The Nine Cauldrons

Chapter 40: Greed

“Bring out the sabers!” As Teng Yongfan ordered, the clansmen put down the bags they were carrying and brought out bundles of the Frost Jade Sabers hidden in the rolls of beast hides.

The bundles of Frost Jade Sabers landed on the ground, causing low clanking sounds. The cavalry leader sat on the chair, glancing at the Frost Jade Sabers arrogantly and said, “Old Zhang, go check through every single one of these Frost Jade Sabers. We must ensure that these villagers from the mountain won’t try to deceive us with shoddy goods!”

“Yes sir.” A middle-aged man with a tall stature strode over while calling for the others. “All the other men, come here and check every saber.”

As the ropes were untied, the Frost Jade Sabers were scattered all over the ground and made even more clanking sounds.

Many guards picked up the Frost Jade Sabers and scrutinized each one of them. The Frost Jade Sabers emitted a faint green light. When the guards grabbed onto the hilt, they could sense a chill emanating from the sabers. sabers were trenchant as well. All these signs showed that these sabers were definitely very good sabers. they could sense the chill emanating from the sabers. All these signs showed that these sabers are very good weapons.

“Sir,” Old Zhang handed a Frost Jade Saber to the cavalry leader.

The leader took the Frost Jade Saber and carefully looked at it for a while before he nodded and said, “This saber seems fine. I just wonder how well it would be when it’s being used.

“Rest assured.” Teng Yongfan smiled and said confidently, “Before these Frost Jade Sabers were brought here, we had tested out every single one of them. Our Teng Jia Village has never sold a single Frost Jade Saber of inferior quality before.”

“Hmph, we will know after the test.” The cavalry leader threw a glance at Old Zhang and Old Zhang immediately understood.

“Bring over the pieces of wood.” The guard called Old Zhang spoke out in a loud voice.

A large amount of firewood was brought over in bundles and then tossed onto the ground, causing them to scatter everywhere.

“Everyone, hack the pieces of firewood with the Frost Jade Sabers.” Old Zhang said.

Immediately, the guards began hacking the pieces of firewood with the Frost Jade Sabers. Cracking sounds could be heard as the pieces of wood split apart easily and not a scratch could be found on any of the Frost Jade Sabers. When Teng Yongfan saw this, he sneered inwardly and thought to himself, “The secret art of forging the Frost Jade Sabers had been slowly created and improved by the many early generations of the Teng Clan. How could the Frost Jade Sabers be bad?”

“Hmmm?” The cavalry leader suddenly stood up and took a Frost Jade Saber from the hands of a guard. As he gently touched the blade with his right hand, his countenance immediately turned grim.

The people of the Teng Clan became nervous.

“What happened? Why is the edge of this saber damaged?” The leader asked furiously as he forcefully tossed the saber toward the ground. The Frost Jade Saber was smashed right in front of Teng Qingshan and the other men of the Teng Clan, making a loud clang.

“How is that even possible?” Teng Yongfan hastily picked the chipped Frost Jade Saber up.

The other clansmen gathered around and saw that the edge of the Frost Jade Saber had really been damaged.

Teng Yongfan’s expression changed drastically.

According to their written agreement, if there were any problems with the quality, they would be in big trouble.

“Impossible! This is absolutely impossible.” Teng Yongfan shook his head anxiously as he said, “I have checked every single one of them. How could this be possible?”

“Impossible?” The leader smirked.

“Sir!” Teng Qingshan’s voice suddenly rang out loudly. It was so loud that his voice could probably be heard by even the people several hundred Zhang away. The cavalry leader’s countenance changed as he snapped, “Kid, keep your voice down. If you disturbed my master, who is resting, I will send you and the men of your village to jail!”

Teng Qingshan was turning ten soon. From his appearance, he was only a boy.

“Sir, could it be that you’re able to use inner strength? The legendary inner strength?” Teng Qingshan appeared to be very jealous and agitated as he looked at the leader.

The leader was stunned.

“I saw it just now! When your hand touched that Frost Jade Saber, that sharp blade…” Before Teng Qingshan could even finish his words, the expression of the leader turned grim as he snapped anxiously and furiously, “Kid! Shut up!”

Teng Qingshan put up an innocent expression, but he was secretly smiling coldly to himself. Although the others had not noticed, Teng Qingshan had clearly noticed it with his sharp senses. The blade that was initially perfectly fine only damaged after leader touched the edge. In fact, Teng Qingshan himself could do this as well. With the use of the inner strength on the edge of the blade, the blade would naturally be chipped.

Teng Qingshan could tell that this leader clearly wanted to blatantly cheat them out of this deal.

“What’s going on?” A voice rang out as a group of people walked out from the manor. The one in the lead wore a black fur coat appeared clean and fair. It was obvious that this was a middle-aged guy who had been living a good life. Dressed in a white ferret coat, a cute young girl with her hair tied up. Behind them were two servants and two personal guards.

“Master.” The group of people in the backyard immediately bowed.

“Oh? The Frost Jade Saber has been delivered? Since it has been delivered, then quickly pay them and get them to leave. Why the need for all the fuss?!” The middle-aged man frowned and said

“Yes, Master.” The leader replied.

“Hey Qin San, what were you guys arguing about?” The playful young girl blinked and asked with bemusement. She then looked curiously toward the members of the Teng Clan who were wearing clothes made of beast hides.

“The cavalry leader immediately bowed and said, “Miss, we ordered the goods from them and they delivered the goods here. We have been checking the goods, but we noticed that one of the Frost Jade Sabers is of low quality. The edge of the blade was damaged after it hacked the pieces of wood.” When the cute young girl heard this, she looked towards Teng Qingshan and the other clansmen and frowned, “Hmph, a Frost Jade Saber that’s priced at 150 silver taels is so expensive, but it still damages that easily? How can we accept weapons like this?!”

Teng Qingshan, Teng Yongfan and the others were stunned.

One hundred and fifty taels per saber?

However, when the cavalry leader placed the order, he was paying 100 silver taels per saber. Moreover, judging from the looks of things, it seemed that he was not even planning on making the final payment.

“Qin San, how are the other Frost Jade Saber” The fair skinned middle-aged man asked nonchalantly.

“The rest of the Frost Jade Sabers are very fine.” The cavalry leader quickly said. “But we’ve yet to take a good look at them.”

“Qin Da, go and take a look.” the middle-aged man said.

One of the two personal guards behind him walked toward the Frost Jade Sabers. He glared at the cavalry leader before picking up one of the sabers and testing it out. He then turned to reply, “Master, these Frost Jade Sabers are very good. They’re definitely good enough for ordinary guards.”

“Alright. Qin San, pay them and tell them to leave. A ruckus like this isn’t good for our reputation.” The middle-aged man said with an indifferent tone. With this, he turned towards his daughter, who was beside him, and said, “Yu, let’s go. We still need to visit your Uncle Liu. It’s not good to be late.”

“Yes, Father.”

The cute young girl cast a curious glance at Teng Qingshan and the others before leaving with the middle-aged man.

The guard called Qin Da walked up to the cavalry leader and whispered, “Third Martial Brother, don’t be so greedy. It’s not easy for these people to make a living. Moreover, if the situation intensified and angered the master, don’t blame me for not helping you.” WIth this, Qin Da left with the Old Master.

“He’s not showing me any respect at all.” The cavalry leader muttered after the group had left. “So what if he’s the Eldest Martial Brother? To hell with him. He’s always looking down on me. Just wait till I cultivate to the sixth level as well. By that time, I won’t have to put up with you.”

The cavalry leader then threw a cold glance toward Teng Yongfan and the others.

“Villagers, one saber was damaged. However, I can’t be bothered to argue over this. Old Zhang, give them a note for ten thousand silver taels and tell them to scram.” The cavalry leader instructed.

When Teng Qingshan heard this, he frowned.

Ten thousand taels?

The remaining payment for these goods was ten thousand and two hundred silver taels. Yet, the cavalry leader’s words implied that he has no intention of paying the remaining two hundred.

The remaining payment for these goods was ten thousand and two hundred silver taels. With just one word, the cavalry leader made it clear that he was not planning on paying the two hundred taels. The amount of two hundred silver taels was not a small sum. After all, the profit was very low after the deduction of the cost of manpower and other expenditures for this deal. With that being said, the amount of two hundred taels was absolutely needed.
“Sir…” Teng Yongfan was about to say something.

“Hmph!” The cavalry leader’s gaze turned cold. “You should be glad that I am not asking you all to compensate for the damaged Frost Jade Saber. If you continue speaking nonsense, I will beat all of you up! Now scram!”

At this moment, Old Zhang took out a note for ten thousand silver taels and handed it to Teng Yongfan.

Teng Yongfan took the silver note and scrutinized it before he said in a deep tone, “Let’s go!” Although the men from Teng Jia Village were all courageous people, they wouldn’t throw an egg at a rock. It was not worth it to be throwing in everyone’s lives for just two hundred silver taels. And so, everyone endured and left the Yangzhou Merchant Guild.

******

The people of the Teng Clan only started cursing after they had left the Yangzhou Merchant Guild.

“What’s with that Qin San? It’s bad enough that he’s paying us one hundred taels for each saber which costs one hundred and fifty-taels, not to mention that he wasn’t even planning on paying us earlier!” Teng Qinghu was so infuriated that he couldn’t stop cursing. “If it wasn’t because of Qingshan’s loud voice which got that master’s attention, Qin San probably won’t give us the remaining payment.”

Teng Yongfan smiled and looked at Teng Qingshan, “Qingshan, how did you get the idea of getting that master’s attention?”

“I only shouted because I felt anxious.” Teng Qingshan smiled and explained. “I saw it with my own eyes. The edge of the saber only damaged after the leader touched the saber.” Although Teng Qingshan said this, it was true that he had intentionally shouted loudly to get the attention of the great salt merchants in the surroundings.

Even if he could not get the attention of this manor’s master, he would have been successful if he had managed to attract the attention of the other affluent salt merchants!

After all, people like Teng Yongfan and Teng Qinghu spent most of their lives in the village and were not aware of how those great salt merchants would think.

As a hitman in his previous life, Teng Qingshan understood the minds of the affluent ones and the members of the upper echelon in the society. To those people, money was not an issue. Their reputations were far more important.

If news were to spread… that a certain great salt merchant got into a quarrel with a bunch of villagers over a small amount of money, that salt merchant would probably become a laughing stock. Therefore, no matter what happened, it was impossible for that trade merchant to get into a brawl with them over a small amount of money in the Yangzhou Salt Merchant Guild.

“Regardless, we’ve managed to get past this daunting episode unscathed.” Teng Yongfan smiled and said, “Qingshan, this is the first time you’ve come to the Yi City. Before we head back, I’ll take you somewhere. It just so happens that I need to get some things from there as well.”

“What place is it?” Teng Qingshan asked curiously.

“Wan Xiang Tower.” Teng Yongfan replied.