"I have a relative working at the posthouse; he recently told me that Lord Ba Yin had long known about the caravan from Da Jin Country coming this way. It's not a merchant convoy, though, but an envoy from Da Jin Country, and that envoy is particularly young," the bald elder said between sips of his drink, keeping the other patrons in suspense before continuing.
Yuan Ming, seated at the neighboring table, heard this and scoffed silently without a change in his expression.
"It's just that the genuine young envoy has come to such a pass, unable to return home," Yuan Ming mused with a wry smile inside.
The others at the table continued to discuss loudly, speculating about the intentions of the Da Jin Mission in coming here. The bald elder from the Southern Border had no more insider news, and their conversation grew increasingly far-fetched.
After listening for a while and finding nothing of value, Yuan Ming got up and left the tavern.
"Looking at it this way, they won't leave Iron Tiger Town anytime soon. Best to find an inn to stay nearby first, observe from close quarters, and slowly seek an opportunity." He made his plans, looking around.
At this moment, Yuan Ming suddenly stopped in his tracks, eyes gleaming curiously towards the street ahead.
A carriage rolled by, carrying three men who looked like Central Plains servants and two large bundles of leather goods. He quickly hastened his steps to follow it.
The carriage was moving slowly, not very fast, so chasing after it was not difficult.
However, to his surprise, the carriage was not heading towards the posthouse but was travelling south, its purpose unknown.
After a moment, the carriage stopped in front of an inn.
There, two more carriages laden with Southern Border specialties were parked, and about a dozen Central Plains servants were busy moving packages both big and small into the inn, seemingly planning to stay the night there.
"It looks like these people joined the mission halfway to seek safety with the Da Jin Caravan," Yuan Ming guessed.
Yuan Ming was observing others, but he failed to notice someone observing him as well.
Not far from him, behind the counter of a general store, an old man holding a pipe was staring in astonishment at Yuan Ming's retreating figure—it was Old Smoke Bag, the same one who had sold Yuan Ming to the graveyard before.
But Old Smoke Bag now looked entirely different. His shabby clothes had been replaced with lavish brocade, and on his head was a feathered hat typical of a Southern Border shopkeeper, making him look like the owner of the store. The full series is hosted on My Virtual Library Empire, known as *.
"It's him! How is he still alive?" Old Smoke Bag muttered to himself.
He had made quite a profit from Yuan Ming before, which allowed him to buy this shop in Iron Tiger Town. As such, he had a very deep impression of Yuan Ming and recognized him at first glance.
Yuan Ming seemed to feel something and turned to look behind him.
Old Smoke Bag startled, quickly bowed his head.
Yuan Ming's gaze lingered on the old man momentarily before moving on.
"When I first found him, he was unconscious the whole time; he probably doesn't recognize me," Old Smoke Bag silently breathed a sigh of relief.
"Heh, if I hadn't helped him out, he might have been eaten by wild beasts out there. Good deeds really do pay off," Old Smoke Bag muttered to himself as he went back to managing his accounts.
Yuan Ming was currently unable to approach the mission, so after considering his options, he went straight into the inn.
"Sir, looking to stay the night?" a young Kasi Clan porter hurried forward to greet him.
The boy seemed to be in his teenage years, with some remaining baby fat and bright, animated eyes, unexpectedly speaking in perfect Central Plains language.
"I need a room," Yuan Ming said, a hint of surprise crossing his face as he glanced at the price list behind the counter. He took out fifteen copper coins and placed them in the porter's hand.
The waiter hesitated, as a night's stay at their inn only cost ten copper coins.
"My room is closer to those Central Plains people outside the door," Yuan Ming leaned closer to the waiter and whispered imperceptibly.
"Sir, we run an honest business here and do not engage in such activities," the waiter said sternly.
Yuan Ming frowned; it seemed that the Southern Border people were simple and straightforward, which made things difficult.
"You'll have to pay more! Five copper coins are too little, at least ten are required," the waiter quickly added, still with an honest look on his face.
Yuan Ming paused and stared deeply at the waiter, then pulled out another five copper coins and stuffed them into his chest pocket.
"Alright, sir, this way please," the waiter grinned, subtly leading Yuan Ming upstairs.
"Sir, this room has just been cleaned. You can stay here," the waiter led Yuan Ming to an inner guest room.
Yuan Ming glanced at the room next door, where the door was half open and voices could be faintly heard from inside.
"Those Central Plains merchants are staying next door," the waiter whispered, nodding towards the adjacent room.
"Good, you may go now. Don't come over unless I call for you," Yuan Ming waved him off.
The waiter agreed and left, closing the door behind him.
Yuan Ming pressed his ear against the door, listening until he was sure the waiter had walked away, then locked the door from inside and moved to the wall closer to the merchant team, pressing his ear against it to listen to the activity on the other side.
However, the inn's walls were quite thick, and he could only hear a bit of muffled noise.
He took an empty teacup from the table, placed it against the wall, and pressed his ear to it; the voices became much clearer. Two people in the next room were discussing buying goods in the language of the Central Plains.
"Boss Zhu, when we passed through Red Shirt Ridge earlier, our caravan was attacked by Southern Border bandits, and Wang Tongyi, the interpreter, also died there. We are now severely short-handed," someone said.
"Yes, today's shopping in town took much longer than before. The Da Jin Mission is only staying in Iron Tiger Town for one day. If we can't buy all the goods by tomorrow, they will leave, and our risk on this journey will greatly increase," another person added.
"I'm aware of that. Let's all work hard tomorrow to prioritize buying the important goods; as for some miscellaneous items, it's no big deal if we can't get them in time. We can still buy them in Jilan City," Boss Zhu replied.
"Boss, that waiter at the inn speaks Central Plains language well, and he is of the Kasi Clan, surely fluent in Southern Border language. Can we hire him to be our interpreter for a day?"
"No, this is our first visit to Iron Tiger Town. We aren't familiar with the prices of many things here. We also don't know much about that waiter, and we can't be sure he won't collude with the local merchants to cheat us. We must be cautious in all things."
"I think the accountant's proposal isn't bad. What harm could a mere waiter do? If we keep a close eye on him, it shouldn't be a problem."
"Don't underestimate these Southern Border people. We'll still have to work hard tomorrow," came the reply.
Hearing this, Yuan Ming began to calculate in his mind. The mission might leave Iron Tiger Town the day after tomorrow, and this caravan was in dire need of an interpreter. He was well-versed in both the Southern Border language and writing, and being from the Central Plains, they would likely accept him. Perhaps he should blend into this caravan first and return to Da Jin with them.
From the conversation of the several people, the caravan would also travel with the mission later. Maybe he could gradually get closer to the mission.
But once he joined the caravan, he would inevitably have to face the people from the mission; he would need to change his appearance again to avoid being recognized.
After listening for a while, and since they were only discussing the procurement of goods for the next day, everyone went to rest.
Yuan Ming saw there was nothing else worth eavesdropping on and lay down on his own bed.
He closed his eyes, contemplating how to seize the opportunity to interact with them the following day, to find a way to become an interpreter, and gradually fell asleep.