"Gentlemen, what happened to you...?"
Seeing the two men hurry out looking thoroughly bedraggled, the waiting driver looked over in puzzlement. His searching gaze made their faces burn.
The two exchanged a glance, their faces flushed, and both sighed.
Yu Lü was a little steadier than Fang Xi. "Let's go to the next rice shop."
"Right!" The driver simply agreed without troubling himself over anything else, as though he had not noticed their embarrassment. They had hired him for the entire day for one tael, so naturally he would go wherever his customers wished.
Besides, they were only circling the streets. It would not overtax the ox.
Once inside the carriage, Yu Lü gave a dry cough, glanced at the silent Fang Xi, and said, "Grain is different from silver. Disaster relief, stabilizing rice prices, official salaries, and warfare all require it!"
"However difficult it is, we still have to do this. There are seven rice shops left. Let's visit them, even if all we can do is record their grain prices."
"I know." Fang Xi rallied his spirits. Neither man particularly trusted unfamiliar outsiders, so they had brought no one along this time, merely posing as Cultivated Talents to make inquiries.
They visited several more rice shops, large and small. Once none had slipped through the net, they returned to the inn.
Dusk was approaching. Though the shops packed side by side were still open, there were fewer pedestrians, and their steps were more hurried.
Even traveling incognito, Yu Lü had retained enough sense not to risk staying at some tiny inn or isolated roadside establishment. They had chosen a large inn, grandly built, with a two-story building facing the street. The ground floor held the main hall, while the second floor contained the expensive rooms.
The building also