Before long, Zhao Chong hurried back, clutching a scroll in his palm.
"What's the situation? Did you find anything?"
"Yes, my lord, please look."
Zhao Chong said, presenting the scroll in his hand.
Qi Yue took it with a puzzled expression, opened it, and imdiately furrowed her brows.
"The portrait on this is of your family's Marquis..."
Zhao Chong hesitated for a mont, "It should be."
Qi Yue pursed her lips, intently studying the cold, stunningly beautiful face on the paper.
You have to say, these people from Western Chu really do have so talented artists. They captured Zhao Xiyan with incredible precision.
It looked strikingly similar.
She then pointed to another character on the paper, a woman with a darkened face and ugly features, "Who is this? Why is she placed on the sa paper as Zhao Xiyan's portrait?"
Zhao Chong looked troubled as he replied, "Answering my lord, that seems to be... you."
"..."
Qi Yue stared at the ugly, chubby face on the paper, falling into deep thought.
This face looked sowhat familiar!
It must be from when she had just crossed over.
Her lips twitched uncontrollably.
"What's all this? Why would such a portrait exist?"
"My lord, it's like this." Zhao Chong imdiately stepped forward, lowering his voice, "It's said to be the idea of the Princess of Western Chu, and the checks at the city gate are also related to this portrait."
Qi Yue raised an eyebrow and glanced again at her own image on the portrait.
"Hmm, what an idiot."
With a forceful motion, she tore the portrait to shreds.
How dare Qin Lingwei do this?
Zhao Xiyan was her man, and the Western Chu Princess dared to sprinkle his portrait all over. Does she think she is blind?
Since she has forgotten the disgrace she faced last ti in Longnan, this ti Qi Yue definitely needed to teach her a lesson!
But did Qin Lingwei make her look like this to prevent others from recognizing her?
What a joke.
This actually made things easier for her, saving her the trouble of wearing makeup to disguise herself!
Sure enough, when it was their turn to pass through, the soldiers at the city gate rely glanced briefly before letting all three of them enter.
They imdiately chose a bustling inn in Yindu City to have a al and see if they could gather any information.
With its crowds and chaos, an inn was the best place to find news.
Dressed in neat won's clothing, Qi Yue had an imposing deanor. No sooner had she entered than a waiter ca up to greet her.
"Are the three of you together? What would you like to eat?"
With a subtle glance from Qi Yue, Zhao Chong imdiately understood.
"Bring us the best dishes in your restaurant, including the signature dishes."
rchants love generous custors.
The waiter imdiately bead with a high-spirited reply.
"Right away, our signature dishes will be served imdiately."
The three chose a discreet spot to sit down and survey their surroundings.
The inn was bustling, truly a place that attracted all sorts of people.
So individuals' clothing clearly marked them as not being from Western Chu.
"Unexpectedly, Western Chu places great emphasis on comrcial interactions," Qi Yue couldn't help remarking.
"Yes, my lord," Zhao Chong echoed, "Now because of the war, it has indeed beco much quieter than before!"
"..."
Qi Yue was inwardly astonished for a mont.
—If there wasn't a war, what would it be like?
The Western Chu Emperor indeed had a sense of self-awareness.
Knowing his country was barren, he vigorously promoted trade interactions, and the results were indeed impressive.
At that mont, several angry guests burst in through the door, sitting at the table next to Qi Yue's.
"Damn, that was truly unlucky, almost got detained," a bulky man cursed as he sat down.
Another man with a gaunt face chuckled.
"Who made you look so much like the portrait of Miss Qi on the wall? People even thought you were cross-dressing... oh, no, the other way around..."
Upon hearing this, the other few people imdiately burst out laughing.
"Exactly, the fatso looks just like the woman in the portrait."
"Indeed."
"I can't believe our fatty actually resembles Miss Qi of the Qi Family...hahaha."
"..."
Knowing that the fat man in the portrait was herself and hearing it said aloud, Qi Yue also clenched her teeth hard.
However, her temper was not bad enough to stand up and hit soone, she simply couldn't resist saying a word.
"I really can't understand what the Western Chu Princess is up to, what is she trying to achieve with such a portrait?"
"What else could it be? It's obviously to humiliate Miss Qi."
As soon as she finished speaking, the frail man at the neighboring table looked over at their table.
Qi Yue hadn't expected that her casual remark would provoke a response, so she greeted politely.
"You gentlen have been to Yindu before, haven't you?"
The man with a beard who seed to be the leader chuckled.
"Of course, we brothers co and go to Yindu all year round, coming at least seven or eight tis a year."
Seeing that these people, albeit crude in speech, also possessed a bold deanor, Qi Yue couldn't help feeling a bit of admiration.
At that mont, the waiter brought all the dishes and filled the table, while the newcors were still waiting for their al.
Qi Yue thought for a mont, then stood up enthusiastically and called out.
"Gentlen, my two brothers and I are also new to this place, unfamiliar with life here, and would like to inquire about a few things. Since fate has brought us together, why not join us?"
The n looked at each other, then cheerfully agreed, directly joining two tables together.
Soon, Qi Yue had learned about their identities.
These n were bodyguards from Nanyue, also entrusted by a rchant to deliver a batch of goods to Yindu.
And Qi Yue simply told them she was in the herbal dicine business.
Unexpectedly, the fat man said with a laugh.
"The lady has delicate skin, I didn't expect you to be involved in the martial world too."
The statent was loud and clear; Qi Yue didn't think much of it, but Zhao Chong and Zhao Tai imdiately glared and clenched their fists.
Qi Yue quickly gave them a look, and they both instantly cald down.
The bearded man across the table noticed this and imdiately beca more cautious.
"May I ask who you three really are?"
Qi Yue smiled slightly.
"Don't be nervous, brother, we are indeed in the herbal dicine business."
Saying this, she pulled out a bottle of finished dicine from her bosom and placed it on the table.
It was the first batch of dicine from the new factory, which Old Lady Zhang had given to her for review, and she had casually put it away.
"I see that you gentlen are brave; there might be a chance for us to collaborate soday."
"Ah... collaboration, collaboration."
The bearded man suddenly smiled broadly, his eyes fixed on the bottle of dicine on the table.
Suddenly, the thin-faced man's eyes bulged out, and he exclaid.
"Isn't this the Qi's Pharmaceuticals' wound dicine? Are you in the finished dicine business? This item is hard to buy even with money nowadays."
Qi's Pharmaceuticals?
They must be referring to the Qi's Pharmaceuticals established in Dongjiang.
Qi Yue silently nodded her head.
"Do you gentlen know about Qi's Pharmaceuticals?"
"How could we not?" the fat man imdiately picked up the conversation, enthusiastically explaining.
"My lady, you may not know, but we bodyguards dread but also crave orders involving finished dicines the most."
Qi Yue was sowhat puzzled.
"Why is that?"
"Because guarding these kinds of dicines earns the most, but they are also the most likely to be targeted," the thin-faced man chid in.
Hearing this, Qi Yue nodded in understanding.
According to the accounts that Shen Zikuang had been sending over the past six months, Qi's Pharmaceuticals was indeed doing its best to produce dicines, but it was also a fact that supply could not et demand.
This was also the reason she wanted to establish a second large pharmaceutical factory.
With this topic of dicine as a starting point, everyone quickly engaged in lively conversation.
From these people, Qi Yue learned quite a bit about Nanyue.
Speaking of which, among the four nations today, Qi Yue was least familiar with Nanyue Kingdom.
This encounter with these people from Nanyue was an opportunity.
Understanding more could be useful should she ever visit Nanyue in the future.
In the midst of the lively discussion, the bearded man suddenly sighed.
"Life for the common people is getting harder by the day, and soon it will be our turn, those of us in the bodyguard business. Who knows what will happen in the future?"
Moved by his words, Qi Yue responded.
"I heard that Nanyue is still quite peaceful, your bodyguard business must be doing quite well!"
"Good? Not at all!"
The thin-faced man who had downed two glasses of liquor suddenly blurted out a swear word.
After looking around, he suddenly lowered his voice.
"My lady, you may not be aware, but nowhere is peaceful nowadays. On this trip, we nearly lost our lives."
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