Chapter 469 - The Jiahe Chamber of Commerce (1/2)

The bird flew into a branch of the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce located in the capital of the Luohai Kingdom. It was a large manor house. On either side of its front gates was a stone statue of a mythical beast symbolizing good fortune and prosperity. People going in and out of the house were all successful merchants in the capital.

The bird flew into a corner of the chamber of commerce which n.o.body was paying attention to, and then someone caught the bird and detached a roll of cloth from the bird’s leg. Then he unrolled it, glanced at it and set the bird free. After destroying the piece of cloth, he left the corner in haste and went to a secluded courtyard house in the chamber of commerce.

Seen from the outside, this courtyard house was rather run-of-the-mill, except for its high outer walls and vast size. There was no well designed paths or deluxe furnis.h.i.+ngs. Hardly anybody would notice this courtyard house. Also, it was isolated and normally n.o.body would come to this place.

The man first greeted the two guards on duty at the front gates. “Guard Zhao, Guard Zhou, I just received a message and I’m here to seek an audience with Childe Ling.”

“Please wait a moment, Chairman Lian.”

“Thank you.”

The chairman of the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce was a renowned figure in the capital of the Luohai Kingdom. Merchants and even the monarch’s relatives had to show him some respect. However, on this occasion, at the front gates of this courtyard house, he was, in a deferential and humble manner, waiting for permission to go inside.

The past five years, apart from frequent frictions between the Wan Kingdom and the Luohai Kingdom and the rejuvenation of the Great Wen, had also witnessed the rise of a new force – the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce, which had branches in all the three countries. Within merely five years, it had achieved the feat of having its caravans travel to every area of the three countries and at the same time opening stores in all important cities and towns of the three countries. The commercial forces it had united were amazingly powerful – one third of all successful merchants of the three countries had joined the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce, which was why the organization had quickly grown into an enormous trading power within five years.

Also because of this, many people had been paying special attention to and making speculations about the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce. Some said that it had originally been a Jianghu sect; some others believed it had been founded by the richest family of one of the three countries; there were also some who claimed that it had a royal family member as its prop. In a word, there were a large variety of rumors about it, but the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce was totally unaffected and thriving. There were intense conflicts between the Wan Kingdom and the Luohai Kingdom near the border, but caravans of the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce could always safely get through. Its business was booming, and more and more people were coming to know about it…

Currently, hardly anybody in business hadn’t heard of the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce.

The headquarters of the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce was located in not one but three places – the capital cities of the Luohai Kingdom, the Wan Kingdom and the Great Wen, which seemed to be the reason why n.o.body was sure about the ident.i.ty of the founder, or the owner, of the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce.

Businesses affiliated to this newly emerged organization had sprung up all over the three countries over the past five years, striking the attention of the world.

And now, a leading figure who wielded enormous power within the chamber of commerce was respectfully waiting for the owner of a nondescript courtyard house to give him the permission to enter. Hardly anybody, if told about this story, would believe it.

“Please come in, Chairman Lian. Childe Ling requests your presence.”

After Chairman Lian waited at the front gates for a while, the one who had gone inside to send word of his arrival came out and told him to go in.

Chairman Lian thanked him and then entered the courtyard house.

On the surface this courtyard house was not at all eye-catching, and only by going inside it would people come to know that it was not what it seemed.

It’d been under Chairman Lian’s supervision that this courtyard house had been built. It could be said that he better than anybody knew that this courtyard house was the most exquisite and luxurious in the whole chamber of commerce. The furnis.h.i.+ngs in this house were so costly that people’s jaws would drop if the price of any of these items came to their knowledge. When supervising the construction of this house, Chairman Lian, picturing how his mater would praise him after moving into this place, had felt smug for a few moments, but when his master had really come, Chairman Lian, at the sight of his master’s impa.s.sive countenance, had come to realize that he might well be mistaken, and the complacency on his face had instantly vanished and never appeared again.

Chairman Lian quietly walked through an ornamental arch, across a small garden and up the stairs in front of the reception room. In the doorway, he made a bow and said, “Your humble servant Lian Hai requests an audience with you, Childe Ling.”

“Come in,” said an unhurried, brisk, male voice. The tone was bland but aristocratic.

Chairman Lian entered the reception room, deferentially paid his respects to his master, then slightly raised his head and reported, “Childe Ling, a group of hors.e.m.e.n from the Wan Kingdom are heading for this city. Judging from the time of the arrival of the message, they’ll get here in about an hour. There are twelve of them. The one heading the team seems to be Xue Yi, Xue Chi’s son. All of them are in disguise.”

“I see.” The man inside the room put down the account book in his hand and looked in the direction of Chairman Lian, who hastened to lower his head as he sensed the gaze from the man’s clear, piercing eyes, not daring look back at the man, keeping his head down respectfully.

“That tallies exactly with the intelligence I received. Because of the serious trouble Chen Feng caused in the border city, the monarch of this country is displeased with the Chen family, but what with the forces at the queen consort’s and her father’s back, he’s powerless to mete out punishment to the Chen family, which was why he reinstated Xue Chi whom he’d clamped down on with all his might previously…It would seem Shan Congli trusts Xue Chi’s son pretty much, considering he’s entrusted such an important task to Xue Yi.”

“Do you think we should stick to the plan, Childe Ling?”

“Of course. No matter who it is that has come here, we must make sure they won’t have their way. Since Xue Chi will soon arrive, you should go and make preparations. It’s time people of the Dugu family proved themselves useful.”

“Yes, Childe Ling.”