Chapter Thirty-Four

  In the dictionary of Mai, there is no word for "friend". As the eldest daughter of a dance family and the future heir, her status is noble. From a young age, she was instilled with the concept of hierarchy. In her social circle, people are either rivals or objects to be used for her own benefit, or subordinates. There is simply no room for friends.

  Looking at her shocked expression, with a small mouth that could fit an egg, Tang Yin felt amused. He imitated the arrogant tone of Wu Mei earlier and said haughtily: "Privately, I can allow you to be my friend."

  She was charming and lovely, with a mischievous glint in her eye as she stared at Tang Yin, unable to utter a word for a long time.

  After holding it in for a long time, she finally let out a snort of laughter and asked: "Do you know who I am?"

  "The great lady of the Waltz family, with a count's title, in charge of the Second and Third Battalions."

  "How dare you speak to me in this tone? Do you believe that just for this one thing I can have you killed immediately?"

  Her charming face turned gloomy, her cold face was like frost, and her gentle eyes suddenly became sharp, staring straight at Tang Yin.

  Tang Yin met her cold gaze with equanimity, looking straight back at her as he said, "I'm well aware that you have the capability to do so, but I also know that you won't."

  I don't know where his confidence came from, but Tang Yin's complacency provoked Wu Mei's rebelliousness. She couldn't bear to kill Tang Yin, but she absolutely wouldn't allow him to be so presumptuous in front of her, and no one had ever dared to speak to her like that before.

  Her eyes shone brighter, she clenched her fists and was about to jump up when Tang Yin said: "Have you ever thought that friends are actually much more reliable than subordinates? The relationship between superiors and subordinates is just a human relationship, while the relationship between friends is a heart-to-heart relationship."

  A relationship between hearts! Mei's heart skipped a beat, and her body, which had originally intended to stand up, sat back down again, silently savoring Tang Yin's words.

  Tang Yin's eyes were deep and distant, and he said quietly: "All along, I haven't had many friends. Even if I count you in, there won't be more than three. It's precisely because of this that I cherish it even more. When a friend is in trouble, I will definitely help out with all my might. This is the only relationship I have, and I will wholeheartedly help you with things. I am not someone who can be controlled at will, nor do I get used to being ordered around or having people step on my head and point fingers at me. Please understand this."

  She quietly listened to Tang Yin's words, perhaps his words couldn't make her fully accept, but she could see his sincerity from his eyes.

  Yes! Tang Yin is indeed not a person who can be controlled.

  He is casual, evil and arrogant, full of unstable factors all over his body. But it's precisely because of this that Wu Mei will be attracted to him unknowingly. If Tang Yin were like others, used to listening to orders and being controlled by others, Wu Mei's interest in him would probably not be as great as it is now, so great that it can shake her own principles.

  "Qiu is really your friend?" After a long time, Wu Mei finally spoke up.

  Tang Yin thought for a moment and finally nodded his head, saying: "Alright."

  "Earlier, I sent you to Ningguo's checkpoint as bait, but you kept him there, was it because..."

  "That was out of protection for my friend."

  She gazed at Tang Yin with an unwavering stare, as if making a major decision, nodded deeply and said: "Alright, I also want to be your friend, but I want you to promise me that my weight in your heart will not be lighter than Qiu Zhen's!"

  Tang Yin smiled, who is light in his own heart and who is heavy, this kind of thing is not something he can control. He suddenly realized that Wu Mei's appearance was mature, but her temperament was like a child's.

  As soon as she finished speaking, she couldn't help but laugh at herself, feeling like a petty and jealous woman, especially since she was competing with a man. What's worse is that from Tang Yin's clear eyes, she couldn't see any signs of him being moved by her.

  She had always known that her appearance was stunning and captivating, and she had always believed that there would be no man in the world who would not succumb to her charm. But when she met Tang Yin, all she felt was disappointment and a heavy sense of powerlessness. It could be said that Tang Yin was the first person to be completely immune to her, or even oblivious to her presence.

  Qiu Zhen followed closely behind, wiping away cold sweat as he approached.

  Just now, Tang Yin and Wu Mei's conversation was all heard by him outside the door. His heart had been hanging in his throat, afraid that if something went wrong, Wu Mei would blame him and Tang Yin's life would be in danger. But the final result was unexpectedly good. Of course, it was not difficult to see Wu Mei's importance attached to Tang Yin, as well as her indulgence towards him.

  Seeing his unnatural expression, Tang Yin didn't need to ask and guessed that he had overheard his conversation with Wu Mei. Before Qiu Zhen could speak, he said: "Qiu Zhen, is there a weapon shop in the city?"

  Qiu Zhen didn't expect him to ask this suddenly, scratched his forehead and said uncertainly: "There should be! Tang Da Ge, what are you doing looking for a weapon shop?"

  "Of course, I'm going to order some weapons!" Tang Yin swallowed the last mouthful of his rice, wiped his mouth and stood up, saying to Qiu Zhen: "If you're not busy, come with me for a walk."

  His handy weapon was a pair of crescent moon knives, but the Hua Tian Empire obviously didn't have such an unusual weapon, so if he wanted to get one, he could only go to a weapons shop and have it custom-made.

  "What kind of weapon is missing in the army? Why make it now?" Qiu Zhen was very puzzled.

  Tang Yin smiled and said, "The weapon I want can only be made now."

  "Oh, I see." Qiu Zhen followed Tang Yin out.

  He stopped in his tracks after a few steps, standing still with a look of difficulty on his face.

  "What's wrong?" Tang Yin asked curiously.

  "Brother Tang, do... you have money?"

  "Money?" Tang Yin suddenly realized and patted his head, scolding himself for being muddled. Although he had changed worlds, things were still bought with money here. He was now penniless, his pockets cleaner than a blank sheet of paper.

  Qiu Zhen patted his pocket and pulled out a few copper coins, sighing: "I only have this much money, I'm afraid it's not enough..."

  Tang Yin sighed and said: "Can only borrow some from General Wu Da."

  Tang Yin came to borrow money from her, with a charming smile and curved eyes that turned into two small crescent moons. She was very generous, taking out a gold ingot from her purse and handing it over to Tang Yin, while asking: "What do you need the money for?"

  Forge a handy weapon.

  "Isn't there one in the army?"

  Tang Yin shook his head.

  "Consider this a legitimate transaction, the money is on me, no need to repay." As a spiritual warrior, she naturally understood the importance of weapons. On the battlefield, one's weapon was their second life; without a suitable weapon in hand, it was equivalent to having one's life unsecured.

  Tang Yin thanked her and before leaving, he said: "I will return it to you later." Seeing Wu Mei wanting to decline, he didn't give her a chance to speak and added: "This isn't me being polite to you, because I've never been used to spending women's money." Or rather, he had never spent a woman's money before.

  Upon hearing this, Wu Mei was stunned.

  The folk customs of the Haotian Empire are very open-minded, women do not emphasize the three virtues and four moralities, nor do they have the Confucian ideology to belittle women. In terms of inheritance rights, women and men are equally included in the order of succession, including the royal family, so there has never been a shortage of female emperors throughout the history of the Haotian Empire.

  Tang Yin's unintentionally revealed male chauvinism made Wu Mei feel a bit alienated, but at the same time, she felt an inexplicable sense of comfort.

  The Tongmen is indeed not large, with three main roads running vertically and six main roads running horizontally. The main roads clearly separate the military camps and civilian residences within the city.

  Tang Yin and Qiu Zhen casually asked around and easily found a blacksmith's shop.

  Recently, the Ning army has been besieging the city, and the ironwork shop's business has also been exceptionally good. The military has ordered a large number of weapons, not to mention ordinary civilians who have also ordered weapons, intending to use them for self-defense. When they arrived, the ironwork shop was already bustling with activity, the sound of hammering on metal ringing incessantly in their ears.

  "Is the boss in?"

  Qiu Zhen stood at the door and didn't dare to go in, he was also wearing new clothes, treasured them very much, afraid that the sparks flying everywhere in the blacksmith's shop would burn his clothes.

  Tang Yin, on the other hand, was completely unbothered and walked right in.

  An old man with white hair came out to greet him recently.

  "Sir, would you like to order a weapon?" Tang Yin and Qiu Zhen were both wearing casual clothes, so the old man couldn't tell that they were soldiers.

  "Yes." Tang Yin said: "I want to make two knives."

  "Long knife, short knife, cross knife, strange knife, flat knife...... Which kind does the guest want to do?" The old man said more than a dozen kinds of knives in one breath.

  Tang Yin smiled and shook his head, looked down and picked up a piece of scrap iron from the ground, drew the shape of a crescent moon curved knife on the ground, saying: "The knife I want is this style."

  The old man looked at the pattern drawn by Tang Yin, his white eyebrows furrowed together, and asked in a suspicious tone: "This kind of sword that you want to forge is quite unusual, I've never seen it before... what's its name?"

  Tang Yin simply said: "Curved knife."

  "Oh!" The old man fell silent, deep in thought.

  "Can't it be made?"

  "That's not it. It's just that the shape of the knife is unusual, and it takes some time to make."

  Tang Yin took out the gold ingot that Wu Mei had given him and handed it to the boss, saying: "I want it today, if the boss can make it, this gold will all be yours..."

  He hadn't finished speaking when Qiu Zhen was already pulling at his sleeve from behind. Judging by its size, the gold ingot that Diao Chan gave to Tang Yin weighed at least ten taels, enough money to buy ten knives.

  He made eyes at Tang Yin, hinting that he didn't need to spend so much money.

  Tang Yin shrugged indifferently, as long as he could get the double knives he wanted, the amount of money spent didn't matter, and all along, his concept of money wasn't very important either.

  Seeing the glittering gold ingots, the old man's eyes lit up. He rolled up his sleeves and said, "Alright, since you're so generous, I'll take on this task myself! I'll forge a knife for you personally!"

  Tang Yin smiled and said: "Then I'll have to trouble you..."

  Before he could finish speaking, a deafening roar was heard in the distance, shaking the earth and causing the ground to tremble violently.

  P.S: Today's chapter is finally out, hope you all enjoy reading it!

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