The Emperor is Above

Chapter 15 Girl Niuniu
Tun Shigu was extremely anxious and wanted to rush to Huaiqiu immediately.

Qing Yi was not in a hurry to go back immediately. He was relieved that he had successfully split up the temporary alliance between Mao Sheng and Kou Rui today. He no longer had to worry about Kou Rui's conspiracy in the short term.

What's more, it is inconvenient to travel in the Northern Wilderness in winter. With only half a month left before the Chinese New Year, how can we not buy New Year's goods at the market?

Looking at the young men like Da Niu, Xizi, Huaimu and others who were looking at the roadside stalls, Qing Yi laughed and threw a bag of money over to them: "If you see something you like, just buy it--"

“Yeah——”

"Thank you, Master—"

Several teenagers cheered immediately, but they did not spend money recklessly. They mostly bought some urgently needed daily necessities for their families. Even if they bought some cheap food, most of it was left for their younger brothers and sisters at home, which made Qing Yi nod secretly in appreciation.

The market at Maoqiuting was bustling with activity, with nobles, followers, and common people from dozens of miles around gathering here. The flow of people was bustling, and there were different markets for cattle and horses, poultry, vegetables, and groceries.

Qing Yi looked at the various goods on the roadside with great interest. He could see that many people were bartering. The most common intermediate equivalent was actually salt blocks, and only a very small number of nobles used copper coins.

"The Northern Wilds lack copper and iron deposits, which leads to a lack of money. Corn is too heavy and inconvenient to carry. Salt mines are scarce, but everyone needs salt. Salt is expensive, light, and easy to carry."

Qing Yi couldn't help but sigh, "In this case, whoever finds a salt mine is equivalent to owning a gold mountain."

"Besides, it's not that simple!" Tu Shigu twisted his chubby body and followed Qing Yi closely with his short legs, fearing that he would get lost. He kept explaining,
“Fifty percent of the country’s salt mines are located in the capital area, all of which are controlled by the king. The other half of the salt mines are mostly located in the fiefs of the four senior ministers, and less than 20 percent are in the fiefs of the junior ministers and junior ministers.

With these salt mines as a source of income, the monarch could afford to support the left, center and right divisions, and the senior ministers, second ministers and junior ministers could afford to support their own private armies.

It is not possible for those below the rank of noble, even a senior official can hardly own his own salt mine, let alone us commoners."

It seems to be the same in any society. As the ruling class, the kings and nobles will never allow others to control the country's economic lifeline. In the Xing State, the salt mine is the economic lifeline.

Thinking of this, Qing Yi lost some interest. If he wanted to protect himself in this world, he not only had to become stronger as quickly as possible, but also had to improve his title.

We must cooperate well with Tun Shigu and use the skins and bones of the remaining eleven wild wolves in our home to make armor and bone soldiers as soon as possible, so that we can arm our own private army in the future.

"Big brother, is this little fox yours?"

A childish voice interrupted Qing Yi's thoughts. He turned around and saw a four-year-old girl staring at the little white fox in her pocket.

The girl was delicate and pretty, with big eyes and snow-white skin. She was an exquisite beauty. Her jet-black hair was tied into buns, and she was wearing a snow-white fur coat. The soft white antelope boots on her feet were even more exquisite.

Qing Yi showed a warm smile to such a cute child: "Little sister, of course this child was raised by my family since he was young, and he can also help catch mice at home!"

"Ah wu——"

The little white fox couldn't help rolling its eyes. It was captured just one month old, so of course it had been raised since it was a baby, so it didn't count as deceiving the little girl.

However, it also had a good impression of the beautiful girl in front of it, and couldn't help but act cute as usual, which made her even more envious. She put her little hand in her mouth, her eyes full of expectation, "Can you sell it to me? I have something good to exchange with you."

The girl's tender little hand took out a shiny object from her pocket. It emitted a light yellow luster and was only the size of a date pit, but Qing Yi could feel the huge energy contained in it.

"Ah, a crystal, a top-grade crystal at that!"

Tu Shigu was the first to shout loudly, his fat body shaking with excitement, "Little girl, do you know how valuable this thing is? Hurry up and put it away." "But the little fox is really worth it!" The girl said with determination on her childish face, "Big brother, can I exchange it for this?"

Qing Yi took the little white fox out of his pocket, then squatted down, looking the girl in the eye, and smiled warmer and warmer: "Little sister, what's your name?"

"My name is Niuniu——" The clear childish voice is particularly pleasant to hear.

"So your name is Niuniu. I'm very happy that the little fox is so liked by you, but I have to ask the little fox for his opinion on this matter.

If it likes you and is willing to go home with you, I will give it to you, but if it doesn't want to go home with you, don't force it, okay?"

"Yeah, thank you, big brother!" Niuniu nodded vigorously, and then said to the little white fox with expectation on her face,
"Little fox, do you like me? If you come home with me, there will be lots of delicious food. In the morning, there will be stone marrow, amethyst and honey. At noon, I will make you white antelope tenderloin, venison, goose feet, leopard meat, and various candied fruits. In addition to these, there will also be Phoenix Tail and Blue Feather Pheasant stew tonight."

"Be good——"

Tun Shigu couldn't help but exclaim again, these foods sounded extremely valuable just by the name, but this little girl actually fed them to the little fox without any care.

"Suck it-"

The little white fox couldn't help drooling, his eyes rolling around, as if he was very moved by Niu Niu's words.

But the next second, it crawled into Qing Yi's pocket, hiding its little head, leaving only its fluffy little tail wagging outside, and didn't want to listen anymore.

After this test, Qing Yi became more certain that the little white fox had an extraordinary origin. The pack of wild wolves and the mysterious ghosts that appeared that night might really be targeting it. He also became more certain that the little white fox wanted to avoid disaster in its own home.

"Woo woo woo - the little fox ignored me - woo woo -"

Niu Niu was rejected so straightforwardly by the little white fox that she felt extremely aggrieved. She couldn't hold back her tears and squatted on the ground sobbing.

"Don't cry, Niuniu. The little white fox doesn't want to go home with you, but you can be friends with it!" Qing Yi comforted her softly, "I can invite you to my house to play with it."

"really?"

Niu Niu stopped crying, there were still traces of tears on her fair and tender face, and her big eyes were full of anticipation.

"Of course it's true!" Qing Yi said, picking up the little white fox's tail and pulling it out, "Little fox, do you want to be friends with Niuniu?"

"Ah wu——"

The little white fox nodded repeatedly. Only a fool would not want to be friends with a rich man, let alone such a generous and exceptionally beautiful girl.

"That's great, we're friends now!" Niuniu happily hugged the little white fox, took out a piece of candy from her pocket and stuffed it into the little fox's mouth, "This is candy made of stone marrow amethyst royal jelly, for you to eat--"

"Niuniu——"

An old voice came from behind the crowd, and Niuniu shouted happily, "Grandpa, I'm here, let me show you my new friend——"

Qing Yi looked in the direction of the voice and saw a thin, dark-skinned old man in his seventies, squeezing over with a bag of roasted chestnuts.

(End of this chapter)