Chapter 391

Coincidentally, the treasure ship had returned and rested for a few days; as soon as the five million taels came in hand, adding to the remaining banknotes from the Great Jin Money House they held, the total reached nearly ten million taels, and the grand steward planned to personally make a trip to South of the River to exchange for grain.

Zhu Ti personally taking command, the Great King had nothing to worry about; he only needed to ensure the next auction's "cutting the leeks" event went well. That batch, that very night, went to Phoenix Market to find Qiao Yi: "Brother Qiao, the shipment of one‑quarter potency Soul‑Returning Pills for next month must be dispatched—I have already promised it!"

At the very least, one must angle for the Head of the Imperial Academy.

"The timing really can't be certain; I'm missing one spirit herb, so I have to wait for the herb shop's shipment. However, do you want the final version experimental batch? One furnace yields six finished products; the potency may differ slightly from the one‑quarter version, roughly two‑fifths. Only six have not been tested—if you're in a hurry, take them now."

The King took it over and saw that the white porcelain bottle was marked with the characters "five two"—this… the medicinal effect is probably quite strong.

He thought of trying to swallow one himself, but then realized he was not only young, his body was also top-notch and invulnerable to all poisons, so he probably wouldn't notice any effect. He pocketed the goods and headed to the shopping district, saying, "Let's go find Bai Ge for a taste!"

Qiao Yi: "……He allocated one-sixth of it; he's not old either, afraid of overdoing it."

The King: "Yi! Way too scared!"

He carried the small bundle and rushed into Baiyang's shop, saying, "Bai Ge, want some candy beans?"

Baiyang shook his head warily: "Reverse candy beans, no thanks! Don't you usually buy sugar from me to eat?"

The King: "This candy bean of mine is called 'Return to Youth', a new product."

Baiyang immediately understood: "I'm still young, not too nostalgic for my youth; take it back and try it on an old man? If not, find someone seriously ill to see how effective this pill is on a mortal's gravely ill body."

The King didn't dwell on it either; he was just asking for the opinion of his one-third, a quack, but he reluctantly said: "All right, I was also thinking that your place has advanced medical care, so we could test the efficacy there!"

Baiyang: "So I've become your guinea pig? My mistake, I won't sell you rubber sugar this month!"

The King: ……

Chickens fly, eggs break.

Baiyang told him to go back and try it on an old man; the King indeed carried it out the next day after the morning audience. When the envoy arrived at the scheduled time to see the King, they were informed the King was no longer at his residence.

Liang Er spread his hands: "Look, I've already said His Highness isn't at the mansion, yet you insist on asking again. The tribute matter has been handed over to Minister of Revenue Zhang; if you need, I can arrange a meeting with Minister Zhang. As for the tribute amount, don't think too much—His Highness decided this number after careful deliberation, and it will not be changed."

The envoy from Kucha panicked: "We, Kucha, are just a small state; we really cannot come up with that much tribute."

Liang Bin smiled: "No worries. Our Highness had a sage calculate it; you can definitely produce it."

The envoy: ……

Next to Wujihan today there was an additional Lian Xi; this period of imprisonment had obviously made this young man more steady. He expressionlessly glanced at Liang Bin, bowed, and said, "Please trouble the travel order to help us deliver our request for an audience. The Xiongnu are far from the Northern Border, with high mountains and long roads; making the journey here is not easy, so it's best to settle everything in one talk. We can wait for the Northern Border King to have time and then come pay our respects."

Liang Bin laughed out loud: "Third Prince, you're joking. Are the Xiongnu really far from the Northern Border? Weren't you the ones who said just go south to capture slaves and go south to capture slaves? I see it as quite convenient."

Lian Xi pulled a long face: "Lord Liang Er also said that was the past."

Liang Bin laughed, showing his big teeth—even the northern barbarian has his day!

Wujihan smiled falsely, imitating Liang Bin's tone: "Lord Liang also joked. Tribute is such a major matter; Wujihan dare not decide on his own—otherwise, have the Northern Border Highness send someone to Dragon City to talk personally with our chanyu."

Liang Bin: "I'm afraid not. Our Highness has already decided this; tribute matters will be announced in an official document to the surrounding countries in a few days. Left Valley Liyang King, your only room for negotiation is…… if you don't have ten thousand sheep, how many horses would you have to exchange for them?"

Wujihan let out a heavy sigh; he was about to suffer internal injury.

"Then we'll take our leave for today and come again another day to pay respects to the Northern Border Highness."

Liang Bin saw them off at the bridge over the moat and then didn't bother further; these four people didn't return to the Honglu Guesthouse but went straight to Vermilion Bird Avenue all the way.

Going back to loiter at the Honglu Guesthouse was also annoying; it would be better to go out onto the street to see what could be brought back.

Who would have thought that not long after they left, they saw the person they had been waiting for since early morning, squatting for half a day without success.

"That person?"

"The Northern Border King?"

Lian Xi narrowed his eyes to carefully identify him; he had more contact with the King than the other three. "It's him, Bai Li Jing! Don't underestimate him—he's not as harmless as he looks; though young, his martial skills are not bad, he's a tough character."

Wujihan snorted coldly: "No one thinks he's easy to deal with."

The King set up a fairly large stall in front of the closed-for-business Spring River Flower Moon Night during the day; here the doors are shut tight in daylight, allowing him to freely display his abilities.

On the banner floating above his stall he daringly wrote: "Nine Deaths, Return of the Soul."

With black background and gold characters, it really doesn't look like a legitimate stall at all; at the very least it's a stand opened by a heretical cult.

The King put on several sets of apprentice robes from the Northern Border Medical Bureau, bringing Wei Shen and Xie Tu to squat in front of the stall, sizing up every passerby as a potential test subject.

Wei Shen was quite used to tagging along with the King's antics and adapted well; Xie Tu was different—he wasn't used to anything, occasionally tugging at his white robe.

"I feel like every passerby is sizing us up; is our couplet too over the top?"

The King turned to look at the unique black paper with gold characters couplet he'd posted on the stall: "Names struck from the Ledger of Yama, curing the ninety‑nine dead; before the Meng Po soup, begging for affection, saving a thousand lives."

The horizontal inscription reads: "Yama's Worry."

"Got it? It's just exaggeration; that's how we show how formidable we are."

Wei Shen glanced at Xie Tu, then at the young girls and old ladies on the street who kept glancing at them, blushing and lowering their heads—women of all ages—and he realized.

"Could it be that they recognized you?"

Xie Tu, hearing that, felt even more helpless: "I just remembered, the painting of the military review at home isn't finished yet; this suddenly gave me some inspiration—I'll go back and paint it first! Isn't Your Highness still waiting for it to be published in the newspaper……"

"No way!" the King objected righteously.

"You can't leave! There are barely any literate people coming and going on this street; if you leave, they'll pay even less attention to this place!"

All in all, he's just a middleman who drummed up business……

Xie Tu, devoid of any desire to live: "Wouldn't it be better if you brought Bai Ze out instead?"

The King: "That's out of the question; my identity must not be exposed." He firmly refused to admit being inept and fond of playing.

Xie Tu: ……

The King was about to give him a thorough explanation of the importance of today's undertaking for Northern Border medicine when he saw an old and a young person approach the stall, examining their banner.

The King immediately shut up, turning to size up the two—business had arrived!?

Upon this observation, they found the old man merely had white hair; his face wasn't overly aged—altogether a white-haired, youthful countenance, spirited and alert.

The young one was also lively and jumping about, not seeming to have any problem. Well, looking so intently, perhaps he fancied his golden ink.

The king instantly lost interest: "Old man, do you like this character or the golden ink? The stationery shop on Golden Ink Street sells it." The character itself won't do; it was written by Xie Tu for him—it can't be sold.

Zhang Tonghe stroked his beard, smiling narrowly, said: "I like your wild zeal."

Xie Tu: ……?

Just say it's too crazy! Whether kicking the hall or smashing the stall, hurry up and come!