Plotting with You: The Forensic Scientist in Ancient Times!-Chapter 332 - 331: Arrogance

Zhu Yu was still wondering, Lu Yan said the outside world rumored the Fortress Lord of the Immortal Castle had a very mysterious presence, and almost no one had the chance to see him. How come today they were so lucky, still so respectable, the Protector went in and brought the Fortress Lord out, but upon hearing this, the other party turned out to be just the steward here, dressed so elegantly, making him even more surprised.

The satin on his body shimmered with a soft silk glow under the sunlight, looking of exquisite quality, not to mention such a place in the countryside, even the steward of Lu Qing’s Prince Mansion had never worn such fine materials.

Zhu Yu even thought, let alone Lu Qing who lived frugally, even the most glorious among the princes, Lu Zhang’s steward wouldn’t dare to wear something so luxurious.

"Are you all merchants from the Capital?" The steward, with a white beard, one hand behind his back, the other slowly stroking his beard, looked Lu Qing’s group up and down, his gaze lingering for a moment on their coarse clothing, his eyes filled with a bit of skepticism, seemingly thinking their attire was too shabby to resemble merchants of reputable shops from the Capital buying supplies.

"Indeed." Lu Qing nodded unhurriedly, "We heard about this Immortal Castle, producing top-quality silk and dye, so we came to inspect. If the goods are truly of such high quality, we would be delighted to have the Immortal Castle supply us with raw materials for a long time."

The steward chuckled, but his laughter seemed more like he’d heard a joke than felt pleased.

"Our Immortal Castle indeed supplied goods to merchants from the Capital in the past." He said lazily with a sense of arrogance, "Our Fortress Lord also has connections in the Capital. In the past, we supplied only distinguished shops serving wealthy families in the capital.

After all... our castle’s dye and silk are the finest items, looking around the world, it’s hard to find something of better quality than ours, and the price isn’t something just anyone can afford."

"Oh? That sounds great." Lu Qing raised his eyebrows, seemingly satisfied rather than deterred by the old steward’s arrogance, "We originally felt the rumors are not entirely trustworthy, this place is just a remote area bordering Lan Country, people in the trade said the materials here are of the best quality, and we have doubts in our hearts.

Since the merchants you supplied in the past served high-class households, our minds are much more settled, and I would appreciate it if the steward could introduce us to your Fortress Lord so we can see firsthand the standard of your dye and silk. If they’re as good as rumored, we’ll place an earnest deposit.

But if it’s only a title, nothing remarkable... then we wouldn’t waste our time here.

Our regular clients are of distinguished stature, and ordinary goods just don’t catch their eyes."

"Is that so..." The steward didn’t expect his words to be received this way, rather than stepping back, the opposite party seemed even more interested, their tone didn’t appear as mere bluffing but rather confident.

He again glanced at the person before him, finding his attire unimpressive but his looks had strikingly sharp features, and a certain grace between his brows and eyes, unlike what ordinary petty merchants possessed.

"May I ask, who are these regular clients?" He probed.

"The identity of nobles isn’t something to casually disclose." Lu Qing glanced at him coldly, seemingly displeased by the old steward’s indiscretion, "Our regular customers only want the finest and rarest in the world.

Just like the Ten-color Brocade that once became famous in the Capital, our store’s regulars have long lost interest.

Now they are looking for something even better than the Ten-color Brocade. We naturally seek worldwide for superior raw materials."

Upon hearing the Ten-color Brocade, the steward’s eyes lit up.

Though many noblewomen in the Capital now possess it, when it first debuted, the only one was bestowed by the Holy Emperor to his beloved Princess Consort Duan, and once tailored into a skirt, amazed all the nobility in the Capital.

Since then, the Ten-color Brocade has been renowned worldwide, the noblewomen of the Capital yearned for it, even though many now own clothes made from it, it still remains a symbol of prestige, ordinary affluent people waving gold and silver could scarcely buy one.

Then, now these people say they wish to find excellent raw materials to weave something even more stunning than the Ten-color Brocade—is it implying their undisclosed noble clientele has tired of it, seeking something even more elegant?

The steward was mulling this over, unable to make up his mind.

Seeing this, Lu Qing took out a brocade pouch from his bosom and handed it to the old steward.

The steward accepted it suspiciously, handling it made him pause, carefully pinching it between his fingers, feeling though the pouch seemed plain, it was smooth, fine and stiff yet grand, unlike any ordinary plain brocade.

The pouch was heavy, he undid the bag and peeked inside, discovering it was filled with golden melon seeds. He weighed it in his palm, feeling dense, the sound of melon seeds clinking was solid, surely all solid gold.

"To be frank with you, we set off from the Capital, journeying directly towards Lan Country to find this Immortal Castle, but weren’t aware of Jie people bandits in this area, and were unprepared, almost met misfortune.

We had to disguise ourselves on the road, went through trials to finally arrive here, truly arduous.

The sun is setting, the outside is unsafe, if convenient, I hope the steward could allow us to stay the night, regardless of whether the trade goes through tomorrow." Lu Qing noticed the old steward’s eyes were practically glued to the golden melon seeds, and spoke on. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The old steward seemed dazed by the sight of the golden melon seeds, upon hearing Lu Qing mention Jie people bandits, promptly nodded: "This place is indeed safest within our castle.

In that case, esteemed guests should follow me, please settle down at our castle for tonight!"