513 Protecting the Bridge (1/2)
News of the battle spread like wildfire, and after only one night, without even a single defeated soldier having made it to the north coast of the Xiaoyao Lake, news about the terrible loss of the Golden Roc Army had already reached the capital of the Hui Kingdom. The rumor-mongers sounded extremely convincing, leading everyone in the city to believe them. The entire capital immediately fell into an apocalypse-like state of chaos.
It was a unique city that was filled with the royal families of each nation as well as speculators with complicated backgrounds. Most of them had placed huge stakes on the Golden Roc Army winning and never prepared themselves for the probability that things could turn out the other way.
As dawn just began breaking, a coach raced through the city gates. The horsekeeper was dressed shabbily and seemed to have been dragged out of bed into the driver's seat. The guards at the gates were perturbed, but very quickly, one of them managed to recognize the coach. ”Doesn't that belong to the King of the An Kingdom? Could it be that the Dragon King has been defeated and he's in a hurry to snatch the throne back for himself?”
The truth could not be further away from his theory.
The old King of the An nation created a fleeing frenzy with his actions. Before noon, the gates were already packed with people as coaches jostled past each other. There would occassionally be valuable items falling to the ground from all the commotion.
Those that managed to leave with their possessions were considered lucky. Many more who had come to try their luck now found themselves in a dilemma. They were already robbed of their livestock, which had not amounted to much anyway, and most of their goods were left behind in the city. If they left, they would be left with nothing, but it was also too dangerous to stay.
War could also serve as a business opening that, needless to say, was snapped up by the bigger suppliers, but it was also beneficial for the smaller businesses. Soldiers, who were literally putting their lives at stake in a bid to earn a living, were always feeling particularly generous before and after battles, attracting businessmen and prostitutes who were smart enough to sense a business opportunity.
Everyone was worried and tried to encourage each other. ”The Dragon army also needs its share of good wine and women. We're unlike the Meng family; we don't have to serve only the Golden Roc Army. As long as they're paying customers, we'll treat them equally well. The Dragon King has no reason to ill treat us.”
It just so happened that the Meng family of Jade City reacted even more quickly than the old King of the An nation. A few days ago, they had sent out a large shipment, and rumor had it that it was made up entirely of chests full of silver and gold. It turned out that the salary doled out to the soldiers of the Golden Roc Fort had quickly returned back into the coffers of the Meng family.
At that time, there were still some people who scoffed at Meng Mingshu, thinking that it was against what being a big businessman was all about. Now, they knew that the Meng family had not become the wealthiest merchants in the entire Western Region by luck; they were always adequately prepared for any incident.
Soon, rumors abounded that the Meng family managed to avoid huge losses not because of their skill in business but rather because they were double agents. ”Have you heard? Second Young Master Meng personally met with the Dragon King in private and knew how the battle would turn out before it even began. It was due to this reason that he hurriedly ordered huge amounts of his family's money to be shipped away.”
”Really? But... why would the Dragon King let such an important source of funds slip from his grasp? Wouldn't it make more sense to make Meng Mingshu's money stay in this place?”
”About that... that... both parties are bound to have reached an agreement. How did the Dragon army win? Who knows if the Meng family played a part in its victory.”
Meng Mingshu was also pondering the same question. He had not fled and was at the garden in the royal palace, dispatching his people to various shops and banks to prepare their last shipment of goods. When the others in the city could not purchase pack animals even though they had money, the Meng family had scores of these animals. They could sell off the animals now at prices more than 10 times their original value, but it was pointless to get more money at this point in time as they did not have enough time to pack it along with them.
Meng Mingshu had been wondering for a few days about why the Dragon King had sent Shangguan Fei over secretly to greet him, but he still could not understand why. He could sense the Dragon King's self-confidence through the meeting with Shangguan Fei and thus settled his customers' outstanding accounts beforehand. He also reduced the prices of his goods and expedited his shipments, finally managing to collect most of the outstanding payments two days before the decisive battle. He then entrusted it to a unit of machetemen from the Golden Roc Fort to escort back to Jade City.
As such, the Meng family managed to earn a considerable amount of money from the war, even though it was slightly lesser than expected.
What Meng Mingshu could not figure out was, ”Why would the Dragon King do me such a big favor?”
They had indeed cooperated in Jade City before—he had helped the Dragon King poison his own Fifth Brother, while the Dragon King assassinated his eldest brother at his behest. This paved the way for Meng Mingshu to advance his plan of inheriting his family's fortune in the future. They even had plans to build up a business network together, but ultimately, it was put on hold due to the Dragon King's defeat at that time.
On paper, neither of them owed the other party anything now.
Meng Mingshu could not figure the Dragon King out and hoped that somebody else would offer a fresh perspective as he returned to his quarters in the evening.
There would have been a commotion in Hui City, had the arrival of Xiao Fengchai, the most famous prostitute in Jade City, been discovered. She had just arrived the previous night, unfortunately coinciding with the terrible defeat of the Golden Roc Army.
Meng Mingshu told her everything. Their relationship was growing stronger everyday, and they were no longer simply lovers; she was more like his accomplice and advisor now. She would provide him with ideas and plot, already having become his right-hand person.
Also, her beauty was peerless.
Even Meng Mingshu himself did not know her true age, but it was unimportant to him. He had already passed the age where men would dream of romance, and he admired her elegant bearing instead. He felt that she was more charming than all of the prostitutes of Pleasure Alley put together.
Xiao Fengchai was reading a letter. It was only comprised of one page, but she seemed to have spent a long time reading it.
”Who sent you the letter?” asked Meng Mingshu casually, in a tone so normal that made them seem like an old couple.
”The Dragon King,” she replied simply. She did not even try to use any tactic to attract his attention—in fact, this was an even more advanced technique of hers.
Meng Mingshu took out his handkerchief, momentarily stunned.
Xiao Fengchai was a smart woman, and it was her that pointed out to Meng Mingshu the moment she stepped down from her coach that he had made a grave mistake.
”You shouldn't have shipped away your goods and money so hastily,” she told him last night, before news about the result of the decisive battle had traveled to Hui City. ”If the Dragon King really manages to win, you'll be in deep trouble. There are many ears in the Stone Castle, and news of Shangguan Fei's visit to you will surely reach there.”
Meng Mingshu regretted his moment of greed, but he could not order his shipments to be returned back. He could only remedy the situation by finding a proper excuse.
She had also been clueless as to the Dragon King's true intentions by offering his goodwill, right until she opened the letter.