Ten-Day Agreement

"Twenty thousand taels, your appetite is a bit too large!"

Lord Li spoke a number that made Teng Qingshan, who was hidden in the shadows, feel suffocated. Two hundred thousand taels of silver was a sum that even several Teng Villages might not be able to scrape together.

"No, no, no, two hundred thousand taels is too much. I'm not used to using silver notes."

Gu Sheng smiled and said, "What I actually meant was twenty taels, twenty taels of Purple Gold will do!"

Purple Gold, a unique mineral in the Nine Cauldrons' Nine Provinces, was used by the supreme expert, the Qinling Heavenly Emperor, to forge the divine weapon 'Heavenly Sword'. In the Nine Provinces, Purple Gold symbolizes esteemed status. Some wealthy merchants, or figures like the heads of various sects, like to use Purple Gold as a convenient and high-value equivalent of currency.

One tael of Purple Gold is equivalent to one hundred taels of gold, or ten thousand taels of silver. Ten taels of Purple Gold is equivalent to one thousand taels of gold, or one hundred thousand taels of silver. Although what Gu Sheng said was of equivalent value to what Lord Li mentioned, the two were worlds apart.

Two hundred thousand taels of silver, even if it were all in silver notes, would be a large and conspicuous package. In addition, there is a one percent handling fee for withdrawing silver with silver notes, so two hundred thousand taels of silver would incur a two thousand tael handling fee.

Moreover, the withdrawal of silver notes can be traced. Gu Sheng would not leave himself any loopholes, so cash is better.

Purple Gold is different. Purple Gold is denser than gold, and twenty taels of Purple Gold wouldn't be a large volume, making it easy to carry away.

"Twenty taels of Purple Gold!"

Lord Li frowned, his brow furrowed deeply. Two hundred thousand taels of silver wasn't a problem for him as a major salt merchant. It would have some impact on short-term cash flow, but he was willing to pay it for his daughter. However, twenty taels of Purple Gold was a real sticking point.

As a salt merchant, his main business is naturally the salt industry. The largest consumers of salt are naturally those at the bottom of society, so most of his income is in copper coins and silver. Even gold is rare in his treasury, let alone the more precious Purple Gold.

Although Yicheng is one of the nine major cities of Jiangning, its status in Jiangning Prefecture is not very high. There aren't many truly important figures here, and Purple Gold doesn't have a circulating market. As far as Lord Li knows, only the Myriad Manifestations Pavilion in Yicheng has a large amount of Purple Gold, but the exchange rate is...

Gu Sheng picked up a plate of snacks from the table and ate them. He smelled the tea next to him and looked disgusted. "Steward Li, would you mind changing it to a bowl of snow frog soup for me?" Gu Sheng said with a smile to the steward beside him.

The tea in Li Manor might be good in this era, but Gu Sheng wasn't interested after smelling it. It didn't help his body, bad review!

As for snow frog soup, a certain little girl had been showing off her luxurious life to him, implying that he should become her lackey. Now that he had the upper hand, he might as well taste the treatment of a big shot.

Steward Li looked embarrassed, but after seeing Lord Li nod with a frown, he retreated to make arrangements.

The servants of Li Manor moved quickly. Before long, a bowl of warm snow frog soup was delivered to Gu Sheng. Judging by their movements, they seemed very skilled, and one could imagine that someone had been ordering them around like this often recently.

"Slurp!"

Gu Sheng picked up the porcelain bowl and ate heartily. As the soup entered his throat, a warm current filled his body. He felt that his Inner Force had actually improved slightly. No wonder that little girl drank a bowl every day.

However, without learning Inner Force boxing, a large part of the medicinal power cannot be fully absorbed. Drinking more is useless for most martial artists, and one bowl a day is the limit.

"Gurgle!"

Gu Sheng's stomach made a sound, and the effect of the medicinal soup was maximized under the effect of Inner Force boxing.

"Ah~"

He put down the porcelain bowl and let out a long breath, then smiled at Lord Li and said, "Well, would you mind another bowl?"

Steward Li looked at Lord Li, then went down again.

"Bastard, bastard, this guy is too much."

At the top of the study, Chu Xin (Li Qingyu), who couldn't speak or move, was about to explode when she saw this scene. This guy not only kidnapped her, but also ate her food and used her things. It was too much...

"Ah! Much more comfortable!"

After three bowls in a row, Gu Sheng patted his round belly and smiled at Lord Li, who was still pondering, "How is it, Lord Li!"

Lord Li helplessly raised his head and said, "I can't fully meet your request. I can't take out twenty taels of Purple Gold all at once."

"Okay! I knew it."

Gu Sheng said, "How about this! Within ten days, without losing any of your assets, how much Purple Gold can you come up with?"

Lord Li looked at Gu Sheng in surprise, then thought carefully for a while before saying, "The Purple Gold I collect from various places isn't much. I can probably transfer back about ten taels in ten days!"

Gu Sheng opened his mouth and smiled, "Ten taels is ten taels. For the rest, I want deep mountain herbs, natural treasures, things like that. You should still have quite a few hidden away, right! I think there should be quite a few in Li Manor, you can take some out first!"

"Okay!"

Lord Li pondered for a moment and nodded, then instructed Steward Li, "Li Fu, go to the medicine storehouse and take..."

"Good stuff!"

Gu Sheng looked at the five jade boxes in front of him and thought that he had come to the right place. Golden ginseng as thick as a small arm, jade-like ganoderma... These treasures have long been extinct in the modern world, and are not found in ordinary martial arts worlds at all. Only the Nine Cauldrons world, which is full of spiritual energy, can still find so many.

"Five jade boxes, let's say they're worth five taels!"

Gu Sheng stretched out a palm, then tore off a piece of cloth and packed all five jade boxes into it. With these, he was confident that he could push the Tiger Form Fist realm he had comprehended to a very high level in a short period of time. With the Inner Force manual, the second-rate realm was just around the corner.

"Okay!"

Lord Li nodded. It was not difficult for him to collect five more jade boxes of medicinal materials. He had properties in various places, and ten days was enough time to allocate them.

"Lord Li, would you mind seeing me off?"

Gu Sheng carried the package on his back, smiled at Lord Li, and then glanced around imperceptibly, giving Teng Qingshan in the dark a wink.

"Please!"

Lord Li was also a man who had seen great storms, and got up very simply.

Gu Sheng and Lord Li walked out of the room and headed towards the outside of Li Manor, with more than a hundred guards accompanying them. Before long, the small courtyard was empty. No one noticed that a black shadow darted out at an extremely fast speed after most of the people left, and quickly disappeared in the opposite direction from the manor gate.

"Lord Li, this is far enough."

Outside Li Manor's courtyard, Gu Sheng cupped his hands and bowed to Lord Li.

Lord Li didn't return the courtesy. He warned in a deep voice, "I hope that in ten days, I will see my daughter completely unharmed. Tell your people to keep their underlings in check. If Qingyu..."

Gu Sheng chuckled, "Rest assured, your daughter may be naturally beautiful, but she's still a bit young. I'm not interested in her. I won't waste any more time on pleasantries. Farewell!"

As Gu Sheng spoke, he leaped onto a rooftop. After a puff of green mist, his figure vanished.

"Master! We couldn't catch him!"

A quarter of an hour later, two guards in uniform arrived before Lord Li.

"Forget it!"

Lord Li sighed deeply, turned, and walked through the manor gates, looking as if he had shrunk a little.