CHAPTER 214: CHAPTER 213: BOTTOM LINE

The ’Golden Wind’ carried back a fleet loaded with cargo and also brought a moist cloud mass. The heavy rain and strong winds that started at night continued until the morning, with the drizzle beating on the eaves and lotus flowers in the pond, dripping and splashing, sometimes fast, sometimes gentle.

Thorny Heart Villa, master bedroom.

"Awake?"

"Mm..."

"You asked me to wake you up last night, didn’t you say there was something important today and you couldn’t sleep until noon?"

"But I don’t want to go out when it rains..."

"Come on, get up, get up, get~up~"

"Hiss—"

Dripping and splashing, sometimes fast, sometimes gentle.

The rain kept pouring.

An hour and a half later, Leyi took a bath, had breakfast, and then leisurely went out with Qing Lan. Accompanying them were not only the family heirloom old tool-man Jing Shou and two guards but also two teams of Linhai Army soldiers armed with guns and live ammunition.

Ever since the Linhai Army stationed in Xuanzhu County, Leyi, of course, quickly equipped himself with two teams, showing quite a bit of self-awareness.

In fact, in recent days, a dozen assassins had tried to break into Jing Garden, but they were quickly killed by guards and soldiers working together.

There was even a servant who was bribed and suddenly stabbed Leyi while he was passing by. However, one of the benefits of Leyi’s ’Ice Blood Physique’ was the ability to enter combat mode at any time, and his subconscious counterattack knocked out the assassin.

If it weren’t that the white-haired assassin didn’t take orders from the Silver Blood Association, otherwise, when Leyi opened his eyes one night to suddenly see a white-haired figure causing trouble, he would have thought it was ’Yin Yin Yin’ crawling out of the Underworld to bring bad luck.

Alas, this world is cold and unfeeling, only Qing Lan’s embrace holds a trace of warmth.

At the gate of Jing Garden, there were two cars. Before parting, Qing Lan gave him a big kiss, then got in the car with Mi Die. A squad of soldiers followed behind them, both to protect them and to maintain the security of the newspaper office once they arrived.

Leyi looked back and saw a group of soldiers grinning foolishly with longing and joked: "Envious? Go back and ask your General Lan to find you a wife. After all, you helped him make such a big fortune, a small request like this isn’t too much, is it?"

"Then, let the captain get one first."

"Yeah, yeah, old Wan has smelly feet and hates bathing; after retirement, he’ll surely be single for life."

"Can the wife be converted to cash? I already have one at home..."

"And what use is a wife anyway? What use is having children? You can’t afford to raise them, might as well make more money and enjoy life."

Hearing such dispirited remarks, Leyi raised an eyebrow: "You guys read the ’Youth Daily’ too?"

"Some newspaper-loving brothers tell us interesting things from the papers. Hey, Jing President, can you ask ’Mr. Tree-man’, how can we travel to the future world?"

"Yeah, I want to ask too!"

"Me too!"

"Get lost, get lost, if I knew how to travel, I’d have done it myself long ago, wouldn’t be your turn!" Leyi waved them off: "Young guys, play more with Fifth Sister, stop daydreaming."

The soldiers roared with laughter. They didn’t have any particular dislike for Jing Zhengwei, this out-of-town wealthy merchant and nobleman. This was not only because the Jing Family treated them well but also because Jing Zhengwei was very skilled in Chenfeng District’s dialect and was down-to-earth in conversations, as if he had lived in Chenfeng District before, showing none of the aloof arrogance.

Leyi and Jing Shou got into the car, Lisang driving, with the soldiers advancing alongside the vehicle speedily.

In the car, Jing Shou took the initiative to say: "So far, only one-fifth of the factory shops have proactively submitted the ’Three-party Contract’ to the Jing Family, most are little associations, among the large associations, except the Qin Family, only a small portion of three-party contracts have been submitted, with the majority of industries not voluntarily conceding."

"Sigh." Leyi sighed: "What exactly is their mindset? It’s clear they’re up against a stone wall, yet they’re transferring assets and paying lip service; aren’t they afraid that Lan Yan will come and kill them all?"

"They’re not afraid."

Jing Shou calmly said: "With you as President, they’re certain Lan Yan won’t come."

Leyi was taken aback, then realized.

"A bunch of scoundrels who won’t cry till they see the coffin." He sneered.

Why did these Silver Blood Association people unanimously support passing the proposal during the council meeting, but afterward, they were hesitant, dragging their feet, causing trouble for Leyi?

As Jing Shou said, it’s because he’s here!

The trust Lan Yan placed in him, assigning five hundred Linhai Soldiers to him, entrusting military budget accumulation to him, letting him handle all matters single-handedly, was evident enough!

The actual purpose of Leyi and Lan Yan? The Silver Blood Association couldn’t possibly figure it out.

But even if they couldn’t guess the details, they at least knew one thing—

Leyi is helping Lan Yan grab money.

And Lan Yan is helping Leyi rise in power!

In other words, unless the situation gets out of control, Le Yu will never let Blue Flame dispatch an army to ravage Xuanzhu County.

Because Le Yu will never allow his future assets to be trampled by a military disaster!

Because once Blue Flame arrives, all of Le Yu’s previous efforts will have been in vain!

Because the Linhai Army being stationed near Xuanzhu County causes no actual loss to Blue Flame — it’s merely the difference between ’having someone deliver money to you’ and ’taking the money yourself’. But for Le Yu, it’s different — without control over the Linhai Army, he’s just another wallet for Blue Flame, like the other Silver Blood merchants!

Only with Blue Flame intimidating Xuanzhu from the outside can Le Yu act brazenly within, recklessly expanding his temporary power!

Though the reality differs somewhat from the imagination, the Silver Blood merchants at least got one thing right.

No matter what happens, Le Yu definitely won’t let Blue Flame come and flip the table.

Now he has the king bomb, the straight flush, the plane, all the good cards are in his hands, and it looks like he’s about to win. How could he flip the table for another round?

And the intentions of the Silver Blood merchants also become apparent—

Stall!

They need to stall until Blue Flame withdraws its troops!

Stall until the Jing Family loses power!

Their complete approval of Le Yu’s proposed ’military funding pool’ and ’military management’ proposal is the best option at present, but more importantly, it’s to stabilize both Le Yu and Blue Flame!

It is precisely because of some delusions about these capitalists that Le Yu allowed them a week to list their liquid assets.

Of course, Le Yu did this as an added bonus to fish. He directed Yin Minghong to collaborate with the Linhai Army to capture those who secretly transferred or embezzled ’Silver Blood public assets’, which not only gave the Linhai Army a taste of sweetness but also took out a large group of influential association parasites, preparing for the upcoming ’military management replacement’.

If Le Yu didn’t guess wrong, this might also be a test from the Silver Blood Association.

They want to see where Le Yu’s bottom line truly lies.

The car drove all the way to the Linhai Army’s camp in the Half City area. Lisan got off first to hold an umbrella for Le Yu. Le Yu glanced at the nearby patrol camp and saw Yin Minghong waiting for him at the entrance, then signaled him to come over, asking, "It’s been two days, how many have paid? How much does the military funding pool still lack?"

Yin Minghong took out a small notebook: "Ting Family, Qin Family, Luo Family, Lan Family..."

He named dozens, most major associations paid, although there were some issues with the numbers. Many associations paid in gold and silver treasures rather than cash, so whatever they say it’s worth is what it’s worth, as long as it’s not too outrageous, the Jing Family considers them as having paid.

Major associations must pay. If they don’t, the funding pool will lack too much.

Even if they believe Le Yu won’t let military disaster descend on Xuanzhu County, they don’t believe Blue Flame would really obey Le Yu’s words — if the money given isn’t enough, Blue Flame could pretend to angrily act for justice, and they’d really ruin themselves.

Small associations don’t have much money, so whether they pay or not doesn’t matter, but the bulk of the funding pool must be filled by major associations, and they can only swallow this silent grievance.

"...at least those associations paid, and the military funding pool is estimated to be lacking sixty percent." Yin Minghong stepped aside: "Guild Master, let’s talk inside, it’s raining."

"No need." Le Yu suddenly asked, "Deputy, so the Duke Seaview, Governor’s Mansion, Commandant’s Mansion, and Official’s Residence haven’t paid?"

"They’ve paid, just..." Yin Minghong gestured a tiny distance with his fingers: "They paid very little, saying they were penniless and had nothing to their name, so they could only provide a bit to support Linhai Army’s funding."

"Is that so..." Le Yu tilted his head and suddenly asked behind Yin Minghong, "Captain Wan, do you believe the Duke Seaview and Governor’s Mansion have no money!?"

Wan Xisha scratched his head and laughed: "I don’t know, I listen to you guys."

Le Yu: "Alright then, summon the troops. It’s raining today, the weather isn’t great, tonight I’ll give you extra meals."

Wan Xisha immediately turned and shouted, his voice echoing through the rainy camp: "Rascals assemble! President Jing said, tonight we have extra meals!"

Le Yu looked towards the nearby patrol camp and suddenly asked Jing Shou: "I’m still the captain of Patrol Team Three, right?"

Jing Shou nodded: "Although the President hasn’t fulfilled the captain’s duty for a long time, the patrol team still operates normally."

"Go, inform Team Three to follow us."

Le Yu laughed, "It’d be too boring if only outsiders watched the show; there should at least be some local audience, so it can spread far and wide."

Yin Minghong asked puzzled: "President, where are we going?"

"If it’s me personally taking action, then I must pick a big and fat one."

Le Yu snapped his fingers, and at that moment, thunder and lightning struck from the sky, yet his words still clearly reached everyone’s ears—

"Duke Seaview, Huyan Xiu."

You want to see where my bottom line lies?

Then let me show you how low

my bottom line is.