The Bustling Streets of Chen City

The morning air carried a crisp coolness as Lu Zhonglian’s party entered Chen City, arriving precisely at the bustling hour when the market streets teemed with life. The long avenue stretched before them, flanked by continuous wooden sheds constructed from massive timbers. Outside these makeshift structures, crowds jostled and swarmed in such density that one could scarcely see the street’s end. Each section of shed housed a different merchant establishment – oranges, silk, animal hides, and hemp cloth all competed for attention. Most conspicuous were the numerous shops specializing in short weapons, their banners fluttering in the wind displaying an array of Wu hooks, Yue swords, Hu knives, Han bows, and military arrows that dazzled the eye with their sheer variety.

Turning a corner revealed a broad flagstone street lined with imposing blue-brick buildings. Here the crowds thinned slightly, giving way to larger commercial houses standing shoulder to shoulder – salt guilds, iron guilds, timber guilds, and grain guilds, each occupying entire rows of storefronts. The thoroughfare bustled with elegantly dressed merchants in their delicate carriages mingling with cargo-laden ox carts, the continuous rumble of wheels creating an atmosphere far more imposing than the wooden shed market. The pedestrians’ attire presented a riot of colors – neither the uniform yellow robes of Chu’s capital Yingcheng nor any single dominant hue, but rather resembling a valley of butterflies in flight, enough to make one’s eyes swim with the visual feast.

A City of Contrasts and Commerce

Fan Ju couldn’t help but sigh: “All four seas converge here, yet one cannot tell whose empire this truly is!”

Lu Zhonglian responded with gentle mockery: “As long as it’s not all black, Brother Fan finds discomfort wherever he goes.” Gesturing at the flow of traffic and people, he laughed loudly: “Only when all lakes and seas mingle do we see the true empire!”

Fan Ju smiled faintly: “A mighty momentum, yet precarious danger – perspectives differ.” Noticing no reply, he turned to see Lu Zhonglian scanning the crowd intently. “Are you searching for someone, Zhonglian?”

Lu pointed into the distance: “Look! There.”

At the lively crossroads ahead stood a large wooden board. On stones flanking the sign stood two white-robed men calling out: “Logging in the mountains! Five coins daily! Volunteers register here!” Around the board clustered groups of shabbily dressed young men with small bundles, pointing and discussing animatedly. About ten feet away stood a large tent where a middle-aged man in hemp robes distributed small wooden tokens to applicants. Those receiving tokens took seats on straw mats beside the tent, where already a substantial crowd had gathered.

The Art of Persuasion in Ancient Marketing

Lu chuckled: “Another novel idea, brilliant!”

Fan Ju responded skeptically: “Merely logging, an age-old practice – what’s so remarkable?”

“Brother Fan will understand in time. Come with me!”

With a hearty laugh, Lu took Fan Ju’s hand and approached the tent. The middle-aged man hurried forward with a respectful bow: “Honored sirs, we conduct no business here, please forgive us.” Without speaking, Lu produced a small bronze token from his waist pouch and showed it briefly. The man examined it briefly before bowing deeply: “This humble one was rude to a weary traveler. Might I ask if the gentleman seeks another gentleman?” Lu returned the bow: “Pardon the intrusion. Might he be present?” The man smiled: “Please wait briefly.” After giving instructions to several busy workers in short robes, he turned back: “Sir, please follow me.” Lu declined politely, citing their waiting carriage, but the man insisted on guiding them personally through increasingly secluded streets.

The Hidden Complex of a Merchant Prince

Fan Ju grew uneasy as they ventured deeper into the city’s secretive quarters. The path led through a shaded stone lane that turned left into a brick-paved alley marked “Dead End” by two rows of plain blue-tiled houses. Despite the warning, their guide proceeded confidently between increasingly high walls that darkened the passage like a mountain gorge. Emerging from this tunnel-like alley, they found themselves facing the old palace district of ancient Chen State.

Before them stood a walled palace-city with five or six southern gates. While the eastern gates saw constant traffic, the two before them remained eerily quiet, their massive bronze-studded wooden doors tightly shut. Approaching the westernmost gate, their guide used an oversized bronze key to open an iron panel in the wall, reaching inside to trigger some mechanism that made the heavy doors creak open.

Passing through the deep gate tunnel, they encountered a massive blue stone screen wall spanning about thirty feet, embedded with four iron plates devoid of inscription. Xiao Yue’nü giggled: “Bronze and iron on walls without characters – what manner of display is this?” Fan Ju smiled: “Substance without form, meaning held within – hardly wasteful.” Lu laughed heartily: “Brother Fan understands perfectly! This gentleman often says, ‘The great path resides in the heart.'”

The Merchant’s Extraordinary Compound

Rounding the screen wall revealed an astonishing sight: imposing stone buildings arranged in a semicircle around a central emerald pond, backed by towering trees that shielded the complex from all sides. The entire space radiated profound tranquility, devoid of human activity, as if they’d entered a mountain valley.

Fan Ju examined the layout with approval: “These large buildings must be storage warehouses, the central pond likely for fire prevention. The rear trees ensure cool, dry conditions. The owner shows thoughtful planning – though one puzzle remains.” He pointed to two exceptionally tall stone structures: “Such height and stone construction – what do they store?”

When their guide professed ignorance, Fan Ju speculated they might be remnants of Chen’s old palace. The guide corrected him: “Added later by the master, not original.” Lu waved off further discussion: “Let’s find our host for answers.”

Their guide fired a whistling arrow with red flame across the water. Soon a black-canopied boat appeared, ferrying them to the opposite shore where a white-robed figure stood beneath a willow tree like a graceful jade tree swaying in the wind.

The Enigmatic Host Revealed

“Buwei, I’ve arrived!” Lu called out joyfully.

The white-robed man strode forward with a bow: “Brother Zhonglian, I’ve been awaiting you.”

As they disembarked, Lu joked about his reputation for fleeing official posts and gold, to which their host – now revealed as the merchant Lü Buwei – responded with humble grace. Fan Ju studied this unassuming figure carefully: dressed in plain yellowish hemp robes with simple cloth shoes, hair tied neatly behind, devoid of ornaments or jade, of average height and build with unremarkable complexion – entirely ordinary yet somehow unforgettable. This stark contrast to the gem-encrusted merchants Fan Ju knew made Lü Buwei seem more like a lifelong scholar in some secluded mountain academy than a wealthy businessman.

Philosophy and Commerce in Harmony

Their conversation soon turned to the sign above Lü’s hall – “Li Ben Tang” (Profit Root Hall) – written in Wei-style characters that revealed his origins in Puyang, Wey State. Fan Ju analyzed the meaning as “righteousness as the root of profit,” praising it as an unconventional philosophy that deserved fuller exposition. Lü modestly dismissed any scholarly pretensions, claiming only to speak his mind without systematic thought.

The gathering moved to a thatched courtyard where Lü demonstrated remarkable hospitality, including serving a special “tide-watching chicken” from southern Chu that even convinced the vegetarian Xiao Yue’nü to break her dietary restrictions. The chicken’s unique properties – caught only during certain tidal conditions and requiring careful transport – illustrated Lü’s extraordinary attention to detail and extensive commercial networks.

Parting Gifts and Lasting Legacies

When the time came for Lu Zhonglian’s departure to begin his retirement in the eastern seclusion, Lü presented two meaningful gifts: a thousand gold pieces to establish their new life (which the normally gold-scorning Lu surprisingly accepted, recognizing the practical necessity), and red dates from Qi that carried profound emotional significance from Lu’s days defending the besieged city of Jimo.

Their farewell at the Ying River road was poignant, with Fan Ju lamenting that Lu’s retirement marked the end of an era for the wandering strategists who had shaped Warring States diplomacy. As Lu’s carriage disappeared southward, the two men climbed a hill to watch until the last moment, contemplating how Lu Zhonglian’s departure symbolized the decline of the horizontal alliances that had balanced Qin’s rising power for generations.

In a final private moment, Xiao Yue’nü gave Lü Buwei a priceless gift – an authentic handwritten copy of Fan Li’s “Art of Calculation” by Xi Shi herself, entrusting this rare economic treatise to the one man she believed could truly understand and apply its principles. The transaction encapsulated the mutual respect between the wandering knight-errant and the philosophical merchant, whose unlikely friendship bridged the worlds of commerce, scholarship, and statecraft in China’s tumultuous Warring States period.