IDWBE -Chapter 338 Changing Times

Entering Chunshan City, let alone approaching a notorious old devil like Zhao Yao, just passing the checks of the local Earth Masters and patrol inspectors with Grandmaster-level cultivation would already be a blessing.

Chunshan City was the most mysterious city in the realm and home to the most terrifying sects.

“I understand,” the monk said with a smile. “This is my own matter. I will bear it myself. You need not concern yourself further.”

The blind man said, “I don’t want to watch you do something foolish, nor do I want to lose you as a friend. Wait for Chief Hong to return—he will have a plan.”

He knew the monk. He wasn’t afraid of the monk acting impulsively or getting angry. The more reckless the monk seemed, the more he feared life and death; he might even stop halfway, because no one dislikes living.

What was truly frightening were monks like him—fearless of death, not tempted by gain, untouchable by evil. For them, death was merely relocation, not annihilation.

“Amitabha.”

After chanting, the monk’s figure gradually disappeared into the darkness.

Ye Qiu came out from the gate, sighing. “He is indeed the one Chief Hong calls a man of great perseverance. It’s a pity that his cultivation is lacking.”

The blind man said lightly, “You know my eyesight is poor. Help me find Xie Erniang, and then kill her.”

Ye Qiu said, “Fifty taels, and the previous debt will be wiped clean.”

“Sorry, the fifty taels you owed me before must still be repaid,” the blind man said with a smile. “Jiang Chou, help me find Xie Erniang. I owe you a favor.”

“Ah—”

Jiang Chou was slightly surprised.

He didn’t know if this was good or bad news.

Earlier, Xie Jiuyun had made it clear just how formidable Xie Erniang was—below eighth-rank, no one could match her! She was truly dangerous, not someone to provoke lightly.

But the blind man only wanted her located, not killed. That deal seemed doable.

After all, this was a favor from a Grandmaster!

Even though Jiang Chou was just a gatekeeper, it was certain he would face misfortune one day.

With a Grandmaster’s promise, his future was somewhat secured.

After hesitating for a moment, he finally gritted his teeth. “Young Lord, rest assured. I will risk my life to find this person.”

The blind man nodded. “Thank you for that.”

“You’re very capable.”

As Ye Qiu passed by Jiang Chou, he said this lightly, scaring him out of his wits.

Damn it!

Jiang Chou wanted to slap himself.

Trying to snatch business from this cursed man was like a longevity god eating arsenic—too risky! But at this point, he had no room to back out.

As imperial edicts were issued one by one, Ankang City gradually returned to its former prosperity.

Many people realized that the times had changed. The one now unilaterally controlling the court was the former Prince He, now the Regent Prince.

Every decree from this Regent Prince puzzled people—such as the so-called “Supplier System.”

It was said that to resist the Wadan people, the Regent Prince planned to hand all military supplies to the major merchants.

To obtain a military supply contract, one had to participate in an auction.

All the wealthy merchants of Ankang City were invited to the city magistrate’s office, nervous and wary, fearing this was a scheme to cheat them.

The auction hall was crowded with shouting and arguing. Amid their confusion, they watched the Sanhe people raise their paddles with effort. In the end, inexplicably, the auction ended.

Almost all the winning bids went to the Sanhe people.

It wasn’t that they didn’t want to participate, or that they didn’t want to give face to the Regent Prince and the court.

But this kind of face—they couldn’t afford!

Because almost every auction involved sums exceeding one million taels!

They could scrape together millions, but in these hard times, putting up a million just to make the Regent Prince smile was unnecessarily risky.

“These northern merchants must be idiots,” the butcher, having regained the pork supply contract, said happily, “They don’t even understand the situation. The court is giving them a million taels, not taking from them.”

“No, they’re just afraid the court won’t pay. They didn’t even inquire. Our Regent Prince may be stingy, but he never reneged. A word is a promise.”

The butcher Rong had worried the big merchants would compete with them, but now realized it was unnecessary. The people of Ankang City were conservative and could hardly be their match.

Nearby, Li Sanniang glanced around and said, “Be careful. The auction isn’t just Sanhe people. Merchants from Hongzhou, Yuezhou, and Wuzhou also bid. The excitement will only grow later.”

In past years, the official cloth trade was mostly hers alone. But now, suddenly, the Chang family from Jinling City had entered, taking part of her share and raising her alertness.

“Yes, and you lot still have the nerve to smile,” Liu Duo sighed. “This year, my trade was ruined by those martial city folk. One hundred thirty thousand taels worth of cloth procurement—won’t it kill them?”

He was undoubtedly the unluckiest this time!

No matter what, he never expected that the cloth supplier bids, once limited to internal competition in Sanhe, would now become a bloody contest with merchants from Yong’an joining.

He teased the butcher but dared not add insult to injury.

For Liu Duo, losing the supplier qualification was a heavy loss.

Han Dongsheng exhaled smoke rings and laughed. “Silk has always come from Jiangnan. That’s never been Sanhe’s strength. Don’t forget, your own cloth comes from them. When they undercut the price, you, as a middleman, how can you compete?”

They strolled into a teahouse to rest. Liu Duo sipped his tea and sighed. “Do I have to build a weaving workshop in Sanhe? But dyeing and fulling cloth—none of it is simple. I can’t do it!”

Li Sanniang laughed. “Sanhe neither raises silkworms nor grows cotton. Even if you build it there, it’s useless. Better to move your business to Jinling City. There, you won’t lack weavers or fullers.”

“That’s enough, don’t give him random ideas,” Liang Qingshu waved at everyone, then said to Liu Duo, “When it comes to cloth, no one knows it better than you. Different trade, different skills. Our advice needn’t bind you—you must judge for yourself.”

“That’s true,” Liu Duo said, sighing. “For cotton cloth, the South City people do the most dyeing and fulling. Jinling’s merchants are small fry compared to them. None of these Southern people have workshops—they’re all middlemen like me.”

Liang Qingshu nodded. “That’s good then.”

“Everything has changed.”

Liu Duo sighed.

He could no longer be satisfied running a small silk shop in Sanhe. If he didn’t improve, he wouldn’t even have the right to sit at the same table with people like Liang Qingshu.