Chương 13: Unexpected Wealth

When Jiang Huanyu returned home, he discovered that his wife was anxiously pacing back and forth in the hall. Hearing movement, Hu Yufen hurriedly walked out from inside the house. Stepping on the accumulated snow, she stumbled forward to greet him.

"Husband, what happened?" In her impression, her man was someone with a steady personality. The way he had left in a hurry this morning made her realize that something major must have happened.

"It's nothing." Jiang Huanyu quickly walked over and supported her.

"It's cold outside. Go back inside first."

"Some days ago, I asked Master Huang for help and found a household in town that plants fruit trees. I ordered a batch of fruit saplings from them and agreed to go take a look today."

"I've been busy these days and actually forgot about it." After randomly making up a reason to comfort his wife, Jiang Huanyu glanced at the accumulated snow in the courtyard and changed the topic.

"The snow has stopped. We need to quickly clear this snow away." After saying that, he found an iron shovel and went into the courtyard, busily shoveling snow. Hu Yufen sat in the hall, looking at his busy figure, her expression somewhat worried. The two of them had supported each other for nearly ten years. She was very clear about what kind of personality Jiang Huanyu had. What he had just said was merely to comfort her and keep her from worrying.

Time passed in a flash, and in the blink of an eye, it was time for the eldest, Jiang Wenfeng, to have his holiday. That day, Jiang Huanyu tidied up the ox cart and prepared to go to town to bring his eldest son back. When he arrived at Cloudwater Town's martial arts school, he unexpectedly discovered a tall military warhorse tied in the stable at the entrance of the school. Jiang Huanyu walked into the martial arts school and happened to meet Huang Qingzhou, who was walking out.

"Calculating the time, Virtuous Brother should be arriving around now."

"Elder Brother…" When Jiang Huanyu cupped his hands in greeting, Huang Qingzhou directly pulled him to a side room.

"Virtuous Brother, quickly come in…" Following Huang Qingzhou into the room, a wave of warmth rushed toward him. Jiang Huanyu suddenly noticed that there was another figure sitting inside the side room, currently tasting tea.

"Big Brother Yunxiao?" That person was precisely Huang Yunxiao. At this moment, Huang Yunxiao had bandages wrapped around his shoulder, and there was also a scabbed scar on his face. Seeing Jiang Huanyu, he hurriedly stood up and greeted him with a smile.

"Virtuous Brother, quickly sit." Jiang Huanyu sat on a nearby stool in surprise and said, "Big Brother Yunxiao, you were injured?" Huang Yunxiao glanced at his left arm, smiled, and waved his hand.

"A small injury. One of those damned barbarians fired a cold arrow from behind and shot through my shoulder."

"Virtuous Brother, this time, it was all thanks to you discovering the traces of those beasts in advance." After Huang Qingzhou poured Jiang Huanyu a cup of tea, Huang Yunxiao continued, "To be honest, this time, we successfully intercepted and killed that barbarian squad. This foolish elder brother and Commandant Zhang can be considered to have made a great contribution."

"Qingzhou." Hearing this, Huang Qingzhou at the side hurriedly brought over a tray covered with red silk and placed it before Jiang Huanyu. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"This is…" Jiang Huanyu glanced at the tray, somewhat puzzled. Huang Yunxiao smiled faintly.

"Virtuous Brother, open it and take a look." The red silk was lifted, and inside the tray were thirty bright silver ingots neatly arranged. Each ingot was stamped with the words "Officially Minted Ten Taels."

"What does Big Brother Yunxiao mean by this?" Jiang Huanyu looked at Huang Yunxiao in some surprise. Although in his heart he guessed that these three hundred taels of silver were most likely meant to be given to him as thanks, he did not directly accept them.

"Great Yu's laws have a regulation: those who report enemy thieves shall be heavily rewarded."

"Virtuous Brother exposed the secret invasion of a hundred-man barbarian squad this time. It can be considered indirectly saving all the commoners of Cloudwater Town. According to the regulations, you should be rewarded with one hundred taels of silver."

"And because Virtuous Brother informed us in advance, Commandant Zhang and I were able to make a great contribution. With this merit, being promoted in office and granted a noble rank should not be difficult."

"The remaining two hundred taels were pooled together by the two of us, merely to express our gratitude."

"Just accept it." Hearing this, Jiang Huanyu was somewhat surprised inside. He truly had not known that reporting a barbarian invasion would have a reward. The reason he had hurried to tell Huang Yunxiao was only that he did not want Golden Willow Village to be affected after this barbarian squad invaded. After all, everything he had was in Golden Willow Village. If anything happened, this life would be ruined.

The Mountain Patrol Commandant Camp had mobilized all its troops and had also invited the teachers of the martial arts school to help. From the look of it, they had swallowed that barbarian squad. Without any large-scale war occurring, being able to kill a hundred enemies was indeed a great contribution for the Mountain Patrol Commandant Camp. Jiang Huanyu glanced at those bright silver ingots, then turned and cupped his hands toward Huang Yunxiao.

"May I ask Big Brother Yunxiao, in this extermination of the barbarian invaders, were the casualties of the Mountain Patrol Commandant Camp severe?" When this matter was mentioned, Huang Yunxiao's expression grew somewhat dim.

"The barbarians are fierce. They are naturally stronger than the soldiers of our Great Yu."

"Although the soldiers of the Mountain Patrol Commandant Camp are all elites, compared with those true barbarian battle soldiers, there is still some gap."

"In this operation, the commandant camp lost more than fifty brothers." After hearing this, Jiang Huanyu sighed inwardly.

"To be honest, Big Brother Yunxiao, this younger brother's family is indeed strained right now, but this silver…"

"This younger brother only needs the one hundred taels rewarded by the government. As for the remaining two hundred taels, please take them back, Big Brother Yunxiao." Huang Yunxiao quietly took a sip of tea, looked at him, and smiled faintly.

"Hehe… Virtuous Brother thinks it is too little?" Jiang Huanyu quickly cupped his hands.

"Absolutely not. This younger brother only ran an errand. This merit was earned by Elder Brother and Commandant Zhang with your lives."

"The Mountain Patrol Commandant Camp protects us commoners, and for this, more than fifty soldiers were lost."

"If Elder Brother is unwilling to take it back, then please give these two hundred taels of silver to the families of the soldiers who died in battle." Huang Yunxiao gently scraped the tea foam and suddenly smiled.

"Haha…"

"Virtuous Brother is indeed a person of true feeling."

"Since that is so, this foolish elder brother will inform the brothers of your goodwill…"

"Elder Brother, wait." Jiang Huanyu hurriedly stopped him.

"There should not be many people who know that this younger brother was the one who reported the barbarian squad, right?" Huang Yunxiao nodded slightly. Up to now, only the two brothers and he knew of this matter.

"Elder Brother, this younger brother has one request." Jiang Huanyu cupped his hands and said, "Please do not tell others that this younger brother was the one who reported the barbarian invasion." The barbarian squad had been able to accurately know that the Mountain Patrol Commandant Camp did not arrange patrol missions when heavy snow sealed the mountains. This proved that they had informants inside Great Yu. This time, they had been exposed by him and suffered heavy losses.

If they developed a desire for revenge, the consequences would be unimaginable. After hearing this, Huang Yunxiao pondered slightly and guessed his thoughts.

"Virtuous Brother, rest assured. Aside from the three of us, there will not be a fourth person who knows about this matter."

"Many thanks, Elder Brother." Jiang Huanyu thanked him, then wanted to go pick up Jiang Wenfeng and return home.

"Virtuous Brother, wait." Huang Yunxiao stood up and said, "You refuse to accept the money, but this foolish elder brother must repay this favor."

"I heard from Qingzhou that your worthy nephew is learning martial arts at the school. How about this."

"This foolish elder brother will make the decision. In these years that your worthy nephew studies martial arts at the school, his initiation gifts will be waived." For Jiang Wenfeng to study martial arts, the yearly initiation gift was twenty taels of silver. In the future, he would still have to stay at the martial arts school for at least several years. If the initiation gifts could be waived, it would also save a large sum of money.

Jiang Huanyu understood that Huang Yunxiao did not want to owe him this favor, so he did not act overly polite.

"In that case, many thanks, Big Brother Yunxiao." After cupping his hands in thanks, he took one hundred taels of silver and followed a martial arts school disciple out. After he left, Huang Yunxiao looked at his figure in the courtyard, a faint smile appearing on his face.

"Skilled in worldly dealings, neither servile nor arrogant before rank. He is quite an interesting person." Hearing this, Huang Qingzhou said, "Big Brother, should we now renew the old friendship with the Jiang family? After all, our two families were once family friends." Huang Yunxiao shook his head.

"Wait a little longer. Now we have already extended goodwill. If we want to renew the relationship, we can do so at any time."

"Crossing social classes is not so simple. If the Huang family wants to take another step forward now, what we need are friends of equal strength." Just as he picked up the teacup before him, Huang Yunxiao suddenly asked a question.

"Right, how is Jiang Huanyu's son's talent in martial arts?"