The two women treated Hou Niao as one of their own and spoke openly with him. Naturally, Hou Niao would return a peach for the plum they had offered.
"You want gengjing ore? There's no need to rush. Wait a little while; things should change in Zhongqing City. I can't promise anything else, but leave your supplies to me, sisters. I guarantee you'll be satisfied."
He did not mention his identity. There was no need. He had yet to make up his mind about how exactly to deal with this whole mess in Pingliang Prefecture, but he was close.
Lanting hesitated slightly, then spoke up in appeal. "Senior Brother, I heard the Zhongqing Commerce Guild will be selling off its stockpiled gengjing ore in a few days. Could you ask someone involved to set aside a share for us? We don't need much, but Sanjiang Prefecture has been pressing us rather urgently. If we're delayed too long..."
Hou Niao thought for a moment. "Yes. To ease the shortage of gengjing ore shipments, Zhongqing's three prefectures unanimously decided to use the stockpiles to offset the effects of the robbery as much as possible. The stockpiles will be divided into three portions: one for the Central Army Prefecture to allocate, one for the Pastoral Marshal Prefecture to distribute, and one placed under the Commandant Prefecture.
"I can't promise anything about the rest, but I can find a way with the portion assigned by the Commandant Prefecture. Setting some aside for you won't be a problem, though the quantity won't be very large. You should know there are plenty of people looking to ship goods."
Lanruo was very grateful. "Thank you for your help, Senior Brother. You have no idea how tight things have been for our Northern Anhe branch in these matters