Upon hearing Yan Xiao's words, Wei Wuxiu knew she intended to pay out of her own pocket, and quickly stopped her:
“Sister-in-law, what are you saying? How can I not care? We need a huge number of crossbow bolts, which will cost a lot of gold and silver. I know you have earned a lot of silver recently, but there is no reason for you to pay for it out of your own pocket.”
"Sisters-in-law, don't worry about gold and silver. When Mu Shang and I captured Qingyang City last time, we obtained quite a bit of gold and silver, so the army's accounts are not short of money."
Yanxiao is a miser and generally wouldn't be willing to spend her own money.
When reading the novel, I knew that the male protagonist was either short of money or on his way to being short of money. I thought that since the situation was urgent and Shen Muzhi was not around, I would use the box of jewelry he gave me last time to tide me over. If that wasn't enough, I would use my own little savings.
Shen Muzhi is about to recapture Yanyun City. Qi Chengfeng has a lot of money, so Shen Muzhi won't be short of money then. But unexpectedly, Jiangbei doesn't seem to be very poor at the moment.
Without having to pay out of his own pocket, he was overjoyed and nodded without hesitation.
"In that case, let's do as Brother Wei says."
Wei Wuxiu was prepared to continue persuading her, but he didn't expect Yan Xiao to agree so readily, leaving him feeling somewhat stuck.
Yan Xiao completely disregarded his current mood, turned directly to Zhao Qian who was waiting to the side, and gave the order:
"I'll leave this to you. Post notices and recruit as many blacksmiths as possible. Then go to Duobao Pavilion and ask Situ Nanzhao to help us acquire a large amount of fine iron from outside, the more the better. I don't think he'll refuse."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Qian didn't dare to delay, responded, and quickly left.
After Zhao Qian left, Yan Xiao and Wei Wuxiu discussed the weapon manufacturing plan again. By the time they reached an agreement, it was already dark, and Wei Wuxiu, not wanting to linger, took his leave.
Yan Xiao watched Wei Wuxiu's departing figure, a hint of doubt flashing in her eyes.
For some reason, even though Wei Wuxiu had always been gentle and polite, and had taken good care of her, she always felt that Wei Wuxiu treated her differently now than at the beginning.
Logically speaking, they should be familiar with each other by now, but Wei Wuxiu seems even more distant from her than at the beginning, as if he is deliberately avoiding her.
This feeling was somewhat inexplicable, yet without any malice, leaving Yan Xiao puzzled.
She simply stopped thinking about things she couldn't understand, assuming that Wei Wuxiu was just an old-fashioned person who thought about the differences between men and women.
Since it posed no threat to her, she only hesitated for a moment before forgetting about it.
Time flew by, and under the supervision of Yan Xiao and Wei Wuxiu, four enlarged crossbows had been successfully produced, each with two spare arrow boxes.
Yan Xiao also gave this enlarged crossbow a new name, "Crossbow Arrow," and had it moved to the city wall immediately.
The crossbows were ready, and the number of arrows was constantly being increased as production rushed to meet deadlines.
As Yan Xiao had expected, Situ Nanzhao agreed to her request, but on one condition: the negotiation had to be handled by Mu Yunniang.
Yan Xiao had already discerned some clues from Situ Nanzhao's behavior during this period.
Situ Nanzhao clearly cares about Mu Yunniang, but he is too proud to admit it, or perhaps he considers himself superior to Yunniang and is unwilling to be the first to yield.
Regardless of the reason, he has already been labeled a scumbag by Yan Xiao.
So when Yanxiao learned of his request, she did not agree immediately, but instead asked Mu Yunniang for her opinion first.
Mu Yunniang didn't hesitate at all and said that she would do anything to help Yanxiao.
But Yanxiao saw something else in her eyes, which made her sigh, knowing that Mu Yunniang had left but her heart had not been able to fully return.
She wanted to offer some advice, but having already fallen in love, she knew all too well that this thing was beyond her control; it wasn't something she could give or take as she pleased.
So in the end she didn't say anything, just thought to let nature take its course. Anyway, Mu Yunniang was her person now, and she could protect her as long as she was even slightly unwilling.
Just as things were proceeding smoothly, one night, the barbarian army attacked Jiangbei City without warning, and Yan Xiao was awakened from his sleep.
When she sensed something was wrong, she dressed and came out, only to see Wei Wuxiu dressed in full armor, riding a horse and leading the soldiers to set off.
Yan Xiao quickly stepped forward and asked urgently:
"Brother Wei, what's wrong?"
Wei Wuxiu had just received the news and hesitated for a long time before deciding not to tell Yan Xiao, but he did not expect her to be so vigilant.
Hearing her question, he knew there was no point in hiding it, so he kept it brief:
"I just received news that the barbarian army has launched a sudden night attack on Jiangbei. But sister-in-law, don't worry. There are crossbows and archers on the city walls, so there won't be any problems in a short time. I'll take men to support them right now and make sure the barbarian thieves don't return."
Yan Xiao narrowed his eyes slightly upon hearing this, nodded knowingly, and then whistled in a certain direction.
Soon after, the sound of hooves was heard, and looking in the direction of the sound, a magnificent black horse was galloping towards them.
This horse was none other than Lightning, which Yan Xiao had recently tamed.
When the lightning bolt reached her, she mounted her horse without hesitation.
Wei Wuxiu immediately understood what she wanted to do upon seeing her actions, and said urgently:
"What are you doing, sister-in-law?"
Yan Xiao calmly tugged on the horse's reins: "Isn't my intention obvious enough? Of course, I'll go back to the city with you."
"Nonsense!"
Wei Wuxiu's expression turned serious, and he refused:
"Fighting is a man's job. If it's too dangerous, you should stay in the camp."
Yan Xiao pouted unhappily upon hearing this:
"Brother Wei, what you said is really unpleasant to hear. I don't like to hear it, and I won't listen to it."
Without caring about Wei Wuxiu's feelings, she took out the waist token that Shen Muzhi had left her and held it up, saying:
"If he were here today, he would not have stopped me. The Barbarian King's actions would definitely have the Miao King's influence. Now that Lou Guyu is not here, I am the only one in Jiangbei who knows Gu."
Although Jiangbei now has crossbows and bows, these things are useless against Gu poison, so I must go.”
Wei Wuxiu glanced at the waist token in Yan Xiao's hand, a complex look flashing across his eyes. Especially when he heard her say, "If he were here, he definitely wouldn't stop me," his expression went blank for a moment.
He couldn't help but wonder if it would have been possible if he had met Yanxiao first.
But at this moment, he clearly understood that there was no possibility whatsoever.
Although I don't want to admit it, the truth is that no matter what the circumstances, a woman like Yanxiao would never be interested in him.
His feelings for Yanxiao were complicated. He admired her unconventionality and unrestrained nature and was attracted to her, but the education and ideas he had received since childhood made it impossible for him to let her continue to be unconventional without reason.
So, in the end, it was his own fault for not being worthy.
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