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

"OK."

Dugu Menghui said.

Shen Xiaoqi was so happy that she danced around Shen An twice, saying, "Hehe, brother, you're getting married! You're going to carry on the Shen family line!"

Shen An doesn't even know how long he can keep his own life, so he hasn't even thought about matters between men and women.

He waved his hand: "Go away, I have no such idea."

Dugu Meng thought Shen An was going to change his mind, so she quickly said, "What do you mean you have no idea? Since you just said it, it's settled and can't be changed."

"Alright."

Shen An just wanted to take this opportunity to calm her down and get her to follow his arrangements. Since they had already made a promise, there was no need to change it.

He simply instructed, "In that case, you shall wait at home for our return."

"No, I'll go with you." Dugu Meng said, already following behind.

Shen An frowned: "We're going to Qingyang County. What if there's a wanted poster for you? What if you're discovered?"

Dugu Meng was certainly aware of this.

But Shen An was so certain that he could earn a hundred taels of silver, which made her uneasy.

He might have already received more than a hundred taels of silver from Wang Bantou, and the dead man's hair was just a cover.

Although she shouldn't judge others with a petty mind, it's always good to be wary of others.

She could only feel at ease after seeing Shen An make the transactions with her own eyes.

"If you stay here, what if Feng Guaizi and the others betray you, and Officer Ma comes looking for trouble? Wouldn't I be in even more danger?" Dugu Meng retorted.

She paused, then said, "Don't worry, Li Huaiyi would never dare to post my portrait openly. As long as others don't recognize me as a woman, I shouldn't be exposed."

"Is that really true?" Shen An asked, half believing and half doubting.

Dugu Meng was very confident in this. Even if Li Huaiyi had a hundred times the courage, he would not dare to openly post a wanted poster of her, the emperor. Even if he knew the secret that she was a woman, he would not dare to do so, otherwise it would be an open rebellion!

To put Shen An at ease, she countered with a question: "Think about it, when that Wang Ban Tou came looking for me, did he bring out a portrait?"

Li Huaiyi ordered the authorities to arrest me, and I only dared to say that I was an absolute beauty. So, as I said before, as long as it's not revealed that I'm a woman disguised as a man, I will never be exposed, unless Li Huaiyi comes in person!

Shen An thought back for a moment, and indeed there wasn't.

The fact that Li Huaiyi didn't dare to openly issue a wanted poster with his portrait made Shen An even more certain that Dugu Meng's identity was extraordinary.

Since staying at home was more dangerous, Shen An relented: "Let's go then. Stay close to me and keep pretending to be mute."

However, if someone conducts a thorough search on the street, you need to retreat immediately.

Otherwise, if people discover that you are disguised as a man and that you have such a beautiful face, they will definitely associate you with the person Li Huaiyi is after and will arrest and interrogate you.

Dugu Meng nodded in agreement.

The three left the village, and Shen An turned into a dilapidated temple by the roadside, where he took out a clean set of clothes from his bundle and changed into them.

He took off his tattered corpse-carrying clothes and put on a long blue cloth robe.

"Clothes make the man, and a saddle makes the horse; if you want to sell at a high price, your outfit can't be weak."

Shen An instructed, "From now on, you will be my followers."

Shen Xiaoqi, mimicking the mannerisms of a servant in a traditional opera, bowed and scraped, saying, "Hehe, young master, I'll listen to you!"

Dugu Meng was amused by Shen Xiaoqi's actions, and her mood improved a lot. However, she could see corpses lying unclaimed and refugees squatting by the roadside begging from time to time on the way to the county town.

Dugu Meng felt a tightness in her chest, constantly thinking about how to change this miserable situation after she returned to the palace.

Shen An's face remained expressionless; having been in this world for half a year, he was already used to it.

Upon arriving in the county town, the gate guards checked each passerby.

Shen An glanced at the wanted posters on the city wall and indeed there was no portrait of Dugu Meng. Just as she had said, Li Huaiyi did not dare to openly post a portrait to arrest her, which was good news for them.

However, Shen An did not let his guard down, keeping a knife clutched behind his back.

Fortunately, Dugu Meng strictly followed Shen An's instructions and did not speak. The guards outside the city did not search her body, and she passed through the inspection safely.

Shen An led them to a shop called Wanbaozhai.

Last time, he sold blood charcoal right here.

Dugu Meng looked at Shen An's seemingly genuine expression, but she felt no panic whatsoever.

At this moment, she didn't think Shen An was scheming.

Instead, they thought Shen An was very naive; he must have been deceived by the people at Wanbaozhai, and now he actually believed that the item was valuable!

But to her surprise, when the shopkeeper Deng Donglai saw Shen An, his eyes lit up immediately.

He quickly put down what he was doing and waddled over to greet her: "Oh, you've finally come!"

I haven't heard from you since the last transaction. I thought I'd never see you again! Did you bring that thing?

"Since you're here, of course I brought it. Manager Deng, please inspect the goods."

Shen An gestured for Shen Xiaoqi to take off the cloth bag she was carrying, place it on the table, and open it.

Deng Donglai reached out and grabbed a handful of dark powder, brought it close to his nose, and smelled it: "The quality is even better than last time! I'll take the whole batch, still the same price as last time, five hundred coins per pound, how about it?"

Upon hearing this, Dugu Meng was completely distraught.

Wow, people actually buy them!

According to the price they quoted, wouldn't it cost over a hundred taels?

She used to think that Shen An had been deceived, and that she thought she knew everything.

And they actually bought it.

This made her face burn with pain.

However, what she found even more unbearable was that if their deal went through, wouldn't she have to obey Shen An in everything, including marrying him...?

No, perhaps the other party is just making an offer and may not actually be making a deal.

She still has hope!

Shen An shook his finger in dissatisfaction: "My master sent me here last time to make a deal in order to open up sales channels, so he sold it cheaply. Now he wants to raise the price."

Dugu Meng immediately understood Shen An's intention: he had fabricated a false powerful backer to make the owner of Wanbaozhai wary.

To have such a mindset, and to be able to turn the hair of the dead into a treasure.

Why just a mere corpse carrier?!

Deng Donglai's eyes darted around, and he said with a smile, "How about this, you introduce me to the boss, and I'll discuss the price with him in person, okay?"

Shen Andun realized that Deng Donglai was not someone to be fooled, and wanted to test his abilities instead.

His face immediately darkened, he tied the bag shut, and made a move to carry it back: "You've gone too far. I'm trying to earn some commission from these, you're not giving me a way to make a living."

Seeing that things were not going well, Deng Donglai quickly stopped him, smiling apologetically: "I just mentioned it casually, I didn't mean anything by it."

The price is negotiable, 600 coins per jin, how about it?

Shen An stopped and held up two fingers: "One pound and two ounces."

"Two ounces?" Deng Donglai's eyes widened. "This price increase is outrageous! Even the best wound medicine on the market isn't this expensive! Make it cheaper!"

"I can't help it. This is the price my homeowner bid on. If you don't buy it, I'll find someone else," Shen An said, turning to leave again.

"Don't go! The price is negotiable!"

The two haggled back and forth, eventually settling on a price of one tael of silver for one pound of blood charcoal.

As Dugu Meng listened to their haggling, her heart sank lower and lower.

After Deng Donglai counted the money and handed it to Shen An, 227 taels, her heart sank completely.

She lost!

Immediately afterwards, she couldn't help but recall the words "while it's hot" that she had heard in the mass grave.

Shen An must really want a woman!

Now that she has lost, doesn't this give Shen An his chance?

If Shen An goes back and makes that request, wouldn't she have to agree?!