Getting the Money Back

It had been nearly two years, and Lu Qiying still hadn't adjusted to his new profession.

He used to be the owner of the most famous tavern in Biyu South City. So many high-ranking people had sought him out just to taste the fine wines in his collection. Some had even visited him in person, giving him face and silver in equal measure. Shopkeeper Lu had lived in splendor without ever leaving home.

Now he owned a camel caravan. He made less money and spent every day on tenterhooks, afraid that bandits might attack the caravan on the road and leave him with nothing. In the war-torn Western Regions, such things happened all too often.

Lu Qiying had bought the caravan cheaply when war broke out, convinced that peace would soon return to the Western Regions. Unfortunately, things hadn't gone as he'd hoped. The fighting had gradually eased, but the war itself had grown larger and larger. To keep the caravan afloat, cautious as ever, Lu Qiying had no choice but to take on safer jobs.

After a few trips, Lu Qiying discovered that bandits weren't the only headache. The caravan hands were slippery, too. They were always colluding with one another to sell off the customers' goods, then swearing up and down that bandits were to blame.

After leaving Jade City and moving to the Shule Kingdom, Lu Qiying had few people he could trust. He had no choice but to supervise things himself, traveling over mountains and across rivers with the caravan, sleeping rough, dealing with bandits and soldiers, and paying for safe passage.

"Being alive to spend your money matters more than anything." That was the saying he'd taken to repeating lately. He was a businessman and had hired a large number of saber-wielding guards, but did