Chapter 17 The Butcher's Daughter

The old stall owner's face immediately turned ashen upon hearing Yan Butou's words.

His right hand trembled slightly, his gaze fixed on the knife he usually used to slice pig heads.

He hesitated, wondering if he should just butcher this man who dared to say such things in front of him!

The Yan people were martial, but this “martial” didn’t refer to practicing martial arts, but rather a spirit of bravery and aggression flowing in their bones. The previous incident of Ran Min killing Hou San in the Nan'an County yamen hall was a clear example of this.

Killing a Butou on the street would carry a heavy penalty, but swallowing this insult was truly unbearable!

But he was, after all, an ordinary citizen. He didn’t really think that saying something like, "making you empress" was such a taboo. Because ordinary people didn’t have so many schemes. Besides, Yan Butou looked like he was saying drunken words, and it was not unusual for a drunk to say anything. Could they really be punished for rambling after drinking?

Firstly, the Yan Kingdom hadn’t yet established the practice of punishing speech, and secondly, Yan Butou seemed to be from the "government," but he wasn’t of any significant rank. Those high-ranking officials naturally wouldn’t say such nonsense. But if a lower-class person flirted a bit, unless they really said something truly taboo by name, no one would take it seriously.

For example, if a guest in a brothel was surrounded by several ladies and exclaimed, "I'm happier than the emperor right now," would they really arrest him and punish him?

Compared to her father, who was furious, the young lady from the butcher's family was five parts shy, four parts timid, and only one part annoyed upon hearing these words.

After glaring at Yan Butou, she felt that her glare was too soft, so she glared again, but it only made her look even more tender.

Yao Zizhan, the literary sage of the Qian Kingdom, once said in his youth,

There are three things in this world that are hardest to guess:

The ever-changing clouds in the sky, the treacherous schemes in the court, and the hearts of young women.

These three things all meet one standard:

You can’t guess, you dare not guess, you can’t figure them out, and guessing them right is the same as not guessing at all.

"Father, what's wrong?"

At this moment, a rough voice came from behind.

Yan Butou turned his head to look and saw a tall man pulling a flatbed cart.

A pig lay on the cart, freshly bought from a village under Nan'an County. The pig was tightly bound and could only grunt.

The old stall owner's surname was He, and he had a son and a daughter. Perhaps the hardships the old stall owner had suffered in his life had accumulated good fortune for the next generation.

While he himself was short, fat, and round, his son was strong and healthy, and his daughter was as beautiful as a flower.

Because his son was born at the beginning of the month, he was named He Chu; his daughter's given name was Si.

At this moment,

He Chu saw his father so angry and immediately dropped the rope tied around his waist and began to question.

Without some temper and some backbone, you can't protect this meat stall.

Yan Butou shook his head helplessly, sighed, and just waved his hand, as if saying goodbye to his reckless self from that day.

In this regard, he was actually very similar to his brother surnamed Zheng. He had a temper in his heart, but on the surface, he could be flexible.

The only difference was that his brother surnamed Zheng, no matter how useless he was, could still rely on his own ability to bully men and dominate women. After all, he was a seventh-rank martial artist, not necessarily worse than the son of a butcher.

But what about himself?

Looking around,

The constables who had been bowing and scraping around him were nowhere to be seen.

Damn it,

He didn't even have the confidence to bully men and dominate women!

The evening breeze blew past,

And Yan Butou felt a burst of bleakness in his heart again.

Feeling somewhat sentimental, he turned around and didn't take the small piece of silver he had boldly slapped on the counter earlier. He staggered back.

Swaying to the left,

Swinging to the right,

Winter was just so ruthless,

It finally ignited a fire,

And put it out as soon as it said it would.

But it wasn’t a complete loss. At least, the fact that he was wearing the uniform of a Butou still made the old stall owner angry but afraid to speak. He Chu, although fierce, didn't make a move as his father hadn't spoken, and just stared at Yan Butou's back.

Yan Butou suddenly found it a little funny.

This Great Yan's world,

Was still quite clear-headed at this moment.

They didn’t go in for that kill-the-corrupt-official-and-rebel kind of thing.

Therefore,

Yan Butou cursed his own father in his heart again,

For allowing his useless son to get away with it after failing to bully men and dominate women.

He stumbled back to his rented little courtyard not far from the yamen.

The courtyard was a small one, somewhat cramped, but more than enough for a bachelor to live in. He didn’t even light a fire. Back home, Yan Butou took a dipper, scooped some water from the water tank, and drank it. He grabbed the collar of his clothes, which had been soaked with water, and carelessly pushed open the door, planning to just fall asleep, taking advantage of the non-existent drunkenness.

"Thump."

He fell onto the bed.

Humans are not plants; how can they be without feelings?

The word "feeling" encompasses everything. Referring only to love and affection would be too monotonous.

My surname is Ji,

I was baptized by the National Preceptor at birth,

My name is Cheng Jue,

Do you understand what Cheng Jue means?

You bunch of bastards,

How can your little thoughts and schemes be enough for me to defeat?

But why,

But why,

But why,

Damn it,

This damned father of mine!

Many people's lack of peace in life comes from their close girlfriends.

She's doing so well,

Why am I so bad?

People,

Are dissatisfied,

That's how it comes about,

As if the simple meals in front of them,

Suddenly lose their flavor!

What General Zheng didn't know was what kind of stimulation his deeds brought to his former friend when they spread to a small county town under Tiancheng Prefecture.

Imagine,

When you first met,

You were just a small, miscellaneous captain in Tiger Head City,

Willing to stand in front of Sha Tuo Queshi and take a knife for me in order to fight for a promotion.

At that time, although I was already a carefree idle prince, I was still worlds apart from you;

But now,

You are surrounded by iron cavalry, following you on a thousand-mile raid. Under Snow Sea Pass, you use the piles of white bones to build your own merits;

Even that proud Sword Saint must be used by you, obeying your orders in your tent, fighting for you;

Rumors of your spirit spread throughout the martial world,

Your military exploits are passed down in the court,

Even in that small teahouse,

Your stories are stacked high;

Since the young men of Yan are afraid of being beaten by their fathers and can't become the Jingnan Marquis, wouldn't it be a good thing to learn from this General Zheng?

And me?

In Nan'an County,

Cracking melon seeds,

Patrolling the streets,

Smiling one moment, then frowning the next,

I pretend to be calm and indifferent,

But have the clouds and wind ever truly entered my heart?

You can deceive others, but you can't deceive yourself in the end.

I thought I had let go of everything, and was willing to give up everything, hating too much, hating too little, hating... and not daring to hate;

But in the depths of my heart,

I am already indignant!

Yan Butou slapped the bed with his hand,

At this moment,

Only at this moment,

Could he vent the depression in his heart a little,

Without having to pretend, without having to restrain himself,

And without having to distinguish,

Which family is the Secret Espionage Division,

Which family is the Silver Armor Guard,

Which family is my second brother, the current Crown Prince, who is worried about his younger brother and sends out little dogs and flies to watch me.

People say that Si Tu Lei's rise is the phoenix chick of the Si Tu family. The brothers Si Tu Yi and Si Tu Jiong can't compete with him no matter how they play, and are forced to go to the snowfields, gnawing on the wind and snow to survive.

But what does that Si Tu Lei amount to?

He's soft-hearted. He wins and thinks he's won everything. Those two older brothers were actually just sent away from afar. If you don't kill them, you should at least imprison them, right?

But no matter what,

Even if you, Si Tu Lei, are a phoenix chick, it's only because your father put you on the plate from the beginning that you were qualified to fight. Otherwise, you're nothing!

Not on the plate, you're nothing!

"Knock, knock, knock!"

A knock came at the door,

Yan Butou was stunned for a moment.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

Yan Butou hesitated for a moment,

Got out of bed.

He hadn't taken off his clothes or spread the bedding in the first place.

Getting up was just a matter of standing up.

Rubbing his forehead, he walked to the door,

Opened it,

Only to find that the person standing at the door was none other than the young lady from the butcher's family.

The young lady was carrying a basket,

Seeing Yan Butou,

Her silver teeth bit her lip,

As if making a psychological struggle,

But she still spoke crisply:

"Three jin of meat, half a pot of yellow wine, and two side dishes that I mixed myself. The money is extra, pressed underneath, all for you."

Yan Butou smiled,

Reached out,

And took the basket.

The young lady stood outside the door,

Suddenly feeling a sense of loss in her heart,

Then,

Her hand was also grabbed,

And pulled into the door.

"Your brother is really hungry."

…

The light of dawn shone through the window paper, scattering inside.

Yan Butou was awakened by the sound of scissors,

Opened his eyes,

And saw that it was the young lady from the butcher's family, cutting off a piece of the bed sheet stained with blood.

Although he had heard his brother Zheng say that there were only tired oxen and no ploughed-out fields,

For the young lady to have gotten up so early after losing her virginity, and already have her hair up,

He couldn't help but feel,

That he was a bit too useless.

But,

It must be that women from butcher families have bodies that are much better than ordinary women.

Yan Butou sat up in bed,

And the young lady from the butcher's family, seeing this,

Smilingly took out a pouch from the basket, opened it, and poured out some silver, both loose and whole.

The whole silver was a silver ingot specially exchanged from broken silver, and there was only one.

"This is my own private money that I've saved up. Some of it I earned from doing needlework, and some of it I skimmed from the shop. I've only saved this much over the years, and I'll give it all to you. You can use the loose silver to buy some snacks and dried fruit to make a proper gift, and the whole ingot will be considered betrothal money and given to my father."

Yan Butou didn't know what to say for a moment.

The woman thought Yan Butou had misunderstood her meaning and immediately said:

"You're at least a Butou, and we're just doing small business on the street. To put it bluntly, I'm the one who's marrying up. My family is climbing up to you. Now that I've given myself to you, you can rest assured that my father won't be so blinded by greed as to want you to be an live-in son-in-law.

I won't allow my man to do such spineless things.

You give this silver to my father, and in a few days, he'll exchange it for a dowry and send it back double. Don't underestimate this pig-slaughtering business. There's a lot of money in it.

The silver that's sent out today will all be our own when I properly marry over."

Yan Butou opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

Live-in son-in-law?

Most men have fantasized about this, although most give up for the sake of asserting their authority, but it doesn't stop them from savoring it while reclining and squinting.

But Yan Butou had never really thought about it;

Although his father didn't treat him very well,

Imagine,

What would his father do if he suddenly found out that his son was going to be an live-in son-in-law, and to a butcher's family no less?

"Are you tired? What do you want to eat for breakfast? I'll go buy it. There's not even rice in your stove. This isn't how you live."

The woman kept chattering, and even started thinking about what to add.

Yan Butou suddenly felt very happy.

He had once possessed flocks of beauties, but like the colorful clouds in the sky, they came, were seen, and then scattered. What truly accompanies you every day is the eternal sunset.

The woman's voice became lower and lower.

Seeming because Yan Butou hadn't spoken,

The woman put down the work in her hands,

And said to herself:

"If you don't want to marry me, I won't pester you."

Saying this,

The woman reached out to pull out the hairpin used to tie up her hair.

Yan Butou was quick-witted and grabbed her hand, saying:

"I'm hungry. Let's go out and buy some food together."

The woman responded.

When the two of them stepped out of the house like a newlywed couple,

Yan Butou was immediately startled.

At the door,

His brother-in-law, He Chu, was sitting,

With a jar of wine in front of him,

A butcher knife hanging on his waist,

His face was unshaven,

He turned his head,

Looking at Yan Butou, his eyes seemed to be on fire.

His father had tried to stop it,

And he had tried to stop it,

But his sister had held the hairpin to her neck,

Saying that if he didn't let her deliver the meat, she would die in front of the two of them.

Helpless,

He could only watch his sister go in,

And then,

He sat at the door all night.

He Chu stood up, looked at his sister's hairstyle, which indicated that she was already a married woman, gritted his teeth, and said:

"If you dare to treat my sister badly in the future, I will definitely..."

Yan Butou reached out,

Learning the way his brother Zheng liked to do,

And patted his butcher brother-in-law on the shoulder.

He Chu was stunned,

Obviously, the rest of the Great Yan, apart from the Shengle Army, hadn't adapted to this custom.

Yan Butou took a breath,

And twisted his neck,

Then,

His eyes narrowed,

He Chu's large frame suddenly felt tight, and his previous momentum seemed to be shattered in an instant.

Yan Butou smiled again,

Looking at this brother-in-law,

And said:

"Tell me, do you want to be a Great General?"

He Chu's first reaction wasn't to refute this kid's crazy talk, who tricked his sister into being some empress last night, and today was actually telling him about becoming a general.

But for some reason, He Chu just hesitated, and his voice lowered by eight degrees,

Saying:

"I… I only know how to slaughter pigs."

Yan Butou patted He Chu's shoulder again,

Facing east,

Which was the direction of Yanjing City,

And said heroically:

"It doesn't matter!"

————

This chapter is really well written.