On the wedding day, my wife was abnormal

The west wing of the Prince Regent's Palace was shrouded in twilight. The carved lattice windows of the reception room were half open, and the copper bells on the eaves rang softly in the evening breeze, bringing the fragrance of wisteria flowers into the room.

Qian Duoduo, the head shopkeeper in charge of trade in the Western Regions, was sitting on a huanghuali armchair, his fingertips stroking the lotus pattern on the edge of the teacup, his eyes sweeping over the sheepskin account book spread out on the desk - on it were thirty-six caravan stopovers marked with cinnabar, and the word "Hequ" in the wet ink was particularly eye-catching.

"Manager Qian, I've been waiting for a long time." Lin Zhen's voice came from the corridor. When his black cloak swept across the threshold, it brought with it a faint fragrance of agarwood.

He raised his hand to hold Qian Duoduo, who was about to salute, and his palm landed on the Suzaku pattern on his sleeve. "There's no need for formalities among family members. Tell me, has the wind and sand of the Western Regions worn away your abacus?"

When Qian Duoduo stood up, the leather purse around his waist made a crackling sound. It contained Sassanid silver coins he had exchanged from Persia. "Your Highness, I am sorry for the humiliation you have shown me."

He pushed open the account book, revealing a note from the Kucha royal court tucked inside. "This westward journey took five months, round trip, passing through Persia, Kucha, and Khotan. Silk alone was exchanged for 1,500 war horses. Porcelain sold especially well in Shule. The local nobles worshipped our celadon teacups as sacred artifacts."

Lin Zhen scanned the details in the account book. The column for Kucha recorded "One thousand Ferghana horses, with the seal of the King of Kucha attached", the column for Khotan had a simple picture of a beautiful raw jade stone, and the Persian footer was noted as "One thousand wolf-head jade pendants, with the secret agreement of the Persian merchant group attached".

His fingertips paused on the small characters of "Black Mountain Gang," which recorded the details of Qian Duoduo's encounter with "Old Wolf." "Tell me about the King of Kucha. Would he really be willing to trade fifty Ferghana horses for ten boxes of Shu brocade?"

Qian Duoduo suddenly lowered his voice and pulled out a wolf-head jade pendant from his sleeve. The back of the pendant had a Vermillion Bird pattern engraved on it. "The King of Kucha has long been dissatisfied with the Northern Yan Wolf Division. Last year, when the Yan army passed through the border, they robbed him of his pasture."

He pointed to the secret agreement in the account book. "This is the transit permit from the Persian merchant group. They agreed to allow our camel caravan to pass through the country in exchange for our Erguotou. They say the Persian nobles are obsessed with this 'water that can ignite fire.'"

"Erguotou?" Lin Zhen thought of the Shaodaozi in Hao Aimin's cellar in Dingxiang City and nodded suddenly. "It's a good business. Northern Yan has blocked the Silk Road for many years. I'm afraid the Persians have forgotten the taste of our Qian Kingdom's fine wine."

He turned to another page and saw that Qian Duoduo had recorded in detail the military strength of various countries in the Western Regions: Persia had 5,000 elephant soldiers, Kucha was good at using camel cavalry, and Khotan relied on beautiful jade to support 30,000 infantry.

"You even know their armaments?"

Qian Duoduo traced the annotations on the Persian elephant soldiers with his fingertips. "When I followed the caravan into the Persian palace, I saw our Ding kiln white porcelain inlaid on the elephant soldiers' armor." He suddenly poured out a few silver coins from his purse. They were engraved with the image of a red bird and a lion entwined. "These are the 'Qianbo Trade Coins' minted specifically for us by the Persian king. They're more useful than waist badges when we go to the Western Regions."

Lin Zhen looked at the Vermillion Bird pattern on the silver coin and remembered how Lin Zhenxian had bribed the Black Mountain gang in Dingxiang City with Hao Aimin's embezzled money. He suddenly chuckled, "Manager Qian, you've made more than just money this time, right? We're using Persia to attack Northern Yan's western front. I'm afraid the King of Kucha's Ferghana horses will carry our cavalry to crush the Black Mountain."

Qian Duoduo was about to answer when the sound of rings and pendants came from outside the lattice door.

Huanbi, dressed in a moon-white feather gauze skirt, came in hand in hand with a young man in a lake-blue brocade robe. The hem of her skirt, embroidered with silver thread, swept across the map. "My dear, Li Chuang just came back from the horse farm in the west of the city and insisted on seeing you."

The person who came was Li Chuang. The soles of his newly made deerskin boots were still stained with grass debris, and he had a string of jade beads hanging around his waist.

He saw the sheepskin account book on the desk, and his eyes suddenly lit up: "Prince, is this a map of the Western Region trade routes?"

Lin Zhen smiled and pulled him to his side, his fingertips running across the Flaming Mountain on the map: "There are no flaming camels, but the camel cavalry of Kucha can run in the sand for three days and three nights."

He pointed at the purse on Qian Duoduo's waist and said, "This shopkeeper Qian has been to Kucha three times and even knows the chefs in the palace kitchen."

Li Chuang immediately bowed to Qian Duoduo, and the glass beads made a crisp sound when they collided: "Hello, Manager Qian!"

Qian Duoduo was still a little puzzled: "Prince, what do you want?"

"Oh, I hope you can take him to the Western Regions to see the world."

It turned out to be the case.

Qian Duoduo immediately understood that Lin Zhen wanted to train a successor or cultivate a talent.

Qian Duoduo hurriedly helped the young man up: "Young Master, are you sure you want to follow me to the Western Regions?"

"Sure!" Li Chuang nodded heavily.

Qian Duoduo pulled out a piece of parchment from the account book, on which was a picture of the bustling scene of the Persian bazaar.

Li Chuang stared at the Persian dancer on the paper and suddenly remembered the Western Region merchants he had seen at the horse farm today: "Those Persians all wore wolf-head jade pendants around their waists, just like the ones from Northern Yan!"

Lin Zhen and Qian Duoduo exchanged a glance, and the former suddenly chuckled: "I told you to go out and see more often. That's the wolf totem they admire in Beiyan."

He turned to Qian Duoduo, his tone suddenly serious, "Add 500 more guards to the next caravan, and when you pass through Black Mountain, bring the secret letter from 'Old Wolf' to His Majesty."

Qian Duoduo understood what he meant and turned to the last page of the account book, where there was a yellowed defense map, which was the deployment of the city gates of Beiyan Yunzhong County.

"I've already sent the mute monk's apprentice into the Yunzhong Horse Farm," he pointed at the red dot on the map. "Li Chonghou's nephew always takes the Black Mountain Trail when transporting silk. The parts for our Eight Oxen Crossbow are hidden at the bottom of those silk boxes."

"Okay, we'll set off in five days," Lin Zhen suddenly said to Li Chuang, "Go home and pack your bags immediately. Don't miss the auspicious time to set off. Remember, when you're away from home, you must obey Manager Qian in everything and don't act on your own."

"Don't worry, Prince! I will definitely work hard!"

"Well, take good care of your wife and don't let her get hurt." Lin Zhen asked, "Old Qian, do we have enough Erguotou?"

Qian Duoduo closed the account book and said, "Don't worry, Prince. I have already ordered Wuqing to go full steam ahead. Twenty boxes of wine are just a start. Once the Persian nobles become addicted, our caravan will be able to follow the wine route and plant the Vermillion Bird flag in every city in Northern Yan."

"Oh, all the tribute grain from Nanchu is used to make wine. What a great way to make money."

"What the prince said is true. Nan Chu could never have imagined that the food they saved by tightening their belts would still have to be paid for by themselves in the end, hehe."

......

The night watchman's drum had struck twice, but the candles in the reception room were still burning.

When Qian Duoduo said goodbye, he stuffed a bag of Sassanid silver coins into Li Chuang's pocket and said, "When you get to Persia, use this to buy Persian blankets. They are warmer than our Shu brocade."

Li Chuang happily accepted it as a red envelope for becoming his apprentice.

Back in the study, Huanbi watched Su Che unfold the map again and suddenly understood something.

This trip to the Western Regions was far more than just trade. Qian Duoduo brought back not only account books and silver coins, but also secret agreements for passage from Persia, war horse trade from Kucha, and a jade alliance from Khotan.

And her brother Li Chuang will grow from a farmer to a secret agent on the trade route of the Qian Kingdom during this journey, just like Hao Aimin in Dingxiang City and Qian Duoduo in Persia, and become a part of the minions of Daqian.

The night wind blew through the wisteria trellis, bringing the sound of camel bells in the distance.

Lin Zhen looked at the winding Silk Road on the map and suddenly chuckled.

While the rulers and ministers of Northern Yan were arguing over money in the court, the merchant caravans of the Qian Kingdom had already laid a tight net along the Silk Road. The support gained in exchange for Erguotou and colored glass beads would eventually turn into the wings of the Vermillion Bird, leading the Qian army across the Black Mountain and through the clouds, making the wolf-head totem of Northern Yan disappear forever among the armies of the Great Qian Kingdom.