It is difficult to claim a position of great merit that overshadows one's master.

How can I allow someone else to sleep soundly beside my bed?

There is only one supreme throne, so how can there be any concept of co-rule of the world?

General Han's death was suspicious.

Unfortunately, the joint trial by the three judicial departments yielded conclusive evidence.

But so what?

He couldn't persuade these brothers who had risked their lives for him.

Now that war has broken out on the border, isn't it up to these roughnecks to resist the invasion of the Western Yong army?

No one spoke atop the city tower; only the west wind blew, causing the banners to flutter and make a sound.

"Sixth brother, watch your words, be careful, the walls may be overheard."

The sixth brother chuckled upon hearing this. "If he's willing to do it in front of my ears, I'd be more than happy. He should go and tell his father that when I'm about to fight that old scoundrel, Marquis Pingyuan, to the death, I'm afraid that old scoundrel is too cowardly to even come out and see me."

His loud howling left the third brother, who had offered a reminder, feeling helpless. "Big brother, once we've repelled the Xiyong army, you should go home and visit your family."

The sound of armor clanking rang out, and the man's gaze fell into the distance. "No rush."

The third brother looked worried. "I'm just worried about those few..." He glanced at the outspoken sixth brother, who couldn't keep his mouth shut, but he didn't finish his sentence.

He wasn't urging people to go home and fulfill their filial duties.

Those children have no parents to take care of them, and it's unknown how they are doing now.

They always cause people to worry.

...

Gu An'an took her two children up the mountain, but unexpectedly encountered other villagers halfway up the mountain.

It turns out that some villagers saw Gu An'an move to the city and felt that the young woman had had some kind of adventure in the mountains. In recent days, villagers have been coming to the mountains to search for her, hoping to find some hidden treasures and become rich overnight.

Suddenly seeing Gu An'an leading her child up the mountain, the villagers who had gone up earlier simply followed behind the mother and child. They figured that everyone who saw it would get a share, and she couldn't possibly keep the treasure for herself, could she?

An unshakeable tail.

Jiang Mingzhu was not in a good mood when she saw the people following behind her.

She was originally quite happy to be able to go up the mountain with her mother.

Gu An'an noticed the girl's subtle thoughts and laughed, "This mountain isn't our backyard, so naturally it can't stop other people."

Jiang Mingzhu naturally understood the reasoning, "But we just managed to see a few pheasants."

Before the trap was even set, the two brothers had already charged forward recklessly, and the pheasant escaped.

If this continues, they'll probably have wasted their time today and won't get anything.

Gu An'an laughed, "It's alright, let them be happy."

If you want to come along, then come along; but if anything happens, Gu An'an won't be responsible.

The two brothers who followed Gu An'an were the two grandsons of the old clan chief.

The older one is called Jiang Kangze, and the younger one is called Jiang Kangjian.

The two brothers were less than twenty meters away from the mother and her two children. Jiang Kangjian was getting a little anxious. "I feel like they're walking faster and faster. Maybe we should stop following them?"

Jiang Kangze shook his head, "They're just feeling guilty. If we go with them, we'll definitely get something out of them."

He heard from his grandfather that Gu An'an's sudden wealth must be due to finding treasure in the mountains.

If he can find that treasure, he can buy Hehua silver and gold bracelets and marry her in a grand wedding procession.

We absolutely must find that precious treasure!

Jiang Kangjian was a little timid and was still hesitating when he suddenly heard a rustling sound behind him. He subconsciously grabbed his cousin's arm and said, "Big brother, there seems to be some noise behind us."

Jiang Kangze didn't take it to heart. "You're just being paranoid. Stop talking nonsense. Let's follow them."

What kind of commotion could they have made on the road they just walked?

Upon hearing this, Jiang Kangjian followed closely behind his cousin.

But it seemed like something was really following them.

The young man glanced back and saw the furry beast mimicking him, turning its head back to look as well, then baring its mouth to reveal its bloody tongue.

"A tiger!"

Jiang Kangjian screamed, which startled his cousin Jiang Kangze, who also trembled and quickly turned around to look. There was only a clump of withered grass there. What tiger was there?

Jiang Kangze's heart, which had been in his throat, finally settled down. He patted his cousin on the shoulder and said, "You call yourself a man? Why are you scaring people like that?"

What I could see was my cousin's pale face, his mouth agape as he pointed tremblingly behind him.

Jiang Kangze turned his head slightly and saw the claw on his right shoulder. He didn't care about anything else and ran away as fast as he could.

On the contrary, he left his cousin Jiang Kangjian behind.

Young people are indeed very energetic, and they were already far away in no time.

Gu An'an looked at the little tiger shaking its head and asking for praise, and patted the little guy's head, "Go find some pheasants or deer, and I'll roast some meat for you tonight."

Upon receiving the promise, the wild beasts of the mountains immediately ran off to hunt.

Jiang Mingyi and his sister were already used to seeing this scene.

When the brother and sister first saw the tiger, they thought it would eat Gu An'an. Who would have thought that the tiger would become Gu An'an's helper?

However, ancient myths also say that Chi You could summon all the beasts.

So it's not bad that their mother can summon tigers, right?

It's best not to let the villagers know about this, otherwise they might treat my mother like an outcast.

With the annoying tail finally gone, Jiang Mingzhu felt a sudden sense of relief.

She followed Gu An'an lightly up the mountain.

Wild animals are scarce in the mountains and forests during winter, but Gu An'an managed to find some decent herbs, which she picked and put in her basket.

"Can we grow these ourselves, just like we grow crops?"

"That's a very good question," Gu An'an answered affirmatively. "Of course it's possible, but herb cultivation has always been a bit troublesome, and most people don't really understand the pharmacology involved, unlike with crops. They rarely have the experience to cultivate them well. Of course, the most important reason is that these herbs mostly grow in deep mountains and forests, where there aren't many crops that can be grown. Herb gatherers don't have much experience in cultivation either. The saying 'those who live off the mountains' applies here. They only need to harvest a portion of the herbs each year to make a living, without needing to cultivate them on a large scale."

Jiang Mingzhu seemed thoughtful upon hearing this, "If one has experience in growing crops, could one try to grow these medicinal herbs? They should be more profitable than crops, right?"

Good question.

Gu An'an didn't rush to answer, but instead looked at Jiang Mingyi.

The young man realized that the question had been posed to him, and after a slight hesitation, he said, "Farmers have a fixed quota for growing grain. In this dynasty, the tax rate is one-fifteenth, which is quite heavy. Where would they find spare land to grow medicinal herbs?"

Jiang Mingzhu was somewhat puzzled, "Is one-fifteenth tax a heavy burden? Paying only one-fifteenth should be very little, right?"

Jiang Mingyi shook his head helplessly at these words, "It's not one-fifteenth, it's a fifty-fifty split, with half going to the landlord and the landlord then paying one-fifth to the national treasury."

This explanation left Jiang Mingzhu speechless. "So high? How did we survive?"