Chapter 99: Exchanging Silver

The next morning, Pear Blossom carried Fubao down the mountain.

This path, she had walked countless times both day and night, so familiar that it could not be more familiar. Fubao was lying on her back, her little face pressed closely against Pear Blossom’s neck, warm and cozy.

Pear Blossom once again reminded her not to tell anyone about Dong Yun living in the cave.

“There are many bad people outside. If they find out your mother is living in the cave, they’ll come and take her away!”

Fubao tightly pursed her lips and nodded forcefully. “Fubao knows. Fubao won’t tell anyone.”

“Good girl. Once we go down the mountain, we’ll have fun during the day, and we’ll return to the mountain to sleep at night.”

“Is mother afraid to be alone in the cave? Fubao can stay with mother in the cave during the day.”

“I’m not afraid. Mother needs to read and write. Fubao should play with her little friends, and we’ll meet again at night.”

Hearing this, Fubao nodded obediently. “Mm, at night, Fubao will sleep with mother, and also with Pear Blossom.”

Pear Blossom felt both pleased and regretful upon hearing this. After reuniting with Dong Yun, the two of them had been so busy every night that it was hard to find a moment of peace. Now, with this little one here, she insisted on sleeping in the middle, making it difficult for Pear Blossom to get close to her sister.

It was truly a sweet little burden.

When they arrived home, Mrs. Xiong asked when she saw them coming down, “Have you eaten? There are a few pancakes left on the table.”

Pear Blossom shook her head. “I had porridge with sister before coming down. Mother, things are chaotic outside. Please give me the silver notes I gave you before. I’ll take them to the bank and exchange them for silver. Otherwise, if something happens and the bank goes under, these silver notes will just be worthless.”

Mrs. Xiong was startled when she heard this, quickly going into the house to grab the silver notes and handing them to her. “Then you must hurry. Do you want your father to go with you? With so much silver, how will you carry it all?”

Mrs. Xiong had two thousand taels of silver notes, and Pear Blossom had more than a thousand. If they exchanged them for silver, it would weigh nearly three hundred jin. It wouldn’t be easy for her to carry it alone.

Pear Blossom smiled. “Don’t worry, the bank can exchange silver for gold. One hundred taels of silver can be exchanged for one tael of gold. How would you like to exchange yours?”

Mrs. Xiong slapped her forehead, suddenly understanding. “Ah, it can be done that way. Do whatever you think is best! We need to exchange some silver, maybe about one hundred taels. The rest, change into gold!”

Pear Blossom nodded. One hundred taels would be just ten silver ingots, which would be easy to carry.

“Mother, things are chaotic outside. I’m not sure how Grandpa and Grandma are doing. When I go into town, I’ll visit Shangyang Village. Do you want me to bring any messages to them?”

Mrs. Xiong hadn’t expected her child to be so thoughtful, and she felt a warm sense of relief in her heart. “I don’t have any particular message for them. I just want to know if they’re okay. Tell them not to go out too much, and also, I don’t know if they’ve stored enough grain after I asked them to.”

“Alright, I’ll go and let you know when I get there. I’ll bring your words along, and as for Fubao, you can take care of her.”

When Fubao heard this, she smiled and took the child, saying, “My granddaughter isn’t someone else’s to take care of, only mine!”

She couldn’t resist pinching the chubby cheeks of the little bundle. “Your grandfather went to patrol the village. Later, Grandma will take you to your fifth grandfather’s house to play with Dog (Goudan).”

Finally, after the spring plowing ended, the villagers had a rare few days of rest. Talking and gossiping while walking through the village was inevitable, and the men would gather to talk about outside matters.

When Fubao heard that she was going to play with Goudan, she happily exclaimed, “Let’s go play with Goudan!”

Pear Blossom gave her little bottom a pat, then turned to the cattle shed to tie up the horse.

They rode swiftly, and in just a little over a moment, they arrived at Shangyang Village. To her surprise, their village had set up a guard post, with a few villagers taking turns guarding the entrance.

When the villagers at the village entrance saw her from a distance, they quickly recognized her. “Hey, isn’t that the eldest daughter of the Xiong family, Xiufang? The one named Pear Blossom?”

“Yes, yes, that’s her! I heard she’s now the closed-door disciple of the Murong family’s head, Murong Biao!”

“No wonder. In these chaotic times, what girl would dare wander around alone? It turns out she’s learned some skills and returned.”

The leader of the group stuck his head out and called loudly to Pear Blossom, “Pear Blossom, are you here to visit your maternal grandfather?”

Pear Blossom smiled and replied, “Yes, Uncle. I see you’ve set up a guard post here.”

The villager sighed, saying, “We had no choice. Recently, our village has been visited by a few waves of refugees, and several households have suffered. If we hadn’t set up the posts, things might have gotten worse.”

He paused and then regretfully added, “If we had listened to your uncle’s advice and set up a watchtower earlier, we wouldn’t have lost a few lives.”

Pear Blossom comforted him, saying, “Uncle, no one could have predicted that these refugees would become so rampant. There are more and more refugees in Jinyang, we must be extra cautious.”

The villager nodded in agreement. “You’re right. Girl, if anything happens in your village, let us know so we can be prepared.”

Pear Blossom readily agreed, “Don’t worry, Uncle. My grandparents are here, and if anything happens, I’ll come right away.”

After bidding them farewell, she went straight into the village, heading for the Xiong family.

Both of her uncles were at home, and they were overjoyed to see her.

“Why are you still here when things are so chaotic outside?” Xiong Laoda asked with concern.

Pear Blossom raised the large knife in her hand and said, “With this thing in hand, who would dare block my path?”

The Xiong brothers had witnessed her strength when they built their house in Daliushu Village. Now that she had also joined the Murong family, they didn’t need to worry about such things.

They turned to ask about the situation in the village. “How’s things over there? Have bandits or refugees come to the village? I heard there’s a bandit leader named Ghost-Seeking Sorrow who specializes in kidnapping and robbing people. He’s been quite vicious.”

Pear Blossom hadn’t paid much attention to this Ghost-Seeking Sorrow, so she shook her head and said, “There are occasional refugees causing trouble in the village, but they’ve been driven out by everyone. My mother was worried about the situation here, so she asked me to come and check.”

When Xiong Laoda (Boss Xiong) heard that his younger sister was concerned, he quickly said, “Everything’s fine at home. Go back and tell your mother not to worry. You all take care.”

Pear Blossom nodded. “Have you stored the grain properly?”

When they stocked up on grain before the new year, Pear Blossom had already notified the Xiong family. The Xiong brothers knew it was news brought by Murong Jiutian, so they didn’t dare delay. With the money Pear Blossom had given them, they immediately purchased and stored grain.

“Don’t worry. It’s all well hidden,” Xiong Laoda replied.

“Good. If anyone comes to cause trouble and the village can’t hold them off, you should run to the mountains to hide. Those refugees and bandits only come for money and women. If they can’t find anything, they’ll naturally leave. Us country folk don’t have much to offer, so they won’t bother looking up in the mountains.”

Pear Blossom then added, “If a large group does come, don’t panic. The wealthy will be in the city, and they usually head there. They’ll look down on our countryside, so just focus on keeping yourselves safe and don’t worry about anything else.”

Xiong Laoda nodded, then asked, “Since you’re close with the Murong family, if things really get chaotic, should we bring your parents to the city to take refuge?”

Pear Blossom shook her head. “Jinyang City has walls and guards, but if chaos truly erupts, a large number of people will flood into the city. There’s only so much food in the city, and once it’s gone, it’s gone. If the city gates are breached, and someone ruthless decides to massacre the city, it would be better to hide in the countryside.”

Her teacher had once told her about the massacres that happened in ancient cities. When a city was breached, the generals, in their desire to wipe out every last trace of resistance and vent their anger, would treat the citizens as nothing more than cattle to slaughter. It would be hell on earth.

While strong city walls were a blessing, if the city fell, it would be a nightmare.

Their village was near the mountains, so if something happened, staying outside would give them a better chance of survival than trying to squeeze into the city.

“Since everything’s fine, I won’t stay long. I’ll come check in from time to time. If anything happens, we’ll talk then.” Pear Blossom said, then asked if Xiong Laoda needed any medicinal herbs. She had a system that allowed her to go up the mountain to dig for herbs and could bring them to him later.

Xiong Laohan listed a few, and Pear Blossom noted them down before taking her leave.

…

Once in the city, she first went to the escort agency.

When she saw that Cui’er and the others had returned to the agency, she felt relieved and then asked Murong Jin to accompany her to the money shop.

The world is chaotic these days, and money shops are tightening their business. Some even move their assets in preparation for running away. If she’s unfamiliar, she might not be well-received, but if Murong Jin steps in, it will save half the effort.

Murong Jin herself also needs to exchange silver, so the two sisters went to the money shop with silver notes.

Sure enough, when the person in charge heard they wanted to exchange four to five thousand taels of silver, he quickly found an excuse to refuse.

Murong Jin slammed the table and pointed at the large characters on the wall, shouting, “It says on your wall, ‘Exchange in cash, integrity is the foundation.’ Now you’re going back on your word?”

The accountant in charge trembled in fear and hurriedly explained, “Miss Murong, please calm down. It’s not that we don’t want to exchange, but the amount you’re asking for is so large that our money shop can’t prepare it all at once. Generally speaking, exchanges of over five hundred taels require a reservation in advance. You came suddenly, and we just can’t be ready.”

Pear Blossom sneered inwardly, but on the surface, she remained calm and had the system check the money shop’s situation.

The system found that there were still over ten thousand taels of gold and silver in the vault, clearly indicating that the person in charge was intentionally stalling, likely needing to consult higher-ups before making a decision.

So, she tugged at Murong Jin’s sleeve and said, “Since we didn’t make a reservation today, let’s make one now and come back tomorrow to exchange the silver, how about that?”

The person in charge breathed a sigh of relief and quickly agreed.

After they left, he hurried into the inner room.

Once they turned the corner, Pear Blossom and Murong Jin exchanged a knowing smile.

Pear Blossom said, “Senior sister, your target is too big. Everyone in Jinyang City knows you. Leave this to me.”

Now that Pear Blossom’s skills were far above Murong Jin’s, Murong Jin had no objection or concerns. She patted her arm and said, “Alright, alright, I’ll go play a few rounds at the gambling house. I’ll wait for your good news.”

With that, she turned and walked toward the West Market.

Pear Blossom watched her red figure disappear around the corner but didn’t stay to keep an eye on the money shop. With the system in place, there was no need for her to eavesdrop personally.

Indeed, after the person in charge entered the inner room, he met with a middle-aged man, who was the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper listened to the report and said directly, “We can’t exchange the silver for them!”

The person in charge hurriedly said, “But shopkeeper, the young lady in the red clothes is the eldest daughter of the Longwei Dart Bureau. We promised them they could come back tomorrow to exchange the silver. If we go back on our word, it could cause big trouble.”

The man closed his eyes, seemingly weighing the pros and cons.

After a long while, he opened his eyes. “The outside world is in turmoil, and the number of people coming to exchange silver has increased several times compared to usual. If this continues, everyone will take their silver, and how can the money shop continue to operate? It will be bad for us too! I think we should take all the remaining silver, divide it up, and distribute it before the rebels come and it falls into the hands of those people!”

“But—” the person in charge said anxiously, “If we do that, Bao Fulong’s reputation will be ruined, and the higher-ups won’t spare us!”

The man snorted coldly, “The higher-ups won’t spare us? They have to find us first! Do as I say, and I guarantee nothing will happen.”

With that, he whispered something to the person in charge, who then left the room.

Pear Blossom got the information she wanted, lingered for a while nearby, and then went to find Murong Jin.

Truth be told, if the gold and silver were safely stored in the money shop’s vault, even with all their capabilities, it would be hard for Pear Blossom and Murong Jin to forcibly take it. After all, the architecture of the money shop was like an iron-clad wall, designed to prevent theft and robbery. But now, this once-impenetrable fortress was collapsing from within, truly a stroke of luck for them.

When Murong Jin received the news, her eyes lit up. “Good job, Pear Blossom! Your skills at gathering information are really improving. I’ve underestimated you.”

Pear Blossom smiled but didn’t explain. After all, this wasn’t really her own doing.

“In these chaotic times, wealth is like an unclaimed wandering soul, waiting to be gathered by those bold, unscrupulous people. Tonight, we too shall act like the unscrupulous,” Murong Jin said with a smile.

Pear Blossom agreed with her sentiment, since Bao Fulong money shop had already taken their silver, they were just reclaiming what was rightfully theirs. How could that be called unscrupulous?

As for the extra wealth, although it didn’t belong to them, since it was ill-gotten, why not take it?

“How many people are they sending tonight?”

“From what they said, it should be about ten people,” Pear Blossom replied. “They want to keep a low profile, afraid that too many people might leak the news.”

“In that case, just the two of us will be enough.”

Pear Blossom nodded. “But I have to go back first.”

Murong Jin looked at her in confusion. “We’re acting tonight, and you’re going back now to rest? Why not stay and conserve energy?”

Pear Blossom didn’t need to conserve energy, and she wasn’t tired.

“I need to send Fubao to the cave to accompany my sister. If she doesn’t see me by the time, she’ll worry.”

Murong Jin clicked her tongue. “Pear Blossom, I never realized you were so sentimental. How can one accomplish great things while being so emotionally involved? You can go back after the mission is done, it’s not too late.”

Pear Blossom shook her head. “I told my mother that I was going out to exchange silver today. If I don’t return and she doesn’t see me, she’ll worry.”

“You and your endless worrying,” Murong Jin said with a sigh. “Fine, fine, go ahead. But tonight, be sure to show up on time. Our silver can’t afford any mistakes.”

Pear Blossom couldn’t help but smile. It hadn’t even been secured, and it was already theirs.

In response, she turned over and mounted her horse and galloped away.