One hundred miles away from the imperial city of Xuanwu Kingdom, there is a relatively large town called Honglin County, which is located in the north of the imperial city and is the necessary place for the northern expedition of the Xuanwu army.

It is a nationally renowned place for the production of weapons and armor, as well as a haven for blacksmiths, refiners, and mages.

In the northeast corner of the city of Honglin County, there are a number of alchemists, sealers, and blacksmiths, who are not affiliated with the state, but as local craftsmen, they run their own territory and build weapons for those who need weapons and do not have much money.

A few years ago, there was a seal master surnamed Xu who returned from studying seal refining and established the Xu family's blacksmith shop.

The owner, Xu Yuan, grew up here, and soon became one of the best craftsmen in the area because of his superb craftsmanship, and the Xu family's blacksmith shop became more and more prosperous under his support, and became the premier store here.

As the head of the house, Xu Yuan also made a lot of money and lived a pretty good life.

It's a pity that in recent years, with the fame of the Xu family's blacksmith shop, it has aroused the jealousy of their peers, and they secretly colluded with a commander of Honglin County, so that the commander put Xu Yuan in prison on trumped-up charges, confiscated all his property, and left only an empty shop.

Xu Yuan's wife fainted immediately when she learned of this, and she passed away within a few months, leaving only a daughter named Xu Fang.

Since he was imprisoned, the Xu family has fallen into the middle of the road, and it is no longer the situation of the dominant family of the year.

Although Xu Yuan's daughter Xu Fang inherited some of her father's craftsmanship, she is a girl after all, and she lacks so much effort, even if she has paid a lot in this industry, she is still far from the most glorious moment of the Xu family's blacksmith shop.

Unlike in the past, today's Xu family's blacksmith shop has not opened, and the big and circled Xu character merchant flag is displayed, which makes people wonder what happened to the thin and immature little girl inside.

"Bang bang bang!"

"Open the door and open the door, it's three poles in the day, why don't you open it yet, are they all pigs!"

A flat-headed man wearing an official mustache with hanging eyebrows and triangular eyes unceremoniously raised his hand and knocked on the already dilapidated wooden door in front of Xiangjia's store, and shouted:

"Little lady of the Xu family, have you paid the tax this month! Why did you close the door! Xu Fang, come out and pay the tax soon!"

"Ah, sir, you will get the tax for you later!"

A crisp and loud female voice came from the back door of the store, accompanied by a crisp footsteps, a girl wearing a powder blue skirt with slightly wheat-colored skin and a long whip walked over and stood at the door with a smile, bowed slightly, and said:

"Master Ma, why are you here to collect taxes today, and you came so early, why don't you go to the store and have a cup of tea, you know my water, it is mountain spring water taken from the mountain, and the tea is fresh and pure, and the taste is long......"

"Stop, Stop, Stop......"

Ma Hesi stopped Xu Fang's thoughts:

"I said Xu Fang, last time I paid taxes on your shop at the latest, I said good things to Liu Futou for a long time for you, if you drag it off again this month, don't blame me for being polite, this month is a total of five taels, not a word is missing!"

The stator is the currency used to trade in the Xuanwu Kingdom, one tael of gold can be exchanged for ten taels of silver or one hundred taels of stator, one stator can be exchanged for one hundred rotors, and ten rotors can buy one catty of rice or one tael of iron.

What is the concept of five taels of stator, you can buy about 25 catties of iron or 50 catties of rice, and an ordinary family can eat so much rice and consume so many iron utensils in a month.

But now in addition to Xu Fang, only Zhao Lianfang, an old man over half a hundred years old, is left, how can there be more revenue!

"That Master Ma, Master Ma, you see that our family is so difficult now, can you give a few more days, just five days, and I will definitely send you the stator." ”

"Five days?"

Ma Hesi glanced at Xu Fang, his eyes fell on her budding chest, slender waist and slender legs, and smiled maliciously:

"Xu Fang, for your father's sake, I can give you another five days of grace, but this is also the last time, if you can't make up the five taels after five days, then ......"

He paused, leaned to Xu Fang's side, stretched out his black paws, wiped Xu Fang's pink neck, frightened Xu Fang like a frightened rabbit, jumped back suddenly, and said sharply:

"Master Ma, what do you want to do!"

"Aha......"

Ma Hesi was not angry at all, and immediately changed his face after laughing a few times, and said slowly:

"I said Xu Fang, don't pretend, with your family's situation, you will definitely not be able to earn so much, otherwise you will follow me, when I am my concubine, there will be no taxes in the future, you can also open a good store, I promise to treat you well!"

"You ......"

Xu Fang's eyes were cold, his two big eyes with long eyelashes flickering were about to burst into flames, so he stared at Ma Hesi coldly, without saying a word, Ma Hesi's forehead was sweating, and his heart was hairy, and he hurriedly snorted coldly:

"Okay! We'll see you in five days, and then it's no fun to see how hard you are, Lord Futou will come to collect taxes in person next time, he's not so easy to talk to!"

Ma Hesi left in a gloomy manner under the gaze of those seeping eyes, leaving only Xu Fang, whose face was covered with frost, frowning and rubbing the corners of his clothes uneasily.

Five taels of Dingzi, that's not a small number, now the family for the father to get rid of the crime, and to the mother-in-law Zhao Lianfang treatment, what should be sold is sold, not to sell is also sold, she looked around, looking at the poor four walls of the store, her heart is sad.

In the Xu family's blacksmith shop, except for the set of excellent iron-striking equipment and printing molds, the rest were sold out.

If it weren't for the sake of livelihood, even these precious things would have been sold.

Now, the other party is forcing the door, I'm afraid that two or two things will also be lost, she really doesn't know how to live without these.

Xu Fang picked up a seal needle, looked at the sharp tip of the needle on it, and an anger rose in his heart, like magma in the mountains, ready to gush out at any time.

But after half a ring, she still let it go and suppressed the restlessness in her heart. , sighed, turned his head and walked to the backyard.

In the past few days, my mother-in-law's illness has become more serious, although she has taken medicine, she still coughs up blood from time to time every night, like a candle in the last years, which will pass away at any time.

If it weren't for her mother-in-law, she might have abandoned the shop a long time ago, left here alone, and found a way to save her father.

Melancholy, sadness, and sadness appear in the heart of this young girl from time to time, making a pimple condense between her eyebrows all year round.

"Ahem, ahem, ahem......"

Zhao Lianfang kept rolling on the bed, coughing non-stop, accompanied by some dull breathing from time to time.

Xu Fang hurriedly ran over, straightened his mother-in-law, handed over the water poured by the bed, and fed his mother-in-law.

After Zhao Lianfang drank the water, she seemed to be much better and fell asleep again.

Looking at the empty cup on the side, Xu Fang knew that it was time for him to fetch water again.

The place where she drew water was not close to here, about five miles away, and the water there had been found when she was playing as a child, and it flowed from the depths of the mountain wall, only a small stream, not much, but very sweet.

So this water source became her own place, and every time she secretly came over to get some for her mother-in-law to decoction and drink, she didn't expect the effect to be unusually good.

Today's weather is good, it is a good day to get water, Xu Fang carried the wooden barrel and slowly walked to a mountain stream where the water source was located.

She was not in a good mood, her thin back was a little bent under the pressure of life, and a small wooden barrel was carried carelessly in her hand, and it seemed to be as anxious as her master's mood, constantly swaying back and forth.

Just when she came to the mountain stream to get water, she suddenly found that there was a person lying at the small mouth where the mountain spring water flowed, with his eyes closed and his mouth open, and then the water as thick as a finger flowed out of the mountain wall.

"Oops!" Xu Fang was startled, and almost lost his voice and wanted to shout, but he immediately covered his small mouth, looking at the person who was secretly drinking her spring water, his eyes were fierce.

In fact, this little girl has already been used as her private land here, and now she is secretly drunk by a stranger here, which is unbearable for me.

She jumped up beside the man with a whimper, and picked up the small barrel to ask for an explanation, but immediately found that the man seemed to have fallen asleep.

Xu Fang tried to shake it, but the man didn't move, so he boldly touched his clothes and didn't touch anything.

"Hmph, poor ghost, you know how to steal water to drink, don't you know that only this girl and her mother-in-law can drink this water!

Touching it, Xu Fang touched the man's face, and his cheeks suddenly turned red, like two big apples.

"I didn't expect you to be so old! your face is so supple, and you're so good-looking!"

Xu Fang's fingers swiped over and over the man's face, from the forehead to the neck, and then to the chest, until the lower abdomen stopped, the little face was already burning, Wu jumped up, and said:

"Hmph, don't you want to tempt this girl with a beauty trick, tell you, you stole my water, you have to sell yourself to pay me back, ahh

Her little hand covered her mouth again, and she said angrily:

"What a sell-out, I'm going to have to work hard for me, well! I'll make up enough for me! Hey, wake up, wake up, stinky guy, get up and work for me!"

After making a fuss for a long time, the man still didn't react, and in desperation, Xu Fang had to help him up, lean on his shoulder, and walk home.

She didn't know that this man was Xiang Mo, just as Xiang Mo didn't know that he had come to Honglin County.