Hua Fushu said, "I know, I know. I value my life the most."
Ye Zelin was delivering flowers to Fu Shu when he was leaving the school. Unfortunately, he met Mr. Kong in the corridor.
Mr. Kong was wearing a wide-sleeved cotton robe in a tile-green color embroidered with ruyi patterns. He was holding a scroll in his arms, and the wrinkles on his face were as serious and rigid as he was.
Looking at the chief priest Confucius, Hua Fushu thought of the scholar who punished his students with a ruler. She was nervous for no reason. Confucius was upright and serious, and his words and deeds should not be out of line. If you were to say who in Tokyo was the most disciplined and polite, it would be him.
This is not the most important thing. Confucius demanded perfection. He wanted to do the best in everything he did and would not allow things to be just good enough.
Hua Fushu subconsciously moved back a little bit. In her entire life, she had never been afraid of anyone except her mother, Madam Qidie.
In fact, with Mr. Kong's serious and rigid appearance, many people would want to stay away from him when they see him.
Ye Zelin looked at Hua Fushu without any expression. The plague was rampant in the capital, but she was not afraid. Instead, she was afraid of his teacher, as if his teacher was very scary.
He always thought she was very brave, but he never thought that even brave people could be timid sometimes.
Ye Zelin bowed and said, "Student greets you, sir."
Hua Fushu followed Ye Zelin in paying respects and bowing to Mr. Kong.
Ye Zelin said, "This is my student's wife, Hua."
Mr. Kong nodded slightly in response, his old face still stern and solemn.
Ye Zelin made way and stood aside. Hua Fushu moved aside and stood beside Ye Zelin.
Mr. Kong went straight to the school.
Hua Fushu shrugged and said, "Your teacher is really scary. He's serious and strict, yet also quite dignified. He must have been the emperor's teacher."
Ye Zelin said: "The teacher is a good person, you don't have to be afraid of him."
Hua Fushu said, "I'm not afraid of seriousness. Your teacher's authority is very strong."
The plague spread to the outskirts of Beijing. As the number of patients increased, the medicinal herbs needed to treat the plague became increasingly scarce. The herbs previously purchased from the apothecary were running low. The silver allocated by the imperial court to the City Patrol Office for purchasing medicine was limited and insufficient to cover the remaining purchases. Qin Youran contributed some of the money himself and mobilized the rest of the capital to donate.
After collecting enough money, Qin Youran took a few close followers and rode to Kaihua County to buy medicine. Kaihua County was not far from the capital. There was a drug dealer there whose reserves of medicinal materials were far more abundant than those of the previous drug dealers.
Fallen leaves littered the ground on both sides of the official road. The howling north wind blew, picking up the fallen leaves and drifting them across the blue-gray sky. Occasionally, a few fluttered past Qin Youran and the others. Their mouths were chapped, and the wind blew across their cheeks, like sharp knives cutting their skin, causing severe pain.
Qin Youran and his group finally arrived in Kaihua County. It was still late in the day, but not completely dark yet.
Mu Qing knocked on the door of the drug store. The doorman opened the door and Mu Qing explained his purpose. He learned that the person who came to buy medicine was the current emperor's younger brother, His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin. The doorman was so scared that he crawled to find the owner to welcome His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin.
Soon, the owner of the drugstore emerged. His surname was Wan, and he was the largest drugstore in Tokyo Prefecture. Mr. Wan, in his forties, wore a navy blue satin robe embroidered with round patterns. Upon meeting Qin Youran, he bowed and greeted her, then hurriedly invited her into his home.
Qin Youran patted his sleeves and walked towards the gate. He was wearing a dark blue, half-worn cotton coat, but the fabric was commonly used by ordinary people. The lapels and sleeves were stained with a lot of dust. People who didn't know him would think he was a commoner, not a noble prince.
Wan Dongjia invited Qin Youran to the main seat and ordered the servants to prepare tea and water.
The two exchanged a few polite words and then tea was served.
Qin Youran hadn't drunk any water the entire journey, and his mouth was dry. He picked up the teacup and was about to drink some tea to moisten his mouth when Wan Dongjia said with concern, "Your Highness, the tea is scalding hot. Drink it later."
Qin Youran had no choice but to put down his teacup and said to Master Wan, "Master Wan, I believe the servants at your residence have already told you the purpose of my visit. I will not repeat it. I will take as many medicines as you have."
He took out a list from his sleeve and handed it to Wan Dongjia, "This is the list of medicinal materials that this king needs, please take a look."
Wan Dongjia took the list with both hands and glanced over it. "Your Highness, the herbs you requested, such as Atractylodes lancea, Poria cocos, Bupleurum chinense, Saposhnikovia divaricata, Tangerine peel, and Angelica dahurica, are all in stock. I'll take as many as you want. This is true."
Qin Youran nodded, "It's true."
Wan Dongjia pondered and said, "Your Highness, Prince Qin, please forgive me for being blunt. I cannot sell you all the medicinal herbs in stock."
Qin Youran asked, "Why?"
Wan Dongjia said, "I know you bought the medicine to send to Tokyo. I also know how serious the plague is in the capital. However, the plague is not limited to the capital, but also in other counties and prefectures."
As soon as Wan Dongjia said this, Qin Youran understood what he meant. The two prefectures near Tokyo also had a plague. Although it was not as serious as Tokyo, it was also a large-scale outbreak. If those two prefectures were short of medicine, Wan Dongjia could sell the medicine to those two prefectures. This was exactly what Wan Dongjia meant by not selling all the medicinal materials to him.
Qin Youran said, "Then I will buy less."
Wan Dongjia asked, "Your Highness, Prince Qin, how much of each herb do you need?"
"It depends on how much inventory you have, Mr. Wan." Qin Youran replied.
A moment later, Wan Dongjia took Qin Youran to the medicine warehouse to check the inventory. Wan Dongjia's medicinal material reserves were much more than Qin Youran expected, enough for the amount of medicinal materials he needed to buy on this trip.
Qin Youran asked Wan Dongjia to fetch a few boxes of Atractylodes lancea. He examined the appearance of the herbs and found them to be of excellent quality. However, he was purchasing a large quantity of the herbs, and if he paid for them at market price, he feared he wouldn't have enough money. The money allocated by the Ministry of Revenue and the donations from Tokyo residents couldn't all be spent on medicine; some money would also be needed to cover food shortages and other issues.
Qin Youran said with some embarrassment, "Master Wan, you're not selling all the herbs to me, but keeping some to sell to other prefectures. I can see you're a kind-hearted person. Look, I need a lot of herbs, can we negotiate the price?"
Wan Dongjia hesitated slightly. Negotiating the price? Was His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin trying to lower the price?
He immediately asked, "How much can your Highness think of?"
Qin Youran suddenly stretched out his arm, spread out his five fingers, and turned his palm over. He said, "In Tokyo Prefecture, a pound of Atractylodes lancea costs about fifteen cents. Mr. Wan, I will pay you this price."
Ten cents?
Wan Dongjia was surprised. Since the outbreak of the plague, the prices of many medicinal materials have changed. Take the herb Atractylodes as an example. It used to cost about 15 wen per catty on the market, but now, the price has increased to 20 to 30 wen per catty.
The cost for him to purchase Atractylodes lancea was nine cents per catty, but the price offered by the King of Qin was only ten cents, which was thirty percent lower than the market price. If he sold Atractylodes lancea to the King of Qin at ten cents per catty, wouldn't he be losing a lot of money?
Your Highness the Prince of Qin, do you want to rob?
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