Unsheathed

Chen Ping'an visited a dog meat shop in the city, and this was his second time coming here. In reality, Chen Ping'an didn't like eating dog meat at all. To be exact, he had never had dog meat in his life.

However, the shop also sold other food, and the outsider who didn't eat dog meat sat by himself at a table, not drinking wine either and speaking with an accent when he used the official dialect of the Stone Brush Nation. The neighboring tables were all feasting on piping hot stewed dog meat, clinking wine cups again and again as they did so. This caused the young man in azure cotton robes to stick out like a sore thumb.

Thankfully, the shop that had existed for more than one hundred years and been passed down through several generations didn't discriminate against its customers. An old man worked at the counter, his son worked as the chef, and his young grandson was said to be a little scholar renowned in the nearby streets. Thus, people often joked about this shop disappearing in the future, to which the humorous old man and the expressionless chef would simply reply that this was fate, and that they could do nothing about it.

However, a slight sense of pride would appear on the unsmiling chef's face whenever he heard these teasing remarks. Their family was finally blessed with a smart child who had hopes of achieving success in the imperial examination in the future, so what in the world could be more fortunate than this?

The world was chaotic right now, but there would eventually come a day when chaos subsided and peace returned.

The dog meat shop in the alley was packed as always tonight, a reflection of their booming business. Even though the northern barbarians of the Great Li Empire had breached their city during the summer of last year, few people had died as a result, and the army of the Great Li Empire had quickly left and continued to march south. Only a few barbarians fluent in the official dialect of the Stone Brush Nation had stayed behind to oversee the officials of the prefectural city, though they seldom showed themselves in public.

The lack of violence and the relatively smooth takeover by the Great Li Empire was largely thanks to the cowardice of the prefectural overseer. He had fled with his treasures and valuables, and it was said that he had even left behind his official seal. After changing into azure Confucian robes, he had fled late one night long before the arrival of the Great Li Empire's heavy cavalry, secretly leaving the city and fleeing far away under the protection of his private guards. He had directly fled south, and it was clear that he had no intention of returning to the imperial court to serve as an official.

In addition, an extremely tanned and mute young boy was working as a shop attendant in the dog meat restaurant, and the skinny young boy was responsible for welcoming the customers and serving them food and water. He didn't seem clever at all.

It was said that he was a refugee who had fled here from the border, and the kindhearted owner had decided to take him in as a shop attendant. More than half a year had passed, yet the young boy was still as unlikeable as always, with most of the regular customers of the shop not liking to interact with him.

It was late at night, and many of the customers had already finished eating and left. However, the shop was still filled with the fragrance of dog meat.

Chen Ping'an sat near the entrance and asked for a pot of local wine. The old shopkeeper was drinking with a table of regular customers, clearly drunk, with his face flushed bright red as he talked about his precious grandson. Whenever he talked about his grandson, the old man who could only drink half a liter of wine would immediately gain the ability to drink two or three times more. As he drank, he reminded himself that he couldn't charge his customers less simply because he was drunk.