After breakfast the next day, Yang Haiyan quickened her pace.

The horse-drawn carts were moving slower compared to the larger group since everyone else was walking.

Yang Haiyan brought along ten women, including Granny Lian, Aunt Fan, Aunt Yu, the Kun family, the Meng family, the Huang and Xu families, and three from the Niu family.

Together with Kun Shi and the private guards, there were over twenty soldiers.

It must be said that as she proposed, leading her group ahead had its advantages.

At least when Qin Fang and the larger group arrived, they could start eating immediately.

Two days later, they finally left the Yongzhou territory.

During these two days, the number of people eating increased from the initial three hundred to over a thousand, as the dry rations they brought had gradually run low.

As for meals, they had started with rice bone porridge, then moved on to steamed buns, rice and sweet potato porridge, and roasted potatoes, all centered around porridge, buns, sweet potatoes, and potatoes for convenience.

After three days, the food Yang Haiyan had brought was all gone.

In terms of food costs, they neither made a profit nor incurred a loss.

However, since the meals for the two hundred soldiers didn’t have to be paid for, it was effectively a gain.

That afternoon, after lunch, Aunt Fan approached Yang Haiyan: “Madam, the food we brought is almost finished.”

Feeding a thousand people was vastly different from feeding a family.

If it were just their family, the food they brought could last a year, but for a thousand people, it was gone in two days.

Aunt Fan’s tone was filled with worry; if they had eaten everything, and the madam was still responsible for the group’s provisions, what would they do next?

In response to Aunt Fan’s anxiousness, Yang Haiyan felt quite pleased.

She smiled, “It’s good that the supplies are used up; it’ll make our journey easier.”

Qin Fang was just coming over to find her and overheard this, intrigued: “Why is it good that we’ve run out of food?”

Yang Haiyan turned around and said mysteriously, “Guess.”

To be honest, Qin Fang wasn’t very knowledgeable about such mundane matters.

Although he came from a humble background, before joining the military, he had grandparents, parents, uncles, and aunts, so as the eldest grandson, he didn’t have to worry about household affairs.

Once he joined the army, the kitchen took care of all meals, so he hadn’t had to think about these matters.

Therefore, he was genuinely curious about Yang Haiyan’s words.

Logically, running out of food should be a cause for concern, so why did she feel good about it?

Her tone also implied that she was going to continue preparing food for everyone.

Qin Fang shook his head, lowered his tone, and said, “Alright, Yanyan, I really can’t guess. Please tell me.”

Yang Haiyan felt that he was becoming increasingly shameless.

In public, she, a woman almost in her thirties, felt embarrassed to hear such words from him, yet he spoke so casually.

Seeing her gaze on him, Qin Fang looked innocent and said, “I’m not as clever as you.”

Yang Haiyan ignored him: “We’re about to set off. You’ll find out when we arrive tonight, but I won’t tell you now.” With that, she turned away, heading towards the cart.

Qin Fang saw this and didn’t press the issue, instead smiling as he turned back to the others, his expression serious: “Everyone, prepare to set off.”

Yang Haiyan’s team quickly left the larger group and soon disappeared from sight.

Their speed, with both carts and horses, made the walking soldiers envious.

Madam Yang and Madam Lu shared a donkey cart.

Initially, they sat separately, but after a few days, they found it too lonely without anyone to talk to, so they decided to sit together.

Madam Yang said, “I noticed that there’s no food left on Madam Qin’s cart. With so many people eating in the past two days, I’m not sure what we’ll do next.”

Madam Lü glanced at her: “Don’t we still have our own supplies?”

They had been paying to eat Qin’s food over the past two days, so their own reserves were still left.

Madam Yang replied, “That’s true, but what about the Qin family? General Qin has already made a big claim; he can’t just stop after two days, right?”

Madam Lü didn’t have any other thoughts on the matter: “There’s no need for us to worry about this. Even if we did, we wouldn’t be able to come up with anything. Let’s just see how General Qin handles it.”

Madam Yang wasn’t trying to imply anything, just curious to chat privately with Madam Lü.

An hour and a half later, Yang Haiyan’s group arrived at a village.

Or rather, they were looking for a village. Kun Shi, having traveled this route before, was very familiar with the conditions and knew roughly where the villages were. “Madam, there’s a village ahead. Do you want to go in?”

Yang Haiyan said, “Yes. Arrange for someone to inform the general that we will be staying here tonight.”

Kun Shi replied, “Understood.”

He called over Huang Huzai, “Huzai, go back and inform the general that when the group arrives here, we will rest for the night.”

Huang Huzai replied, “Yes…” He mounted his horse and headed back.

Yang Haiyan continued, “Captain Kun, let’s go into the village.”

Kun Shi replied, “Understood.”

When they arrived at the village entrance, their group of thirty to forty people attracted a lot of attention.

In fact, as soon as they appeared, someone went to find the village chief.

After all, these people were either on horseback or in horse-drawn carts, which indicated they were either wealthy or of high status.

The appearance of nobility made the villagers both curious and nervous, fearing something might happen.

Yang Haiyan said to Kun Shi, “Let them rest in place; we might scare the villagers if we approach like this.”

Kun Shi gestured to the soldiers, who immediately stood still.

Yang Haiyan turned to Granny Lian and said, “Granny, please ask the villagers to call the village chief. Just tell him I want to discuss a big business deal.”

Granny Lian bowed slightly, saying, “Yes.”

She approached a few villagers who were watching them and said warmly, “Excuse me, we are passing through as officials’ families. We need to speak with the village chief about a business matter. Could this lady please help us invite him?”

The woman who was asked immediately responded respectfully upon hearing they were officials’ families, “Someone is already going to call the village chief. Please wait a moment.”

Granny Lian thanked her, “Thank you very much, ma’am.”

Before long, the village chief arrived.

The chief looked quite old, with a head full of white hair and leaning on a cane, but he appeared in good spirits.

He approached cautiously, a bit apprehensive. “May I ask who you are?”

He could tell this group was led by the young woman, and with so many attendants and guards around her, he understood they were of a different status.

Granny Lian replied, “Greetings, village chief. My lady is the wife of a fifth-grade general and wishes to discuss a business deal with your village today.”

A business deal?

The village chief looked at Yang Haiyan with confusion.

Having lived to his age, he knew that no good fortune fell from the sky, but given the status of the visitors, he did not dare refuse. He decided to inquire cautiously, “May I ask what kind of business this is?”

Granny Lian also looked at Yang Haiyan, as she was unsure what the lady wanted to discuss; all she knew was that it involved a business deal.

Yang Haiyan explained, “My husband is the General of Martial Virtue of the fifth rank, and he has been ordered by the emperor to settle the surrendered barbarian subjects in Yunxiang County, hence our passage through here. However, the journey to Yunxiang County is long, and we have limited rations, so I’m here to arrange for tonight’s dinner, as well as breakfast and lunch tomorrow with the village chief.

Tonight’s dinner will consist of sweet potato rice topped with sautéed cabbage, at two wen per portion.

The sweet potato rice cannot be too little; it needs to be enough for an adult man to feel seven-tenths full.

Breakfast will be rice porridge with a boiled egg, also at two wen.

Tomorrow’s lunch will consist of two steamed buns for one wen. For three meals, I need one thousand portions each. How does that sound?”

The matter of Qin Fang settling the barbarians was known throughout the court and even in Yunxiang County, so this was common knowledge among the people, not a secret.

If it were a secret matter, Yang Haiyan certainly wouldn’t have shared it.

Moreover, she said this to reassure the village chief.

Indeed, after hearing Yang Haiyan’s words, the village chief felt much more at ease.

Besides, if it were any other kind of business, he might have some concerns; but a simple meal was something he wouldn’t worry about.

Furthermore, the cost of sweet potato rice and sautéed cabbage wouldn’t even amount to a wen, and this noble lady was paying two wen per portion, so they would still make a profit.

For breakfast, the porridge and egg together wouldn’t cost two wen, and the two steamed buns also wouldn’t cost a wen, so they would still be in the black.

After some calculation, the village chief found it profitable and said, “I’ll arrange for everyone to prepare it right away. Would you like to rest at my home in the meantime?”

Yang Haiyan replied, “That would be a disturbance.”

She then said to Kun Shi, “Captain Kun, you stay here with everyone. Granny Lian, Meng Ping, and Tao Shan can come with me.”

Kun Shi acknowledged, “Understood.”

The village chief led Yang Haiyan back to his home.

Initially, he asked his daughter-in-law to prepare a room for the guests, but Yang Haiyan declined, saying she was fine sitting in the courtyard.

Once seated, the village chief’s daughter-in-law came over and asked, “Greetings, noble lady. Would you like some tea?”

Yang Haiyan replied, “Thank you, sister-in-law. Just bring me a pot of hot water.”

The village chief’s daughter-in-law responded, “Of course, please wait a moment.”

Granny Lian took out a bag from her satchel and spread it open, saying, “Madam, have a snack.”

Inside the bag were small cookies, sweet twisted rolls, and salty twisted rolls.

It should be mentioned that Granny Lian and the others learned to use bags like this from Yang Haiyan.

Having this bag made traveling much more convenient, as they could carry some items with them.

Yang Haiyan picked up a cookie and took a bite, savoring the rich creamy flavor that spread across her palate.

A slurping sound caught her attention.

Turning her head, she saw a little boy peeking out from the kitchen, his curious little head sticking out to watch her.

Seeing the adorable child, Yang Haiyan couldn’t help but smile and waved at him.