Chapter 6

In a private room on the second floor of the roast goose restaurant, Yuerou rested her delicate hands on the guzheng and sang a cheerful rendition of “Song of the Immortal’s Cave” to liven up the meal. When she heard that Song Changge would soon be traveling far away, she followed it with “Song of Longing” to express her reluctance to part.

When the song ended, she leaned against Lin Jiaye and accompanied her for a couple of drinks, chatting about poetry and songs before moving on to the customs and local culture of Qingdi City. Noticing that Song Changge’s wine cup was empty, she slowly walked over and poured her another cup.

“Thank you.”

Song Changge mumbled her thanks as she gnawed on a roast goose, her mouth greasy with oil and her entire expression radiating satisfaction. The roast goose she had eaten last night had clearly come from this very restaurant. It seemed the original owner had been quite particular when it came to good food.

She swallowed a mouthful of goose and picked up her cup for two sips of wine. The wine was fragrant, mellow, and gentle, perfect for having a few cups with a meal. It satisfied the craving without harming the body.

Yuerou was skilled at reading people’s moods. Seeing that Song Changge seemed to be in a good mood, she nestled into her arms and whispered, “Let Yuerou serve you.”

Then she extended her slender fingers toward the space between Song Changge’s legs.

Completely caught off guard, Song Changge sprayed out a mouthful of wine and burst into a violent coughing fit before turning to stare at Yuerou in horror.

Yuerou jerked her hand back as if electrocuted and froze in place, utterly at a loss. She had merely been catering to Song Changge’s usual preferences and had no idea what she had done wrong.

Song Changge stared at Yuerou’s face, and all those inappropriate Read on BaiLianTalesmemories she had skipped over suddenly came flooding back.

She remembered one night beneath a moon as clear as water, when Yuerou had used her mouth to—cough, she absolutely could not keep thinking about it! That part of her body was ridiculously sensitive and completely beyond the control of her brain.

Song Changge gulped down another mouthful of wine, only to discover that alcohol made her desire even stronger. She immediately called loudly to the waiter, “Bring me a pot of cold tea! Hurry!”

Lin Jiaye found it extremely amusing to watch Song Changge’s face alternate between red and pale. Yuerou had merely acted a little intimate with her, yet Song Changge had reacted so strongly that she looked like an innocent fledgling who had never experienced such things before.

Lin Jiaye could not help giving her a few more looks. This Third Miss Song was becoming more and more interesting.

The waiter brought in a pot of June Frost cold tea. Song Changge lifted the pot and gulped down half of it before she finally managed to suppress the fire of desire.

She let out a long breath, glanced at the plates, and said to Yuerou, “Play another little song for us. Once I finish this roast goose, we’re going shopping, so you can return to Ronghua Hall.”

“Yes.” Seeing that Song Changge had no intention of blaming her, Yuerou breathed a sigh of relief.

She sat before the guzheng and performed one final piece, “Butterflies in Love with Flowers,” her singing melancholy and graceful. The final line—

“I wish to send you a colored letter and a written note, but with mountains so long and waters so vast, where could I possibly find you?”

—left everyone listening with their hearts stirred.

When they escorted Yuerou back to Ronghua Hall, Song Changge gave her another five gold yuan. It might have seemed rather direct and impersonal, but money was the most practical thing in this world. Without it, one could hardly take a single step.

Song Changge first took Lin Jiaye to the General Goods Market operated by the Song family. It dealt in everyday necessities, and because of where many of the goods were produced, quite a few items were cheaper here than in the Western Territories.

Lin Jiaye, however, felt that the Song family was wealthy enough that there was no need to stockpile large quantities of goods merely to save such a small difference in price and haul them all the way to the Western Territories.

Song Changge then took her to the Treasure Market.

It specialized in unusual goods. Half the stalls were operated directly by the Song family, while the other half were rented out to independent beast hunters, miners, herb gatherers, and mercenaries.

Lin Jiaye stopped in front of a relatively large spirit-stone shop. Spirit stones of various colors were displayed throughout the stall and were essential materials for upgrading magical artifacts.

Lin Jiaye pulled a dark-blue thread-bound book from inside her robes, flipped through it, then nodded. “Not bad. The prices here are only one-fifth of what they charge at Kunlun Academy. Let’s buy spirit stones of Rank 2 and above. Anything below Rank 2 won’t be worth much once we get to the academy.”

Song Changge pointed at the thread-bound book and asked, “What’s that?”

“I like traveling around. Whenever I come across something interesting, I write it down. A few days ago, I got hold of a price list from the shops at Kunlun Academy. Their prices are generally five to ten times higher than those outside. The spirit stones here might look expensive, but their purity is high. They’re worth the price.”

The shop owner was a young man in his early twenties. When he saw Third Miss Song coming to buy something, [stolen content]he had long since been standing respectfully to one side. Hearing that Lin Jiaye was knowledgeable about the trade, he immediately began promoting his goods.

“This young lady is correct. Spirit stones come in five colors: white, green, blue, orange, and red. They’re also divided into nine ranks according to purity. Our Gao family mining team only collects spirit stones of Rank 2 or higher, so their quality is absolutely guaranteed.”

Song Changge thought to herself that his explanation was not entirely correct. There were actually purple and black spirit stones in the world as well, containing even more overwhelming energy.

They were simply produced in the Demon Realm and were extremely rare in the Human Realm.

Lin Jiaye picked up a green spirit stone and held it up toward the sunlight. It was Rank 3 quality.

After carefully sorting through the stock, she selected two Rank 2 blue spirit stones, four Rank 3 green spirit stones, and six Rank 6 white spirit stones, then asked the owner to wrap them up and calculate the total.

“These should be enough for the first semester. It’s a shame there aren’t any orange or red spirit stones here. Even a Rank 1 orange spirit stone is a hundred times more powerful than a Rank 9 blue one.”

Song Changge said, “I heard that high-color, high-rank spirit stones are usually guarded by spirit beasts, so they’re extremely difficult to mine.”

“That’s right. Ordinary miners can obtain high-rank green spirit stones at best. Boss Gao is already very impressive.”

Boss Gao finished calculating the price, wrapped the spirit stones, and handed them to Song Changge. “Third Miss, the total is five hundred and fifty-six gold yuan.”

Song Changge was just about to take out her money when she heard the total. Her jaw nearly dropped.

“What? That expensive?!”

Boss Gao froze before revealing an awkward smile. “Third Miss, we sell strictly according to the market price. I absolutely wouldn’t overcharge you by even a single coin. How about this? I’ll only charge you five hundred and fifty gold yuan. I truly can’t go any lower. You know how high the taxes and rent are for spirit-stone shops, and mining itself is extremely dangerous.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Song Changge felt her money pouch and found that she only had ten gold yuan left. She had miscalculated.

She had never imagined that practicing mystic arts could cost so much. Even as the daughter of the richest person in the city, the price made her heart ache.

Seeing Song Changge’s troubled expression, Lin Jiaye hesitated before leaning closer and whispering into her ear, “What’s wrong? Do you not have enough money?”

“Mm.” Song Changge nodded. “But I can write a check.”

There was a Song Bank right inside the Treasure Market. Song Changge wrote a check for five hundred and fifty-six gold yuan and handed it to Boss Gao.

Boss Gao accepted it with both hands and thanked her profusely. Just as he was about to put it away, a group suddenly approached and surrounded the spirit-stone shop.

They wore silver uniforms with sabers hanging from their waists and badges pinned over their left breasts bearing the character “Tax.”

They were the Tax Bureau’s collection squad.

The man at the front cupped his hands toward Song Changge. “Third Miss, my surname is Zhao. I am the captain of the Tax Collection Squad’s Third Team. I heard that this spirit-stone shop just completed a major transaction, so I came specifically to collect the tax. Of course, this is a matter between the shop owner and me. Please feel free to go about your business.”

Song Changge had heard that government expenses had risen enormously in recent years and taxes had skyrocketed, so she casually asked, “How much tax are you collecting?”

“According to tax law, transactions above one hundred gold yuan are taxed at sixty percent.”

Song Changge’s delicate brows drew together.

The miners had risked their lives to earn this money, yet sixty percent of it had to be handed over to these idle tax eaters. It was utterly outrageous.

From what little history she had learned so far, Qingdi City had once maintained a tripartite balance between the government, the Chamber of Commerce, and the sects.

Over the past five thousand years, however, the sects had gradually migrated east and west. Nowadays, only the Chamber of Commerce was truly capable of opposing the government in Qingdi City.

Ever since the new city lord, Zhao Qingge, had taken power, the government’s influence had expanded dramatically. More than thirty departments and bureaus had been established one after another. The bureaucracy had grown bloated and overstaffed, consuming enormous amounts of tax revenue every year.

To fill the depleted treasury, Zhao Qingge had expanded the original three major tax categories into five: resource tax, poll tax, transaction tax, income tax, and property tax, each containing numerous separate charges.

On top of that, there were countless temporary taxes and additional levies. The excessive taxation [stolen content]was truly fiercer than a tiger, placing an extremely heavy burden on the common people.

Because of this, Zhao Qingge had even earned the nickname “Lord Ten Thousand Taxes.”

Song Beiyou, on the other hand, was a principled person without much ambition. She could barely keep the Chamber of Commerce from declining, but she was unable to stop the government from expanding.

Song Changge even worried that her kind and gentle father would be unable to contend with the ambitious Zhao Qingge and might eventually fall victim to some underhanded scheme.

Thinking of this, she suddenly realized that her trip to Kunlun Academy carried a hidden responsibility.

If she could establish herself within the world of mystic practitioners, perhaps she could draw sect influence back into Qingdi City and restore the old three-way balance of power.

Only when all three powers restrained and feared one another would life be best for the common people.

She turned to Boss Gao and asked, “How much tax is charged on transactions below one hundred gold yuan?”

“Forty percent. Below ten gold yuan, it’s twenty percent.”

The corner of Song Changge’s mouth curled upward.

“Captain Zhao, I’ll purchase stolen content everything in fifty-six separate transactions. Collect twenty percent tax accordingly.”

Displeasure appeared on Captain Zhao’s face. “Third Miss, if everyone behaved like you, the entire realm would descend into chaos.”

“As long as the people support it, the realm won’t descend into chaos.”

Song Changge’s calm determination made Captain Zhao feel extremely troubled.

But he had made this trip specifically to collect this particular tax. His end-of-month bonus depended on it.

He could only bite the bullet and say, “Third Miss, please stop being willful. Whether the tax collected is high or low, you’re not the one losing money.”

Song Changge no longer wanted to waste words with him and raised her voice.

“This is Song family territory. I’ll buy things however I please. It’s not your place to tell me what to do.”

By then, twenty Song family guards had already rushed over. Their red-and-black uniforms immediately overwhelmed the silver uniforms.

Seeing that the Song family had them badly outnumbered and that he could gain nothing from a confrontation, Captain Zhao had no choice but to hurriedly collect the twenty-percent tax before leaving in frustration.

Inside the Treasure Market, [stolen content]the shop owners stared in astonishment, while customers and passersby stopped to watch.

Seeing the officials who usually strutted around abusing their authority suffer a setback, swallow their anger, and flee with their tails between their legs, the crowd immediately erupted into cheers.

Song Changge, however, felt little joy.

She returned to the Song residence with the spirit stones, remaining silent throughout the journey.

When she arrived at Qingfeng Residence, she walked into the reception hall, placed the spirit stones on the table, and divided them into two equal piles.

“These are yours.”

Lin Jiaye froze slightly before smiling. “So you knew half of them were mine.”

“You bought an even number of every kind. How could I not notice? Consider them repayment for those two pills you gave me.”

Lin Jiaye regarded Song Changge with great interest.

After a long moment, she suddenly leaned close until her face was right in front of hers and said with a faint, teasing smile,

“Third Miss, I’m liking you more and more.”