Chapter 190: Chapter 165: Winning Over (2)

Li Wutong continued, smiling at Ling Xiao, "The main reason I invited you for a chat today, my dear nephew, was simply to meet you. It is said that those who have opened their Celestial Vein have boundless futures! Having met you today, I see it is true! A tiger of the Ling Family is truly remarkable! As for the second matter, this Prince has been thinking. To prevent a repeat of what happened during the festival, I... am prepared to gift you four Magic Crystal Cannons! For the exclusive use of Penzes City’s defense!"

"What?"

Ling Xiao and Uncle Fu were finally shaken, their expressions changing as they cried out in unison.

’Magic Crystal Cannons... Those things can obliterate a Komodo War Elephant in a single shot! They’re practically Divine Artifacts! I doubt even a master from the Sword Sect would dare to face their power head-on!’

’The cost of one Magic Crystal Cannon is a full two million gold coins! Four of them... that’s eight million!’

’And the wealth Li Wutong made off with when he left Penzes City was, at most, twenty million! Now he’s giving me eight million in one go. And another thing—Magic Crystal Cannons are a core weapon of the Empire. It’s not something you can buy just because you have the money!’

’It’s illegal for a commoner to own one! And now the Southern King offers four of them with just a few words.’

’Is he insane? He wants to buy me over, but does he really need to pay such a steep price?’

Li Wutong had an inscrutable smile on his face, seemingly very pleased with the reactions of Ling Xiao and Uncle Fu. He thought to himself, ’With such a hefty investment, I’m not afraid you won’t be tempted! When the time comes, the Crown Prince will surely think the Ling Family has allied with me. Even if your father wants to deny it, hmph... he won’t be able to!’

’A few million, even ten million gold coins, in exchange for the support of a General who holds significant military power—worth it!’

Li Wutong continued, "Weapons are just decorations without Crystal Cores to power them. So, I will also gift my dear nephew five hundred Tier Two Crystal Cores!"

Uncle Fu couldn’t help but draw in a sharp breath, his eyes filled with shock as he looked at Li Wutong. Ling Xiao, too, was mentally calculating the value. A single Tier Two Crystal Core was worth around ten thousand gold coins. Five hundred of them... that was five million gold coins! Add that to the eight-million-gold-coin value of the Magic Crystal Cannons. ’Tsk, tsk, he really isn’t afraid to put down a huge stake!’ Ling Xiao inwardly marveled at the Southern King. ’Now that’s a man of action!’

’Of the twenty million he took from Penzes City, he’s basically given most of it back to me with just a few words! And one must remember, those Magic Crystal Cannons have a manufacturing cost of around two million, but you could never buy one for just two million!’

Ling Xiao stood up. "Your Highness is too generous! While I understand your deep love for the people and your fear that the citizens of Penzes City might suffer, I... still feel unworthy of such a gift!"

In their hearts, Li Wutong and his son cursed Ling Xiao. With one light, breezy sentence, this cunning fellow had deflected most of the personal obligation, reframing the Prince’s concern for Ling Xiao as concern for the people of Penzes City. The difference between the two was vast.

Li Wutong smiled warmly. "Since that place is now your fief, my dear nephew, it is only right that I, as the former landlord, contribute my part!"

They all began to laugh, Ling Xiao’s own laugh filled with mirth. In the year since he had re-entered the world, he had come to understand seven or eight-tenths of its secular intricacies. With Li Wutong’s intentions to win him over being so obvious, Ling Xiao would have to be an idiot not to understand.

’Still, I don’t really care,’ Ling Xiao thought. ’It would be foolish to refuse such a huge boon. If the Crown Prince really doesn’t know when to quit, I don’t mind being used as Li Wutong’s spear for a while. Besides, I know very well that the old King’s poison has been cured. The Crown Prince’s situation is probably not as secure as it seems. He must have realized this himself, or he wouldn’t have become so desperate as to hire foreign mercenaries to assassinate me just to stir up trouble in the Empire.’

’There are two experts from the Sword Sect in the Imperial Palace, but who’s to say there isn’t a third! This was a conclusion I reached only after learning about those hidden families and sects. Never trust what you see on the surface!’

’As for whether that Sword Sect member belongs to the Southern King, it doesn’t matter. The next time I see him, I will kill him! The blood of my fallen brothers will not have been shed in vain!’

’Even if my current strength is insufficient to kill a Sword Sect master, I have plenty of time... and patience!’

If there was one quality that Cultivators had in abundance, it was patience.

***

Ye Zi’s heart was pounding with anxiety. ’So it’s true, my foster father is one of the Southern King’s men! Back in the Imperial Capital, I, Ye Wen Ni, once suspected he was working for the Crown Prince! I never imagined the Southern King’s ambitions ran so deep that he started laying his plans twenty years ago! The members of the Royal Family... they’re really all cut from a different cloth!’

The soldiers seemed to have been given orders, as they acted as if she wasn’t there. Of course, they still snuck a few glances; after all, in a military camp overflowing with masculine energy, the appearance of such a devastatingly beautiful woman was a rare sight.

Ye Zi rounded the corner of the wall she had just passed and saw another row of neat barracks ahead. She strolled over, looking around, but couldn’t find the person she was looking for. Suddenly, she heard a low cough from behind her.

"Vini... are you, are you well?"

"Ah!" Ye Wen Ni let out a small cry and spun around. She clutched her slender hands to her chest as she looked at the solemn-faced, middle-aged man. With a complex mix of emotions, she lowered her head and spoke softly.

"Father."

"Follow me."

The stern-faced man turned and led Ye Wen Ni to a secluded spot. He then turned back to her, his eyes holding a trace of approval and another... more complicated emotion.

"Not bad, you’ve grown up to be more and more beautiful! I told you back then, if you entered a Noble Academy, you’d be the most outstanding student! I was right. You are still the most outstanding daughter in my eyes!"

The middle-aged man praised her with a smile.

Receiving this man’s praise only made Ye Wen Ni feel more terrified. The impression he had left on her since childhood was simply too deep! Mercurial, a drunkard, who would either beat or curse the children! And that one time... Ye Zi, who was only seven or eight at the time, had seen it with her own eyes. Her foster father, in a drunken stupor, had climbed on top of the sixteen- or seventeen-year-old older girl. That girl had cried and screamed desperately, eventually fainting. After the next day, she never saw that girl again. Her foster father had casually said she went to a noble’s house to be a Maid and was living a good life now! He even lectured Ye Zi and the others, telling them, "You all need to behave well, and you’ll also have the chance to go to a noble’s house to be a Maid! To live a good life!"

The young Ye Zi had vaguely understood what her foster father was doing, and it left an indelible scar on her heart. From then on, she harbored a bone-deep fear and disgust for nobles, because she felt that if she were to enter a noble’s house, she would probably first have to be... by her foster father. So, she fought desperately against entering a Noble Academy, rejecting the path he had planned for her. She persevered and became a Golden Finger! To push herself, Ye Wen Ni once went out to steal, dressed in only thin clothes in the dead of winter. Then she would take care of a large group of children, cooking and washing clothes for them, regardless of the season! She even trained her skills by plucking things out of boiling water with two fingers!

She had endured countless hardships, but she did not regret it! She refused to be like that older sister from all those years ago, pinned beneath her foster father. Just the thought of it made Ye Wen Ni feel sick, and she felt a visceral aversion to men. That was why Ye Zi found it so incredible that she could stand to be by Ling Xiao’s side all the time, and had even fallen for him!

"Father, you... how are you here?"

In the end, Ye Wen Ni couldn’t hold back the question.

The middle-aged man chuckled softly and said, "I’ve always been one of the Second Prince’s men. I just never told you because you were young. So, how is life in a noble house? Not bad, right? Don’t you want... to live that kind of life forever?"

Ye Wen Ni’s pupils contracted instantly. In that moment, her concern for Ling Xiao overwhelmed her fear of the man before her. Her voice grew sharp as she demanded, "What are you trying to do?"

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