Old Shopkeeper Zhao's Suggestion

Ye Qin stroked the smooth White Jade Embryo, lost in thought.

"How much for this White Jade Embryo?"

"The entire piece, thirty Gold Leaves. The price is firm."

"Thirty Gold Leaves? That expensive?"

"A treasure that anchors the shop naturally commands a high price. A piece of white jade this large and intact is extremely rare."

Old Shopkeeper Zhao stared at Ye Qin with a sly grin, the corners of his eyes crinkling into a smile.

Under his gaze, that familiar, repulsive feeling stirred in Ye Qin's heart. Suppressing his disgust, Ye Qin did some quick mental math. Thirty Gold Leaves equaled three thousand Silver Leaves. The hundred-odd Silver Leaves he carried in his pocket were a mere pittance, not even enough to buy a tiny corner of this jade. Relying solely on gathering herbs, he could never afford this piece.

The only reason he had dared to come to this jade shop in Zhuqi County was that he still possessed several dozen rare stalks of Dew Grass. They were worth a considerable sum—at least a decent amount per stalk. If he could find a buyer for the Dew Grass, he should have enough money to purchase jade infused with spiritual energy, which he could then use to cultivate the Dew Grass and produce even more.

He simply hadn't expected that the Spring Jade Shop's treasure would indeed be a significant piece of spirit stone, but one with a price tag as high as thirty Gold Leaves. That amount would essentially trade away all the Dew Grass he had.

Ye Qin did not agree immediately; he needed to find a buyer for his herbs first before carefully considering whether to purchase this pricey White Jade Embryo. "I am quite satisfied with this White Jade Embryo. However, I would like to make a request of Shopkeeper Zhao. I cannot produce that much money at once, so I hope you can hold onto it for a while. Please do not sell this piece; I will return to claim it once I have gathered the funds."

Old Shopkeeper Zhao waved for the maid to exit the inner chamber, then sat down on a sandalwood chair beside the tea table. He pulled out an old pipe, lit it, and took a deep drag. "Easy, easy. As long as Young Master Ye wants to buy it, I will do my best to keep it for you. A treasure like this often sits for a year or more without selling, so waiting half a month is no trouble at all. However, there is something I am not sure if I should say." He began to ponder, looking at Ye Qin with that same smiling expression again.

Ye Qin did not take the bait. He had long suspected that Old Shopkeeper Zhao had something to say to him but had been holding back. Now that the old man was deliberately steering the conversation, he clearly wanted Ye Qin to ask. Ye Qin felt a strong aversion to the old fox's posturing and chose to act as if he hadn't heard, refusing to engage.

Old Shopkeeper Zhao deliberately lingered in silence for a moment. Seeing that Ye Qin wouldn't bite, he felt a slight embarrassment, coughed, and continued in a slow, leisurely tone: "Actually, Young Master Ye, you don't necessarily have to use money to trade for my jade. If you are willing, you could perfectly well use medicinal herbs or finished medicines to trade for it."

A flash of wary brilliance crossed Ye Qin's eyes, and he stood up abruptly.

He had not expected this to be Old Shopkeeper Zhao's intention. Trading medicinal herbs privately with outsiders was an absolute taboo within the Herb Gathering Hall.

Herbs collected by disciples were not allowed to be sold privately; they had to be turned over to the inner hall. The finished medicines produced by the inner hall's alchemists were then handed over to the Medicine King Gang, which set uniform prices and sold them at a high premium throughout Ping Province.

As the fifth-largest gang in Ping Province, with a primary focus on herbs and medicine, the Medicine King Gang relied entirely on the exorbitant profits from these goods to bolster its strength. Naturally, they cracked down severely on any internal behavior involving the private sale of herbs or medicine.

Among the ten major gang rules and punishments of the Medicine King Gang, the crime of private trading was ranked only behind betraying the gang or one's master.

If a disciple was caught trading privately with an outsider, they would face capital punishment. In the punishment chambers of the Herb Gathering Hall, eight or nine out of ten victims were flayed and dismembered, tortured to death by blood loss for private trafficking.

Having spent four or five years in the Herb Gathering Hall, how could Ye Qin not know its strict rules? How could he be unaware of the vicious, bone-chilling methods used to punish disciples who engaged in private trade?

His first reaction was to leave the Spring Jade Shop immediately to avoid any association.

Old Shopkeeper Zhao sat comfortably in his chair, flicked his old pipe, and let out a cold, mocking laugh. "Young Master Ye, stop the act. We are both people who know how things work. As an outer hall herb-gathering disciple, even if you worked yourself to death for twenty or thirty years, I doubt you could earn enough to buy this White Jade Embryo. Besides selling herbs and medicine privately, what other way could you possibly have to make money? Since you are already here, why not talk properly? Heaven knows, earth knows, you know, and I know. As long as it doesn't reach a third person's ears, it is impossible for anyone to find out. What are you worried about?"

Ye Qin stood at the doorway of the inner chamber with a cold expression, but in the end, he did not step out.

However, he was already furious to the core.

He was not angry because Old Shopkeeper Zhao had encouraged him to sell herbs privately.

He was angry because he had already been planning to do exactly that.

Otherwise, where would he get the money to buy spirit stones?

But was this something that could be shared with a second person?

No, absolutely not.

This was something he had to keep to himself; he could never let another soul know. He only trusted his own ability to keep his mouth shut; he would never trust anyone else not to leak the secret.

His current anger was more of a defensive shame—the frustration of being exposed while harboring dark, illicit intentions.

Ye Qin was already calculating how to handle the situation. A flash of murderous intent crossed his mind for a split second, but he quickly dismissed it. This Old Shopkeeper Zhao had been running a jade shop in Zhuqi County for a long time; his background was likely not simple. Killing him rashly would likely only invite more trouble.

Ye Qin couldn't help but think to himself that his experience in the world was still not seasoned enough. A mere shopkeeper of a jade store had easily seen through his intentions.

Thinking about it carefully, his current actions were indeed highly suspicious.

A young herb-gathering disciple of only sixteen, with at most a few Gold Leaves to his name—buying a cheap, small jade pendant would be fine, but how could he dare to inquire about the shop's anchor treasure worth thirty Gold Leaves?

Any scrutiny would reveal that something was wrong with him. The old shopkeeper recognizing him as a disciple of the Herb Gathering Hall and seeing through his intent to trade privately was inevitable. This was a lesson; he could not be so careless in the future!

Now, the most important thing was how to deal with the situation at hand.