Upon arriving at the family quarters, Yang Dahua got off the donkey cart first, as her home wasn’t at the same location as Yang Haiyan’s.

As she stepped off, she noticed the horse-drawn cart had also stopped behind them but didn’t think much of it.

Once the donkey cart arrived at Yang Haiyan’s doorstep, Uncle Hong and Aunt Hong began unloading the goods, while Yang Haiyan entered the study to conduct transactions on the platform.

She sold 30 taels of gold for 510,000 platform coins, then used 500,000 platform coins to purchase two thousand taels of silver.

After her transactions, Yang Haiyan called for the Zhenbao Pavilion staff to help with the silver.

Once they took the silver and returned the wooden bucket from the river delicacy shop, she placed the glass-type bracelet she had not worn onto the platform, checking its selling price, which surprisingly was valued at 1.09 million platform coins.

Yang Haiyan decided not to sell it but set a high price and kept it in the system.

After all, it was something she cherished, and she didn’t want to part with it unless absolutely necessary.

Aunt Hong said, “Madam, everything has been moved down. Should we handle these items?”

Yang Haiyan came out of the study, “Just leave them for Aunt Fan to deal with. You and Uncle Hong can head back to the shop and switch shifts with Aunt Fan. Tomorrow, Uncle Hong will come to dig the cellar.”

“Alright,” Aunt Hong replied.

Once Uncle Hong and Aunt Hong left, Sister Lu approached, “Haiyan, what did you buy in the county?”

This wasn’t an inquiry but a casual neighborly conversation.

Yang Haiyan replied, “I got some small river shrimp and fish. These river shrimp are really fresh; they taste great in a soup with shredded radish. Sister, would you like a bowl?”

Sister Lu responded, “No need, no need.”

Yang Haiyan understood Sister Lu’s hesitation and smiled, explaining, “These river shrimp are cheap, only two wen per jin. They aren’t expensive prawns. If you feel uncomfortable, just visit my snack shop more often.”

With that, she went inside to fetch a bowl and served Sister Lu a bowl of river shrimp.

They were indeed inexpensive and not something rare.

If they had been expensive prawns, even if she was willing to give some away, she wouldn’t want others thinking she was extravagant.

Seeing Yang Haiyan’s kindness, Sister Lu accepted the shrimp and thought about buying more snacks from her shop tomorrow.

Just then, Mrs. Zhang from next door came over, “The Qin family bought so many things!”

She had been listening in and noticed Yang Haiyan giving shrimp to Sister Lu, so she wanted to take advantage as well.

Yang Haiyan wasn’t keen on giving anything to someone who liked to take advantage.

She said, “They’re not anything special. By the way, Aunt, I heard from Aunt Fan that you forgot to bring money when you bought snacks yesterday. You originally didn’t want to take them, but Aunt Fan let you take them first and said you’d pay me later?” She asked in a gentle tone, giving Mrs. Zhang face.

However, Sister Lu was well aware of Mrs. Zhang’s character and immediately understood she was trying to take advantage by not paying.

She thought to herself that Yang Haiyan was being too polite; if it were her, she would have called Mrs. Zhang out directly.

After all, she had heard Mrs. Zhang complaining about her pork costing 65 wen, and she was constantly asking for it.

When Mrs. Zhang heard Yang Haiyan mention this, and seeing Sister Lu there, she felt her pride was at stake and said, “Yes, I forgot to bring money, so I didn’t mean to buy anything. But your servant was too polite, so I had to take it. Wait here, I’ll go get the money.” Then she hurriedly returned to her own yard.

Mrs. Zhang loved her pride but didn’t realize that her reputation among the neighbors was already tarnished.

Sister Lu remarked, “I wonder how long she’ll take to come back with that money.”

Yang Haiyan replied, “Next time I see her, I’ll just remind her.”

Sister Lu thought to herself that while Yang Haiyan appeared soft-spoken, she was quite clever.

After all, someone from a wealthy family wouldn’t be easy to take advantage of. “By the way, I almost forgot to mention something. With winter coming, the conditions here can be very harsh… I was wondering if you’d like to stock up on food. We a few families who know each other have been ordering cabbage and radishes from a local farmer for years. We’re quite familiar with him, and the prices are cheaper than what you’d find elsewhere.”

Yang Haiyan replied, “Yes, the servants at home mentioned it to me today as well. I’ll have someone dig the cellar tomorrow. How many pounds of cabbage and radish should we order for the winter?”

Sister Lu said, “You’ll need enough for about two months. Just decide how much you want.”

Yang Haiyan calculated; with their large family, they would need about four jin of cabbage and four jin of radishes each day.

Considering they would be eating them for two months, that totals 60 days: “I’ll take 240 jin of cabbage and 240 jin of radishes.”

Sister Lu replied, “I’ll place the order for you.”

“Great! How much silver will that cost?” Yang Haiyan asked.

Sister Lu explained, “Vegetable prices go up a bit in winter, so they’re two wen per jin. For 480 jin, that’s 960 wen. In normal times, they wouldn’t even cost a wen each.”

Yang Haiyan responded, “I’ll go get the money.”

Sister Lu said, “No need. You can pay once the goods arrive. There’s no worry about selling cabbage and radishes, so we should just get our numbers in early.”

Yang Haiyan expressed her gratitude, “Thank you so much, Sister. I really wouldn’t have known without your reminder.”

“Not at all,” Sister Lu replied.

As they chatted, Aunt Fan arrived.

Seeing this, Sister Lu decided to leave, thinking it was best to let Aunt Fan handle things at home.

Yang Haiyan gave a few pointers and then went to find Yang Dahua.

Yang Dahua was washing things when she saw Yang Haiyan come in and was a bit surprised, “Haiyan, why are you here?”

Yang Haiyan explained the situation regarding winter: “… I’ve ordered 240 jin of cabbage and radishes each, totaling 480 jin. If you want some, let Sister Lu know.”

“I didn’t know about that! I’ll go talk to Sister Lu right now,” Yang Dahua said.

Yang Haiyan nodded, thinking about the story she read where she would be pregnant during the winter.

She added, “We should also prepare some meat; otherwise, we’ll be eating only cabbage and radishes for two months. Even if we women can manage at home without extra nourishment, the men in the military will be working hard and need to supplement their nutrition.”

If she asked Yang Dahua to prepare some meat for herself, she might hesitate.

But if it was for Han Zhen, she wouldn’t think twice.

This was a common mindset among women in ancient times; aside from those who considered themselves, 90% of women prioritized their husbands.

But it was fine; even if she prepared meat for Han Zhen, wouldn’t she be eating it too?

As they chatted, Yang Haiyan returned home while Yang Dahua went to arrange for the cabbage and radishes with Sister Lu.

At the military camp, someone reported, “The imperial decree and the military department’s documents have arrived.”

The heir of the Yonghe Marquis was currently handling military affairs in the main camp when he heard the report and said, “Come in.”

Without needing to look at the imperial decree, he already knew it was about the promotion of Captain Ao.

From today onward, Captain Ao would be elevated to the rank of a fifth-rank Youjijun general.

Althought it’s a lower general position it’s still a general title.

The heir(Young Master) said, “Call General Ao to my tent.”

“Yes,” came the reply.

Shortly after, General Ao arrived, saying, “Young Master.”

The heir replied, “The imperial decree has arrived. The emperor has personally issued it. From today onward, I should refer to you as General Ao.”

General Ao felt a surge of joy and quickly knelt on one knee, saying, “This is all thanks to your cultivation, Young Master.”

The heir said, “No need for formalities, get up. The selection process for the thousand-man leader can also begin. Once Qin Fang becomes the thousand-man leader, bring him to see me.”

“Understood,” General Ao replied.

Upon hearing the news of General Ao’s promotion, Qin Fang and the others were especially delighted for two reasons: first, their team had lost a thousand-man leader, which meant they would need to select a new one, giving each of the ten a chance.

Second, the previous thousand-man leader had come from their group, which meant their new leader would likely pay them extra attention.

So how could they not be happy?

As General Ao looked at his subordinates congratulating him, he felt happy too. “Alright, everyone quiet down. I have a second matter to discuss regarding the selection of the thousand-man leader for this thousand-man team.”

As soon as everyone heard about the selection, they fell silent.

In the past, the selection of a thousand-man leader was typically done by the previous leader or a few nominated candidates for higher-ups to decide.

This time, they were curious about who General Ao would choose.

Qin Fang felt particularly excited; he hadn’t expected General Ao’s promotion would bring his opportunity so quickly.

However, he was also nervous, unsure of whom General Ao would select among the ten of them.

In fact, Qin Fang had a slight feeling that General Ao had favored him and promoted him in the past, but he lacked full confidence.

General Ao continued, “The candidate for the thousand-man leader will be selected from among the ten of you.

The selection method is also quite simple. In the past, it was directly appointed by superiors, but this time will be different: we’ll hold a martial arts competition.

Whoever places first in the competition among you will become the thousand-man leader. The selection will take place three days from now.”

Upon hearing about the martial arts competition, eight of the Centurion leaders felt disheartened.

They knew they had little hope, with the strongest contenders being Qin Fang and Han Zhen.

As for who would come out on top, no one could be certain since they hadn’t truly fought against each other, though they were both known to be fierce fighters.

In fact, both Qin Fang and Han Zhen had a sense of confidence upon hearing General Ao’s words.

They knew they were the only real competition for each other.

Exchanging determined glances, they were both resolved not to back down.

Despite competing for the thousand-man leader(Captain) position, they knew that their friendship would remain unchanged regardless of who won.

After all, they had come from the same small village, and as long as they were in the military together, they would support each other.

After work, Qin Fang returned home, still pondering the upcoming competition.

Yang Haiyan noticed he seemed distracted and asked with concern, “Husband, what are you thinking about? I see you smiling one moment and frowning the next. Do you have something on your mind?”

Qin Fang didn’t hide it and replied honestly, “Today, the court sent the decree for General Ao… he has been promoted from thousand-man leader to fifth-rank Youjijun general.”

Yang Haiyan paused for a moment. “Then what about the position he vacated? Who has been promoted?”

Qin Fang replied, “They’re holding a martial arts competition to select a new thousand-man leader. However, I’m not worried about the others; my biggest rival is Han Zhen.”

There was confidence in his voice. “Yanyan, I’ll do my best to become the thousand-man leader and make you the leader’s wife.”

Listening to him, Yang Haiyan gazed at him with admiration, saying, “My husband is the best!”

Seeing the sparkle in her eyes strengthened Qin Fang’s resolve.

He hoped she would always look at him like that, wishing her gaze would forever be fixed solely on him.

When did he start wanting that?

Perhaps it was when she first brought him food.

Standing at the back gate of the camp, she looked so delicate that he felt she might fall ill at any moment.

Or maybe it was after she had brought him food time and again, becoming the only light in his five years of military service—the only motivation outside of family.

Or perhaps it began when she tenderly spoke about their future and their children.

In any case, Qin Fang didn’t know, but he was certain that he was willing to fight for this woman.

His gaze softened as he looked at her, different from before—this time it carried a possessive intensity.

Previously, he viewed her with respect, admiration, and pride, but now there was an element of desire in his look.

Yang Haiyan’s heart raced a little faster, and she playfully glared at him. “Husband, why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?”

Qin Fang felt a warmth in his heart; her playful tone softened him to the core.

He swallowed hard and replied, “Nothing.”

Yang Haiyan laughed softly, “If you win first place and become the thousand-man leader, I’ll give you a special gift.”

Qin Fang’s eyes lit up, “Really? What is it?”

Yang Haiyan raised an eyebrow teasingly, “I can’t tell you; then it wouldn’t be a surprise.”

Looking at her playful demeanor made Qin Fang’s heart flutter.

Rather than pressuring her to tell him, he was more content with the thought of winning first place and receiving her surprise. “Then I’ll wait for it.”

Yang Haiyan nodded and then extended her left hand, saying, “Husband, I bought this bracelet today. Do you think it looks nice?”

Qin Fang looked at her delicate wrist adorned with a vibrant jade bracelet.

He didn’t know much about jewelry, but he thought anything his wife wore looked good, so he couldn’t help but say, “It looks nice.”

Yang Haiyan added, “I bought two bracelets like this for two thousand taels.”

Hearing this, Qin Fang was so shocked that he almost choked on his food. “So expensive?… It must be really good.”

But this was her money, and if she liked it, then of course she could buy it.

He thought to himself that one day he would use his own money to buy her gifts to wear.

Yang Haiyan explained, “I’ve seen this kind of bracelet at the Yang family. It holds its value really well, which means that even if we run into financial trouble later, selling this bracelet won’t result in a loss. And even if we don’t need the money, it can be passed down through generations.”

Qin Fang replied, “You make the decisions.”

Feeling a bit ashamed, he realized he hadn’t bought anything for his wife yet.

Looking at his own purse, which only held 300 wen, he knew he couldn’t afford anything good for her.

But then Qin Fang’s eyes lit up, and an idea formed in his mind.

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