Huangfu Yue asked the shopkeeper to show her the horses. The horses were all fine. She had originally planned to buy six horses, one for each carriage, but she thought that since there would be many people in each carriage, one horse pulling it might not be fast enough.
So she changed her mind and decided to buy twelve horses, with two horses for each carriage.
Huangfu Yue counted the long row of horses in front of her; there were quite a few, eighteen in total.
Enough!
She picked out the horses quickly. Within minutes, she had selected twelve tall and strong horses, which clearly indicated they were fast and had good stamina.
When the shopkeeper heard Huangfu Yue point out the twelve horses she wanted, he was shocked. It wasn't that he was surprised by her choice of horses, but rather that she was buying so many at once.
In all his years of doing business, he had never seen anyone buy so many horses at once, just as he had never seen anyone buy so many carriages at once, and the customer was a young girl. It was truly eye-opening and a learning experience.
He became increasingly curious about Huangfu Yue, wanting to know what she looked like and who she really was. However, because Huangfu Yue was wearing a veiled hat, he never had the chance to glimpse her true appearance.
"For these twelve horses, I'll give you the lowest price as discussed, one hundred and fifty taels of silver," the shopkeeper stated the selling price.
Fearing that Huangfu Yue might find it too expensive, he added, "Miss, please don't think one hundred and fifty taels is too much money just by hearing it. It is indeed a large sum, but this is the price for twelve horses.
You have a good eye for horses; these twelve are all top-quality. Each of them would sell for a high price individually. Selling them to you for a combined total of one hundred and fifty taels is already incredibly cheap.
You can search the entire town, and you won't find horses sold this cheap."
Huangfu Yue curled her lips. Was he speaking so much out of fear that she would haggle over the price?
"Don't worry, I won't bargain. Your price is quite fair. I'll give you the money now." Huangfu Yue took out a five-hundred-tael silver note and handed it to the shopkeeper.
She knew horses were quite expensive in ancient times, so one hundred and fifty taels for twelve good horses was indeed considered cheap.
The shopkeeper received the money with both hands, thanked her, and beamed, his face radiating happiness.
Today was truly a day of great fortune. He never expected to do such a large business so soon after opening. This single transaction was equivalent to half a year's worth of business for him.
His carriage business wasn't very good; sometimes, he wouldn't get any customers for ten days or half a month.
With this deal made today, he wouldn't have to worry about business for the next few months.
The shopkeeper quickly found two hundred and thirty taels to give back to Huangfu Yue. "Miss, with so many horses and carriages, how will you take them? Why didn't you bring any servants to drive them?"
"Please hitch all the horses I bought to the carriages I bought, two horses per carriage, and drive them to the wide, empty alley ahead. My servants will come later to drive them back...
My servants are currently attending to other matters for me and will arrive in a while." Huangfu Yue replied.
She couldn't tell the shopkeeper that she had a space and could store all the carriages in it, so there was no need to bother bringing a group of people to drive the carriages.
In fact, she had previously considered choosing six people from Feng Maoyuan's subordinates and the male servants of the princely estate to accompany her to buy the carriages and drive them back, but she worried that too many people would attract attention, and it would be less convenient than buying them herself.
"I see! Miss, why don't I have my men hitch the horses to the carriages first? When your servants arrive, they can drive the carriages directly from my shop. For now, let's have them driven to the empty alley ahead. I'm afraid someone might steal the carriages," the shopkeeper suggested.
Huangfu Yue shook her head. "No one will steal the carriages; I'll be watching in the empty alley. Please have the horses hitched to the carriages and driven to the empty alley now. My servants will arrive shortly and can drive them directly from the alley, which is more convenient than driving them from your shop.
If they drive from your shop, and someone happens to come to buy carriages at that time, it would be very inconvenient, with you blocking me and me blocking you."
The shopkeeper felt her reasoning was sound and nodded with a smile. "Miss, you've thought of everything. We'll do as you say."
The shopkeeper immediately called his assistants and instructed them to hitch the horses to the carriages Huangfu Yue had purchased and drive them to the empty alley ahead.
The shopkeeper only had two assistants, so hitching the horses and carriages took some time. By the time they had driven the horse-drawn carriages to the empty alley in three batches, it had been over a quarter of an hour.
Huangfu Yue stood in the alley, about three meters wide. After the shopkeeper's assistants who had driven the carriages had left, and seeing that no one was around, she immediately collected all six large carriages in the alley into her space.
Huangfu Yue walked out of the alley and headed back towards the inn.
"Have you heard? The national treasury has been robbed. It was emptied by thieves, completely cleaned out!"
On her way back, Huangfu Yue's sharp ears suddenly caught a male voice. She followed the sound and saw an ordinary passerby telling the person walking with him.
Her beautiful eyes behind the veil flickered. The news of the national treasury being stolen had already reached here, just as she had expected.
"Is that true? The national treasury was robbed? How is that possible! The national treasury, a place heavily guarded by soldiers, how could any thief sneak in to steal, and steal it clean." The person who learned about the theft was extremely shocked and exclaimed loudly.
With that shout, everyone around heard it and looked surprised and curious, gathering around.
"The national treasury was robbed? What's going on?"
"Where did you get the news?"
"How could the national treasury be robbed? It sounds like a made-up story!"
"What made-up story! I'm not tired of living, why would I dare to make up such a thing and spread it!" The person who first broke the news of the treasury theft shouted with a frown, looking displeased.
He immediately stated the source of his information: "I ran into my brother-in-law who works at the yamen earlier. He told me that he just received news from the capital that the national treasury was completely looted recently. The Emperor was furious and ordered that the thieves who dared to brazenly steal from the national treasury must be found.
Last night, the capital was sealed off, and a search was conducted all night, but there was no progress, and the thieves were not caught. The Emperor suspects that the thieves who stole from the national treasury might have already left the capital and fled to towns near the capital, so he ordered all towns near the capital to be sealed off and thoroughly searched.
My brother-in-law said that our town will be sealed off soon, and we won't be able to leave."
Hearing this, Huangfu Yue didn't linger to listen further. The town was about to be sealed off; she needed to leave quickly.
Huangfu Yue hurried towards the inn, and at the same time, she mentally called out to Xiao Hei, who was likely still sleeping.
"Master, what do you need?" Xiao Hei immediately responded to Huangfu Yue. Judging by his voice, he seemed to have just woken up.
"We are preparing to leave Miadian Town. You should come to the inn to meet us as soon as possible."
"Yes, I'll be at the inn right away."
To get to the inn before Xiao Hei arrived, Huangfu Yue walked even faster. If it weren't for the many pedestrians on the street and the fear of attracting everyone's attention, she would have started running.