Ning Cheng was thinking of none other than Myriad Merchant Hall’s Fifth Elder!
Unlike the other elders, Fifth Elder was completely subservient to West Qin and a diehard loyalist. Ning Cheng couldn’t even guess what would happen after his letter reached Fifth Elder’s hands, but he knew it was a better choice than anyone else. At least, Fifth Elder’s position and temper would prevent him from doing anything rash. That would buy him some time. Meanwhile, as long as Bai Yuqiao’s spent silver drafts made their way to the elders at Myriad Merchant Hall, things would get easier.
Under Jun Yixie’s scrutiny, Ning Cheng quickly picked up his brush and began to write. Not a single word came easily. With the man staring down his back, he couldn’t reveal the true circ.u.mstances of his confinement here, or order the Di Clan to keep pledging their loyalty to West Qin and cooperate with Han Yunxi. At the same time, he had to create falsehoods for Jun Yixie to read so that the man believed he wholly wanted to let the Di Clan oppose Han Yunxi and Long Feiye.
The three major subsets of the Di Clan included Myriad Merchant Hall, Cloud Realm Trade Consortium, and the army. He controlled them all and knew their elders and deputy generals thoroughly. Although Long Feiye and Han Yunxi had killed Bai Yanqing and uncovered the misunderstanding between East and West Qin, it wasn’t enough to convince everyone. Even if Bai Yanqing told the world with his own mouth about the Wind and Black Clans colluding against the Great Qin Empire, there would still be doubters amongst the Di Clan’s elders who refused to accept it. Those old men were as stubborn about their old grudges as Ning Cheng himself. Actually, if Ning Cheng hadn’t heard the admission from Jun Yixie’s own lips, he would be suspecting Han Yunxi and Long Feiye now too.
Moreover, those elders were all part of the Di Clan’s senior figures. Their loyalty to the Di surpa.s.sed their loyalty to West Qin. Most of them had selfish motives to some degree and hoped that the Di Clan could render outstanding service in restoring the West Qin Dynasty to its former glory. They harbored hopes that perhaps one day, the Di Clan could even enter the royal clan through marriage, thus defending its status in the dynasty forevermore. Now that Han Yunxi and Long Feiye had publicly made up, the elders of the Di Clan would worry that Long Feiye would be their master. No matter what, they would definitely rebel.
Under these circ.u.mstances, if Myriad Merchant Hall hadn’t received his silver drafts yet, they wouldn’t know the truth. With Jun Yixie’s 30,000 battle horses in their hands, they wouldn’t hesitate to start a war. After some thought, Ning Cheng used his brush to write a single line:
Accept the battle horses from Sky River. Await orders for everything else and prepare 500 million’s worth of soldiers’ pay and provisions to Prosperous Heaven Private Bank under the Northern Li account.
“Await orders for everything else” was the sole leeway Ning Cheng left the Di Clan, and the most he could do for Han Yunxi’s case. The part about pay and provisions alleviated Jun Yixie’s worries. Even if 500 million were transferred to Prosperous Heaven’s Northern Li account, no one could take it away before he showed up in person.
“500 million?” Jun Yixie arched a brow. “Our agreement was 1 billion!”
“Once the battle horses arrive, I’ll pay 500 million first. That’s enough for you to use. We’ll be working together for a long time, so what’s the rush?” Ning Cheng asked.
Truthfully, 500 million was indeed enough for Jun Yixie to rise again. He didn’t demand more after seeing the hard-won sum from Ning Cheng, who next sealed the letter away and addressed it to “Fifth Elder” on the envelope.
Jun Yixie took it away with the parting words, “I’ll be waiting for your payment!”
Ning Cheng watched him leave before rubbing his face a few times to clear his mind.
“A reunion between a married couple?” he chuckled softly and muttered to himself. “Han Yunxi, it’ll be up to Heaven to decide whether we remain friends or enemies.”
If his silver drafts reached the Di Clan before the battle horses, then he could count as truly uniting with Long Feiye and Han Yunxi this time. Otherwise, once the Di Clan revolted, he’ll never be able to wash the filth clean in this lifetime. Ning Cheng stood by the doorway a while before Bai Yuqiao suddenly dashed over.
“Ning Cheng, come with me to the prisons, quick!” she cried desperately.
Ning Cheng only gave her a languid look and prepared to enter his rooms when Bai Yuqiao caught him by the arm. “There’s a human life at stake!”
Ning Cheng’s eyes chilled. He prepared to shake her off when Bai Yuqiao blurted out, “Su Xiaoyu’s almost dead! Come over and coax her. Maybe you can convince her to live!”
Translator"s Note: Welcome to the end of the bonus chapter releases! So to summarize, LFY and HYX killed BYQ, except they didn"t, the Di Clan can"t accept LFY as new boss and wants to rebel, BYQ (and Lil Thing trapped inside of him) are heading west for reasons unknown while the world knows he"s a Poison Gu now, Hundred Poisons Sect has decided to be the good guys, GBY + LFY + HYX are going to find some freaky blank stele in the Poison Sect"s forbidden grounds, Ning Cheng and Jun Yixie (now heartbroken) are making their move to "alliance" together, and Long Tianmo"s getting married (again!). Meanwhile, GQS and TL went north to find Mu Linger and Ning Jing. Tang Li headed NW which is where the two girls are, while GQS went NE. Also, Su Xiaoyu is dying. All clear? Good.
Otherwise, feel free to reread! <3