Bang!
This is outrageous! This is outrageous!
In the main hall of the inn, the third prince of the Purple Eagle Clan, Yin Tianzheng, sat in a chair with a ferocious expression, letting out an angry roar.
Teacup shards shattered and scattered all over the floor. The two maids, their faces ashen, hurriedly bent down to pick up the broken pieces.
"This is all trash, can you even clean it up?" Yin Tianzheng said grimly. "Get out!"
The two maids, as if granted a pardon, hurriedly bowed and withdrew.
Yin Tianzheng stood up and looked at the mess in the post station hall, his anger rising rapidly.
From the moment he entered the city, he was revered by thousands and welcomed by countless people lining the streets. What a glorious scene that was!
Looking at the vandalized inn and hall, the contrast is stark.
What was destroyed was not just the inn, but also his feelings.
"Wang Zijie, you bastard!" Yin Tianzheng said through gritted teeth.
Eight million taels! Eight million taels!
The thought of having to pay eight million taels of silver to the young Marquis Wang Zijie made Yin Tianzheng's heart bleed.
Eight million taels of silver is indeed a huge sum of money, but it's not that he can't come up with it.
The key point is that this money was lost unjustly.
During this visit to Daxia City (Great Capital City}, he had many things to do, including meeting with many Great Capital court officials and exiled dignitaries.
Otherwise, how could he have so readily paid the money back to Wang Zijie?
If this scoundrel comes with a bunch of people every day to collect debts and blocks the entrance to the inn, he won't be able to do anything else.
The head guard, Hu He, walked in, glanced at the hall that had been smashed to pieces, and couldn't help but sigh.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend. In their original plan, Wang Zijie, the young master of the Ningguo Marquis's mansion, was a great weapon to deal with Chen Ke and someone they wanted to deliberately befriend.
Unexpectedly, before the two sides could even discuss how to deal with Chen Ke, they started fighting amongst themselves.
Hu He stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Your Highness, all the secret agents who participated in the kidnapping of Chen Ke have disappeared."
"Disappeared?!" Yin Tianzheng's expression was uncertain.
Hu He continued, "After my investigation, we can now be fairly certain that our kidnapping plan has failed. It must have been Chen Ke who, after learning the truth, impersonated one of our men and completed the deal with Wang Zijie and his group, swindling them out of the eight million taels of silver."
Seeing the Third Prince so enraged, Hu He hurriedly said, "Your Highness, look on the bright side. Since Chen Ke chose the money, he won't expose this matter. As for those who went missing, they were probably all silenced."
"Useless trash, a bunch of useless trash!" Yin Tianzheng was furious and in unbearable pain.
In total, it amounted to 16 million taels of silver.
Sixteen million taels of silver! That's enough for him to bribe many ministers and get their support for his ambition to seize the throne.
Chen Ke, Chen Ke, you must die!
Yin Tianzheng's ferocious face was filled with murderous intent as he said coldly, "Immediately send someone to find a way to kill Chen Ke and make him disappear from this world completely!"
Hu He was shocked and hurriedly tried to dissuade him, saying, "Your Highness, you must not! Not to mention that Chen Ke is the Earl of Chengyi of the Great Xia Dynasty, an official appointed by the court, behind him stands the retired Emperor Xia Wuxu. If something happens to Chen Ke, the consequences will be unimaginable!"
"Moreover, moreover," Hu He hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.
"And what?" Yin Tianzheng stared intently at Hu He and asked coldly.
Hu He glanced at the Third Prince and said with a forced smile, "Moreover, Chen Ke just went to the Great Xia Palace and met with the Qin princess. When he came out, he was accompanied by two of the princess's personal guards, who were protecting him closely."
Yin Tianzheng's face turned red, and he trembled with rage as he roared, "Adulterers, you dogs, you dogs!"
Today is the day he enters the Great Capital City. Logically speaking, even if the Qin princess is unable to show herself, she should at least send someone to greet him; this is the least she can do.
That's fine. Instead of sending anyone to welcome him, the Qin princess openly met with Chen Ke in secret, without any attempt to hide it.
What does this mean? It means that this despicable couple doesn't respect him at all.
This shows that even though he traveled thousands of miles to help the Qin princess, she did not appreciate his help at all.
After his extreme anger, a sense of fear arose in Yin Tianzheng's heart, which he could not shake off.
If he cannot marry the Qin princess, how can he consolidate his position in the Purple Eagle Dynasty?
Without the help of the Qin princess, how could he have defeated the other princes and seized the throne?
Without strong support from the Qin state, let alone the throne, he would have difficulty even protecting himself!
Yin Tianzheng gradually calmed down and slowly said, "Steward Hu, it seems that Chen Ke is still our biggest obstacle."
Seeing that His Highness had regained his composure, Hu He breathed a sigh of relief and said solemnly, "That's right, if we want to deal with Chen Ke, we can only do it openly and honestly. In addition, Chen Ke's father, Chen Baiwang, has been busy transferring his businesses to the Qin State recently, so we can start from that point."
Yin Tianzheng said coldly, "Then let's use a two-pronged approach. Hu He, our honor and disgrace are now intertwined; there's no room for error. When it's time to be ruthless, we must be ruthless!"
Hu He felt a chill run down his spine and quickly bowed, saying, "Your Highness, rest assured, I will certainly live up to your expectations!"
Yin Tianzheng's expression softened slightly, and he asked in a deep voice, "Tomorrow morning, I will be attending court to pay homage to the new emperor of Great Xia. Are the golden seal and official letter ready?"
Hu He nodded hurriedly: "Everything is ready, there's no chance of anything going wrong!"
Yin Tianzheng nodded, took out a brocade box from his ring space, handed it to Hu He, and said with a gloomy expression, "In this Great Capital City, we can't move an inch without money. Find a reliable person and sell it!"
Hu He was slightly shaken, silently accepted the brocade box, put it away, bowed, and took his leave.
To Yin Tianzheng's utter surprise, by nightfall, his brocade box had already ended up in Chen Ke's hands.
In the reception room of the Chen family's courtyard, a jeweler wearing a melon-shaped hat bowed and scraped, saying obsequiously to Chen Ke, "Lord Chen, this is truly a fine piece! If the buyer weren't in such a hurry for money, such a treasure would be up for auction!"
Inside the brocade box was a pale green pill.
This pill was like a cat's eye gem, crystal clear and radiating a precious light.
A faint, almost imperceptible aura emanated from the pill, entering Chen Ke's nostrils and instantly causing his meridians to expand.
Although Chen Ke had never activated the "Alchemy Techniques", his understanding of elixirs was still quite accurate.
Moreover, with his powerful soul perception, how could he not sense the pill's strong spiritual energy?
This Meridian-Opening Pill is genuine.
Chen Ke suppressed his excitement and said with a troubled expression, "Manager Liu, no matter how nicely you put it, I don't recognize it."
Manager Liu pretended to be anxious: "How could I not recognize it? Look at the precious luster on the surface of the pill, that's a characteristic of elixirs. And smell its aroma, that's divine fragrance! Besides, I'm hoping to get some wine from you, how could I dare to lie to you!"
Chen Ke curled his lip and glanced at Manager Liu: "I'll believe you for now. How much?"
Manager Liu said with a smile, "It's not expensive, it's not expensive. Twenty million taels of silver is just a drop in the ocean for you."
Damn it, 20 million is nothing?!
Chen Ke shoved the brocade box directly into Manager Liu's hands and said coldly, "Show the guest out!"
No, the price is negotiable.
Manager Liu was unwilling to leave, but in the end he left in a miserable state, clutching eight million taels of silver.
Chen Ke sat in his chair, looking at the pills in the brocade box with shining eyes and a big smile on his face.
Anyway, those eight million taels were free, so it's worth it to be able to exchange them for a single elixir!
Upon entering the meditation room, Chen Ke sat cross-legged and, after regulating his breathing for a moment, swallowed the Meridian Opening Pill.
Elixir, oh elixir, whether I can break through to the ninth level of the Qi Refining stage in one fell swoop depends entirely on you.