Chapter 24 Noble Business
Prince Dongyang Manor was one of the founders of the country and had stood strong for hundreds of years.
The marriage of the only legitimate daughter was a grand occasion in the entire Divine Capital.
Mr. Bai needed to know a lot of people, but they were all famous and distinguished people. He could not favor one over the other. The experts sent by the Prince Manor to drink had already been changed four times.
From the beginning to the end, Zhou Yi was all smiles. He let the wine enter his stomach and instantly refined it.
Mr. Bai said via voice transmission, “Old Zhou, pretend to be drunk so that no one will notice anything amiss.”
“Wait a little longer.”
Zhou Yi closed his eyes and sensed carefully. A faint killing intent moved with Mr. Bai.
Who in the martial world did not have a few enemies? However, they dare to cause trouble when the prince was having a wedding. It was unknown if Mr. Bai had provoked the other party’s daughter or his wife.
Zhou Yi was not sure how the other party would attack. The other party was far away and he was not completely confident that he could eliminate the crisis.
Finally he knew all the old friends and relatives of the Prince Manor. There were about two to three hundred of them. Zhou Yi was very suspicious that Mr. Bai had probably forgotten most of them with his carefree personality.
There were two banquet halls, one large and one small. The large banquet hall was for the relatives of Mr. Bai and the nobles of the Prince Manor. The small banquet hall was for the martial artists.
The imperial court despised the vulgarity of the martial world, and the martial world despised the hypocrisy of the imperial court. It was to the liking of the guests on both sides to entertain them separately.
The moment Zhou Yi stepped into the small banquet hall, he found the source of the killing intent. At a table in the southeast corner, two guests seemed to be drinking silently. From time to time, they would glance at Mr. Bai.
The first few tables were still alright. They all showed some respect for Mr. Bai and the Prince Manor. Until they met the white-haired Daoist who occupied the entire table alone where no one dared to approach him.
The old Daoist ignored Mr. Bai and looked coldly at Zhou Yi. “Is this Old Demon of Blood Prison?”
Zhou Yi smiled and poured wine for the old Daoist. “It’s all martial names, not worth mentioning.”
The old Daoist stared blankly at the wine pot. The others were either not paying attention or far away, so they did not know that the wine pot was upright and the wine was flowing out on its own. He filled the glass steadily without spilling a drop.
“Ahem, ahem!” The old Daoist coughed twice and smiled. “I’ve long heard of your name and have long wanted to befriend you. If you pass by the Scenic Cloud Mansion in the future, I’ll welcome you with open arms.”
With such meticulous methods, it was very likely that he had perfected his internal organs and could reach the peak in the future. It was better to make friends than to make enemies. Those in the martial world were even more unwilling to make enemies, especially old and weak experts.
“If you come to the Sky Prison… forget it. I’ll definitely go to your mansion when I have time.” Zhou Yi nodded slightly, but his mind was actually locked onto the southeast corner.
The old Daoist’s aura was already that of a top expert in the martial world. The two of them were young, but they were stronger than him.
Mr. Bai toasted all the way, not sensing the danger at all.
“Friends from the martial world, I’ve come from afar…”
His voice suddenly stopped. Mr. Bai’s face turned pale, then red and green. He subconsciously took two steps back and let Zhou Yi block in front.
“Pervert!”
“Pervert!”
Two female voices sounded. Two sword lights bloomed. One pointed at Mr. Bai’s neck, and the other went straight for his privates.
“Female?”
Zhou Yi was stunned for a moment before he flicked the sword. An extremely terrifying force traveled to their wrists. The two women cried out in pain and their swords fell to the ground.
Such a change had already alarmed many guests. The experts from the Prince Manor who were secretly protecting the manor surrounded the two women and wanted to capture them alive.
However, the woman’s qinggong was mysterious. One flew through the air, while the other was strange and unpredictable. In the blink of an eye, they escaped from the banquet hall and disappeared.
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Zhou Yi hid his achievements and had already left the small banquet hall. Before leaving, he could not help but ask curiously. “Who are these two women? They have such martial arts cultivation at such a young age. They might break through to the Connate Realm in the future!”
Mr. Bai didn’t want to answer, but Zhou Yi kept sending voice transmissions, nagging and urging, “One is the Eldest Senior Sister of the Infinite Sword Sect, and the other is the Holy Maiden of the Heaven Demon Sect…”
“F*ck!” Zhou Yi especially regretted being nosy. He should have let this scumbag’s wedding fail.
The large banquet hall.
After Zhou Yi completed his mission, he found a corner to sit down and rest.
At this moment, the banquet was halfway through. The elders had already left the banquet, and the remaining people were the younger generation who loved wine and excitement. They were originally arrogant, but after getting drunk, they no longer had any qualms about speaking.
The young master of the Earl of Ding City said, “Have you heard? A few days ago, many seats were vacant in the northern border. His Majesty intends to promote the nobles.”
“The northern border is cold and barren. Will we suffer there?”
It was Marquis Weiyuan’s son who spoke. “In a few days, the capital camp will have a new transfer. This is a really good opportunity!”
“The capital camp is too expensive!”
“A guerrilla general costs a hundred thousand taels. How many years will it take to recover this silver?”
“The northern border is much cheaper. I heard that the supervisor only costs twenty thousand taels.”
“Why should we buy the position of a supervisor? We should spend a few thousand more taels in exchange for the duty of the military weapons supervisor. That would be a huge profit!”
They spoke one after another, purely treating military affairs as business.
The son of Marquis Weiyuan shook his head and said, “What do you know… The Northern Border Army has fought with Great Yong a few times. It looks like a small conflict, but who knows when war will start!”
Hearing this, everyone immediately gave up on going to the northern border. It was good to earn money in business, but more importantly, it was their lives. With their family’s foundation, it would take generations for them to lose all their family business.
“Now that His Majesty has the intention to support the nobility, we have to seize this opportunity. At the very least, we have to get a general with real power. Only when the military power is in our hands will it be a real title!”
Marquis Weiyuan’s son said, “It’s worth it no matter how much money we spend. This is a long-term business. The Imperial Court distributes a million taels of silver every year. One day, we’ll be able to get it back.”
“Brother Liang has a point.”
“Then we’ve agreed to go to the capital camp to serve His Majesty!”
“My father scolded me for not doing my job every day. Today, we’ll be generals. We’ll also be proud.”
“We nobles are the ones who are on the same side as the country. Everyone will rebel, but we won’t!”
“Watch your mouth!”
These young masters were drunk and thought to have taken over the positions in the capital camp. In fact, they were not far from it. After all, they had a deep family relationship and were willing to spend money to settle things.
Zhou Yi listened silently for a while before getting up and leaving the table. “No wonder these people treat national affairs as business. Most things in the world are business. Loyalty and betrayal are the same, but so are prosperity and decline.”
Someone had chosen betrayal and decline. Perhaps there was no other choice!
How could Emperor Hongchang not know that these noble young masters were like dog shit? Not to mention arranging troops, they could not even remember how many soldiers they had, let alone lead troops to war.
Sometimes, it was reassuring to use trash.
They would drink the blood of soldiers, earn money, and do business, but they would never rebel!
“Another storm is brewing. I hope—” Zhou Yi frowned slightly. For a moment, he did not know what to hope for. Was he hoping for a rebellion or a smooth transition?
Before leaving, he gave the congratulatory gift that he had prepared for a long time to Mr. Bai. It was a jade token that was purely handmade. The material and carving were ordinary, but the blood-red color was rather unique.
Zhou Yi did not know how to refine weapons, so he simply used his dharmic powers to forcefully inject a drop of blood into the jade. This blood is connected to him. No matter how many centuries had passed, he could still recognize this jade token!
