Chapter 451: He Could Have Robbed Instead
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation | Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
“Open them and let Innkeeper Li have a look.”
The attendant opened one of the cloth sacks. Inside were ten pieces of pancakes, some dried meat from some unknown livestock, and a big radish.
If these things showed up during normal times, Innkeeper Li would not have cared about them. However, it was different now. The merchants in the city could not get goods, and many places were already short of grain. Besides water, the most precious commodity in the city was food.
“This… Brother Wang, please explain.”
Caretaker Wang walked to Innkeeper Li’s side and said, “This is the gift bag that our Master Hee prepared for everyone to fill their tummies because he took pity on everyone who didn’t have anything to eat or drink. Our Master Hee will give you this gift bag at this price. See how much you can sell them for afterward.”
When he saw Caretaker Wang extend five fingers, Innkeeper Li smiled and said, “50 copper coins? No problem. I’ll take all that you have brought.
The smile on Caretaker Wang’s face changed a few times. “Innkeeper Li, a bowl of clear, bland noodle soup in your shop is already being sold for 50 copper coins. I have pancakes, meat, and a big radish. If you say it’s only 50 copper coins, I’m afraid you will have problems believing this price yourself.” Innkeeper Li then asked tentatively, “So tell me, Caretaker Wang. How much is it? Surely it can’t be 500 copper coins?”
“Of course, it’s more than that. It only costs five taels of silver per bag.” Innkeeper Li thought he had misheard. When he confirmed that these things really cost five taels of silver per sack, he almost laughed out of anger!
These guys could have robbed people, yet they chose to force a few pancakes on him!
Caretaker Wang still had the nerve to say “only.” Innkeeper Li knew that Old Master Hee had stockpiled a large amount of grain when the drought first started. He could make many pancakes with just one catty of flour. Back then, one catty of flour was only a few copper coins.
Innkeeper Li tried his best to control his facial expression so as not to offend the other party. “Caretaker Wang, if the cost price is five taels of silver, how much do you want me to sell it for?”
“With so many things, wouldn’t it be easy for you to sell them for ten silver taels?”
Innkeeper Li felt that Old Master Hee had really gone crazy thinking about money. Who would pay ten taels of silver for such a small amount of food?
Those who could afford ten taels of silver didn’t lack these things. The rest of the starving people couldn’t possibly fork out so much money to buy them.
“Caretaker Wang, take a look at this small run-down inn of mine. The people who come to stay here can’t be from rich families. They might not even be able to fork out five taels of silver, let alone ten taels of silver. Why don’t you take a look elsewhere and ask around?”
Caretaker Wang’s face immediately darkened. “Innkeeper Li, why do you think we are able to sell these goods at this time? That’s because Lord Wei has given his approval, of course. If Lord Wei found out that Innkeeper Li was unwilling to cooperate with us to help the people, he would probably be displeased.”
The reason Innkeeper Li was so polite to Caretaker Wang was that the Hee family had a close relationship with Lord Wei. Lord Wei’s new concubine who entered his residence just last year was the daughter of the Hee family. As long as that concubine gave Lord Wei some pillow talk, there was nothing Master Hee couldn’t do.
Innkeeper Li didn’t want to offend the Hee family, but he didn’t want to be a big sucker by paying five taels of silver for a small bag of dry food.
“Caretaker Wang, five taels of silver is really too expensive. Can you make it cheaper? One tael. If it’s one tael of silver, I will take all of them!” Innkeeper Li gritted his teeth and made a decision.
Caretaker Wang gave a scornful sneer, “What kind of situation are we in right now? You might as well rob someone if it’s one tael of silver. Innkeeper Li, you have to think carefully. There are only 30 bags here. I believe that with Innkeeper Li’s financial resources, it won’t be a problem for you to take them all.”
30 bags would cost 150 taels of silver. They wanted him to pay 150 taels of silver to buy some pancakes!
However, if he didn’t buy it, he would offend the Hee family and thus offend Lord Wei. For a moment, Innkeeper Li was in a dilemma.
Caretaker Wang noticed that Innkeeper Li was hesitating, so he softened his attitude and said kindly, “Innkeeper Li, I’m only telling you this because you and 1 are friends. It’s just over a hundred taels of silver. Just take it as showing some respect to our master and His Lordship. In the future, whatever you want to do in Luo City will be smooth-flowing, won’t it?”
Innkeeper Li was still reluctant to take so many bags. “Look, how about I buy ten bags here? I don’t have that much silver on hand. I can only fork out 50 taels at most.”
When Caretaker Wang saw that Innkeeper Li refused to budge even when he used the soft approach, he gave a scornful sneer and asked his men to carry all the goods out. “Since Innkeeper Li doesn’t need them, I won’t force you. Take all the things away.”
Upon seeing this, Innkeeper Li quickly grabbed a handful of copper coins and stuffed them into Caretaker Wang’s hand. Caretaker Wang gave him a push and threw the copper coins on the ground. He then stalked off without looking back.
Su Ying stood on the second-floor corridor and witnessed this scene. Her position was relatively hidden, so no one in the lobby noticed her presence. In addition, her hearing was excellent, so she heard the contents of their conversation.
The Master Hee that this caretaker of the City Guardian’s Office mentioned should be the person Su Ying saw at the government office that day. His heart was as rotten as that Lord Wei’s.
Su Ying felt that even though Caretaker Wang had left, they would not let the matter rest just like that. Otherwise, if everyone acted like Innkeeper Li, who would still buy those goods?
Su Ying walked down from the second floor and could clearly see the worry on Innkeeper Li’s face.
Su Ying walked up to Innkeeper Li and asked, “Innkeeper, when I entered the city, I saw that there were so many disaster victims outside the city, yet no one cared about them. Don’t tell me the government office has never given out free porridge?”
When Innkeeper Li heard the phrase “government office,” his face became even more gloomy. “A fire suddenly broke out in the granary of Luo City a while ago. Lord Wei said that almost all the grain stored was burned up, so there was no more food to give to the victims.”
Su Ying’s eyebrows twitched. “Burned up?”
“That’s right.” Innkeeper Li laughed sarcastically. “What a coincidence, eh?
Su Ying felt that she needed to figure out what was going on. “Innkeeper Li, do you know where Luo City’s granary is?”
Rightfully, the location of the granary should be a secret, but once, when Innkeeper Li was drinking with Caretaker Wang, the drunk Caretaker Wang accidentally revealed the location. Thus, Innkeeper Li knew the location. Innkeeper Li looked at Su Ying with a puzzled expression. “Why are you asking about this, Young Master?”
Su Ying took out a gold token. “To tell you the truth, I’m someone sent by the Imperial Court. The Emperor has heard of the drought in Luo City, so he sent someone to check on the situation. He’s very puzzled by Lord Wei’s refusal to open the granary, so I need to find out what’s going on.
Innkeeper Li looked at the pure gold token with a dragon motif in astonishment. He looked around to make sure there was no one around before whispering an address to Su Ying.
Su Ying nodded. “Don’t worry, Innkeeper Li. Those who don’t care about the lives of the commoners will be punished by the Imperial Court sooner or later.” Innkeeper Li understood what Su Ying meant, and the worry in his eyes gradually dissipated. “Sir, you must be careful. In the past two years, Lord Wei has already taken complete control of Luo City. It won’t be easy to deal with him.”
Su Ying gave a scornful sneer.. “Even if it’s a man-eating tiger, 1 can also skin it alive!”
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