The officers snorted coldly and impatiently stretched out their hands. "This place is desolate, with neither mines nor fields. You have to rely on your own efforts for everything. The court has already shown great mercy by not taking your heads. How can you be so ungrateful?"

After saying that, the soldier spat out a mouthful of blood.

Although Zhang Xiue was dissatisfied, she didn't want to confront him directly, since it was best to avoid offending people in this area.

“What you say is true, sir. However, there are more children than adults among us. It’s fine for the adults to suffer, but we are afraid that the children will suffer.”

The officers and soldiers remained unmoved, merely glancing briefly at Huan Ge'er in their arms before replying irritably, "If you want something, you have to exchange it for this. Do you know what this is?"

After saying that, the officer shook the silver ingot in his hand.

Song He'er knew that these scoundrels would definitely line their own pockets, squeezing the money from these prisoners to eat and drink extravagantly without lifting a finger. It seemed that there was no fairness in this world.

"See that? Whatever you want, you need this pile of silver. Without it, you can't get anything done!"

Seeing his shameless appearance, Song He'er wished she could punch him.

"Then...where shall we sleep?" Qin Xiaoniang asked.

"You can sleep anywhere—in the grass pit, in the cave, you're convicts. You'd better not think too highly of yourselves. You've come here, so you should know your place. You're not here to enjoy yourselves!" The soldiers' tone grew increasingly harsh, as if they wanted nothing more than to kick them out right then and there.

However, Song He'er was clear about one thing: the court generally wouldn't care about the lives of prisoners exiled here, leaving them to fend for themselves. So even if these soldiers accidentally harmed someone, the higher-ups wouldn't investigate.

"We need quilts and a cooking pot. You don't need to prepare anything else. This money is enough." With that, Song He'er took out a piece of jade from her waist and handed it to the money-grubbing soldiers.

These jade stones were given to her by Jiang Huaifu in the palace, and now they have come in handy.

The officers placed the jade under the lamplight, examined it from left to right, and after pondering for a long time, stuffed it into their pockets.

"We do have cotton quilts, but it depends on what quality you want. If you want the defective ones, they'll be dirty and smelly, and have been used by others. If you want the higher-end ones, these are obviously not enough!"

Zhang Xiu'e could no longer bear it and stepped forward to argue with the soldiers, "Are you robbing me?! A few tattered quilts are so expensive!"

"Oh, you've got quite a temper. Let me tell you, take it or leave it. If you don't want it, get lost!"

Song He'er knew the nature of this group of people; they were used to bullying the weak and fearing the strong. In this desolate mountain, even if someone offered to pay them to buy something, they might not be able to afford the price of a piece of jade. What Song He'er was giving them was already quite a lot, but they were being greedy and never satisfied.

"In that case, we don't need the quilt anymore. Please return the jade to me," Song He'er replied calmly.

The officers and soldiers were not about to let their prize slip away, so they held onto the jade tightly and refused to return it.

"How can you take back something you've already given away?"

Song He'er smiled coldly, "This is an item from the General's Mansion. If you don't want to do this business with us properly, you can take the money for free, but I'm putting my words here."

“If we don’t have enough blankets to sleep in, we’ll definitely cause trouble. If the higher-ups find out, I’ll say you accepted bribes and embezzled the General’s Mansion’s property. You know, this isn’t just ordinary silver and copper coins. When the General’s Mansion was raided, a lot of property was confiscated by the court, but by sheer coincidence, some of it ended up in your hands. Guess how the court will deal with you?”

The officer was speechless after hearing these words. He looked down at the jade and his palms were sweating.

Song He'er was right. If they accepted money, there would be no record. Even if they caused trouble, the court would not be able to find any evidence. However, this jade was something that only wealthy families could possess. It might even have come from the General's Mansion. Embezzling such a thing would be a capital offense.

"Here you go, you almost killed me!"

The officers and soldiers returned the jade to Song He'er.

“I’ll give you another option. We have copper coins here, a total of three strings of cash, which we can give you as a gift. But you have to give us something to live on, sir. This is real money, so you have to think it through.” Song He’er began to tempt him with money.

After all, the money had no official purpose, so if they investigated further, they would find nothing to trace, and they could accept it without worry.

The officers and soldiers breathed a sigh of relief, finally accepting their fate, and ordered their men to fetch quilts and cooking pots.

"Meeting you today is my bad luck. Take these things and leave quickly. There are six quilts in total. Although they are not silk quilts, they are enough for your daily use. There is also a medium-sized iron pot, a tinderbox, and a kerosene lamp. These should be enough for you to survive. As for what to eat, drink, and use, that depends on your own fate!"

After saying that, his soldiers threw all these things to Zhang Xiu'e.

"If you had said so earlier, why bother with all this talking?"

The officer sneered and said calmly, "The most indispensable thing for people is salt. You know, the salt here is very precious. Without a salt permit issued by the imperial court, we can't sell salt at all. So the private salt we eat is more expensive than ginseng. If one day you can't hold on any longer, you can come and beg me. It doesn't matter if you don't have money. You can do things for us, such as some handicrafts."

Song He'er was somewhat surprised. This place is so desolate, where can the crafts made here be sold?

Could it be Xizhou?

This is a border area between three countries. Xizhou is sparsely populated and has little demand for material goods, so there is no need for the handicrafts made by these prisoners. So, who are they going to sell them to?

"What kind of work?" Song He'er asked, following his lead.

The soldiers looked up at her with disdain, "Clothes, hats, straw sandals, pottery making—do whatever you're good at."

Straw sandals......

Song He'er immediately understood. Straw sandals were sandals worn in the summer, and now that the weather in the north was extremely cold, there was no need for such shoes.

Therefore, the country that needed this in large quantities must be the Nanzhao Kingdom, which is located south of Xinzhou.

These soldiers are really bold! They actually dared to have secret dealings with the Nanzhao people!