"Chief," said Yuan Min, a captain of the Eagle Control Guard who had come with Yan Zipei, "Two of the brothers who went out to gather information last night haven't returned. There's been no news since."

"No need to look for it. Let's just leave it at that." Yan Zipei waved his hand. Yeah, why rush? Isn't this just the beginning?

The summer grain harvest had already begun, marking the arrival of Qinghe's most prosperous time of the year. Not only was the market bustling with activity, but even more caravans were leaving the city, scrambling to stockpile supplies, hoping to return in time for the autumn harvest, when the caravans would finally prosper.

Yan Zipei sat on a tea stall outside the west city trading market, watching caravans pour into the market, bargain, load and unload goods, and then leave happily with money or orders.

It was these caravans, these damn caravans, who went further than Lin Hai's army and Wang Zuo's intelligence agents. Their footprints even reached the Far North Wasteland in the north of the empire and the mountains and plateaus in the west of Xia. When Yan Zipei heard in Zhongdu City that the barbarians in the Far North Wasteland were using Qinghe's ironware and crystal tableware, he even felt his hands and feet go cold.

These people are the tentacles extended by Qinghe, greedily sucking the blood of the whole world.

Yan Zipei, who had been calm and composed since arriving in Qinghe, held the tea bowl tightly with both hands, trying his best to show a calm expression on his face. However, the unconscious force of his hands caused the entire tea bowl to explode in an instant, and the scalding tea spilled all over the floor. Not only did it reveal his anxious mood, but it also made the intelligence officers who were secretly monitoring him admire his hard skills.

"Go in and check how much was traded today."

Yuan Min said: "Chief, we have found out."

Yan Zipei was a little surprised: "You also arranged people here? Such a prosperous market, and you finished the investigation in half a cup of tea?"

Yuan Min sighed slightly and said, "There are no one from our group in the market, but the transactions there are very easy to track. After all, there is a large blackboard as soon as you enter the door, which records the types, quantities, and prices of goods for sale and sold in the market."

Yan Zipei said in disbelief, "They're going to make it public when it's so secret?"