Zhao Hai stared blankly when he heard the knock. It was because he already told the hotel attendants to not disturb him if thereâs nothing important going on. He believed that the hotel attendants wouldnât dare disregard his instructions.
When someone knocked on the door the first time, Zhao Hai expected it to be Shun, and it turned out the be him. But who would knock on the door this time? Zhao Hai waved his hand as the monitor appeared. The group immediately saw a man dressed in gorgeous clothes standing outside. What was bizarre about this man was the fact that even though he wore good quality and well-made clothes, the appearance of his garments seem to be those worn by servants.
The clothes of a servant were actually more magnificent than most nobles? When Zhao Hai and the others analyzed the manâs clothes, they couldnât help but feel confused.
However, Zhao Hai knew that for a servant to be able to dress like this, his master should be anything but simple. Zhao Hai gestured to Shun, Shun gave a nod as he opened the door.
Right outside the door was the servant. Although he had magnificent clothes, the servant still acted very humble. When he saw Shun open the door, the man politely gave a small bow and said, âHello, this one seeks an audience with Mister Zhao Hai.â
Looking at the manâs very polite attitude, Shun didnât decrease his vigilance even by a bit, he looked at the man and said, âCan I ask why you are here? Why do you need to meet the young master?â
The servant showed a faint smile and said, âThis one is just a servant, here to convey a message from my master. Itâs just that the identity of my master is quite special, so this servant was the only one that came to see mister Zhao Hai.â
Just as Shun was facing a dilemma, Zhao Haiâs voice came, âShun, make him enter.â
After listening to Zhao Haiâs instruction, Shun immediately complied then turned and gave a gesture towards the man. Then the well-dressed servant entered the room.
Zhao Hai was now sitting inside the living room. Naturally, the servant recognized Zhao Hai, so he immediately went towards him and gave a bow, âLittle Liru has seen Mister Zhao Hai. My master is currently at his accommodation and is inviting mister Zhao Hai over.â
Although his tone of voice was very polite, the atmosphere around the servant revealed a sort of pressure that seems to donât accept refusal. This made Zhao Hai quite confused, he didnât know what this servant was planning to do.
However, Zhao Hai wasnât affected too much. He just looked at the servant and said, âCan you tell me the identity of your master? You should know that I have a lot of enemies in the continent, I wouldnât just accept casual invitations.â
Liru froze for a moment, but he still continued to look at Zhao Hai and said, âMister Zhao Hai, I really canât just say the name of my master. Just know that my master is very sincere this time. I ask you to please accept his invitation.â
Zhao Hai frowned as he stared at the servant, âThe people in this room can certainly be trusted, Iâll vouch for it. If you really donât intend to tell me, then Iâm sorry, I donât like meeting with people who likes to hide things from me.â
After listening to Zhao Hai, Liru;s expression couldnât help but sink. He looked at Zhao Hai and said, âMister, since you really wanted to know. My master who wanted to meet you is His Highness Rosen Empireâs Third Prince.â
Zhao Hai stared blankly, with a puzzled look he asked, âIf His Highness the Third Prince wanted to meet me, then why does he have to be quite mysterious? Is something wrong?â
Looking that Zhao Hai seemed to be confused, the servant said with a light tone, âI didnât realize that mister wasnât informed, I have misunderstood mister. Rising Water City is under the control of the Second Prince while Jade Water City belonged to the Third Prince. His highnessâ trip this time is a secret matter. He couldnât just go out into the city since he is afraid of alerting the Second Prince. So this time when His Highness wanted to meet Mister Zhao Hai, he could only request for a secret meeting.â
Zhao Hai understood, so he didnât have any more worried. He turned to the servant and said, âGood, lead the way.â He stood as he said that.
Seeing at Zhao Hai accepted to come with him, Liru finally relaxed. He feared that Zhao Hai would change his mind, so Liru immediately led him out.
Zhao Hai and Liru went to the back of the hotel where a carriage was already waiting for them, inside one of the courtyards. Without being polite, Zhao Hai immediately sat inside the vehicle.
The carriage looked extremely ordinary, it lacked even a smidgen of special quality material. It was only quite big, can fit about five or six people. Zhao Hai took Shun and Shue with him, Liru was driving the carriage at front.
Zhao Hai initially thought that Liru was just having unnecessary caution. What was the point in being too serious? However, he changed his mind when he thought more deeply about Liruâs words and actions. Liru might be afraid because the battle between the princes may have reached quite a heated period. If this was so, there was enough reason for the Third Prince to be very careful.
But Zhao Hai was even more confused when he recalled that the Rosen Empireâs King was still quite healthy. Under such circumstance, it was quite confusing for the princes to be this vigorous in their battle.
The carriage went out of the hotel and into the busy street outside. They went around quite a few times before stopping at a house. Although this was the back side of the house, the light coming from the door made it look quite unordinary. The look on the door was more intricate than what most people would use.
The carriage didnât stop and directly entered the house before completely stopping on a parking space. Liru asked Zhao Hai to disembark, Zhao Hai became curious, he wanted to know why the Third Prince called him over.
Under Liruâs guidance, the group passed through several courtyards before arriving at a small courtyard. This courtyard wasnât that large, about the same size as Sweet Plum Courtyard. However, this place didnât have any plum blossoms, instead, it had some ornamental trees. Zhao Hai couldnât name them, but this made this place even more distinctive.
When the group arrived at the courtyard, there were two people already standing at the front door. One looked about 50 years old and wore a magnificent merchantâs garment on his fatty body. The fellow looked very big, just like a meat mountain that was standing there. What made Zhao Hai surprised was that even though the man was a literal meatball, he didnât look like he was exerting any effort in staying up. This certainly showed that the man had quite the strength.
The other person wore a very ordinary nobleâs clothing, not looking very magnificent. He was about 30 years old and had a very gentle look. The person was very well groomed, although he was just standing there, the atmosphere around him commanded respect and superiority.
Liru went towards the 30-year old man and said, âYour Highness, this is Mister Zhao Hai.â The man nodded and smiled at Zhao Hai, âPlease forgive Charlie for the disrespect, mister. The situation didnât leave me with enough choices.â
Zhao Hai showed a faint smile and said, âThis one has seen Prince Charlie. His highness is too polite, it is my honor to be invited by Your Highness.â
Charlie smiled faintly and said, âMister is too courteous. Let me introduce mister to Rising Water Cityâs famous sea merchant, Aonas.â
Zhao Hai bowed and said, âZhao Hai pays his respects to Mister Aonas.â
Aonaâsâ flabby face rippled as he smiled, âMister is too kind. Your Highness, Mister, please.â Then he led the two men inside the living room of the house.
After settling in the living room, Liru immediately served the group with a cup of tea. When the group already had a few sips of the tea, Charlie opened his mouth, âThis time when I came to handle some matters in Rising Water City, I came to hear about misterâs arrival. So I took the liberty of inviting mister over, I hope you could forgive my disrespect.â
Zhao Hai gave a smile and said, âYouâre highness is too polite. Letâs forget about being disrespectful, what did Your Highness look for me for?â
Charlie stared, he didnât think that Zhao Hai would be so direct. He could only show a faint smile as he replied, âMister is really a straightforward person, not beating around the bush. This time, I asked mister to come to discuss whether I could have the honor of having a partnership with mister or not.â
Zhao Hai had already expected this point. Except for the products that he had, there were no other qualities of him that other people could remember. So when Charlie got to the point, Zhao Hai wasnât surprised. He just looked at Charlie and said, âMay I know which business Your Highness wanted to cooperate with me?â
Charlie looked at Zhao Hai and smiled, âI know that mister is currently working with the Shelley Family and the Calci Family for some business. Iâm also interested about your fire fishes and milk wine. I just donât know if mister can also cooperate with me?â
Zhao Hai looked at Charlie and said, âYour Highness, to tell you the truth, it isnât impossible to work with you. The products that I supply the Calci Family and the Shelley Family which were 55 thousand jin of fire fish and 50 thousand jin of milk wine arenât my limit. I can provide you with 45 thousand jin of fire fishes as well as 50 thousand jin of milk wine per month. Is Your Highness satisfied with this?â
Zhao Haiâs words were actually a probe towards Charlie. He wanted to see whether the prince wanted to snatch both the Calciâs and the Shelleyâs share of milk wine and fire fish. If he did, then that meant that he didnât care about offending the two families. Zhao Hai also wanted to see whether he would acquiesce if there was a way of avoiding to offend the families. If Charlie really wanted the shares of the two families, then Zhao Hai would have to think twice about their cooperation. This was because it meant that the prince most likely held a grievance towards the two families.
When he heard what Zhao Hai just said, Charlie was dumbfounded, he wore a happy expression as he said, âMister is really telling the truth?â
Zhao Hai nodded and replied, âI wonât dare deceive Your Highness, of course it is real.â Seeing Charlieâs reaction, Zhao Hai had found his answer.
Sure enough, Charlie smiled and said, âGood, good, that is good. Mister can rest assured that Iâll also accept the same price that you give the Calci and Shelley Families. I certainly wouldnât let mister suffer a loss.â