Dark Moon Palace, side hall.
Neither of them spoke, and the atmosphere fell into silence for a while.
"I won't ask you anything, and you don't have to explain." Isabella finally broke the silence. Her voice seemed extremely cold, "You only need to know that I can threaten you. You must do as I say in the future."
Is this coercion?
Chen Rui secretly smiled bitterly and sighed, "It is true that Rolla did 'Soul Destroyer', but it should only be this one. You didn't set up any means near the palace."
"Sure enough, you guessed it." Isabella turned around and had already put on her veil. She threw a stone over, "Then … what about this?"
Chen Rui took the stone and looked at it. It turned out to be a recording stone. The scenes of the 2 dancing and kissing just now were all recorded. What made him even more stunned was that the "coercion" scenes in the middle were removed. It seemed that the 2 danced together, then hugged and kissed.
(Wha, when …)
If this stone falls into the hands of Athena and the others … Chen Rui broke out in a cold sweat all of a sudden. This series of schemes is too ruthless. First, they use the suicide bombing incident, and now they use secret photography …
Isabella took out another recording stone that was exactly the same and shook it. It seemed that there was more than one, "I think you don't want anyone to know about the things inside, right?"
Chen Rui nodded quickly.
"I only have one condition. You must come to my place every time you come out of the palace at night. Don't talk to me about conditions. You have no choice. If you don't come, you will bear the consequences. "
Chen Rui broke out in a cold sweat again. It seems that she also guessed the tryst with Jía. She is indeed the head of the Dark Demon's spy!
Although it was a cold tone and insidious coercion, he could clearly feel that her lips were very hot just now. His heartbeat was very fast.
After Isabella left this condition, she didn't pester him anymore. She opened the door and walked out without looking back.
Chen Rui followed a few steps. He opened his mouth, but he didn't say anything in the end. He just sighed and watched the lonely figure under the moonlight getting farther and farther away.
The next day, Jía and Sicali had a formal meeting in the palace council hall.
The attendees included the Flame Legion's commander and Sheriff Athena, Financial Officer Chen Rui, and representatives of the Dark Moon families. It was worth noting that the Red Blood Legion's commander, Kaguron, did not attend because he was busy with military affairs. The Red Blood Legion's representative was the deputy commander, and the Cloak Gang's leader, Aguile. Even at this meeting, Aguile was still dressed in a cloak and did not show his face. On the White Feather Estate's side, Palando did not appear. It was probably because she lost face at the ball last night.
"So … Princess Royal Highness does not plan to hold a birthday celebration?" Sicali frowned slightly and asked. This time, he came under the banner of celebrating Jía's birthday. Isn't he being rejected now?
"It's just a small birthday that is not a full number. It's not worth mentioning. Although the Dark Moon has made some gains now, due to the comprehensive transformation and construction of the city some time ago, plus the cooperation with the Bloody Vine Flower Estate, a lot of funds have been spent. We are currently in an urgent need to raise money to pay off debts, so we don't plan to be extravagant and wasteful. I appreciate Sir Sicali's kindness. As for those expensive gifts … "
Sicali had to nod and said, "Princess Royal's frugality is admirable, but since I have brought those gifts, how can I take them back? Just take it as a witness of the friendship between the 2 estates. "
Jía thought for a moment and nodded, "Thank you so much."
Sicali took advantage of the situation and said, "To be honest, Your Highness, I came to the Dark Moon this time. In addition to celebrating Your Highness's birthday, I also have some … uh, difficulties. I came to ask for help from the Dark Moon. I hope Your Highness can give me a helping hand for the sake of the many years of friendship between the 2 places."
Jía said calmly, "What is the difficulty? Sir Sicali, just say it. "
Sicali hesitated at first, and he finally "mustered up the courage" to say, "Due to a moment of carelessness at the lords' meeting, I participated in the fundraising. The capital has not returned it so far, causing the White Feather Estate to have a large deficit now. There is a serious shortage of various expenses, and the estate is almost unable to operate. Princess Royal, please give me a helping hand for the sake of our past friendship to solve my urgent need."
Sicali's request was expected by Jía. The Dark Moon was now a rich treasure land. Which estate wouldn't be jealous? If it weren't for the Dark Moon's strong military deterrent ability, they would have used all kinds of methods to seize it.
Jía turned her gaze to Financial Officer Chen Rui, and Chen Rui immediately got up and said, "As Princess Royal Highness said just now, the financial situation of the Dark Moon is quite tight now. The first is the large amount of debt left over from the renovation and expansion of the urban area, the transformation of the sewage and water supply system, the renovation of the roads, the repair and construction of the towns, etc. The second is the loss from the cooperation with the Shadow Empire's Bloody Vine Flower Estate, the expenses of funding the Blue Lava Estate and the surrounding estates, etc. The third part is the military expenses, the expansion expenses of the 3 legions, military supplies, the construction of the Walan Fortress and Town Walan, etc. These 3 parts of the expenses are like 3 mountains, pressing on the Dark Moon's head. Although the Dark Moon's construction and economy have achieved certain results, it is still unable to make ends meet. However, this is mainly caused by the large amount of money needed in the early stage of construction. The later stage will tend to be stable. Now is also the most critical moment. We can't save money. We must determine a complete framework. Otherwise, if we are not careful, there will be a butterfly effect, which will affect the long-term. For some things, we can consider using the crocodile law to cut it off when it's necessary … "
Sicali and the people on the White Feather Estate side finally understood. He said a lot at the beginning, which was complaining about being poor, but he didn't quite understand the latter part. Sicali couldn't help but ask, "Sir Chen Rui, what is the butterfly effect and what is the crocodile law?"
This question was exactly what Chen Rui wanted. He immediately explained, "It's just some economic terminology. The butterfly effect refers to the result of economic development. It has a great dependence on the initial conditions. A small deviation may cause a huge difference in the results. For example, there was a ballad that went like this: Losing a nail, breaking a shoe; Breaking a shoe, breaking a horse; Breaking a horse, wounding a knight; Wounding a knight, losing a battle; Losing a war, losing an empire. Then, we can see the change of a nail leading to the demise of an empire … "
Both the White Feather Estate and the Dark Moon listened to these wonderful remarks with relish. Especially the people on the White Feather Estate side, their gazes toward Chen Rui had changed. Whether it was an enemy or a friend, capable people were always worthy of respect.
Chen Rui saw the expressions of these people, and he secretly snickered. In fact, many things were bluffing with the theories of another world. This endless theory lingered for a long time, and he finally went back to the topic of borrowing money from Sicali, "So, according to my analysis, it will take at least 15 years for the Dark Moon to completely stabilize the entire income and expenditure structure and really start to make profits. At present, it is not appropriate to increase debts. Therefore, Princess Royal's decision not to hold a birthday celebration this time is very correct. The current economic structure is at the most critical moment. Any decision is likely to affect the economic development situation for hundreds of years in the future. Therefore, I think it is quite unwise to force ourselves to provide foreign aid in this debt situation! We can't ruin the plan that we have worked hard to design because of our face or the so-called friendship. If these words offend you, please forgive me, Princess Royal Highness and Sir Sicali. "
"15 years huh?" Jía frowned slightly. She sighed and said to Sicali, "Sir Sicali, you have also heard Chen Rui's analysis. What do you think?"
Sicali was a little dumbfounded for a while. Chen Rui's long economic treatise was indeed wonderful. He quoted classics and analyzed incisive and admirable. He was indeed worthy of being the Demon Realm's top internal affairs talent. Many professional terms were simply unheard of. How could he find any loopholes?
Facing the ball kicked back by Jía, Sicali really wanted to kick it back again, but he couldn't lift his foot. He was speechless for a while.
Jía sincerely admired Chen Rui's wisdom. A righteous analysis put an end to the other party's idea of "borrowing money". She added, "How about this, I will personally give the White Feather Estate some material support. The amount is not much. I hope Sir Sicali doesn't mind."
This sentence completely blocked the possibility of Sicali borrowing money. The Dark Moon was obviously unwilling to borrow money because they were poor, but he could only express his gratitude. It could be said that he had to swallow his pride.
Sicali thought about it and said, "Since the Dark Moon has its own difficulties, I don't want to embarrass Princess Jía, so let's change my request. The White Feather Estate has a large area of barren soil that cannot be farmed. The people only rely on a small amount of land that can be planted to live. I heard that the Dark Moon has obtained a secret method to transform the soil in the treasure of the Blue Lake Mountain Range. The effect is remarkable, and it has helped the sister city of the Shadow Empire's Bloody Vine Flower Estate to successfully improve a large area of barren land. I'm shamelessly asking Your Highness to send someone to transform the land of the White Feather Estate so that the people can live a well-fed life. "
Sicali deliberately mentioned the cooperation between the Dark Moon and the Bloody Vine Flower Estate, intending to hint to Jía that since she could even help a foreign estate like the Bloody Vine Flower Estate, then she should help the White Feather Estate which also belonged to the Fallen Angel Empire. Moreover, the 2 estates had always had a "good" friendship before.
Jía nodded slightly, "Please continue."
Sicali saw that there seemed to be a way out, and he was secretly delighted. He continued, "The financial officer, Sir Chen Rui, is recognized as a key figure for the development of the Dark Moon to this day. His internal affairs are the best in the Demon Realm. The Blue Lava Estate which was originally in turmoil is now thriving. Sir Chen Rui's contributions are indispensable. I want to hire Sir Chen Rui to go to the White Feather Estate as an economic consultant for a period of time to help the White Feather Estate solve some important problems. "
Jía learned about Palando's coercion and seduction at the ball last night from Chen Rui's report before the start of today's meeting. Sicali personally made an "invitation" today. It seemed that one of the real purposes of this trip to the Dark Moon was to poach this human financial officer.
Once Chen Rui went, it was likely that he would never return. Even if he didn't go, he might assassinate him like how Isabella cast the evil voodoo at that time. However, the current Dark Moon was no longer the previous Dark Moon, and the current human was no longer the previous human. Chen Rui's own strength alone was enough to destroy Sicali's group.
Jía sneered secretly with a thoughtful look on her face.
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