In a chaotic and famine-stricken era, I picked up an empress to be my wife.

Shen An's decisiveness and skill in killing made Dugu Meng think of giving him an important position in the future.

She simply couldn't believe that a dead person's hair could be turned into something valuable.

She felt that Shen An had been deceived into believing that this was a way to make money!

For now, she is still pinning her hopes on her subordinates coming, at which point they will not only be able to escape danger but also take Shen An and his brother away.

Just as I thought of this, a piercing pain shot through my arm again.

Shen An noticed her discomfort: "I'll re-stitch you up, otherwise your arm might be ruined."

Before meeting Shen An, Dugu Meng had never been close to a man, let alone seen his bare shoulders.

Perhaps it was too painful, or perhaps she had already seen it before, but she found herself not so resistant and nodded silently.

By the time it was finished, dawn was breaking.

Shen An tossed a set of men's clothing to Dugu Meng: "The corpses on the battlefield should be sent to the mass grave. Change into this, disguise yourself as a man, impersonate Liu Xiao Si, and come with me to the mass grave."

"Impersonating someone else is too risky, isn't it? Wouldn't it be safer to stay at your home?" Dugu Meng asked in surprise.

"Ma Tao wasn't the only one who saw me carrying the body back."

If they also become suspicious and find you at my house, they will surely associate you with the woman the governor is looking for.

"Five hundred taels plus the chance to be freed from slavery—few can resist such a temptation," Shen An replied. "If we're not careful, we're all doomed!"

"Even if you impersonate Liu Xiaosi, wouldn't you still be exposed if others could tell?"

"You're lucky. Liu Xiaosi only came the night before last, but he didn't make it through the night because of illness."

I took the body but didn't report it. He came with a face covered in dust, and no one remembered his appearance.

You and he look quite alike; if you smear some soot on your clothes, you might be able to fool everyone.

"Will it work?"

"There is no foolproof method. Although replacing Liu Xiaosi is risky, at least it can get us through unscathed."

If you win the bet, you'll be safe and able to travel freely from now on.

Dugu Meng gritted her teeth, really not wanting to take the risk, but her subordinates were slow to arrive, and if she didn't do this, she might be exposed again.

She would have to stay here until her subordinates arrived. Shen An could save her twice, but he couldn't save her forever.

In the end, she decided to give it a try.

"Remember, no one remembers what Liu Xiaosi looks like, so don't panic when you see anyone."

"To avoid being found out, pretend to be mute in the mass grave," Shen An instructed again.

Dugu Meng's current predicament stems from her not listening to Shen An's advice.

Although she was not used to being ordered around as an emperor, she still kept his words in mind.

They followed Shen An all the way to the mass grave.

Before dawn, a mist carrying the stench of corpses drifted in from the direction of the mass grave.

The newly arrived corpses were piled up haphazardly, and flies had already swarmed around them.

Dugu Meng suppressed the churning in her stomach and followed Shen An as calmly as possible.

That's why no one gave her a second glance, and no one suspected she was a woman.

She breathed a sigh of relief. As long as she didn't show any feminine characteristics and didn't speak, she could survive in this mass grave as Liu Xiaosi.

But she was not completely at ease. The threat from the government was still there, and if Wang Bantou's affair were exposed, she would not be able to escape either.

In order to collect the hair as soon as possible, Shen An not only cut it himself, but also gathered all the corpse carriers together.

"Gentlemen, I urgently need dead people's hair. It's five coins a pound. I'll take as much as you have."

Feng Guaizi and the others thought Shen An was trying to stall for time or escape, but they didn't expect him to buy worthless dead people's hair.

"Why are you doing this?" Feng Guaizi asked.

Shen An couldn't tell the truth: "If you don't have cotton-padded clothes for winter, stuff your hair into the blankets to keep warm."

Feng Guaizi threw his head back and laughed, inwardly mocking him.

Last night, he and others agreed that if Shen An could not resolve this matter within ten days, they would hand him over to the authorities.

Is Shen An still thinking about spending the winter?

That's just wishful thinking.

"You're not going to take the opportunity to make money?" Shen An retorted.

"Why wouldn't you pass up a chance to get free money? But if you can't come up with the money, you'll be in trouble!"

Although Feng Guaizi was the leader, he, like the other corpse carriers, did not live past a year.

Everyone wants to earn more money while they're still alive to supplement their family income.

With them, the collection speed is far greater than before.

They not only cut hair from fresh corpses, but even dug up corpses that had been buried for only a short time and tore off their hair.

In one day, they managed to get 300 jin for Shen An, which would cost 1,500 wen.

After Shen An paid the money amidst the astonished gazes of the crowd, Feng Guaizi and his henchmen approached with greedy expressions: "We are all corpse carriers, paid two hundred coins a month. How can you come up with so much money? Did you steal some money from Wang Bantou?"

We'll keep it a secret for you, shouldn't you share some with us?!

Apart from Old Zhao, all the other corpse carriers had greed in their eyes.

When Shen An was dealing with Wang Bantou's body, he found that the bastard hadn't brought a single penny with him.

He now has the money to pay because, in the six months since he traveled through time, he has already made money once using the hair of the dead.

He certainly couldn't say these things.

He chuckled softly, "Let's just say that."

"Then hurry up and distribute it to us!" Feng Guaizi stepped forward, and the others couldn't wait either.

"Divide it among you? You were all involved in killing Wang Bantou, are you sure you want it?" Shen An asked rhetorically.

These words instantly cleared the eyes of Feng Guaizi and the others.

"Do you want more?" Shen An pretended to reach into his pocket.

"No! Just give us the money you paid for the hair!" Feng Guaizi immediately changed his mind.

Although the others were eager to join in, they were also afraid of getting involved with Wang Bantou, so they all changed their minds and left.

Over the next five days, Feng Guaizi and his gang, in order to make money, procured more than 500 jin of meat for Shen An.

Previously, under Wang Bantou's control, Shen An could only collect in small batches; these five days have taken him more than the previous two months.

At this rate, two more days should be enough!

But Dugu Meng couldn't be happy.

She's been here for five days, and her men haven't shown up yet!

Even with a sliver of hope, she knew her men had been killed.

She wanted to be rescued, but could only wait for someone from the palace's inner circle to notice something amiss and send someone to help.

It would take at least a month for a round trip.

Right now, the only solution to Wang Bantou's problem is to rely on Shen An's dead man's hair.

Even though she thought the idea was unlikely, after returning from the mass grave, Dugu Meng couldn't help but ask, "It's been five days, shouldn't you try to turn your hair into something useful?"

"It's time to begin," Shen An nodded.

Although it's still a bit short, time is of the essence, it's time to refine it.

He called Shen Xiaoqi over and took out his inventory, a total of 1,200 jin.

Looking at the mountain of hair, Shen An instructed, "Xiao Qi, help me put the hair into the earthenware jar and seal it with mud. I'm going to start firing it."

Shen An moved all the pottery jars into the kitchen and was closing the door to begin the refining process.

Suddenly, the sound of horses' hooves rang out outside.

Before it was completely dark, seven or eight constables rode fast horses toward his house.

The three of them felt a chill run down their spines!

Normally, the yamen runners wouldn't come to his house.

Could it be that someone reported Wang Bantou's murder to the authorities?

Or was Dugu Meng discovered and reported?

Either way, they were all on high alert.

"Run!" Dugu Meng panicked.

"Can two legs outrun a horse? If we're chased and make a scene, it will only attract more people, and we won't be able to escape," Shen An said.

"What should we do then?"

"If they really are here to capture us, then fight them, steal their horses, and run!"

Shen An said in a deep voice, "Of course, if we can't win, none of us will survive tonight."

Dugu Meng's face grew increasingly grim.

Shen Xiaoqi wasn't afraid at all; on the contrary, she was excited: "Brother, the weapon you made is really amazing, so we don't need to be afraid of them."

Those yamen runners never treated us like human beings. Half of us corpse carriers were killed by them. I've wanted to teach them a lesson for a long time!

Dugu Meng was secretly delighted. They actually had excellent weapons. That was great!

"Xiao Qi, fighting to the death is no joke. Even with my weapon, victory is not guaranteed," Shen An warned.

"If I lose, I might die, but eighteen years from now, I, Shen Xiaoqi, will be a hero again!" Shen Xiaoqi said as he began practicing military boxing.

His younger brother showed no fear in the face of death, which truly impressed Shen An.

But Shen An didn't want to die. He wanted to keep his younger brother alive and take revenge!

Shen An ran to the side room and searched under the bed. He then pulled out a crossbow.

Currently, this world only has bows and arrows; even crossbows haven't been produced yet.

When Shen An took it out, Dugu Meng felt that it looked like a wooden box, completely different from the weapons she had ever seen.

The hope that had just risen in my heart vanished in an instant: "What is this?"

"Crossbows!"

As Shen An spoke, he tossed the weapon to Shen Xiaoqi: "Hide in the woodshed. If they come to arrest us, launch a surprise attack immediately!"

"Okay!" Shen Xiaoqi took it and excitedly hid in the woodshed.

"Will that weapon work?"

Dugu Meng's words had not yet faded.

"Phew..."

Eight constables arrived at the gate, dismounted with grim faces, and kicked open the courtyard gate!

A fierce-looking constable roared, "Shen An, you son of a bitch, come here right now!"