Chapter 446: Bargaining

Li Qingge shook her head. "However, Mao Qijun did have some capabilities. Once he died, the internal strife in Shanyu Kingdom could no longer be contained, leading to the current situation."

He Lingchuan chuckled, "Are these old aristocratic officials just going to sit back and wait for death? Why not strike first?"

"Why do you think Fu Shanyue has been surrounded by escorts recently, never traveling alone?" Li Qingge poured herself a cup of tea. "He's not foolish. Once he gets through this period, he'll have a firm grip on power. Besides, he must have supporters in the royal court."

Someone's misfortune always means someone else's gain.

"No wonder so many people are now scrambling to curry favor with Fu Shanyue – are they afraid it will be too late if they delay?" He Lingchuan mused. "The Lord of Chijun probably isn't comfortable with this, allowing it to happen."

"What difference does it make if he's uncomfortable, unless he plans to abdicate the throne?" Li Qingge shook her head. "Even if he were willing to do that, Lingxu City and the deities probably wouldn't agree. You've already seen what happens when one defies Lingxu City, haven't you, passing through the ruins of Ganxing City on your way here?"

"Profoundly impressed." The ruins of Ganxing City, the Twilight Plain, and the existence of the wretched slaves served as a conspicuous scar, constantly reminding the people of Beijia—

—that Lingxu City's power was supreme and not to be challenged.

The next day, Fu Shanyue unexpectedly appeared at the inn again.

Shopkeeper Shi and the others were already packing their bags, ready to continue their journey, and He Lingchuan also asked in surprise, "Why are you here?"

Fu Shanyue had been in high spirits these past few days, busy receiving and seeing off visitors, accepting flattery from officials big and small, as if he had completely forgotten about He Lingchuan and the others.

Shopkeeper Shi was starting to worry that his three thousand taels wouldn't be returned when Fu Shanyue suddenly arrived at that very moment.

"Your three thousand taels." Fu Shanyue handed Shopkeeper Shi a stack of silver notes. "And an additional three hundred taels, as compensation for the fright."

It was a joke; three thousand taels of physical silver would be very heavy, and no one would carry it around.

Shopkeeper Shi's biggest worry was lifted, and he couldn't stop smiling. "Your Highness is truly generous!"

Fu Shanyue then greeted Li Qingge, and the two chatted and laughed, both in good spirits.

He Lingchuan listened from the side, suddenly realizing how familiar the two had become.

Fu Shanyue even joked with Li Qingge and told a funny anecdote, making Li Qingge cover her mouth and chuckle.

Given his reserved nature, he wouldn't usually be so friendly with strangers. Yet now, he was inviting Li Qingge to visit Chiyan Capital again in the future.

These two had only met a few days ago, introduced by He Lingchuan. In just a few days, Li Qingge had already finalized one or two deals with Fu Shanyue, which could be implemented soon, including Songyang Manor opening a store in the capital, and the Western Guard's weapon upgrades, among others.

Indeed, as Li Qingge had said, the Crown Prince of Chiyan was an important connection worth her significant effort to cultivate.

And she hadn't forgotten He Lingchuan, naturally striking up a few conversations with him as well, so he wouldn't feel neglected.

For a beauty to be able to skillfully navigate between two men, keeping both happy, truly showed remarkable social dexterity.

After the small talk, Fu Shanyue turned to He Lingchuan and said, "My father sent me a message, asking me to do something for him."

Li Qingge overheard and leaned closer to ask, "Did the Lord see you?"

"No, he just sent someone to relay a message."

Li Qingge quickly congratulated him. "Since the Lord has given you a task, it means his anger has largely subsided. Otherwise, he would have simply entrusted the public duty to someone else, so why bother with you, Fu Shanyue?"

Fu Shanyue smiled. "I thought so too. But my situation is special right now; I have several matters to attend to and cannot leave the capital immediately, as you know—" He turned to He Lingchuan, "So, I'd like to entrust this matter to you."

He stopped speaking there, glancing at the two people beside him.

Li Qingge immediately said, "Oh, my rouge box isn't put away yet."

Shopkeeper Shi paused for a moment, then also said, "I need to go downstairs and get some wine."

These two were very perceptive, both finding unconvincing excuses to slip away.

Only the two remained in the room. Fu Shanyue chuckled, "About two months ago, Lingxu City dispatched a messenger here, but they went missing halfway and were never heard from again. Of course, Lingxu City couldn't let it go, and neither could my father. This matter was originally assigned to Fu Shanji to investigate, but since he's dead, I've officially taken over."

"No way," He Lingchuan flatly refused. "Handle your own affairs. I don't have that kind of free time."

"I'll pay you, two pieces of mid-grade profound crystal." Fu Shanyue was prepared, turning his palm to reveal two sparkling objects.

The profound crystals were pale yellow and polygonal, each about the size of a walnut, but their colors were not entirely uniform; one had a bottom that gradually transitioned to dark green.

He Lingchuan also had profound crystals and knew this was their natural form. Natural profound crystals formed deep underground, their color and quality varying randomly; too perfect would look fake.

Profound crystals of different grades varied vastly in the energy they contained. The quality of these two pieces already surpassed anything He Lingchuan had seen before, and he wondered who had given them to Fu Shanyue.

They were quite valuable.

So, this guy could afford to be generous now that he was back on his own turf? He Lingchuan glanced at them dismissively. "You think two profound crystals are enough to buy me?"

"Consider it a big favor for a brother and for Chiyan Kingdom." Fu Shanyue reached out and added another profound crystal to the stack.

It was also pale yellow, but significantly larger.

He Lingchuan suddenly changed the subject. "What kind of demon was the messenger?"

"It was a white-shouldered eagle."

He Lingchuan smiled. "You want me to do such a big favor for only three profound crystals? You really don't consider me a brother."

Being this guy's 'brother' wasn't good anyway; it often led to losing one's head.

Fu Shanyue asked curiously, "It's just about finding a bird demon, not asking you to turn the tide. It's a pity I can't get away, otherwise I'd want to handle it myself."

He Lingchuan remained unmoved. "Is that so? Then let me ask you. What was Lingxu City sending a messenger for?"

"To deliver a message."

"What message?"

"Uh..." Fu Shanyue stammered before replying, "Never mind, it's been two months already, so there's no harm in telling you—it was military intelligence from the eastern front."

"So, that military intelligence must have been very important at the time, right?"

"...Yes."

"That's why a white-shouldered eagle was used for delivery," He Lingchuan said. "White-shouldered eagles are raptors capable of long-distance migration, but they are very rare. I happen to know that Lingxu City's messengers are divided into several grades; blue pigeons, wild geese, and feathered cranes can all serve as messengers, but only the most crucial intelligence is delivered by the fastest and most enduring raptors."

Even if other nations could train bird demons for long-distance messages, they would never use them as frequently as the Northern Demon Kingdom—this place was, after all, the demons' stronghold. Therefore, Lingxu City could afford the luxury of classifying its messengers.

He had learned this information from casual reading in the Cultural Propaganda Pavilion in Panlong City.

Clearly, Panlong City had conducted considerable research on Beijia.

Fu Shanyue had tacitly agreed without refuting.

"So, the sudden disappearance of this white-shouldered eagle must have caused significant delays, right?"

"Of course." It was more than just a delay.

"A message shouldn't travel alone." He Lingchuan asked him, "Why send only one bird messenger for such crucial military intelligence? If the messenger encountered an accident on the way, as happened this time, the consequences would be very serious."

"Uh... perhaps they ran out of raptor messengers?" Fu Shanyue scratched his head. "By custom, messages are indeed sent in duplicate. The same information was delivered by a wild goose, but it arrived several days late, causing the Chiyan army to advance eastward too late and miss the optimal attack window."

"What if the white-shouldered eagle's intelligence fell into foreign hands?" He Lingchuan, feeling thirsty, went back into the room and came out with a bunch of grapes to eat. "The worst part is that its disappearance likely indicates that Lingxu's intelligence delivery patterns have been compromised—things like the raptors' departure times, flight paths, and rest areas along the way. If the enemy can intercept once, they can intercept countless times in the future. I believe this is why Lingxu City is so anxious to get to the bottom of this."

Even worse than the content of the intelligence being leaked was the compromise of the intelligence delivery method itself.

"But Fu Shanji couldn't resolve it before he died," He Lingchuan said, giving him a sidelong glance. "Given his resources and connections, he couldn't find anything. Do you think it would be easy for me to handle?"

Fu Shanyue stared at him, speechless. He had only casually mentioned a task, yet this guy had deduced all of that!

After a long moment, he finally asked, "How did you figure all that out?"

"It's quite simple, really," He Lingchuan said with a smile. "Your father is still angry; what good task would he give you at a time like this?"

One must learn to identify the main contradiction.

Fu Shanyue's eyes lit up, and he clapped his hands. "Alright, alright, you're clever, you're impressive! Then this task absolutely must be handled by you! How about this: I'll double the profound crystals and give you two jin of distilled white silver. Don't you have a golden armored automaton? Do you want to upgrade it?"

Distilled white silver was one of the essential materials for upgrading the golden armored automaton. Only then did He Lingchuan show some interest. "Just one ingredient is too little. Why don't you cover the others too?"

Fu Shanyue calculated the cost and felt his back go numb. "Your appetite is bigger than mine!"

Even blood brothers settle accounts clearly, let alone these two with their superficial camaraderie? After a ruthless round of bargaining, it was finally decided that Fu Shanyue would procure three specific materials, all difficult for upgrading the golden armored automaton and rare items that couldn't be bought even with money.

Not to mention He Lingchuan was currently broke.

If he had to acquire them himself, he'd be exhausted just looking for the materials, let alone buying them... In Chiyan Kingdom, distilled white silver was simply not for sale!

It was classified as a vital strategic resource, with extremely low production within Chiyan Kingdom. Any output was taken by the Demon King or the National Master, not circulated among the populace, and was even exceedingly rare on the black market.

For an outsider like He Lingchuan to acquire it there would be incredibly difficult. He even suspected it wasn't easy to buy in Beijia either.

Liu Gongcao of Panlong City was absolutely right; the full name of this thing was indeed the "Bankrupting Golden Armored Automaton Art."

Of course, with Fu Shanyue's help, it would be a different story.

He Lingchuan held up one finger. "I have one last condition."

"That's enough!" Fu Shanyue, who already had a bad temper, scowled. "Don't push your luck!"

"Don't be so quick to anger; this is an easy task for you," He Lingchuan said with a smile. "Do you remember the flood dragon pattern we saw in the Ganxing City illusion? The one painted outside the official residence."