Chapter 913: Black eats black, no making without breaking (2/2)

Uncle Cheng’s heart lurched as he looked at Han Yunxi, then averted his eyes. He felt flustered--had she noticed something? Was this a warning? He had his sights on the gambling houses from the start, yet Han Yunxi had pushed all responsibility onto him. How could he play any tricks now? They’d only come back to bite him! In hindsight, he realized that he’d underestimated Han Yunxi. Now he could only leave his hopes with the auction hall. Han Yunxi had handed the casino over to his hands, so there was no way she’d leave the other elders high and dry. She wouldn’t give him management of the auction halls too, right? As long as that wasn’t in his hands, he didn’t need to take responsibility and could be free to act as he wished.

“Yes, this subordinate will do his best!” Uncle Cheng endured things for now.

“Then you should hurry and find a spot,” Han Yunxi’s tone wasn’t very friendly. Uncle Cheng had wanted to wait and hear about her suggestions for the auction hall, but Han Yunxi had deployed him elsewhere. He could only withdraw for now and inquire into details later.

The situation at the auction house was that the genuine goods had been switched for fakes by a spy. The buyer wanted both compensation and the original items.

“Fellow elders, what are your insights into this matter?” Han Yunxi asked.

“Your Royal Highness, this subordinate suspects that the buyer and a spy colluded together. We’ve already to pay back 10 times the value, which most customers wouldn’t refuse,” Second Elder replied.

“This subordinate heard a rumor that the seller might be from Golden Wing Hall. Your Royal Highness, both the auction and gambling house incidents are fishy! Third Elder chimed in.

Han Yunxi harbored suspicions as well, but she couldn’t figure it out. “While would Golden Wing Hall target us like this? It doesn’t do them any favors if we’re ruined too.”

“With Golden Wing Wall, it’s always been well water avoiding river water. Nor have we ever interacted with each other,” the head elder said helplessly. He had discussed the subject multiple times with the other men.

Han Yunx got straight to the point. “Since we don’t know the reasons, then we’ll deal with them the same they’ve done with us! Tie up that seller and interrogate him thoroughly!”

“Definitely not!” the head elder cried. “All of Three-Way Market is talking about this. If you truss someone up now, it’ll be hard to avoid censure! We’ve already ruined our trust when someone discovered fake goods at our hall. If we tie up the seller next, who will dare do business with us in the future?”

“Tie the person up, then send out a grand scale of men and horses to search for the items! Spill the dirty water right back at Golden Wing Hall,” Han Yunxi said coldly. “Never forget that human hands write the history books. Whether it’s printed or spoken, historical records always call the victors kings and losers bandits. Whoever has the loudest voice becomes the voice of reason. Thousand Gold Pavilion hardly got into trouble when Golden Wing Hall made things worse. They’re provoking us on purpose! I refuse to believe that no one’s suspected their side.”

Using black against black was Han Yunxi’s norm!

It had to be said that everyone had a deeper understanding of her character now. They never expected her intelligence to go hand-in-hand with such fast-acting ruthlessness. If she had been born a man, she’d be unbelievable. Even so, she didn’t lose to any man now! Perhaps she really did have the power and guts to properly lead West Qin.

“As for the business at the auction hall, Head Elder doesn’t need to worry. I naturally have ways to attract customers.”

Seeing the man hesitate, Han Yunxi continued to speak. “I suppose everyone’s already seen East Valley Private Bank’s account books. The money is enough to prop up Myriad Merchant Hall for one and a half years while amply supporting the Di Clan’s army and various other expenses. The other’s side already attacking us on our doorstep. Are you satisfied with swallowing your resentment? Where’s the dominance of Cloud Realm Trade Consortium?”

The elders’ hearts immediately shook at her words. Fifth Elder stepped out first. “Everything will be as Your Royal Highness says!”

Afraid that Fifth Elder would get all of Han Yunxi’s favor and supplant him someday, the head elder quickly expressed without hesitation, “Your Royal Highness is wise and brilliant!”

If Han Yunxi knew that Golden Wing Hall belonged to Gu Qishao, who’d only screwed Myriad Merchant Hall to take revenge for her sake, what would be her reaction? She had Fourth and Third Elder help out Uncle Cheng, Second and Head Elder manage things at the auction house, and kept Fifth Elder behind to coordinate various tasks within Myriad Merchant Hall.

Once the meeting adjourned, she said to Fifth Elder in a lower voice, “Go find the guests who smashed up the gambling house recently and tie them all up. I’m going to force them to sell out Golden Wing Hall no matter what!”

After that, Han Yunxi quickly went back to Ning Jing’s courtyard. She was vexed and worried: just how could she get Tang Li out of jail at this rate?