Chapter 754 I'm not familiar with her

After strolling around the streets, Lin Yuesha became somewhat familiar with Qincheng.

Back in the courtyard, Bai Cha brewed hot tea, looking worried.

"Miss, Wang Qiulan just sent someone to deliver an account book to you."

Longjing entered and handed his young mistress an account book containing records of military supplies purchases.

“Wang Binglan has always been in charge of military procurement. You just arrived in Qincheng and she immediately pushed the account books onto you. Is she taking advantage of your unfamiliarity with Qincheng?”

Longjing pouted; no matter how you look at it, Wang Binglan is annoying.

"Yes, Wang Binglan asked you to solve her procurement problem; she clearly has ulterior motives."

Bai Cha is an honest person who rarely speaks ill of others, but a walk around the streets reveals the locals' attitudes toward the Forty-Eight Villages, which is enough to prove that this is a dangerous job.

My young lady always says that listening to both sides leads to enlightenment, while believing only one side leads to darkness. But with so many people speaking with one voice, could it be that the people of the Forty-Eight Villages have been wronged?

“We have money in our hands, which can be used to prepare other things for the soldiers. If all else fails, we can use the remaining donated money as pensions. Why get involved in this mess?”

The white tea and Longjing tea producers reached a consensus: they would not take on this hot potato and would pass the buck to Wang Binglan.

Lin Yuesha didn't say anything, but took the ledger and looked through it. She found that Wang Binglan's bookkeeping method was good, clear and organized, and the remaining silver in the ledger was clearly shown.

With the battle underway at the front, the soldiers had been without food for over a month, relying entirely on vegetables like cabbage, radishes, and potatoes to stave off hunger, and their physical strength was failing.

Military supplies were mainly used to purchase food and other fodder, and very little was left. The remaining amount was supplemented by the pockmarked man paying out of his own pocket.

Currently, Qincheng is recruiting new soldiers, giving each person a settlement allowance of twenty taels of silver. This expenditure alone is already straining the military's supplies.

The Northwest Army has 200,000 men. Even if each man spends only one tael of silver per month, it would still cost 200,000 taels of silver per month.

Lin Yuesha thought the supplies they had purchased from the capital were a large amount, but in the face of such enormous consumption, they were merely a drop in the ocean.

"Miss, Qincheng can supply some military supplies, but not to mention how much more expensive they are, the merchants don't do business with military supplies at all."

Too many people have taken advantage of people's kindness and deceived them in the past. Once bitten, twice shy. Now that transactions have become cash first, goods later, nobody is stupid. If transactions are conducted this way, and the money is paid but the goods are not supplied or there is a problem with the goods, who can you complain to?

This is no ordinary business; military supplies cannot be delayed.

If there's any wrongdoing to be made, it's the actions of some cunning merchants, yet it has implicated the soldiers who risked their lives for the Great Qi territory.

The people of the Forty-Eight Villages are bold enough to do it, but we must be cautious.

"This servant believes that Wang Binglan is not only ill-intentioned, but also has murderous intent towards you. If you suffer any misfortune while you are in the Forty-Eight Villages, she can then marry Young Master Qi as she wishes!"

Suddenly, a lovesick person appeared, and Longjing had a problem with Qi Heng. Since he had no intention of being with her, he should just make it clear so that Wang Binglan wouldn't have to come and disgust the young lady.

"Longjing, taking Wang Binglan too seriously will affect your judgment."

If military supplies are to be procured and supplied from Qincheng, a trip to the Forty-Eight Villages is unavoidable.

As for the green tea, Lin Yuesha didn't care at all. She was grateful and touched by the pockmarked face, but it was not true that she couldn't live without him.

You don't need to fight for what you want; fighting for it doesn't guarantee you'll get it. It's that simple.

"The battles between women are more brutal than the battlefield, but you are the only one who doesn't care at all."

Longjing felt helpless, since her young mistress had said so. She didn't deny that what her mistress said made a lot of sense; it all depended on whether Young Master Qi took it to heart.

It wasn't until late afternoon that dusk arrived in Qincheng.

Dinner was hand-cut mutton. The chef sliced ​​the meat by hand, making it as thin as a cicada's wing. It was then dropped into a boiling pot and cooked through in the blink of an eye.

Lin Yuesha had just picked up her chopsticks when Xiao Qi rushed in from outside.

"Something's happened in the Northwest, I have to go back tonight."

As soon as Xiao Qi entered the room, he saw his younger sister having dinner. He quickly asked Bai Cha to add a set of chopsticks and a bowl, as it had been a long time since he had eaten at the same table with Lin Yuesha.

"So rushed?"

Lin Yuesha put down her chopsticks and asked solemnly, "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"No need, you can stay in Qincheng. It's safer here than in the Northwest."

Xiao Qi shook his head, otherwise he would have to worry about his little sister.

"Young Master Qi, who is Miss Binglan?"

Bai Cha stood by, refilling tea and serving water. Seeing that the pockmarked man's face was normal and he didn't seem to care, she couldn't help but ask.

"My men."

Xiao Qi raised his head. If Bai Cha hadn't mentioned it, he would have almost forgotten about it. He had sent Binglan to serve Jiang Baozhu.

"This servant has only met Miss Binglan once. She made an excuse that she had something to do and left early."

With the opportunity presented to her, Bai Cha immediately complained, "She calls you 'Big Brother,' and I thought she was your sister."

"No, they are his subordinates."

Xiao Qi reiterated that ten years ago, he unintentionally saved the Wang siblings. Their adoptive father, Xiao Chenggui, said that the two had good aptitude and could be of great use if trained, so they were kept on.

"Binglan has an older brother, not my sister."

Xiao Qi continued to explain that his younger sister had a special meaning to him, and not just anyone could be his little sister.

Out of respect for Wang Jinhu, he was somewhat lenient with Binglan, as the siblings' indenture was still in his possession. Now, Binglan was even referring to herself as her younger sister, which was a breach of proper etiquette.

Bai Cha rolled her eyes. It turned out that it was all Bing Lan's shady operation, deliberately misleading her young lady. Luckily, she mustered up the courage to ask. Otherwise, causing a rift between her young lady and Young Master Qi would probably have been Bing Lan's real purpose.

You have to be wary of scheming, manipulative women; they're just that hateful!

"This is the account book that Miss Binglan sent to my young lady. She said that the young lady will take over the procurement of military supplies."

Bai Cha sensed something was wrong, so he immediately took out the account book and went to call Long Jing over.

Upon arriving, Longjing blurted out, "This servant is naive and has never seen the world before. I didn't know that Miss Binglan was also a servant when I first came to Qincheng."

Binglan pushed all the work onto Xiaohe, who was injured, and also pushed the task of purchasing military supplies onto her young mistress.

"Young Master Qi, my young lady is new to Qin City and not familiar with it. Is this how you treat people?"

Longjing repeated all of Binglan's words: she had to protect her mistress and wasn't afraid of offending anyone.

Xiao Qi remained silent until Long Jing finished speaking, then turned to Lin Yuesha and explained, "You don't need to worry about her; I'm not familiar with her."

It wasn't against his conscience; he hadn't stayed in Qincheng for long back then, so his memories of the past weren't deep. He had been to Qincheng a few times over the years, but apart from necessary instructions, he hadn't met Wang Qiulan.

"Is that so? Miss Qiulan claims to have known you for ten years."

With a pockmarked face, he remained calm and collected, but Longjing still harbored some resentment, speaking in a sarcastic tone.

"Yeah?"

Xiao Qi replaced the wine glass in front of Lin Yuesha with grape juice and said nonchalantly, "I've known the old lady who makes fried tea noodles at the street corner for over ten years."