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"Duke of Qin, we have arrived....."

Inside the cabin, the Provincial Governor carefully announced, while inside the cabin, the atmosphere was eerily cold.

Mu Hongqing and the Duke of Qin sat diagonally across from each other, neither looking at the other, but the frigid air from both parties frightened the hundreds of bloodline descendants disguised as laborers so much that they went up to the deck.

Meanwhile, Governor-General Zhou Hanyang, gritting his teeth, sat between the two.

"Let’s go out and take a look..." Lumings stood up and walked outside directly, followed by Mu Hongqing without a word, and from their actions, it seemed they temporarily set aside their concerns.

"The journey has been tough on the Governor-General..." The Provincial Governor said with a wry smile to Zhou Hanyang.

Zhou Hanyang rolled his eyes at the comment, but a flicker of worry flashed through his eyes. With Mu Hongqing like this... could he really stand united with them?

Outside the ship, when they approached the pier, the huge bubble barrier appeared even more magnificent, covering the entire city of Nanming Prefecture and the pier area. People continually crossed over in the sky, giving the impression that this city and the outside were like two different worlds.

Looking at the scene, Zhou Hanyang felt heavier at heart. The Duke of Qin’s strategic plans deep inside his mind, could they really succeed?

"My Lord....." Zhou Hanyang approached and asked cautiously, "Are the other provinces in Jiangnan also like this?"

He had heard many reports from Mu Hongqing about Jiangnan, which were full of interesting anecdotes, that felt both novel and like a tale from another world. But those were just rumors, and now, the grand scene before his eyes, along with Mu Hongqing’s previous words...

Zhou Hanyang suddenly felt that perhaps today’s Jiangnan, as the rumors suggested, might indeed be a different world...

"That’s not the case..." Lumings shook his head, "Coming from Yunzhou, passing through Yangzhou, Nanyang, and Lyuzhou, I have never seen such a grand display. He doesn’t set up this kind of thing in his own well-defended base camp, which shows that such exaggerated things can’t be widely used by Chen Qing.

Now that it’s being used here in Nanming Prefecture, it can only be to bluff people! "

"To bluff people?" Zhou Hanyang looked at the huge bubble. Indeed, it was quite intimidating...

"Chen Qing taking over Nanming Prefecture was a task accomplished in barely a month.

Anyone with a bit of knowledge about techniques knows that an array of this scale could not be set up in such a short time.

" Lumings looked at Mu Hongqing and said, "What does the Educational Governor think of this barrier? "

Without giving Lumings as much as a glance, Mu Hongqing observed the barrier carefully. After almost half an hour, he slowly said, "The energy is incredibly pure, and from what we can see externally, there doesn’t appear to be any weakness..."

Lumings frowned but then relaxed his brow: "It doesn’t matter; since it’s meant to bluff, it has to be made convincingly. Just like those magicians, even if the audience knows it’s all fake, it still has to be done in a way that they can’t figure out how it’s done; that is what wins applause..."

Mu Hongqing: "...."

He did not continue to speak. Honestly, from a logical standpoint, although he disliked Lumings, he understood that what the other man said was not wrong.

This move by Chen Qing, anyone with the slightest insight could guess that he was bluffing!

Therefore, he did not have high hopes for Chen Qing, even if his own disciple had a lot of confidence in him.

He had already decided that if Chen Qing failed to control the situation, he would intervene at the critical moment to help out, as a way to repay the favor for cultivating Chen Ying. But regardless of whether Chen Ying remained chaste or not, he had to take her away!

But if Chen Qing managed to control the situation.

.. no matter the method used, it would show that this young man can endure hardships.

Then he himself would feel at ease to entrust Chen Ying to him and return to the Capital City to do what he had long wanted to.

.. For so many years, if not for Chen Ying, he would have acted long ago! !

"Who are you... where are you from?"

After a long queue, the ship finally entered the port. There were no guards at the port now, but once past the dock and ashore, in front of the vast bubble, there were a dozen passages.

Lumings viewed this arrangement with a slight unease in his heart.

In his view, Chen Qing’s setup this time must have been quite forced, yet he dared to allow such a large volume of traders to come and go. Was it an act of boldness or simply putting on a brave face?

"Esteemed warrior..." Lumings began with a smile, "We are just doing some business in tea leaves and liquor following our fellow townsmen, you see..."

The soldier frowned and turned to look at the goods behind them. He sniffed slightly and detected the aroma of Snow Fragrance, a liquor recently popular in Yunzhou, and Sparrow’s Tongue, the best-selling tea in Yunzhou.

Then he looked at them: "You... don’t have a divine seal on you?"

"Reporting to the warrior, this... Our group wasn’t saved into Yunzhou for long, just about a month. To be honest, we could be considered a family of modest wealth before. Those laborers were family servants we used to employ..."

"Didn’t the Yunzhou City Lord tell you? Now... keeping slaves isn’t permitted, is it?" The soldier’s expression turned ugly.

"Certainly, certainly!" Lumings hastily replied, "We no longer keep servants – ah, I mean, these servants used to be born and raised in our family, serving us since childhood. Even after disbanding them, they didn’t know what to do outside, so we thought we’d try our hand at business. We’re not continuing to keep slaves, mind you; they all willingly follow us.

We’ll distribute wages as per the Yunzhou City Lord’s instructions, without restricting their freedom at all. "

"Oh, still fathering children at home, looks like we have a noble lord here?" the soldier mocked, his eyes filled with irony.

In recent years, under Lord Chen’s rule in Jiangnan, the common people’s respect for past landlords and nobility had greatly decreased, especially among the Warrior Army, who held even more disdain towards landlords.

"That’s in the past, all in the past..." Lumings said with a wave of his hand and a forced smile.

"Hmph!" the soldier snorted coldly, "It’s good that you know it’s in the past. Behave, things are not the same as before. I can’t be bothered to talk about those servants of yours who haven’t caught up yet, but if someone wants to go and you dare to stop them, hands will be chopped off!"

"No way, no way, rest assured Military Sir, we are a family that follows the rules, a family that follows the rules."

"That’s for the best, off you go!"

"Yes, yes, yes, here, Military Sir, this is a token of respect for you..." Lumings, with the demeanor of a shrewd businessman, had his men bring over two large jars of wine.

The soldier took a cold glance, picked up one jar and felt its weight, then said, "Just one jar, take the other back. I can’t afford that much. This wine is expensive nowadays, see, this is for the wine, the current market price in Yunzhou, right?"

"How could we take money from you, Military Sir?" Lumings quickly waved his hand.

"Seems like it’s your first time doing business..." the soldier said coldly, "Taking bribes in Jiangnan is heavily punished. Are you trying to get me in trouble?"

"This... it’s just two jars of wine, how could that count as bribery?"

"Two jars of Xuelixiang, market value of a hundred taels of Incense Silver, how does that not count as bribery? My monthly military pay is only thirty taels of Incense Silver. Alright, get inside quickly, don’t hold up the boats behind you."

"Yes, yes, yes..." Lumings quickly appeased with a smile, "It was inconsiderate of me."

"If you want to keep doing business on the water, it’s better to start believing in a divine being. Since it’s your first time as a merchant, you could be considered an exception, but if there’s a next time, you won’t be allowed into the city!"

"Yes, yes, yes, it’s our first time after all. We’ll have to think carefully about whether to believe in the Sea God or the Mountain God."

"If you’re purely a sea merchant, believing in the Sea God is naturally best. Followers of the Sea God who hire the Sea God’s Guard to protect their ships can get half off the cost. Where else can you find such a deal?"

"Thank you for the reminder, Military Sir, I’ll arrange that once I get back..."

Lumings nodded and bowed, his appearance and movements leaving Zhou Hanyang and the rest staring in dumbfounded silence.

They had never imagined that the Duke of Qin, playing such a cunning businessman, could do so naturally!!

Mu Hongqing watched Lumings with even more intense mockery in his eyes.

Even as a child, he had come to know the Duke’s multifaceted identities...

In front of his sister, he was a loving father who doted on his little girl, even stooping down to let her ride on his back as if he were a horse.

In front of his mother, he was a devoted husband, acting as if, were it not for his family obligations, he would elope with his wife.

In front of him, he was a strict father who seemed to think of everything for his future, appearing to consider everything on his behalf.

But back in Duke’s residence... heh, that’s the Duke who wouldn’t even glance at his sister, reduced to a state of a living corpse!

"Find a cheap inn to rest, and wait for my message!" After entering the city, Lumings whispered to Zhou Hanyang, and then headed towards another bustling street.

Zhou Hanyang was startled and hadn’t had time to react before Lumings had disappeared from sight.

"What’s the Duke doing going off alone?" Zhou Hanyang frowned immediately.

"Killing someone..." Mu Hongqing said coldly.

Zhou Hanyang was taken aback, "Kill who? Shouldn’t he be waiting for the right moment?"

"Waiting for what moment?" Mu Hongqing sneered, "Are you really naive or just pretending? The one who came from the Imperial Court is the Chief of Staff from the Military Ministry. If that person remains alive, how can your Duke command an army of fifty thousand?"

Zhou Hanyang: "...."