Chapter 56: Six Dynasties Jiankang City

The young man who the cashier called for was dressed in a gray linen suit. He frowned for a quick moment after opening the silk pouch and taking a glance at the spice bits inside. He raised his head up after a while before saying to Chu Yu, “My honored guest…”

He had just begun to speak when she interrupted him, “Can I speak to you in private?”

The other person considered it for a moment and nodded. He guided Chu Yu and Yue Jiefei to exit through the side door and crossed a plant nursery before arriving in an empty room. The three of them took their standing positions as he spoke in a calm and composed manner, “My honored guest, your spices are ground up too finely and mixed too well. I’m afraid that it’s quite difficult to make out the whole compound.”

Chu Yu replied kindly, “Had it been intact, then there would’ve been no need for me to come to see you anymore.” It was precisely due to the challenge that she needed to seek professional help.

The youth in gray choked on his words at her remark. He reconsidered and agreed to the proposition. Then, he walked to one of the walls where a smooth stone slab was propped up on a wooden frame near the wall. Light penetrated through the window pillar and illuminated the edge of the stone slab.

The youth in gray shook his wrist gently and scattered a portion of the spices inside the silk pouch onto the stone slab. Soon after that, he procured a napkin in the same color as his linen suit. A hidden pocket was sewn into the napkin with tools of all shapes placed inside the pocket. The youth took out a tiny cubic inch spoon to spread out the small pile of spices in a slow and even manner. He had very steady hands and an extremely focused expression. The tip of his spoon picked up the spice crumbs dexterously for him to sniff with his nose.

Even though the young man’s skilled movements calmed Chu Yu, she could not refrain from asking after waiting for a moment, “Hey, how long will this take?”

The young man was silent for a moment before he spoke, “My honored guest, there are a total of over twenty types of spices in the silk pouch. I’m not adequately skilled to identify all the spices that quickly.” He had a liberal look on his face and was neither haughty nor humble, so Chu Yu had a favorable opinion of him.

Chu Yu pondered for a moment. “Is there anybody in Jiankang City that is more experienced in spices?”

The corners of the young man’s lips curved up ever so slightly and he appeared slightly more self-conceited. “Your Highness, there are many shops and halls in Jiankang City. No one knows spices more than I do, but if one were to nitpick, there can only be one more person who is better than I am. However, he’s a high-ranking official. I’m afraid that you won’t be able to meet him. If you’re willing to wait for half a day, I shall seek guidance from that person, then I’ll be back to notify you, Your Highness.”

Judging from his tone and expression, it seemed like the young man was very confident in the high-ranking official.

Chu Yu could not refrain herself from chuckling. She thought to herself, ‘A high-ranking government official? Other than the emperor, which high-ranking government official could I not meet at my wish due to my current identity?’ She just did not wish to create such huge publicity just for a mere bag of spices.

Chu Yu pondered for a moment. She was well aware that she should not be overly demanding, so she said, “That’s fine too. I’ll be back at this time tomorrow to seek the results from you. I shall leave the perfume pouch with you first and retrieve it tomorrow when I’m back.”

She walked back along the same path that she came from and returned to Xinlan Marketplace. She found that Pei Shu was still in the shop. Hesitating ever so slightly, she walked forward and cracked a smile. “Brother Pei, I hope that you’re in good health.” She could almost confirm by now that Xiao Bie had not spread the word about his enmity with her and that he had not revealed her identity. Otherwise, Pei Shu would not be greeting her with such enthusiasm.

Both of them acknowledged one another. Chu Yu had an apologetic look on her face when Pei Shu proposed visiting Huan Yuan. She said, “That cousin of mine is busy studying in a closed room recently and has politely declined visitors.” She was originally under the assumption that Xiao Bie would have told others about her identity, so her connection to Pei Shu would be considered broken. However, it seemed like there was still wiggle room judging by the current situation. Chu Yu felt an idea emerge in her mind as her previous idea from the other day was brought back to life once again.

Thus, the expression on her face turned even more earnest and sincere.

Currently, she would never allow Pei Shu to pay Huan Yuan a visit. He was a trump card that she would hold on to for as long as possible, and she would only play it when the time was right.

Pei Shu was slightly dejected after learning that the human poem-composing machine Huan Yuan was declining visitors. Soon, he immediately remembered that Chu Yu was the carrier of the human poem-composing machine, so he began engaging in a passionate conversation with her.

Both of them engaged in the conversation for a while. Pei Shu talked about how he received Wang Yizhi’s invitation and was about to pay him a visit later. Since he was invited to a private gathering held in Wang Yizhi’s house, Chu Yu seized the opportunity to request to go along with him.

Pei Shu was slightly hesitant. “Uh…” Before he could utter a word, the expression on his face already revealed his uncertainty as if he was planning to reject her request.

Chu Yu was calm and composed as she played her trump card. “My cousin doesn’t enjoy socializing with others, but I, on the other hand, am hoping that he can be acquainted with more intellects.” She refused to believe that the human poem-composing machine Huan Yuan would be able to resist the temptation of these scholars.

Pei Shu took the bait at once. “Even though your request is a little abrupt, Brother Yizhi is a generous person and I believe that he won’t mind. However, Brother Xiao will be there too. If there’s any trouble between both of you, it’s best for you to solve it earlier.”

Chu Yu agreed amicably before following Pei Shu to walk out of Xinlan Marketplace along with Yue Jiefe.

…

The ancient capital city of the Six Dynasties Jiankang was the surviving ruins in the modern municipal region of Nanjing. At this period, it had yet to fully experience the six dynasties in its name. Jiankang City was situated in the Yangtze River Delta region without any firmly built city walls and gate. Although the area of the main city was not considered huge, it was surrounded by many more small cities outside. A loosely-fit city planning like this that broke through the limitations of city walls was rarely seen even throughout the entire history of China.

Wang Yizhi’s house was located in Changgan Street on the southern side of the main city which was the gathering spot of notable families and great clans.

They ordered a manned boat from the bank of the river. Three of them boarded the boat and traveled downstream while enjoying the bustling scene along the river. The boat floated all the way until it reached Changgan Street before it touched dry land. Then, they followed Pei Shu to cross a few streets before arriving in front of a house with gray tiles and white walls.

Compared to the walls of the influential officials’ houses in the surroundings, the walls of this house were truly much lower. It felt just like a pure, gentle, ordinary plant in the midst of threatening noble-looking jade blossoms and jewel trees. It appeared slightly out of place, but Chu Yu find the house to be extremely pleasing to the eye.

The bright red wooden door was opened halfway unlike the other strictly guarded and tightly closed high doors that she had seen along the way. Pei Shu took a few steps forward and knocked on the wooden door once before he entered the house uninvited. “Brother Yizhi, I’m late. My apologies!”

Chu Yu followed him and entered through the door.

There was a courtyard behind the door. The plants and trees in the courtyard were arranged in a disordered manner. Nevertheless, upon close inspection, one would notice that the arrangement of the plants coincided with the natural pattern. Chu Yu was still observing the place when she was distracted by Yue Jiefei’s gasp. He pointed to a sapling about the height of a grown man by the side of the path. He said, “This is an extremely precious tree in the south. It grows an inch every decade and is worth ten thousand pieces of gold.”

Upon listening to his words, Chu Yu was only brought to the attention of the sapling that appeared so ordinary yet was so valuable. On the other hand, walking in front of them, Pei Shu also turned around and said while being visibly impressed, “Brother Yue is brilliant and has a discerning eye. Brother Chu, don’t look down on the insignificant decoration of this house. The items in Brother Yizhi’s house are all extremely valuable compared to other places, even including the soil underneath our feet.”

He was a wealthy man, a super-wealthy man.

He was a very low profile wealthy man.

After listening to Pei Shu’s simple introduction of the value of the plants in the courtyard, Chu Yu’s perception of the courtyard was already vastly different from her previous assumption.

On the other hand, the image of Wang Yizhi in her mind was also officially upgraded to being encrusted with diamond trimmings at that instant.