The Heart of the Empire
It was ten days after the bloody battle at the abandoned temple, on an afternoon in the fourth month by which time spring had fully taken hold of the land, that Ouyang Qiangang arrived at Huangdu, the heart of the Empire.
The city walls soared as though to pierce the very heavens, and through the nine great gates flowed an endless procession — silk-robed nobles in sedan chairs, and the wagon trains of merchant caravans converging from every corner of the realm.
The vast vitality pouring out of the metropolis of a million souls was hot, restless, and alive.
Ouyang Qiangang made for a prosperous residential quarter in the eastern part of the city.
His steps stopped before a grand estate bearing the plaque Yeomga Manor.
This was Sangguan Wan'er's base of operations in the Imperial Capital.
That she had hung a plaque taken from Yeom Pung's surname rather than her own name was pure caution — a deliberate effort to keep their presence in Huangdu as inconspicuous as possible.
When he told the gatekeeper that he went by the alias Hahu Gang, that he was well acquainted with Sangguan Wan'er, and that he wished to see her, he was promptly ushered into the reception hall.
Before long, a man of massive frame stepped into the room.
It was Yeom Pung, the Thunder Iron Palm.
He let his gaze wander for a moment over the unremarkable face Ouyang Qiangang wore beneath his human-skin mask. What rose in his eyes was not the wariness one shows a stranger, but unmistakable gladness. He was, after all, the very man who had given Ouyang Qiangang that mask — there was no chance he would fail to recognize it.
Yeom Pung spoke in a voice of rolling strength.
"Young Master Hahu, you've had a long and wearying road. I trust my little gift served you well along the way?"
Ouyang Qiangang answered with a faint smile.
"Thanks to your consideration, Great Hero Yeom, I was able to travel in comfort, free of unwanted eyes."
Yeom Pung burst into hearty laughter.
"Hahahaha! Now that is an answer I like to hear. But I'm afraid the Manor Lord is away on official business at the moment — you won't be able to see her just yet."
His manner of addressing Sangguan Wan'er had changed — she was "Manor Lord" now. Here in Huangdu she stood at the head of the Myriad Gold merchant caravan, and it was her wish that her bond with Ouyang Qiangang be seen clearly for what it was: a business partnership.
"Is it business, then?"
Yeom Pung answered with a scowl.
"It is. She's been meeting with high officials of the Imperial Palace, trying to break through the final gate on the new venture you proposed."
"From the look on your face, Great Hero Yeom, I gather things aren't going smoothly."
"Far from smooth, of late. It's been weighing heavily on the Manor Lord's heart."
As the sun sank toward the horizon, Ouyang Qiangang was at last able to sit across from Sangguan Wan'er. Fatigue was written plainly on her face, but her eyes burned far more fiercely than they had on the day they parted.
After a brief exchange of glad greetings, she bade Yeom Pung fetch a ledger, then spread it open before Ouyang Qiangang.
"Young Master, first let me show you what we have accomplished."
Her voice carried a pride she made no attempt to hide.
"Our total sales last month came to two hundred twenty-five thousand nyang. Of that, seventy-five percent — one hundred sixty-eight thousand seven hundred and fifty nyang — has been sent to the Ouyang Clan Manor."
Surprise surfaced on Ouyang Qiangang's face.
"That's three times the Bamboo Forest Manor's monthly revenue."
"Because we raised the prices threefold."
"Threefold? Then you charged three nyang for the standard grade and fifteen for the premium?"
"Yes."
"Isn't that pricing them far too high?"
Sangguan Wan'er answered with a smile.
"Young Master, this is Huangdu — the heart of the Empire and the most flourishing city on the continent. Here, an enormous number of people couldn't care less about the price, so long as the goods themselves are superb."
"Remarkable."
"By all accounts, those who bought elixir pills from us are even reselling them on the black market at double and triple the price, and that trade is thriving. And still we sell out — we turn customers away for want of stock. I trust that tells you something of what these elixirs are worth."
"But what of the Gold Mountain Tower? Did they not move to check you?"
"Of course they did. Their interference gave us no small trouble early on. But the elixirs compete with none of their goods directly, so we were able to avoid a head-on clash."
With a smile, she closed the ledger.
"The elixirs have taken firm root in the Huangdu market. Now is the time to set the plan you proposed to me into full motion."
Her expression turned grave. They had to discuss the new venture — the production and sale of salt.
Months earlier, Ouyang Qiangang had secretly dispatched Du Jin-seong to Huangdu to place in her hands the blueprint for that enterprise. It was aimed at striking directly at the production and sale of salt — the greatest artery of gold flowing into the Gold Pagoda Mountain Manor.
"The salt-making method you sent me is truly astonishing. With it, salt fields of the same size yield more than ten times what the old ways produce — and the quality is superior besides."
Having expected as much, Ouyang Qiangang nodded with an even expression.
Sangguan Wan'er continued.
"Calling on every connection forged through the elixir trade, we have already secured grounds for large-scale salt production. All that remains is His Majesty the Emperor's final sanction on the salt sales license."
Her face darkened as she went on.
"But... that final gate proves the hardest of all. The Gold Mountain Tower is working to see that we never obtain the salt monopoly license."
"Nor can we rule out that they have joined hands with the Gold Pagoda Mountain Manor."
"I think the same, Young Master. Because of them, His Majesty's sanction is put off one day after another."
The problem Sangguan Wan'er described was a towering wall called politics — one that neither force nor gold alone could scale. The two of them would have to find a new way over it.
Without a word, Ouyang Qiangang took a sip of his tea. Nothing in his face betrayed the slightest anxiety or haste.
"The look on your face at this moment, Lady Wan'er," he said, "reminds me of the night before you left the clan estate."
"Pardon?"
"That night, too, you wore this same worried look as you told me it was all but impossible to bring down the Gold Pagoda Mountain Manor."
At his words, the conversation they had once shared in the annex of the Ouyang Clan Manor rose vividly in Sangguan Wan'er's mind.
Seated across from her in that annex, Ouyang Qiangang had spoken in a courteous tone.
"Lady Wan'er, could you tell me what you know of the Gold Pagoda Mountain Manor?"
Sangguan Wan'er had furrowed her brow slightly.
"But that is your mother's family, Young Master. I hardly know what I could tell you."
"Just tell me what you know of the reach of their business and the goods they deal in."
Her gaze had deepened.
"How unexpected. Are you interested in your maternal family's business? Was your mother not cast out of their line of succession entirely? And you share no blood with the Dong clan at all."
"I have no interest in the manor's succession."
"Then why...?"
Ouyang Qiangang had answered honestly.
"Because I am searching for a way for my family to slip free of the manor's influence."
Sangguan Wan'er, brilliant beyond her years, grasped the hidden meaning at once — her eyes flew wide.
"Don't tell me... you mean to bring down the manor's business?"
"Nothing so drastic. My power doesn't reach that far — not yet. I merely intend to throw things into such disarray that for years to come, my grandfather will have no attention to spare for my family."
"So you need time... It seems you mean to be scheming at something in the meantime, Young Master."
"I have ideas, though I haven't yet worked out the specifics."
Sangguan Wan'er had fallen silent for a moment, gathered her thoughts, and then spoken.
"Young Master, the Gold Pagoda Mountain Manor's power spreads through every corner of the Empire like a spider's web."
She had counted off on her fingers as she explained.
"Their core businesses are four. First, they provision the garrisons on the frontier with military supplies. Second, they import hides and horses from the northern steppes and distribute them across the Empire. Third, they sell the Empire's silk to the Western Regions and reap vast profits. And the last is..."
"Hmm..."
"Salt. The three I named are colossal in their own right, but the one that outweighs them all — the pillar that holds up the entire Gold Pagoda Mountain Manor — is the salt trade."
Looking him squarely in the eye, she had spoken with firm conviction.
"Young Master, if you truly mean to fight the Gold Pagoda Mountain Manor, strike at their salt trade — their greatest artery of gold, and their greatest weakness."
"Salt?"
"Yes — it is their single greatest enterprise. But it will not be easy. Their monopoly is so ironclad that in all these decades, no one has so much as dared to dream of breaking it."
Her expression grave, she had continued.
"The Gold Pagoda Mountain Manor holds the Yunqing rock salt mines in Shanxi Province and most of the coastal salt fields of Jiangsu and Fujian, and its grip extends to a distribution network sealed without a single gap."
Ouyang Qiangang's eyes had gleamed.
"Thanks to you, Lady Wan'er, I see the road now. A way has come to me not merely to hinder their salt business, but to shake it to its very roots."
"...What do you mean?"
A smile had curved his lips.
"Lady Wan'er... what would you say if I told you I know a way to produce more than ten times the salt of the old methods, at less than half the cost?"
"...!"
Sangguan Wan'er had doubted her own ears. What he described was impossible by the technology of this age.
"That is... truly possible?"
"It is. And if I were to enter that business — would you partner with me?"
A chill had run down her spine. If his words were true, she could seize an unassailable advantage in the succession contest of the Myriad Gold Mountain Manor in a single stroke.
"I will draw up the plans for that business. You, Lady Wan'er, prepare the stage in Huangdu to turn it into reality — so that the moment I join you, we can begin."
Returned from the memory, a smile gathered at the corners of Sangguan Wan'er's eyes.
"To be honest... I only half believed you, back then — until young hero Du Jin-seong came to me bearing your plans."
"That is only natural. I should count myself fortunate you didn't simply take me for a madman. In any case, you trusted an offer that looked impossible and gave it your all here in Huangdu."
Ouyang Qiangang went on with a smile.
"Now it is my turn to keep my promise. I have come carrying in my own hands the key that will complete that plan."
Sangguan Wan'er nodded. She had already felt with her own hands what the Yang Dragon Elixir and Yin Dragon Elixir could do in the marketplace — and perhaps that was why such deep trust shone in the eyes she fixed on him.
From her robe she drew a small booklet and held it out to him.
"What is this?"
"Everything I know of the leadership of the Five Great Merchant Houses of the Great Merchant League, set down as best I could. You mean to stay in Huangdu for some time — knowing these people will serve you well."
Ouyang Qiangang grinned, accepted the booklet, and tucked it into his robe.
"I was just thinking I needed exactly this. My thanks."
The secret chamber of the Gold Mountain Tower — the grandest estate in all of Huangdu.
In that room where the heavy fragrance of aloeswood drifted through the air, Yeon Su-seong, master of the Cloud Ledger Corps, the Gold Mountain Tower's web of spies, listened to a subordinate's report with his brow drawn tight.
"You say a new visitor called Hahu Gang has appeared at Yeomga Manor?"
"Yes, my lord. He appears to be on very close terms with Sangguan Wan'er and Yeom Pung, and has been closeted with them in private since the moment of his arrival."
"Then dig into his identity once more, root and branch. The more suddenly a man appears, the fouler he stinks. Miss nothing — not even the smallest trifle."
"Yes, my lord!"
Yeon Su-seong was known as a man whose caution bordered on outright madness.
After the first subordinate withdrew, another entered and laid a different report before him.
"My lord, while investigating the Bamboo Forest Manor — the other outlet selling the Yang and Yin Dragon Elixirs that Yeomga Manor distributes here in Huangdu — we found something strange."
"Speak."
"Tracing back the manor's medicinal herb supply routes, we caught clear signs that vast quantities of rare herbs have of late been flowing in secret into the Ouyang Clan Manor in Nanchang. Moreover, we confirmed that part of the money the Ouyang Clan Manor has been spending takes the form of silver notes issued by the Huangdu branch of the Myriad Gold Money House."
It was no idle conjecture. It was hard evidence — the inescapable trails of goods and coin.
Yeon Su-seong's face hardened. In his mind, the scattered shards of intelligence began locking together into a single picture.
The Ouyang Clan Manor — the very family where the Life-and-Death Divine Doctor, he who drove back the dysentery plague, was said to have stayed before vanishing without a trace...
The man, his forehead creased with deep furrows, murmured in a low voice.
"...If so, then it is possible the Life-and-Death Divine Doctor himself created the Yang and Yin Dragon Elixirs."
He gave his order.
"Confirm whether the source of the elixirs truly is the Ouyang Clan Manor. Tear everything there apart."
"Yes, my lord!"
When the subordinate withdrew, silence settled over the secret chamber.