Replacement

Yellow Bamboo Town, Meng's Cloth Workshop.

Today, the young girl named Meng Peijiu wore a purple gauze dress, rather daring in style—likely a fashion from the Central Plains. The silk skirt was slit up the side all the way to mid-thigh; when she walked, her long right leg would surely appear and disappear from view.

But she was not walking now. Alone, she reclined against the back of a chair behind the workshop's main counter, her legs casually resting behind the counter's barrier. The gauzy skirt had slid down to either side under its own weight, revealing great swathes of snow-white skin. A strange-tales novel covered her face, and her arms were folded before her chest, her full breasts rising and falling rhythmically.

Napping?

When Qin Yi entered the cloth workshop, he had thought no one was there. Yet after circling around the tall counter, he came upon this scene. He did not know whether this woman had done it deliberately, but he felt there was a high chance she had.

After staring at her heaving chest for two minutes and seeing no sign that she would wake, Qin Yi withdrew his gaze and considered taking a direct turn through the rear hall of her home.

Granny Meng had put quite a bit of pressure on him that night.

He needed to gather information proactively. He could not remain too passive.

Before either side made their intentions clear, he could be a monster wearing the skin of a little boy, or he could be a simple naughty child.

Unfortunately, just as Qin Yi turned to pull aside the curtain leading to the rear hall, Meng Peijiu woke at precisely that moment. She raised a hand, took the strange-tales novel from her face, revealed one eye, and glanced sideways at him as she drawled with amusement, "Little brother, wandering around someone else's home is not something a well-mannered child should do, you know~"

Qin Yi stopped, turned back, and opened his eyes wide in surprise. "Eh, big sister, you were here."

The corner of Meng Peijiu's lovely lips twitched uncontrollably for an instant. She had never seen such a shameless child—he had stared at her chest for so long, yet could still pretend as if he had not seen her. She lowered her legs from the counter and said irritably, "You just got here?"

Qin Yi looked innocent and harmless, continuing to stare at her rhythmically rising chest. "Ah, yes. I was even thinking of going to the rear hall to look for you, big sister."

"..."

Meng Peijiu rolled her eyes, rose to her feet, set the strange-tales novel on the counter, and waved her hand with feigned annoyance. "Fine, then big sister will assume you only just arrived."

With that, Meng Peijiu headed toward the rear hall. The design of her clothes was indeed as Qin Yi had imagined; the thigh beneath her skirt appeared and vanished with every step. As she passed him, she pulled open the curtain to the rear hall, glanced back, and snorted, "What are you standing around for? Didn't you want to go in just now? You said three days, yet waited ten days before coming. The clothes and silver are all in the rear hall!"

Qin Yi raised an eyebrow and glanced at his older sister in the shop. He found her staring blankly at the finished garments and jewelry displayed within the workshop.

He gave a light cough. "Sis."

Ruan Su immediately came back to herself, looking somewhat embarrassed. She hurriedly gathered their belongings and silver and followed. When Little Yi had come, he had said he wanted to buy many things from this cloth workshop. He probably did not have money left to buy these things—and besides, she did not particularly want them.

The siblings followed Meng Peijiu one after the other into the rear hall of the cloth workshop. Perhaps because it needed space to store goods, the area behind Meng's Cloth Workshop was much larger than expected.

It was at least a two-courtyard residence.

Many goods lay out in the open in the central courtyard, covered only by oilcloth.

The three walked inward along the curtained corridor beneath the eaves. There were several rooms along the way. Qin Yi wanted to see what was inside through the window lattice, but at a height of barely four foot three, he simply could not see. So he asked, "Big sister, where is Granny Meng?"

Meng Peijiu thought for a moment, then looked sideways at Qin Yi. "Why are you suddenly asking about my mother?"

"I think your mother is very scary. I'm a little afraid of her."

"Pfft~"

Meng Peijiu laughed so hard her body trembled like a flower branch in the wind. Her breathing changed, but the rhythm of her chest remained unchanged. She rubbed Qin Yi's head and said, "Mother looks a little frightening, but she actually likes you quite a lot. These past two days, she went to the capital of the Later Tang Kingdom to deliver goods. You probably won't need to be afraid anymore~"

The conversation between the adult and child drifted along slowly. Ruan Su followed behind them in silence, her dark eyes looking everywhere around her, her expression unchanged.

If Little Yi wanted to, there would always be many people around him. It had been like this when he used to fall unconscious so often, let alone now. She had long grown used to it.

As they spoke, the siblings were led straight into a living room. The furnishings inside were quite elegant, and the room was large. An embroidered screen depicting mountains and rivers divided it into two halves. On the outer side were a tea table, low tables, a chessboard, an incense burner, and every sort of refined furnishing. In one corner sat a zither.

This should have been Meng Peijiu's bedchamber.

Meng Peijiu went to the inner side. Ruan Su remained where she was, while Qin Yi followed her straight in.

Since the other party had no intention of laying things bare, then a naughty child could go wherever he pleased.

A pleasant feminine fragrance lingered within. The layout was simple: a desk, a wardrobe, and an embroidered bed.

But it was rather messy.

Meng Peijiu was probably very lazy.

Many novels and illustrated storybooks were piled atop the desk by the window. Prepared ink sat there as well, apparently of excellent quality. Beside it, an unwashed wolf-hair brush stained with ink had already dried out without settling. That green ru skirt and several other garments had been tossed carelessly onto the bed, including a woman's intimate clothing.

Qin Yi did not stand on ceremony either and climbed directly onto the bed to sit.

Meng Peijiu's red lips parted when she saw this. She pressed a hand to her forehead, then simply let him do as he pleased. Taking out a finished set of women's fitted clothes from the wardrobe, she tossed it over the little pervert's head and snorted, "Take a look!"

Qin Yi pulled the clothes off his head. They felt quite good in his hands, like some sort of silk. He spread them flat over his legs and was about to speak when Meng Peijiu said, "You can try it with a knife before deciding whether you want it or not~"

Qin Yi raised an eyebrow and looked at the short blade tucked at her waist.

Meng Peijiu gave a light snort, folded her arms beneath her chest, and stared at his right arm as though she had noticed it long ago. "My knife won't do. Use your own."

Qin Yi curled his lips, reluctantly pulled out the short dagger tied to his right arm, and drove it forcefully into the new clothes with a flash of cold light.

The expected sensation of piercing through did not come. He lowered the dagger and smoothed the fitted clothes flat again, only to find them as smooth as before. Sanniang's dagger had not even left a mark on them.

Could these clothes really stop bullets?

The materials alone had to be worth far more than fifty taels.

Qin Yi glanced at Ruan Su, who was eavesdropping beyond the screen, and wondered whether he should keep this good thing for himself first and put off his older sister's share for the time being.

Meng Peijiu's teasing voice came from beside him. "Well? Were your fifty taels worth it?"

"Hehe..."

Qin Yi immediately gave an awkward smile. After thinking for a moment, he stared at the short blade tucked at the purple-clad girl's waist for several breaths before speaking. "Big sister~"

"Mhm~"

"I have something I'd like to ask you to help me with."

"Go ahead~"

"I still have fifty taels of silver. Look, that knife of yours..."

"Ah?"

The air suddenly fell silent.

Meng Peijiu stared blankly at Qin Yi.

Qin Yi blinked his bright eyes twice.

Meng Peijiu: "..."

Meng Peijiu opened her mouth, then broke into a low laugh from sheer exasperation, her body trembling like a flower branch in the wind. "You... I... Ha... ha... no, that's not..."

Even as she laughed and shook her head, Meng Peijiu still extended her slender hand and removed the blade from her waist.

She could not use anything too good when coming to this poor backwater place, but the thickness of his skin had still broadened her horizons.

How had he been raised into this?

After laughing enough, Meng Peijiu took a deep breath. She spun the sheath's binding strap around her long, slender index finger, her eyes curving into two crescents as she said meaningfully, "This knife—fifty taels is nowhere near enough, little brother. What do you plan to use in exchange?"

"I have a total of one hundred and seventy-eight taels..."

"If measured in silver, it's probably worth around one thousand five hundred taels," Meng Peijiu interrupted.

Seeing this, Qin Yi followed along with what she had just said and asked in an innocent tone, "Then... big sister, what do you want me to use in exchange?"