Chapter 98: The Apothecary That Shocked the Capital (Part 2)

  At noon, the south gate of the capital.

  The prosperity of the capital is already a universally acknowledged fact. To see the prosperity of the capital, one does not need to enter the city, just standing at the gate of the south gate and taking a look at the pedestrians on the road can glimpse it.

  A not-too-luxurious carriage drove up to the south gate and stopped, then an old man wearing a black robe jumped out of the carriage first, and he reached out to help down a man wearing a round-collared long shirt.

  The man looked to be around fifty years old, with a frail build and pale complexion. He held a silver silk handkerchief over his mouth, and when the wind blew, he seemed to sway slightly before coughing lightly several times.

  The man took a deep breath and carefully got off the carriage while holding onto the old man's hand.

  After standing firmly on the ground, the old man turned to the man driving the horse cart and said: "Xiao Wu, after you drive the horse cart into the city, find an inn to stay in first, then feed the horses well. Later, I will go with Fu Bo to find you."

  "Oh." Little Wu nodded and drove the horse carriage into the city.

  Seeing Xiao Wu leave, the man nodded at Fu Bo and said, "Let's go, Fu Bo. We'll go to the palace first to see the Empress Dowager."

  "Good." Fu Bo followed the man into the city, his position carefully chosen, slightly lagging behind the man by about a body length, but not so far away.

  He walked with his body hunched over, as if his back would never straighten up. But if you pay close attention, you'll see that his slightly dull eyes are always quietly scanning the surroundings, like a poisonous snake forever on high alert.

  As he walked past the south gate, a row of beggars squatting by the side of the road sized up the man. Refined and elegant, thin in build, and dressed in luxurious attire, these three factors combined led the beggars to almost conclude that as long as they begged from this man, they would definitely gain something.

  It's not clear which beggar took the lead, but suddenly they all rushed towards the man at once. The man retreated three steps back, these three steps seemed ordinary, but they pulled open a relatively safe distance from these beggars.

  "Hey boss, be kind and give us a little reward..."

  "Alright, alright, sir..."

  The man coughed slightly twice, then looked at Fu Bo beside him and nodded slightly.

  Mr. Fu immediately pulled out a purse of coins from his bosom and began scattering silver pieces, the beggars jostling each other to get in front of Mr. Fu, afraid that there wouldn't be enough for them if they were late.

  It's also unknown which beggar had the guts to suddenly grab at Master Fu's money bag.

  Fubo's eyes flashed a cold light, he grasped the hand and pulled the person in front of him with a sudden force, then kicked the person's chest with one foot.

  All that was heard was a "crack!" sound, and then the beggar was kicked flying at least three meters away, landing on the ground and spitting out a mouthful of blood before lying still.

  "Murder! Murder!" Instantly, the city gate was in an uproar. The beggars surrounded Fu Bo and the man, chattering away: "They've killed someone, they've murdered someone, take them to the yamen!"

  "Right! Let them pay with money and their lives!"

  Fu Bo stood still on the spot, his face calm and unruffled, as if the fierce kick just now was not made by him.

  The guards at the city gate, hearing the commotion on this side, immediately ran over and used their scabbards to push away the beggars, then loudly shouted: "What's going on here?"

  "They've killed someone!" a beggar shouted boldly.

  "Murder?" A team leader in the city guard said to the thin man and Fu Bo, "You two, come with me to the Yamen."

  Fu Bo looked at him and indifferently spat out a word: "Scram!"

  The team leader was furious upon hearing this and loudly shouted: "What a big nerve, killing someone and still daring to be arrogant in front of me!"

  As he spoke, Que suddenly drew out a steel knife from his waist.

  "Let's go!"

  "Let's go!"

  Suddenly, a cavalry team galloped towards this side, and several beggars were knocked flying because the horse was too fast. The people on the cavalry team stopped their horses, dismounted, and led the horses to scatter in both directions.

  Then, the sound of "dang dang dang" slowly and elegantly rose, a white-faced, beardless man wearing a dark red cross-collared long gown rode a sorrel horse slowly approaching.

  Perhaps it was the heavy murderous aura on this horse team that made everyone in the field suddenly quiet, with no one speaking.

  The last man to appear walked up and also reined in his horse, then dismounted and bowed with a fist: "Your Highness, the Emperor has ordered you to enter the palace immediately after entering the palace to see him."

  The man smiled slightly and nodded.

  The man then bowed to Fu Bo again and smiled: "Fu Gonggong, it's been many years since we last met."

  Fu Bo raised his eyes and glanced at the man, saying lightly: "So it's Liu Jin. It's been many years since we last met. I didn't expect you to become the head of the Eastern Depot now. Your master can't compare to you in any way."

  Fu Gonggong was very courteous, thinking back to when Fu Gonggong was in charge of the Imperial Guard, he was also a majestic figure. Later, being able to follow the prince to Anluo State to enjoy his old age was even more admirable, Liu Jin said with courtesy.

  Fu Bo hummed softly and didn't say anything else.

  Liu Jin pointed behind him and said to the man: "The king is waiting for you."

  The man glanced at Liu Jin and then walked out first, while Fu Bo followed closely behind, with the position of movement still unchanged as before.

  Then everyone left, but the guard at the gate did not move because he was scared stiff.

  What kind of people are they? Liu Jin, the eunuch from the Eastern Depot? The Prince? The former head of the Imperial Censorate? Zuo Zheng felt his brain was not reacting quickly enough, anyway he only knew that anyone inside could crush him to death as easily as crushing an ant.

  Wang Ye, Liu Jin and Fu Bo walked far away.

  After walking a certain distance, King Xingxian Zhu Youjian and Liu Jin walked side by side. He smiled and said: "It is said that the East Factory's ears and eyes are all over the world. Today, I saw it and it was indeed famous for nothing. Our king had just entered the capital and didn't expect Liu Gonggong to know already."

  "Your Highness is overpraising me. It's just that Your Highness is someone the Emperor specifically entrusted to meet, so Liu Jin will pay special attention, that's all."

  "Is there really no hope?" Zhu Youxiao suddenly asked inexplicably.

  Liu Jin fell silent for two seconds, then nodded slightly and said in a lowered voice: "Abandon the chariot to save the commander, the young master will definitely not be able to be saved."

  Zhu Youhao took a slight breath, and suddenly he coughed twice.

  After stopping his cough, Zhu Youxiao looked ahead with both eyes and asked: "Then I'll ask you, apart from Hou Xi being at fault this time, who should take the greatest responsibility?"

  "What does your lordship mean by this?" Liu Jin suddenly stopped in his tracks.

  Zhu Youxiao also stopped, looking calmly at Liu Jin and saying lightly: "What does the Grand Secretary think this king means?"

  Liu Jin sighed slightly, "I advise you not to think about revenge, the person you want to find has a deep relationship with the emperor."

  "Can my son just die in vain?" asked Zhu Youjian.

  Liu Jin was silent for a moment, then said a name: "Jiang Xia."

  "Thank you." Zhu Youdun suddenly took a step forward, and in a low voice said to Liu Jin: "Liu Gonggong, actually I have a pretty good relationship with Zhu Chenhao too. When we're free, we can all get together sometime."

  After finishing speaking, Zhu Youxiao turned around and left.

  Liu Jin gazed at Zhu Youxiao's back, his expression changing repeatedly. After a long silence, Liu Jin suddenly smiled again and muttered to himself: "The imperial family is related by blood, which one of them is not a waste of oil?"

  Liu Jin didn't know that after Zhu Youxiao walked a few steps away, he whispered to Fu Bo: "Help me investigate someone named Jiang Xia."

  "Yes." Fu Bo responded and unexpectedly parted ways with Zhu Youxiao.

  At this moment, Jiang Xia was on Sanlihe Street. He finally gave his store a name, a simple and straightforward one - Jiuyang Feifeng.

  After seven days of preparation, Jiang Xia had prepared a lot of Fei Feng Dan and Jiu Yang Dan, thinking that he could hold on for a while.

  He also estimated that there would be many people coming to buy, so he pulled all the staff from Tianban to the store to help at once.

  But today the store reopened, and outside the store was already crowded with people. There were men and women, either servants or maids. They held a large amount of silver or treasure notes in their hands, waiting for the moment when the door opened.

  Jiang Xia was also startled by the scene in front of him when he arrived at the store with his men, and immediately let Liang Wenhuan and others go to tidy up the troops and line them up.

  As everyone lined up in a long queue, Jiang Xia led the people to open the shop door. The first house servant in line excitedly waved the treasure note in his hand and said: "I'll buy... I'll buy Jiuyang Dan, one hundred pills."

  "What? One hundred, oh my, big customer!" Liang Wenhuan got excited upon hearing this, but Jiang Xia shook his head and said: "Not for sale, each person is limited to ten."

  "Ah?" The Ding family was taken aback for a moment. Liang Wenhuan couldn't help but ask, "Why not sell it? That's silver!"

  Jiang Xia shook his head and pointed at the endless long dragon: "No limited purchase, you go and explain to them later."

  "Hurry up, what are you waiting for..." Just wait a moment, the people behind have already started shouting.

  Liang Wennan shrunk his neck and immediately stopped talking.

  That Ding's face suddenly changed, and he coldly said: "Hey, my family's master is a fifth-grade official, you can't afford to offend him."

  Jiang Xia pointed to Liang Wennan beside him and said, "His grandfather was a high-ranking official of the third rank, who do you think is more important?"

  "His master is still a high-ranking official of the first rank, who do you think is more formidable?" Liang Wenhuan pointed at Jiang Xia and said.

  That family was stunned for a moment, Jiang Xia's face changed color and immediately said: "Get out, I won't sell you medicine anymore."

  "That... " The Ding family was stunned.

  Jiang Xia suddenly shouted loudly: "Get out of here, don't delay the people behind!"

  "Yeah, what are you still standing there for? Get lost! I've been waiting for half a day already, if you delay any further, I'll beat you to death!" The commotion from behind grew louder.