Elm
The rainy night was hot and humid.
Meng Jian looked through the drizzling rain outside the window and lowered his eyes to look at the lights in Pingzhou City below.
This mansion, which had not been taken care of for many years, was once again lit with the dim candlelight.
On a hazy rainy night, the outline of the roof eaves was faintly visible farther away in the mountains.
In the dimly lit room, another gentle face emerged from the darkness, stopped behind the window sill where rain was falling, and leaned down slightly. The bright tassels of the earrings hung from the dark hair, drawing a golden arc.
"The day is coming. Have you decided on the time to leave?"
Zhou Jinyu's gaze fell on the flickering candlelight in front of him, and he immediately raised his hand to wave it away.
The only light in the room dimmed instantly, and his gentle smile was like a spring stream, weeping the coldness of the incessant rain outside.
“When listening to the rain at night, it’s better to block your sight so that you can hear it more clearly.”
"As for the debate between the ears and the eyes, leaving only one part clear is the creation of nature."
The furniture in the house has been immersed in time for a long time. The damp mist has permeated all the wooden products in the room. The moist air fills the nostrils, mixed with a hint of agarwood.
Meng Jian looked at the increasingly dim light outside the window, and suddenly looked into the distance. The gas rising from the mountains blocked the bright moon in the sky, leaving only a corner of the hazy moonlight.
The light within the white mist was hazy, and the half-open window frame cast a deep shadow on the tabletop. Meng Jian closed the box filled with agarwood in his hand and spoke:
"How are things going with the Goddess?"
“…”
Zhou Jinyu suppressed the subtle emotion in her eyes and said, "Her plan went ahead as planned. But I'm afraid Donglan is not happy."
"The envoy from Donglan visiting Cang County wrote a letter for you the day before he met the goddess. Would you like to read it?"
“No need.”
"Winning or losing is no longer that important to me."
"Since she has achieved her freedom, then... my wish should also be fulfilled here."
The hotbed that nourishes evil thoughts and good thoughts grows wildly in this damp mist, and Meng Jian doesn't care about anything else.
After stroking the elm wood of the chair armrest for a while, he spoke again, "Has Xiao Yingzhu been here all this time?"
"Well, his guards have been keeping a tight watch on some places these days."
"...Then we'll see what he does next. Have you arranged the people?"
"I'm following your orders. We're in position."
The rain was still falling outside the window, as if it was going to roll the fog in the mountains and forests downwards until it swallowed up Pingzhou City.
Meng Jian raised his hand and asked Zhou Jinyu to leave, his eyes never leaving the fog and rain outside the house.
Dark shadows formed behind him, and moonlight poured in from the window, climbing up his fingertips that rested on the elm wood.
—
The rain curtain was falling, blocking the moonlight. There was no other use for opening the window except to let in endless moisture.
Guizhi helped Jiang Nian close the window and stood behind her, muttering to herself, "The rain didn't fall earlier or later, but just in the evening when we were returning home. It almost got the young lady soaked."
Jiang Nian smiled but did not answer, closing the letter in his hand. The writing on it was asking Qin Lan about Xi Zhen and Yu He.
She and Xizhen Yuhe were not very familiar with each other, but since they had worked together, it would not be a good idea to leave quietly. Meeting and separation could be drawn into a circle. Now that the itinerary had stabilized, she had to write a letter to make this acquaintance come to a beginning and an end.
Seeing Jiang Nian put the envelope in order, Guizhi reached out to take the envelope from her hand, then turned it over in her hand and looked at Jiang Nian: "Miss, is there anything else you need Guizhi to send? Guizhi will send it to you as well."
"No. But if you run into Fuling on the way, remember to tell her, 'I've set up a new section in the experimental field to test new insect repellents.' You can ask her to record the data then."
"It would be best if it were completed within the next few days. That way, I can add the minerals before the competition and test the final effect of the insect repellent."
Guizhi turned and walked out of the house, nodding to Jiang Nian: "Okay."
—
After crossing out the plans related to anthelmintics and health products, Jiang Nian lowered his gaze to the next line.
Having been previously tested by Meng Jian's men, he tried to write down some self-defense items that could be manufactured in the plan.
But most of them are no longer needed now.
When she was in Cang County, she had already obtained a fan and perfume. Although the perfume was almost used up, it could definitely be used again after mixing it.
Then, the next step is to make an explosive that can explode in an instant to produce smoke and conceal the body when avoiding danger and pursuit.
But according to the minerals that Huandu can currently obtain, they are nothing more than potassium sulfate, sulfur, charcoal and the like, so she has to think of something that can be portable and store gunpowder.
Once the itinerary was set, Jiang Nian, who had just rested for a while, got up and prepared to go to the warehouse again to ask his staff if they had free time. After the minerals arrived, he would make gunpowder according to the information written on the paper.
Putting the pen on the pen holder, Jiang Nian raised her hand and pressed her forehead with some fatigue. Apart from the matters that needed to be dealt with at the moment, she should have nothing else to do.
Most of the things have been shared by Guizhi Fuling and his staff. Now she has become the one who assigns tasks and only needs to wait for others to give her what she wants.
Jiang Nian looked up at the incessant rain outside the house under the dark sky and sighed for a moment.
It is difficult to travel at night, and I don’t know whether the teahouse in Pingzhou where I can inquire about things is open now. I am afraid that something unexpected will happen if I go out now.
I caught a glimpse of the schedule on the desk, and the two circled words were particularly eye-catching.
【mineral】
Many things were delayed by minerals. If she could follow the progress of minerals, she would definitely keep an eye on them every detail.
But before in Cang County, Qin Lan and Xiao Yingzhu saw that she was in a hurry to return to Pingzhou, so they did not let her go to the mine to investigate. Otherwise, she would probably go to the mine to explore now.
I didn't expect that I was in a hurry to come back to deal with things, but I could only sit and wait while everyone was busy.
Helplessly holding his forehead and laughing, Jiang Nian stood up, chose some clothes from the closet, and decided to go to the teahouse to take a look.
For some reason, she always had a vague premonition that she would hear something in the teahouse.
And there's nothing else to do now, so I might as well go explore there.
—
The continuous rain in Pingzhou never stopped, and water vapor spread to every corner of the town.
The servant who came back from the street in the rain avoided the passing carriages and pedestrians and went straight to Xu's pharmacy.
Yesterday, at the request of Shopkeeper Xu, he went to the Censor to invite him to watch the competition, but he did not see the Censor. It would be difficult to explain to Shopkeeper Xu when he returned, so he went straight home and waited to get some information before coming back today.
However, he didn't expect that the internal worshipper he met today seemed like a different person. No matter what he asked, he knew nothing about it. He even forgot the "cooperative" relationship between the Censor and Xu's Pharmacy.
As for his intention to ask the Censor himself, he received a few words from the inner court: "Your Excellency does not intend to meet with others, please return."
What is he trying to do? Are he planning to just walk away from the cooperation midway, without any reason at all?
The servant was thinking about what the internal priest said while worrying about whether Manager Xu would get angry and punish him if he was not satisfied with the answer.
Through the heavy rain in front of him, the servant raised his head and looked at the light in front of him. In the bright light in his field of vision, Manager Xu was still sitting behind the counter, waiting for his arrival.
There was water on the soles of his feet, and the edges of his shoes were stained with mud splashed from stepping on the muddy ground. The servant stood outside the door, raised his foot to shake the upper of his shoe, then turned around and walked into the pharmacy.
Seeing the waiter coming in, Shopkeeper Xu, who had been looking forward to it, straightened up and quickly raised his hand to beckon him over and asked, "What's your response, sir? Have you agreed?"
The servant walked into the dry room with a wooden face. His clothes instantly stuck to his skin and became wet.
"No, that master refused to see me. When he met the inner worship master, he turned hostile and said he didn't know us. He also said that we had never cooperated with him before."
"How could this happen?" Not only did they look forward to it all day, but not only did their hopes fall through, but their original cooperation vanished without a trace, leaving them with nothing more than a simple "no cooperation"? How could this be justified?
Shopkeeper Xu was a little angry, but he dared not say anything. He could only hold it in his heart and looked at him with a frown: "Apart from these, is there really nothing else?"
The servant felt his entire body crawl under Shopkeeper Xu's gaze, and a cold sweat broke out. He simply waved his hands and said, "No, no, how dare I hide anything? I'm telling the truth! I'm telling the truth!"
After staring a hole through the servant's panicked face, Shopkeeper Xu couldn't detect any trace of guilt on his face, so he gave up. "Really? If I find out you're covering up something else, I'll make sure you're in big trouble!"
The servant had a sad face. His whole family depended on him to make money from the pharmacy. He couldn't afford to lose this job. His legs almost gave out and he knelt down.
But Manager Xu just talked for a while, then turned around and started to plan the plan he had been halfway through.
When Sun Dun returns from his hometown, he will definitely ask him to investigate the Liangdu Pharmacy again. These days, he sent other people to investigate the Liangdu Pharmacy, but they all returned empty-handed with almost no information to be obtained. They were all good-for-nothings. Sun Dun is more reliable.
After Sun Dun got the anthelmintic recipe from the Liangdu pharmacy, he improved it and made it his own.
Shopkeeper Xu was silent for a while, and then began to think about what to do next.
First, before the competition, they let old customers spread the word that their prestigious Xu's pharmacy was going to hold an annual anti-worm prescription competition. Liangdu Pharmacy had always lost to them. This year, the opponent had just used some small business tricks, which was not worth mentioning. This time, the victory would definitely go to their family.
After that, they would let all the onlookers and those who bought medicine from Liangdu Pharmacy take a closer look and let them know that in Pingzhou City, only their anti-insect prescription was the strongest, the most sought-after and the most effective.
As for the Censor.
It would be fine if he didn't know the value of it, but after the competition was over, he would get a grand slam of victory, and then he could let the Censor come over and cooperate with him!
After going over his thoughts, Manager Xu smiled with satisfaction, not realizing that there were any flaws in his calculations.
That little girl Jiang just got help from others. She only knows a few shady business tricks. She will be defeated in the competition, and then those little business tricks will be of no use to her.
The servants sent over these days all said they hadn't seen Miss Jiang. They must have been fiddling with something in her mansion again. But it didn't matter. All these things would be refuted by his well-prepared competition.
After pondering these matters, Shopkeeper Xu waved his hand again, calling back the servant who was afraid of being punished. "Tell the regular customers who come to the pharmacy to buy things these days to come to the competition in the next few days to show your support. I will definitely give them good things when they get there."
"Yes, yes."
I don't know if yesterday's matter was considered a mess. Now the servant with the purse in the hand of Shopkeeper Xu nodded and bowed, not daring to say a word. He immediately remembered Shopkeeper Xu's words in his heart and would do as he was told tomorrow.
After finishing the instructions, Shopkeeper Xu thought about it and there was nothing else to prepare. Their 'arsenic-mixed seeds' were invincible and would never be defeated.
Thinking that in a few days, there would be another competition day for their pharmacy to be proud of, Manager Xu closed the pharmacies with satisfaction.
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