Chapter 1376

"Demon puppet masters are very rare; they are not cabbages that you can see everywhere on the market. The demon puppet that appeared in Greenery Villa is very likely related to the murderer who killed Situ Yu." "It wouldn't be the same one, would it?"

"Probably not." Dong Rui didn't need to identify it; He Lingchuan could deduce it himself, "That demon puppet master controlled three demon puppets, including the Hinge-Tailed Tiger, and seemed particularly strained. The assassination of Situ Yu was decisive, swift, and calculated; this could not have come from the same person."

Just like Dong Rui's suspicion, this might be an organization.

A demon puppet master organization.

"This organization has a red and white grand gate, and they are still hunting Xiao An," He Lingchuan said firmly, "This little girl escaped from there."

"So the Pisha people found this group of demon puppet masters and asked them to assassinate Situ Yu?"

"It's very likely." He Lingchuan's face was solemn, "Being able to kill even the Marshal of the Allied Forces, this demon puppet master organization is extraordinary. Pisha couldn't do it even after using the power of the whole clan, and had to ask them for help; this is truly unusual."

He was an outsider; he had seen the power of Beijia and the Mou Nation and knew that state power could be terrifying. And on the Glittering Gold Plain, a person whom Pisha, which resisted the forces of seven nations, could not assassinate, could be done by asking an organization for help; this itself was against common sense.

Unless the high-level power of this demon puppet master organization far exceeded the local forces.

If so, why did it still hide in the dark? Why didn't it come out and dominate one side openly? The rules of the Glittering Gold Plain were simple if you said they were simple: whoever has the bigger fist is the boss.

"Xiao An is still missing."

"No. There are many clues coming for the reward, but none of them are reliable; no one has really seen her. Xiao An has completely disappeared." He Lingchuan had always been curious; since the demon puppet master organization was powerful, why could this little girl avoid the pursuit of the demon puppet master organization and succeed repeatedly? Half an hour later, Jiang Lishui came in and reported the latest progress on the arson case at the Xuan City branch of the Yangshan Society: The Xuan City branch had always followed He Lingchuan's requirements, not expanding business opportunities without authorization, and only doing business stipulated by the agreement between Yangshan and the Yao Nation. He Lingchuan knew very well that many people were watching these agreements, and the Yangshan Society's initial activities in the Yao Nation must be low-key, law-abiding, and quiet, so as not to let people catch a handle.

The Xuan City branch had always been operating lawfully. Jiang Lishui checked forward and found that the only large order it had taken recently was receiving a batch of Chigu horses five days before the accident.

Yangshan lacked good horses, and He Lingchuan coveted the fine steeds of the Glittering Gold Plain.

In order to get closer to Yangshan, the Yao King specifically added the famous Chigu horses to the bilateral agreement. The first batch of 100 Chigu horses were all carefully selected fine breeds, and they were handled by the Xuan City branch of the Yangshan Archipelago!

By the time the accident happened at the Xuan City branch, this batch of horses was almost transported to the Peng Nation, and then they would take a ship at Julu Port to go to the Yangshan Archipelago.

Was the cause of the disaster at the Xuan City branch the Chigu horses?

But the person behind the scenes didn't choose to rob the horses on the road, but burned the Xuan City branch, which showed that what they cared about was not those mere 100 horses. As for the person in charge of the Xialin branch being framed and imprisoned, no matter how you look at it, it seems like conveying an attitude to Yangshan:

I don't like you, you'd better be careful; I'm still the one who has the final say here.

Those with this kind of confidence and this kind of means are usually not ordinary local forces.

They say that peers are enemies, so Jiang Lishui went to check the business scriptures behind the Chigu horses.

This check was amazing, intertwined.

Military horses are important strategic resources. The Yao Nation does not allow neighbors to engage in large-scale trading privately, but it also uses this resource to trade itself, which is monopolizing this line of business.

However, after the Yangshan Society investigated, it found that even with official monopoly, there were seven official merchants, big and small, doing warhorse business. Leaving aside the small ones, the three big ones all had backgrounds of pure red gold.

Among them, the one who almost monopolized the Chigu horse business in secret was—

Xue Zongwu.

He Lingchuan was also a bit moved: "Xue Zongwu is a great general of the Yao Nation, with many military achievements, arrogant and domineering, notorious abroad, and also controversial in the Yao Nation. I didn't know he was doing such a big business under his hand."

He studied the Yao Nation, so naturally, he had to study the data of important figures in the Yao Nation. Xue Zongwu also guarded the northern border of the Yao Nation and was a well-deserved protector general.

Good, very good, very good.

Isn't this a coincidence? "Xue Zongwu's industry is huge, but he doesn't manage it himself," Jiang Lishui replied, "Take the Chigu horse business, for example; it doesn't belong to him personally on the surface, but to Xue Zongwu's in-laws."

"But the agreement between the Yao Nation and Yangshan is that at least 120 Chigu horses and 180 Shancheng horses must be sold to Yangshan every year, which may have touched Xue Zongwu's—" He Lingchuan's eyes swept, seeing Ling Guang eating a peach, "—peach, so he wants to give us some color."

The growth of horses takes time, and external purchase orders are often placed when they are foals, and delivery is made when the horses grow up.

But at this time, the Yao Nation and Yangshan made an agreement, and the Yao King showed favor to He Lingchuan, selling him 100 Chigu horses directly. When the King opened his mouth, it was easy, but for the official merchants doing horse business, this came too suddenly, and the original agreement for their own orders could not be canceled at will, which was very difficult to handle.

And, in the future—the key is in the future—Yangshan would buy 300 good horses every year, and the purchase price was very low, less than 50% of the market price.

The horse merchants were in a difficult position and had to go to their protective umbrella to cry.

"This is not right," Ling Guang was very surprised, "Xue Zongwu is a high official; he should know that the Yao Nation and you are getting along very well, and selling horses is also the King's order. Why would he find trouble for us at this time?"

"Now the Yangshan Archipelago is gradually becoming famous in the central part of the Glittering Gold Plain, but the Yao people look down on any other force, including us," He Lingchuan analyzed, "If you stand from Xue Zongwu's perspective, how great can Yangshan be? Isn't it just a foreign merchant society? Even if it is valued by the Yao King now—the merchant groups and figures valued by the Yao King in the past may not be few, but in the long run, that's about it."

"But Xue Zongwu is different; he is a real border official and a famous general of the Yao Nation, with plenty of confidence. We hinder his business and offend his interests; he is unhappy, so he gives us some eye drops. It's just killing a few people; does it count as a big deal for him? He holds military power; what else can the Yao King do to deal with him?"

"I originally thought that the business environment here in the Yao Nation would be better and more civilized; now it seems that it has the same taste as the Glittering Gold Plain." The Yao Nation grew up on this land of Glittering Gold; how civilized and elegant could it be? He Lingchuan leaned back, his eyes without a smile, "Do you know why they say 'the current official is not as good as the one in charge'?"

(End of chapter)