True Feelings Without Fear, 23, Driving Fish into the Abyss is as Sweet as Honey

Xuchunfang, inside Cuishulou.

Council Hall.

Yan Chen opened the window and looked into the distance, where he saw a land vessel moored at the foot of the mountain.

As the view moves downwards, a flat open space has been cleared outside the Cui Shu Lou.

There were ordinary servants from the Zhao and Huang families, driving their carriages and waiting by the roadside.

Zhao Qingyun and Huang Zaiyuan were also among them.

Before long, the manager and disciples of Cui Shu Lou, along with the harvesters from the three courtyards of Danlan Valley, and boxes of pills and magical artifacts loaded on carriages, arrived in front of Cui Shu Lou.

The first floor of Cui Shu Lou at this time.

Yu Shunan, Zhao Dengke, Cui Yong, and several other disciples, including another manager surnamed Huang, immediately came out to greet them.

The four men bowed respectfully to the leader of the newcomers and said in solemn voices:

"I have met Supervisor Cui."

Almost simultaneously, Zhao Qingyun and Huang Zaiyuan came forward together, seemingly quite familiar with each other, and exchanged pleasantries with the plump middle-aged man in front of them.

This made the other party laugh repeatedly, and he quickly waved his hand, saying:

"Alright, alright, you two patriarchs, please don't flatter me! We have important matters to attend to right now. After we finish these mundane tasks, we can catch up again!"

"Absolutely! Absolutely!"

Huang Zaiyuan immediately responded and then waved his hand. Immediately, ordinary servants came forward to unload the goods from the carriage for the steward's disciples to inspect and select.

Seeing this, Yu Shunan secretly perked up, said something to Cui Yuan, and then stepped forward to personally screen the quality of the pills and medicinal herbs.

Upon seeing this, Zhao Qingyun sneered inwardly, then subtly exchanged a glance with Zhao Dengke.

The other party's expression was slightly evasive, but they nodded gently and walked towards the area where the goods were being moved.

The disciple in charge surnamed Huang, along with several other disciples in charge, followed closely behind.

Cui Yong suppressed his emotions, only glancing at his third uncle. Seeing that the uncle wasn't even looking at him, he understood and remained silent, following the others.

……

The second floor of Cui Shu Lou.

Yan Chen took in the various expressions of the people below, and couldn't help but smile to himself, thinking to himself:

"According to the previous account books in the building, the Zhao and Huang families have always been able to profit from each harvest like this, and have also made many efforts to maintain a delicate balance."

"But these matters should have been handled by the manager; they were merely overstepping their bounds and acting presumptuously."

"But no one bothered to investigate the matter further."

"The previous managers either colluded with the corrupt officials, or simply drifted along, or simply didn't want to cause any trouble... Those so-called 'miscellaneous donations' were essentially 'dividends' given by the Zhao and Huang families. They were cakes to shut people up, but also knives to stab in the throat."

"Based on the causal information shown by the [Immortal Official Jade Pendant], the manager of Cui Shu Lou and the so-called 'Qing Sheng Sect' do indeed have some unspeakable entanglements."

"Perhaps Qu Ying and Yan Mo mediated between them; or perhaps the Zhao and Huang families acted as matchmakers..."

"In short, he looks like a 'puppet' no matter how you look at it."

"No wonder not many people from the local communities are willing to take this position; the benefits outweigh the dangers, and it would be beneath their dignity!"

Yan Chen exhaled a breath of stale air, gazing intently at the layered mountains. The snow was beginning to melt, the twelfth lunar month was drawing to a close, winter was giving way to spring, and the end of the year was fast approaching.

"Now that this matter is settled, it's time to quickly improve my cultivation, to reach the third level of Qi Refining... the third level of Qi Refining!"

Just as this thought crossed my mind, I suddenly heard footsteps outside the corridor.

With a slight twitch of his eyebrows, Yan Chen turned to look.

Accompanied by a disciple in charge, Cui Yuan, the supervisor of Baicaoyuan, walked into the main hall with a beaming smile.

As soon as he stepped over the threshold, he bowed and said:

"I am Cui Yuan, the supervisor of the Hundred Herbs Courtyard. I had long known that a new manager had arrived at the Emerald Comb Pavilion, a rare and outstanding young talent. Now that I see him, it is indeed true!"

Yan Chen immediately returned the greeting and casually said with a smile:

"Supervisor Cui, please don't flatter your junior brother. The so-called 'manager' is just a nominal position, nothing special. It's just because of the favor of the Jade Sleeve and the patron's favor."

Upon hearing this, Cui Yuan narrowed his slanted eyes slightly, his mind racing.

Having been a member of the Jade Sleeve Sect for over twenty years, he believed he had seen countless people and his judgment of character was generally accurate.

The young man before him appeared kind, gentle, humble, and polite. However, if the letter Cui Yong sent him was genuine, then this man was definitely not some lamb that could be easily manipulated.

Instead, he is a cunning and scheming person who is adept at tripping people up and setting traps for them!

Thinking of this, Cui Yuan was well aware that the letter was nothing more than a "knife" handed to him by the other party.

He wanted to use his position as "Supervisor of the Hundred Herbs Courtyard" to snatch back the real benefits that belonged to the "Manager" from the mouths of the Zhao and Huang families!

And he had already foreseen that this knife would not only be handed to him, but would also inevitably draw blood!

Cui Yuan sighed inwardly.

Logically speaking, he shouldn't have gotten involved in this mess. However, the great path is one of struggle, and if he didn't want to waste his years and become like Wang Gui'an, he had no choice but to continue to fight and grab!

The Zhao and Huang families were engaging in despicable acts of passing off inferior goods as superior ones and lining their own pockets, so it was only natural that they exposed their own behavior.

While it might not be considered a case of double-crossing, there were definitely tangible benefits involved.

Yan Chen gestured with his hand, and the two moved to the table. After exchanging a few more polite words, they took their seats as host and guest.

Neither of them spoke about the harvesting outside the building; they simply chatted about trivial matters.

During the conversation, Yan Chenfu suddenly had a flash of inspiration and asked:

"Speaking of which, Junior Brother, there is something that has been troubling you for a long time. Now that you have met with the supervisor, I wonder if you could enlighten me?"

"Please speak frankly, junior brother."

Yan Chen nodded and said:

"To be honest, on the day I left the Melting Gold Valley, Master Zhu gave me a copy of the 'Azure Origin Brightness Elixir Manual.' If you want to cultivate it, you must open up an acupoint to accommodate the wood-type true energy."

"This is a slow and steady process. If we use pills to help, our cultivation will surely progress much faster. However, since you don't understand pharmacology, I don't know which pills are suitable for this purpose. So I thought I'd ask you for some advice, senior brother."

"Is that so?"

Cui Yuan was slightly surprised, but quickly realized that the other party's words seemed to be a request for advice.

Isn't this a "reminder" to him?

Having been stuck at the second level of Qi Refining for many years, I am well aware of the difficulty of breaking through, hence my great thirst for resources.

Now everyone gets what they need and exchanges what they have, isn't that wonderful?

Even knowing they were being used, they still accepted it willingly.

The thought flashed through his mind, and Cui Yuan laughed heartily, saying:

"Although I, your senior brother, have some knowledge of pharmacology, according to the rules of the Jade Sleeve Sect, I cannot easily pass it on to others, but—"

"Over the years I have served as the supervisor of the Hundred Herbs Academy, I have accumulated many personal insights, but they have nothing to do with the Jade Sleeve lineage."

"After I've tidied it up, I can send someone to deliver it to Cui Shu Lou and personally hand it to Junior Brother Yan for his appraisal."

"That's excellent!"

Yan Chen smiled nonchalantly, picked up the teapot beside him, and poured Cui Yuan a cup of fragrant tea.

Each harbors their own thoughts, which they keep hidden from public view.

……