Chapter 214 – Young Miss
Stunned, Quinn John dropped his pen. He looked up at Laura and said, “Did Evan really say that? Did he really agree to this?”
Laura nodded and said, “Yes, Grand Duke Evan has agreed to it. He stated right at the beginning that he will help me manage the stores. When I looked at his expression and saw that he was earnest, I knew he didn’t wish to seize our stores. That was when I proposed to a 4:6 split, which he agreed to.”
Quinn John thought about it for a while, then nodded. “This is amazing, but you should have clearly explained the entire situation to Grand Duke Evan. Since the managers of our stores are our trusted subordinates, if we need them in the future then he must let them go.”
Laura understood what Quinn John meant. With regards to merchants, the need for talented individuals was very important. Since they needed to leave the Purcell Duchy and Aksu Empire and head to another country, they would need to continue to do business in order to live. Doing business with untrusted subordinates wouldn’t be good. This was Quinn John’s meaning.
Nodding, Laura said, “Please don’t worry, Grandpa Quinn John, I will tell him that later. As matters stand right now, however, we will need to change the contents of the letters.
Quinn John nodded. “Then let us have them come to Casa City all at once. Once they are here, we can explain the situation to them and let them make their preparations. I will send Searle to clean out the treasury and bring anything we need to pack up. Fortunately, Mister had sent us several of those Spatial Bags, else we wouldn’t be able to take much with us.”
Laura smiled wryly and turned to Quinn John. “How about my father?”
Quinn John forced a smile and said, “In his eyes, is there anything more important than his darlings? He’s going to pack up his darlings[1].”
Laura couldn’t help herself and smiled bitterly. She knew what Quinn John meant. Those ‘darlings’ Quinn John referred to were the magic array books Karen had collected throughout the years, along with several of his experimental notes and testing tools. These were all more important to Karen than anything else.
She looked at Quinn John as asked, “Quinn John, have you thought about where we will be going? Are we going to directly leave the Purcell Duchy?”
Quinn John placed his pen down and thought for a while, then said, “Leaving directly wouldn’t be good right now. We currently have two options. First is to move to the Beastfolk Prairies where we have several businesses set up. If we go to the Beastfolk Prairie now, then no matter if it’s the Markey Dell clan or Boric, neither are strong enough to directly contend with the Beastfolk Prairie’s strength. If we go there, then they wouldn’t dare to send out experts to deal with us. We should be safe there.”
Laura nodded. “There isn’t any problem with going to the Beastfolk Prairie, but we cannot stay there forever. We can also go to other places on the continent through the Beastfolk Prairie. There are three roads with the first being the Purcell Duchy. The second road leads to the Elven Forest[2], and the third is the sea route. Going back to the Purcell Duchy is definitely impossible, so that only leaves us with the Elven Forest and the sea route.
“The Elven Forest is the domain of the elves. With regards to them, they aren’t friendly with the other races. We don’t have much time on our hands, so we cannot prolong our actions, thus going through that route is not feasible. The last route, the sea route, is a dangerous one. Although the other countries can send trade fleets towards the Beastfolk Prairie, their trade fleets are easily exposed to pirate attacks. This also isn’t a feasible option. Is there any other way?”
Quinn John looked at Laura and smiled faintly. “There is another, more simpler way, and that is Zhao Hai. The matters this time won’t allow Zhao Hai to stay in the Purcell Duchy. Their ident.i.ty would be exposed otherwise. I had heard, in the past, that the Buda clan’s misfortunes all stem from Boric. If they allow Boric to know they are here, then they will be in danger. Therefore, they will most certainly leave. Zhao Hai has a treasure that can be used to easily transport things, otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to so easily deliver food to the Purcell clan in their time of need. This time, we can go and find him. For sure, he will be able to take us to safety. However, that treasure may be an important clan treasure, so if he does use it for us, then there will be conditions attached.”
Laura couldn’t help but blush when she heard what Quinn John said. She remembered what ‘condition’ Zhao Hai had proposed to her before. If she wanted to know the true secret of the Buda clan, then she must marry Zhao Hai. With this thought, Laura couldn’t help but turn a deeper shade of red[3].
Quinn John smiled when he saw Laura’s reaction. For the condition Zhao Hai had told Laura, Quinn John knew of it. Laura’s many contacts with Zhao Hai had been something Quinn John had paid attention to. After all, for these past years, Zhao Hai had been the only real man Laura set her eye on. Therefore, every time Laura came back after visiting Zhao Hai, Quinn John would find the opportunity to ask Nier about what Zhao Hai said. As such, the condition Zhao Hai had stated to Laura was naturally pa.s.sed to Quinn John.
When Laura saw Quinn John looking at her, she became even more red. She saw his expression and knew that Quinn John understood what she was thinking. It could only be Nier that told him.
She couldn’t blame Nier for telling Quinn John about this matter. Laura was just a bit shy about it. She was still a girl, after all. Furthermore, she really did have some interest in Zhao Hai. Yet, she was slightly afraid of meeting Quinn John’s eyes.
In the end, Laura clenched her teeth and said, “Alright, let’s go to Brother Hai so that we can leave with him. Furthermore, we can discuss the future whereabouts of Brother Hai. Later on, we will need to cooperate with him.”
After hearing what Laura said, Quinn John’s eyes shone brightly. He understood what she meant. It seemed Laura really did have feelings for Zhao Hai, since saying such things was equal to accepting Zhao Hai’s condition.
Actually, Quinn John quite liked Zhao Hai. Since he knew Zhao Hai possessed a mysterious Divergent Technique, his future was limitless. Moreover, since Laura would be with him, this made Quinn John very happy.
Laura looked up at Quinn John who smiled faintly and said, “Alright, we’ll finish packing up here and then go to Zhao Hai. Young Lady, it’s better to send a letter to Zhao Hai first and not just go directly.”
Nodding, Laura looked up at the sky and said, “I’ll write a letter and send it tomorrow. It’s quite late now, and we have to rest early. Oh, by the way. Grandpa Quinn John, we’ve forgotten something.”
“Forgotten what?” asked Quinn John.
Laura’s eyes flashed coldly. “We’ve forgotten about Alodia.”
Quinn John was stunned after he heard what Laura had said. His face sank as he said, “Yes, we’ve forgotten about his group, but I would still like to keep them. Contact Zhao Hai since he’s a Divergent Warlock. Although I don’t know what his Divergent Technique is, looking at all his undead, he possibly knows how to turn people into undead. If we can truly use these fellows by letting Zhao Hai turn them into undead, then that’ll be good.”
Laura didn’t oppose it since she had a mutual hatred against Carlo now. Incidentally, they also hated Alodia, so she naturally didn’t go against Quinn John’s words.
They discussed several more matters before finis.h.i.+ng and going off to rest. None of them could afford to be fl.u.s.tered right now and instead should act normally. Otherwise, flaws might be discovered.
* * * * *
The next morning, Zhao Hai and the others got up early. After eating their breakfast, Zhao Hai led Green, Meg, and Shue of Ten-thousand Shadows towards Casa City.
When they arrived at Casa City, the city gates had just been opened. Zhao Hai immediately entered the city and went straight towards Faith Mansion. Since events were happening quickly, they didn’t want to lose much time.
Zhao Hai going towards Faith Mansion was something Laura had just found out. She was prepared to write a letter, but didn’t know Zhao Hai would arrive this early.
They welcomed Zhao Hai and his group into the study. Laura looked puzzledly at Shue of Ten-thousand Shadows and asked, “Brother Hai, this is?”
Zhao Hai smiled faintly and said, “This is Shue of Ten-thousand Shadows. He was previously invited by Carlo to move against me, but has currently taken a blood oath to serve me. Miss Laura needn’t be worried.”
Laura was surprised for a moment, but immediately recovered and greeted Shue of Ten-thousand Shadows, who then hurriedly greeted her in return. Afterward, he moved back to his previous position behind Zhao Hai.
Zhao Hai turned his head towards Laura and said, “I came today to ask after your preparations. Also, have you told Evan about the situation clearly, and do you have any plans?”
Laura and Quinn John looked at one another, then Laura said, “I have already explained the matter to Grand Duke Evan. The Grand Duke said he cannot partic.i.p.ate in this matter, but can keep our stores intact. We can keep the stores open and he’ll look after their management. I have reached an agreement with the Grand Duke to split the income, 4:6 — I will get 4 parts, he will get 6. I do hope, however, that Brother Hai won’t break off the Taoyuan supply.”
“That’s fine,” Zhao Hai replied. “There will be no problem in the supply of Taoyuan products. What’s more, you can retain your stores, which is for the best. I was really worried about this matter.”
Laura relaxed after hearing Zhao Hai’s reply. Her complexion couldn’t help but give off a happy glow as she said, “This time, we are prepared to leave the Aksu Empire. We must ask, however, if Brother Hai will be able to help us in delivering us to a safe place. What is Brother Hai’s intent?”
After hearing her words, Zhao Hai couldn’t help but be surprised for a moment. He looked at Laura’s blus.h.i.+ng face and understood what she meant. Zhao Hai couldn’t help but tease her as he grinned and said, “There’s no problem in taking you to someplace safe, but Laura, do you agree to my conditions?”
As Zhao Hai spoke those words, Green and the others stared closely at Laura. They were waiting for her reply, which made her face even more red. She finally gathered herself up and gravely looked at Zhao Hai, saying, “Please, Brother Hai. Help me.”
After he heard what Laura said, Green couldn’t help it anymore and laughed. “Good, great! It seems like we’ll have to change what we call Miss Laura and instead call her Young Miss[4].”
Laura’s face became redder, and Zhao Hai also blushed. He didn’t think Laura would actually comply, so he felt a bit awkward. Behind that awkwardness, however, was a bit of excitement. Even if Laura wouldn’t have complied, he’d still have told her his secret. Now, however, since she did agree, it made things a lot better.
Notes:
-This chapter was MTL’ed. Please leave a comment for constructive criticisms and advice. Thanks.
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-Please check out the Editor’s footnotes, thanks.
Footnotes:
[1] 宝贝 – Bǎobèi. 宝 is treasure or jewels. 贝 is sh.e.l.ls/seash.e.l.ls/valuables. 宝贝 can mean Babies, Treasure, Darling. ↩
[2] 精灵森林 – Jīnglíng sēnlín. Elven Forest. ↩
[3] Now, while I’m all for Zhao Hai finally winning a person’s heart (loyalty/love, whatever) without having to use the s.p.a.ce… he has so many red marks that I can’t drum up the support. Still hoping Cai’er can go ahead and take over… Bringing the Farm to Live in Another World, with the “Another World” being the Devil World now… Dun Dun DUUUUN. ↩
[4] 少夫人 – Shǎo fū rén. Shao is Young or Small. Furen is Husband’s person, or Madam, Mrs., Spouse, Partner, Lady. You get it. The options were Young Mistress, which is basically a woman in control, but Mistress has somehow been sullied to mean a woman in an extramarital affair with a married man. Madam sounds really old… I don’t wanna call Laura, Madam. Miss works. Lady has already been used. Mrs. is weird. Partner and Spouse aren’t things you say as a t.i.tle.