High Martial World: I Gain Passive Skills Daily-Chapter 179 - 121: Muddy Splendor, Roots of Life and Death (Double - )

Chapter 179: Chapter 121: Muddy Splendor, Roots of Life and Death (Double Chapter)

Chen Kuang reported an outrageous number, not expecting Lianmi to actually give it to him.

This was just the standard practice of asking for too much and then negotiating down.

In his view, they would surely haggle a few times first, and if Lianmi finally offered him one tael of silver, it would already be considered good.

The worst result would be the five copper plates Lianmi herself mentioned.

But unexpectedly, Lianmi had no intention of bargaining and directly gave him one tael of gold.

Chen Kuang looked at the few pieces of solid gold leaf in his hand and fell silent for a while.

The craftsmanship of the gold leaves was exquisite, probably circulating only among the top tier of wealthy merchants, making them worth even more than the usual price of gold.

According to the current official ratio in the Liang Kingdom, one tael of gold is roughly equivalent to twenty taels of silver.

One tael of silver, in these times, could be exchanged for about ten bushels of rice.

Back then, when the Chen Family sold Chen Kuang, they only received one bushel of rice in return...

These few small pieces of gold leaf were enough to exchange for hundreds of lives.

And this was currency minted by the Yang Kingdom, whose value would be about a third higher in comparison.

It wasn’t due to any political reasons...

Simply because the coin makers in the Liang Kingdom would cut corners, mixing brass into the gold, and these coin makers would bribe the local government office, turning a blind eye, and the officials endorsed the circulation of these currencies to profit from it.

In contrast, the Yang Kingdom had stricter regulations, with higher purity of currency, higher credibility, and naturally higher value.

The corruption in the Liang Kingdom from top to bottom was evident in these subtle details.

One tael of gold was casually given to others.

It seems the courtesan’s education of her really failed...

That’s what Chen Kuang thought, but he still took these few pieces of gold leaf.

These days, he had to live as a mortal, and being without money was absolutely not an option.

Since the courtesan’s education failed, he would let society teach this little maid a harsh lesson, to make her understand that the world is not so simple, preventing her from being easily deceived by bad people in the future.

Alas, what a good person he is.

Chen Kuang assured, "That’s natural, I definitely won’t say anything... Besides, there’s no benefit in saying it, right?"

Lianmi put her little purse away, snorted, and said, "Good that you know, if my mistress finds out, she’ll take back all the money I gave you, and you won’t have a place to cry then."

She lifted her skirt, gracefully flipped herself inside, and casually used her elbow to knock out the rod holding the window, letting it fall shut.

This skilled?

Chen Kuang raised an eyebrow, and Lianmi noticed his gaze, clapped the dust from her hands, and proudly explained, "I usually have to serve my mistress at any time, especially getting up early to dress and style her hair. So if I sleep a bit late, I just leave through the window, saving quite a bit of effort."

Chen Kuang looked at the sky outside, curiously asked, "No need today?"

Lianmi looked at him inexplicably and said, "Today is the rest day."

Chen Kuang: "..."

Damn, he had forgotten that mortals in this world also had rest days.

This was essentially a holiday, but usually only officials and some more respectable professions got it, while common laborers still worked every day; otherwise, they wouldn’t earn enough to eat, let alone have the mood to rest.

The rest regulations varied in different countries, with the Liang Kingdom having a rest day every five days, while the Yang Kingdom had it every seven days.

Since escaping the Celestial Prison, Chen Kuang had been living in fear day to day for nearly a month, hardly having time to sleep, and had forgotten about these matters.

He held his forehead and said, "I was confused."

He just hadn’t expected... that even the brothel courtesans would have days off.

Lianmi generously said it was okay, "You have been soaking in water for so long, it’s no wonder your head is muddled, just as long as you haven’t forgotten the story you were going to tell."

"Today, my mistress is off, I have nothing to do, if you don’t plan to leave, you can tell stories for the whole morning, come on, start now."

"..." Chen Kuang felt she was indirectly scolding him.

What a vengeful little lady...

Chen Kuang cleared his throat and said, "Of course I haven’t forgotten, I shall tell you of how I was born into a military general’s family, of decent background, and later became an Imperial Army Instructor..."

He began to narrate in a flowing manner, with the drama unfolding like an elaborate long story.

Of course, he wasn’t talking about his own experiences, but blending Water Margin and Journey to the West, from the Wind Snow Mountain God Temple, narrating all the way to the Crescent Moon Three Stars Cave to apprentice with the Bodhi Ancestor Master.

He picked the most exciting parts, narrating where the conflicts were the strongest.

Characters such as Gao Qiu and the Jade Emperor were all replaced by the seemingly respectable Martial Saint Mu Zhao.

Lianmi listened intently, applauding and exclaiming at the exciting parts, and bursting into uncontrollable laughter at the absurd parts, her initial heartache dissipating.

If she had overheard such storytelling by the roadside, she would have emptied her purse in appreciation!

Now she only used half of it, so it seemed she had profited.

Of course, she didn’t catch some of the narrative bugs due to the story’s overly bizarre nature.

The Yang Kingdom valued literature, but it was the high-class literature they revered, the poems and essays of literati, using the most florid phrases to display their talents.

Let alone common people, even those who had studied for a few years might not recognize all the characters in a text.

Literati prided themselves on elegance and naturally wouldn’t write stories for ordinary people, and even if they did, they’d write in roundabout ways, ending with some profound doctrine to elevate the aesthetic, making it a sleep-inducing read.