A Merchant's Journal 2 - (The Apothecary Diaries, Self-Insert)
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So, there have been two options in handling my trip to find this old friend of my old man, see what was his favor and 'see to appease said favor'. The first option was the most common for a man of my 'stature': get to Guangzhou and make the rest of the trip to Nanjing with a carriage.
it was the slowest but also the safest choice.
Of course, me being me and knowing that time meant money, I decided to take the second option: get my fastest ship to reach Suzhou, near Shanghai, and then make the trip by horse.
It sounds like one of the riskiest plans I have ever boldly gone for, but considering what the last five years showed me with 'minimal' hard work, I had a strong feeling I wasn't going to regret this decision.
Once I was on the boat taking me to the closest big port to the Imperial Capital, it took roughly a week to get to my destination, and two days to get to Nanjing. The Imperial Capital was, by all means, a mess and a half. Hardly expanded, extremely ill-planned due to the uneven splitting between the Imperial Palace, the 'nice part' and the poor part.
If compared to the intense work I had put into creating a modern capital like Taipei, this looked like a nice ancient place that was just begging for a natural disaster to remind current politicians that it was too overcrowded for its own good.
I barely spent much time looking around as I just made a bee-line to this mysterious Verdigris House. Before I had to step into the red-light district, I thought that it was a merchant house. Mind you, the name alluded to that and, considering that my father's friend was supposedly a merchant too, I hardly expected for me to end up having a mexican stand-off with the old bat in charge of the brother itself.
Because yes, Verdigris House is a brothel, and one with a fairly respectable reputation. The issue was that this wasn't actually my destination.
"That old idiot doesn't live here in the capital. So, this is all for no-"
She paused as I dangled a bag filled with coins.
"How much for your kindness?"
The old woman rolled her eyes, but accepted three bags the equivalent of several dozens of high-value coins. In a rather impressive hustle, she didn't need to tell me much as she had someone else do that for her.
"Hey, girl. This young man is looking for the old man. Take this generous guest to him."
For some odd reasons, I felt like I knew this girl from somewhere. She frowned at me. "Him? Why?"
"The old man wants to speak to him. So, get going- the both of you!"
Getting kicked by a brothel after paying that well sure felt humiliating, but I would say this was the first of many awkward steps that highlighted what was actually going on with my new life. Starting with my guide who, for some unknown reasons, decided against introducing herself.
"After all, why would I trust someone that has not introduced himself first?"
It was actually a fair point, but not one I could disprove by telling her my identity. "My proper name is a bit of a secret right now since it may stir trouble for me and my schedule in the next few days."
I had no reason to doubt that the news of one of the rising stars of the South visiting the Imperial Capital unannounced would stir not a few demands from the Imperial Court to visit, pay my due respects to the Emperor and whatever else this shitty society wanted from me when I should be back to my funny beanbag chair to do my paperwork, and see the numbers go brrr.
Still, the girl rolled her eyes and called me one thing.
"Then you are 'Creep' from now on."
"And you are 'Brat', I guess," I rebuked with the same ease she had in insulting me like that.
Hence the beginning of the adventure of Creep and Brat, both riding a single brown-furred horse that took us through the last 'lap' without getting us caught by some of the bandits lurking the outskirts of the capital.
Two hours went by, and, as we reached the home owned by Luomen, I realized that the Brat was someone more than an acquaintance or an apprentice to the old man. And it was a sure thing with how the girl addressed the old guy as 'dad' and 'father'. I had a feeling they weren't really father and daughter, but I could see a passing resemblance so maybe they were related a different way.
Nonetheless, I was soon sitting down in the living room of the small house with Luomen and his 'daughter'.
"So, is there a particular reason you chose to get your favor on my father dealt with?" I asked immediately, feeling genuinely frustrating by how tedious traveling currently was. "Is it money, fortune or-"
"You are odd."
I paused at that, then frowned. "Beg your pardon?"
"You are a businessman, yet you don't seem to value some traditions that usually keep people from truly dwelling into that side of them," Luomen explained, sipping from his cup of tea. "You don't mind those working under you for their unusual differences. Thsoe worshiping different gods, or speaking different language... but I was told that Taiwan also has a tendency to not mind if a worker is a man or a woman, it is all about quality in the service and expertise."
As he finished saying that, the girl reacted and she sounded slightly surprised and confused.
"Taiwan? What does it have to do with our... guest? Is he a representative or something of the kind?"
Luomen spared the girl a look, a hint of shock flashing before he turned his eyes to my face with an inquisitive glance. "You didn't tell anyone of your arrival."
A nod was enough to sate his curiosity.
"Then, I would like to assure you my daughter is not known to add to the gossip of the city. Introduce yourself, please."
I sighed, and then I turned to the puzzled girl.
"My name is Teng Mu, I am the Governor in charge of the Southern Protectorate, which is also known as Taiwan or, rarely so, Formosa."
There was a pause. A lengthy pause. And then...
"WHAT?!"
"What 'what'?"
"What, What and WHAT?!" The girl rebuked and I rolled my eyes.
"Coherence please-"
"Says the governor going around without any protection!" The girl ruthlessly interjected my request, and this very detail warranted a frown from Luomen.
"Without any guards to protect you?"
"I admit it's just me with a horse and some tools to affirm my protection, but I did so since my arrival on a more official note would have gotten me more nuisances than not."
"Are you just admitting to preferring potential harm to actually handling the imperial court?" The old man prodded, sounding more confused than outright disappointed.
In a rather unusual display of yours truly, who would be too blunt on something some may see as dumb, foolish, and outright demented, I just nodded. "Yes."
Instead of shaming me on it, Luomen merely got back to his tea and then changed the topic altogether.
"Alas, my request is for you to 'interview' and perhaps hire my daughter."
I saw the girl tense up and almost protest on the matter, but a look from Luomen stopped her as she merely eased her shoulders, and looked away. I was curious over this reaction, but I couldn't help but feel intrigued by the overall circumstance.
"Why?"
"While she is quite clever and humble, my daughter is still a girl. And kidnappers do exist even so close to the Imperial Capital."
I remember hearing of this phenomenon - men that would wander around for girls to then kidnap and sell off to either the Imperial Palace as servants or as 'cheap prostitutes' depending the situation. Looking at the girl and thinking on the tastes of the time, she would definitely be shelved into the palace, her freckles and petite frame being an off-putting combination for the average noble. There are freaks, but bandits hardly sought to make risky gambles on this sort of stuff.
Nonetheless, I wasn't just going to take on someone without seeing their worth. And I had the girl tell me what she could do. And, after an awkward moment of hesitation, she got shoved by Luomen to dunk me in the most intriguing, perplexing, but overall fascinating talk on poisons I could get. She was really into it, which was very... unnerving to some extent.
"So, she is... good with poisons?"
Like, I got one of the oddliestly familiar account of masterful understanding of poison from a girl her age and her mindset, and that was something impressive and all - but I wasn't trying to establish my own CIA at the moment.
"And other herbal products. She is good with medicines and other solutions to ailments," Luomen listed out, seemingly picking up on the untold details of my question. "And she is willing to learn more on the subject if necessary."
In the end, I was nodding along those words, but feeling this was a bit rushed. I didn't handle the paperwork for medical specialists, same for potential scientists as this girl sounded less than a doctor-in-training and more like an all-around chemist with a deep affection for poison. I could also see she was unnerved by the pace too, and while it felt a bit counter-productive to my idea of just having all of this wrapped up within a few days, my decision had to be-
"I will think on it for a day. I will provide an answer for tomorrow morning."
Such a dismissive delay, and one that seemed to bring some relieve to the girl...
Who I had yet to learn the name of and who was actively hiding it from me - the fact that Luomen wasn't helping me on this truly annoyed me. A chemical genius she may be, but the Brat was strong in her brattiness too.
AN
First contact is made! But MC doesn't know that Maomao is Maomao just yet. He had spent so many years on the grind, he has lost recognition of some manga/Light Novel-related stuff so... that is going to be a fun situation. And yet, Maomao not going to the Imperial Court will have HUGE consequences in the timeline. Things will get rough for the Empire as a whole due to that.
To put it bluntly: there is no clear succession line, the Emperor's general aloofness with officials is troublesome, Eunuchs aren't exactly the best administrators, and court drama will ruin people left and right.
That's until the MC is finally forced to check the court on an official visit...