Green Mountain

Bianyifang Restaurant.

The most famous restaurant in the Imperial Capital, it is located on the most powerful Chessboard Street, frequented by nobility.

In the main hall of Bianyifang, two faint oil lamps were lit, and a man was hanging from the beam with his hands bound by hemp rope.

Third Master Hu lashed his back with a woven rattan whip: "Do you know that those four hundred thousand salt permits can feed how many people, how many rely on this livelihood to survive?"

Third Master Hu's blinded eye subjected the man to a fierce glare: "How many days does it take to transport the grain to Datong? And how many to Guyuan?"

"How much grain can you exchange for those four hundred thousand salt permits? How many days can the Guyuan Border Army feed with it?"

With every question asked by Third Master Hu, he struck once more.

The rattan whip struck the man's back, and he gritted his teeth, enduring the pain, letting his back split open, sweat dripping from his chin and hair.

Just then, footsteps approached.

A woman in black slowly emerged from the darkness into the light, her face obscured by the black veil of her hat. Behind her, the coachman carried a brown deerskin bag under his arm.

Third Master Hu stepped aside, slowly lowering the rattan whip in his hand: "Landlord."

The woman in black approached the hanging man: "Do you realize your mistake?"

The man gritted his teeth: "Landlord, within seven days I'll bring you the heads of that bastard Chen Yue and the people from Meihua Ferry Crossing. Save yourself the trouble, I'll settle it myself once I retrieve the salt permits."

The woman in black extended her hand to the side.

The coachman squatted down and opened the deerskin bag he had been carrying, revealing three short knives of varying thickness.

The coachman drew one out and handed the handle to the woman's palm.

The woman plunged the knife into the man's abdomen, the blade piercing through to the back: "Greed."

Then she extended her hand again, and the coachman handed over the second knife.

She also stabbed the second knife into the man's abdomen: "Anger."

The woman stabbed the third knife into the man's abdomen: "Ignorance."

Three knives, six wounds.

Third Master Hu sighed softly.

"Rest assured, I avoided the vital points; he won't die." The woman turned her head: "You know what those salt permits are for; no one can act rashly. You have to ensure the borderline people can earn a living, so they continue to supply grain to the border towns. If you let them suffer losses, no one will care for the border towns. Rules are rules; a plea for sympathy can't be used to escape them."

Third Master Hu murmured: "Understood."

The coachman brought over a chair, and the woman sat down: "Explain what happened."

Third Master Hu quietly explained: "Little Nine had just returned from Datong with people, planning to find a mediator to exchange the salt permits for grain. The store manager of Chen Family Salt Shop, Chen Yue, approached him, promising twenty thousand taels of silver. He thought there was no harm in earning this silver, as it would be easy for the Chen family on Fuyou Street to ruin a landlord in Baishun Alley."

The woman lightly asked: "And then?"

Third Master Hu replied with a complicated expression: "Who would have thought that the landlord from Meihua Ferry Crossing would be so shameless and ruthless, toying with the store manager of Chen Family Salt Shop in his palm. Now, all the store managers of Chen Family Salt Shop have vanished overnight, probably having been betrayed and killed by the Chen family."

The woman frowned: "What does the landlord of Meihua Ferry Crossing intend to do?"

Third Master Hu carefully elaborated: "Previously, Meihua Ferry Crossing suddenly began a salt permit trading market. He leveraged the influence of Southern literati, inviting them... Once the salt permit market began, he took one in a thousand from each transaction between buyers and sellers and stipulated that sellers must pay a twenty-per-cent deposit, refundable after seven days..."

The woman suddenly remarked: "This person is exceedingly ambitious."

Being well-versed in money matters, she immediately discerned the plan.

The other party's commission and manipulation of store managers were mere tactics; acquiring this twenty-per-cent deposit was the goal.

The woman closed her eyes, thoroughly reviewing Third Master Hu's words, realizing that the opponent was paving the way for this step from the start.

She opened her eyes and said: "Clever tactics."

Third Master Hu nodded: "The store managers of Chen Family Salt Shop deserved their demise."

The woman turned to look at Third Master Hu: "Who is the landlord of Meihua Ferry Crossing? Such a person cannot be an unknown figure; an unknown figure would not have this confidence."

Third Master Hu hesitated before speaking.

The woman spoke calmly: "What, is there a secret?"

Third Master Hu waved to the men around him: "Take Little Nine away to heal his wounds, and warn everyone about the three knives and six wounds, ensuring no one else breaks the rules. Guard the front and back doors, and don't let anyone in without my or the Landlord's permission."

When everyone had left thoroughly, the woman said casually: "Speak. Who exactly is the landlord of Meihua Ferry Crossing, needing such secrecy."

Third Master Hu stated with certainty: "Chen Ji."

The woman sat silently in the dim light.

Silence.

Silence.

After a long while, she exclaimed: "How could it be him?"

Third Master Hu sighed: "Landlord, you didn't expect it, nor did I."

The woman in black stood, pacing in the main hall of Bianyifang: "Wasn't he apprenticing at the Taiping Medical Hall before? Shouldn't he have been learning medicine there? How did he suddenly become an Executive Officer and then suddenly know how to do business?"

Third Master Hu pondered for a moment: "Perhaps he took after you. But Landlord, I can understand your business; I can't understand his."

The woman lowered her head in thought for a moment: "What background does Doctor Yao have? What happened to him after the collapse of Prince Jing Mansion?"

Third Master Hu shook his head: "He disappeared."

The woman sat back in the chair, tapping her fingers on the armrest: "Doctor Yao is mysterious. After Prince Jing's death, he should have been reassigned to the Imperial Hospital, but he vanished instead? Old Three, investigate Doctor Yao, see what he has done in the past."

Third Master Hu cupped his fists: "Yes... What should we do about those four hundred thousand salt permits? Should we find a way to pressure Meihua Ferry Crossing to hand them over?"

The woman was silent again.

For the first time, Third Master Hu saw the woman hesitant about business matters.