Huang Rong from The Return of the Condor Heroes: Brother Jing, let's get a divorce.

The next morning, Yang Guo was awakened by back pain.

I opened my eyes and a ray of morning light shone through the crack in the window onto the bed curtains.

The bed was empty beside her. Little Dragon Girl had gotten up at some point, and the bed was neatly made with the pillows arranged in perfect order, as if no one had ever slept there.

Yang Guo turned over, and his lumbar spine made a crisp "click" sound.

Last night's "Master's Assessment of Disciples" drama lasted from dusk till the fourth watch. Sister Long was extremely immersed in the role, adding several improvisational scenes in the middle, almost making Yang Guo collapse in bed.

In the final round, Yang Guo was forced to use the Qiankun Technique to barely withstand the attack.

Five hundred taels of silver, every single coin was earned with one's life on the line.

Yang Guo got up and dressed, and found a blue cloth bundle by the bedside. Opening it, he found twenty gold bars inside, each weighing about one ounce. Underneath the bundle was a note with Xiaolongnu's handwriting on it.

"Five hundred taels. Any extra will accrue interest. You'll get more money in the next performance review."

Yang Guo stared at the words "add money" for a long time, then crumpled the note into a ball and stuffed it into his pocket.

This woman is becoming more and more knowledgeable about market economics.

Yang Guo left the room with the gold bars in his pocket. Lu Wushuang was already waiting in the corridor with a basin of water for washing her face. She was taken aback when she saw the way Yang Guo walked.

"Master, what happened to your leg?"

"I messed up my training." Yang Guo took the copper basin, washed his face, wiped it a couple of times, and then walked towards the council hall.

Half an hour later, in the courtyard of the Economic Department.

Li Mochou sat at the table organizing the economic plan she had written the day before. Several pages of paper lay spread out on the table, the handwriting neat and tidy. Yang Guo pushed open the door and threw the blue cloth bundle onto the table.

"We've got the capital."

Li Mochou opened the bundle and glanced inside; the twenty gold bars gleamed dazzlingly in the morning light.

"Where did it come from?"

"My secret stash of money." Yang Guo sat down with an air of authority. "Don't ask where it came from; it's all thanks to my ancestors' good deeds."

Li Mochou gathered the gold bars together, her gaze sweeping over Yang Guo's face. This kid's gait was off today; his eyes were bruised, and there was a red mark on the side of his neck.

What secret stash of money?

However, Li Mochou didn't expose her, and instead picked up the plan on the table and handed it over.

"I listed out the budgets for all four lines last night. Take a look."

Yang Guo took it and opened it. The first page was about talismans and rituals.

"Yellow paper, cinnabar, and a peach wood sword—these three are the basic materials for drawing talismans. Yellow paper is available at the market in Huxian County; a ream of fifty sheets costs three copper coins. Cinnabar is more expensive; in Chang'an City pharmacies, one tael of cinnabar costs eight hundred copper coins. The peach wood sword can be made by the fire-working monk for free. The first batch will consist of one hundred talismans, costing less than one tael of silver."

Yang Guo nodded and turned to the second page. Bracelet.

"There are cliff cypress and sandalwood trees on the back mountain. Wang Tieniu already cut down two truckloads yesterday. Polishing the beads requires sand and fine cloth, which are available on the mountain. The string for stringing the beads is made of silk thread. One bolt of silk thread costs eighty coins and can string forty beads. The first batch will be twenty strings, so the cost is negligible. The key is your consecration and infusion of true energy. You should weigh the pros and cons yourself and not exhaust yourself."

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

The third page contains information on medicinal herbs and winemaking.

"There's no rush to gather herbs. Wang Tieniu's men have already gone up the north slope, and the first batch of He Shou Wu should be back in three days at the earliest. I went to Hao Datong for the brewing recipe. That old man said that the Quanzhen Sect has an ancient recipe that uses spring water from Zhongnan Mountain to brew seven kinds of herbs, called something like Taiqing Yangyuan Wine. He memorized the recipe, but it requires a few medicinal ingredients, one of which is called Dendrobium. It's not available on Zhongnan Mountain, so we have to go to Chang'an City to buy it. One pound of Dendrobium costs two taels of silver."

Yang Guo closed the plan and tapped the table.

"We'll start making the talismans today, and the first batch of bracelets will be ready tomorrow. We'll also produce medicinal herbs and brew wine simultaneously, and the money for the dendrobium will come from this." Yang Guo pointed to the pile of gold bars. "Take two to Huxian to exchange for silver, and lock the rest away. All spending will be handled by you. Keep a clear record of every expense, and reconcile the accounts with me at the end of the month."

Li Mochou took a pen and marked a few places on the plan, then looked up.

"There's one more thing. If we take the talismans down the mountain to sell, who will sell them? It'll be like Quanzhen Taoist priests in their robes standing in the market, like street vendors. Isn't that shameful?"

Yang Guo smiled.

"Who said we'd set up street stalls? We're using scarcity marketing."

"What kind of marketing?"

"Listen to me," Yang Guo rubbed his hands together. "The first batch of talismans won't be sold at the market. Have Li Zhiqing pick two quick-witted disciples, dress them in plain clothes, and go to teahouses in Huxian and Zhouzhi. While drinking tea, 'casually' chat with the people next to them, saying that the new leader of the Quanzhen Sect is a highly accomplished Taoist master whose talismans are incredibly effective. Last month, a hunter took one up the mountain and shot a 300-pound wild boar with a single arrow. But these talismans aren't for sale to outsiders; only believers who come to the mountains to burn incense can obtain them."

Li Mochou raised her head and stared at Yang Guo for two seconds.

"Are you trying to lure people up the mountain?"

"That's right. Once people come, the money for incense and oil is secured, and the talismans can fetch a high price. Think about it, a talisman costs three hundred coins at the market, but isn't a talisman you sincerely obtained after a trip to Zhongnan Mountain worth three taels of silver?"

Li Mochou paused for a moment, her pen still in her hand.

How does this kid's brain work?

"Add one more thing." Yang Guo stood up and paced a couple of steps. "Among those who come seeking talismans, there are bound to be quite a few local small landowners and wealthy merchants. Once they're up the mountain, have Li Zhiqing arrange for them to be well-treated with tea and food, and incidentally, 'casually' let them see the bracelets personally blessed by the sect leader. They can only look, not sell; say they're limited editions, the Quanzhen Sect has only made this batch in sixty years. Guess what their reaction will be?"

"They're fighting over it."

"Not only will they scramble to buy them, but they'll also offer higher prices. The more you say you don't have them, the more precious they'll think they are. Once the first group of people come down the mountain with the talismans and bracelets, the news will spread on its own. In less than half a month, wealthy people from Huxian, Zhouzhi, and Chang'an will be lining up to go to Zhongnan Mountain. At that time, we won't be going to sell things; we'll be sitting on the mountain waiting for people to bring us money."

Li Mochou put down her pen and leaned back in her chair.

"What would you call this kind of tactic in the underworld?"

"In its previous form, it was called private domain traffic."

"What data usage?"

"It's about keeping the customers under your control. Fine, just do as I say."

Li Mochou didn't ask any further questions. She lowered her head and scribbled on the plan, organizing the rhetoric she had just used into specific steps.

Yang Guo walked to the door and glanced back at Li Mochou, who was engrossed in her work. The morning light shone on her profile, and the woman's focused demeanor was completely different from that of the ruthless and merciless Red Serpent Fairy.

"Technician Li."

"Um."

"Have you ever thought that you actually have a knack for business?"

Li Mochou paused for a moment, without looking up.

"roll."

Yang Guo chuckled and went out the door.

The little girl ran into Lu Wushuang in the courtyard, looking very anxious.

"Master, people are coming down from the mountain!"

Yang Guo's smile vanished. "Who?"

"The disciple Li Zhiqing sent down the mountain to scout the way was intercepted halfway up the mountain. The man said he was a clerk from the Huxian County government, carrying the county magistrate's visiting card, and said he wanted to see the leader of the Quanzhen Sect."

Yang Guo frowned.

The county magistrate's visit was unprecedented in the sixty-year history of the Quanzhen School. His coming out of the middle of no holidays was certainly not for offering incense or prayers.

"Where is he?"

"We were waiting outside the mountain gate, but Li Zhiqing stopped us from entering."

Yang Guo strode towards the front courtyard, asking as he went, "How many people have come?"

"Three bailiffs and a small sedan chair. Inside the sedan chair sat a man in a green robe, whom Li Zhiqing said looked to be an eighth-rank official."

An eighth-rank county magistrate. Not the county magistrate himself.

Yang Guo slowed his pace by half a beat, his mind starting to race.

Huxian County is closest to Zhongnan Mountain. For sixty years, the Quanzhen School had not dealt with the government, and the government had been too lazy to care about a group of Taoists. The fact that they suddenly sent people here now suggests either that news of the Mongol invasion had leaked out, or that the Quanzhen School's recent activities had been too great and had alarmed the local officials.

Upon reaching the mountain gate, Li Zhiqing stood on the stone steps with four disciples, below which was a small sedan chair made of blue cloth. Three bailiffs in black robes huddled beside the sedan chair, looking at the row of Taoist priests on the stone steps, their necks hunched, not daring to approach.

The sedan curtain was lifted, and a tall, thin man in his forties stepped out, wearing a green robe and black hat, with a mustache, and holding a gold-embossed name card in his hand.

Yang Guo stood at the top of the stone steps, his hands behind his back, looking down from above.

"Who are you? What are you doing at the Quanzhen Sect?"

The tall, thin man tilted his head back, his gaze sweeping over Yang Guo, and then bowed slightly.

"I, Liu Cunhou, the Assistant Magistrate of Huxian County, have come to pay my respects to the newly appointed leader of the Quanzhen Sect on the orders of the County Magistrate."

He then held the name card above his head.

"The magistrate has an important matter to discuss with the sect leader in Hu County."

Yang Guo didn't accept the invitation card, but stared at Liu Cunhou's face.

"What is it?"

Liu Cunhou looked around and lowered his voice.

"It's related to the Mongols."

The wind suddenly picked up at the mountain gate, making the flags flutter loudly. Yang Guo narrowed his eyes.