Chapter 5: The Young Lady from Anxi

A person wearing a conical hat approached—turning out to be a young Han woman, seemingly around fifteen or sixteen years old. She wore a red, narrow-sleeved tight top and a green pleated skirt. A long sword hung at her waist, and she carried a bow and arrows on her back, looking quite valiant and spirited.
“Hey! Soldier, can’t you hear me?”
This was the first young Han woman Li Qing’an had seen since entering the Tang Dynasty. Curiosity piqued, he examined her closely. She was tall, with long, straight legs, a slender waist, and full breasts—her figure was extremely attractive. She was also very beautiful, with a sweet face and large, bright, sharp eyes that seemed to see through everything, though there was a hint of arrogance in her gaze.
“Not bad! Not bad!” Li Qing’an nodded and smiled to himself. She hadn’t disappointed him—Tang women weren’t all plump and delicate as he had imagined.
Seeing him gaze at her unabashedly, the woman grew angry. She banged the table hard with the hilt of her sword. “What are you staring at? Have you never seen a beautiful woman before?”
Li Qing’an’s interest grew even more. This woman had a bit of the personality of girls from later times—he liked it.
“I’ll sell this leopard skin, but I’ll charge a high price. I doubt you can afford it.”
“You think I have no money?”
The woman snorted, took out six silver ingots from a leather pouch, and pushed them toward Li Qing’an. “This is 150 taels of silver. Take it.”
As she spoke, she reached for the package containing the leopard skin on the table, but Li Qing’an grabbed it firmly and said with a smile, “150 taels isn’t enough. I want at least 1,000 taels.”
“You…” Her face turned red. “What do you think you’re selling? A piece of animal skin costs 1,000 taels?”
Li Qing’an raised his wine cup and said slowly with a smile, “So what if it’s 1,000 taels? I’m not forcing you to buy it!”
“No, I want this leopard skin!”
She swiftly drew her sword and placed it on Li Qing’an’s wrist, ordering coldly, “Let go!”
As if he hadn’t heard her, Li Qing’an drained his cup in one gulp and praised with narrowed eyes, “Truly fine wine!”
The woman flew into a rage and swung her sword at his wrist. But Li Qing’an reacted faster—he grabbed the package, causing her sword to miss and embed itself in the table.
“Young lady, if you keep getting so angry, you won’t be able to marry anyone!”
The surrounding diners burst into laughter. Unable to bear it any longer, the woman stamped her foot angrily, drew her sword, and left.
“Young lady, don’t you want the silver?” Li Qing’an drank another cup of wine and smiled as he watched her retreating figure.

The woman seemed to hear nothing at all. She strode out of the tavern and disappeared in no time. Li Qing’an shook his head with a smile. A conical hat, a long sword, tight-fitting clothes, and treating money as dirt—this really resembled the heroic women who roamed the land in martial arts novels. Could such people truly exist in the Tang Dynasty?

As soon as this thought crossed his mind, a sound of something piercing the air was heard. An arrow shot through his bundle, punching several large holes in a whole black panther skin.

“What this girl can’t get, no one else can either!”

The sound of horse hooves gradually faded away, leaving only Li Qing’an, who was staring blankly at his wine cup.

……

After finishing a drink in silence, Manager Yang, filled with remorse, led him to the jewelry shop called “Sogdian Old Shop” and apologized again, “Sir, I’m truly sorry. Our shop failed to take proper care of your panther skin and damaged it.”

“It’s nothing. Just a piece of animal skin,” Li Qing’an said nonchalantly, waving his hand and smiling. Although the panther skin was damaged, after all, the girl had compensated him with 150 taels of silver, so he could consider it as if he had sold it himself.

At that moment, a Turkic clerk with a sharp nose and blue eyes stepped out, smiling and saying, “Manager Yang, do you want to buy gems?”

His Mandarin was very standard, and his voice was pleasant to hear.

“No, it’s this sir who wants to buy gems. I’ve brought him here.”

Manager Yang apologized a few more times before leaving. The Turkic clerk bowed warmly to Li Qing’an, “Welcome to our shop, sir!”

Li Qing’an glanced at the small storefront and nodded before following him inside.

The Sogdians, also known as the Nine Clans of Zhao Wu from the Hexi region, were famous for their business acumen. Many famous Turks in the Tang Dynasty came from here, such as the notorious An Lushan, who was from Kang Country.

The Hexi region was also renowned for its abundant gems. Every year, a large number of gems arrived in the Tang Dynasty through Turkic merchants. This “Sogdian Old Shop” was owned by a Sogdian from the Stone Country.

“Sir, what kind of gem would you like to buy? We have diamonds from India and rubies from Sabah.”

“I want to have my gem appraised.”

“Oh! So the guest wants to have it appraised.”

The Turkic clerk waved his hand. “Please follow me inside.”

Li Qing’an followed him into the back room, which was very bright. Two older Sogdians were talking about something.

“What’s the matter?”

The Sogdians paid great attention to details. Even when talking to each other, they used Mandarin as a sign of respect for guests.

“Owner, this guest wants to have his gem appraised.”

“Okay, please have a seat, sir.”

A gray-haired Hu man politely asked Li Qingan to sit down, then sent a servant to bring a cup of tea. Smiling, he said, “Let me introduce myself first. My name is Na Suning, from the Shi country. May I ask your surname, sir?”
“My surname is Li.”
“Li is indeed a common surname in this country!”
Na Suning chuckled and then asked, “May I know what kind of gemstone you’d like to have appraised?”
Li Qingan took out the flame gemstone from his bosom and placed it on the table. “It’s this gemstone.”
Na Suning picked up the gemstone with a smile. From his initial inspection, it seemed to be just an ordinary ruby, slightly larger in size, cut from a large piece of ore, with no impurities—actually a high-quality gemstone, worth at most fifty guan.
Na Suning held the gemstone up and examined it closely. The smile on his face gradually faded. He glanced quickly at Li Qingan. His expression remained calm, but his hand tightly grasped the gemstone, trembling slightly.
“Who sold it to you?”
“A common Hu man.”
“Oh! What kind of common Hu man?”
Li Qingan smiled faintly. “Is it important who sold it to me?”
“I was just asking casually!” Na Suning apologized with a smile. “It’s actually just an ordinary ruby, though of decent quality. It’s usually worth eighty guan. I can give you twenty more guan—100 guan in total. How about that?”
If it had been an ordinary soldier selling the gemstone, he might have agreed right away. But Na Suning had run into a future man with over a thousand years more experience than him. Despite his excellent disguise, he couldn’t hide from Li Qingan’s sharp eyes. Li Qingan realized he wasn’t telling the truth from his trembling hand.
How could a gemstone with flames rising from it be an ordinary ruby? This gemstone was definitely worth more than 100 guan. But with his gemstone tightly held by a hand like a chicken claw, it seemed unlikely the seller would let go. He had already ruined an expensive black panther skin—how could he afford to lose another treasure? So he said with a smile, “Sir, this gemstone has already been damaged by me. Let me show you.”
Na Suning, who clearly hadn’t read Records of the Grand Historian, was stunned. Hesitantly, he handed the gemstone back to Li Qingan. Li Qingan took it and stuffed it back into his bosom, then stood up and said with a smile, “Never mind. I’ll go to another shop!”
Na Suning was dumbfounded. By the time he reacted, Li Qingan had already walked away at a brisk pace.
As Li Qingan left the gemstone shop, he turned around and spat loudly, “Scoundrel! Trying to swindle me out of my gemstone. I’m not selling it.”

He mounted his horse and was about to leave when Su Ning rushed after him quickly. “General, General Li, please wait!” He ran forward and blocked Li Qing’an’s horse, panting heavily. “General, I remember now—your gem isn’t a ruby; it’s a sunstone from the Stone Country.” “Sunstone!” Li Qing’an snorted. “Then why didn’t you realize it earlier?” Su Ning smiled bitterly. “Actually, I’ve never seen a real sunstone either. I’ve only heard that there’s a flame inside gems, similar to yours.” Li Qing’an bent down curiously and asked, “How much is this kind of sunstone worth?” That was what concerned him most. Su Ning thought for a moment and said, “Sunstones are quite valuable, but they can’t compare to diamonds from Tianzhu. However, I happen to need a sunstone right now. If you’re willing to sell it to me, I can pay at the price of a diamond of the same size.” A diamond of the same size? Li Qing’an doubted he heard correctly. A diamond the size of an egg—what an invaluable treasure! He hesitated and asked, “How much is that?” “That much!” Su Ning raised one finger. “One thousand guan.” Li Qing’an quickly did some calculations. One thousand guan could buy five hundred mu of farmland, but a diamond the size of an egg was only worth five hundred mu of farmland? He shook his head and joked, “One thousand guan? No way! I’d need at least ten thousand guan to sell it.” “Fine! Then ten thousand guan,” Su Ning said without hesitation. Li Qing’an’s eyes lit up. He spurred his horse hard and rode away at full speed. His loud laughter could be heard in the distance: “Ten thousand guan? How am I supposed to transport that?”
……
Note: The official currency of the Tang Dynasty was copper coins and silk, but the court also minted silver ingots, usually in bundles of twenty-five taels each. These were not in circulation and were mainly used for rewards, though they could be exchanged for money on the black market.