132 Choices 4

"A Third Grade Medicinal Herb? What is that?"

Lingxi almost groaned out loud when she heard that. Clearly, this Ming Qingsong had been too pampered! Didn't she even know about the classification of herbal medicines? And her father was supposed to be the Elder in charge of the Medicine Fields! How could she be so ignorant?

Fortunately, Xian Mei, who had been properly astonished by the revelation, was quick to explain it to her:

"What Qin Feng traded away - that Golden Veined Lotus Root? Well, that was a Third Grade Medicinal Herb. And it is worth about ... oh, two to three thousand silver coins? Maybe more than that, if the piece of root in his possession weighed more than ,,, what? Six hundred grams?"

Lingxi shook her head even as Ming Qingsong's eyes shot wide open. "More than that. That is the price that our Medicine Hall would pay for the root. If you head out into the Cities and the towns close by, you would likely be able to demand between two to three times more."

Then she turned to Ming Qingsong, and nodded at her. "I do not need to know what sort of herb that he traded it for, but I doubt that it cost anything less than four to six thousand silver coins. That is, if the place where he traded the Lotus Root away was more or less respectable. In any case, that is not a small sum of money."

"Then ... It is no wonder that Younger Brother Qin Feng is feeling so upset! He has traded away such an expensive item, and offered up ... whatever it is that he traded it for! He offered that to your father ... What did he get in return for his efforts? And his prized medicinal herb?

"I think his ... isolating himself makes sense now. Especially in light of how Elder Ming has ... failed to show his appreciation for his efforts."

Xian Mei bit her lower lip as soon as she heard that. And started to shake her head. "This is more problematic that I had expected. Even my father would not be able to raise that sort of money in a hurry," she whispered.

Ming Qingsong looked upset then. And very shocked as well. "Four to six ... thousand silver? But ... but he didn't tell me that! I didn't know! It's not written anywhere in the texts on medicinal plants and such. And I doubt my father realizes that either," she protested at once.

Lingxi sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose as soon as she heard Ming Qingsong's whine. She had a better idea of what happened now. And she didn't blame Qin Feng for throwing a tantrum and shutting himself away from everyone else, now she knew the details. In fact, she was rather surprised that he didn't do worse!

"Then he has taken ... a severe loss. And your father's ... lackluster response has only made matters worse. Little wonder why Qin Feng is feeling ... so depressed."

"We could ... try to get our hands on ... some money, I think, to make up for his loss. I mean ... I think my father might have a bit of coin squirreled away somewhere."

"That won't work," Xian Mei said to Ming Qingsong, upon hearing the latter's suggestion, "Qin Feng has never bothered to accumulate coin, as far as I can tell. Even Lingxi and her friends in the Rear Gardens know that. They owe him a huge debt, amounting to almost a thousand silver already, and he has never bothered to collect."

Xuan Mei turned to Lingxi then, and made a gesture in her direction. "Not even in kind. I would have expected a young man like him to be more prone to ask for ... other services, other than coin. But he hasn't done that either, has he?"

The oldest of the trio looked up at the darkening sky then, and sighed again. And did not bother to get upset at Xuan Mei's question. There was no point in saying what everyone already knew, was there?

"That is correct. I owe him about three hundred silver myself. So it is clear that he is more concerned about something other than just coin. I believe that he is deeply angered to be brushed aside like that, after he succeeded in ... getting your father what he wanted.

"If that is the case, I seriously doubt that you will be able to get him to purchase any more herbs for you, regardless the price that you are willing to pay. Qin Feng is stubborn like that. That is how he got into trouble with ... Lingyuan and her friends. They refused to meet his price once, you see. So he refused to supply them, regardless of how much silver they are willing to pay.

"I am rather certain that we do not wish him to apply those same rules to us, for whatever reason. That would be a disaster, for all of us."

Lingxi watched as the pale young girl's face took on a despondent air. Xuan Mei too, seemed more than a little upset as well. Which reminded Lingxi of the reason why she had been so anxious to meet with Qin Feng.

And why she had bothered to reach out to Lingxi in the first place. All of that had been so that she could present a proper arrangement, a proper plan, to the herb-grower. But now, it didn't appear as though there was any possibility of getting him to agree to her scheme, did it? Not if he was still upset with Elder Ming, and the rest of the Heaven Sword School.

"We would have to meet with him, and be properly apologetic when we ... explain to him that it is taking longer than we expected, for Elder Ming to get his hands on the reward that he had in mind for Qin Feng. That might be enough to ... keep him from making any moves that would ... upset the situation at hand."

Xuan Mei looked at Lingxi immediately after the latter said that, and she seemed rather cautious about having to lie to the herb-grower. "And if he learns that there isn't ... that Elder Ming isn't really searching for a suitable reward? What then?"

"Then we had best come up with a way to make it up to him. In either Elder Ming's or your father's name. Because we certainly need him more than he needs us, right now!"

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