0p0 Chapter 169 A Surprising Move in the Face of Crisis
Chapter 169 A Surprising Move in the Face of Crisis
In the face of crisis, an ingenious solution is needed.
The night breeze, carrying the scent of agarwood, brushed past Su Yunlan's nose, and her fingers, gripping the indigo brocade, suddenly tightened.
The twisted "Zhao" character at the base of the wall was gleaming with phosphorescence, its pattern overlapping in her mind with the pattern of the incomplete tiger tally in the hidden pocket of Xiao Yuhan's cloak.
"The medicine stall of the twenty-first brother has been tampered with, and now in the front yard—" Before Xiao Yuhan could finish speaking, a loud crash came from under the eaves as the wooden frame collapsed.
A dozen or so burly men with their shirts open kicked over the medicine cabinet. The scarred man at the head slammed his copper pipe heavily on the table: "Everyone says that Madam Xiao is a living bodhisattva, how come the medicine she administers kills people?" Immediately behind him, a hunched old man foaming at the mouth fell out, his gray face covered with bluish spots that looked like poisonous ants.
Manager Li staggered and grabbed the door frame for support: "This is Liu Laizi from West Street!"
He...he came to ask for a drink at noon..."
Su Yunlan's embroidered shoes rolled over the mess on the ground, and her gold-threaded skirt swept over the spilled medicine. The silver needle hidden in her sleeve had already been stained with the spiritual spring water in her space.
She suddenly grasped the old man's blackened fingertips, and amidst the gasps of the crowd, bent down and sniffed them lightly: "Agarwood mixed with Gelsemium elegans, a poisonous fumes specially supplied by Zhao's Pharmacy." Before she finished speaking, three silver needles had already sealed the old man's Sanjiao acupoints.
Scarface's expression changed drastically, and sparks from his pipe began to fall.
Just as he was about to raise his hand, he suddenly saw the young woman smilingly lift up a gilded box, in which twenty-eight jade zodiac animal figurines shimmered in the moonlight.
"You've all worked hard." Su Yunlan lightly tapped a hidden compartment in the box, and Young Master Xiao, at the opportune moment, presented a jar of amber liquid. "This is fine pear blossom wine paired with Persian candied fruit, a small token to calm Uncle Liu's nerves."
The thugs stared at the rhinoceros horn cup inlaid with rubies, swallowing hard. This item could be exchanged for ten acres of fertile land on the black market.
Scarface's Adam's apple bobbed twice, and he suddenly snatched the wine jar and gulped it down, only to touch a cold iron plate at the bottom of the jar—the very same transport order he had stolen from Boss Zhao's secret room the night before.
"Fourth Madam is benevolent!" Scarface wiped his mouth, stuffed the iron plaque into his waistband, turned around and kicked over a stunned underling, "Are you all deaf?"
"Quickly carry Uncle Liu to Renjitang!" "As more than ten people rushed out the door, they didn't forget to stuff their pockets full of jade ornaments."
After the third watch gong sounded twice, the main hall was already spotless.
Manager Li held the newly prepared prescription, hesitant to speak, when suddenly he saw seven or eight women carrying bamboo baskets pouring in from outside the door, the seasonal fruits in the baskets still glistening with dew.
“Scarface Zhang said that Fourth Madam loves freshly picked loquats.” The round-faced woman at the head of the group arranged the bright yellow fruit on the counter. “The ladies from the East Market Cloth Shop will be here shortly; they all want to order the scented mattresses for the top-tier rooms.”
Su Yunlan leaned against a vermilion pillar with lotus patterns, rubbing her temples as she watched the gradually brightening sky.
In the lingering scent of agarwood from the eaves, she could clearly smell the rhinoceros hide glue that Boss Zhao usually used—that old fox must be waiting for news of bloodshed at the inn.
Suddenly, a dark-colored hem brushed past at the corner on the second floor. Xiao Yuhan looked down at the newly changed gold phoenix hairpin in his wife's hair, the phoenix tail poised to take flight was adorned with half a patch of indigo cloud pattern.
He flicked the medicine residue off the roof tile with his finger, and the twenty-eight holes at the base of the wall had been completely filled with beeswax at some point.
As Xiao Yuhan's black robe swept past the vermilion railing, Su Yunlan was pressing the last loquat pit into the beeswax-sealed crack in the wall.
The tassels of the golden phoenix hairpin brushed against the side of her neck, and were gently gathered by the man's calloused fingertips.
"The jade exchange for the canal transport permit—it's like a series of interconnected schemes you're adept at." He lowered his gaze to the glint of gold in his wife's hair, the warmth of his palm seeping through her simple gauze undergarment onto her shoulders. "I saw it clearly from the rooftop—the Persian candied fruit in that wine jar..."
“It’s mixed with half a coin of arsenic.” Su Yunlan turned her head and chuckled, her fingertips tracing the tiger head pattern on the jade belt hook at Xiao Yuhan’s waist. “However, after testing it with silver needles quenched in spiritual spring water, it naturally becomes a good medicine for replenishing qi and blood.” Suddenly, the copper bells on the eaves jingled, startling the silver needles hidden in her sleeve, causing them to tremble.
Suddenly, the window of the second-floor room slammed open, and Young Master Xiao Twenty-One poked his head out, holding a spatula: "Fourth Brother, come and see!"
The flint in the stove has turned crimson! Amid the boy's excited shouts, one could faintly hear the hissing sound of iron pots stirring up medicinal dregs in the kitchen.
Su Yunlan frowned as she stared at the newly formed spider web on the pillar.
Those silver threads gleamed with an eerie indigo in the morning light, just like the phosphorescence at the base of the wall last night.
She suddenly grabbed Xiao Yuhan's sleeve: "The rhinoceros hide glue from Zhao's Pharmacy will release the juice of drunken fish grass when heated."
Before he could finish speaking, a dull thud came from the front yard as something heavy fell to the ground.
Manager Li slumped down on the stone steps, clutching the account books, his fingers trembling as he pointed at the newly built grape trellis in the west corner.
Black water was seeping from the cracks in the blue bricks, and even the weeds that had crawled over were charred into ash.
"This is poisonous soil that has been watered with arsenic!" Young Master Xiao Twenty-One rushed over with a hoe, accidentally knocking off the purple grapes from the trellis with the jade belt buckle.
The round fruit rolled into the black water, instantly sending up choking white smoke.
Suddenly, the silver bracelet on Su Yunlan's wrist emitted a clear and melodious sound, and the spiritual spring in the space flowed into the poisonous pool through the jade inlay.
The gurgling clear stream, carrying black water, slid back into the ground, only to freeze into ice crystals when it touched the beeswax at the corner of the wall.
She bent down and picked up a piece of translucent ice shard, inside which was half a piece of indigo cloth—the very Hangzhou silk fabric that Boss Zhao often wore.
As dusk settled, three small clay kilns were quietly built in the backyard of the inn.
Xiao Yuhan embedded the quenched black iron sheet into the wall base, and sparks splashed onto Su Yunlan's newly tailored crimson gauze skirt, burning out a scorch mark in the shape of a twin lotus flower.
The twenty-eight jade zodiac animals had long been replaced with rough pottery medicine pots, which were simmering with detoxifying soup.
"Fourth Madam!" A round-faced woman burst in, carrying a bolt of moon-white soft silk gauze. A few suspicious specks of cinnabar stained the silk flower at her temple. "The lady from the East Market cloth shop said the people from Zhao's Trading Company insist on paying the deposit for the scented mattress with gold melon seeds..."
Su Yunlan paused as she scooped the medicinal soup with her wooden spoon, and the goji berries floating on the surface of the soup suddenly burst open into tiny red beads.
She chuckled softly as she gazed at the rising mist outside the window. The scent of agarwood wafting from the mist was three times stronger than the night before, carrying a faint, almost imperceptible, pungent smell of blood.
Xiao Yuhan suddenly pressed down on the golden phoenix hairpin in her hair. The end of the hairpin was wrapped with an indigo silk thread, which was swaying gently in the night breeze.
The direction the thread extends is directly towards the gilded plaque hanging high above Zhao's Inn.
In the crevices of the stone lion's paws beneath the plaque, one can vaguely see half a muddy footprint—two inches smaller than that of an average man, yet deeply embedded more than three inches into the bluestone slab.
When the night watchman struck the third watch, Su Yunlan tucked the newly tempered silver needle into her purse.
The window lattice paper was suddenly soaked with night dew, leaving irregular marks that looked exactly like the shape of a beast's claws pressed on the snow.