The Ten-Day Agreement

"Two hundred thousand taels? Sir, isn't your appetite a little too large?"

Lord Li named a figure that left Teng Qingshan, hidden nearby, breathless. Two hundred thousand taels of silver—several Teng Villages might not be able to gather that much.

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

Gu Sheng smiled. "What I actually meant was twenty taels. Twenty taels of purple gold will do!"

Purple gold was a mineral unique to the Nine Provinces of The Nine Cauldrons World. The Qinling Heavenly Emperor, the strongest expert in the world, had used it to forge the divine weapon Heavenly Sword. In the Nine Provinces, purple gold symbolized lofty status. Some wealthy merchants and sect leaders, among others, liked using purple gold as an equivalent currency because it was easy to carry and had a high denomination.

One tael of purple gold was equivalent to one hundred taels of gold or ten thousand taels of silver. Ten taels of purple gold were thus equal to one thousand taels of gold or one hundred thousand taels of silver. Although the value Gu Sheng named and the value Lord Li had offered were equivalent, the two were worlds apart in practice.

Two hundred thousand taels of silver, even in banknotes, would make a conspicuous, bulky package. Besides, withdrawing silver with banknotes required a one-percent handling fee. Two hundred thousand taels of silver would mean paying two thousand taels in fees.

Moreover, every use of banknotes could be traced. Gu Sheng wasn't going to leave himself such a vulnerability. Hard currency was still better.

Purple gold, however, was different. It was denser than gold, and twenty taels of purple gold did not take up much space. It would be easy to carry away.

"Twenty taels of purple gold!"

Lord Li's brows furrowed into a deep crease. Two hundred thousand taels of silver was not difficult for a major salt merchant like him. It would affect his short-term business turnover somewhat, but for his daughter's sake, he was willing to pay it. Twenty taels of purple gold, however, was genuinely difficult for him.

As a salt merchant, his main business was naturally the salt trade. The people who consumed the most salt were the lower classes, so most of his income came in copper coins and silver. There was very little gold in his treasury, let alone the even more precious purple gold.

Although Yicheng was one of the nine major cities of Jiangning Prefecture, its status within Jiangning Prefecture was not particularly high. There were not many truly influential figures, and purple gold had no circulating market here. As far as Lord Li knew, only the Myriad Manifestations Pavilion possessed large quantities of purple gold, but its exchange rate was...

Gu Sheng picked up a plate of pastries from the table and began eating. He sniffed the tea beside him and looked somewhat disdainful. "Butler Li, would you mind replacing it with a bowl of snow clam soup?" he asked the steward nearby with a smile.

The tea at Li Manor might have been good for this era, but after one sniff, Gu Sheng lost interest. It did nothing for his body. Terrible review!

As for snow clam soup, some little girl had just kept showing off her fine clothes and rich food, making it clear in every word that she wanted to take him in as a subordinate. Now that he had seized the initiative, he might as well sample the treatment enjoyed by the powerful.

A troubled look appeared on Butler Li's face. After seeing Lord Li frown and nod, he withdrew to make the arrangements.

The servants of Li Manor moved quickly. Before long, a bowl of warm snow clam soup was delivered before Gu Sheng. Judging from how practiced they were, one could imagine that someone had been ordering them around like this quite often lately.

"Slurp!"

Gu Sheng lifted the porcelain bowl and began gulping it down. As the soup entered his throat, a warm current spread through his entire body. He felt that his Inner Force had actually improved slightly. No wonder that little girl had a bowl every day.

However, without learning Internal Fist, much of the medicinal power could not be fully absorbed. For most martial artists, drinking more would bring no benefit. One bowl a day was already the limit.

"Gurgle, gurgle!"

Gu Sheng's stomach rumbled. With the help of Internal Fist, it had extracted the greatest possible effect from the medicinal soup.

"Ah~"

He set down the porcelain bowl and let out a long breath before smiling at Butler Li. "Um, would you mind bringing me another bowl?"

Butler Li glanced at Lord Li, then went out again.

"Bastard, bastard! This guy has gone too far."

On the roof of the study, Chu Xin (Li Qingyu), unable to speak or move, was nearly furious enough to explode as she watched this scene. This man had not only tied her up, he was also eating her food and using her things. He had gone too far...

"Ah! That feels much better!"

After downing three bowls in succession, Gu Sheng patted his round belly and smiled at Lord Li, who was still deep in thought. "So, Lord Li?"

Lord Li helplessly raised his head. "I can't meet all your demands. I can't produce twenty taels of purple gold at once."

"All right. I knew it."

Gu Sheng said, "How about this? Within ten days, how much purple gold can you produce without sacrificing any of your businesses?"

Lord Li looked at Gu Sheng in surprise. After thinking carefully for a while, he said, "I don't have that much purple gold collected in various places. In ten days, I should be able to transfer back around ten taels."

Gu Sheng opened his mouth in a grin. "Ten taels it is. For the rest, I want rare medicines from the deep mountains and Heavenly Treasures. You should still have quite a few things like that stored away, right? I imagine Li Manor has quite a few as well. You can take some out first."

"That's possible!"

Lord Li pondered for a moment before nodding. He instructed Butler Li, "Li Fu, go to the medicine vault and take out..."

"Good stuff!"

Looking at the five jade boxes before him, Gu Sheng thought, I came here for the right reason. Golden Ginseng as thick as his forearm, Lingzhi as white as jade... These treasures had long since vanished from the modern world, and ordinary martial arts worlds did not have them either. Only in the Spiritual Qi-rich world of The Nine Cauldrons could one find so many.

"Five jade boxes. Let's count them as five taels!"

Gu Sheng held out one hand, then pulled over a length of cloth and packed all five jade boxes inside. With these, he was confident he could raise his comprehension of Tiger Form Fist to an extremely high level in a short time. Combined with the Inner Force manual, reaching the Second-Rate realm would be just around the corner.

"That's acceptable!"

Lord Li nodded. Gathering another five boxes of medicinal ingredients would not be difficult for him. He had businesses in various places, and ten days would be enough time to transfer them here.

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

Gu Sheng slung the bundle over his back, smiled at Lord Li, then casually swept his gaze around and gave hidden Teng Qingshan a signal.

"Please."

Lord Li had also weathered many storms. He rose from his seat without hesitation.

Gu Sheng and Lord Li left the room and headed toward the outside of Li Manor. More than a hundred guards accompanied them. Before long, the small courtyard was empty. No one noticed that after most people had left, a black shadow darted out at incredible speed, rapidly disappearing in the direction opposite the manor gates.

"Lord Li, this is far enough."

Outside the separate compound of Li Manor, Gu Sheng cupped his hands toward Lord Li.

Lord Li did not return the gesture. He warned in a deep voice, "I hope that ten days from now, I will see a daughter who is whole and unharmed. Tell your people to keep their men under control. If anything happens to Qingyu..."

Gu Sheng smiled. "Don't worry. Although your daughter is naturally beautiful, she's still a little too young. I'm not interested in her. There's no need for more idle talk. Farewell!"

As Gu Sheng spoke, he leaped onto a nearby roof. After a cloud of green mist passed, his figure had already vanished.

"Master! We couldn't catch them!"

A quarter of an hour later, two guards came before Lord Li.

"Forget it!"

Lord Li let out a long sigh and turned to walk through the manor gates. His entire body seemed to have stooped several inches.