Chapter 20

First, he was surprised that the man had managed to learn the Twelve Falling Swords technique to the fifth level.

‘Well, the Twelve Falling Swords is a basic sword technique taught to any courier of the Yu Cheng Escort Agency, which is run by the clan…’

Still, for someone who worked in a merchant house to have mastered it to the fifth level must have required extraordinary effort.

Jian Yanjiao greeted Duan Mulan enthusiastically.

“Oh… How can a baby, who has only just opened its eyes, speak so maturely and look so bright and alert?”

Lian muttered to herself, “I’m already eight years old and will soon be nine,” but then stopped.

To the elderly, she must really look like a baby.

Jian Yanjiao repeatedly congratulated Lian on waking up and went on about how bright she looked.

During this time, Duan Tianji only hummed and hawed, showing no particular joy or pleasure, but he did not tell him to stop either.

It was only after the tea had cooled that Jian Yanjiao took out a small porcelain bottle from his sleeve and spoke to Lian.

“So, this Qinglian Water that the baby sent.”

The star dust in Lian’s eyes sparkled.

“I heard it was made in the Duan family’s medicine hall, so I suggested to the Grand Patriarch that we try selling it, but he said I should talk to the head of the medicine hall. So I cornered the head of the medicine hall, and he said I needed your permission.”

Lian looked at Duan Tianji, who finally broke his silence of only making coughing sounds and spoke.

“In fact, Lian, you made it yourself. So if you want to do something with it, you need Lian’s permission.”

Lian was surprised that Duan Tianji would say so much, and even more surprised when Jian Yanjiao believed him without question.

“Good heavens! The baby truly has talent, Grand Patriarch. They say the Immortal took her away and then returned her, and it seems the rumor was true.”

“Stop the flattery. So, do you really plan to do something with this, sir?”

“Why else would I have come all this way? Do you think I came just to flatter the Grand Patriarch?”

Duan Tianji gave a small cough, a hint of suspicion in his tone.

Jian Yanjiao shook his head and pulled out a chair for Lian to sit.

“Applying it to your fingertips makes you feel clear-headed, applying it to your temples relieves headaches and drowsiness, and applying it to sore muscles makes them relax. I applied it under my servant’s nose when he was sniffling, and the next day his cold was completely gone!”

Jian Yanjiao, who had been the only talkative person in the room, suddenly fell silent, and the silence seemed to fill the entire space. When the sound of a bird taking flight in the distance finally dissipated, Jian Yanjiao spoke.

“The pharmacist at the Huoxian Pavilion said that to sell a small spoon of essential oil and make even a small profit, it would have to be at least ten copper coins.”

One copper coin could buy a decent meal for two.

Ten copper coins could pay for a stay at a decent inn for five days.

“But that doesn’t include the cost of the formula. The price of each essential oil varies greatly, so each ingredient would need to be calculated differently. And since we don’t know how much can be produced, that also needs to be factored in…”

After listening to Jian Yanjiao, Lian finished her calculations.

“The Qinglian Water I gave as a gift was made with a special method, as you said, and can’t be produced in large quantities. How about 100 copper coins per spoon, or one silver coin, and in a pretty porcelain bottle?”

Jian Yanjiao’s eyes sparkled at the sudden tenfold increase in price.

“A servant standing there can’t earn one silver coin a month, so who would buy it?”

“Those who want it will buy it.”

“That’s not a wrong statement. Even a jar of Xihu Longjing tea can’t be sold for one silver coin, but does this small bottle of Qinglian Water have that much value?”

Lian smiled and asked another question.

“If we enter into a contract with the Wan Song Trading Company, who would be in charge of this matter?”

“One of my children will take direct charge.”

“Which one of your children?”

Jian Yanjiao, intrigued by the conversation, tilted his head.

“My eldest, Weizheng, has a good eye for business after years of helping the family. My second, Weiwen, is meticulous and cautious, checking everything thoroughly. Choose. Who would you like to take charge of this business?”

Lian clenched her fist tightly in her heart.

She already knew about the Wan Song Trading Company. The good eye for business of the eldest, Jian Weizheng, meant that his intuitive guesses had been right so far.

The meticulous and cautious second, Jian Weiwen, was a trustworthy person. In her memory, Jian Weiwen had not inherited the Wan Song Trading Company but had started his own. When the Wan Song Trading Company under Jian Weizheng’s control was crumbling, Jian Weiwen’s new company had taken over the Jiangnan region.

But what Lian was waiting for was not these two.

“Does the gentleman have a third child?”

“Hahaha! Not all children of merchants do business. My third, Weixue, is continuing his studies and preparing for the upcoming provincial examination.”

Jian Yanjiao spoke calmly about it, but there seemed to be a hidden hope for his son’s success in the examination.

Jian Yanjiao, a merchant from Huizhou, which is right above Zhejiang Province, had the same ambition to have his children pass the imperial examinations, just like other Huizhou merchants.

‘And the gentleman’s dream will come true.’

Lian smiled.

“Then I would like Mr. Weixue to take charge.”

“What! Call him Uncle. Is that acceptable, Grand Patriarch?”

“Since you are my younger brother, in terms of kinship, it should be a bit further…”

“What’s the point of being so precise? If he’s an uncle, just call him Uncle.”

Jian Yanjiao chuckled, forcing the issue. Lian’s eyes widened.

Calling the son of the trading company’s owner ‘Uncle’ meant that there was an intention to continue the relationship between Duan Tianji and Jian Yanjiao to the next generation.

“Then Mr. Weixue, Uncle…”

“He doesn’t do business, remember?”

“But, sir.”

Lian shook her head.

“If someone says, ‘I passed the provincial examination because I used Qinglian Water,’ wouldn’t there be people willing to bring one gold coin for a bottle of Qinglian Water? I don’t want Mr. Weixue to do anything with the Qinglian Water; I just want him to use it.”

* * *

After finishing her conversation with Jian Yanjiao and leaving Yueying Hall, Lian noticed someone loitering near the guest hall and tilted her head.

‘He looks familiar.’

It was the same face as the old trading company owner she had just been talking to, just a bit more refined.

However, his attire was a bit strange. The woman was dressed as a man, but not just any man; compared to Jian Yanjiao, her clothes were somewhat shabby, like those of a servant or a coachman.

Her sharp, piercing eyes, identical to Jian Yanjiao’s, added to the sense of dissonance.

When Lian called out Xianjing over her sleeve, her name came to mind.

Jian Weiwen

Twelve Falling Swords: 2nd Level

Wuhan Bo: 2nd Level

Concern: How to end the love for the eldest son of Jian Yanjiao, how to stop the wastefulness of Jian Weizheng.

‘Jian Weiwen? No… Why is she dressed as a servant and following me?’

Feeling somewhat absurd, she couldn’t help but ask.

“What are you doing here?”

“Oh! Isn’t that Miss Lian!”

The servant standing with Jian Weiwen turned pale and quickly pushed Weiwen behind her, bowing deeply to Lian.

“We, we are waiting for the master… the head of the trading company. Yes, to escort him.”

“I know that. Miss Weiwen…”

Hearing Lian’s words, the servant almost jumped. It seemed she jumped as high as Lian’s height.

“No, no, what, what are you saying, Miss, it’s….”

While the servant was half-crying and floundering, Jian Weiwen, standing behind her, pulled her back.

“Enough. Since we’ve been caught, don’t say anything foolish.”

“But, Miss…”

Jian Weiwen shook her head and clasped her hands together, bowing to Lian.

“Miss Lian, I am Jian Weiwen. I have shown you an embarrassing sight.”

Jian Weiwen’s voice was cold but polite and dignified.

Even in a martial arts clan that usually rules a region like a king, and even though the Duan family was in a declining state, she still maintained this demeanor.

A glimmer of interest appeared in Lian’s eyes.

“Why?”

“Yes?”

“Why are you here? You came with Grandfather Jian.”