Chapter 268: Chapter 268. The City Is Sealed
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
“The Second Prince invites the Empress over.”
“The Empress has gone out.”
“Do you know where we are going? The Second Prince is in a hurry.”
Su Qing quickly left the secret chamber and returned to the palace. Outside the palace, a maid from the Second Prince’s palace came to look for the Empress. The guard at the door told her the Empress was not there, but she was still anxiously asking.
“He went to the First Prince’s camp.”
The guard told the second prince’s maid. Soon, footsteps could be heard, and they gradually walked away.
Su Qing returned to the secret room after hearing the sound disappear. The moment he entered, he saw Xiao Qi standing on the incense table and forcefully breaking the head of the Buddha statue. The head of the Buddha statue turned around, and the wall behind the Buddha statue creaked open like a door.
What entered her eyes were large chests filled with gold nuggets and various rare treasures. All the chests were filled with gold, silver, and jewelry, which made the secret chamber golden and brilliant. The royal family was wealthy. The hidden treasures could not be used up even if ordinary people lived a few lifetimes.
Su Qing didn’t care about these treasures and first looked for the thousand-year-old Lingzhi. Xiao Qi skipped into the secret room. Her snow-white fat body was like a fairy in the golden light.
Xiao Qi jumped onto a golden table and handed the black sandalwood box to Su Qing.
“Master, Lingzhi is here.”
Su Qing went over to open the box and examined the Lingzhi inside. It was indeed a thousand-year-old Lingzhi. It was dark brown and had clear patterns. It looked like it had a faint yellow luster. Even the golden light could not suppress the light of the Lingzhi’s spiritual energy.
Su Qing put the box back into the system. She looked at the gold, silver, and jewelry and moved them without hesitation. It would be troublesome to sell them. She only carried the gold nuggets and did not want the jewelry.
Xiao Qi worked hard to help her master carry the gold nuggets. She was strong enough to have a box of gold nuggets at once. Only after taking half of the Empress’ treasures did the two stop.
“We have to leave quickly.”
Su Qing calculated the time and was afraid that the Empress would return. She would leave the remaining half of the gold and silver jewelry for the Empress. This was enough to hurt her significantly.
War required money. Obviously, this Empress was ambitious and coveted Mo City and the Great Xia Kingdom. She would be powerless even if she wanted to invade Mo City if all her money was taken away.
Su Qing returned the Buddha statue to its original state and left the secret chamber.
The guards guarding the palace glanced at her and did not stop her. Su Qing walked toward the kitchen openly.
Seeing Su Qing heading towards the kitchen, the guard retracted his gaze.
Su Qing returned to the yurt where the palace maid, Hong Zhu, was locked up. She changed her clothes back, picked her up, and stood her against the wall. She changed back into the military uniform of the Tartan soldiers and swaggered out of the Empress’s palace.
While Su Qing removed the gold nuggets that the Empress had painstakingly accumulated, Ji Shuisheng met the Tartans sent by the Third Prince to trade at the market.
Before this, someone had come to ask Ji Shuisheng. His godfather had taught him the language of Tartan when he was alive. In the past, Ji Shuisheng did not understand why his godfather had taught him this tongue-twister language. Now, he understood that his godfather was far-sighted and knew he would face the Tartans sooner or later.
The Tartan merchants who came to inquire did not dare to trade with him because they did not understand coal. Ji Shuisheng was not in a hurry and did not want to sell it to them. Su Qing went to look for the Third Prince and bought as much as he could without worrying about sales.
Two merchants dressed in Tartan uniforms walked over. They looked powerful and were about forty years old. Behind them were two carts of good furs, three cattle, and five fat sheep.
A merchant specializing in sewing quickly approached them and wanted to take their things, but they refused. After sweeping the market and seeing Ji Shuisheng and the five carts of coal, they walked over.
“How much?”
They asked Ji Shuisheng in broken Central Plains Chinese.
“A cart of coal for a cart of good leather.”
Ji Shuisheng pointed at the leather in their cart. The two businessmen looked at each other and then looked behind them.
Ji Shuisheng followed their line of sight and saw a tall figure standing at the corner of the street, not far away. It was Yeluchun. Today, he was not wearing Han clothes but the long robe worn by the Tartan nobles. He wore a gold belt and cow leather boots. He looked dignified and noble.
Ji Shuisheng nodded at him, and Yeluchun also smiled and nodded at him.
“Deal, but we only have two carts of leather. Can we exchange these cows and sheep?”
After the two Tartars received Yeluchun’s approval, they started talking to Ji Shuisheng.
“Sure.”
Ji Shuisheng nodded. He did not know how much the coal could be sold for. After all, no one had sold this before, but if the people of Tartar used coal, they would know that it was a good thing.
In exchange for two carts of good hides, three cows, five fat sheep, and five carts of coal. Ji Shuisheng felt that this was a good deal.
When the other businessmen saw the two exchange the black stone in Ji Shuisheng’s hand so generously, they thought they were stupid. However, at the same time, they were also curious about what the black stone was.
If it was something worthless, would they exchange it like this?
This person was afraid of being curious. If someone raised the price, others would think it was good. This was also the reason why some merchants used shillings when selling goods.
These merchants were secretly annoyed. They regretted not exchanging a cart of black stones for a try. If it were an item that could make a lot of money, they would have missed an excellent opportunity to make money.
Ji Shuisheng wanted to return to Mo City after successfully exchanging the goods. He wanted to find Yeluchun to ask about Su Qing, but he left first.
Ji Shuisheng wanted to go and find Su Qing, but he couldn’t leave these goods alone. He was so anxious that his thick eyebrows were tightly knitted together. From time to time, he would look in the direction where the Third Prince appeared.
The other merchants gathered around and asked what the black stone was for.
Ji Shuisheng told them that it was black gold. A little bit of it could keep the house warm for a night, and a cart could replace ten carts of good charcoal.
When they heard that one cart was worth ten carts of charcoal, these merchants regretted not moving earlier.
Charcoal was very expensive in Tartan because the winters in Tartan were long and cold, and water would freeze into ice. Burning cow dung in the yurts was smelly but not warm.
The royal family did not use low-grade things like cow dung. They bought high-quality charcoal for warmth.
The cost of transporting charcoal from the Great Xia Kingdom was extremely high, so the price was extremely high. However, the nobles in the palace were not short of money, so they could buy it no matter how expensive.
They then asked Ji Shuisheng where he was going to sell these hides. Ji Shuisheng did not want to hide it and told them they could sell it to the Great Xia Kingdom.
These people felt that this was a good market. It was also because the Tartan Kingdom was mainly herding and did not lack leather, cattle, or sheep.
Usually, the leather, cattle, and sheep in their hands could only be exchanged for some household items. People in the Great Xia Kingdom wanted them, but it was not worth the long journey for such small things when the two countries were at war. Therefore, they surrounded Ji Shuisheng.
Ji Shuisheng couldn’t leave and could only wait anxiously for Su Qing to return.
Besides, Su Qing had snuck out of the Empress’s palace. She was about to go to the market to find Ji Shuisheng when she saw the Empress’s phoenix carriage return. The royal guards were protecting the carriage from all sides.
The hierarchy of the Tartan Kingdom was strict. Everyone else had to step back when the Empress’s phoenix carriage returned. Su Qing and her met and couldn’t leave. She could only dodge to the side and wait for the carriage to pass before leaving.
The carriage stopped after entering the palace. The Empress sat in the carriage and ordered with a dark face,
“Lock down the entire city and capture the woman who attacked the princess..”
