Chapter 1 Yizhou
Yu Country, the third year of Zaiqian, Jiangnan Road, Yizhou City.
An early summer morning rain had cleansed the murky heat between heaven and earth.
On the Yizhou Bridge, pedestrians were like weaving threads, with carts and horses packed tightly. Beneath the bridge, the wide and deep river flowed quietly from south to north, bearing ships laden with salt, tea, grains, and other goods. Majestic ships of great size, thousands of hulls and tens of thousands of boats, some pulled by trackers, others rowed by boatmen, never ceased their labor.
The Yu Empire had inherited the Former Sui’s Cao Transport system, and Yizhou City was one of the important nodes on the Yu Country’s Cao Transport route.
It is said, "Wu Gate transfers grains and silks, traversing the sea to Penglai." And, "Sails turn in the Liao sea, bringing millet rice to Dongwu."
The ships traveling south and north brought a large influx of people to this city on Jiangnan Road, and with them... business opportunities.
The shops along the riverside at the head of Yizhou Bridge had all prepared for business before sunrise. Whether it was a teahouse, a restaurant, a tavern, or a rouge shop, a pawnshop, or a rice shop, all storefronts were spacious and grand, teeming with vitality. However, among the array of shops, one had its doors tightly closed, showing no sign of opening for business.
That was a medicine shop with a signboard reading "Security Hall."
SNAP.
The cloth that had wiped the counter was thrown aside. A hand belonging to a young man first slid heavily over the antique-looking paulownia wood counter, then moved closer to his eyes, inspecting whether any dust remained on his fingertips.
"It’s finally clean."
The youth blew on his palm, carelessly threw the cloth into a basin filled with water, stretched lazily, and sat down in the chair behind the counter.