Chapter 637: Sky-High Meeting Fee

"Of course not, otherwise the Ke family would be eaten poor even if they had a Profound Crystal Mine." Fang Canran continued, "As rich as the Ke family, they wouldn't just use Boundless Gold to feed Zu Ju; they must add extra ingredients to coax it into being half-full. So according to the list I just recited, it only costs 1.2 million taels."

"Only." He Lingchuan smiled bitterly. He searched his whole body clean, and it was only enough to pay a fraction.

Fine, the plan to feed Zu Ju until it fell asleep and then take action went bankrupt at this moment.

No money is no money; even if he were sold, he couldn't scrape together 1.2 million taels. People have to bow to reality; he had to think of Plan B.

"Know why the Emperor assigned it to the Ke family? Zu Ju is not something anyone can afford to offer."

He Lingchuan nodded repeatedly: "Then can I stand at Zhaixing Tower and throw minerals into the rock pool?"

"You can." Why is this youth so interested in Zu Ju? Could this be the "friend's entrustment"? He Lingchuan's eyeballs turned: "By the way, I remember Brother Fang once said that in recent years, the quantity of exotic minerals purchased by the Ke family through Dun Garden has been continuously decreasing."

"Young Master He has a good memory."

"Did the Ke family find another supplier?"

"No." Fang Canran shook his head, "Cooperating with the Ke family for many years, Dun Garden's supply has always been the most stable in price and quality."

His words had a faint pride: "Young Master He perhaps doesn't know, the most important thing in this kind of long-term cooperation is stable quality, price is secondary."

"Then why did the Ke family reduce their purchases?" He Lingchuan stroked his chin, "Could it be that they dare to deduct Zu Ju's offerings?"

Fang Canran considered his words: "Actually, Zu Ju's offerings are borne by the Tiangong and the Ke family according to a ratio; the Tiangong takes about seventy percent, and the Ke family pays the remaining thirty percent. As far as I know, this ratio has been implemented for a hundred years and has not changed to this day."

He Lingchuan suddenly understood.

The Heavenly God designating the Profound Crystal Mine to the Ke family is a supreme honor, but the obligations the Ke family has to bear are not small. Just the offerings—uh, actually, feeding the Mountain Swamp—is a huge expense—

So huge that even the Tiangong is unwilling to bear it alone.

But if they split the account seventy-thirty, the Ke family couldn't arbitrarily deduct Zu Ju's rations.

The problem lies with the Tiangong—over the years, the overall food treatment provided by the Tiangong to Zu Ju has been downgraded.

He Lingchuan easily thought through the reason: after the Spirit Gathering Array was put into use, it formed a huge suppression on Zu Ju, making this rock-fire monster unable to do whatever it wanted as before. The Tiangong also held a grudge against it for causing the Lingxu City earthquake more than ten years ago, seriously reducing the Heavenly God's prestige. Since this watchdog had been chained, the Tiangong had to teach it a lesson, letting it neither be full nor starve to death.

Of course, the objective reason is that the spiritual energy of heaven and earth has further declined in the past ten years, the production capacity of the Profound Crystal Mine has decreased, and the offerings to Zu Ju cannot be as abundant as before.

He Lingchuan laughed: "Poor Mountain Swamp must be hungry. Hmm, Brother Fang doesn't happen to have these two minerals?"

He recited the two that looked cheapest on the list: "Shaoling Ore and... Thousand Gold Rock?"

Fang Canran also had a good memory, pondered for a long time, and nodded: "Yes, both have."

He Lingchuan hadn't had time to smile when he continued: "Shaoling Ore is coarse, thirty taels of silver per jin; you need at least three hundred jin to go to Zhaixing Tower; if you bring less, it's like throwing money into the water, Zu Ju will be too lazy to pay attention to you; Thousand Gold Rock is cheaper, twenty taels of silver per jin, but the Mountain Swamp doesn't seem to like it very much."

He Lingchuan felt a sharp pain in his heart: "Three hundred jin?"

Damn it, three hundred jin of Shaoling Ore is nine thousand taels! Plus three hundred jin of Thousand Gold Rock, that's fifteen thousand taels!

Doing nothing, just wanting to say hello to Zu Ju, the meeting fee has to be fifteen thousand taels?! Fifteen million coins.

No wonder the Tiangong wants to deduct its rations; this thing eats too expensively, and it only picks expensive things to eat.

Fang Canran saw the veins on his forehead jumping and kindly said: "I can give you a ten percent discount."

"Can twenty percent work?" He Lingchuan smiled bitterly, "Look at how happily we chatted today, give a friendly price."

"Indeed... then fifteen percent off, no more." Once talking about feelings, it hurts money.

"Fine, when can I pick up the goods?"

"Tomorrow." Fang Canran also reminded him, "But this little bit of stuff is just a snack for it; it's very hard to say whether it's willing to come out. Look at the stone bridge of Zhaixing Tower, people are throwing offerings down all day, but the Mountain Swamp never shows its face. It's not a koi in a lotus pond; it won't necessarily pop its head out just because you give it a bite to eat."

"..." Teasing him? This fifteen thousand taels thrown into the magma might not even hear a splash? "You'd better add some spiritual wood to adjust its taste."

That means, have to spend more money? He Lingchuan felt his scalp tingling, and suddenly remembered one thing: "Uh, by the way, is Seafloor Wood okay?"

"You have it?" Fang Canran thought for a while, "That's fine, but the age must be good, or the taste must be special."

"There's a difference?"

"Of course. Spiritual wood has life, and life is vastly different, unlike minerals which are so stable."

He Lingchuan took a deep breath: "Thanks for Brother Fang's guidance! By the way—"

He remembered one more thing: "Can you get Frost Pills?"

"Frost Pills?" Fang Canran thought for a long time, "Seems familiar, what are they used for?"

"A kind of crystal produced by the Danube beast, a specialty that can only be obtained in the Grass Sea activity."

Fang Canran let out a long "Oh": "Remembered. The last Grass Sea activity didn't hunt any Frost Pills; if you want them, I guess you have to wait for the Grass Sea activity to start in a few days. I can collect them for you, but this thing is very rare, not necessarily received."

He Lingchuan had a count in his heart, took out 7,700 taels of silver notes: "Here, money for Shaoling Ore. Forget about the Thousand Gold Rock."

Save a little where possible. Damn his great-uncle, the silver notes he just got from Fang Canran hadn't even warmed up before they were returned! Fang Canran took the silver notes, not giving change at all. "Will be delivered tomorrow."

He Lingchuan was going back, Fang Canran sent him to the manor entrance, and both sides said goodbye with a smile.

This mutual probing was over.

……

Fang Canran returned to Dun Garden.

In the vast manor, he lived in a two-story small building with a single door and courtyard on the west side. In the magnificent and exquisite architectural complex of Dun Garden, it was inconspicuous, but very quiet.

Fang Canran walked to the bedroom on the second floor, and the servant prepared hot water and hurriedly retreated. Manager Fang liked not to be disturbed when resting here; the whole Dun Garden knew this.

When he was washing his face, a flapping sound came from above, and then a slightly hoarse voice asked him:

"You went to probe that kid, what was the result?"

A large red-backed blue-winged parrot landed on the washbasin rack, its cheeks covered with fine lines.

"Didn't probe clearly." Fang Canran casually set up a barrier, checked the room, and only then told the Pianxiang Manor trip in detail.

The parrot heard the tense part, and its wings flapped: "I said long ago, you shouldn't have acted yourself! Planning and strategy are your strengths!"

"The strong hand hasn't returned, and the remaining people can't deal with He Xiao." So he acted himself, "Regarding the spiral ring, I didn't want a third person to know."

But the parrot was right, he shouldn't have taken this risk.

"Where did this person pop out from, knowing Shao Old Man's past so clearly?" The parrot shook its feathers, "Could it be that you are suspected, and this person is here to probe you?"

"The code he recited, logically speaking, no outsider knows." Fang Canran shook his head, "Now only you and I know, even the Fang family branch doesn't know. Lingxu City? Impossible."

"Do you think he told how much truth? He talked about his origin, that's pure nonsense." The parrot shouted, "It's a perfunctory excuse without any sincerity."

"If it were someone else, I would think he wanted to blackmail or threaten me; this kind is easier to handle." Fang Canran wiped his face with a towel, "The one whose motivation can't be seen is the most troublesome."

The parrot's voice became sharp: "Is the Oath Chain definitely effective? What if he finds a way to be detrimental to you? The Heavenly Demon goes crazy when it hears your ancestor's name; it won't give you a chance to argue."

"He wants to contact me, but he seems to have scruples himself, which is why he only said three parts of truth." Fang Canran was not in a hurry, "I investigated his performance in the Elixir of Immortality case; Zhongsun Mou and Cen Poqing tried to harm him several times but were resolved, just like his encounters in Lingxu City. If it were someone else, they would have died several times. This person's means and will cannot be underestimated. And he came all the way from the Chiyan Kingdom to Lingxu City following the case; if you say he has any premeditation toward me, or was instructed by someone, hmm—"

Fang Canran shook his head: "Doesn't look like it."

"Then what do you plan to do?" The parrot was a bit anxious, walking back and forth on the rack with two legs, "Just leave it alone?"

"He actually asked about Zu Ju's offerings today, and I told him."

"Offerings? He actually asked about offerings!" The parrot was nervous, its feathers stood up, and one bird seemed to expand into two big ones, "Did he discover something!"

"Not necessarily." Fang Canran stroked his chin, "Is this person aiming for Zu Ju, what exactly is his plan?"

"He wouldn't be like you, right?" The parrot said angrily, "You know Lingxu City like the back of your hand, and you failed."

"The Heavenly God won't sit and watch the volcano under its butt erupt again, so this matter was not easy to handle in the first place." Fang Canran thought for a while, "But speaking of the Elixir of Immortality case, there is another strange place."

"Ah, what?"

"The case submitted by the Chiyan Kingdom shook the Royal Court, because it involved the Grand Minister of Agriculture and the Tongxin Guards. I heard that several elders rushed to Zhaixing Tower in the middle of the night to block the Emperor, wanting to deliberate on the special envoy to be sent to Baishajue. Originally, there would have been a long game here, but the Emperor said that Bai Ziqi was already in the Chiyan Kingdom, so just transfer him over to handle it. The elders were caught off guard and were very unhappy."

"So what?"

"Bai Ziqi is the Deputy Cloud Envoy, trusted by the Heavenly God and valued by the Emperor; he is indeed the only candidate to handle this case. However..."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 638 =====