The City of Changqing was filled with laughter and joy, as everyone from the Marquis in charge to the common people in the streets, enjoyed the warmth and the riches of the Summer. After all, this was the best time for trade, and there was a great amount of coin and good changing hands, given the prosperity that was inherent in the region.After all, the Kingdom had been peaceful for almost two hundred years, ever since the Old Marquis and his sons had rode out to war under the Duke"s Banner. And won the Westlands from the Barbarian Territories. Ever since then, there had been no instances of violence, there in the Wild Southwest.
Of course, the Old Marquis had long since retired from an active role in the fief, and was content to play with his grandchildren. The New Marquis, as that was how the people in the fief referred to him, had taken over close to seventy years ago, and his laws had also been rather fair, and his magistrates just. So it was reasonable for the whole region to turn out prosperous.
And it was in the middle of such a happy mood, that a late middle-aged man, clad in the simple robe of moderately good cotton, in a greenish color, strode into the Changqing City, carrying a rather large cloth and leather pack on his back. The Guards at the Main Gate, which faced the Forest to the South, eyed him cautiously as he stepped up to the line. But their demeanor soon relaxed, when they saw him produce a simple bronze tag, which marked him as a trader a.s.sociated with the Fu Lai Yao Tang, which had inscribed its famous name onto the same.
Which, of course, accounted fro the strong smell of medicine coming from the pack that he was carrying. And the tired-looking expression that was on his face, when he removed the straw hat that had hidden his craggy but clean-shaven features, to submit to the check.
Then, convinced that he was not one of the sixteen criminals that they were looking out for, based on the drawings of the same that were placed next to every guard point, the Main Gate Guards swiftly let him inside.
The man, who looked between forty to sixty years old, made a point of hiding his features again under his wide-brimmed straw hat again, before he stepped away from the Gate. That had piqued some of the Guards" attention. But there were many who did not like being identified, especially among the self-employed traders and herb-gatherers of the three Medicine Halls. So his actions did not draw too much notice.
He walked neither too quick not too slow, keeping pace with largely the rest of the people that had just entered Changqing City through the Main Gate. And slowly made his way towards the Main Road that led to the Southern Market Square, which was where the Horse Market, the Vegetable Market, and the Peddler"s Market were all located. Those were what the South Market was famous for, after all.
But he stepped past the same, and made his way slightly to the West, where some of the more prosperous shops were located. And true enough, he didn"t hesitate to enter into the same Fortune Arrives Medicine Hall that had issued him that bronze tag that he had shown off earlier.
a.s.sistant Manager Luo was grinning from ear to ear, as he looked at the large crowd that was cluttering all of his counters in the Main Hall of the Medicine Shop. It looked like everyone was buying up the stocks that had arrived from the Southern Forest, where adventurers and herbalists had gone to pick or steal the wondrous herbal medicines that could be found there.
Which meant, of course, that Fu Lai Medicine Hall was going to dominate a good part of the market once again!
That had happened for the past six years, and Luo Junyuan was more than pleased to be part of the same Medicine Hall, especially since its clout had gotten bigger. Even a few of the New Marquis" children had come to Fu Lai Medicine Hall, to purchase some to the special medicines for improving the state of their meridians and such. All to improve their bodies, so that they could show greater improvements in their cultivation of the martial arts.
Yet, there was one fly in Fu Lai Medicine Hall"s ointment, and that was the lack of a proper alchemist, who can convert these medicinal herbs and spices into true alchemical pills, that would make it far simpler for these same people to succeed. But those pills were insanely expensive, and the ones who could concoct them were harder to find than a kirin-scale or a phoenix down-feather!
The best that they could hope for was to get their hands on some of the rarer herbs that could boost their chances of making a greater achievement. But even those are rather hard to get a hold of. Which was probably why Fu Lai Medicine Hall had been offering such sky-high prices whenever they heard even the slightest news of one.
"Sir. a.s.sistant Manager Luo, sir. He is here again. The man who brought in the Golden-veined Lotus Root a moon ago! He"s back!"
Luo Junyuan froze, with the smile dropping from his lips immediately. "He ... He"s back? He"s coming back now?" his voice stammered, as he turned back to the pretty shop-greeter, who had just alerted him.
"Did he bring any herbs with him? Did you see? Did you smell any on him?"
The girl was looking fl.u.s.tered already, and from the way that she shook her head, it was clear that she had not noticed. So Luo Junyuan began to wave her aside, before stopping himself, and pointing upstairs. He had just remembered what he had planned to do, almost a moon ago!
"Bring him upstairs. To the third floor! I will let the Hall Manager know about this myself!"
Then he scurried off, to find the Hall Manager at once!
He had been scolded by the venerable Hall Manager almost a moon ago, for letting such a good opportunity slip away. Well, he would now toss this hot potato into the old man"s lap right now! Let"s see how he deals with this fellow himself!
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