Chapter 492: Chapter 381: Generous Master
This place was only separated from the Blue Dragon Empire by a lake. By rights, the two countries should have taken the center of the lake as a boundary. However, the Black Dragon Empire, relying on its advantageous position, brazenly drew the boundary at the edge of the Blue Dragon Empire’s shore, incorporating the entire lake into its territory. Thus, when Long Yi came from the Blue Dragon Empire’s side, the people selling fish on the lakeside turned out to be vendors from the Black Dragon Empire.
As for the
people of the Blue Dragon Empire, upon seeing Long Yi and Ai Lin’s distinctive Black Dragon Empire look, their faces were filled with fear, and hate even more so.
Clearly, the Black Dragon Empire’s practice of monopolizing paths to the detriment of others, although beneficial, elicited little solid allegiance from its so-called allies.
Long Yi had been taught Suolin’s accent, which was the accent of the Imperial City of the Black Dragon Empire. In the Black Dragon Empire, class distinctions were extremely serious. An Imperial City accent implied extraordinary wealth or high nobility, since common folk rarely survived there. It had the Black Dragon Empire’s strictest laws and heaviest taxes. Long Yi first heard of a law that required families to pay taxes based on the number of servants they had. The law contrived the Black Dragon Empire’s distinct display of wealth: flaunting servants.
When visiting wealthy families, the host would usually have their servants line up at the door to welcome guests, simultaneously saying, ’Oh dear, we’ve been so busy at home that we can only send this small portion of our servants to welcome you. Sorry for the inconvenience.’
Suolin had told Long Yi these stories during his tutoring sessions. To Long Yi, it all seemed rather absurd.
To get a foothold in a place like the Black Dragon Empire, one needed to adopt certain methods. Under such an environment, the entire citizenry of the Black Dragon Empire had become extremely snobbish. To gain their respect, you didn’t need kindness, but to make it clear that you had a harder fist and more money—that was enough.
Long Yi chose not to travel by air, instead opting for a carriage. In this era of rampant Dragon Riders, air travel was strictly controlled. Every Thunder Eagle would be scrutinized multiple times before reaching its destination. By contrast, the slow carriage was the most successful mode of transport.
At this moment, Long Yi was in the carriage, snuggling with Ai Lin in an affectionate manner. Suddenly, Ai Lin asked, "Dear, you said that you would bring gifts back for our servants on this world tour, right?"
Long Yi laughed heartily and replied, "My dear, rest assured, halfway through our journey, when we encountered that Sea Clan merchant, I already bought these!"
With that, Long Yi pulled out a gigantic bag from his personal space, casually pulling a pearl bright enough to blind from within.
The pearls looked large and round, emitting radiant light and exquisite charms.
"Oh, I thought it was something else. Turns out it’s just the Night Pearls of the Sea Clan. How much can this worthless thing be worth? Look at the Di Lodol family, even the clothes their servants wear are made by the apprentice of the top tailor Pikar!" Ai Lin said with great involvement in her scripted role.
"Haha, my dear, you simply don’t understand. These Night Pearls are worth a fortune! One of these pearls could not only buy their servants’ clothes but could even buy the servants themselves!" Long Yi selected a pearl at random and handed it to the carriage driver in front.
"Hey, brother, our pockets are empty of Black Dragon coins right now. Will this do?"
The carriage driver had been listening to Long Yi and Ai Lin’s conversation all along. He was dazzled when the Night Pearl suddenly landed in his lap. Being a resident by the inland lake, the carriage driver, of course, knew the value of the Night Pearl! Especially the merchandise of Sea Clan merchants, which were notorious for high prices. If there were two profiteering merchants in this world, one of them would be the Elves, and the other would definitely be the Sea Clan!
Giving away such a large Night Pearl as if it was nothing! If at first, the carriage driver thought this couple was bluffing, any remaining doubts were now gone.
"Ah! I thank you, generous sir! Your wealth is so dazzling it makes this humble carriage of mine shine golden!"
The driver racked his brain for words of praise.
"Haha, don’t be so polite! If I hadn’t been smart when passing through the White Dragon Empire and gotten rid of all the Black Dragon coins, I might have lost my life. Compared to the money I lost, this is nothing!" Long Yi laughed heartily.
"You passed through the White Dragon Empire?" asked the driver, astonished.
"Of course!" Long Yi said proudly.
"But that’s our enemy!"
"That’s what makes it thrilling! Right, my dear?"
"Yes! Absolutely!"
"Oh, generous sir, your magnificent generosity, along with your astounding bravery... The great Emperor should grant you a medal!" The driver said in admiration.
"Haha, forget about the medal. After all, it was just a trip for fun. You should know, the richer and nobler we are, the more life tends to lack excitement. That’s why I made this bet with the stingy old Abbas, that if I, taking only carriages, could complete a trip to the seven countries, he would give me his biggest mansion, servants included! Haha! Now that I’m back, I can’t wait to see the look on his face!"
Abbas!
The driver was taken aback. This was a name even a minor carriage driver from a little town on the border had heard. Abbas was one of the richest men in the Black Dragon Empire, his business dominating all aspects of the empire. Most importantly, his surname. His full name was Abbas-Black; he was from the royal family.
Most of the business in the Black Dragon Empire was monopolized by members of the royal family. They amassed tremendous wealth which the emperor whimsically spent on building labs and factories, a well-known fact to every citizen of the Black Dragon Empire.
Did this middle-aged man in front of Abbas really dare to place a bet? And he wasn’t afraid of Abbas either? Could he also be a member of the royal family?
The more the cart driver thought about it, the more certain he became of this possibility! The person riding in his cart was actually a member of the royal family!
This realization made the cart driver’s fingertips tremble, and the Night Pearl pendant hidden in his chest seemed to become slightly hot. However, it appeared that they had no intention of revealing their names, and the cart driver naturally didn’t dare to ask.
Recognizing the cart driver’s unease, Long Yi suddenly spoke with a smile:
"Don’t worry, we’re just passing by. When we reach the town ahead, find us a place to stay, then find me a trustworthy cart driver. That’s all, we don’t want to draw attention. I plan on giving Abbas, that old rascal, a surprise!"
Upon hearing this, the cart driver clutched the precious pearl on his chest and nodded vigorously.
The carriage moved silently, making its way to a larger town.
The cart driver parked the carriage in the backyard of the largest inn in town, then went out alone to find someone. This person was his older brother. When the cart driver told his brother about this, the latter didn’t believe him. But, when the pearl that could blind someone with its brightness appeared, his brother immediately believed him.
Of course, the younger brother wasn’t foolish enough to reveal the name Abbas. Earning money was good, but life was more important.
The cart driver’s brother was a common servant in the inn, not making much money throughout the year. However, the value of this pearl was something he could never earn in a lifetime! As a result, Long Yi decided to stay at this inn.
In the most spacious room of the inn, Long Yi and Ai Lin each put down their luggage. The waiter looked at Long Yi, light gleaming in his eyes, his hands clasped together, and the hopeful smile on his face looked like it was about to crack.
"Brother, can you do me a favor?" Long Yi asked.
"Just command me, generous sir! My brother has already told me everything! I am the most trustworthy person here!" The waiter hastily responded.
"I have two pearls here." Long Yi took out two pearls.
They were bigger and brighter than the two the cart driver had! The waiter felt his eyes were almost blinded by their radiance.
"Will you sell one of these for me and exchange it for Black Dragon Coins, and keep the other one as a souvenir?" Long Yi asked with a smile.
What his brother said turned out to be true! This was indeed a very generous sir!
The waiter, his hands trembling, took the two pearls. The pearls were set in beautifully shaped silver accessories, the craftsmanship unmatched by any ordinary artisan!
"Please...wait! I know someone who can sell it for a high price!"
The waiter quickly left the inn. He knew a black-market merchant whose prices were much higher than the average pawnshop. When the waiter found him and showed him this Night Pearl pendant, the merchant’s eyes also lit up.
"Brother! Where did you get this?!" the bald black market merchant asked nervously, "First, let’s get this straight, I won’t dare to take it if it’s too hot!"
"Don’t worry, although I can’t tell you where it came from, it’s definitely not something shady!" The waiter said triumphantly.
Seeing the waiter’s expression, the bald merchant knew that this man who was not very good at lying was probably telling the truth.
"This item is quite valuable, especially with this Sea Clan craftsmanship...well, I’ll give you this price!"
The black-market merchant gestured a price.
"Now listen, Baldy, we’ve worked together more than once or twice. This thing comes from a very distinguished sir. He’s trying to use it for a special purpose, that’s why he asked me to help. If you’re too stingy, and if the sir isn’t happy and starts asking questions, it might be hard for me to explain," the waiter said with his head high.
Damn, did this rascal really hit it big?
"Fine!" The bald black market merchant clenched his teeth, raised his hand, and showed an astonishing number.
"Ha ha! I knew you wouldn’t show your true colors unless pushed!" The waiter laughed joyfully.
"Fuck! Give me the pearl! Here’s your money, leave me be!" The bald merchant threw a bag of money over, snatched the pearl, and watched the waiter leave. Only then did a smile return to his face. Even if the price was higher than usual, he estimated he could still make a fortune.
The thing is, it depends on how you sell it and to whom. (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to qidian.com to vote for recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile phone users can read at m.qidian.com.)
