When Shao Xuan walked out of the garden after signing the contract, the others were silent, especially the heads of the noble families. They looked at Shao Xuan strangely with complicated emotions.
However, Ji Fang was the same as before. He chatted with Shao Xuan about old stories in Royal City. At least on the surface, there was nothing out of the ordinary.
Shao Xuan only heard about the large-scale brawl on Royal City's busiest street after he came out. However, they weren't the ones who attacked first. Logically speaking, the gambling house and Changle were the ones at fault.
Therefore, Ji Fang didn't hesitate to discuss with Shao Xuan how to deal with this. It didn't seem unreasonable.
However, Guigou and the others knew that if Yanjiao wasn't strong enough and didn't have a special person like Shao Xuan, the Royal City wouldn't be so polite to them. The strange phenomenon when the Heaven and Earth Contract was signed was enough to make the people of Royal City wary.
Even if they didn't know what Shao Xuan left behind, they could guess based on Ji Fang and the five heads' reactions. Shao Xuan was the key to their change of attitude!
Yanjiao's Grand Elder was indeed different from the rest. They rejoiced that Shao Xuan was Yanjiao. If Shao Xuan wasn't from Yanjiao and was born in another tribe, Yanjiao would probably be in a different situation now.
The farce on the street ended with the Yanjiao people taking their belongings back to where they were settled and the gambling house paying for all the losses.
Many people in Royal City were surprised that the Ji family let the tribesmen off so easily. Many times, things couldn't be avoided just because you were in the right. However, this time, the Ji family and the other five noble families of Royal City all had the same attitude. This made people think deeply, especially those who were good at conspiracy theories. Their brains spun quickly and thought of many possibilities.
Among them, the most active were the caravans.
The contract between Royal City and Yanjiao was an equal peace contract. When the time came, travel teams from both sides would be able to cross over. Thinking that the tribe was rich in gems, but there were very few gold mines, the caravan members trembled with excitement as soon as they thought about how great the business opportunity was.
This time, without waiting for the Black Bears to say anything, many other trading parties who happened to be in King City rushed to visit the Flaming Horn tribe's settlement.
Inside the palace, Shao Xuan had a private chat with Ji Fang after the signing of the contract. Ji Fang brought up Si.
"Si would like to meet you in the palace." Ji Fang observed Shao Xuan's reaction as he spoke. He thought Shao Xuan would be enraged at the mention of Si but that was not the case.
"Sure." Shao Xuan's tone didn't change. His expression was calm as if he wasn't surprised that Ji Fang would mention Si.
This confused Ji Fang but as long as he achieved his goal, it was fine. He arranged a place for Shao Xuan and Si to meet alone. After all, Si was the leader of the largest slave-trading organization. It wasn't convenient for him to appear in the palace. In fact, very few people knew about Ji Fang and Si's partnership. Before Ji Fang seized the throne, other than a few trusted aides, even Ji Shou didn't know about their partnership. Si Duo's visits to the palace only started after Ji Fang succeeded in seizing the throne. It was also because of the Flaming Horn incident that more people knew about their collaboration.
This time, Si came with a humble attitude and apologised for his attack on the Flaming Horn tribe. Shao Xuan ignored that. It would be strange if Si was apologetic, more like remorseful.
However, it wasn't easy for Si to put on a low profile.
"Just tell me why you're here." Shao Xuan said.
Si's prepared speech was wasted. Still, it was better to get straight to the point.
Si's goal was simple. He wanted Shao Xuan to help him find the Chief's Bone Lock. He used some benefits from one of the "robbers" in exchange for some information about Robber Seven. None of the information was related to Robber Seven's whereabouts. This was because robbers rarely revealed their whereabouts to others. Even when they worked together, they would keep some information to themselves. This was a robber's habit.
Si didn't place all his hopes on this information. However, while Robber Seven's whereabouts were unknown, he knew some of Robber Seven's dark history. For example, Robber Seven had been captured by Yanjiao more than once. More specifically, Robber Seven had suffered at the hands of Yanjiao's Shao Xuan more than once.
This was why Si came to Shao Xuan after Ji Fang mediated. Robber Seven's ability to escape was too great. Even the top three in the Robber Family might not be able to catch Robber Seven. Although Robber Seven's ranking wasn't high, he was getting harder to deal with. Even if they found him, they wouldn't be able to catch him.
"Bi isn't the only slave-trading organization. Just because we don't attack Flaming River doesn't mean others won't. However, if you can help me find the Chief's Bone Lock, I'm willing to sacrifice some benefits for them to avoid Flaming River Alliance's territory, "said Si.
"Yanjiao can do that too," replied Shao Xuan.
"But it'll still cause a lot of trouble. I think Yanjiao doesn't want people to go missing in the next few years or even decades," continued Si.
With Si's help, it would save a lot of manpower and time. What Yanjiao lacked right now was manpower and time. Everyone knew that the contract with Royal City was only a temporary truce. Once the contract expired, there would be an unavoidable conflict. The Yi family's divination was unpredictable. Who could accurately predict the future? Any small change could lead to a completely different outcome.
The safest way was to develop oneself. Only when one was strong enough would they have enough capital to negotiate and solve all problems. If they diverted manpower and time to deal with those problems, the development of the Flaming River region would definitely slow down. With Si's promise, even if it couldn't solve all the problems, it would be worth it to solve a part of it.
However, Shao Xuan didn't answer immediately. After a moment of silence, he said, "Deal."
With Shao Xuan agreeing to help, Si sighed in relief. At least there was still a high chance of getting the Chief's Bone Lock back.
On his way out, Si suddenly paused at the door and turned to ask, "I heard that you know the Yi family's divination skills. Did you predict that I would come looking for you again because of the Chief's bone mallock?"
"What do you think?"
"I think so." Motherf * cker Yanjiao! Si cursed internally. He didn't look at Shao Xuan anymore and walked out. What a shame! His Bi was cut off, his Bone Lock was stolen, he was chased everywhere and now he had to beg for help.
He accepted his defeat at the hands of Shao Xuan but from now on, he would have to be more careful when it came to Yanjiao.
The banquet at the palace was sumptuous but Ji Fang didn't talk about sparring. Shao Xuan wasn't interested in sparring either. He was distracted.
Shao Xuan's absent-mindedness was noticed by everyone but no one reminded him. Because of the strange phenomenon during the signing of the contract, everyone in the Royal City couldn't wait for Yanjiao to leave. They were very curious about these things, but they also knew that they wouldn't be able to get anything out of him. At the beginning of the banquet, some people tried to ask him about it, but Shao Xuan didn't answer. The other Flaming Horns didn't say much either. Guigou and the others didn't know much about the Founder Shaman Seal but they wouldn't reveal even the tiniest bit.
Shao Xuan also saw Ji Ju at the banquet. Compared to the last time he saw Ji Ju, Ji Ju looked even older now. Under normal circumstances, this shouldn't be the case. The Ji family had a long lifespan and Ji Ju had the medicinal crops from the farm and the Thousand Grain Gold. He shouldn't have aged so much.
But considering what had happened in the past few years, it was understandable that Ji Ju had become like this. The past few years hadn't been peaceful. Large amounts of crops had died in the disaster, Yi Xiang's revenge, the change in the throne, the Yi family's upheaval and so on had been very torturous. Especially the first one, the farm that Ji Ju had always cared about. It had suffered heavy losses in the disaster. Many of the crops that had been carefully cared for and had high hopes for had all died. The reorganization after the Cataclysm was also very exhausting. Many things had to be personally supervised by Ji Ju, which was very tiring.
If there was anyone in the Ji family that Yanjiao liked, it would be Ji Ju. Other than the Thousand Grain Gold, most of the popular crops in Yanjiao had been given to them by Ji Ju.
Ji Ju sighed when he saw Shao Xuan again.
Years ago, when the late king had decided to kill Yanjiao, Ji Ju had gone to the palace to vent his anger. Unfortunately, he hadn't been involved in politics and couldn't interfere. The decision of the Royal City's six noble families couldn't be changed by him alone.
But the one who overthrew the throne wasn't an outsider but a member of the Ji family. It was good that Ji Fang had taken over the throne. At least Ji Ju approved of Ji Fang's decision to sign a peace treaty with Yanjiao. No matter what others said about Yanjiao, Ji Ju had his own judgment.
Ji Ju thought that a tribe that could grow good grains was definitely worth making friends with.
Ji Ju was very happy to see Shao Xuan again. After the banquet, he even invited Shao Xuan to the farm for a chat.
Shao Xuan didn't refuse. He felt that Ji Ju must have other matters to discuss with him at this late hour.
He let Guigou and the rest go back to check on the others. Shao Xuan followed Ji Ju out of the city to the farm. Guigou and the rest went directly to Yanjiao's place. Although they'd received reports that everything was fine, as the leader, Guigou was still worried. After all, this was Royal City territory. He had to see for himself. Also, Shao Xuan had whispered to him about his decision before leaving. Guigou was also concerned. Things didn't look good.
Shao Xuan followed Ji Ju to the farm. Ji Ju couldn't wait to ask if the seeds he'd given him had been planted and how they were growing. When he heard that the seeds were growing well and that the field had expanded, the Thousand Grain Gold's situation was under control, Ji Ju smiled from the bottom of his heart.
He stuffed more seeds into Shao Xuan's hands and told him what kind of crops they were and what to pay attention to when planting them. He told Shao Xuan everything. After Shao Xuan noted it down, Ji Ju paused and said, "Actually, there's another reason I called you here tonight. An old friend wants to see you but he can't move around."
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