“That’s right.” Fatty Qu cracked some watermelon seeds as he said, “I heard that it’s His Majesty’s 150th birthday so the feast is going to very grand. All the first ranked powers in the capital have to attend. You know that that Nalan Clan will naturally go. And it’s not only them; the Alchemist Guild, Beast Master Tamer Guild and the Spirit Master Guild will send their representatives to attend. People like us can only attend by riding under the influence of the Third Prince.”
Sima You Yue slapped the stone table, “Looks like all the strong powers of influence will be going!”
“That’s right.” Fatty Qu nodded, “Speaking truthfully, it will be a good enriching experience, it wouldn’t be bad for you to go and take a look.”
“Mm. Who knows, I may go when the time comes.” Sima You Yue said.
“If you end up going, I’ll also have somebody to talk to.” Fatty Qu said, “No matter what, my elder brother really wants me to go and broaden my horizons. But I actually have no interest towards those things at all and I don’t like to curry favour with that Third Prince either. If you go, I definitely won’t be bored anymore.”
“We’ll see.”
“Mm. Then I will return first. With regards to what I said earlier, if you have anything you want from this Fatty, just say it directly.” Fatty Qu stood up to say.
“I will.” Sima You Yue smiled as she said.
After she sent Fatty Qu off, she returned to her own room. Only the few of them knew that she was an Alchemist, so they didn’t look at her any differently when she returned. Only those closest to her knew that she was no longer the same her as she was in the past.
Within the capital, everyone was closely watching the situation between the Sima Clan and the Nalan Clan. One was the powerful Nalan Clan, while the other was the justified General’s Residence. They were not willing to help either of them, so if they sat in the wrong place, there would be a fatal disaster that would befall them for choosing the wrong side.
Everyone already knew that the Nalan Clan had invited an Alchemist and they knew that the Sima Clan had never been on good relationships with Alchemists, so they secretly thought that the Sima Clan would lose for sure this time.
News about the Sima Clan’s shop running out of pills spread like wildfire, and many Clan Leaders could only shake their heads and sigh. These pills were really a fatal blow to every Clan Leader!
However, not long after, the Sima Clan’s shop took out a few pills to sell, furthermore, the price was even lowered by a third as compared to before. It was even cheaper than the ones from the Nalan Clan.
Towards these mercenaries, who were not well off, this price unsurprisingly was extremely enticing. As a result, these mercenaries very quickly switched over and started patronising the Sima Clan’s shop instead.
The Nalan Clan had naturally gotten hold of this news very quickly. They were the ones who had sent people to buy out the Sima Clan’s stock of pills in order to make them lose its attractiveness. However, they never expected that they would actually be able to push out a batch of pills where the prices were actually lower than their own. This had caused them to be extremely mystified.
In the Nalan Clan’s Meeting hall, Nalan He’s face was overcast as he sat above at the Head seat. Two elders sat beside him, one on each side, while the others sat below.
“Clan Leader, is it true that the Sima Clan still has pills?” Second Elder asked.
“Yes.” Nalan He nodded, “We just received the news that they are continuing to sell their pills.”
“But didn’t we already buy out their remaining pills? That shop had also promised much earlier than they would no longer supply pills to the Sima Clan, so where did they get these pills from?” Second Elder puzzled.
“Could it be that there’s someone who did not fulfill our agreement and has privately sold pills to them?” First Elder said.
“I don’t think that’s the case.” Nalan He said, ” even if someone did not fulfil the agreement and has sold Sima Lie their pills, they would not be able to buy so many at one time. Furthermore, they were even able to push the price so low.”
“So what Clan Leader means is…”
Nalan He pondered over it for awhile, saying, ” If I’m not wrong, they should have been able to find an Alchemist.”
“How is that possible!” Second Elder shook his head affirmatively, ‘The men that we had sent told us that the Sima Clan’s attempt at getting closer to the Alchemists were unsuccessful. How could they suddenly find an Alchemist who was willing to join their Clan.”
“Clan Leader, First Elder, Second Elder.” A shopkeeper with a moustache shaped like a 八 spoke up from below, “according to news Thatcher received from below, the Sima Clan has managed to suddenly produce a thousand over pills. No Alchemist would be able to take out so many pills at once.”
“Over one thousand?” This sum surprised the the usually calm First Elder, “Are you certain?”
“This lowly one is certain that the number has indeed reached a thousand.” The moustached man said, “Furthermore, the price of our pills is already selling at the market rate, but they are able to go even lower.”
“Hmph, Sima Lie, he wants to use this method to attract the customers and ignores even the cosy price. That means he won’t be able to hold on for long!” Second Elder said.
“I think the same way.” First Elder said, “Killing the goose that lays the golden eggs; in the end, it won’t be a long term strategy.”
“Then do we need to reduce the price of our pills?” Moustached man asked.
“No need.” Nalan He said, “They should not be able to hold on for long. Wait until their pills are sold out; we’ll see whether or not they will be able to sustain it.” After paying Great Master He his wages and paying for ingredients, we are already not earning much money. If we cut the cost any further, it will impact our future supply.”
“Yes, Clan Leader.”
Nalan He touched the empty cloth in his left hand, with his face overcast with fear. Although he had no clear proof, his intuition could tell him that the things that occurred on the Pu Luo Mountain Range could not be separated from the Sima Clan.
“Clan Master, the present has already been prepared for the Emperor’s birthday. It just arrived at the Treasure Storage Pavilion today.”
When comparing it to the issue with the Sima Clan, the birthday of the Emperor of the Capital was an issue that took the most priority recently.
“It’s here? Then let’s go take a look. When you return, continue to watch over the things happening over there.” Nalan He said to the shopkeepers sitting below.
“Yes.”
“My two Elders, let us go take a look at the birthday present…”
News about the Sima Clan’s shop selling pills at low prices was quickly spread amongst the mercenaries and many of them quickly ran over to buy them. Furthermore, because it was cheap, they were willing to buy double of what they usually did. In a few days, those pills were quickly sold out.
Just when everyone was sitting around and waiting for the Sima Clan to be unable to afford to supply more pills, they suddenly pushed out another batch and the price actually remained the same.
This move shocked every single person in the capital. What did this mean? This meant that that the Sima Clan was really able to obtain an Alchemist! Furthermore, looking at the pills that were selling, that person would be a second ranked alchemist at the very least!
This news had shocked Nalan He for a moment but he was not defeated. He immediately sent men out to check which shop was supplying pill ingredients to the Sima Clan, attempting to cut off their chain of supply. However, he received news that- the Sima Clan did not buy their Pill ingredients from anyone!
“Then did their pills fall down from the sky?” Second Elder was incomparably puzzled, “Unless you’re telling me that some great Power is supporting them from the back?”
Nalan He shook his head, “Aside from the Alchemist Guild, which Power has the ability to help the Sima Clan on such a large scale? However, we know the relationship Sima Lie has with the Alchemist Guild, it would already be considered good if they didn’t kick them while they were down, but to step forward and help them is definitely impossible.
“Then how do we explain what’s happening with the Sima Clan?”
Nalan He laughed coldly, “The State banquet is coming soon. At that time, we will naturally have ways to make Sima Lie, that old coot, spit out the details!”
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