Chapter 507: We’ll be cooperating long-term
What did Han Yunxi tell Mu Linger?
That was something only the two of them knew. Whatever the case, Mu Linger was suddenly shining with a brilliant radiance.
“Han Yunxi, I believe you!”
But Han Yunxi’s main point was the second part of what she said. So, she repeated her words. “You better pretend you don’t know a thing…”
Mu Linger was in too much of a good mood as she gave a devious chuckle. “What do I know? I don’t know a thing!”
Han Yunxi felt that this girl looked much prettier when she was smiling. She gave her a bottle of medicine and said, “Hurry and treat that cut on your neck. Be careful it doesn’t leave a scar and ruin your marriage prospects.”
Mu Linger glanced at the bottle with disdain. “No need, I’ve got plenty of medicine of my own.” She made to leave, but quickly backtracked to murmur in Han Yunxi’s ear, “Han Yunxi, does the agreement we made last time still count?”
A few months ago, Han Yunxi wanted Mu Linger to come to Pill Fiend Pharmacy and challenge His Excellency Pill Fiend in his pharmacy skills. Because of the civil unrest in Tianning, Pill Fiend Pharmacy never opened its doors, nor did Mu Linger bother to follow up since she was fleeing from her Mu Clan pursuers. A crafty look flashed past Han Yunxi’s eyes. She now knew how to lure this girl to Pill Fiend Pharmacy at last. Even though it was a little sneaky, she’d do it!
“Of course. Pill Fiend Pharmacy is right next door. It’ll only open within half a month, so you’re welcome to come anytime after that,” Han Yunxi said with a grin.
“Just wait!” Mu Linger suavely tossed her the words before walking off. As for Mu Chaoran…the last time they faced off in the Mu Clan’s medicinal grounds, she already told Qi gege to spare him. This time he could crawl off and die for all she cared!
With Mu Linger gone and Mu Chaoran unconscious, the Mu Clan guards were left exchanging glances at a loss. Han Yunxi didn’t say anything either, but simply smiled at them. When they saw that same, horrific expression, all of the guards half ran, half crawled away for their lives. They couldn’t even be bothered to take Mu Chaoran with them, so their only choice was to tell the clan head what had happened as soon as possible.
Long Feiye and Han Yunxi ended up meddling in other people’s business before winning Eldest Young Master Mu for themselves. Good intentions still yield good rewards! Han Yunxi thought as she glanced at Long Feiye. “Your Highness, let’s carry him away.”
At this moment, Long Feiye seemed to have really turned into Han Yunxi’s bodyguard, waiting at her beck and call. Of course, in the end it was one of his own shadow guards that carried away Mu Chaoran. Long Feiye had such severe mysophobia that he’d probably touch nobody else besides Han Yunxi in his lifetime.
Mu Chaoran was left languishing at Pill Fiend Pharmacy for one day and one night. Before he even regained consciousness, Mu Yingdong had already sent over a flying eagle message. The contents were rude and brusque, stating that the black market drug trade was one thing and the Mu Clan matters were another. It called Long Feiye into account for getting involved with Mu Clan affairs and bullying the weak instead of being a man. Then it demanded Long Feiye to hand over Mu Chaoran right away, or else the Mu Clan and Medicine City would fight them until the end!
Han Yunxi read over the contents thrice before she asked, “Your Highness, did we go overboard?”
“Weren’t you coming to the rescue?” Long Feiye countered.
Han Yunxi nodded seriously. Thus, Long Feiye raised his brush and personally returned a letter to Mu Yingdong via flying eagle. When Mu Yingdong read the contents, he spat up blood.
In it, Long Feiye said that Mu Linger was being forced to suicide; fortunately, Qin Wangfei arrived in the nick of time to save her. Thus, the Mu Clan owes Qin Wangfei a life. As for Mu Chaoran, he was beaten unconscious by his little sister and then abandoned by his guards. Qin Wangfei couldn’t take all the abuse and took him back to Pill Fiend Pharmacy for further care. Thus, the Mu Clan owes Qin Wangfei another life. May the Mu Clan remember these two debts.
Mu Yingdong was currently on his way to South Ning Prefecture. He didn’t plan to stand out regarding Mu Chaoran’s dealings with the black market’s Zhangsun Zelin, preferring to advise his son behind the scenes while the boy dealt with Han Yunxi. After all, Mu Yingdong wanted to leave himself an escape route in case the talks fell apart. He could still punish Mu Chaoran severely for the failure as the head of the Mu Clan then, thus exonerating the Mu Clan in the eyes of the public. But now Mu Chaoran had fallen into Han Yunxi’s hands before he even arrived. How was his son supposed to hold discussions with him now?! Mu Yingdong turned the problem over again in his head before coming to the conclusion that the brunt of the blame should fall on Mu Linger. If that spoiled girl hadn’t been so willful, things wouldn’t have gotten to this point.
Meanwhile, Pill Fiend Pharmacy had already finished construction, so Han Yunxi was busying herself about the premises. What for? Of course, for the sake of storing medicinal ingredients! She was originally thinking of decorating the place, but realized after touring the space that it was completely unnecessary. Everyone said that simply packaged items appeared more exquisite, but Pill Fiend Pharmacy had been carefully designed with hard-earned capital. There were no better ornaments for the shop than the medicinal ingredients themselves. Anything else would be superfluous, while the storehouse combined elements of her original blueprint with extra added details to be completely perfect.
This was exactly Long Feiye’s style—whatever he gave or gifted would always be the very best.
Han Yunxi was too busy to bother with Mu Chaoran, planning to talk with him when he woke up. Unexpectedly, the man slept through another day and night. Could Mu Linger’s fists really be strong enough to knock out a man for so long? Strange!
With Long Feiye by her side, Han Yunxi arrived at the guesthouse where they were keeping Mu Chaoran, only to see his bruised face still sleeping soundly. Xu Donglin was in charge of guarding him, and now asked, “Esteemed wangfei, he didn’t suffer brain damage, right?”
Han Yunxi drew closer to stare at the face, before yelling, “Bring over a basin of ice water!”
Mu Chaoran didn’t react. It didn’t seem like he was pretending. Xu Donglin was about to leave when Long Feiye said coldly, “Hot water, scalding.” His voice wasn’t very loud, but it was enough to startle Mu Chaoran into opening his eyes in fright.
“You woke up?” Han Yunxi smiled happily.
Mu Chaoran felt like crying. He’d long regained consciousness, but he’d pretended to be still sleeping after finding himself locked up. His one hope was for his father to send his men here. Unfortunately, father hadn’t sent anymore. What to do now? Heaven only knows what those two want.
“Hungry?” Han Yunxi asked considerately.
How could I be not hungry? Mu Chaoran was almost faint from starvation, but Han Yunxi’s smile was like a living nightmare. “Esteemed wangfei, if there’s anything to say, we can have a nice proper talk. I’m begging you, let’s…let’s not get physical here.”
“Xu Donglin, bring him some plain rice congee. There’s only energy for talks when one’s full!”
After starving for so long, the stomach would only be able to digest plain foods like congee. Han Yunxi was quite kind. She and Long Feiye settled to sit down at a tea table and wait. Mu Chaoran’s heart sank back in his chest after facing a general amnesty. As long as they don’t get physical, we can talk about anything! He contented himself with eating his porridge. Han Yunxi assumed that he’d be gulping down mouthfuls like a starving tiger, but the man was still capable of eating slowly and steadily after two days and nights of starvation!
When Xu Donglin offered Mu Chaoran a second bowl, he actually refused it and said, “Another bowl after two hours, please.”
Han Yunxi had to admit that this man really cherished his life! But alright, they could talk now.
“How many types of low-grade premium medicinal ingredients does your Mu Clan have?” Han Yunxi came straight to the point.
Mu Chaoran was extremely flabbergasted. “Esteemed wangfei, why are…”
“Just asking casually,” Han Yunxi grinned as she played with a leaf in her hands.
Seeing this, Mu Chaoran lost all of his curiosity and replied, “Of all ingredient types, low-grade premium ingredients make up the majority count. The main categories number 270 varieties or more with five to six finer subdivisions.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a leaf flew over to slice past Mu Chaoran’s hands, leaving a thin trail of blood. Scared out of his wits, he quickly changed his tone. “The Mu Clan has 300 types of low-grade premium ingredients, 30 of which are exclusive to the Mu Clan. Neither the Xie nor Wang Clans are capable to growing those 30 types, and each one has 10 further subtypes below them.”
Ever since Han Yunxi had determined to get low-grade premium medicinal ingredients, Long Feiye had asked Wang Gong about them. Though the head of the Wang Clan wasn’t clear on the details, he did know the Mu Clan had seed types exclusive to their clan. Mu Chaoran was simply seeking trouble with his blatant lies!
Han Yunxi only pretended that nothing had happened and smiled. “And the prices?”
Mu Chaoran was pleasantly surprised by the query. “Esteemed wangfei, do you need them? As long as this one can return to the Mu Clan, I’ll have a bunch delivered over right away to esteemed wangfei’s satisfaction!”
Mu Chaoran’s pig-headed brain had failed to connect the dots between Han Yunxi’s request and Pill Fiend Pharmacy. Of course, one couldn’t blame him. Pill Fiend Pharmacy was supposed to be a high-class, rare ingredient shop. Why would it want any low-grade goods?
“How could I take something for nothing? Just name a cheaper price. How’s this? You make a list of prices for each type, and this wangfei will send people to buy them if I need it,” Han Yunxi said politely.
Mu Chaoran drew his own conclusions from the request. He figured that since Tianning was so chaotic now, war was probably imminent. In that case, medicinal ingredients would definitely grow scarce in the face of injured victims. Han Yunxi and Long Feiye would probably bid for medicine then. High-grade ingredients might be too expensive, but they’d definitely be able to afford large amounts of low grade goods. Most likely, Han Yunxi seized the chance to capture me just so she could haggle down the prices!
Because of that, Mu Chaoran gave her a list of extremely low prices that matched the original purchase price paid by the Mu Clan. There wasn’t a single ounce of profit in the costs. Han Yunxi looked at the list in satisfaction, which greatly comforted Mu Chaoran. As long as they can let me go, I don’t care if I make less of a profit—or even none at all.
“Esteemed wangfei, if there’s nothing else, then…shall this one bid his leave?” Mu Chaoran asked timidly. “The earlier this one can return to the Mu Clan, the faster I can help esteemed wangfei stock up a supply of goods.”
“There’s no rush, we’ll be cooperating long-term. In any case, your father will arrive in two more days, so you can leave with him then,” Han Yunxi smiled.
Mu Chaoran gave a start, a little at a loss. That’s a lot to take in! What ‘cooperating long-term?’ Father’s even coming personally?
Two days later, it wasn’t Mu Yingdong who showed up, but Wang Clan’s second old master, Wang Zhongyang,1 Xie Clan’s eldest young master Xie Hongming,2 and the Mu Clan’s Shopkeeper Zhou. Both representatives from the Wang and Xie Clans were people involved in the black market drug trade, while Shopkeeper Zhou was just a servant. His Highness Duke of Qin and esteemed wangfei kept the Wang and Xie Clan representative, but told Shopkeeper Zhou to go back.
His Highness Duke of Qin was furious. “Either you send the relevant party here or have the clan head himself show up. What can a mere shopkeeper have to discuss with your lordship?”
Esteemed wangfei was quite kind in comparison. “Eldest Young Master Mu is already at Pill Fiend Pharmacy, so there’s no need for the Mu Clan to send anyone else.”
Mu Yingdong had hidden himself in an inn but now found he had no room to advance or retreat. In the end, he could only show up in person and become the only clan head to show up amongst the three great clans of Medicine City. It really was a depressing fact.
Now that all of the representatives had arrived, how would the business talks go? And how would the ignoble Mu Chaoran react when he finally saw his father?
1. Wang Zhongyang (王仲阳) – zhong means “middle, second amongst brothers, intermediate,” yang means “sun.”
2. Xie Hongming (谢鸿鸣) – Xie is a surname that means “to thank, to decline, to apologize, to wither (of flowers, leaves, etc.), Hong is “great, large, eastern bean goose” and Ming is “the cry (of birds, animals, insects)”