Wu Xingwang had never felt as accomplished as he did today. He carried a small box and walked briskly home.
The box contains the bonuses allocated this year.
Apart from the first few years when he learned business from his father, this was the least amount of money he had ever received, but he was very happy.
When his father was still alive, he always told him to take good care of the family business, because the Wu family would depend on him from now on. He was not allowed to make a single mistake, and no matter how well he did, his father never praised him.
Now, however, someone is telling him not to rush to make money, but to take it slow and steady, because haste makes waste.
If there are any problems, we should discuss them together and find solutions.
They were even so assertive that they wouldn't negotiate if they couldn't reach an agreement.
Back home, after closing the study door, Wu Xingwang poured all the silver coins from the box onto his desk, happily counting them in his heart.
When Madam Jiang and Madam Qian came to the study, they saw him counting the small amount of silver back and forth.
Jiang couldn't help but interrupt him, "Master, you've counted three times already, haven't you counted enough yet?"
“That’s right, sir. My sister and I have been here for a long time, but none of us are as important as the money on the table!” Madam Qian chimed in.
Wu Xingwang picked up a small box from the table and handed it to Jiang Shi, saying, "This is for the two of you. Take it and divide it between you."
"Thank you, sir." Madam Jiang took the box, her face beaming with joy.
Qian leaned forward and looked at her expectantly, "Sister, quickly open it and take a look."
Jiang tapped her forehead with her finger, "It's not like you haven't seen good things before. Look at you, so pathetic."
As she spoke, she opened the box, inside which were exquisitely designed jewelry and hairpins.
"How beautiful! Did you buy it in Cangwu County, sir? You've been back for so long and haven't even brought it out yet," Madam Qian said reproachfully.
Wu Xingwang chuckled and said, "The money that Master Yun obtained from suppressing bandits was distributed by the city lord to his subordinates."
"They've all been divided up?" Mrs. Jiang asked, somewhat surprised.
"We broke up."
Qian's eyes widened, and she exchanged a glance with Jiang. "The city lord is so generous."
"Master, we've truly met a benefactor," Madam Jiang said with a relieved smile.
Wu Xingwang remained silent and continued counting the silver coins on the table.
Jiang checked the jewelry in the box, picked out two pieces for Wu Yao, kept one for herself, and gave the rest to Qian.
"Sister, why did you give me everything?" Madam Qian asked, noticing that she had only taken one item.
“I’m old and don’t like wearing these anymore. You and Yao’er can keep them,” said Madam Jiang.
Qian's eyes flickered as she bit her lip and picked out two nice-looking pieces of jewelry from the set given to her.
"These two styles are perfect for the young lady."
Wu Xingwang felt a pang of sadness watching his two favorite women pass the jewelry back and forth.
"When the harvest is better next year, I'll buy you lots of jewelry," he promised.
Jiang and Qian exchanged a smile, then took the box and went back to the backyard.
All the management of Longtan received bonuses; their rewards included silver coins and some gold and silver jewelry seized during the bandit suppression.
The soldiers below were rewarded with two taels of silver each, plus a peck of rice.
Those injured in the bandit suppression operation will receive an additional twenty taels of silver, and each soldier who participated in the operation will receive ten taels of silver.
The Yun family's secret guards and the retainers brought by Yun Yu were separated and each received a reward of ten taels of silver.
Their clothes and shoes were different from those of the soldiers.
Considering that they would get married in the future, Lin Yinan had already chosen a location and asked Lin Qingxiang to arrange for people to build a family compound for them.
When the rewards were distributed, the entire military camp on the mountain was in an uproar, and everyone's face was filled with bright smiles.
"Brother Tiger, Master Yun said we can take turns taking a day off to go home. When are you planning to go back?" Big Head asked, a blade of grass dangling from his mouth, his eyes sparkling.
Tiger's home is in Dongxi Village, and it takes a whole day to travel there and back. If he wants to go back, he has to set off before dawn and arrive home at noon. He can have lunch at home and then rush back to make it back to the military camp before the lights are turned off.
He glanced at the bandage on his arm and said, "I plan to go back first thing the day after tomorrow."
"You're lucky, you got ten taels more in rewards than us," Big Head said enviously.
Tiger slapped him on the back of the head. "You good-for-nothing! You're lucky if you get ten taels. I've never seen anyone who actually hopes to get hurt. If the boss finds out, you'll be in big trouble."
The stone beside him said, "That's right. We're lucky. We were selected to fight bandits because we were good at the assessment. I heard that the others who weren't selected are all determined to surpass us next time."
"So don't let your guard down, there are plenty of people who want to surpass you," Tiger encouraged.
Stone then said, "Brother Tiger, you've done a great job in this bandit suppression campaign, shouldn't you be promoted to captain?"
"That's right, Tiger is very skilled."
"Yes, it should be promoted."
Tiger's ten subordinates all echoed his sentiments.
"Don't spread rumors that are baseless," Tiger said solemnly.
The military commanders, brigade commanders, and captains at the top were all secret guards. Compared to them, Hu Zi knew he was far inferior and had much to learn.
"I wish I could become a corporal," Big Head muttered, chewing on a blade of grass, his eyes glazed over in a daydream.
Suddenly, a rustling sound came from the bushes not far away.
The group exchanged glances, and Tiger sprang to his feet, gripping his knife as he charged forward.
"Who's there? Come out!" His voice was cold and sharp, his eyes fixed on the bushes.
Stone, Big Head, and the others followed, and all of them drew their knives from their waists.
"Sir! Please calm down, we were just passing by and gathering firewood."
The three men raised their hands in the grass and slowly stood up, cowering.
"Who goes there?" Tiger dared not relax for a moment, his broadsword pointing directly at one of the men.
This is a military camp, a heavily guarded area; how could they just come up here casually?
The man had never seen anything like this before and was almost scared to death.
“We are indeed villagers from this area. We only came to Longtan for refuge two months ago,” an older man said in a trembling voice.
Others chimed in, “Yes, yes, we even helped Longtan harvest sugarcane.”
Tiger was afraid that there was a trap, so he didn't dare to let them go on his own. He took off the rope from his waist.
"Tie them up, and then go back and tell their family to bring their household registration documents to pick them up."
After tying the three men up and blindfolding them, Tiger led them to the foot of a mountain not far from the camp.
Big Head went back to report to the captain in charge of them.
The guards rode up on horseback, asked for the names and villages of the inhabitants, and inquired about the reasons for their ascent to the mountain. They then sent soldiers to the village to collect the village chief and his family members, along with their household registration documents, to escort them to the village.
The guard looked at Hu Zi, whose arm was bandaged, with admiration in his eyes.
An hour later, the village chief of Dongwang Village and the families of the three men came with the household registration documents and took the person away.
Before leaving, the guard warned the village chief, "This mountain forest is a military camp restricted area, and you must not trespass in it in the future."
The village chief nodded and bowed fearfully, saying, "Yes, sir, you are right. I will definitely warn the villagers when I get back."
The guards waved for Tiger to untie them and let them leave.
"You're really good, kid!" The guard patted Tiger on the shoulder.
The next day, Tiger and his friends received a message.
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