The bank found out that even Deron had come to check the collection, and they hadn't expected that the entrusted caretaker was actually an antiques expert.
They immediately waived Sophia's guarding fees and even offered to send more people to watch over the collection until its authenticity was confirmed and handed over to Deron's team.
Deron also sent people to guard the items.
Sophia's way of storing the antiques was too rough—she had just left these valuable pieces gathering dust in a warehouse.
Sophia stayed calm despite all the attention from different sides.
The large antiques stayed in the warehouse, while the boxes of treasures were kept in a safe deposit box at the bank.
After all, there were many people around, and it was risky.
Big items were hard to carry, but small ones were easy to steal.
Anyone with bad intentions could easily take a few pieces.
After finishing her business in town, Sophia returned to the village.
She had been away for several days and when she got home, she saw Madam Xi feeding the pigs.
The piglets were growing fast, and Madam Xi was feeding them well. Sophia saw the little pigs with round bodies almost buried in their feed.
"Ah, Sophia, you finally came back," Madam Xi smiled brightly.
Anyone would be happy to see their money source pleased. Sophia paid on time and didn't cause trouble.
Even when her daughter-in-law complained about her washing dishes, Sophia never complained back and always thanked them for their hard work.
Who wouldn't be happy? She gave money and showed care.
Madam Xi enjoyed working here more than at her own home and was more attentive.
"Madam Xi, thank you for your hard work these days. Our fifteen pigs eat so much every day, it's not easy. They've all gotten fatter since I left."
Sophia took out the money she prepared.
"We agreed on two hundred a day. Please count."
Madam Xi pretended to refuse and said not to rush, since Sophia just got back and probably hadn't caught her breath yet.
"By the way, you're back this late and probably haven't eaten lunch, right? I made some noodles at home. I'll bring you a bowl so you don't have to cook alone."
She wiped her hands, took off her work apron, and hurried off.
Sophia's pig trough had been moved back home for the trip to the provincial city. She checked it and saw no one had touched it, so she relaxed and went to rest in her room.
Soon, Madam Xi came back with a big bowl of noodles.
Her daughter-in-law had said she would make noodles for lunch, so Sophia had a meal waiting every day.
Sophia thanked Madam Xi and looked into the bowl. There were only a few noodles but lots of pork and meatballs.
Sophia smiled wryly—people in this village were really kind.
Sophia then threw her letter into the pig trough.
Before leaving, she had written to General Yves, telling him she would be away for a while and asked him not to send anything during her absence.
She hadn't been away long, but she didn't know how things were going there—if they had enough food and water, or if the drilling equipment had been used.
Luckily, General Yves replied quickly.
He had to hurry and take over Chen country before the neighboring Zhao country and Wu country reacted.
As the Zhao army advanced, the ruler and ministers of Chen country could no longer sit still.
They split their forces, on one side gathering gold and treasures to ask for peace from General Yves, and on the other sending letters for help to Zhao and Wu countries.
But with the Zhao army occupying half of Chen's territory, General Yves naturally would not agree.
The king and officials of Chen Kingdom were all waiting anxiously for reinforcements but did not know that the people they sent out had already been stopped by General Yves's men.
General Yves originally had 30,000 soldiers. Another 2,000 troops came from Chu territory to support him, and even a small group of volunteers from Chen Kingdom joined his side.
Time was tight and General Yves took advantage of this to continue attacking.
With the army at the city walls, the king and the nobles of Chen Kingdom saw no hope for rescue. They quickly offered their wealth, hoping to save their lives.
General Yves had his men arrest the king and his officials. The kingdom's treasury was indeed very full.
When the neighboring states, Wu and Zhao, heard the news, General Yves had already counted and taken all the wealth from Chen Kingdom's treasury.
After taking control of Chen's land, he needed to handle the kingdom's affairs.
Chen Kingdom was suffering from a serious drought. Since a drilling machine arrived, the situation had improved a little but one machine was not enough.
There were many tasks to handle, so General Yves had to choose capable people from Chen's officials to help.
After working hard on conquering territory and fighting battles, General Yves finally had time to carefully read the letter from Sophia.
After reading it, he immediately ordered Howell to list the needed supplies.
Howell quickly went to gather the list.
As for the people locked in prison, General Yves gave each a blank paper to write down what skills or expertise they had.
Those with useful skills could avoid punishment and be allowed to serve in government again.
The next day, their papers were brought to General Yves's desk.
The papers had everything: some insulted General Yves, some showed loyalty, some flattered him, and some honestly listed their achievements and abilities.
The nobles, to save their lives, mostly listed their wealth and promised to give it to General Yves in exchange for safety.
General Yves carefully read through the papers, then held interrogations. In the end, he pardoned eighteen people. Three were those who gave the most wealth, and the other twelve had useful skills and sincerely surrendered.
The rest were either executed or imprisoned.
While handling the old government's affairs, Howell also made a list.
The most important was the drilling machine, followed by food and medicine.
The special bleeding-stopping medicine was very effective and had saved two generals and several soldiers.
If possible, they wanted more of this medicine. The military doctors were also working on producing the medicine and had made some progress.
General Yves glanced over the list and put it aside.
He began arranging the grain and wealth collected from the nobles. The wealth went into the treasury, while half of the grain was sent to the army.
The other half was distributed to the people of Chen Kingdom.
Howell asked, "Commander, are we really going to distribute supplies to the people of Chen Kingdom?"
General Yves looked at him and said, "If we were here only to loot wealth, we could have left already."
Howell suddenly realized his question was foolish because General Yves had already told them the southern campaign's goal was beyond just Chu and Chen.
Also, General Yves would not be as patient as he had been with General Ulric.
Howell stopped talking and went to carry out his orders.
While waiting for General Yves's reply, Sophia had prepared a warehouse full of food.
The main foods were grain, oil, rice, and flour 5,000 jin each. While shopping at the supermarket, Sophia also found some compressed biscuits and took ten boxes to try, hoping they would last long.