Chapter 522: Never let her know (2/2)

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Han Yunxi penned a letter off to Wang Zhongyang and Xie Hongming that very day. Before, she’d told them to get their prices sorted out before coming to her to trade for evidence of their black market deals. Now she set the deadline to 10 days or less. Wang Zhongyang and Xie Hongming had already planned to work together, but the letters spurred them to meet everyday. They even asked many people in charge from both clans to join in on the discussion. Apparently, the Wang and Xie Clans even held a large meeting in secret before the representatives first came to meet Han Yunxi, though the contents of the gathering was unknown.

Meanwhile, Han Yunxi spent the next ten days tracking Mu Linger and the Mu Clan’s movements. She assumed that Ouyang Ningnuo would call on them again, but he never showed up again. Long Feiye was his usual self, cold and calm in the face of the most shocking developments. He didn’t even talk about Wang Zhongyang or Xie Hongming unless Han Yunxi mentioned it to him first. Pill Fiend Pharmacy was her jurisdiction in the end, and he had other matters to take care of as well.

The three districts of the central region had allied themselves with various government officials and prominent clans from Jiangnan to form a “South Central General Governing Body.” They elected South Ning’s Senior Provincial Official Xu Liaoting1 as their governor-general. Meanwhile, General Baili had reorganized the various militia units and shuffled their leaders so that they all served the new elected official.

This Xu Liaoting was the same man that Long Feiye picked personally to watch over South Ning Prefecture. General Baili had long handed over the main military tally to the man, who in turn gave it in person to the Duke of Qin as a show of his fealty, imploring him to kindly accept the gift.

In response, His Highness Duke of Qin said, “Give it to General Baili, he’s the only one qualified to hold onto it.”

Thus, the military tally made a full circle back to the general. His Highness Duke of Qin remained aloof from any form of power or responsibilities on the surface while controlling everything in reality. Over the same 10 days, Emperor Tianhui and Long Tianmo had been following South Ning’s developments with interest, including the incident with Mu Linger. Unfortunately, both father and son were helpless to meddle. They would already be thanking their lucky stars if the Duke of Qin didn’t decide to battle them instead. Emperor Tianhui’s illness was getting worse and worse, while Long Tianmo was ready to make trouble at any time to attack West Jing. However, the fear of the Chu Clan’s might stopped him. He instigated a few imperial princes and bribed a few more able subjects of Western Zhou to start a life-and-death struggle with Chu Qingge instead. Meanwhile, Chu Tianyin helped his sister while continuing his search for the West Qin imperial orphan. Sadly, he hadn’t found any clues.

These ten days passed quickly. Soon enough, Mu Linger had almost reached Medicine City, while Wang Zhongyang and Xie Hongming’s deadline was almost up. The older and younger pair were closer than ever before when they finally arrived. Han Yunxi invited them to sit. Xie Hongming was someone who liked to put on airs, but this time he waited until Wang Zhongyang sat down first before following suit himself. The sudden show of good breeding made Han Yunxi secretly chuckle.

“Esteemed wangfei, here are the final prices we two agreed on, please review them,” Wang Zhongyang handed over a list of all of the Wang and Xie Clan ingredients and their respective costs. The Mu Clan agreed to sell theirs to Han Yunxi for ten taels, but the Wang and Xie Clans were offering 12 taels.

Han Yunxi glanced at the list before she said absently, “Higher by two taels?”

“Esteemed wangfei, we won’t hide the facts from you, but this is already our lowest possible price,” Wang Zhongyang said seriously.

Xie Hongming was quick to add, “Esteemed wangfei, the Mu Clan has always undersold us in the market, you know that as well.”

Han Yunxi’s eyes flash craftily before she drawled, “How did they undersell your clans?”

“Esteemed wangfei, the Mu Clan has stakes in Medicine City’s most fertile plots of land. They rely on their superior strength to suppress the salaries of the pharmacists,” Xie Hongming hastened to explain.

“I know that already, but that can’t be more than a paltry sum,” Han Yunxi said unhappily.

Xie Hongming was left at a loss. He couldn’t find any other reasons besides that one for the Mu Clan’s low prices, but Wang Zhongyang dropped his voice and murmured, “Esteemed wangfei, there is one thing…” He trailed off, leaving Xie Hongming puzzled. The two of them had discussed ahead of time how to tackle this meeting, but did Wang Zhongyang leave an ace up his sleeve? What did he want to say?

Now Long Feiye was looking at them as well.

Wang Zhongyang looked like he was in an awkward dilemma when he spoke. “Esteemed wangfei, this one doesn’t know the validity of such claims, but…”

“There’s no need to say anything if you’re uncertain,” Long Feiye rebuffed coldly.

“But…” Wang Zhongyang really was in a tight spot. Finally, Xie Hongming lost his patience trying to shoot the man meaningful looks.

“Second Old Master, just tell us what you know! Esteemed wangfei will believe us!”

Finally, Wang Zhongyang spoke up. “Esteemed wangfei, a few years ago this one got wind of some news. Supposedly, the Mu Clan was testing a crop of high-production medicinal plants in Northern Li’s snowfield plateaus. The plants are considered on the low-end of precious plant types, but capable of surviving in ordinary fields as well! If this is true, then even if the Mu Clan’s selling to you at 10 taels per ingredient, they won’t lose any money!”

Everyone grew startled at his words, especially Xie Hongming. He blurted, “How could the Mu Clan get land in the snowfields of the high plateaus?”

“That was the gossip I heard. I don’t know if it’s true, so I didn’t dare say it out loud. After all…it involves complicated relationships,” Wang Zhongyang murmured.

“There’s no need to share your gossip with us here. This wangfei just wants to know, is 12 taels really your lowest possible price?” Han Yunxi grew aggressive.

Wang Zhongyang kept quiet, but Xie Hongming only felt that the tide was turning against them. He braced himself and then…

1. Xu Liaoting (徐寮庭) – Xu is a surname that means “slowly, gently,” Liao is “small house, hut,” Ting is “hall, front courtyard.”