172: Chapter 173 Black Market Goods?

City Lord Qin Fang looked at his expression—one of both heartache and anxiety, as if his whole being were twisted into a knot—and instead, laughed.

If this had been in the past, he might not have been so confident.

Especially regarding the Trade Department, it had never been his strongest suit.

But after this trip to Flower City, he had seen, heard, and personally handled too many things.

Now that this shipment was parked right in front of him, not only did he not feel insecure, but he felt completely steady.

Thus, he smiled and lifted his chin toward the long row of carts behind him.

"Since Minister Zhao is worried, why don't you take a look yourself?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Minister Zhao's eyes lit up.

This was exactly what he had been waiting for.

"Good!"

"Then this subordinate will overstep!"

After saying this, he didn't delay and immediately took several people from the Trade Department toward the nearest large cart.

The officials, city residents, and garrison soldiers surrounding them saw this and swarmed over, each stretching their necks, their eyes full of curiosity.

The first cart; he lifted the tarpaulin.

Inside were neatly stacked medicinal herbs.

As soon as the box lid opened, the scent of herbs rushed out.

Minister Zhao had initially been tense, but after lowering his head to look closely, his expression immediately changed.

"This batch of herbs... the quality is this uniform?"

He reached out to pinch a piece, brought it to his nose to sniff, and the expression on his face noticeably softened.

"Not bad."

"Really not bad."

Someone nearby immediately asked, "Is it valuable?"

Minister Zhao glared at the person impatiently.

"Valuable? If this batch were sold individually, the price would at least go up by a notch."

Hearing this, the crowd let out a low gasp.

The second cart opened; it contained mineral materials and processed beast materials.

The third cart contained Black Iron Rank Demonic Beast meat.

The fourth, the fifth...

As one cart after another was opened, Minister Zhao's expression changed again and again.

At first, it was tension, heartache, and suspicion.

Later, it turned into surprise.

Further on, he was almost so satisfied that the corners of his eyes began to shine.

From the surrounding crowd, uncontrollable exclamations began to burst out from time to time.

"So much?!"

"This batch of leather is of such high quality!"

"This meat... is it all Demonic Beast meat?"

"How were such uniform goods gathered together?"

"Flower City... just how much wealth have they accumulated?"

When they reached the carts in the middle loaded with standardized leather armor and weapons, Minister Zhao could no longer move his feet.

Sets of leather armor were stacked seamlessly, long blades, short weapons, and light bows were categorized, the specifications were extremely uniform, the craftsmanship was solid, and while the Spiritual Qi fluctuations were not overly exaggerated, they were steady, large in quantity, and could be recognized at a glance as products of a systematic production line.

Minister Zhao stood by the cart, reached out to touch the leather armor, and picked up a long blade to weigh it; his eyes were almost shining.

"Good."

"Good!"

"The quality is superior, the specifications are uniform, and what's most rare is that the quantity is so large!"

As he spoke, he couldn't help but nod repeatedly, the heartache on his face long gone, replaced entirely by heartfelt satisfaction and shock.

"Worth it."

"It's so worth it!"

"Just these goods alone, added together, already far exceed those 12,000 gold coins!"

Saying this, he turned around abruptly and bowed deeply to City Lord Qin Fang, his voice much louder than before.

"City Lord, you are wise!"

"This subordinate was overthinking earlier!"

This time, he was sincere.

There was not a hint of reluctance.

Those nearby heard this and nodded along, their gazes toward City Lord Qin Fang immediately changing.

Previously, they had thought the City Lord had lost his mind, spending an exorbitant price to buy a pile of nonsensical things.

But now, looking at the carts one by one, even those who didn't know the business could see how solid this shipment was.

How was this being ripped off?

This was clearly picking up a massive bargain!

Someone in the crowd couldn't help but shout:

"City Lord, you are far-sighted!"

"This deal was worth it!"

"So worth it!"

"Our Heyang City has really made a huge profit this time!"

City Lord Qin Fang stood outside the crowd, listening to these voices, just smiling without rushing to speak.

Just then, someone in the back suddenly let out an "Eh?".

"Why does it feel like... the Spiritual Qi near the last two carts is thicker than elsewhere?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the people around subconsciously turned to look.

Those two carts were parked at the very back; previously, everyone's attention had been on the herbs, weapons, and leather armor, so no one had paid special attention.

Now, reminded by someone, they discovered that in the air around those two carts, there was indeed a faint but very clean Spiritual Qi drifting about.

Someone couldn't help but ask:

"City Lord, what is loaded in those two carts?"

City Lord Qin Fang glanced in the direction of the voice, his tone flat.

"Oh."

"Spiritual Rice."

Minister Zhao's brain went "buzz".

Spiritual Rice?!

The previous goods were already astonishingly valuable.

If the last two carts were also filled with Spiritual Rice...

His eyelids twitched violently, and his first reaction was not wild joy, but subconsciously finding the most reasonable explanation for himself.

It couldn't be too much.

It must be just a small amount.

Yes, that's right, it must be a small amount; perhaps they were packed at the very bottom, sealed tightly in boxes, making it look like two full carts.

Thinking of this, he didn't say another word and almost ran over.

When the people around saw him move, they all swarmed after him.

Minister Zhao climbed onto the cart shaft himself, yanked off the cover cloth, and reached out to pry open the lid of the top wooden box.

"Click."

The moment the box lid was pried open, he lowered his head to look inside, and his whole body froze on the spot.

There was nothing else in the box.

It was all rice.

Every grain was crystalline, white and moist like jade, quietly filling the entire box.

That clear Spiritual Qi was slowly radiating from these rice grains.

Minister Zhao's breath hitched, and his hand shook.

As if not wanting to believe it, he violently pried open the second box next to it.

Still Spiritual Rice.

The third.

The fourth.

Still.

All of them.

Box after box, cart after cart.

Minister Zhao stood on the cart, completely stunned, his lips trembling for a long time, only managing to squeeze out a string of incoherent words:

"This... this this this... this..."

The crowd around them finally saw what was in the boxes; first they were stunned, followed immediately by an uncontrollable uproar.

"Spiritual Rice!"

"It really is Spiritual Rice!"

"So much?!"

"My god... are these two carts filled with it?!"

"City Lord, is this... is this Spiritual Rice all ours?!"

Voices exploded almost simultaneously, and everyone's gaze fell squarely on City Lord Qin Fang, their breathing light with tension.

City Lord Qin Fang looked at those shockingly bright eyes, deliberately paused, and then shook his head.

"Now..."

"Not yet."

The surroundings fell silent instantly.

The light on many people's faces dimmed visibly.

That was true.

With so much Spiritual Rice, how could it really belong to their Heyang City?

It could be transported here, but perhaps it was only borrowing their city to change hands, and it had another destination afterward?

Someone couldn't help but sigh softly.

"I knew it..."

"With so much Spiritual Rice, how could it ever be our turn..."

But the next moment, City Lord Qin Fang looked at the crowd and slowly added the second half of the sentence:

"However, after paying for it, it will be."

The air was silent for a moment.

Then, with a "boom", the crowd exploded!

"Really?!"

"Is it really ours?!"

"City Lord! Does this Spiritual Rice really belong to our Heyang City?!"

"Hahahahaha!"

"Spiritual Rice! We have Spiritual Rice in our city now!"

Some young people jumped up on the spot, laughing until their faces turned red.

Someone was so excited they grabbed their companion's shoulder, almost shaking them apart.

Several older officials stood there, first widening their eyes, then even their beards began to tremble.

Even Minister Zhao felt as if he had been struck by lightning, his whole body numb from head to toe.

He slowly lowered his head, looked at the full, white, glistening Spiritual Rice in the box, then slowly looked up at City Lord Qin Fang, his eyes almost emitting a physical light.

At this moment, he couldn't even care about his usual shrewdness as a trade official, his mind filled with only one thought.

A huge profit.

This time... it was truly a huge profit!

City Lord Qin Fang looked at the seething crowd and finally couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Once the laughter came out, the atmosphere all around became even hotter.

"City Lord, you are wise!"

"This is more than wise, this is miraculous!"

"This trip the City Lord took was so worth it!"

Praises rang out incessantly.

And in the midst of this noisy crowd, the Minister of Interior Sun Qian, who hadn't said much just now, stood on the side, his brow furrowing tighter and tighter.

He looked at the two carts of Spiritual Rice, then at the entire row of goods that had already been inspected; there wasn't much joy in his eyes, but rather, he looked increasingly worried about something.

Finally, taking advantage of everyone's excitement, he quietly stepped forward, moved close to City Lord Qin Fang, lowered his voice, and asked in a whisper:

"City Lord..."

"This subordinate dares to ask."

"This batch of goods... could it be that you've accepted some contraband?"

City Lord Qin Fang was stunned after hearing this, then felt both amused and exasperated.

He tilted his head to look at Minister of Interior Sun Qian.

"Contraband?"

Minister of Interior Sun Qian lowered his voice, but his expression was very serious.

"City Lord, please don't blame this subordinate for being suspicious. It's just that this batch of goods... is too outrageous."

"The things before were fine, but the last two carts of Spiritual Rice—if you say those were also bought legitimately, this subordinate truly finds it hard to believe."

City Lord Qin Fang looked at his expression—both tempted and nervous, wanting to believe yet afraid to fully believe—and suddenly felt like teasing him, so he asked slowly:

"If this batch really was contraband."

"Would you accept it?"

Minister of Interior Sun Qian froze.

His face had been tense, but upon hearing this, his expression became colorful.

First, stunned.

Then, hesitant.

Immediately after, his gaze drifted uncontrollably toward the two carts of Spiritual Rice, his Adam's apple bobbed, and the corners of his mouth twitched.

That usually steady face managed to change several colors in just a few short moments.

City Lord Qin Fang didn't rush him, just stood on the side, watching him with a smile.

Finally, Chief of Internal Affairs Sun Qian gritted his teeth and said in a low voice:

"...Accept!"

This word was almost squeezed out through his teeth.

As soon as the words fell, Minister Zhao, who had come over at some point, also nodded violently, the flesh on his face trembling along with it.

"Of course we must accept it!"

"It's already at our city gate; could we push it away?"

"Besides," he lowered his voice, but his expression was even more righteous than Chief of Internal Affairs Sun Qian's, "even if it is contraband, we must first accept it into the Granary. Could we possibly spit it back out?"

City Lord Qin Fang laughed out loud.

The people around were stunned by his laughter.

He waved his hand and then said:

"Rest assured, you two."

"Legitimate business, proper origins; it is not any contraband."

"Flower City has plenty more of these kinds of things."

"They sold me two carts of Spiritual Rice without even blinking. If it weren't for the fact that we didn't have enough money in our pockets, I think they could have added a few more carts for me!"

Chief of Internal Affairs Sun Qian and Minister Zhao were simultaneously stunned.

Not because of anything else.

But because when City Lord Qin Fang said this, his tone was too calm.

Calm as if he were saying "bought a few extra carts of cloth."

But the problem was...

That was Spiritual Rice!

And hearing this, Flower City wasn't selling it reluctantly; they didn't even take it seriously?

The two looked at each other and saw a trace of almost wooden shock in each other's eyes.

At this moment, the last bit of doubt in their hearts was finally suppressed.

Since it wasn't contraband.

Then there was only one explanation left.

Flower City's foundation was truly terrifyingly deep.

And after this interlude, the entire Heyang City's attitude toward that group of Hua City Mercenaries completely changed.

Previously, they were afraid.

Afraid that the gap in strength was too large, afraid that if these hundred-plus Bronze Rank Professionals stood in the city and really turned hostile, the entire Heyang City might not be able to stop them.

But now, looking at them again, how were these people any threat?

They were clearly Gods of Wealth!

No.

Even dearer than Gods of Wealth!

After all, the God of Wealth might not really be able to deliver things to their eyes, but these Hua City Mercenaries had actually escorted the goods into the city cart by cart.

Just for this point, the eyes of everyone in Heyang City looking at them were already different.

Those garrison soldiers who had been tense suddenly became much more enthusiastic.

Some took the initiative to greet them, some hurriedly made way, and some even dug out the good tea they had been reluctant to use, insisting on stuffing it into the hands of the Hua City Mercenaries.

"Brother, have something hot to drink, have something hot!"

"Come, come, sit here!"

"You've worked hard on the road, rest quickly!"

The city residents also gathered around one after another.

At first, they just stood far away and peeked, but later, seeing that these Hua City Mercenaries indeed had no airs at all, their courage grew little by little.

Someone selling pancakes brought a basket of freshly baked hot pancakes over, smiling until their teeth couldn't be seen.

"Brothers, have a taste, I made these myself, they're not worth much, just enjoy the warmth!"

A tavern owner slapped his thigh and moved out all the wine he had been storing in his cellar.

"The City Lord has spoken, today's meal is my token of appreciation!"

There were also a few young girls who, blushing, stuffed clean, washed fruits and pastries into the hands of those mercenaries and ran away.

The mercenaries from Flower City were a bit unaccustomed at first.

But soon, they were also amused.

They had stayed in Flower City for a long time; the daily food and daily necessities were long beyond what the outer cities could compare to.

The wine and food on the table right now, if judged by grade, were indeed not very high.

Even the "ancestral fine wine" the tavern owner bragged about to the skies was, in the end, only Bronze Rank.

But it won by the people's enthusiasm.

Truly enthusiastic.

Not smiling because of fear, nor just perfunctorily saying a few words, but truly treating them as honored guests.

This feeling was different from when they were in Flower City.