Chapter 5: Instant Wealth

Ying Zhao looked at the aggressive Lady Liu and curled her lips in mockery. With a flick of her wrist, she suddenly raised the bow in her hand and aimed an arrow at Lady Liu with a "swish."

Lady Liu stared at her in terror, her triangular eyes bulging wide. She was so frightened she didn't dare move, her mouth hanging wide open.

*Puff!*

The arrow pierced through Lady Liu's hair bun and struck a tree trunk more than twenty meters behind her.

Lady Liu's hair bun instantly came undone, and her long hair fell in a messy tangle. With her eyes still bulging and her mouth agape, she looked like a madwoman.

Ying Zhao watched her unsightly display with satisfaction. Thinking of how haughty and smug she had been in her dreams, Ying Zhao felt in an excellent mood.

As expected, this look suited her much better.

Ying Zhao raised the bow again. This terrified Lady Liu, who screamed in a panic, "Ying Zhao, are you crazy?! Are you trying to kill someone?"

Watching her terrified expression, Ying Zhao deliberately flashed her a bright smile and then, with a "swish," fired another arrow.

This arrow grazed past Lady Liu's ear and finally landed in the distant grass.

Lady Liu could no longer endure it and let out a terrified shriek, "Ah—!"

Ying Zhao put away her bow and strode up to her. "Why is Auntie Liu so startled? Could it be that you've gone mad?"

Lady Liu looked at her in horror, wanting to say, "You're the one who's gone mad!" but she didn't dare. Her eyes were wide and bloodshot as she stared at Ying Zhao in terror. "You... you..."

How could this be?

Was this Ying Zhao insane?

This wench had been flattering her just yesterday; why had she suddenly changed today? It was as if... as if she had become a completely different person...

Wait! Could it be that this wench is possessed by an evil spirit?

"What is Auntie Liu thinking about?" Seeing Lady Liu's flickering gaze, Ying Zhao suddenly closed in on her. "Auntie, don't forget to remind Su Qi and Su Xi when you get back. They still owe me ten taels of gold. If they can't pay it back within three days, they'll have no choice but to sell themselves into slavery."

Lady Liu was scared to death, but the moment her children were mentioned, she momentarily forgot her fear of Ying Zhao and screamed shrilly, "You wouldn't dare! If you touch them, I will never let you off!"

"Since Auntie Liu cares so much about them, you'd better work hard to scrape the money together. Otherwise... you know my father's temper."

After saying this, Ying Zhao gave a mocking smile and walked past her.

Thinking of Ying Zhan, Lady Liu couldn't help but shudder. She spun around abruptly, glaring fiercely at Ying Zhao's back.

She saw Ying Zhao walk to the tree, pull out the arrow stuck in the trunk, and then walk into the grass to pick up the second arrow.

Seeing this, Lady Liu's eyes widened in shock!

An arm-thick long worm was actually impaled on that arrow!

Lady Liu was terrified: *An evil spirit! This wench must be possessed! Where did she get such skill before? To be able to hit a worm in the grass from such a distance!*

Sensing something, Ying Zhao whipped her head around and gave her a mocking glance.

"Ah—!"

Lady Liu let out a terrified scream and turned to run.

【Congratulations, Master, on successfully punishing a villain. You have gained one Merit Point.】

Ying Zhao was delighted to hear this. Although one Merit Point wasn't much, it was enough to buy some cheap goods in the Mall.

She had specifically researched the prices in the Tianbao Mall; there were many cheap, high-quality items inside. Many things sold at high prices on the market were incredibly cheap in the Mall.

Take salt, for example. It was as white as snow, yet the price was incredibly low. One Merit Point could buy thirty catties of such salt!

In a salt shop, even the cheapest black salt cost ten wen per *dou*!

A *dou* was roughly ten catties, but that black salt was full of impurities; not only did it taste terrible, but eating too much would cause illness!

The family ate coarse salt at thirty wen per *dou*, which was better than black salt, but it still had impurities and a strange taste.

Salt as white as snow like the kind in the Mall was of such high quality that even the local salt shops didn't carry it.

Ying Zhao guessed that even if she priced it at a hundred wen per *dou*, many wealthy people would be willing to buy it.

If she were more unscrupulous, she could even sell it for five hundred wen, a thousand wen, or even more!

Even at a price of one hundred wen per *dou*, thirty catties of salt could be sold for three hundred wen!

And the price of a *dou* of millet was only three wen! Three hundred wen could buy one hundred *dou* of millet, which was ten *dan*! That was equivalent to more than a month of her father's salary!

In other words, by just giving Lady Liu a little trouble, she had earned more than a month's worth of her father's salary.

And that was based on a price of one hundred wen. If she sold it for more, it would be several months or even a year's worth of her father's salary!

The price difference was terrifying!

With this Tianbao Mall, she could become wealthy just by reselling salt in the future!

However, salt this white was of such high quality and value that once it hit the market, the powerful clans and local magnates would swarm toward it like sharks smelling blood.

If she wanted to sell this, she had to increase her strength first; otherwise, it would be suicide.

So, this matter required careful planning.

The immediate priority was to earn more Merit Points and increase her strength. She wondered how Ji Ye was doing; it would be great if she could save him a few more times.

Wait, how could she forget that matter! If she saved that person, she would surely harvest a large amount of Merit Points again!

Ying Zhao carefully recalled the contents of her dream and quickly came up with a plan. She headed home happily with her "spoils."

She had forgotten to catch rabbits on the way back, but with this snake, she could at least make up the numbers.

*Changsheng won't mind, will he?*

Ying Zhao thought uncertainly. She also picked up some wild green onions, ginger, and garlic on the way to bring home. When she pushed open the door, she saw Ying Changsheng standing behind it again, glaring at her fiercely. "Where did you go again?"

Ying Zhao was momentarily speechless. "..."

*Has this kid been waiting here for me this whole time?*

But seeing how Ying Changsheng was clearly trying to keep a stern face while failing to hide his concern, she felt both amused and heartbroken.

During this past year, her body had been occupied by that fake, and her consciousness had been trapped in a nightmare. Changsheng must have been terrified. With his sensitive temperament, she wondered if he had been hiding and crying in secret.

So, she gave a gentle smile. "Didn't I tell you? I went to catch rabbits for you. Unfortunately, my luck was bad, and I couldn't find any after searching for a long time. But I caught this; I'll stew it into a soup for you later."

Having said that, she held up the long worm like a treasure.

Ying Changsheng's face turned pale with fright. "You... you... what are you catching that for! Who wants to eat that? Throw it out, quickly!"

Ying Zhao blinked. "You won't eat it? This is very nourishing in a soup."

Ying Changsheng snorted. "I don't want it! Throw it away!"

"Fine, if you won't eat it, I'll make the soup for Father. He'll definitely like it!"

Ying Zhao also gave a huff and took her prey to the kitchen, where she happened to see the family's only maid, A-Shui, pounding rice.

A-Shui was facing sideways toward the kitchen door, and the half of her face that was visible was quite beautiful.

Seeing her, Ying Zhao couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

Ying Zhao: *I still want to save him.*

Ji Ye: *The wound hurts so much, I want celestial herbs.*

(End of Chapter)