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

This constable was named Ma Tianming. He was the county's head constable and was responsible for assisting the army in transporting corpses.

He was Wang Bantou's superior and had visited the mass grave a few times before.

Wang Ban Tou usually bullied the corpse carriers at will, and he was the one protecting them. Most of the money he squeezed out was also given to him.

This time, he specifically named Shen An, indicating his ill intentions.

Shen Xiaoqi hid in the shadows, holding a crossbow in his hand, ready to launch a sneak attack at any moment.

Shen An didn't dare to be careless. He gripped the knife behind his back with his hands behind his back, and bowed as he approached: "Officer Ma, what brings you here?"

Dugu Meng stood behind him, her heart pounding in her chest.

The eight constables were all armed with knives and were highly trained, far superior to Wang Bantou's gang.

Ma Tianming stared at Shen An, trying to intimidate him with his eyes: "Shen An, have you seen Chief Wang these past few days?"

Shen An feigned fear, avoiding eye contact: "Officer Ma, I really haven't seen him these past few days."

He loves drinking and womanizing; perhaps he's off having another good time.

"Hmph, I already looked for it, it's not there!"

As Ma Tianming spoke, he drew his sword, the tip pressed against Shen An's neck, and whispered, "Tell me, did he run away?"

Shen An's heart skipped a beat.

Ma Tianming was unaware that Wang Bantou was dead, and his first reaction was to run away.

This suggests that he and Wang Bantou had some shady dealings, and he was afraid that Wang Bantou would run away.

He quickly feigned a puzzled expression: "Officer Ma, I'm just a lowly corpse carrier, how could I possibly know the whereabouts of the squad leader?"

"Damn it, you're useless!"

Anxious to find his missing person, Ma Tianming cursed and waved to the others, "Let's go ask at the next place!"

Seven or eight horses galloped away from the courtyard gate, but the crisis was not over!

If Feng Guaizi and his gang accidentally let something slip, a major battle would be unavoidable.

He also went into hiding, ready to strike first should they come again!

Fifteen minutes later, Shen An saw Ma Tianming leave Qingtian Village with his men.

It's clear that Feng Guaizi and the others were also afraid that Shen An would turn around and bite them back, so they all kept their mouths shut this time.

They dared not reveal the truth until the appointed time arrived.

Dugu Meng breathed a long sigh of relief; her heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled down.

Shen Xiaoqi walked to Shen An's side with a dejected look: "I was hoping to show those constables the power of crossbows! If a fight broke out, I could have wiped them all out! They're lucky they left like this."

Shen An shook his head: "We only have this one crossbow. At most, we can kill a few constables."

It's best not to antagonize the authorities now, or you'll be forced to become a fugitive.

"Okay." Shen Xiaoqi lowered her head.

Listening to the brothers' conversation, Dugu Meng couldn't agree with it at all.

As the emperor, how many times had she inspected the army? What kind of weapon hadn't she seen?

What weapon could Shen Xiaoqi possibly have that would allow him to kill all eight constables?!

It seems the two are indeed quite skilled, but unfortunately they are limited by their identity as corpse carriers and lack some insight.

"Feng Guaizi and his gang didn't betray us this time, but there's a secret between Wang Bantou and Ma Tianming. Ma Tianming will definitely continue to investigate Wang Bantou's whereabouts."

If his offer is tempting enough, someone will inevitably succumb to it.

Shen An said in a deep voice, "I need to finish refining the stuff quickly. You two stay outside and keep watch."

After saying that, he turned and went into the kitchen.

He stuffed the earthenware jars filled with dead people's hair into the stove hole one by one and began firing them.

This is called the closed calcination method.

Hair carbonizes under oxygen-deficient conditions, but instead of burning to ash, it becomes a loose, black, shiny charcoal block that floats on water.

This stuff is called charred human hair, and it can stop bleeding, promote urination, and is extremely effective in treating external injuries.

In these war-torn years, it would be a treasure.

This is the source of Shen An's confidence in saying he could sell it for over a hundred taels.

By the time everything had burned out, the sun had already risen.

Shen An poured the blood-red charcoal into the yard and let it cool naturally.

More than a thousand pounds of hair were reduced to only one hundred and sixty pounds.

He sold it once before for 500 coins per pound.

At this price, it can be sold for eighty taels.

After the last sale, I still had some money left. I had eighty-seven taels in hand, and I was still thirteen taels short of one hundred taels.

Dugu Meng didn't sleep all night, her brows furrowed as she looked at the dark powder drying on the ground.

She had thought it was absurd before, and now that she saw the finished product, she was even more convinced that Shen An had been deceived.

Shen An didn't have time to ponder her thoughts; he was eager for more hair.

When he returned to the mass grave, he raised the purchase price to ten coins per pound.

The corpse carriers immediately got excited and started digging up the graves. Unfortunately, they dug up every inch of the mass grave, but only managed to get a hundred catties.

The amount of hair is still a bit lacking. Just as Shen An was thinking about how to get more dead people's hair, Feng Guaizi came over.

He figured Shen An must have gotten a lot of money from Wang Bantou. Since he couldn't ask for it directly, he had to get the money in a reasonable way.

He led a few people to surround them.

"Shen An, we didn't betray you yesterday; we actually helped you a lot."

"Help? I bet you guys are too scared to do it, afraid my brother will drag you down with him!" Shen Xiaoqi retorted.

Feng Guaizi did not deny it: "A gentleman judges by actions, not intentions. In any case, we helped you."

Shouldn't you offer some kind of benefit?

"What are the benefits?"

"Shen An, aren't you a collector of dead people's hair? After we finish our work, we can go to the battlefield to cut hair, and you can collect it too, how about that?" Feng Guaizi said with a smile.

The other corpse carriers' eyes were filled with anticipation and greed.

Shen An could tell that they wanted to squeeze every last penny out of him before the authorities killed him.

But for Shen An, this was an incredible stroke of luck.

He has enough hair for now, but for long-term development, he needs more money, and the current amount is far from enough.

He hesitated deliberately before saying, "I was thinking of stuffing my hair into the bedding and selling it as a quilt in the winter, but the return on investment would be slow."

But seeing how generous you are, go ahead and do it. I'll take as many as you have.

"Haha, great!" Feng Guaizi and the others were overjoyed, secretly cursing Shen An for being stupid.

He might not even survive these next few days, let alone think about getting through the winter.

In order to earn more money, after work they would lead people to search for dead people's hair in the war zone.

The next day, he got Shen An four hundred catties, which met Shen An's estimate.

Shen An immediately paid Feng Guaizi and returned home to re-calcine the metal.

I didn't sleep a wink all night again.

The five hundred catties we obtained in the past two days were all burned, and another sixty-seven catties of blood residue charcoal were produced.

Including the previous amount, it totals 227 jin.

At the old price, it would easily cost over one hundred taels.

Shen An summoned Dugu Meng and Shen Xiaoqi: "The blood residue charcoal is ready. Xiaoqi, come with me to Qingyang County to sell it."

"You're really planning to sell these things?" Dugu Meng had a headache.

"Why would I calcine it if I'm not going to sell it to you?" Shen An retorted.

Dugu Meng didn't want to see him make a wasted trip, but then she thought it might be better for him to run into a wall.

If they want to survive now, they can only escape before the authorities find out and try to seize that sliver of hope.

If they continue to let him have his way, none of them will survive.

She needs to take control of the conversation at the airport.

She said, "Shen An, if you don't sell a hundred taels this time, you'll be following my orders from now on."

"Maybe if we listen to me, we might still have a way to survive."

Shen An could tell that she still didn't believe him.

However, this sentence gave him an opportunity to make her cooperate in everything from now on.

He immediately nodded: "Okay, but if I sell it for over a hundred taels, you have to do as I say, okay?"

"Hehe, bro, you really have some tricks up your sleeve."

"According to you, since your sister-in-law agreed, she's practically throwing herself at you. If you want to marry her, it's just a matter of saying the word." Shen Xiaoqi grinned and leaned closer.

Dugu Meng's heart sank.

She is the supreme ruler, and her words are law.

If Shen An succeeds and still wants to marry her, wouldn't she have to marry him?

However, Dugu Meng did not hesitate for long; she trusted her own judgment more.

Shen An has been deceived; he has no chance of succeeding, so it doesn't matter if he agrees!