Master of The Azure Palace Chapter 11: The Beggar, The Monk and The Courtesan (10)

Read chapter 11 of Master of The Azure Palace by AzulConVerde on NovelPedia.

Lán, Saman Pa, Shú and Baek sat around the wooden circular table in Lán's office with grim looks on their faces. “Well, there’s no way around it” Shú said “We’re broke” Lán sighed as he rubbed his face, the Lusé Elenea Medical Clinic had managed to balance its budget, albeit barely, but the main issue that had haunted the Lúse Family for the past three years still remained. Money. They were spread extremely thin, even more now that they had spent basically all of their savings. They had managed to get the West Wind Taoist Sect out of Húchéng but the threat of the Jinzí Merchant Union remained. In the few days after the sect’s departure, both the Jinzi Merchant Union and the Lúse Family scrambled to gain control in the power vacuum, but many of the Taoist aligned businesses allied themselves with the merchants to secure a stable source of clients. Now with two factions vying for control of Húchéng, a fight between the two of them was all but guaranteed. “We have a few advantages” Lán said “Firstly, the clinic has bought us a lot of goodwill from the people, they will trust any business with the Lúse Family name” Saman Pa nodded in agreement “Im already beginning to find ways to expand the clinic, mainly by making an in-house pharmacy, however since the Jinzi Merchant Union controls the trade routes surrounding Húchéng, procuring the necessary herbs and ingredients has proved quite difficult” Baek continued. “We have managed to recruit more men, so now we can restart our caravan and private security business” This was also true, since Lán had basically taken over all of the administrative and civil tasks of the Lúse Family, his father could focus on his martial training and had begun to personally instruct the Lúse Family guards. Since training under an Advanced Martial artist was a rare opportunity, many young people flocked to Li’s banner. “However I'm running into the same problem as Saman Pa” Baek continued “Since most of the businesses are aligned with the Jinzi only a few businesses have even considered hiring our services” Shú scratched her head as she pulled out maps and different ledgers. Lán had taught her how to read and write and she was making excellent use of it. “We know a lot of things about them, their shipments, their businesses, their enemies, their leaders and even how they bully small businesses and homeowners into unfavorable contracts” she said “but they are extremely clever about their practices, everything is strictly legal and above board, and they keep a tight watch over their business” The three looked at Lán expectantly, but he was deep inside the Azure Palace, he was still listening to his allies words of course, he was still developing the skill of flickering between the inside and outside his mind. Inside the Hall of Worlds a whirlwind of pen and paper raged on, Lán drafted plans and plans but they each seemed to bump against the same core issue. The Jinzi Merchant Union had too much money and a complete monopoly of Húchéng, whatever business they could possibly attempt would easily be choked out and bought up by the merchants. The Lúse Family needed money, but they needed such a huge amount that they could break through the monopoly and slowly begin to establish roots. Lán continued thinking for several hours, plans came and went, until one broke through, one plan that even though it was a long shot, could make them so much money that Lán even worried it was too much. Lán opened his eyes to see his friends' expectant faces and explain his plan. Shú was instantly onboard and Baek and Saman Pa’s befuddlement quickly became awe, as they began to understand the magnitude of what Lán was implying. _____________________________________________________ Su Youlan grumbled angrily as she stared down from her balcony into the hall below. A fat greasy man was causing a ruckus, his name was Guan Baocai, he was one of the heads of the Jinzi Merchant Union and had spent the past week in her Qinglou* The Green