flstandardbreds Chapter 172 New Challenges Encountered in Business Expansion
Chapter 172 New Challenges Encountered in Business Expansion
New difficulties encountered in business expansion
Suddenly, the copper bells on the eaves twitched on their own without any wind. As Su Yunlan turned around, she saw a few yellowish locust leaves drifting down from Zhuque Street.
The improved medicine pouch belt gleamed with a deep blue pattern in the morning light, and the spiritual spring in the space suddenly rippled—a sign of burgeoning business opportunities.
"Fourth Sister-in-law!" Young Master Xiao, carrying a black cat, darted out from the corridor, his dark robes stained with powder from the star-gazing disc. "The manager of the newly opened silk shop in the West Market said our star-gazing banquet was too noisy..."
Su Yunlan lightly tapped the bronze compass hidden on the beam with her fingertips, and the entire inn suddenly fell into an eerie silence.
From the backyard came the clear, ringing sound of Xiao Yuhan's sword energy cutting through the air during his morning practice. She glanced at the flickering defensive array lights on the ledger and chuckled, "It's not that he finds it noisy; it's just that Boss Zhao of Zhao's Inn promised him 30% of the profits, right?"
The herbal constellation map slowly rotated on the blue brick ground, reflecting the figure of Boss Zhao, who was escorting a silver box to the bank three streets away.
Xiao Yuhan's sword tassel had somehow fallen onto her shoulder, and the medicinal jade adorning it clearly illuminated the poison powder hidden at her waist.
“Tell Manager Li that the tasting event will be held in the Twenty-Four Solar Terms Hall at Shen Shi (3-5 PM).” She tossed the improved calming sachet to the Twenty-First Young Master, its subtle pattern concealing camphor incense that could distinguish between good and evil. “Remember to send a gold-embossed invitation to Master Qian.”
******
The aroma of medicinal cuisine, mingled with the chirping of cicadas, drifted over the eaves at the hour of Xu (7-9 PM). Su Yunlan stroked the newly drawn menu of Western Region medicinal wines and suddenly chuckled at the "Ancient Kucha Method" section.
Those herbal medicine merchants who claimed during the day that their supplies were insufficient were now all pressing their fingerprints onto fake ledgers in Boss Zhao's secret room.
"Young Madam, three pharmacies in the north of the city have suddenly breached their contracts." When Manager Li entered carrying the contracts, the light from the defensive array condensed into a blood-red hue at the missing corner of the contracts.
The sound of camel bells came from outside the window, and the red rope on Su Yunlan's wrist suddenly straightened, pointing due east.
The spiritual spring in the space began to reflect the outline of the unfamiliar caravan. The rhinoceros horn cup in the hand of the old man at the front was the old item that had gone missing from Grandpa Qian's birthday banquet last year.
"Please trouble you to bring this jar of snow lotus wine to the Qian residence tomorrow." She pushed the wine jar, infused with spiritual spring water, toward Manager Li. Hidden in a secret compartment at the bottom of the jar was purple lingzhi powder, which could cure poison. "Just tell them I'd like to add a dish of 'Red Plum Blossoms Reflecting Snow' to the Frost's Descent Banquet."
As the midnight drum urges down the Milky Way, Su Yunlan stands on the edge of the observatory, adjusting the newly made herbal compass.
Suddenly, the improved medicine bell array rang in unison, and the twenty-eight Kongming lanterns illuminated the figure of Boss Zhao sprinkling poison powder into the well in a small alley in the south of the city.
"Fourth Brother says tonight's celestial signs foretell war and slaughter." Xiao Yuhan's black iron sword suddenly appeared at the window, its blade brushing against her temple, causing a few strands of hair to fall. "My wife, shall I slay those filthy things?"
Su Yunlan stored the poison powder sample in her spatial storage, and the spiritual spring immediately extracted seven antidote formulas.
She smiled as she tied the newly embroidered tassel to her husband's sword, the hidden pattern concealing golden silkworm threads capable of tracking for thousands of miles: "Why use a sledgehammer to crack a nut?"
Why not let Boss Zhao taste the bitter fruit of his own making?
On the morning of Frost's Descent, before the mist had even dissipated, Grandpa Qian's nanmu sedan chair was already parked in front of the inn.
The old man held the rhinoceros horn cup that had reappeared in the martial arts world, followed by twelve medicine merchants from the Western Regions, each with a white jade buckle hanging from their waist that could counteract the poison of Gu.
"The red plum blossoms reflected in the snow that the girl mentioned, is it made with Tianshan snow frog and Lingnan red fruit?" When Grandpa Qian opened the gilded food box, the flowing light of the defensive array suddenly pieced together a complete trade route on the Twenty-Four Solar Terms map.
The red rope in Su Yunlan's sleeve moved automatically without wind, and the pharmacopoeia in her space automatically turned to the page recording the ancient methods of Kucha.
She chuckled, gazing at the melting snow and spring water: "We'll add three coins' worth of Gobi red willow buds, won't you say?"
As dusk painted the eaves red, Boss Zhao slumped down in his cellar.
All the wells where poison was used are now covered with wisteria flowers that can help detoxify, and the spices from the Western Regions stored in the warehouse are being corroded by mycelium grown by the spiritual spring.
Even more fatal is that those contracts suddenly reveal hidden clauses—those who breach them must pay ten times the amount in damages.
Xiao Yuhan's sword swept across the last rays of the setting sun, pinning the arsonist to the courtyard wall.
He turned back to look at the brightly lit inn. The herbal constellation map flowing on the glazed tiles was piecing together a vast trade route. The westernmost mark, flashing with purple light, was none other than the ancient city in the Western Regions that Su Yunlan had circled in the spatial pharmacopoeia last night.
(The ending sets the stage for what follows)
Suddenly, the copper bell on the observatory rang with a coded signal of three long and two short rings. As Su Yunlan leaned against the vermilion pillar to examine the new contract, the jade hairpin in her hair was blown slightly askew by the night wind.
The light from the defensive array wove a pale golden veil around her, making the shallow scar behind her ear resemble a crescent moon—an arrow wound she sustained last year while protecting Xiao Yuhan during their exile.
As dusk turned Suzaku Street amber, Xiao Yuhan's sword sheath gently pressed down on the account books that were turning in the wind.
Su Yunlan belatedly touched her loose hair and realized that the jade hairpin inlaid with star charts was stuck diagonally on the sand table in the Twenty-Four Solar Terms Hall.
"do not move."
With his warm fingertips brushing against the crescent-shaped scar behind his ear, Xiao Yuhan untied the silver ribbon binding his hair.
His palm, which he used to wield a sword for years, cradled her loose black hair, adorning Su Yunlan's hair with ice beads formed from the spiritual spring water: "This morning, the Qian family sent twenty cartloads of Cistanche deserticola from the Western Regions, all carrying the fragrance of Gobi red willow buds."
Suddenly, the copper bells under the eaves tumbled to life without a breeze, and the pharmacopoeia in the room flipped to the chapter on "Albizia julibrissin for relieving depression."
Su Yunlan leaned into her husband's arms, her nose brushing against the wisteria pollen on his collar—the very same wisteria clump that had bloomed most vibrantly by the detoxification well that morning.
"Fourth Brother and Fourth Sister-in-law!"
The hushed shouts of Young Master Xiao shattered the tranquility, as a black cat burst in, carrying a bunch of poisoned grapes in its mouth.
The boy's cuffs were stained with rhinoceros horn powder specially supplied by the Western Regions caravans, and the astrolabe reflected seven intertwined trade routes on the blue brick floor.
Su Yunlan lightly touched the black cat's forehead with her fingertip, and the mist formed from the spiritual spring enveloped the poisonous fruit.
The vermilion seal on the contract suddenly blew out a dark red. She frowned as she stared at the automatically appearing hidden clauses: "Are the Northern Desert caravan and the Lingnan medicine guild vying for the pricing power of Cistanche deserticola?"
"More than that!"
Manager Li, carrying a gilded abacus, burst through the carved door, leaving scorch marks on his clothes: "The Western Region people want cash transactions, but the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce insists on using salt certificates to settle the debt."
Just now, Master Qian sent someone to say that if a plan cannot be finalized by noon tomorrow...
Before the words were even finished, the spiritual spring in the space suddenly surged and boiled.
Su Yunlan's red string was taut, and the twenty-eight Kongming lanterns illuminated the caravans that were clashing three streets away.
The curved knife at the waist of the northern man cut through the salt permit, while the hidden weapon in the sleeve of the Lingnan medicine merchant was coated with peacock gall.
Xiao Yuhan's sword tassel swept across the sand table, pinning the Cistanche deserticola sample to the star position of "Kucha Ancient Method".
The sword energy caused the medicinal wine menu to rustle, and the snow frog on the last page suddenly opened its scarlet eyes on the rice paper.
"I'll trouble you, my husband, to make a trip to the South City Post Station." Su Yunlan slammed the white jade token, tempered with spiritual spring water, onto the table. Hidden within its frost-like patterns was ice silkworm silk capable of curing all poisons. "Let those brutes try some hangover tea brewed from Gobi red willow buds."
The midnight drum startled the roosting birds into flight. Su Yunlan sat alone on the Star Gazing Platform, adjusting the newly brewed acacia incense.
The improved array of medicine bells reflected the images of various caravans resting. The leather bags used as pillows by the people of the northern desert concealed poisoned daggers, while hallucinogenic datura powder floated in the tents of the medicine merchants of the Lingnan region.
"Young Madam, this is the revised contract."
The sheepskin scroll presented by Manager Li was stained with blood, and the flowing light of the defensive array condensed into a phoenix totem at the signature.
The aroma of angelica and cistanche suddenly became pungent. Su Yunlan stared at the suddenly appearing thirty-sixth clause, her cinnabar pen hesitant to touch it.
—If the goods are damaged due to force majeure, compensation shall be paid at three times the market price.
Ancient songs sung by people from the Western Regions drifted in from outside the window, and the pharmacopoeia in the space suddenly turned to the tattered page recording the "Kucha Blood Curse".
She touched the faintly burning arrow wound behind her ear, and the spiritual spring water reflected more than a dozen possible calamities in the glass cup.
Xiao Yuhan's footsteps, mixed with sword energy, broke through the thick fog, and his hair was still covered with wisteria petals from the South City Post Station.
Seeing his wife staring intently at the contract, Xuan Tiejian deftly pried open her tightly clenched sleeve: "But what about Shazhou..."
“My lord, look.” Su Yunlan guided his hand to touch the hidden patterns on the parchment scroll. Suddenly, frost formed on the surface of the contract from the spiritual spring. “The tanning process used by the people of the Northern Desert carries the bloody scent of the snow wolves of the Northern Frontier.”
The light from the defensive array suddenly twisted into a spiderweb pattern, and black mist seeped from the Frost's Descent mark on the Twenty-Four Solar Terms chart.
The snow lotus wine in the space had somehow formed a blood film, and the ancient city of the Western Regions, which was flashing with purple light at the westernmost end, gradually blurred into a mass in the light and shadow cast by the star chart.
Su Yunlan put the contract into the spiritual spring space and watched as the parchment floated up in the spring water with dense dark red runes.
She took off her jade hairpin and gently tapped the bronze compass on the observatory. Suddenly, the positions of the twenty-eight constellations shifted by three inches, revealing the yellow sand that blotted out the sky in the direction of Shazhou.