Chapter Fifty: The Qiang Tribe Maiden

  "Is there anything else, miss?" The burly man hastily took the gold and left, but what made Lu Haoshan feel unexpected was that the Qiang beauty was still standing by, her eyes fixed on the white tiger skin, and she couldn't help but ask with a hint of amusement.

  The Qiang girl bit her lip, hesitated for a moment, and then whispered: "That, you, not, Han official sir, can you give me that white tiger skin?"

  Still White Tiger Skin, Lu Haoshan asked somewhat puzzled: "Do you like this white tiger skin so much?"

  "It's not what I want, it's my grandma's body that's not good, she's afraid of the cold and fears chilliness. If we had this white tiger skin, grandma wouldn't be afraid of the cold anymore. Sir, please, can you give me that white tiger skin?" The Qiang ethnic woman opened her beautiful eyes wide and gazed at Lu Haoshan with a pleading expression.

  Lu Haoshan suddenly realized, originally thought it was his own preference, but there was also a filial heart in it. However, this Qiang tribe woman really had some interest, unlike the women of the Ming dynasty who were twisted and turned, speaking directly and straightforwardly, saying what they liked, which made Lu Haoshan's interest in her greatly increased. Looking at that beautiful face, Lu Haoshan decided to tease this beautiful Qiang tribe girl a bit, asking casually: "What is your name?"

  "Ritsuka." The girl didn't seem to have any guard up, and with a faint smile, she said her name in a big, bold, and even somewhat proud manner.

  That one smile, like a wild lily blooming in the wind, gave people a feeling of being bathed in spring breeze. In that instant, Lu Haoshan felt drunk. When Rida Muzi didn't smile, she gave people an impression of noble and elegant coldness, but once she became lively, she also gave people a youthful and beautiful feeling. Her beauty was like a spring breeze, blowing open the flower in Lu Da Guan's heart. But, Rida Muzi, why does her name sound like that of a woman from a certain island nation?

  "Your Honor, the Qiang tribe's names are different from ours. They worship everything around them and their names are related to their environment, such as flowers, stones, wood, wind, clouds, and mountains. Then they use 'ji' for boys and 'zi' for girls to distinguish between sexes. Ji means son and zi means daughter. This woman's name is Rida Mu Zi, but her actual name is just Rida Mu, with the zi indicating that she is a woman. There are also some Qiang people living in this county, and I know that in their language, Rida Mu means cloud."

  Lu Haoshan gave Zhang Wu a look of appreciation, thinking that this name was indeed interesting. Ri Damu Zi, translated to "daughter of the cloud", nicknamed Yun'er, not bad, that high and beautiful cloud, is the most true portrayal of this Qiang ethnic minority beauty.

  "You, a high-ranking Han official, have been told everyone's name, why don't you say your own?" After reporting his own name, Lu Haoshan neither said it was good nor bad, but instead whispered to his subordinates. Ji Daximu felt ignored and her pretty face immediately fell out of favor.

  "My surname is Lu, my name is Wen Hua, and my courtesy name is Haoshan. You can call me Haoshan." Lu Haoshan smiled and said: "However, your name is a bit of a mouthful, may I call you Yun'er?"

  Ridamuzi likes Han culture, likes the prosperous county town, often takes the brave warriors at home to play down the mountain, and is quite proficient in Chinese. When Lu Haoshan calls himself "Yun'er", he doesn't think there's anything wrong with it. Anyway, translated into Han language, this name is not wrong either. Upon hearing this, he nodded and said, "Okay."

  "Well, from now on, Lu will call you Yun'er."

  Ridamuzu's eyes rolled around a bit, and he said with some embarrassment: "Uh, Haoshan big brother, after saying so much, can you give me the White Tiger skin? If you're willing to give it to me, I, Ridamuzu, will be very grateful."

  After saying so much to the Jiangyou County Magistrate, Daya Muqi was only interested in that white tiger skin. If not, he would have left early. Honestly, this beautiful white tiger skin is absolutely worth no more than 100 taels of silver. If someone likes it, even if the price were to be increased tenfold, there would still be people willing to pay for it. It's a rare find, and although I was lucky enough to come across it, unfortunately, I don't have enough silver on me. My heart is filled with frustration, but thinking of my beloved Ah Po, I endured the pain.

  "Oh, even Big Brother is calling out to her. Seeing that this woman isn't a stubborn person, she still wants to use her charm on me. Lu Haoshan heard this and smiled, saying with great interest: 'Yun'er, earlier when you were buying the tiger skin, you didn't have enough silver, how come now you think you can take away the white tiger skin without spending any silver?'"

  "No, no" Rida Mu Zi waved his hand repeatedly and said: "Hao Shan Ge also spent money to buy it, I can't take it for free. How about this? I'll put 80 taels here as a deposit, and in a few days I'll bring enough silver to come back and find you. At that time, I'll give you 200 taels, is 200 taels okay?"

  "Two hundred taels, wouldn't Lü have made a double profit by just turning his hand?" Lü Haoshan smiled and suddenly shook his head, saying: "Yun'er young lady, do you think Lü is the kind of person who opens his eyes for money?"

  That day, Da Mu Zi stared at Lu Hao Shan for a while, then shook his head and said: "I don't know."

  Lu Haoshan almost spat out a mouthful of old blood, this is too direct, can't you be a bit more tactful? Fortunately, Lu Haoshan had known her straightforward personality since early on, if someone else had said that sentence, it would have been considered sarcastic.

  "Alright, Lu said straightforwardly, 'Miss Yun, this white tiger skin is very beautiful. Even if you offer 200 taels of silver, I won't sell it.'"

  "Oh" Rida Muzi responded with a hint of disappointment, preparing to leave. She had known since morning that those Han officials were very wealthy. The tiger skin was priced at 100 taels, and others didn't even blink before taking it out. It was clear that others had more money than herself. Moreover, the white tiger skin was also a rare item, and buying it for 100 taels could be considered a great value. Even if she were to replace it with her own, she wouldn't be willing to part with it. Since others were unwilling to sell, Rida Muzi had no choice.

  Seeing this mountain fairy about to leave, Lu Haoshan smiled and said: "Cloud girl, please wait a moment."

  "Is there anything else, sir?"

  Just now she was calling him "big brother", but in the blink of an eye, she changed to "old master". This Qiang tribe beauty's face changed quickly. As soon as she heard that Lu Haoshan wouldn't sell it to her, her pretty face turned cold, and even her tone became unpleasant.

  Lu Haoshan smiled and said, "This white tiger skin, I said it's not for sale, meaning it's not for a high price, but I didn't say I wouldn't sell it to you at the original price. Taking away someone's beloved item is wrong in itself, and making a profit of twice the amount by reselling it would make me appear petty."

  "Really? You're really willing to lend me 100 yuan?" As soon as Lu Haoshan finished speaking, Rida Muzi's eyes lit up, and he looked at Lu Haoshan with a surprised expression.

  "Of course, Cloud Girl hasn't heard of the saying? The more brothers call out to you, the more benefits you'll get. Just now you called me Elder Brother Haoshan, so naturally I couldn't let you call me that in vain. Besides, although this white tiger skin is precious, in Lu's eyes it's just something for appreciation, but once it's in your hands, it becomes a filial token."

  Rida Mu's heart was filled with great joy, and a smile suddenly appeared on his face. Originally, he had no hope, but unexpectedly, the young county magistrate in front of him said that he would transfer it to himself at the original price, which was an unexpected surprise. However, after the surprise passed, he quickly became disappointed again, and somewhat embarrassedly said: "That, that, Haoshan big brother, I only have eighty taels here, not enough for one hundred taels."

  "What can we do?" Lu Haoshan said with a sly smile as he watched Rida Mu Zi's little girl-like behavior.

  "Hao Shan big brother, what do you think of my two bodyguards?" Rida Muzi pointed to the guards following him and said: "I'll give them to you, consider it twenty taels of silver. They're very capable fighters, brave enough to venture into the deep mountains alone to hunt wolves. They're definitely worth twenty taels of silver."

  Those two guards, upon hearing that they were to be sold for twenty taels of silver, seemed completely unmoved, and continued to stand loyally by Rida Muzi's side, protecting her with their lives. Lu Haoshan was speechless, having heard that some minority chieftains were like "local emperors", arbitrarily deciding the life and death of their people. The two guards following Rida Muzi were robust and agile, exuding an aura of ferocity, clearly not ordinary men.

  Only twenty two? Is this a master or a big white cabbage? It's also too cheap.

  "Twenty taels is not even enough to buy one of their fingers!" Lu Haoshan waved his hand and said, "Lu Mou didn't mean it that way, Yun'er Miss, you can take out fifty taels first and take the white tiger skin away. As for the remaining silver, it's fine whenever you send it over, but I have a small condition."

  "What conditions?" Rida Mu Zi looked at Lu Hao Shan with some vigilance and said.

  Lu Haoshan pointed to the flute inserted in her waist and said: "Wang Zihuan once left a famous sentence in 'Liangzhou Ci': The Yellow River is far away in the white clouds, A lonely city with thousands of mountains. Why should the flute resent the willow, Spring breeze does not pass through the Jade Gate Pass. Lu has always yearned for this poem and is very interested in the flute in the poem. Seeing that Cloud Girl carries a flute when she goes out, she must be a master of music. Can you play a tune? Consider it as the interest on the silver I owe."

  Rida Mu's waist was inserted with a delicate Qiang flute, two pipes and several holes, made of oil bamboo from the high mountains, looking very exquisite. Lu Haoshan wanted to hear how this Qiang ethnic beauty blew the flute, so he turned his eyes and proposed this idea.

  "Alright then, it's settled." Ridamuzu agreed immediately after a moment of hesitation.

  The Qiang people are good at singing and dancing. In folk sayings, "without songs it's not fun, without dances it's also not fun". Men and women, young and old, whenever they encounter happy events or important days, they gather together to sing and dance, expressing their joyful emotions and yearning for a better life in the lively music, with light and agile dance steps. The Qiang flute is its most representative instrument, also known as the Qiang pipe, played vertically, two pipes producing the same pitch, clear and high-pitched sound, with a sense of sadness, most suitable for solo performances, can also be used to accompany songs and dances.

  As the crowd grew larger, the precious white tiger skin, the young and promising county lord, and the beautiful Qiang ethnic minority woman combined to greatly increase the excitement of the common people. After the burly man who sold the white tiger skin left, the crowd did not disperse but instead grew even larger, with everyone gathering around to see how their county lord would interact with the Qiang beauty. Lu Haoshan furrowed his brow and said: "Cloud Swallow Maiden, this place is too crowded and noisy. Why don't we find a quieter spot to listen to your qin music?"