"Shut up! What do you mean by treason? Who told you that?"
Bai Shoujing's face turned pale, and he said sternly, "You're just a girl, you should just find a good family to marry into in the future. Are these things your concern?"
"Father, don't think that I don't know anything just because you're hiding it from me. Since I'm helping the family run the business, I should be even more concerned about the family's future!"
Bai Ruolan pleaded, "You and your second uncle are smuggling salt and iron to the Northern Di Tartars. If you are caught by the government, it will be a capital crime! Our Bai family will be finished!"
"Death penalty, haha!"
Bai Shoujing sighed, "My daughter, you don't understand! Dayin is no longer viable. Civil officials are greedy for money, military officials are afraid of death, and the military is lax, while Beidi is a powerful nation with a strong army and powerful horses."
"You know, Shuozhou Zhechou Prefecture is a high-ranking prefecture on the frontier, and the entire area should have 3,000 soldiers! But now, there are only a little over 1,500 in total, and nearly half of them are unpaid."
"Once the Tartars attack, how can they defend themselves? Shuozhou will be destroyed by the Tartar cavalry at any time."
"We've been befriending the Tartars without telling you because we don't want you to get involved. It's also so that we can preserve the Bai family's fortune if the Tartars attack us someday in the future!"
"As members of the Dayin clan, facing the Tartar invasion, the Bai family should have spent all their wealth to support the officers and soldiers, and do their utmost to defend their country and protect their homeland!"
Bai Ruolan immediately said unconvincedly, "Father, if you two play both sides like this, sooner or later something bad will happen!"
Bai Shoujing snorted coldly and said disdainfully:
"Hmph! All these officials know how to do is embezzle military pay and enrich themselves. If the Tartar army attacks, they'll probably run away faster than rabbits! We'd rather rely on them to defend our territory than to find a way out ourselves!"
"My daughter doesn't believe it. With this thousand-mile border in such a state of decay, isn't there a single passionate warrior willing to defend the country?"
"Dayin has been established for two hundred years and is already on the verge of collapse. Internal and external troubles have arrived. In troubled times, humans are like ants, their lives worthless."
Bai Shoujing shook his head. "Your second uncle and I did this so that the Bai family could survive in these troubled times."
"Don't you dare mention a single word of what you just said! If you have nothing else to do, go and do your thing!"
I wanted to persuade my father not to make the same mistake again and to stop before it was too late, but I got a harsh scolding from Bai Shoujing instead.
Bai Ruolan returned to her room with a heavy heart, feeling depressed and no longer having the desire to go to the accounting office.
"Miss, what's wrong? Were you scolded by the master?" asked Chun Xiang, the personal maid.
"Stop talking!"
Bai Ruolan scolded, then sat down in front of the dressing table and murmured, "Chunxiang, what should we do if the Tartars really attack us?"
"Miss, you are worrying too much. Aren't there soldiers guarding the border? How can the Tartars just come here as they please?" Chun Xiang smiled indifferently.
"I've heard from storytellers that the Tartars are all ten feet tall, with bloody mouths, green faces, and fangs. They're incredibly ferocious, and even ten or so people can't get close to them!" Bai Ruolan frowned. "Can we defeat them?"
"Miss, you haven't heard! Recently, the officers and soldiers of the Jingbian Military Town in the north fought a battle with the invading Tartars. The Tartars fled in defeat, leaving their weapons and armor in disarray."
"Is this true?" Bai Ruolan's eyes lit up.
Chun Xiang's face was filled with excitement. "Of course it's true. I even heard from the people in the teahouse that a soldier named Zhao Muyun from the Fengsuitai, along with his companions, beheaded three Tartars and was commended by the entire Zhechongfu!"
"How magnificent! I didn't expect there would be such a brave man!"
Bai Ruolan nodded secretly, "This Zhao Muyun, just now, was a true hot-blooded man!"
"If all the soldiers of Dayin were like this, would my father and his men still be thinking of playing both sides?"
"No, father and second uncle, how can you compare to this Zhao Muyun? If I were a man born in troubled times, I would definitely be like this soldier named Zhao Muyun, killing the enemy and making meritorious contributions, shedding my blood on the battlefield."
Bai Ruolan thought about it and became lost in thought.
"Miss, what are you thinking about? Are you thinking about some handsome man? Hehehe!"
Chunxiang saw Bai Ruolan staring at the bronze mirror with a dazed look in her eyes, so she tried to tease her.
"Stop talking too much! If you continue to talk nonsense, I will report to my father and have you married off!" Bai Ruolan blushed and threatened deliberately.
"Miss, please spare my life. I will never dare to do it again!"
......
"Now that we've alerted Big Brother, I'm sure he'll realize the seriousness of the problem and prepare countermeasures in advance."
"What I have to do now is to find the whereabouts of Lao Huang and his group as soon as possible."
After leaving Bai Mansion, Bai Shouren did not dare to stay for a moment. He took his entourage and rode back to Wuzhou City on horseback.
Wuzhou City is located fifty miles southeast of Jingbian Military Town and is a small city in Shuozhou Prefecture.
Jingbian Military Town was a place where troops were stationed to guard the border, while Wuzhou City was just an ordinary city.
Although there is a city defense garrison of about 200 people, the atmosphere of life in the city is much stronger.
There are many teahouses, wine shops and other businesses, with peddlers coming and going, and a wide variety of goods from all over the country.
The Bai family had a branch shop in Wuzhou City, where the salt and iron smuggled to Beidi were transferred.
As soon as Bai Shouren entered the shop, all the shopkeepers, accountants, escorts and shop assistants came up to greet him.
Without saying a word, he walked directly into the inner room. Without even sitting down, he turned around with a gloomy face and asked a shopkeeper, "Still no news from Old Huang and the others?"
"Second in command, no!" The shopkeeper shook his head with a sad face.
"Where can they go?" Bai Shouren had been thinking about this question all the way and was now even more upset.
He looked around and asked, "Where's Bai Shengren? Where did he end up?"
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