Half a year later.
The first year of Chengxuan, the eighth of summer, the capital. At dawn, a dozen or so city wardens stood at the gates of the capital. Each of them carried a broadsword and had a serious expression on their faces. They stood in two rows in front of the city gate. On the left side of the gate was a large table. On it were the four treasures of the study and an investigation record. Liu Ze, the warden of the Ministry of War.
Sitting behind the table, he squinted his tired eyes and looked sleepy. He simply slapped his face a few times, trying to get rid of his sleepiness and make himself more energetic.
For the past month, he had been waking up early and sleeping late every day. Dark circles had formed under his eyes.
If he continued like this, he would definitely die!
Nowadays, merchants from all over the country had begun to enter the capital one month in advance. They hoped to sell their goods at a high price. On the day of the Chamber of Commerce Festival, the streets of the capital were packed with people rubbing shoulders.
To put it bluntly, it was the ancient version of November 11th and the foreign version of Black Friday!
Lord Qiao, the commandant of the city gate, held a long sword in his hand. He led a team of people to patrol the city gate. He had sharp eyebrows and bright eyes. His face was cold and serious.
He was known as the Cold Tiger!
He stared at the merchants outside the city gate who had begun to line up to enter the capital before the sun rose. He looked alert and ordered the city warden.
"Everyone, be alert and do a thorough check. Do not miss anything suspicious. If something happens, neither you nor I can bear the responsibility."
"Yes."
"The Chamber of Commerce Festival is in a dozen days. Hold on."
"Yes."
Lord Qiao stopped for a while before leading his men to patrol elsewhere.
At this time, people were gradually entering the city. Most of them were caravans and carriages. Goods were being transported to the capital, waiting for the Chamber of Commerce Festival to show off.
A carriage and goods were stopped by the city warden!
They were checked according to the rules.
"Where are they from?" asked the city warden.
A burly man in his forties replied, "Lingnan."
"What do you do?"
"Spice business."
The city warden glanced at the goods at the back of the carriages. There were a total of four carriages, and there were many large boxes tied with thick ropes on the carriages. When he took a closer look, he could smell a faint fragrance in the air.
They were indeed in the spice business!
The city warden stretched out his hand. "Bring me the document."
When merchants wanted to enter the capital to participate in the Chamber of Commerce Festival, they had to obtain the approval of the local Chamber of Commerce. Otherwise, they were not allowed to enter the capital.
The man took out a small book from his sleeve and handed it over.
Flipping through it, there were records of the origin of the goods, the quantity, the number of merchants, and some other details.
The City Governor then passed it to Liu Ze, the Registrar of Records.
During this time, the city magistrate sized up the carriage and asked warily, "Who's in the carriage?"
Said the stout man. "That's our landlady."
"Hurry up and come down. We have to check the inside."
"Sir, it's really our Lady Boss."
"Come down."
"Sir …"
"If you still don't come down, we'll have to detain your goods according to the rules." The city governor's expression didn't change, and his attitude was firm.
The man's mouth went dry.
The city magistrates found it strange. After exchanging a few glances, they slowly approached the carriage with their broadswords in hand.
Just then —
The person in the carriage suddenly pushed aside the curtain in front and leaned out.
A woman!
A beautiful woman who looked to be in her thirties!
Her face was even more delicate and exquisite than an eighteen -year-old girl's. Her eyebrows were like stars, her nose was full, her lips were crimson, and there was a red mole at the corner of her eye. Her eyes exuded an enchanting aura. Just one look seemed to be able to hook a person's soul, causing them to involuntarily fall into that gaze.
Her name was Jiao Shiniang, a famous perfume merchant in Lingnan!
When the city magistrates saw that face, they suddenly stopped in their tracks.
They were greatly shocked!
Shiniang smiled gently. Her eyes were curved, as if they carried a hundred thousand volts of electricity, making one's entire body go numb.
"Sir, I'm the only one in this carriage. There are some clothes and other items. There's absolutely nothing suspicious."
That voice was ethereal and pleasant to the ears!
The city magistrates also put away their stern expressions and said, "According to the rules, we not only have to search your goods, but also all the carriages entering the capital."
Their tone was obviously not as firm as before.
Shiniang maintained a faint smile. Then, she stretched out her slender fingers, holding a small booklet between her fingertips. She handed it to one of the city magistrates. "Please do me a favor. I have a lot of goods, and they are all dried and wrapped up spices. It's really not convenient to open them one by one."
The city magistrate took the booklet from her and handed it to Liu Ze.
Liu Ze flipped through it.
Huh?
He raised the booklet in his hand and asked Shiniang curiously, "Is this the approval from the president of the Lingnan Chamber of Commerce, Xing Xiyang?"
Shiniang pursed her lips into a faint smile and nodded. "I have some friendly relations with Chairman Xing. He also knows that we are doing legitimate business, so he has given us the approval. I hope that the officials here can do us a favor. We are rushing to the capital."
"Since it's the approval from the president of the Lingnan Chamber of Commerce, there's nothing wrong with it." Thus, Liu Ze handed the booklet back along with the document and said to the city magistrate, "Make way."
"Yes."
Shiniang bowed her head slightly to express her gratitude and sat back in the carriage.
With the approval from the president of the Lingnan Chamber of Commerce, this batch of goods was directly allowed to enter the capital without further inspection.
Looking at the carriage, the city magistrates were still intoxicated by the beauty of the woman in the carriage.
"So beautiful!"
"If I could marry her, I would be so lucky."
"Forget it. If your husband heard that, he would definitely chop you to death with a broadsword."
"I'm just thinking about it. Do you dare say that you don't want to?"
"Of course I …"
Before he could finish, Liu Ze slapped him on the head. "Hurry up and get down to business."
The city magistrates were pulled back from their infatuated thoughts.
Someone exclaimed, "Why is there so much water on the ground?"
There was a long trail of water from the city gate to the capital. Looking in the direction of the water stain, it turned out to be water from the spice merchant's carriage.
Someone scratched his head in confusion. "Huh? Isn't water the most taboo in the spice business? "
Wasn't that right?
"It's probably because of the hot weather, so there was some water in the goods."
"Maybe."
The crowd didn't think too much about it and continued to pester the caravans that were entering the capital!
Recently, the capital was really a mix of dragons and fish. Merchants from all over the country came in all shapes and sizes, dressed in strange clothes. On the streets, many camels carrying goods or caged animals could be seen. There were also some strange things that had never been seen in the capital.
It was extremely lively!
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