Chapter 2737: The Capital (Part 93)

Wu Kaidi smiled. "Master, have you lost your head? Preparing gifts for the ladies of the house should be left to the two young mistresses."

"Oh, you're right, of course. How foolish of me." Leng Ningyun tapped his forehead. "I'll go speak with them now."

"One more thing," Wu Kaidi reminded him. "Mr. Li has conducted business with Lingao for years. What Australian goods hasn't he seen? The ordinary items I can prepare here are unlikely to interest him. You'll need something genuinely novel..."

"You're absolutely right, Old Wu." Leng Ningyun considered the matter carefully. Though Li Luoyou had his vulnerabilities, he was after all a merchant tycoon who navigated deftly between the Great Ming and the Later Jin. Reportedly a Catholic as well, with close ties to the Portuguese. Back when the Senate had controlled only that small corner of Lingao on Hainan, he had dared to invest. His vision, resolve, and courage far exceeded those of ordinary men. What hadn't he seen in his years of trade?

Simply pressuring and threatening him into cooperation would likely breed resentment—this old fox had kept the Senate at arm's length these past few years. Business continued, but the relationship remained neither warm nor cold.

Though gifts weren't the decisive factor, they could sometimes serve as catalysts or lubricants. Leng Ningyun's expression grew serious. He returned to Yiqiang Studio and retrieved Li Luoyou's file box from the archive cabinet.

It contained not only all his correspondence and records with Li Luoyou since arriving in the capital, but also every piece of intelligence the Foreign Intelligence Bureau had gathered on the man. This included details Gu Baocheng had mentioned during his activities in Lingao. Though fragmentary, these notes often touched on Li's private life, interests, and various personal matters—information that was especially precious.

Reading through carefully, he discovered that Mr. Li suffered from a chronic condition: vertigo.

Though doctors at Baireng Hospital had never measured his blood pressure, the descriptions from Gu Baocheng and other observers, combined with reports that his household servants regularly purchased Suhexiang Decoction and Danshen Pills, strongly suggested cardiovascular disease—possibly hypertension.

But Suhexiang Decoction and Danshen Pills had limited effectiveness for hypertension. Earlier, Baireng Hospital's pharmacy had specifically produced Danshen Drip Pills to improve efficacy by maximizing active ingredient concentration. Yet results remained unsatisfactory, until the pharmaceutical factory managed to extract reserpine from Rauvolfia and snakeroot plants—finally producing a truly effective antihypertensive.

Reserpine had significant side effects and was no longer considered a first-line antihypertensive in the new timeline, but in the seventeenth century, it was a genuine wonder drug. Liu Dalin's survival this long was largely due to his access to this medication in Lingao.

Leng Ningyun didn't suffer from hypertension himself, but considering that the capital's official and wealthy classes were mostly elderly, such conditions of age were surely quite common. So he had specially prepared a supply for building relationships.

However, giving medicine to others carried considerable risk. Especially among powerful and wealthy families, who regarded doctors as beneath notice. If the medicine worked like an elixir, all was well; but if something went wrong, one bore the blame. For this reason, Leng Ningyun rarely offered it as a gift.

This time, he decided to deploy this "ultimate weapon." Li Luoyou had seen the world and was relatively accepting of new things. Such a gift should win his favor.

He returned to the inner residence and summoned Yanhong. "Bring the Liver-Soothing Pills. Prepare a three-month supply and deliver it to the inner study."

The reserpine that left Lingao came in the form of traditional Chinese medicine pills. Besides reserpine, each pill contained eucommia, cow bezoar, danshen, and other herbs. The medicine bore the Runshitang trademark, was named Liver-Soothing Elixir, and came in small porcelain bottles—one bottle for each month's supply.

He then instructed Hexiang, "Go to the inner study and open the hidden compartment."

The hidden compartment in the inner study was designed as a curio cabinet, but it was sealed behind a wall, fitted so seamlessly that without unlocking it, one would never know what lay within.

Opening the cabinet door revealed compartments of various sizes, each storing rare and precious objects seldom seen in the world. These were reserved primarily for gifts and relationship-building. Many came from Hong Huangnan's Lingao luxury brand "Linkof," though everyone still habitually called it "Shop 82."

The items were either wrapped in mulberry paper or stored in exquisite small boxes and pouches of various materials, each with labels uniformly attached.

"I need to select gifts for Mr. Li Luoyou. Four items in total. One will be the medicine. For the other three, help me think."

"Is this the Mr. Li of Liaohai Trading?"

"The very same."

"This is difficult." Hexiang was equally at a loss.

If costliness alone were the aim, there were many options. If novelty were the goal, there was no shortage of Western and Australian goods. But Li Luoyou was both wealthy and worldly. Items that would genuinely impress him were truly few.

She selected several items from the compartment and arranged them on the table.

"Mr. Li is a worldly man who probably uses quill pens regularly. How about this fountain pen?"

Hexiang produced an exquisite small gilded leather box. Within lay a high-end fountain pen called "Mercury"—part of the Stardust Generation I series, a collaboration between Linkof and the Technology Ministry's Taibai Observatory, produced by Shop 82. Not only had the nib material been significantly upgraded with notable improvements in wear resistance, but the barrel material had also been substantially refined. It was crafted from lapis lazuli with delicate gold and silver inlay work, extremely luxurious. The deep blue was profound as distant space, with shimmering silver points across its surface like countless stars.

"This will do. As far as I know, Mr. Li frequently uses Western script."

"Then there's this." Hexiang took out a mulberry paper package and carefully unwrapped it. Inside was an elaborate leather case containing a spring-driven gold pocket watch with jewel bearings. This was a genuine Lingao product, made less than a year ago.

Pocket watch production had begun two years earlier. But those initial watches, limited by materials and craftsmanship, had been comparable to horse-hoof alarm clocks. Besides military and industrial applications, most people showed little interest in what was then a clunky, imprecise device.

By contrast, this newly produced gold watch approached the dimensions of eighteenth and nineteenth-century pocket watches. The case was fashioned from seventy-five percent gold, twelve and a half percent silver, and twelve and a half percent copper—beautifully colored with sufficient strength. The dial was white glass enamel; the hands and numerals were blued. Inside the case lid was an inlaid fired enamel painting.

"Only four of these watches were sent from Lingao. None have been given out yet. You won't find them anywhere else. Substantial enough?" She handed over the watch in its box with great care, adding, "Be careful not to break it."

"Beautiful!" Leng Ningyun took it and examined it closely. "He truly does love watches."

Li Luoyou was quite interested in timekeeping devices. He had purchased European pendulum grandfather clocks as well. But portable timekeepers like pocket watches didn't exist at the time. When he had seen the wristwatches worn by Senators, he had expressed great interest, repeatedly offering to purchase one at a premium. At the time, since wristwatches couldn't be produced locally and both finished products and parts relied entirely on old-timeline stock, they were classified as tier-one controlled items. That request had been impossible to fulfill.

"One more item." Hexiang mused aloud. "Speaking of rare things, a telescope probably doesn't count anymore, and he surely has a globe..."

"He has plenty of scientific instruments at home—both Western and ours. Don't waste your thoughts on that direction." Leng Ningyun felt somewhat troubled. Other things would interest him even less.

"How about another health medicine then? A matching pair," Hexiang suggested. "Since he has hypertension, his heart probably isn't in good condition either. Runshitang's 'Musk Heart-Protecting Elixir' would be perfect."

"Good. Something too extravagant might seem overly formal."

"As for gifts for the concubine, that's easier." Hexiang continued. "Looking at the files, this Madam Qiao is already middle-aged. The storeroom has premium donkey-hide gelatin made to tribute specifications."

"Good. What else?"

"Something more precious: a pair of sapphire earrings from Zizhen Studio."

Gemstones weren't highly valued in seventeenth-century China. Though used in jewelry, they weren't considered particularly precious. The main reason was limited cutting and processing capability—craftsmen couldn't achieve the multi-faceted cuts of later eras that created reflections and that dazzling "fire" effect.

After Zizhen Studio introduced new cutting techniques and technology, gemstone prices had risen steadily. In just a few years, entirely new aesthetic tastes had spread to Jiangnan and the capital.

"Then fabrics." Hexiang began organizing the items on the table. "The storeroom has fine poplin and Xiangyan silk. Four bolts of each should suffice."

Both textiles were new products from the Senate's textile industry. The latter went without saying—it was a famous Guangdong product. Originally developed only in the early Republic era, it had now appeared ahead of its time. The former, though called "poplin," was actually neither true poplin nor silk, but high-count plain-weave cotton made from combed cotton at Guangzhou's textile factories. Light and smooth in texture, it resembled silk.

With the gifts prepared, the messenger Wu Kaidi had sent to deliver the visiting card returned, reporting that Mr. Li had time on the fourth and could meet.

"Still at Madam Qiao's residence?"

"Yes, but their steward said the Master isn't feeling well. He asks that you keep your visit brief."

This old fox really doesn't stand on ceremony! Leng Ningyun cursed silently.

"What is Madam Qiao's status with Mr. Li?"

"If you're asking about favor, Li Luoyou's concubines don't have 'favor' to speak of," Wu Kaidi explained. "His household is known for strict family rules—being a concubine there is practically like being in prison. But this Madam Qiao has been with him over twenty years, so the bond runs deeper than with his other concubines. Whenever he's in the capital, he always stays at Madam Qiao's separate residence. Even during New Year, he only remains at the main house until the third day."

"That's quite eccentric!"

"Not at all," Wu Kaidi laughed. "His parents and first wife have all passed. His children have grown and established their own families. There's nothing to keep him at home, but he has many brothers, nephews, and cousins who come daily to pay respects, asking for positions and favors. He finds them tiresome. So he hides in the separate residence for peace and quiet."

(End of Chapter)