I am the Ruler of the Kingdom of Mysterious-Chapter 224 - 192: Making Money

Before heading back, He Buning called Yu Da aside to inquire about some matters.

Afterward, he asked Sang Que to try recruiting Thousand Faces the next time they met. Not to have Thousand Faces join the Evil Suppression Bureau directly, but to assist the bureau by keeping an eye on the city’s various news and continuing to investigate the Gambling Ghost case, acting as an informant.

He Buning already knew that the Yin Walker controlling the Thousand-faced Ghost was the girl who assisted her in the Gambling Ghost case, which was not difficult for He Buning to guess.

He had just asked Yu Da likely to learn more about the character of Thousand Faces.

If Thousand Faces were the type of Yin Walker that caused trouble everywhere, they would certainly be on the disposal list before the New Year’s Eve arrived.

At present, it seems that aside from being quite money-centered, Thousand Faces is a relatively good person. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

To date, it has been six days since the Gambling Ghost was detained, and tomorrow is precisely the seventh day when Hua Qianmian would come to collect the money, as previously agreed.

Yu Da and Sang Que left the He Mansion together, and as night fell, Wangshan City was under curfew, with the streets silent except for the watchmen and the night patrol guards.

"Old Yu, have you gotten yourself into something unclean lately?" Sang Que probed.

Yu Da rubbed his slightly hungry stomach, relaxed, "Dealing with various evil spirits every day, you’re bound to get a bit of dirt on you. What’s with the sudden question?"

"I might be having trouble distinguishing between the Dream Ghost’s dreams and reality. I don’t even know if I was dreaming or awake, but it seemed like I saw some strange shadows on you just now," Sang Que asked cautiously.

Yu Da dismissed it, "It’s no issue. I’ll just burn some mugwort for purification, light some incense, and take a bath when I get back. The day we escorted the Gambling Ghost to the Evil Ghost Bureau, I passed by General Cao, the Yin Walking General of our Qinzhou. If there was an issue, it couldn’t escape his eyes."

Sang Que nodded, not pressing further.

Upon arriving home, Sang Que washed up. Xuan Yu leapt over the wall between the two courtyards from Kou Yushan’s side, perched on the wall’s edge watching her, and meowed.

Sang Que understood, went inside, grabbed a can, and poured it into a ceramic bowl to feed Xuan Yu by the wall. "Everything’s sorted on my end, don’t worry."

Meow meow~

Xuan Yu buried its head in the food, purring in contentment, rubbed against Sang Que’s outstretched hand, then turned and jumped back into Kou Yushan’s courtyard. It was going to accompany Xia Chan, who was staying there tonight.

Xia Chan always thought of Xuan Yu as her little darling, although Xuan Yu treated her as if she were its mother, endlessly entertaining her.

As for Sang Que, Xuan Yu acted like a ’big cat’ that had to be coaxed with charm after hunting trips.

After bringing the empty can back home and assuring her mother of her safety, Sang Que quickly returned. There were only four Yansheng coins left in the trigram, awaiting replacement opportunities outside later.

A dreamless night.

Waking early the next day, the effects of the bad luck were expected to continue until evening. Sang Que told Kou Yushan to take Xia Chan out for breakfast and bring back a portion for her.

Sang Que went alone to fetch water from the well at the street corner. It was fine while fetching, but on the way back, one of the wooden buckets inexplicably broke, soaking half her shoe.

The remaining bucket was brought back, but while pouring the water into the tank, the tank cracked, soaking her shoes completely.

She really shouldn’t be doing chores!

With her shoes and socks soaked, Sang Que had to light a fire in the courtyard to dry them. The firewood was the same wood she had previously bought to make plum flower stakes, which Xia Chan completely ruined during play.

At this point, a petite young girl climbed over the courtyard wall.

With almond eyes and tiger teeth, a bright smile, dressed in neat black attire, and a row of flying needle hidden weapons attached to her belt, it was Hua Qianmian.

"The Day Traveling Envoy’s residence would at least have a courtyard with two entrances, complete with an artificial hill, garden, handmaidens, servants, and so on. Why is your place so shabby? And you have to roast your socks and shoes yourself?"

Hua Qianmian surveyed the dilapidated kitchen, the broken water tank outside, and the pool of water all over, expressing her bafflement.

The Night Traveler was supposed to be more formidable than the Day Traveling Envoy. Earning money shouldn’t be so difficult, right? This one seems too impoverished!

Sang Que, sitting by the fire, used a stick to turn her cotton boots over the flames, "The box is in the room, get it yourself."

Hua Qianmian entered, spotting a large chest. She opened it, and the golden glow reflected in her eyes nearly made her drool.

Hua Qianmian promptly took out an abacus, shook it up and down, and set it aside. Then, she brought out a small scale to check each gold ingot, weighing them one by one.

Sang Que glanced back at Hua Qianmian and shook her head, smiling.

Money grubber!

Half an hour later, Sang Que’s shoes and socks were dry, feeling warm and comfortable on her cold feet.

She walked into the house, Hua Qianmian had just finished weighing the last piece, flicked the abacus, "There’s actually one tael and three coins more, you’re generous, girl!"

Sang Que’s mouth opened, she initially wanted to say to return the excess, but then thought, if she gives it back now, Hua Qianmian wouldn’t be able to keep it, so she let it go.

Closing the box, Hua Qianmian clapped her hands, "I’ll find someone to haul the box away by ox cart later. Thank you so much. Oh yes, there’s something quite strange."

"What is it?" Sang Que asked as she sat down.

"About incense," Hua Qianmian scrutinized Sang Que, "You asked me for my real name last time, a few days later I genuinely felt the incense increase, and at that time I was at a chaotic burial mound, didn’t see a single living person, aside from you saying you’d repay my incense, I can’t think of anything else."

Sang Que poured water with the teapot, the handle suddenly broke, and the teapot shattered on the table, even breaking two teacups.

Hua Qianmian raised an eyebrow, "Are you plagued by bad luck?"

"Almost, the Evil Suppression Bureau should have posted a notice explaining that the Gambling Ghost’s matter didn’t involve you, but then all sorts of things happened, and now the notice can’t be put up."

"The incense was made up to you by other means, don’t ask for specifics, I wouldn’t tell even if you asked, and I want to ask you to help me with a few things."

Hua Qianmian casually sat down, "Alright"

"The first is an official matter, our Night Traveler’s Captain He Buning wants you to help the Evil Suppression Bureau gather various local information to continue investigating who’s behind the Gambling Ghost."

Hua Qianmian smiled, picked up the abacus and shook it, "Information gathering is doable, chasing down is not hard either, but let me be upfront, each piece of intelligence has its price. On your account, I can give your Evil Suppression Bureau a bit of a discount. Rest assured, my information is definitely worth the value, there’s nothing in Wangshan City I can’t find out."

Sang Que nodded, she acknowledged this, with Hua Qianmian’s ability to change identities and appearance at will, if she were bold enough, she could spend a day inside the Evil Suppression Bureau.

"Alright, the second matter is personal. I’ll be on official duty for a period, back before New Year’s Eve. During this time, I’d like you to watch over someone, it’s Yu Da, who usually stays with me. He’s a Day Traveling Envoy, just occasionally keep an eye out, see if anything strange happens with him, just whatever you consider unusual."

"Hmm... alright, a small matter" Hua Qianmian nodded, didn’t mention charging.

"Don’t let Yu Da notice, I’m worried he’s entangled with something dirty without realizing it, you must also be extremely cautious for safety. If nothing major happens, no need to intervene. If something does happen, find a way to inform the Day Travel Captain. And there’s a third thing, I want to partner with you to make money."

At this, Hua Qianmian’s eyes lit up, "What business do you want to start?"

Sang Que lowered her voice, "Glutinous rice, Ten Victory Stone raw stone."

Hua Qianmian shivered in surprise, "No, I wouldn’t be surprised if you got glutinous rice, but Ten Victory Stone is a Holy Object of the Buddhist Sect, rare even on the black market. How did you get it?"

Sang Que wore a mysterious look, "I have a mentor with wide connections, if you’re bold enough to sell them, there’s also Thunderstruck Jujube Wood, Thunderstruck Peach Wood, and Yin Chen Wood used by the Taoist Sect for the Heavenly Gang Ruler."

Nowadays there’s Thunder Attraction Needle, getting Thunderstruck Wood isn’t difficult, Jiang Zao can artificially attract thunder.

Hua Qianmian felt a bit uneasy, as this was a big business deal, she truly feared she might not be able to handle it, considering the demand for such items on the black market where the highest bidder wins.

Thinking it over, the bold prosper, the timid die hungry; with money she could buy corpses and identities, no more grave digging.

With money, she could better deal with believers’ prayers and rapidly enhance the incense.

In those famine-stricken villages, a few bags of grain could yield nearly a hundred believers.

Hua Qianmian slapped the table, "I’m in! I can guarantee I won’t give away your identity no matter what, but I want a sixty-forty split, sixty to you."

"Deal!"

Sang Que agreed readily, though she wasn’t sure how useful earning this much money was yet, these few days being poor meant she couldn’t afford an extra bowl of wontons for breakfast, only buying vegetarian buns, staring helplessly at Xia Chan while settling bills, deeply understanding the fear of being broke.

Better to prepare for a rainy day, save up more money.

For the formal contract and Money Shop account opening, all would use Xia Chan’s name, this way the earnings wouldn’t count as her personal assets, breaking the wealth wouldn’t affect this money.

After discussing specific details, Sang Que first gave Hua Qianmian ten pounds of glutinous rice and a small piece of obsidian raw stone.

Glutinous rice cost less than forty bucks, the obsidian raw stone was leftover from Jiang Zao sharpening arrowheads, worthless in modern times but regulated in the Deceit Dynasty. Giving Hua Qianmian a small piece to test the waters seemed safe.

At this moment, Hua Qianmian looked at Sang Que like she was a god of wealth, burning so intensely that Sang Que felt a bit uncomfortable.

"Sang Mulan, you’re truly my benefactor! With your trust in me, I can’t let you suffer losses, I’ll give you something you definitely need."

Hua Qianmian pulled out a book without a cover from her chest, pressed it on the table, and leaned in secretively, whispering, "Want to become... a Ghost God?"