Having scoped out various shops and the livestock market's location in advance, Yun Qingyue saw Mother Cen off and immediately hurried back to the inn. Opening her room door, she set to work changing her clothes and applying makeup, determined to shop for supplies securely without being recognized.
All of her previous supplies were far too anachronistic. Therefore, Yun Qingyue decided that every time she entered a town, she would go on a shopping spree—buying absolutely everything in sight!
She had no idea how long the System quests would last or where else the System would send her on missions. Hence, stocking up on a wide variety of items was definitely the right move. Since the spatial dimension kept things from spoiling, the more the better.
As for the money spent, she would extract it back with interest from this initial System!
First, she took out a robot, having it act as a coachman to accompany her in purchasing a carriage. After looking around, Yun Qingyue decided to buy a luxury two-horse carriage.
It had front and rear doors, left and right windows, and was entirely waterproof. The windows were fitted with screens and curtains, and the front door was also equipped with a curtain. Both the front and rear doors could be bolted from the inside. She also bought several chests that could hold miscellaneous items and double as a bed frame.
This way, they sat at the same height as the carriage seats, taking up the rear half of the compartment. Once the back door was bolted from the inside and covered with thick quilts, it would turn into a small room—she was thoroughly satisfied!
Her very first stop next was a draper's shop, where she bought over a dozen complete sets of women's clothing, both inner and outer layers, along with seven or eight sets of practical men's clothing in her size. They truly said business people knew what they were doing—there were even outfits identical to Li Xiangyi's, one red and one white, hanging there and inexplicably catching her eye!
What was she waiting for? They had to be bought! One set of Li Xiangyi's in his size, and one set in her own size—these were all collector's items!
She then bought ten sets each of thin and thick bedding, twenty bolts of fabric, ten catties of cotton, and a good number of handkerchiefs and folding screens. Because she was buying so much, Yun Qingyue asked them to throw in plenty of pouches, handkerchiefs, hair ribbons, and sewing needles.
The shopkeeper voluntarily gave her some fabric scraps and unevenly dyed cloth, having his men load them all onto her carriage!
The robot started up the carriage and headed for the general store, while Yun Qingyue went inside the carriage to store away all her purchases. By the end of the day, the entire small town knew a wealthy customer had arrived, having practically bought out everything in their town.
At dinnertime, Yun Qingyue changed back into her morning clothes and returned to the inn with the emptied carriage. "Waiter, feed my horses the finest fodder! And bring two of your signature dishes and a bowl of rice to my room," she said, tossing out a small piece of broken silver as she spoke!
The waiter quickly reached out and caught it, his eyes crinkling shut with a smile as he hurriedly replied, "Right away, honored guest! Just wait a moment, I'll have it ready for you."
Money truly bought respect. Not long after Yun Qingyue returned to her room, the same waiter knocked on the door carrying a wooden tub of hot water. "Forgive me, honored guest, but seeing you out all day, you must be exhausted from walking in from outside. So I took the liberty of drawing some hot water for you to wash up. Wait just a moment, and I'll bring another tub of hot water. You'll be able to wash away the dust and fatigue in no time!"
Yun Qingyue deeply admired such a work ethic and said gently, "Alright, thank you for the thought. Go ahead!"
After finishing her meal, Yun Qingyue called over the waiter who came to clear the table and instructed, "Call your manager here; I have matters to discuss. Make it quick—big business!"
Before long, a slightly plump, middle-aged man who seemed to smile even when silent stood at the doorway, bowing as he asked, "May I ask if the honored guest has instructions for this humble one?"
Yun Qingyue feigned a casual tone and said, "Mm, I need you to prepare some things for me to take back. I'm taking them as gifts for some martial arts masters my family hired, and you'll probably need to make them overnight."
The plump manager raised his head. "This... are there a great many things required? If there's too much, our humble shop might..."
Yun Qingyue understood and said, "It doesn't matter, you can find others to help you together. I just need the goods by tomorrow morning!"
The manager was finally reassured. "Then whatever the honored guest commands, we certainly won't delay your important business!"
Yun Qingyue nodded. "Alright, listen carefully. I need enough dry rations for ten people for seven days, so prepare plenty. Also, bring all kinds of portable meat dishes—chicken, duck, beef, mutton, no matter what. Pastries and jerky are also as much the better. Your wine is quite good; pack twenty catties of each kind for me."
As Yun Qingyue spoke on, the manager, who had been smiling all along, smiled even wider now, looking like a blooming chrysanthemum in autumn—his teeth hidden entirely behind his eyes. He could now only respond repeatedly, "Yes, yes, yes; alright, alright, alright, rest assured. I guarantee everything will be handled for you. Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on it myself, and I certainly won't ruin our own reputation. Waiter, bring the honored guest a pot of good tea and some pastries, and take good care of her!"
Hearing their chatter, Yun Qingyue instantly lost patience. She needed to sleep; she had no time to stay up all night with them. She hastily called out to the waiter, who was turning to leave: "No need, I still need to rest. I've heard this establishment has been running for three generations; I trust you won't make mistakes. Just get to work, and I'll inspect and take the goods with me when I leave tomorrow. Here is your deposit, go prepare!" With that, she tossed a ten-tael gold ingot to the manager and dismissed them!
Waking up at eight in the morning, Yun Qingyue tidied herself up and had just reached the main hall when the waiter from yesterday spotted her.
He immediately brightened his face with a smile and hurried over. "Honored guest, let me bring you some breakfast. Today's wontons and Baozi were made personally by the head chef."
Money truly could make the ghosts push grindstones. Yun Qingyue nodded. "Bring some, then."
As she ate, Yun Qingyue asked the waiter, "Are the supplies ready? I'll be hitting the road as soon as I finish eating."
The waiter bowed. "Rest assured, honored guest. I went to check when I came to get your breakfast just now, everything is ready! The manager is over there checking the count right now, absolutely no problem, you can count on it!"
Yun Qingyue stood up, left another tael of broken silver on the table, and walked toward the inn's backyard!
The plump manager caught sight of Yun Qingyue from afar and came out to greet her. "Oh, honored guest, you're here! Don't worry, everything has been prepared properly for you. Have a look!"
Walking around to inspect it, Yun Qingyue nodded. "No problem, this is fine. Go ahead and have them load it onto the carriage, tell me how much it is, and I'll settle the rest of the bill with you!"
After settling the account and watching the men load the carriage, the manager had someone place a small chest on the driver's seat. "Since so many things are being brought for those martial arts masters, you're traveling empty-handed. This is some tea and our shop's wine. It's not much—just one catty of each—please try the flavor and give us your critique!"
Yun Qingyue nodded in thanks, cupped her fists in a salute, and sat on the other side of the driver's bench, instructing the robot, "Let's go!"
When the carriage drove slowly to the woods outside the town, Yun Qingyue ducked inside and began organizing the supplies. She brought out the chests, filling them with daily necessities so the bedding on top wouldn't feel hard or lumpy.
In the open space at the front, she stacked baskets filled with rice, flour, grain, cooking oil, pots, pans, pastries, snacks, wine, meat, and utensils to keep up appearances for anyone who might look.
Knowing roughly how the plot would unfold, Yun Qingyue was in no particular haste. Thus, every time she passed a town, she would purchase supplies and exchange them for silver notes and copper coins.
Because of the plot, she chose Tianji Manor's shops exclusively to deposit her money. For the safety of both the money and herself, putting in a little extra effort to find them was well worth it!
The robots didn't need to sleep, so they didn't require breaks. However, after driving day and night for two straight days, Yun Qingyue simply couldn't take it anymore.
Standing on the ground now, she felt as though the entire world was swaying. Dizzy and lightheaded, she thought, "Being an ancient person is truly not easy! Moving along for months, half a year, or a whole year at a time—how does the human body endure it? If it's this agonizing even for me with cheats enabled, they are truly resilient!"
Hailing the carriage to a stop, Yun Qingyue stretched her limbs while observing the terrain. She took out four more robots and sent them out to hunt, taking the opportunity to scout the local terrain and buildings.
As for herself, she took out a table and chairs, along with snacks, milk tea, and treats to eat while she rested. After finishing her meal, Yun Qingyue lay inside the carriage reading a book, recalling the robots before nightfall.
Seeing the large pile of game they had already cleaned and prepared, Yun Qingyue happily put it away before reviewing the robots' recorder logs.
As she watched, Yun Qingyue suddenly clutched the carriage railing, weeping and vomiting simultaneously. A long time passed before she regained her senses, straightened up, wiped away her tears, and pulled out water to clean herself up.
Slowly turning around, she stored the carriage away, tied the horses to a tree, and had the robot that had been driving keep watch. She then had one of the robots carry her on its back while the remaining robots led the way into the mountains.
You ask why? Because she had seen a bandit stronghold in the robots' feedback logs. Yun Qingyue had watched as the bandits brazenly bullied those women in broad daylight and then killed them without the slightest hesitation.
In an instant, the sky seemed to collapse, her vision darkened, and she began to retch uncontrollably. As for why the tears flowed, she had no idea herself!
Having come from a peaceful era, where on earth had Yun Qingyue ever witnessed such a scene? During her two missions, the worst it ever got was fighting and shouting names. All those palace intrigues and deaths were merely things she had heard about!
Seeing this abruptly and out of nowhere, the shock had nearly caused Yun Qingyue to have a heart attack. Calming down at last, she resolved to wipe out this bandit stronghold, report it to the authorities, and let the local officials deal with them!
Yun Qingyue had the robots use only cold weapons for the operation, and they acted swiftly. With all eight robots operating at full combat capacity, the battle was over in twenty minutes.
By the end of it, only five people were left alive in the entire stronghold! Following the map display, she carefully avoided the chaotic carnage all around. In total, she found four treasury rooms, two granaries, and other supply storage rooms.
Yun Qingyue took everything from the storehouses, leaving the miscellaneous clutter behind. She planned to wander around the surrounding area, leave some provisions for the ravaged villages, and then continue on her journey.
After coming down the mountain to send word to the government office, Yun Qingyue began distributing supplies. Looking at the pathetic, injured commoners, the weeping women, and the stoic, silently sobbing strong men—the blood, corpses, and fires all shocked Yun Qingyue, forcing her to reflect upon her previous naivety!
This was the true Jianghu, this was the real ancient world. She must take this as a warning. Secretly admonishing herself, Yun Qingyue remained out of sorts for two consecutive days!
The journey that should have taken four days was dragged out to eleven days as Yun Qingyue dispensed chivalrous deeds along the way. During this period, a group of unknown chivalrous thieves rose to great fame for their swift methods, orderly acquisition of goods, and generous relief of suffering commoners!
Using those bandits to vent her emotions, Yun Qingyue could finally find some peace! Recently, her worldview had suffered such a massive shock that she had almost fallen into a state of confusion and lost her way. Fortunately, the strong education of the new society helped her snap out of it in time!
Yun Qingyue broke out in a cold sweat over her own actions from the previous few days. Relying on the advanced nature of the things in her hands, she had actually nurtured the delusion that she was omnipotent!
Was the System giving her so many ultra-era items precisely to cultivate this kind of behavior in her? Was that why it acted with such a complete lack of boundaries when guiding her through the newcomer quests? This was truly terrifying; fortunately, Yun Qingyue had managed to sober up on her own!