White Peony's Thoughts, the Might of a Single Blade (Part 2)

Su Che was outside the south gate, watching the porridge kitchen distribute food.

Several huge cauldrons had been set up there, endlessly steaming. Rice, beans, salt, and cured meat were mixed together; finely diced vegetable leaves were shaken into the pots, and a ladle over three feet long stirred it all directly.

Dark Jade Tablet held an account book and flipped through it. Beside him stood a servant of the Su Family, while a small table nearby held brushes, ink, paper, and an inkstone.

Across from him stood a short, stocky shopkeeper, his face steamed bright red, the corners of his mouth still gleaming with oil.

"One load of firewood costs me forty copper coins? Old Ma, why don't you just go rob someone?"

Dark Jade Tablet spoke with great dissatisfaction, secretly glancing toward Su Che on the other side.

With the master present, Dark Jade Tablet, who usually played the good-natured fellow, naturally had to put on a stern expression.

"Oh, young master, just look around—where is there any firewood left nearby? I went through no small hardship collecting this from the villages. You know what times are like now. Where in Ci Prefecture isn't ravaged by war? Besides those Demon Bandits, there are strongmen everywhere taking advantage of the chaos to loot and plunder. Just to add a little fuel to these pots of yours, so the common folk can have a bowl of hot porridge, I can't even manage to eat a hot meal three times a day."

The short shopkeeper's mouth rattled like a string of firecrackers, leaving Dark Jade Tablet dizzy and muddled. Su Che, listening nearby, found it amusing.

Dark Jade Tablet had grown up studying books. His belly might have been full of sages' principles, but speaking was entirely a matter of quick