bureau said Murong Jiutian went to Yecheng. He might not return for several days…”

Manager Tao was furious and shouted, “Get out—get out—get out—”

---

Pear Blossom and Murong Jin, carrying the silver, happily returned to the Dart Bureau.

Shitou was saddling a tall horse when he saw the two return and called out, “Miss Pear Blossom, how is it? This horse is quite handsome, isn’t it?”

Pear Blossom looked up and saw the horse: it was jet black, its build elegant and strong. Once the saddle was on, it looked even more impressive and majestic. She couldn’t help but walk over and gently stroke its neck. The horse, seemingly intelligent, lowered its head and gave a light whinny.

“Handsome! It’s just too handsome,” Pear Blossom said excitedly.

Murong Jin turned to Shitou and asked, “Did you register it at the yamen?”

“Yes, it’s registered under our Dart Bureau’s name. As long as we’re around, no one dares to requisition this horse,” Shitou smiled.

Pear Blossom was thrilled. She immediately mounted the horse and rode a few laps around the courtyard, unwilling to get off. She then turned to Murong Jin and said, “Since there’s nothing else to do today, I’ll head back. We’ll proceed with the original plan tomorrow.”

Murong Jin nodded. “Alright, you go ahead.”

Pear Blossom lightly pulled the reins, and the horse began to trot. However, after just a couple of steps, she dismounted to avoid colliding with others on the street. It wasn’t until she left the city gates that she mounted again. With a gentle flick of the reins, the black horse galloped off, and Pear Blossom felt the scenery around her whizzing by. The wind whistled past her ears, and she felt a lightness she hadn’t experienced before, even more than when she had traveled with Zuo Qi.

One person, one horse, galloping freely, soon entered the village.

The villagers, hearing the sound of hooves, looked in the direction of the noise and saw a young girl in a yellow dress riding a horse, exuding a heroic presence.

“Ah, Pear Blossom is back.”

“This horse is really handsome, even better than the one from yesterday.”

“Yesterday, when Pear Blossom dismounted, it was like she flew off the horse.”

Yesterday, there had been a confrontation with a group of bandits, but the farmwork still had to be done. Apart from those who were injured and sent to the city or kept at home to rest, everyone else still had to go out to plow the fields or chop firewood.

After greeting everyone, Pear Blossom headed straight for the village’s edge.

Arriving at the Zeng family house, she dismounted and entered. She found Dong Yun washing clothes, and she told her about winning the silver. “I don’t need the silver, but since the villagers helped out together yesterday, and I publicly mentioned asking the others to apologize, though they’ll never apologize, I still want to distribute this silver among the families. That way, everyone benefits, and in the future, if any strangers come to the village, people will keep an eye on things, and we won’t have to constantly worry.”

Dong Yun hadn’t expected that after only talking about dealing with the gambling den yesterday, Pear Blossom would return with so much silver. She was incredulous, but the heavy bundle of silver ingots tied to the horse’s back left no room for doubt.

“This silver is yours, and you have the right to decide. If you’re not troubled by it, I fully support your decision.”

Pear Blossom smiled with narrowed eyes, “Let’s go, we’ll tell Third Uncle and have him gather the villagers to distribute the silver.”

Dong Yun glanced at the clothes that still needed one more rinse and said, “I still need to rinse these clothes. Let’s wait until I’m done.”

In recent days, everyone had been nervous, and Dong Yun didn’t dare to go down to the river by herself, so she had been washing clothes using well water at home.

Pear Blossom said, “You sit to the side, I’ll help you rinse them.”

It was already November, and the weather was getting colder. To save firewood, they could heat water for washing, but rinsing had to be done with cold water.

Pear Blossom remembered that Dong Yun’s period hadn’t ended yet and didn’t want her to handle the cold water, so she rolled up her sleeves, washed her hands, and went to help rinse the clothes.

Dong Yun’s back was a bit sore, but it wasn’t unbearable. The young girl was quick with her movements and rushed off to fetch water, so Dong Yun didn’t bother refusing.

However, when Pear Blossom was rinsing Dong Yun’s small underpants, she hadn’t figured out what they were. She found the soft fabric and pale color very pretty and comfortable. Just as she was about to pick them up for a closer look, Dong Yun grabbed her hand.

Pear Blossom realized what it was, and her face flushed red instantly.

In the past, she had been oblivious to such things. Sometimes, when bathing, her mother would wash her small clothes along with the others, and she never thought much about it. Even when they moved into the new house, the three of them would bathe together and scrub each other’s backs without feeling shy.

But ever since that time she massaged Dong Yun’s back and had an intimate dream, she started to become more self-conscious, not letting her mother enter the bathroom while she bathed, and even forbidding Xinghua to enter. Mrs. Xiong would always tease her, saying she had “woken up” and become shy.

As for Dong Yun, she had once had many servants, and she had never minded someone else washing her small clothes or even bathing her. But now, seeing this young girl handling her intimate items, she felt inexplicably embarrassed.

Pear Blossom silently let go of the small underpants and stood up to fetch a small basin of water, placing it beside Dong Yun. “You wash here.”

Dong Yun always washed the inner clothes first, then the outer ones, to keep them separate. It was this clumsy girl who had thrown everything in together that caused the trouble, making her feel uncomfortable. Dong Yun couldn’t help but glare at her.

Pear Blossom looked at her expression, half teasing and half angry, her face flushed with a faint redness. It made Pear Blossom’s heart flutter, feeling both ticklish and embarrassed.