Chapter 143: Is a border trade about to begin?
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Li Shiyue was about to step forward with her knife, but before she could even draw it, the two men dropped their sticks and knelt down on both knees in front of her!
"Grandma, spare me! Spare me! I'll kowtow to you, Grandma!"
"Spare me!"
We were blind! We'll never do it again! Please, Grandma, have mercy!
As these two men shouted these words, they actually kowtowed repeatedly on the compacted snow without stumbling, and the sound was quite sincere.
But given Li Shiyue's naiveté, could she really trust her?
However, since the other party has knelt down first, she can't use the knife anymore, can she?
Although she said she wouldn't use a knife anymore, Li Shiyue still had her suspicions about these two people. They were attracted to their generosity in the city and even planned to follow them and rob them outside the city. What kind of good people could they be?
It's like a jerk bowing and apologizing while making vows; if you actually believe him, you've already lost.
She tucked the machete back into her waistband, but Li Shiyue immediately attacked the two men who thought she was a soft-hearted little girl. When they were off guard, she forcefully twisted the slightly fatter man's arm behind his back and subdued him.
The slightly thinner man was startled and paused for a moment before turning around and running towards Sanshan County without looking back.
How could Li Qiutian let him get away?
After catching up in just a few steps, Li Qiutian patted the man's shoulder with the back of his knife. The man was so frightened that he dared not move and knelt down on both knees.
"Grandma, spare me! Grandma, spare me! I have an eighty-year-old mother to support and a three-year-old child to raise. Grandma, please don't kill me! Grandma..."
Li Qiutian found this person extremely noisy, so he yelled at him, "Shut up!"
The thin man was so frightened that he quickly stopped talking and shut his mouth, not daring to bother anyone again.
Li Qiutian turned around to look at Li Shiyue, who looked the two men over and tied them up tightly with the remaining rope in the car.
"Come on, tell me, why did you target us?"
Li Shiyue and Li Qiutian leaned against the cart, while two men, one tall and one short, one fat and one thin, knelt on the snow in front of them.
Saying one is fat is only relative to the thinner one; neither of them is particularly robust, both appearing rather frail.
How could the man kneeling on the ground dare to remain silent?
They were filled with remorse, realizing they had misjudged her. They hadn't expected that a woman who dared to come to the city alone to buy things and even go to a silver shop to buy items could be such a kind person.
Actually, they were already scared when they saw the two men draw their knives, and at that moment, they wanted to run away.
But who would have thought that Li Shiyue would draw his sword and charge forward, forcing them to come out.
Right now, they were crying and talking to the two of them at the same time.
The two men said they were from the Zhao family and were cousins; the taller one was called Zhao Youtian, and the shorter one was called Zhao Youcai.
Both of their parents had passed away, leaving only their grandmother at home. With the Lunar New Year approaching, the two brothers didn't have much money, but they still wanted to have a prosperous year, so they decided to commit robbery.
Little did they know, their first attempt at good intentions had backfired spectacularly.
"Grandma, have mercy! This is truly our first time!"
In the past, we weren't very bold. We would only dare to steal a chicken or pick a few extra vegetables from someone's field in the village, and we wouldn't dare to do anything else.
real!
This time, if my grandma hadn't been so confused, we wouldn't have dared to do such a bad thing!
Zhao Youcai was crying with snot and tears streaming down his face, and he looked really pitiful.
But Li Shiyue didn't believe it!
She doesn't believe it!
Of course, it's also possible that they were telling the truth.
How can we trust the words of people who have done bad things?
But shouldn't we hand him over to the authorities?
It was already late, so should we hurry back to Sanshan County?
Finally, Li Shiyue decided to let the two go, but she took two steps forward and said to them, "I don't know if what you said is true, or if it's just a lie to deceive me."
I don't care, but I've remembered what you two look like.
"I'm going to Zhao You's house to buy bean cakes in a couple of days. If I ask anyone there and find out you two have done something bad, I'll just look for you by the dog," Li Shiyue said, patting the knife at her waist. "This old lady has killed people before, so don't worry, it'll be a one-shot kill, it won't hurt."
After scaring the two men, Li Shiyue untied them. The two men knelt down and kowtowed. Seeing that Li Shiyue didn't stop them, they turned around and ran away.
In no time, it ran quite far away.
Li Shiyue and Li Qiutian then got back into the carriage and drove the horses back to Liujiatun.
When the two returned home, there was a torch standing in the yard, guiding them back from the village entrance.
"Why are you only coming back now?"
Li Shiyue found her mother's words, tinged with complaint and worry, quite pleasing to Li Shiyue.
Everyone worked together to carry everything from the cart into the house.
"Oh my! What's this? What an exquisite wooden box!"
Li Xiatian was the first to discover the jewelry that Li Shiyue and Li Qiutian had bought at the silver shop. When they entered the room and opened the box, the exquisite and beautiful earrings made Li Xiatian extremely happy.
She counted carefully; there were five daughters in the family, and each of them had one!
"I want this lotus one, it's pretty!"
"Why did you spend money to buy this?" As soon as Li's mother saw the jewelry, she knew that it must have been bought by Li Shiyue. Li Shiyue had ten taels of silver, so she could spend nine and a half taels.
Li Shiyue recounted the words she had spoken to Li Qiutian to Li's mother and Zheng Meiniang. While they were talking, Li Xiatian found another box.
"Ah! Why isn't this hairpin decorated?"
Li Shiyue put down her water bowl and glanced in Li Xiatian's direction. She said, "That's a hairpin I bought for my second uncle. Next year, I'll send him to study in the prefectural city. The female shopkeeper at the silver shop said that all the scholars in the prefectural city wear this."
Li Wangming, who hadn't received a kind look from Li Shiyue for several days, was overjoyed to hear that this was a gift specially bought for him. He stood up and, without even looking at the jade hairpin in the box, said directly to Li Shiyue, "Hey, Shiyue remembers me!"
"Why would I need that? The ribbon my sister-in-law sewed for me is just fine."
"I bought it for you, so just wear it. Why is your second uncle so talkative?"
"Alright, tell me now, what kind of profitable business is this that made you so happy to buy so much jewelry?"
"Mother, the eldest young master said that the rebellious Prince Jing'an has been executed, and the biggest internal strife has been quelled."
The Youzhou army achieved a great victory in the battle against the Turks. Shibi Khan submitted to the Turks, paid tribute, and even asked to marry a princess, intending to trade in the border city!
Our location is right on the border of the border trade area. In the next year or two, there will definitely be many caravans crossing the grasslands from here to reach the border trade area.
Now, we should buy land, build houses, and sit at our doorsteps waiting to make money!
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