In a secret chamber of the Chu Family in the inner city.
The heads of the Five Great Aristocratic Families sat upright behind the tables, an invisible pressure rippling back and forth through the chamber.
Yet the one in the seat of honor was a young man. Of the other four, three were middle-aged men, and one was a white-haired elder.
After a long while, Huang Su broke the silence. "What exactly did the Chu Family summon us here for? At a critical moment like this, who knows how many people are watching? We'd do well to keep gatherings like this to a minimum!"
The other three turned their flickering gazes toward Chu Lin. Though none of them spoke, their meaning was already clear.
Seeing this, Chu Lin finally spoke. "Deng Guang already knows we're the ones selling the new Qi and Blood Pills."
The four looked startled at his words, but soon regained their composure. Anyone capable of becoming the head of a family had naturally weathered storms.
Wei Zheng snorted coldly. "So what if he knows? Unless he acts immediately, it's still anyone's guess who'll bring down the deer!"
The others nodded inwardly. Given the City Guard's capabilities, it was hardly surprising that their investigation had led to them.
A sharp gleam flashed through Wen Yan's eyes. "Brother Chu, surely you didn't summon us here just to tell us that?"
Once they had quieted down, Chu Lin said slowly, "The only reason Deng Guang hasn't acted yet is that he's waiting for conclusive evidence so he can catch us all in one net. That would make him the biggest winner, and then he'd have the final say over all of Duchang City."
The others nodded slightly. After some consideration, Zheng Yue couldn't help asking, "Then how should we respond?"
Chu Lin paused before continuing, "Deng Guang wants to maximize his gains, but don't we want the same thing? So our only chance is to each show what we can do during this time and cooperate with all our strength."
Huang Su couldn't help pressing him. "Brother Chu, stop beating around the bush. Just tell us what we need to do!"
"It's simple. Since Deng Guang wants more evidence against us, we'll play along with his scheme and give him more. Uncle Huang, build two more medicine-making sites outside the city and lower the price to three taels a pill. Make even the martial artists who couldn't afford them before unable to resist emptying their coffers to buy them. Once they've bought our medicine, they've boarded our boat. Those martial artists will be tied to us. The City Guard has two thousand soldiers. When the time comes, let them throw their lives into filling that gap!"
Huang Su nodded slightly.
A flash of madness passed through Chu Lin's eyes. "Uncle Wei, hurry up with training the martial artists outside the city. Give them more resources. If there aren't enough new Qi and Blood Pills, transfer some over from the production sites. Make sure they develop as quickly as possible. I have only one requirement: make them as strong as possible in as little time as possible. It doesn't matter even if they're only meat shields. They're all human material. Increase their doses. They won't live long anyway. Understood?"
Wei Zheng straightened at his words and cupped his hands, respectfully accepting the order.
Good heavens, what a novel term. Human talent indeed!
Chu Lin turned his head slightly, his gaze settling on Wen Yan. "Even these moves won't be enough to ensure success. Military force alone isn't enough to control a city! Elder Wen, a city needs firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, and tea to function. Find a way to control these everyday necessities. Just raise the prices gradually, and make sure the residents can't buy supplies through other channels! But don't let too many of them starve to death. We need everyone in the city on edge. Many City Guard soldiers have families in the city too. That way, their morale will already be weakened by three-tenths before the fighting even begins!"
Wen Yan stood dumb as a wooden chicken, his Adam's apple bobbing as he weighed his words. "Brother Chu, I'm afraid this will starve quite a few townspeople to death. It may offend the harmony of heaven."
A trace of blood-red had already crept into Chu Lin's eyes. He sneered. "Offend the harmony of heaven? If those lowborn wretches die, they die. History is written by the victors. As long as we win, no one will bring up this rubbish. As long as we succeed, great scholars will come forth to argue my case!"
A look of struggle flashed across Wen Yan's face, but it soon returned to normal. "I understand."
Seeing this, Xiao Yue hurriedly spoke up. "Brother Chu, what should I do?"
"Uncle Xiao, I need you to stir things up among the martial halls in the outer city. Across the outer city's five wards, there are twenty-six martial halls and over thirty escort agencies, large and small. More or less all the city's martial artists have either studied martial arts or earned a living in them. Win over as many as you can, and suppress every one that refuses to cooperate. But be careful how far you go. Don't push them so hard that they leap over the wall like cornered dogs and flee. Just make sure they don't spoil things. These hall masters and escort chiefs are all seasoned hands who've traveled far and wide. They'll know what to do."
Xiao Yue immediately understood.
After the five finished discussing some details, they soon left to carry out the plan.
The next day, a piece of news sent the entire city into an uproar: the new Qi and Blood Pills were actually selling for three taels each, a straight fifty-percent discount.
Many martial artists in the outer city who had previously been unable to afford them smashed their pots and sold their iron to buy the new Qi and Blood Pills. Some even went so far as to sell themselves to the various factions.
Before long, the situation in the city grew even more tense. Deaths and injuries from street fights became commonplace, and some martial artists even took desperate risks and committed robberies within the city.
Chen Tie was powerless in the face of this situation, so he simply took his younger sister, Chen Xi, to the martial hall every day to help Mo Fang with simple chores and learn to read and write along the way.
Aside from that, Chen Tie continued his martial training as usual, traveling only between home and the martial hall.
Over the past few days, however, he had noticed that Shen Yan and Xu Da were arriving at the martial hall later and later.
Today, the two did not arrive until the afternoon. Chen Tie hurried over to greet them. Seeing that both his senior brothers looked rather listless, he asked a question.
"Second Senior Brother, Third Senior Brother, have you run into some trouble?"
Shen Yan replied, "Junior Brother Chen, you know how chaotic things have become. My family's pork business has often been affected too."
"Pork is a daily necessity for ordinary people. Surely the impact shouldn't be that great?" Chen Tie asked curiously.
"That's how it should be. Basic necessities generally don't fluctuate much, but recently, there have been strict inspections in the city, and they won't let pork be brought in in large quantities. Their reason is that they're afraid it might cause an epidemic?"
Understanding dawned on Chen Tie. "No wonder meat prices in the city have been changing every day lately. Someone's clearly pulling strings behind the scenes."
"Exactly. Only the inner city's aristocratic families could do something on this scale. And someone is secretly squeezing supplies of firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, and tea too. Prices have all risen. Plummeting business would be bad enough, but life has become even harder for the common people at the bottom."
Xu Da interjected, "It isn't just the supply of daily necessities that's being squeezed. Even the escort business has become difficult. In the past, transport within the city was handled by the various escort agencies, whether it was grain, cloth, or medicine. But now the Zheng Family in the inner city has set up a Zheng Family Escort Agency. They've used threats and inducements to get quite a few outer-city factions to join them, and most escort and transport jobs now go to the Zheng Family Escort Agency."
At this point, Shen Yan said apologetically, "Junior Brother Chen, your monthly pay will have to be a few days late this month."
"Eldest Senior Brother, that's no problem."
Chen Tie cupped his hands.
"Senior Brothers, do you know why the aristocratic families in the city are doing this?"
Xu Da said slowly, "Most likely, they're fighting for power and profit. The aristocratic families may want greater power. After all, in some cities, aristocratic families or sects already have the final say."