Cui Jinhuan originally wanted to buy a large number of medicinal fragrance beads from Wan Xueying, but Wan Xueying said that it was very difficult to make medicinal fragrance beads, and that they required a rare medicinal ingredient in the world. At most, only twenty beads could be made each year, so he had to give up the idea of ​​buying in large quantities.

However, he still discussed with Wan Xueying, hoping to sell the medicinal fragrance beads exclusively.

Wan Xueying did not give an immediate answer, saying that she would wait until she had thought it over.

When no one was around, Shen Yu, who had personally experienced the effects of the Medicinal Fragrance Beads, warned her, "If the Medicinal Fragrance Beads are spread as a world treasure, the people who made them will undoubtedly encounter a great deal of trouble while being sought after. Some people might even try to control you in order to obtain the exclusive Medicinal Fragrance Beads. The consequences would be disastrous."

Wan Xueying nodded. "So, why don't I just cooperate with the Cui family and stay behind the scenes?" The medicinal fragrance beads were extremely complex to make, and no one would be able to successfully replicate them in a short period of time. They were bound to be popular. She had originally wanted to be the exclusive distributor, but with their current strength, being the exclusive distributor would definitely do more harm than good. She understood the principle that even an innocent man is guilty of possessing a treasure.

Ultimately, Wan Xueying agreed to sell the Cui family twenty medicinal fragrance beads annually at a price of one thousand taels each, granting them exclusive sales rights. Her claim that only twenty medicinal fragrance beads could be produced annually was merely a pretense, intended to highlight their rarity.

Unsurprisingly, the Cui family soon transformed the Medicinal Fragrance Beads into a sacred medicine. Not only did the Xijiang Kingdom revere them as a treasure, but even the royal families of Great Yan and Northern Hu sent representatives to the Cui family to bid exorbitant prices for them. To avoid disputes over the beads, the Cui family would select a day at the end of each year for an auction, with the highest bidder winning. One can imagine the exorbitant prices these beads commanded.

However, Wan Xueying was not envious of this. Every year, the Cui family spent a lot of manpower, material resources and financial resources to protect the medicinal fragrance beads from being stolen or robbed. As a result, they offended many people, most of whom were powerful people from various countries.

Back to the present, due to the recent fruitful harvest, before leaving, when Wan Xueying received the reward for finding the water source for the Cui family, she suddenly felt that it was not as good as expected.

She didn't know that what she got this time was nothing, and Shen Yu's trip to Xijiang was the one that gained the most.

When they arrived, Wan Xueying and Shen Yu were just a few people. When they returned, the Cui family sent a hundred guards, pulling over ten wagons loaded with food and medicinal herbs, to escort them all the way to Linggu Pass.

Fearing that the consequences of being robbed would be disproportionate to the cost, Wan Xueying simply started her first business at Linggu Pass, selling grain to military households at a price half the market price.

The reason they sold it to them was, firstly, because Shen Yu was in charge of the military settlement; secondly, compared to farmers, the military households had a harder time, and most of them didn't have much surplus food, otherwise they wouldn't have given up farming to do hard labor. Most importantly, the military settlement was closest to Linggu Pass, so once the food was distributed, they could easily return to the village.

Of course, Wan Xueying would not hold back. In addition to a space full of food and medicinal herbs, two mule carts were also filled with food and medicinal herbs.

Although these were all they had left, the military households, out of gratitude, spontaneously formed a guard team and escorted them back to the village.

Although it would take some time for Shen Yu to recover from his back injury, he could not stay any longer. He had to return to the military camp as soon as possible to collect enough food and fodder for the end of the year.

Before parting, Wan Xueying also gave Shen Yu a stack of drawings.

"What's drawn on this?" Shen Yu, having witnessed Wan Xueying's skills many times, was no longer surprised. However, he was still curious about what surprise she would bring him this time.

Wan Xueying replied: "It's Xijiang Country. There are some private warehouses near the military settlements along the way we take."

"So you had other plans for selling the grain to the military settlement?" Shen Yu had never expected this. He hadn't expected Wan Xueying to give him such a generous gift. This further confirmed his previous suspicions about Wan Xueying: she could indeed see things that others couldn't easily see.

But he didn't say it out loud, and Wan Xueying was also certain of this. This could be considered a tacit understanding between the two of them.

"This can only be said to be a spur-of-the-moment idea, but I planned to help you find some private storage from the beginning." Wan Xueying said.

"I won't thank you, but you should always think of yourself first in the future. Also, never let anyone else know about your abilities." Shen Yu's face was solemn. This ability was even more powerful than a scout's. If the enemy knew about it, she might be the first person they would kill. It was terrifying to think about it!

Wan Xueying smiled and said, "I know." If Shen Yu dared to tell anyone, she would poison him first.

"I'll be busy for a long time. You have to take care of yourself. If you have anything, ask Shunzi and the others to pass on a message to me."

"You have to be careful too."

After bidding farewell, Shen Yu left Elm Village and returned to the reserve camp. He didn't have much time left; he first had to determine the combat effectiveness of the reserve soldiers.

So the first thing he did when he returned was to hold a small competition internally, selecting some capable people whom he could trust to form a surprise attack team.

Pei Xuanqing was not idle during this period. After receiving the letter from Shen Yu asking him to find the private vault of Ji Yun and others, he sent people to investigate secretly.

If he hadn't had to, he didn't want to be the first to attack Ji Yun.

Fortunately, this investigation uncovered the two private vaults of Chen Xin, the former commander of the Northern Frontier Reserve Battalion and now promoted to the rank of fourth-rank lieutenant general of the Dingbei Army.

This man is also very brave. One of his private warehouses is even bigger than Ji Yun's. Pei Xuanqing is ready to take action against him without any hesitation.

Before this, because Shen Yu went to Xijiang and brought back the private storage of several people from the Xijiang Guopingdong army, they decided to practice there first.

Wan Xueying was not idle after returning home. Winter was approaching, and they needed to harvest and store the cabbages, radishes, corn, etc. that they had previously replenished before the snow fell.

The charcoal produced in the charcoal kiln during her absence must be sold as soon as possible, after all, the price of charcoal is the most expensive during this period.

Fortunately, the Cui family was there. They sent the charcoal they produced to Cui Ji Trading Company in Dayan, and they bought it all at a suitable price.

The cloaks and capes they produced were in short supply in Xijiang as soon as they came out. Cui Mingzhu asked Cui Ji Trading Company to send several letters to Wan Xueying, all urging them to deliver the goods.

Wan Xueying had no plans to expand production. After all, cloaks and capes were greatly affected by seasonality, and no one would be interested in them once spring came. It would be better to sell them at a high price while still being in short supply.

By making cloaks and capes, and burning charcoal, the people of Elm Village had earned a lot of money. When everyone divided the money, they calculated that they had earned more than double what they had earned in previous years.

Although food prices were still high, they still rushed to plant a lot of cabbage and radishes, so that they could at least have a stable year.

But they were too late to be happy. The peaceful Xijiang Kingdom suddenly attacked Ningjiang County, and war broke out unexpectedly.