flstandardbreds Chapter 184 Initial Challenges in Incense Making
Chapter 184 Initial Challenges in Incense Making
Chapter 184 Newcomers to Incense Making Face Many Challenges
Beginner in Incense Making Faces Many Challenges
&34; Clang—&34;
The teacup made a clear, melodious sound as it struck the bluestone table. Su Yunlan gathered the Canaan incense stains on her sleeves and looked up, her gaze meeting the starlight in Xiao Yuhan's eyes.
The snow-covered armor melted into warmth on her neck, and the calloused fingertips traced the hidden patterns on the silver hairpin: "Shall we set off for the Western Regions tomorrow?"
As the morning light broke through the windowpanes, Zhuque Avenue was already bustling with noise.
Su Yunlan stood beneath the plaque of the Agarwood Pavilion, her gilded needle pouch swaying lightly at her waist. As the phantom of her medicine hoe swept past the stone lions in front of the gate, the illusion of a Western Region spice market unfolded on the blue bricks.
&34; "Three hundred taels of gold for one tael of snow mountain dragon brain, if Manager Su thinks it's too expensive..." &34; Manager Wu, twirling his jade snuff bottle, his goatee adorned with frankincense powder, a specialty of the Western Regions, &34; "Master Zhou of the West City bought the last half jin yesterday." &34;
Young Master Xiao suddenly gripped the sword tassel tightly, his back taut beneath his black outfit: "Sister-in-law, don't worry, the Xiao family caravan just passed through Yumen Pass the day before yesterday..." Before he could finish speaking, the sound of camel bells suddenly rang out from the street corner.
The foreign merchant, wearing a peacock blue veil, removed his backpack, and in the black iron box he held in his palm were fragments of a Garuda incense burner, bathed in starlight.
&34; The Tianquan star shines not only on snow-capped mountains. &34; Xiao Yuhan's combat boots crushed the morning frost on the ground, and the Big Dipper pattern on the hilt of his sword suddenly reflected the phantom of a gilded compass.
Judge Lu's drunken chanting echoed through the crowd: "The Xuan Nu Tea must be paired with Kunlun Snow, and Manager Su's incense-making water... cough cough, it seems it must be drawing Jade Dew from the Jade Pool!"
When Master Zhou brushed aside the onlookers, the corner of his robe was still covered with agarwood shavings from the incense workshop.
Suddenly, indigo smoke rose from the bronze incense burner in his hand, condensing in mid-air into four seal characters: "Deceitful and Famous". "Do you all know what kind of incense this Tea Queen is going to make?"
The Garuda Cauldron is to be forged from a meteorite! &34;
Su Yunlan's silver bracelet suddenly shone brightly, and as the phantom of the medicine hoe was drawn in the air, the green smoke from Master Zhou's incense burner suddenly transformed into a sky full of stars.
With a gentle wave of her hand, a fragment of an ancient book from twenty years ago appeared out of thin air on the tea table—the parchment scroll containing the recipe for Canaan Incense was stamped with the unique sealing wax mark of the Xiao family's secret guards.
"Twenty-third brother." Xiao Yuhan suddenly pressed down on the boy's trembling shoulder, the starlight emanating from the dark patterns on his armor pointing directly towards the West Market. "Go check the caravan that came from Tibet three days ago; their camel bells should have half a peacock feather tied to them."
As dusk painted Zhuque Street red, Young Master Xiao, clutching a tattered map of trade routes, rushed into Chenxiang Pavilion.
The boy's sleeves were still covered with snowflakes from the Kunlun Mountains, but his eyes burned with a spark: "Sister-in-law!"
The Tibetan caravan, carrying three cartloads of snow mountain dragon brain, will make the transaction tonight at the City God Temple! &34;
Su Yunlan's fingertips traced the star map outlined by the illusory image of the hoe when he suddenly heard a strange noise from outside the window.
The moment the carved wooden window was pushed open, countless Kongming lanterns carrying the prophecy "The tea master will surely fail in making incense" rose into the sky, and the lantern shades were all branded with the lotus flower seal unique to Master Zhou.
"My lady, look at this." Xiao Yuhan suddenly wrapped his arms around her from behind, his chest, still clad in armor, trembling as he offered her half a gilded incense stick.
The seal script engraved with the Big Dipper, bathed in twilight, perfectly matched the star map on the sword hilt: &34; The Garuda Cauldron, which fell twenty years ago, may be hidden there... &34;
Before the words were finished, the phantom of the Western Regions market suddenly churned violently in the tea soup.
Shopkeeper Wu's sinister laughter echoed through the long street: "Shopkeeper Su, do you know that the Tibetan caravan's three carts of camphor were all reserved by Master Zhou for five hundred taels of gold this morning?!"
The copper bells on the eaves rang out like shattered jade in the night breeze. Su Yunlan looked at the fading star chart on the table and suddenly felt Xiao Yuhan's warm palm cover her cool hand.
The starlight leaking from the gaps in the man's armor was quietly creeping onto her silver hairpin, while outside the window, a light rain carrying a peacock-blue mist began to fall.
The copper bells on the eaves shattered into intermittent silver beads in the sudden rain, and Su Yunlan's fingertips traced the Canaan frost that had condensed on the edge of the teacup.
Starlight leaking from the gaps in Xiao Yuhan's armor climbed onto the silver hairpin in her hair, spreading out in tiny spots of light in the peacock blue rain and mist.
"Smell it." The man's calloused palm covered her slightly cool hand, the snow from his armor turning into warm mist, "This rain carries the scent of Kunlun pine trees."
Su Yunlan leaned against his armored chest and suddenly felt the gilded needle pouch at her waist getting slightly hot.
The Xuan Nu tea buds, which had been tempered on the Tea King Tournament three days ago, actually condensed into half a scroll of star map in the phantom image of the medicine hoe.
As the raindrops pierced through the carved wooden window, she clearly saw the star map reflected in the tea soup, perfectly matching the trade route map brought back by Young Master Xiao.
&34; Zhou Xiangshi's monopoly extended far beyond spices. &34; The Big Dipper pattern on Xiao Yuhan's sword hilt suddenly illuminated the incense burner on the table. The gilded seal script meandered into Tibetan characters in the rain, &34; Snow Mountain dragon brains, a tribute from Tibet twenty years ago, were transported by an official bearing the tiger tally of Xiao family's secret guards. &34;
A sudden clap of thunder erupted outside the window, and a peacock blue figure flashed through the rain curtain.
Su Yunlan's silver bracelet slammed against the bluestone table, and the phantom of the medicine hoe, which drew out stars in mid-air, was connected to the dark patterns on her armor.
The Xuan Nu tea buds floating in the teacup suddenly turned into ice crystals, condensing raindrops into tiny snow mountain dragon brain particles.
&34; The caravan map brought back by the twenty-third brother is problematic. &34; Su Yunlan picked up an ice crystal with her fingertips, and the Canaan incense mist flowed into Western Region characters within the crystal, &34; The real place of handover by the Tibetans was not the City God Temple—&34;
Before he could finish speaking, Young Master Xiao, soaking wet, burst through the door.
Half a peacock feather lay in the boy's palm, the base of which was stained with the lotus incense ash unique to Master Zhou: "Sister-in-law!"
The Tibetan caravan's three carts of camphor... Master Zhou didn't pay a deposit at all! &34;
Suddenly, the muffled sound of camel bells came from the depths of the rain curtain, and Manager Wu's sinister laughter mixed with frankincense powder drifted into the window: "Manager Su, have you ever heard of the Western Regions' Incense Exchange Order?"
If we can't produce the incense extract refined with the snow water of Yaochi before midnight tonight, these three cartloads of camphor will end up in the Zhou family's incense workshop. &34;
Xiao Yuhan's combat boots crushed the ice crystals on the ground, and the Big Dipper on the hilt of his sword suddenly reflected a gilded compass.
The star map unfolded in the rain and mist, resembling an old image from twenty years ago—the sandstorm encountered by the tribute convoy escorted by the Xiao family's secret guards outside Yumen Pass was exactly the same as today's peacock blue rain and mist.
&34; The sandalwood shavings on the corner of Zhou Xiangshi's robe...&34; Su Yunlan suddenly gripped Xiao Yuhan's wrist guard tightly, and the phantom of the medicinal hoe drew a lotus seal in the star map, &34; It was Garuda incense ash used as tribute twenty years ago! &34;
As dusk settled over Zhuque Avenue, Kongming lanterns carrying prophetic messages turned to ashes in the rain.
Suddenly, the sword tassel of Young Master Xiao's sword became entangled in a falling fragment of the lampshade. The young man in the black-clad outfit's pupils constricted sharply: "These lotus seals... were branded on with the tiger tally of the Xiao family's secret guards!"
Suddenly, the silver bracelet on Su Yunlan's wrist emitted a clear and melodious sound, and the ice crystals that had condensed on the tea table actually solidified into miniature snow mountains in the rain.
The moment the illusory image of the hoe pierced through the illusion, she saw deep inside Master Zhou's incense workshop—three carts of snow mountain dragon brain were soaking in the Jade Dew of Yaochi, and the bronze furnace being tempered was branded with the Qilin mark that had been confiscated from the Xiao family!
&34; The incense burner that Manager Wu wanted...&34; Xiao Yuhan suddenly pressed half of the gilded incense seal into the tea soup, and the Big Dipper constellation reflected a phantom of a Western Region market on the water's surface, &34; It was hidden in the hidden pattern of your silver hairpin twenty years ago. &34;
The sound of camel bells echoed from the end of the rain curtain, and a foreign merchant wearing a peacock blue veil unloaded his backpack.
The moment Su Yunlan pulled out the silver hairpin, stardust rolled down from the dark pattern on the hairpin head and fell into the tea soup, turning the rain into a golden mist.
Shopkeeper Wu's terrified scream pierced the long street: "This...this is the Heavenly Fragrance Essence used as tribute!"
The moment Xiao Ershisan's sword pierced through the merchant's backpack, three snow dragon brains bearing lotus flower imprints rolled off the blue bricks.
The boy's fingertips, still damp with Kunlun snow, lightly touched the ice crystals, and the seal of the tribute from twenty years ago suddenly transformed into a gilded hourglass in the rain: "Sister-in-law!"
These dragon brains have been cursed with a spell to change incense! &34;
With a gentle wave of her hand, Su Yunlan used her silver hairpin to draw out the Big Dipper formation in the fragrant golden mist.
As the phantom of the hoe pierced the lotus seal set up by Master Zhou, she suddenly saw deep in the rain curtain—the frankincense powder wafting from Manager Wu's jade snuff bottle was condensing into the afterimage of a convoy in a sandstorm twenty years ago.
"My husband." She suddenly pressed the gilded needle pouch onto the dark patterns on Xiao Yuhan's armor, and the heavenly fragrance drew golden mist to envelop their clasped hands. "It's time to go and meet that old friend who guards the incense exchange token..."
As the last raindrop fell to the ground from the eaves, Su Yunlan pulled out half of a brocade pouch soaked in peacock blue mist from her sleeve.
The phantom of the medicine hoe traced starlight within the dark patterns of the brocade pouch, illuminating the subtle cracks on the three snow mountain dragon brains—clearly the array-breaking patterns used by the Xiao family's secret guards to transmit secret messages.