Chapter 481 Stingy
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The mournful music rang in my ears, and white paper money was scattered everywhere, flying all over the sky like an untimely snowfall, fluttering and swirling, making one feel only sadness in their heart.
The paper scraps fluttered about, some hanging on withered branches at the door of someone's house, some catching the hem of a passerby's clothes, and many more swirling and falling to the ground, where they were crushed by the hurried footsteps of the funeral procession.
The sound of the bili fluctuated, sometimes high, sometimes low, like someone crying, sometimes laughing, piercing one's eardrums.
Li Shiyang and Li Yueniang, dressed in white mourning clothes, walked at the front of the procession, heading towards the grave that Li Youfu had chosen long ago at Daheishan Mountain.
Following Li Youfu's funeral procession were his eight great-uncle's two sons and three grandsons, who walked in front.
The funeral ceremony continued, and Li Shiyue stood aside, watching coldly.
She watched the funeral procession depart, gave Sun Xiaoliu some instructions, and then had Qin Fen lead Sun Xiaoliu and his family to their home.
She and Li's mother followed behind the many clansmen to see Li Youfu off on his final journey.
When they reached the foot of the mountain, Li Shiyue stopped.
That's enough. I've given you this much-needed assistance.
Standing at the foot of the mountain, Li Shiyue saw that Li Yueniang had also gone up the mountain with Li Shiyang and the others, so she looked at Li's mother beside her.
"Before Uncle Youfu passed away, he specifically asked Yueniang to dig a coffin for him."
"oh?"
"Don't be so sarcastic."
Li's mother gave Li Shiyue a reproachful look, "The person is gone, Shiyue, you should let go of even the biggest grudges."
Li Shiyue raised an eyebrow, not objecting to her mother's words, but not responding did not mean she agreed with them.
"The rule you set is that no woman from Lijiatun will marry outside the village; they will only take in men from other families."
If she doesn't marry out of the family but instead brings in a man from outside the family, then she will always be a member of the Li family.
Uncle Youfu said that since she was a member of the Li family, as his granddaughter, she should naturally dig a handful of soil for him.
Li Shiyue nodded noncommittally, but she didn't think that being able to go up the mountain to dig up grave soil was a good thing.
However, this is someone else's business, so she didn't say anything more.
The sky was getting dark, and it looked like it was about to snow again.
Li Shiyue and her mother returned to the Li family home, where Sun Xiaoliu greeted them: "General, what's next..."
"Let's eat first. After we finish eating, I'll explain everything to you in detail."
Because of the funeral in the village, even if they are not close relatives, they are still relatives who are related.
Li's mother and Zheng Meiniang prepared vegetarian meals for their own family, but prepared meat dishes in advance for Sun Xiaoliu and his few personal guards.
Sun Xiaoliu and the others knew Li Shiyue's character, so they didn't pretend to refuse.
After the meal, each person held a cup of tea. Li Shiyue looked around the main room and nodded to her family members, except for Jiang Huai, Li Xiatian, and Ping An.
As for why Li Xiatian and his family were not present?
Of course, it was Li Shiyue who asked him to leave.
After all, Jiang Huijun had humiliated her so much, so it's not hard to understand why she would pretend to be angry with Jiang Huai.
Besides, she genuinely believed that Jiang Huijun would most likely seek out Jiang Huai later, so it was understandable that she would send Li Xiatian's family away at this moment.
Of course, it's not that they really didn't tell Li Xiatian. Later, Zheng Meiniang or Li Qiutian would naturally talk to Li Xiatian alone.
"The general only gave me ten days, and half of them have already passed."
Li Shiyue said this not only to her mother and the others, but also to Sun Xiaoliu and the others.
"Have someone send a message back, and have your brother and Shi Liang and the others move the prepared paper, brushes, charcoal, and dried rabbit meat into the place you agreed on and pile them up."
However, there's a lot of stuff going on in October; even with ten of you, it won't be easy to carry it all.
Li Shiyue nodded to her mother but did not respond to her words.
"October, or perhaps...?"
Li Shiyue shook her head at her mother and said in a deep voice, "Mother, I have my own way."
In the dead of night, with the cold wind howling, Li Shiyue led her people out the door.
Li Shiyue first led Sun Xiaoliu, Chen Yong and the others up the mountain, and found the cellar where they had stored the gold cakes and bricks they had obtained from the Turks.
"Xiao Liu, take two people down and move all those things out."
"You guys take out your own portions and distribute them beforehand. As for the rest, each of us should carry some with us, and we'll head to the paper mill."
There were several boxes of gold ingots and bricks. Including Li Shiyue, there were ten of them in total, and each of them was quite strong, with Li Shiyue being especially strong.
Even so, carrying this heavy load of gold on your back and walking through the cold winds of the twelfth lunar month is still quite difficult.
When they arrived at the paper mill, Li Shiyue's forehead was covered in a fine layer of sweat.
Holding the key to the paper mill's main gate, Li Shiyue first scolded the guard dog, then opened the gate and went inside, leading Sun Xiaoliu and the others directly to the warehouse at the back.
Inside were paper, brushes, charcoal, and dried rabbit meat that she had asked Li's mother to prepare in advance, as well as some wool products, from wool sweaters and pants to gloves, socks, knee pads, and hats—it had everything.
These were all paid for through official accounts, nominally purchased by merchants, but in reality, Li Shiyue paid for them out of his own pocket.
Sun Xiaoliu blew on the tinderbox, and even with just the faint light of the tinderbox, he was quite surprised to see the large storeroom filled to the brim with all sorts of things.
"General!"
This...this is way too much!
"How can a few of us possibly move all of this?"
Sun Xiaoliu's words reflected the sentiments of Chen Yong, Hei Zi, and the others.
Indeed, even though Li's mother had people tidy it up by category, the room was still piled up to the brim.
There were only ten of them. No matter how strong they were, even if they stayed up all night and desperately tried to move the goods out, they still couldn't manage!
If these are to be transported out, it would take at least a dozen trucks to load them.
Chen Yong stepped forward and touched the folded wool products in the bundle. Although they were a bit prickly to the touch, just by touching them, Chen Yong knew that they would definitely be warm to wear.
Chen Yong, who was usually taciturn, suddenly turned to Li Shiyue and said, "General, the Great General is really something!"
We fought alongside the general against the Turks, and all we got in return was that the general allowed us to take a little more wealth.
This time, the general sent us to Jian'an to kill the bandits, but he only provided us with enough food for a month!
It's already the twelfth lunar month, and although it's been snowing lightly all day, it's getting noticeably colder.
Jian'an is further north, much colder than Jinzhou!
The general won't even give us any military uniforms or blankets!
The general even has to pay for it himself!
General, he's too..."
Chen Yong wanted to say the word "stingy," but in the end, he didn't dare to say it.
Chen Yong's complaints naturally drew echoes from Sun Xiaoliu;
Although Hei Zi and the others didn't dare to say anything, they were all a little uneasy.
You have to understand, during their time in the Turkic Khaganate, they were literally killing people with knives every day while following Li Shiyue, and going three days and two nights without sleep was commonplace.
Otherwise, with their force of a thousand men, no matter how daring they were to fight, how could they possibly have managed to fight their way back and forth between the major Turkic tribes?
It was all thanks to Li Shiyue who took the lead and led them in a desperate, time-sensitive raid.
Of course, we have to thank Li Shiyue's golden eagle for this.
But these soldiers, following Li Shiyue, were truly risking their lives!
"Alright, that's enough."
"Hey Liu, come here, can I borrow your light?"
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