Chapter 528 — Another Deal
Blade of Dawn · Page 2 of 5
Mechanical vibration rose through the chassis. Sitting inside this magic-carriage, which looked rather ahead of its age, Gao Yun let out a soft breath—and then on the seat beside him a layer of shadow suddenly stirred, and Amber's figure emerged from it.
"That duchess looked like she was bleeding from the purse," Amber said, blinking. Wherever she had been secretly watching from, the creature had clearly been hovering around Gao Yang the whole time. "I bet she's sunk every coin she'd set aside for a dowry into this."
"It is a vast sum. Even if half of it can be offset in goods, it exceeds what the Saint Sunil treasury can bear. Yet Victoria still chose to accept—so she truly hopes this civil war can end quickly, and that the royal army can win quickly."
"Didn't stop you from fleecing her, though," Amber said without missing a beat. "You really went through with it. She's your junior, after all, and by noble standards a decent enough person—and you didn't even knock off a discount."
Gao Yang glanced at Amber and said slowly: "...The royal army cannot save Anseth."
In the hands of the royal army those gold coins could only be fed slowly into the battlefield on the Spirit Plain. Better that they be turned into gears and levers of the magic-industry than let them be consumed to no purpose.
Amber blinked, then stroked her chin. "So what are you going to do now?"
"Go meet another group of people who likewise cannot save Anseth."
The magic-carriage passed through the administrative district of Xuanyao City, through the ring avenue, and soon arrived at the merchants' quarter on the city's western side. Before long it drew up before a tall, newly built structure—
the Cecil Merchants' Hall, a place kept expressly for receiving great merchants and honored guests.
Behind a second-floor window of the building, a young nobleman with short brown hair watched the street quietly. When he saw the magic-carriage approach, he stepped back and moved away from the window.
There were several others in the room, all dressed in fine silk or wool, wearing brooches or carrying mechanical pocket watches. They looked every inch the merchants—but from the extreme wariness and sharpness in their eyes, and the bearing in their every gesture, one could tell at once that they were more than merchants.
One of them saw the brown-haired young man leave the window and rose to ask, "Young master, is something the matter outside?"
"No need to worry. It is him," the brown-haired young man nodded and said gravely. "He has only one attendant with him. He should be up shortly."
The others in the room relaxed somewhat, then followed the brown-haired young man to the door and waited quietly.
Moments later, footsteps sounded...
In the room of the Merchants' Hall, Gao Yang met those special guests.
Over the past three days he had had Victoria and the other visitors from the capital tour the markets, the city streets, every place arranged in advance—and he himself had not been idle. What he had been doing was making contact with these special guests.
The door closed behind him. Gao Yang looked at the brown-haired young man before him and gave a slight nod. "Marquis Belk, it seems you have followed my advice and not wandered about."
The brown-haired young man—Belk Loren, eldest son of Silas Loren, Duke of the East—bent at the waist and saluted Gao Yang as a junior would, and the others saluted as well. Afterward this young man, barely past twenty yet already of the mid-tier, could not help saying, "It is not comfortable, staying cooped up in a room."
"Leaving the room would be far more troublesome," Gao Yang said, taking a seat with Amber on the sofa at the center of the room and looking at Belk Loren, who had likewise seated himself. "The heir of the Duke of the East appearing in Xuanyao City is hardly a good signal—and I am sure Victoria would be delighted to use the occasion to make Silas Loren lose his beloved son. You could not beat her in a fight."