Chapter 522 - 306: Ambition, Gift

Unless absolutely necessary, Wang Ji would never have dared to visit late at night. Not only was it presumptuous, but it would also draw unwanted scrutiny from Elder Master Xiao and the others.

Chen Yi thought it over and concluded that there could only be one reason: something had gone wrong on the Ancient Tea-Horse Road.

In an instant, the chessboard in his mind began to shift. One by one, Heizi were placed on the Ancient Tea-Horse Road.

First, King Landu. Because of the death of the "Jackal" Du Cang, that Grandmaster might have sent someone to Shu State to investigate the situation.

Second, the Barbarian Race. Asutai had previously left with the envoy from the Barbarian Race, and they should have already escaped the borders of Shu State by now. Perhaps they had taken a detour via the Ancient Tea-Horse Road and consequently bumped into the retreating Zhang Dabao and his men.

Third, the people dispatched from Shu State. Be it the military, the Government Office, or even the Jianghu, someone would undoubtedly head to the Ancient Tea-Horse Road to confirm the location of the Peacock King Banner.

And the last possibility... was the people from the Ji State Trading Company.

Today, the situation in the Shu State Prefecture City had taken a sudden turn. Various rumors were spreading like wildfire. Outside the Governor’s Office and Lin Village, Liu Lang and others were slashing grain prices, resulting in more than half the commoners preferring to go hungry rather than buy grain from the merchants. The several grain companies and the Ji State Trading Company behind them were bound to be overwhelmed with panic. It made perfect sense for them to send someone to the Ancient Tea-Horse Road.

If they confirmed that the main force of the Peacock King Banner was attacking, those grain companies would likely be willing to take a loss of some silver coins and endure the current hardship. As long as they held onto their grain, they would have a chance to stage a comeback. But how could Chen Yi not have anticipated this? After all, those grain companies were currently just coughing up the silver they had earned over the past few days; they were far from suffering a devastating blow.

It didn’t take long before Wang Ji was led into the Spring Lotus Garden by the Marquis’s Mansion’s Armored Warriors.

"Mr. Qingzhou, please forgive my intrusion for visiting so late at night."

Chen Yi nodded slightly, gesturing for the man to follow as he smiled and replied, "You are too polite, Shopkeeper Wang."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, the two arrived at the study. Without waiting for Chen Yi to prompt him, Wang Ji impatiently took a letter from his robe and placed it on the desk.

"This is—"

Before he could finish, Chen Yi took the letter and interrupted, "Did your boss send you to find me?"

Wang Ji immediately swallowed his original words and played along. "Yes, yes, my boss dispatched me to see Mr. Qingzhou..."

He paused, unable to come up with a good excuse, his face flushing slightly. He had come in such a hurry that he hadn’t prepared a proper reason.

Fortunately, Chen Yi leisurely opened the letter. As he read the contents, he spoke with a slightly questioning tone, "Has your boss finally figured it out?"

"I-I suppose so?" As for what had been figured out, Wang Ji had no idea. He stammered, unable to speak coherently.

Chen Yi, however, fell silent as he read the words on the paper:

"A man claiming to be from the Ji State Trading Company came looking for us. His name is Li Sanyuan. He wants to meet King Landu, saying he has a major business deal to discuss with him.

"I am momentarily at a loss for what to do. Please give me clear instructions, Sir."

Li Sanyuan?

That should be the same person who forced Lin Zhenghong to sell grain to Cui Qingwu. And now he was running to King Landu to discuss a major business deal... it must be regarding that batch of grain, right?

Having figured everything out, Chen Yi couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly. "Sure enough, the people from the Ji State Trading Company have gone looking for them."

Truth be told, he liked this kind of smart person. The type who thought they had seen through everything and had everything under control, always staying one step ahead. If there were more of these "smart" fools around, why would he ever worry about trouble brewing in Shu State?

Chen Yi looked at the troubled Wang Ji and smiled. "Your boss wants me to write an inscription for Hundred Herbs Hall? What’s so difficult about that?"

Wang Ji’s expression relaxed. He agreed repeatedly and flattered, "My boss was just worried about inconveniencing you, Mr. Qingzhou."

Chen Yi put away the letter. "It merely costs a bit of ink and effort."

He then walked over to the desk. While pondering his reply to Zhang Dabao and the others, he spread out a sheet of blank Yunsong Paper and secured it with a paperweight. Knowing his place, Wang Ji stepped forward to pour water and grind the ink. "Mr. Wang thanks you on behalf of my boss."

"You are treating me like an outsider, Shopkeeper Wang. Compared to the help Hundred Herbs Hall has provided to the Marquis’s Mansion’s Medicine Halls, a piece of Calligraphy is nothing."

"No, no, no, you simply don’t have a clear understanding of the value of your calligraphy. Most of the works you’ve left at Guiyun Academy recently have been collected by the teachers for their exhibition hall, but a few have been bought at high prices."

Chen Yi paused. "How high?"

"I heard it’s ’one thousand gold pieces for a single character,’ and for your Cursive Script copybooks, some have even offered up to ’two thousand gold pieces a character.’ It’s a pity that Mr. Yue Ming and the others refuse to sell." Wang Ji smacked his lips in regret and continued on the topic. "Furthermore, your inscription will bring numerous benefits to Hundred Herbs Hall. Take Xinglin Hall, which has recently made quite a name for itself in Shu State, for example. Their signboard was inscribed by a Calligraphy Dao master who had only reached Minor Success, yet it attracts many scholars to observe it every day, bringing a lot of business to Xinglin Hall. If Hundred Herbs Hall could obtain your calligraphy, it would truly be... truly be like being blessed by God."

Wang Ji’s words were exaggerated, but they could still be considered sincere. He had been wanting Chen Yi to write an inscription for Hundred Herbs Hall for a long time but had never found a suitable opportunity to bring it up. He hadn’t expected that taking a rash trip to the Marquis’s Mansion today would yield such an unexpected harvest. It was foreseeable that in the future, Hundred Herbs Hall would definitely become like Xinglin Hall—no, the sensation it would cause would inevitably surpass Xinglin Hall.

Chen Yi smiled and didn’t say anything more. He picked up his brush, dipped it in ink, and wrote three large characters on the paper: Hundred Herbs Hall.

His strokes were bold and sweeping, flowing with unconstrained elegance.

When the characters were completed, a blinding flash of Jin Guang dazzled the eyes, and swirling mist rose into the air. A vast and majestic illusion of mountains, rivers, lakes, and seas emerged, within which lay the prosperous sights of numerous cities. There were many figures dressed in linen clothes whose faces could not be seen clearly, but it was evident that everyone wore a smile.