Chapter 111 Chapter 111 July 16th...
On July 16, the caravan set out from the ancient city of Loulan and returned to the Great Zhou.
The newly built Loulan Ancient Road is clean and wide, with more than enough space for two people to ride side by side on horseback.
Aigu, dressed in the attire of a crown prince, raised his glass on horseback and said to Jiang Wan, "The last two times you left the city, I was too busy to see you off. This time, I can finally see you off."
"Regulating the country and managing government is naturally busy. Fortunately, the most difficult days have passed, and now you are in great shape." Jiang Wan took the wine glass handed to her by the attendant and touched it with him in mid-air.
Aigu smiled bitterly. "Being confined to the royal court all day is not as good as the free and unrestrained life I had before. After my mother passed away, I often thought of the days when I ran around with a sword on my back, the days when we drank in Xiaofangpan City, and the hero Li who almost became my master. Back then, I was free and did whatever I wanted. But after becoming the crown prince, I started to think twice before everything happened."
Jiang Wan thought for a moment and said, "In our Central Plains, men must undergo a capping ceremony before they can inherit a title or marry. Do you know why?"
Aigu blinked and looked at her.
"After the crowning ceremony, men are not allowed to wear their hair loose in public; it must be tied inside the crown. The higher the status of the man, the heavier the crown. It symbolizes both power and glory, but also responsibility and constraints." Jiang Wan explained word by word. "Without this crown, you wouldn't be able to avenge your mother or protect those around you. But once you wear this crown, you must bear its weight. Everyone has their own difficulties."
Aigu touched the crown on her head, feeling its weight, and thought: "Is this what the people in the Central Plains say, you can't have your cake and eat it too?"
Jiang Wan was stunned for a moment, the face of the handsome man who gave her the lotus flashed through her mind, and she smiled softly: "Well, but I think it's great that I can get one."
Aigu looked at her carefully, as if he wanted to engrave the appearance of the girl in front of him in his heart. After a while, he also smiled: "I also think that I am lucky to get one of them."
The two men stared at each other for a moment, then simultaneously raised their heads and drank the wine in one gulp. The subtle feelings buried deep in their hearts, the longing they had spent looking at the moon in the night sky, all dissipated in the drifting yellow sand.
On July 25, the convoy arrived outside Xiaofangpan City.
The county magistrate personally greeted him outside Yumen Pass, and Wang Da and Wang Er also rushed over from Dunhuang County.
Jiang Wan jumped off the carriage and bowed beside the stone pillars of Yumen Pass: "Your Excellency, County Magistrate, long time no see."
The magistrate knelt hurriedly and said, "Your humble servant greets the envoy! Respectfully welcome you back to the Great Zhou!"
Looking at the magistrate lying on the ground, she felt a sense of emotion for no reason. The last time she saw him was when he had just taken office as magistrate and she had gone to the county government office to redeem her mother and brother.
At that time, the seventh-rank county magistrate was sitting in the hall, and she bowed to him from below. Unexpectedly, after a year and a half, her official position had risen three levels higher than his, and she was on the same level as his direct superior, the Dunhuang County Magistrate, and could bear this kneeling.
Jiang Wan was in a daze for a moment, then hurriedly helped the magistrate up and said in a gentle voice, "I am grateful to the magistrate for taking care of me in Xiaofangpan City. No need to be so polite."
Just as they were about to exchange a few pleasantries, Wang Da and Wang Er, who were standing by, could no longer hold back and squeezed past the magistrate. They grabbed her arms, one on each side, and called her "Master" in a coquettish manner.
Jiang Wan studied her two disciples carefully, her eyes gentle and smiling. Wang Da's shoulders had broadened, his demeanor more steady and composed. Wang Er, the chubby little boy, had grown into a full-grown man, yet he remained as lively as ever. The two of them, now running the Qingjiangju branches in Dunhuang, Yunzhong, Yanmen, and Longxi counties, were already renowned figures in the Great Zhou business community. But to her, they were still the playful children of the Jiang family's courtyard.
Similarly, even though she is now the number one in the business world of the Great Zhou, a fourth-rank envoy with imperial seals, and the "Rose of the Central Plains" famous in the Western Regions, to them, she is always the master who taught them how to make clay by the Duolun Lake.
Jiang Wan and his two disciples visited the Jiang family courtyard of the past, and then went to the Jiang family shop in Xiaofangpan City.
The shop had been renamed Qingjiangju, but it still retained the plaque that read "Jiang's Shop," signifying that this was the place where Qingjiangju had made its fortune. Jiang Wan looked up at the clear, powerful handwriting on the plaque. She remembered that it was written by Wen Shen himself, and a sense of loss welled up in her heart.
Tsk, she is just as jealous as those literati.
The Jiang family's shop had been expanded, becoming much more spacious and luxurious than before, and customers were constantly coming in. Since the Jiang family's yard had already been sold, Jiang Wan simply stayed here to handle some business.
The accounts of Xiyu for the year need to be checked, the subsequent travel plans and sales routes need to be formulated, the lessons learned need to be reflected upon, and time must be taken to hold a meeting with the store owners of Qingjiangju branches.
Jiang Wan's face immediately fell at the thought of the meeting. Not only did Niuma not want to have a meeting, but she, the cheap boss, didn't want to either!
In her past and present lives, she always felt that meetings were useless and that it would be better to get some sleep and recuperate instead - of course, in her past life, some employees did fall asleep during meetings, but she didn't really care.
However, her brother and sister-in-law were very concerned about the affairs of Qingjiangju. When they heard that she had returned to Da Zhou, they insisted that she come to a meeting to make her presence felt in front of the other shopkeepers.
Your Majesty did not allow her to return to Lin'an, but he did not say that the shopkeepers were not allowed to go to Dunhuang, right?
There's no rush for the meeting. The most important thing right now... Jiang Wan raised his head. Bai Yanyun had come to the shop without him noticing. He lowered his head and whispered, "Master Jiang, I have something to say."
…
On that day, Jiang Wan, Liu, Lin and Bai checked the account books until late at night.
Lin Xiangzhi rubbed his eyes and complained, "This is too much. How long do I have to watch it?"
"Since Brother Fang, who is the best at accounting, is not here, we will naturally be slower." Jiang Wan said, "If you are tired, go and rest. There is no rush today."
Lin Xiangzhi slumped down on the table and said, "How can that be possible? You, the envoy, haven't even had a rest yet, and we..."
His words were suddenly interrupted when a high-speed spinning knife flew towards his face, leaving an afterimage.
Lin Xiangzhi's face paled. He had been taking medication for a long time, so his reactions were slower than those of ordinary people. Just as the knife was about to pierce his forehead, a brush, imbued with powerful internal energy, flew out and hit the knife.
With a loud snap, the knife and brush fell to the ground. The brush broke in two, with the crack extending from the shaft to the tip, while the knife remained unscathed.
"General Liu has a good reaction. He is worthy of being a killer on the battlefield." A shrill voice sounded from the darkness, and a man with a feminine face walked out from the entrance. He was actually a eunuch.
Seeing this person, Liu Ming's pupils trembled: "Eunuch Wei? Wei Liang?!"
Jiang Wan curled her fingers. She knew someone would come tonight, but she hadn't expected it to be him. She had met Wei Liang before the Emperor. He was the chief eunuch serving the Chengde Emperor, and had been with him for twenty years.
Rumor has it that this man's martial arts skills have reached the Grandmaster level. As for why it is just a rumor, it is because he has rarely used his skills in the twenty years by His Majesty's side, and those who have seen him take action are all dead.
Such a person is actually from that spy organization.
In a flash, eight more masters jumped down from the roof. Jiang Wan didn't recognize these eight people, but judging by Lin Xiangzhi's expression, which seemed to have seen a ghost, he thought one of them was familiar to him.
Sure enough, a woman in purple chuckled, "Master Lin, how are you? Four years have passed. Are you feeling well?"
Lin Xiangzhi gritted his teeth and said, "For four years, I've made myself into a loser, and yet you're still chasing me."
"Oh, my Lord, I am heartbroken when you say this about me. You were so glorious when you built the post station in the Western Regions, how could you be so useless?" The purple-clothed woman laughed sweetly. "You are such a smart person, but you refuse to accept our leader's invitation. Don't blame me for being cruel."
A fragrant breeze blew by, revealing a bloodstain on Lin Xiangzhi's face. The purple-clad woman came closer, gently stroking the wound and licking the blood from her fingertips. "Rose Inn? Watering the roses in my home with your blood will surely be incredibly beautiful."
"Zisha. Stop playing around. Let's end this quickly. The chief can't wait any longer." Bai Yanyun glanced at Jiang Wan, stood up and walked towards the nine masters opposite.
Zisha flirted with him and scolded him, "It's your fault. The chief commander hasn't completed the task he gave you for a year, and you asked us to travel thousands of miles to clean up your mess."
After saying this, he looked at Jiang Wan's shocked expression and said jokingly, "But considering that you have concealed your identity, I will reluctantly say a few good words for you in front of the First Lord."
"You..." Jiang Wan's face was pale, with just the right amount of resentment, anger, and confusion. He stared at Bai Yanyun closely, "You are actually..."
Bai Yanyun said calmly, "It's too late to know now. If you had listened to me earlier, perhaps I could have spared your life."
Jiang Wan's eyes swept across the faces of the nine masters one by one, gradually revealing a bit of despair, and then he drooped his eyelids and leaned back on the chair as if exhausted.
She smiled bitterly. "Alright. Since we're all in this together, you'll have to let me die knowing full well, right? Who is trying to kill me?"
Bai Yanyun stood behind Wei Liang indifferently, not saying a word. Zi Sha took a few steps forward, pinched Jiang Wan's face with his right hand, and looked at him with interest.
The moment she touched Jiang Wan, Liu Ming narrowed his eyes and slapped her.
Zi Sha's expression remained unchanged. He stroked Jiang Wan's cheek teasingly with his right index finger, and pointed with his left hand. His internal energy condensed into a dark purple gust of wind that flowed out from his fingertips, cutting Liu Ming's palm and making it bleed.
Jiang Wan didn't struggle at all, accepting her fate and letting Zisha pinch her face. After a while, Zisha opened her mouth slightly and exhaled like orchids: "Such a beautiful face, worthy of being my next face. For the sake of your face, let me talk to you for a few more words. Our head monk is the world-famous-"
"Purple Evil." Wei Liang interrupted her, "The head monk said that Miss Jiang has a strong character and is extremely intelligent. We must not take her lightly at any time."
"...Okay." Zisha smiled regretfully, and sharp purple nails suddenly emerged from his fingertips, covering Jiang Wan's slender and white neck.
The moment her nails touched the fair skin, they vanished. The internal energy lingering around Zisha gradually dissipated. She looked at her palm in astonishment, then looked at the half-burned incense stick on the table in disbelief.
The despair and paleness on Jiang Wan's face disappeared. She stood up and calmly patted the hem of her skirt.
"The game is over, Sister Zisha."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
