As soon as Dun Zhu heard Miss Cai Wei hinting that she was talking too much and wanted to dismiss her, she was frightened. She immediately covered her mouth and shook her head in horror, her eyes wide open, and she begged for mercy with unclear murmurs.
"Don’t just stand there! Go!" The tone of Cai Wei’s voice dropped slightly.
"Yes, this servant is leaving right now..."
Dan Zhu and Dun Zhu immediately ran off.
Just now, Cai Wei had roughly calculated the amount of meat required to improve the meal for an army of 100,000. To put it lightly, if each soldier were to eat an ounce of meat, 100,000 soldiers would need 10,000 jin of meat. If each pig was counted as 300 jin, they would need more than 300 pigs.
Although Qing County was prosperous, it was just a county town after all, the market’s capacity is limited. It was impossible to buy 10,000 jin of meat, so they could only get the middleman to purchase from farmers in nearby areas, and then deliver to the camp for unified slaughtering. Over 300 pigs was no small amount. If they wanted to gather all the pigs before dinner time, it wouldn’t be an easy task. So they could only seek the best middleman to handle this!
Not long after Cai Wei returned to the inn, Dun Zhu had found the best middleman in Qing County with her long legs and quick steps.
The middleman was a gentleman named Qu You, who was in his forties and had been a middleman in Qing County for more than twenty years. He knew every detail about Qing County.
When the middleman, Qu, heard that Cai Wei wanted to procure over three hundred live pigs before sunset, he was about to refuse. But suddenly, Cai Wei took out a five taels gold ingot from her bosom and laughed, "The girl knows that this task is difficult. This meagre five taels of gold is a token of gratitude. I will add an additional five taels when the job is done. I hope Mr. Qu would not refuse."
Upon seeing the bright yellow and sparkling gold ingot, Middleman Qu swallowed his refusal which was on the tip of his tongue. Although the task was tough, he might be able to find a way around it with a bit more effort. He could get other middlemen to help, and it wouldn’t even matter if he had to share a bit of silver with them.
As he thought about it, he put the gold ingot into his sleeve, stood up with a beaming smile, and said, "Miss Mu, I’m humbled by your trust, and I’ll do my best to complete this task."
After saying that, he took his leave from Cai Wei in a hurry to tend to the matters.
After Middleman Qu left, Cai Wei wrote a letter to Nangong Yi, telling him that she would be going to the camp tonight to improve the soldiers’ meals.
Since Brother Ying wasn’t around, after finishing her letter, she called for the shop assistant and asked him to deliver it personally to Nangong Yi.
The shop assistant, who had received a reward of an ounce of silver from Cai Wei, showed a toothy grin and ran off immediately. Just as he was exiting the door, he came back saying, "Miss, there is a lady outside claiming to be Miss Shen who wishes to see you."
Cai Wei responded, "Please invite her in, and go about handling what you need to."
The shop assistant happily went off, and no sooner had he left than Shen Juhua came in.
"Cai Wei, what exactly do you mean by what you said?"
Shen Juhua, being straightforward, couldn’t hold her excitement. As soon as she heard the maid’s words, she immediately ran out of her house. Without confronting Cai Wei in person, she would have burst from the repression.
Cai Wei smiled and glanced at her. Seeing her flushed face, the hint of sweat on her forehead, and her uneven breaths, it was clear that Shen had run all the way.
"Look at you, all sweaty. Have a seat and drink some tea!"
She placed a cup of flower tea in front of Shen Juhua and handed her a handkerchief.
"Oh, Cai Wei, stop keeping me in suspense. What’s going on? What does your cryptic statement mean?"
Cai Wei continued her leisurely, light-hearted smile, "Don’t rush to question me just yet. First, answer two of my questions."