Warm medicine emits fragrance

Late at night, Fan Liuer was lying in bed reading a storybook when Siqing opened the door a crack, glanced at the night outside, and then closed the door.

"Madam Fan, it's late, you should go to sleep."

Fan Liuer closed the storybook, looked up at the window, and said, "It seems that Second Master hasn't returned yet today."

Siqing nodded, "Yes, I didn't hear any sound of them coming back."

After saying that, she looked at Fan Liuer and said, "Madam Fan, are you really not going to try to appease the Second Master? These past few days, even the people in the kitchen have been complaining to me that the Second Master has become increasingly picky lately, and nothing he makes suits his taste."

Fan Liuer shook her head. "He's in a bad mood right now. If I go over there, I'll definitely get myself into trouble. Let him calm down for a few days before I go."

Siqing nodded, "That's true. Maybe in a few days, Second Master will calm down. That's how it was last time."

At this time, Shenglong Money Shop.

Li Chenbi sat behind his desk, flipping through the account books on the table.

Li Qiuping replaced the candles in the room that were about to go out, and then looked up at the night sky outside the window.

The sound of the night watchman's gong came from outside.

Li Qiuping turned to look at Li Chenbi, sighed inwardly, and advised, "Second Master, it's late, let's go back."

Li Chenbi put down the account book. "What time is it?"

It's past midnight.

Li Chenbi was silent for a moment, then stood up. "Let's go back."

Li Qiuping hurriedly walked outside, saying, "I'll go and tell someone to prepare the horses."

When Li Chenbi came out of the money shop, there were already people waiting outside with two large horses.

Li Chenbi took the reins, leaped onto the horse, and spurred it on, heading towards the Li residence.

Spring had already begun, but the weather still carried the chill of winter, and the night wind was even stronger.

Li Chenbi liked to ride horses in winter, as the cold wind could cool him down.

Moreover, he had been extremely troubled these past few days.

Fan Liuer never came to see him even once.

They really treat him like an object, only remembering him when they need him, and not even offering a greeting when they don't.

She didn't care whether he returned home or not; she didn't even ask about his return. She was more heartless than the patrons of brothels.

Li Chenbi felt uneasy. If Fan Liuer didn't come to see him for a day, he would stubbornly insist that she take the initiative to come to him.

She wouldn't come to him for someone else's sake; it had to be because she missed him and longed for him.

But even now, he's the only one suffering from this pent-up frustration.

He got angrier and angrier.

Disturbed, I nearly hit someone while riding my horse past a winery called Qingyue.

The man reacted quickly, leaping backward to avoid Li Chenbi's horse.

Li Chenbi immediately tightened the reins to stop the horse, which paced back and forth for a moment before finally coming to a stop.

A servant following behind the man saw this and looked at Li Chenbi, angrily shouting, "Are you blind? You're trampling on people with your horse's hooves!"

In his more than twenty years of life, this was the first time Li Chenbi had been verbally abused to his face in Xingzhou City.

Li Qiuping immediately jumped off his horse, yelling, "You fucking blind fool, don't you know who's in front of you?"

The servant was about to curse again, but his master stopped him. He looked up at Li Chenbi and frowned slightly.

"Although I do not know your identity, riding a horse in the street is a serious crime according to the law."

Li Chenbi sat on his horse, looking down at the man in front of him.

The person's clothes were expensive, indicating they were either rich or noble, but their face was unfamiliar.

There was no wealthy merchant or nobleman in Xingzhou City that Li Chenbi hadn't met. This person was not from Xingzhou, and had never even done business in Xingzhou.

He raised an eyebrow and then said, "If that's the case, then you can go to the government office to report it to the authorities."

"Let's see if anyone will punish me."

After saying this, Li Chenbi spurred his horse and rode away.

Li Qiuping sneered at the two of them, "You come to Xingzhou City without even asking whose territory this is."

After saying that, he leaped onto his horse and followed Li Chenbi away, leaving behind the two servants with grim expressions.

After the sound of horses' hooves faded into the distance, the servant approached the man and whispered, "Those two are incredibly arrogant!"

The man gazed thoughtfully in the direction Li Chenbi had left.

"They didn't even bother to find out whose territory this is."

The words echoed in his mind.

Of course he knew whose territory Xingzhou was—the territory of the richest family in Xingzhou, the Li family.

Those two people must be members of the Li family to have said those words.

I just don't know who in the Li family it is.

"Hey, you two, you mustn't mess with that guy. He's notoriously short-tempered!" The owner of the distillery came out of the house and kindly warned the two.

He had been there earlier, and when he saw the two confronting Li Chenbi, he hid and didn't dare to come out.

He'd heard that Li Chenbi had been even more irritable these past few days, so he dared not run into him at a time like this.

He only dared to come out after everyone had gone far away.

The man turned his head to look at the distillery owner. "Who is he?"

"He is Master Li, Li Chenbi. Half of the shops in Xingzhou City belong to his family. If you want to do business in Xingzhou in the future, you must not offend him, otherwise..." The boss shook his head, not explaining the rest of the story.

The man frowned slightly. "He's so arrogant, how come no one can control him?"

The distillery owner immediately waved his hand, "Second Master is just a bit short-tempered. If you do business with him properly, he's very generous. Besides, the Li family isn't an ordinary family. They have a concubine of a prince in their household. In the future..." the owner lowered his voice, "maybe she'll become the emperor's brother-in-law."

The man nodded upon hearing this. "I see."

Li Chenbi rode his horse back to the gate of the Li residence, dismounted, threw the whip to the servant who came to greet him, and strode into the residence.

Li Qiuping followed.

Li Chenbi: "Go investigate that person from earlier and find out his background."

Li Qiuping immediately nodded, "Yes."

After answering, he became curious again, "Second Master, is there something wrong with those two?"

"Those two don't look like master and servant. When the servant was supporting his master, he gripped his master's arm quite firmly, so he must know martial arts."

As he spoke, he glanced at Li Qiuping, "If you had helped me up, would you have dared to pinch me like that?"

Li Qiuping immediately shook his head, "Of course I wouldn't dare."

Li Chenbi added, "That person was dressed in very valuable clothes, but I have never seen such a person in Xingzhou. He must be an outsider."

"The situation is unstable now. Xingzhou is a strategic location that is contested by military strategists. It will definitely not be stable in the future. Who would be foolish enough to come to Xingzhou to do business at this critical juncture?"

"But if it was just a sightseeing trip, why would I have come out of Qingyue Winery?"

Li Qiuping immediately understood.

Qingyue Winery was a place where Xingzhou merchants socialized and entertained themselves; all those who went there were businessmen.

Qingyue Winery started out as just an ordinary winery, but because Li Chenbi frequented it, those who wanted to get close to him followed suit. Later, Li Chenbi got tired of it and stopped going, but Qingyue's reputation grew, and over time, it became the large winery it is today.

However, this knowledge was only known among the merchants. For ordinary families or tourists visiting Xingzhou, Qingyue was just an ordinary wine shop. Because it was often booked out, many ordinary drinkers were disappointed, and later, apart from the merchants, not many people went there.

If they were just tourists, why would they be there in the middle of the night?