Chapter Ten: Setting a Trap

Whenever Chu Yun thought of how, back at the Ten Mile Fragrance Inn, he had kindly treated Boss Wu’s illness and warned him to seek urgent medical attention, only for Boss Wu to not only ignore his advice but also attempt to hit him, he felt a lingering sense of displeasure.

Yet, there was only one herbal medicine shop in the entire Chu Family Town, leaving him with no alternative.

So, he still managed a smile and handed the bamboo slip with the prescription to the shop assistant. “Hello, could you please prepare these herbs for me according to this prescription?”

“Certainly, please wait a moment.”

The assistant replied, took the bamboo slip, and began gathering the medicines. Some ingredients were unavailable, or their names differed from modern terminology. Chu Yun thought for a moment and provided alternative names for those herbs, and where none could be found, he substituted with others.

Unfortunately, one particular herb needed for treating Jiang Lin’s chest ailment couldn’t be replaced, and Chu Yun would have to go up the mountain to gather it himself.

“How much is it in total?”

Once the assistant had finished preparing the medicine, Chu Yun asked.

Before the assistant could answer, Boss Wu interjected, “These are all rare medicinal herbs. Altogether, it’ll cost one tael of silver.”

One tael of silver?

Chu Yun was stunned.

He had already learned from the original owner that in this world, one tael of silver was equivalent to one hundred knife coins, almost the income of an ordinary person for more than half a year.

The key point was, none of the herbs on his prescription were particularly rare—how could they possibly cost one tael of silver?

Regaining his composure, Chu Yun said, “Boss Wu, isn’t that a bit too expensive?”

Boss Wu smiled faintly. “Heh, as I said, these are rare herbs. If you think it’s too expensive, don’t buy them. And besides, the money Jiang Master gave you for the medicine is exactly one tael of silver, isn’t it? Are you going to pocket Jiang Master’s money? Aren’t you afraid he’ll find out?”

Hearing this, Chu Yun finally understood why Boss Wu demanded one tael of silver.

No doubt, Boss Wu had heard at the inn that Chu Yun had received one tael of silver for treating Jiang Lin, and was taking the opportunity to extort him.

At the same time, Chu Yun was secretly relieved that Boss Wu didn’t know he had also received two taels of silver from Luo Feng, and the medicine he was purchasing now was actually for two people.

But his dislike for Boss Wu only deepened.

This man, refusing to pay for treatment earlier and now extorting him, was truly despicable.

Chu Yun pursed his lips in annoyance and handed over the silver. “Boss Wu, you’re bold—extorting even Jiang Master’s money.”

Boss Wu took the silver with an indifferent smile, utterly unfazed, his shamelessness on full display.

Chu Yun took the herbs and prepared to leave: he would make the wound medicine, then gather the missing herb on the mountain, and finally brew the invigorating soup for Jiang Lin.

He had barely taken a few steps when he spotted a girl wearing a dark linen dress. Her figure was graceful, her features well-defined and beautiful.

However, Chu Yun wasn’t the sort to be distracted merely by a pretty face—he had seen plenty of women. The reason the girl caught his attention was that she carried a basket of medicinal herbs on her back; she was clearly a herb gatherer.

Chu Yun thought he might be able to ask this girl for help in gathering the missing herb for the invigorating soup.

Once he had more funds, he could get to know other herb gatherers through her and purchase herbs directly from them, lowering his costs and taking business away from Boss Wu.

Unfortunately, just then, the girl entered the shop through the back door, so Chu Yun would have to wait until she finished selling her herbs before approaching her.

As the girl went in and set down her basket, Boss Wu hurried from the front of the shop to the back, a smug smile on his face, evidently pleased with his recent extortion.

Chu Yun watched and felt even more uncomfortable.

Boss Wu quickly counted the girl’s herbs and took out two knife coins, saying, “This is the payment for these herbs.”

Chu Yun was dumbfounded.

Though he hadn't been very close to the girl, he had seen clearly the herbs in her basket and knew that several were rare varieties that grew on cliff edges, difficult and dangerous to harvest.

If his small batch of herbs was worth one tael of silver, then her collection should be worth at least three taels.

Boss Wu was offering only two knife coins?

A hundred and fifty times the difference.

That was outrageous profiteering.

Boss Wu’s heart was black indeed. No wonder he suffered from poisonous sores—clearly, ill-gotten gains had caught up with him.

At the same time, the girl was stunned.

It was a while before she found her voice. “Boss Wu, I have so many herbs, and they’re all of excellent quality. Among them are rare ones like cliff lotus and stone lingzhi, which I gathered from dangerous cliffs. How can they be worth only two knife coins? It took me nearly ten days to collect them. If you pay so little, who would ever want to gather herbs for you?”

Boss Wu hurled the two coins to the ground. “If you think it’s too little, take your herbs and get out. Otherwise, pick up the money and leave!”

The girl looked at the herbs, then at the coins, standing there, torn with indecision.

She clearly didn’t want to sell her painstakingly gathered herbs at such a cheap price, but Chu Family Town had only this one medicine shop, and nowhere else bought herbs—ordinary people had no use for them.

“These fine herbs, I’ll take them!”

Just as she was agonizing over the decision, a voice sounded behind her.

Both the girl and Boss Wu turned to look. Who else could it be but Chu Yun?

Both frowned.

Boss Wu hadn’t expected Chu Yun to openly challenge him and undermine his business.

The girl, on the other hand, recognized Chu Yun as the infamous scoundrel of Chu Family Town, doubting he could even afford two knife coins for her herbs. She suspected his offer was motivated less by business and more by her looks.