Chapter 46: With so many injured sheep, we definitely can’t eat them all…
With so many sheep, we definitely can’t eat them all.
Mu Xue closed the book and gave it to Nanny Wu to keep for record. She was a little uncomfortable to suddenly change from a silver standard to a sheep standard.
She asked Fan Yuqi: "You have also collected sheep, what are your plans?"
"My Lord, we are planning to drive the sheep back to Huacheng and sell them to sheep traders."
"Tell me the details."
Although it was the first time for merchants like Fan Yuqi to do business in the northern desert, they had sold goods in the grasslands of the southern desert before. The sheep collected were driven to Guihua City or Zhangjiakou, where people would collect the sheep. In this way, the sheep could be exchanged for silver.
As for those merchants who bought the sheep, they would transport them to other places for sale, such as Shanxi and Hebei which are closer, and those who are farther away would also drive the sheep to the capital.
Mu Xue listened and pondered.
She has so many sheep under her name, so she should convert a lot of them into silver, and then buy new goods to sell, and repeat the cycle to increase her income.
"Then you can drive my sheep back to Huihua City to sell them." Mu Xue ordered.
"Of course there is no problem." Fan Yuqi said, "A thousand sheep? Drive them back to sell? There are many sheep here, and the price is cheap. I calculated that it takes about one tael of silver to buy a fat sheep."
"Not a thousand, maybe 7,000 or 8,000 sheep."
After hearing this, Fan Yuqi's expression changed slightly.
Originally, he thought the princess wanted to drive back the sheep she got from selling silk. One thousand sheep was already equal to the combined income of two or three small merchants on this trip. Before coming to the princess's tent, he had already calculated that if he used all the idle employees of Fan Ji and the other eleven families, he could barely drive back the extra one thousand sheep.
But, but why did there suddenly become more? Six or seven thousand sheep?
Judging from the princess' tone, even if it was 10,000 sheep, he could give them out immediately. This was something he could hardly guarantee even if he tried to save his dignity. If he couldn't keep an eye on the sheep and they ran away, or if he didn't take good care of them on the way and a lot of them died, it would be difficult to explain to the princess. Don't get any benefit, but instead get blamed.
He then bowed his head and said, "Princess, if there are this many sheep, it would be difficult for us merchants to do it alone."
Fan Yuqi explained the difficulties one by one. It was not that he was not dedicated or wanted to be lazy. This was his first trip to Kulun to do business, and each business was more or less tentative. Generally speaking, there was one shopkeeper in each business, and three or four assistants were all the staff. But when driving sheep, especially for such a long distance, a skilled shepherd could only take care of 200 sheep at most, which was really not enough.
Mu Xue listened to half of it, asked him to wait, asked the maid to bring some paper and pen, and asked Fan Yuqi to continue. When she heard the important points, she wrote them down, otherwise she might forget them.
She was not an unreasonable person. Under the current circumstances, she could only succeed if she forced these merchants to leave their sheep here and let her herd them. But Mu Xue would not do that. There was no need. It was not easy for everyone to earn a living.
"Okay, I know the situation is a bit difficult, I won't force you to do anything." Mu Xue said, "You can go down and rest."
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your sympathy."
Before leaving, Fan Yuqi suddenly turned back and said veiledly, "The Tushetu Khanate must have sent tribute sheep to the capital before."
Is this exactly what she was thinking?
Mu Xue sneered when she heard this. How could she say that this person was a smart one? Instead of just complaining and criticizing his leader, he could also think of some alternative methods.
When the marriage decree came down, she had eaten the mutton that the Tushetu Khanate had sent as tribute from thousands of miles away. They must have been good at transporting sheep.
Dorji’s tent is right next to Muxue’s tent.
Walk through a field of swaying golden lotus flowers and you will arrive in two steps.
Before entering the tent this time, Mu Xue specifically checked with the guard on duty at the door to find out what her husband was doing.
"The young prince went to ride a horse?"
Yes, the Nadam Festival is only a few days away. No wonder I haven’t seen many Dorji people in the past two days.
The guard was very attentive, as if he was afraid that she would leave, and said, "The young prince has ordered that you can come in anytime if you want. The young prince will be back soon, so why don't you come in and sit for a while, Princess?"
Muxue looked at the sky and saw that the sun was already in the west. She thought that Dorji would be back soon, so she went into the tent and waited.
In fact, it was the first time that she looked at Dorji's tent so calmly.
There is nothing much to say about the reception hall outside. It looks like a slightly smaller version of the king's tent, and the furnishings and arrangements all exude a sense of the ruggedness of the grassland.
Muxue was about to sit down on a chair near the door when she heard a woman greet her. She looked back and saw that it was Wujina, who had served Dorji since childhood, and was a bit like Aunt Wu who accompanied Muxue.
"Princess, please come and sit in the inner room." Wujina smiled, opened the curtain and invited Muxue in.
The inner room is used to receive close relatives and is also where the owner lives and works.
As Mu Xue stepped in, her eyes widened slightly.
What a colorful place.
The soft carpet under my feet has several colors. The outer edge is blue, decorated with black lace, and the inside is covered with large patches of red, but there are white and black patterns interwoven in the red. The wooden Hana wall is fixed with golden nails, and the inner wall of the big tent is covered with light green fabric tapestries. Even the unini pole on the ceiling is specially decorated, with colorful silk threads hanging high up, gently rippling.
The tables and chairs seemed to be inlaid with shells, shining brightly in the setting sun. Opposite was a shelf full of gems and ornaments, rubies, red corals, turquoise, sparkling. It was like walking into a dragon's room by mistake.
Wujina offered the hot milk tea with both hands: "In the past, the young prince's mother liked this kind of decoration, and the young prince also liked such rich colors. Princess, please don't laugh at him."
"How come? I think..." Mu Xue thought for a moment, "very cute."
She usually likes to wear cool colors like blue and purple, so suddenly she saw such rich warm tones, which was very novel.
Living in a house like this, even on a rainy day or a snowy winter day, you probably feel like you are basking in the sun, right?
Mu Xue looked around. Seeing this, Wu Rina led the maids to quietly retreat outside the curtain, leaving only the princess and her two maids. This time, the young prince talked to the princess left and right and said a lot of things to her. Including "The princess seems to like quietness very much, which is good, but sometimes she looks too lonely."
After all, Dorji was a child she had watched grow up, and Wujina knew his personality very well. When he said this, perhaps even the young prince himself did not realize that his tone revealed a desire to get close to her and make her feel less lonely.
That’s great. I was originally worried that the princess I was marrying would not be liked by him, but now it seems like a perfect match.
Wujina called the maid in a low voice: "Call someone? Go and call the young prince?"
"I have sent someone there, and specifically told him to hurry."
The sun's shadow is slanting westward.
The sound of horse hooves clattered on the rosy green plain. The sky was vast at dusk. Dorji spurred his horse and whipped it, leaving the dust behind. He was even faster than when he was running just now.
After entering the city wall, he dismounted, casually threw the whip in his hand to the servant, and strode towards his own tent.
When he came to the tent, he suddenly stopped. He raised his arm and sniffed it. He was sweating from running. It seemed not good to go to see her in this state.
So he ran to the felt tent of his personal guard, washed himself with water, and then hurriedly stepped into the big tent.
Wujina saw him and lowered her voice and said, "Speak softly, the princess seems to be asleep."
Dorji walked lightly and saw through the curtain that the princess was lying on a table, her head buried in the small space made by her arms, looking very well behaved. The maids on both sides were fanning her gently with palace fans, and the breeze blew a strand of her hair.
In his big tent, she slept peacefully. Looking at her, Dorji felt his chest was filled with joy, just like his stomach was filled with sweet snacks.
He still remembered the silver-sheathed knife that the princess had placed under her pillow. But now that she could sleep peacefully in his tent, did it mean that she felt that being with him was a safe place?
I really want to keep her.
How could I keep her, even for one night?
Dorji stared at her for a while and was about to go forward when he suddenly saw the princess's hand move as if she was about to wake up.
At the moment when she was about to raise her head, Dorji suddenly pressed down on his right leg and took a breath of cold air: "Oh, what bad luck."
As he spoke, he dragged his leg and lifted the curtain as if he was limping, which stunned Wujina who was standing next to him.
"Princess--"
Mu Xue was half asleep when she heard Dorji's voice. She looked up and saw Dorji staggering and holding onto the pillar, with one hand on his right leg, as if he was enduring the pain. He jumped up in fear: "What happened? Did you fall off your horse?"
"No, it just hurts." Dorji's voice was just right, "Maybe I came back too hastily just now, and it hurts as soon as I get off the horse. I don't know if I pulled a muscle, hiss--"
Mu Xue quickly stepped forward to support him: "Hurry up and sit down, let me take a look!"
"Does your calf hurt?" Her fingertips gently brushed across his right leg, and he could feel the soft touch through the thin layer of silk pants.
Dorji's Adam's apple moved for a moment, and he was extremely glad that he was sitting at the moment - otherwise she would definitely see his back straighten instantly.
"A little lower."
"Here?" Mu Xue pinched down along the waist, "Is it the ankle?"
If he sprained his ankle, he would not be able to ride a horse for at least a few days. And from what Dorji said, he was in such a hurry because he wanted to come back to see her.
Mu Xue frowned and told the servants with a worried tone: "Go and call the doctor. Rong'er, go and ask Doctor Zhang and Zeng Qiuhua!"
"Alright? It's not that serious—"
"Why isn't it serious?"
She recalled some news about injured athletes she had seen before she traveled through time, and her brows furrowed even more. Didn't Dorji hurt his Achilles tendon? How do we say this part now? If he is really injured, it will be troublesome!
"Not to mention that the Nadam Festival is about to begin. If you really hurt your leg or ankle, and it becomes a habitual sprain, you will suffer in the future!"
Mu Xue became anxious and her voice became a little high-pitched.
"You are so fierce." Dorji said with a frown.
"How could I!" Mu Xue softened her tone. "Anyway, you are not allowed to move. I am watching you here. Unless the doctor says that there is nothing wrong with you, don't even think about walking around or riding a horse."
"Yeah." Dorji lowered his head, a smile flashing in his eyes.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
