Chapter 480: The aftermath of bribing the Duke of Qin (1/2)

Chapter 480: The aftermath of bribing the Duke of Qin

Zhangsun Zelin had already waited an entire day before meeting His Highness Duke of Qin. He felt at times anxious, nervous, and fearful, but he maintained enough reason to consider the vital interests at stake. He had no idea that His Highness Duke of Qin was behind the gunpowder explosion, but he could guess that the man was making things difficult for him on purpose by not coming to meet him directly.

If that was the case, there had to be a plot afoot. Thus, he was trying to figure out how to deal with it. After entering the tea room, he solemnly bowed with his hands clasped in front of his chest. “This one is Zhangsun Zelin and greets Your Highness Duke of Qin and esteemed wangfei.”

Long Feiye cast him a scornful glance. “Master of half the Sky Domain Black Markets. What prestige you have! Your lordship is merely a peasant before your eyes and dares not accept your greeting!”

The disdainful curve to Long Feiye’s lips made Zhangsun Zelin tremble with fear. Though he’d mentally prepared himself, he was still afraid of this icy duke. “Your Highness Duke of Qin, you’re taking years off this one’s life!” Zhangsun Zelin said nervously.

Long Feiye laughed coldly. “We are certainly honored by your presence today. What business do you have?”

Zhangsun Zelin took out a stack of silver drafts from his sleeve. “Your Highness, this one has come to invite you to affix your seal. This money has been stored in the private bank for years now, but this one has a good project to use them on all the moment, so I’d like to withdraw all my assets.”

Zhangsun Zelin spoke as if the exploding gunpowder incident never happened, or that the rumors flying around were all a sham. Han Yunxi couldn’t help but silently admire his thick skin.

“It’s a pity, His Majesty has orders to freeze all your assets. What do you think your lordship can do?” Long Feiye asked.

Zhangsun Zelin grew anxious at those words. “Your Highness Duke of Qin, this one can accept others disbelieving me, but Your Highness must trust this one! This one begs you to uphold justice in my name!” So speaking, he actually took out half the stack of silver drafts and placed them on the table. Han Yunxi walked over on purpose and began to count them one by one.

Thrilled by the sight, Zhangsun Zelin added quickly, “Esteemed wangfei, the private bank belongs to His Highness. Everything His Highness says goes. Even His Majesty can’t question such things, right?”

“Right!” Han Yunxi had a beautiful smile.

Even more delighted, Zhangsun Zelin handed over a few more silver drafts. “Esteemed wangfei, kindly accept this small gift of mine!”

Han Yunxi accepted it with a grin. “There’s a total of 15 drafts totaling 60,000,000 taels.”

Zhangsun Zelin nodded his head. That made up half of his total assets, so it was quite a sum. He had once made inquiries and knew that Qin Wangfei was the only person who could deal with His Highness Duke of Qin. But now she simply turned to Long Feiye and said, “Your Highness, could a paltry 60,000,000 taels be enough to bribe you?”

Zhangsun Zelin’s face turned green at the words. “Esteemed wangfei, that wasn’t this one’s intentions. This one simply wanted…”

“If not bribery, then you wanted to buy us to your side? Your Highness, when did you become so easy to win over?” Han Yunxi asked in amazement.

Zhangsun Zelin’s legs turned weak. “Esteemed wangfei has misunderstood, misunderstood! This one had no other intentions. I only came in a rush without giving His Highness time to prepare, so that’s why…. May Your Highness kindly accept this small gift of mine! A small gift!”

“Since there aren’t any other intentions, your lordship shall accept this,” Long Feiye really did take the silver drafts.

Zhangsun Zelin silently exhaled in relief, then offered up the other half stack of silver drafts in his hands. “Your Highness, please stamp these drafts.”

But Long Feiye ignored them to remark, “Your lordship heard that you and Medicine City have a private trading deal?”

Zhangsun Zelin’s eyes flashed with surprise before he immediately denied the claims. “Your Highness, medicinal ingredients are used to save lives. We couldn’t possibly sell them via private deals!” He still wanted to do the same kind of black market medicine trading business once he left Tianning. Medicine made the most money and would be the fastest way for him to regain his assets. No matter what, he couldn’t sell out the names of the young masters who traded with him from Medicine City!

“Mhm. Your lordship found the news improbable when I first heard it too,” Long Feiye replied.

Zhangsun Zelin didn’t know why the Duke of Qin would ask after such matters, but he didn’t think into it much. Once again, he offered up his silver drafts. “Your Highness, please affix your seal.”

“Your lordship said the His Majesty has frozen your assets. Do you want your lordship to violate His Majesty’s orders?”

This… Zhangsun Zelin glanced at the stack of silver drafts that Han Yunxi had stored away, then back at his own half-pile. He was almost too angry to speak. The only reason he’d stored his money at the Duke of Qin’s private bank was became he wanted to create ties with the man. Now he held nothing but regret! Despite that, he kept his cool and murmured, after some hesitation, “Your Highness Duke of Qin, this one knows that rumors and slanders are flying amok outside. His Majesty considers me to be one of the suspects as well, but this one really has no relations to the gunpowder case. This one wouldn’t dare! On the other hand, the other master of the black market…”

Zhangsun Zelin paused, assuming that Long Feiye would be curious, but the man made no sound. He had no choice but to keep talking. “Your Highness, the other master of the Sky Domain Black Market is none other than the famous head of Cloud Realm Continent’s Trade Consortium, Ouyang Ningnuo!”

Long Feiye harbored a cold smile in his heard. He guessed as much himself, but he didn’t express any of it. Zhangsun Zelin couldn’t read Long Feiye at all, but only saw him sitting there steadily without a peep. Without a choice, he could only brace himself and declare, “Your Highness, the gunpowder must have been shipped in from foreign soil. Ouyang Ningnuo has the strongest connections outside of Tianning!”

Ouyang Ningnuo had exposed Zhangsun Zelin so he could use Long Feiye against him to claim the other half of Sky Domain Black Market. Now Zhangsun Zelin was exposing Ouyang Ningnuo so he could drag the man down with him. Han Yunxi listened to it all and only sighed internally. In this world, who could be more crafty than these merchants?