Chapter 350: 350 Night Raid (Part 1)

Late night, western part of the Lawther Arcade.

Unlike Red Cedar Avenue, which is jokingly called the "Noble District" by the residents of the capital and is home to a large number of old noble manors, the western part of the Lawther Arcade, known as the "Rich District," although also home to many nobles, rarely has large manors.

Due to the fact that it was completed nearly a hundred years later than Red Cedar Avenue, the capital, where every inch of land is worth an inch of gold, no longer allowed the enclosure of land to build large manors. In addition, most of the people living here were new nobles who started by doing business, and their political status was much worse than that of the old nobles, so the specifications naturally dropped again and again.

Being able to own several gorgeous and exquisite townhouses here was already considered a "top configuration" in the entire "Rich District." If one could also be equipped with a medium-sized garden, then the owner of this residence would mostly be an important figure who controls the wind and clouds in the capital's political arena.

However, this rule was not entirely absolute.

After all, although the Lawther Arcade was fully completed very late, it was not a wasteland before it was completed. There were still several relatively ancient noble manors that were included in the scope of the Lawther Arcade, and the Emerald Feather Manor belonging to the Jin Juan family was one of them.

Strange, what exactly is that Jin Juan Hou Jue trying to do?

When he stepped on the road bricks that should have been very white but had turned deep yellow after hundreds of years of rain erosion, and arrived near the entrance of the Emerald Feather Manor, looking at the gorgeous buildings exposed in the jungle, Leon's brows couldn't help but wrinkle slightly.

Reasonably speaking, although looking only at the floor area, it was clear that the Precious Flower Manor was larger, but the manor in front of him was not much smaller.

And looking at the fine reliefs on the facade of the main building, the scattered marble statues in the garden, and the decorations on the outer porch that one could tell at a glance were from a master's hand, this Emerald Feather Manor was much stronger than the simple style of the Precious Flower Manor in terms of gorgeousness.

So are they crazy? Not living in their own house of several hundred years, but insisting on forcibly occupying the manor that Senior Ai Ma had abandoned for six years?

Holding full of confusion, Leon walked out of the pitch-black night, stepped into the light outside the manor gate, and also entered the field of vision of the night guard, opening his mouth slightly.

"Meow~"

"Who is it?!"

Seeing a somewhat blurry figure approaching, the guard on duty became vigilant, instinctively wanting to call out his companion who was taking a nap in the duty room, and let him question the identity of the visitor, why he would approach the Emerald Feather Manor alone at night.

However, just at this moment, it seemed that the oil in the lamp had dripped a bit too much, the street lamp directly above the guard post suddenly exploded for a moment, and the originally soft night light became abnormally dazzling, making the guard's eyes squint involuntarily.

And when he tried hard to blink his eyes and continued to look at that figure, he found that it was not a person, but a cat with something hanging around its neck.

Strange... the size difference between a cat and a person is so big, how could I have misread it?

Staring at the little cat with surprise, but no matter how he looked, it was just a short-legged cat with fluffy long hair all over its body, with no sign of turning into a cat-girl. The guard of the Jin Juan family had to hiss at it, and then returned to his original position in confusion, however...

"Meow!!!"

Accompanied by a cat call full of anger, the gray and white cat turned into a gray and white phantom, instantly pounced in front of the guard, and knocked him to the ground in a rather wild manner.

I... was beaten by a cat?

Before the knocked-down guard could accept this absurd reality, the little cat with short limbs pounced on his chest as a springboard and drilled into the duty room through the open window.

The doorman responsible for registration in the duty room only had time to let out a scream before he lost his voice, and the other two guards on night shift also lost their movement after letting out a muffled grunt.???

Finding that the duty room was too quiet, the guard who struggled to get up was shocked and hurriedly ran over to take a look, and then was shocked to find that the three people in the room were lying down in a mess.

In the whole duty room, there were small cat footprints everywhere, but that strange little cat had long since disappeared, and at the back of his neck, there was the sound of breathing that could barely be heard...

"Meow!!!"

"Well done."

Catching the slightly blurry cat, reaching out and scratching its chin, Leon gently flicked the small red fork hanging on his chest.

Accompanied by a dreamlike and pleasant chime, the blurry gray and white cat disappeared, and a door key engraved with a cuckoo pattern appeared in Leon's palm.

Sorry, I'm not very familiar with this thing, and I seem to have been a bit heavy-handed, but today you can just get off work early.

After apologizing to the guard who fainted in horror in his heart, Leon dragged him into the duty room through the window, then took the key found by the dream cat, opened the gate that had been locked, and entered the Jin Juan family's manor in a grand manner.

The 【Dream Intruder】 crafted for him by the third-generation old man using the weapon of the 【Lord of Dreams】 as the core material has an extremely hidden triggering method.

As long as there is any "interaction" with him, the target's soul will be shaken, and the power of the Dream World will use his soul as a springboard to briefly intervene in reality.

As an ordinary person without any anomalies, after hearing the "meow" sound he made, the guard of the Jin Juan family fell into the control of the 【Dream Intruder】, and under its influence, he directly "dreamed" of a little cat.

And this dream cat, which invaded reality with the help of his soul, easily knocked out everyone in the duty room under his control, and left a bunch of cat footprints in the room.

After the General Bureau sends someone to investigate, if the investigator is not careful enough, as long as it is verified with the memory of this guard, the direction of the investigation will be directly led astray, and even led to some anomalous object that "turns into a cat."

Even if the result is not investigated in the end, it will still be found on his head, but with this non-existent target, his suspicion will also be washed away, which is his second backup plan to get rid of suspicion after the "alibi" provided by the coachman.

And as the saying goes, there is one and two, there are three and four, as for his third backup plan...

"Get to work!"

Touching his button and bringing out the Black Goat, Leon pointed to the main building that was still brightly lit in the distance and said calmly:

"Come! Help me find someone!"

"Rustle, rustle, rustle..."

Even though it was late at night, and the sky was even faintly showing a fish-belly white, there were still people who had not fallen into a deep sleep and were still busy at their desks.

After writing more than half a sheet of letter paper with complicated and gorgeous flower-style characters, the man who looked a bit tired folded the letter paper in his hand and handed it to the secretary standing by the table.

"Go, seal the letter and cover it with the seal, and send it to the Mining Association tomorrow along with my order!"

"Okay."

Carefully putting away the letter paper handed by the man and processing it according to the requirements, the secretary, who also looked tired, forced his spirit and said:

"Lord Lei Nade, after your letter is sent, should we continue to win over the Mining Association as before, or?"

"No need to win them over, they have no other value."

Taking another sheet from the documents on the table and looking at the signature at the bottom, the man named Lei Nade frowned and said:

"I supported the Mining Association's request with all my strength before, in order to rely on the tax reduction policy to let them move to Merino County to mine, and the spices produced by the spice gardens in Merino County are the biggest competitors of our Kuke family.

Since both mining and spice planting require high water, as long as the mine is opened in Merino County, it will compete for water with the several large spice gardens there, suppressing competitors while also reducing the kingdom's spice production and increasing the price of spices.

This effect is the reason why I support the Mining Association, not because those bitter people who dig mines have any value. Now that they have taken the order to mine, there is no need to continue to spend effort on them."

"Ah, okay!"

After recording the instructions of Hou Jue Lei Nade, the secretary pondered slightly, and then said with some hesitation:

"But the miners of the Mining Association have already had several conflicts with Merino County because of this matter, and seven or eighty people have died before and after. If it gets bigger..."

"Then let them go to the Princess. The political decree to encourage the Energy Association was issued by her, so she is naturally responsible if something happens."

"And she has always wanted to bypass the Ministry of Finance and the Academy to find a source of fiscal revenue that does not need approval, so as to fill the big hole in the military expenditure of the Ministry of Defense. These industrial associations established by citizens are the people who support her the most, and even took the initiative to donate two regiments of military equipment.

If a few more people can die this time, it can also let those mud-legged people wake up and understand that the game between the royal family and the Ministry of Finance is not something they are qualified to participate in. Maybe it can be considered a good thing.

Also, who sent this letter to my desk?"

After reading the sincere declaration letter in his hand in ten lines at a glance, Lei Nade frowned and said with full displeasure:

"The Weaving Association actually submitted a declaration, crying to me that they couldn't live on, hoping to reduce some taxes... Their taxes were reduced, what should the municipal side do this year? The green plants in the church district and the arcade should have been renovated last year. If I don't collect their taxes, where can I transfer money from?"

"This... the Weaving Association is indeed a bit difficult..."

After flipping through the corresponding materials, the secretary reminded carefully:

"After losing the war six years ago, two of the kingdom's external maritime trade routes were snatched away, and the one that transported fabrics was one of them, causing many things to not be sold, and a batch of weaving workshops closed down.

And the northern land trade route that you and Bao... and that family operate together, although it can continue to transport fabrics, it has to be heavily taxed by the Kingdom of Aishito, resulting in very low profits, so they may indeed be a bit difficult..."

"Why do you talk so much today?"

After narrowing his eyes slightly, Lei Nade looked at his secretary with cold eyes and said unkindly:

"Did the Weaving Association send you money?"

"It did send some... but these are indeed facts."

The secretary smiled embarrassedly, and then said:

"You know, many of the Weaving Association are small and medium-sized workshops, which are indeed incomparable to those big businessmen with deep pockets. They are easy to fail if there is a little change..."

"Then let them hold on!"

Lei Nade hummed and said:

"You can ignore the money you received, but tax reduction is absolutely not allowed!

Don't think I don't know, I did this business back then. If this business wants to make money, it's nothing more than sucking the blood of weavers. A weaver can do the work of two hundred pieces of fabric, and it's enough to give back the money for fifty or sixty pieces of fabric.

So instead of asking me for that little tax reduction, it's better to draw more water directly and suppress the wages to forty pieces without starving to death. If it can be suppressed to thirty pieces, that's more useful than me reducing taxes twice!"

"This is indeed correct, but the weavers are afraid..."

"Then drive away the people who make trouble. Do I need to teach them this?"

After crumpling the tax reduction declaration letter of the weaving industry and throwing it into the trash can, Lei Nade said with impatience:

"If you really can't recruit people, just go to the slums and pull them! Those people will do it if they have a bite to eat. Can't they do the work of dyers who need technology, and weavers who only need to move their arms and legs?"

In addition, don't think that you also have the surname Kuke, and I can tolerate you again and again. No matter how much benefits they squeezed for you, this matter should stop here for me. Not a single copper wheel of tax is allowed to be less!"

"Okay, then I'll go tell them the day after tomorrow..."

"Go tomorrow! Also, what happened to the Precious Flower Manor?"

After drinking a cup of refreshing tea imported from across the sea, Lei Nade rubbed his temples that were bulging on both sides and asked with his eyes closed:

"It's been four or five days since it was cleaned up, right? Has the main building of the manor been cleaned up? Can people live in it?"

"This... I'm afraid it will take another three or four days..."

The secretary said embarrassedly:

"Hou Jue, you know, it has been abandoned for six years. Except for the garden that is occasionally cleaned up, most of the rest of the places are abandoned, so..."

"Don't care whether the manor is abandoned or not, clean up the place where people live first!"

"This... that place is so abandoned, wouldn't you be..."

"Whether it's abandoned or not is not important, as long as people can live in it and it doesn't collapse."

Stopping his hand rubbing his temples, Lei Nade explained with fatigue:

"The Princess has received the support of that Lionheart Duke. In addition to getting the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Road Administration, it is equivalent to winning the seat of the Deputy Speaker of the Academy. If Prince Qiaoshuya wants to compete with her for the position, it is not enough to have the support of the Minister of Finance, he must also have the ability to speak in the Academy.

According to the Minister of Finance, as long as I change my words to admit the marriage with that woman, he can help me operate it and forcibly get the seat of the Precious Flower family in the Academy, so that the two Highnesses can return to the same starting line.

And moving from the Emerald Feather Manor to the Precious Flower Manor is the first step of this operation. Even if there is the endorsement of the Minister of Finance and the royal family, my people must be there, at least to make the appearance, so that I can inherit the political legacy of the Precious Flower family, understand?"

"Understand..."

"Understand, then go do it!"

Looking at this cousin who is nominally his secretary, but actually came to his side to learn how to handle government affairs and then find an opportunity to be sent out, Lei Nade urged with his last patience:

"Other things can be put aside, but this matter is explained by the Minister of Finance, and if you can occupy the seat of the Precious Flower, the Emperor will also strongly support it, so it must be done first!"

"Okay! I'll go now!"

The secretary who received the order hurriedly got up and walked out of the office quickly. Lei Nade, who had no interference, put down his teacup and re-examined the documents piled high on the table. The whole room became quiet again, leaving only the rustling sound of the pen tip rubbing on the paper, until...

"Crack!"

The whale oil in the lamp on the table swayed slightly, making a slight sound, causing the light of the lamp to sway slightly, and also startled the man who was writing hard at the table.

Looking at the empty side table, Lei Nade couldn't help frowning, turned back and shouted loudly:

"Mark?"

"Where are you?"

After waiting for a while without seeing a response, and even the guards guarding the outside didn't move, Lei Nade couldn't help frowning and stood up from the table.

"Mark?"

"I'm here."

Accompanied by a slightly confused response, a slightly blurry figure appeared at the door, but the body seemed to be slightly different, looking slimmer than Mark, who was slightly obese...

"Mark?"

"Hmm."

Accompanied by an affirmative response, the person walked in from the shadows outside the door, and the figure that looked a bit blurry also returned to normal under the light, completely stabilized.

Looking at Lei Nade, whose tense body relaxed again, the secretary, who still had fatigue in his eyes, smiled slightly and said peacefully:

"Lord Lei Nade, I'm here." ===== CHAPTER 351 =====

"Lord Lei Nade, I have arrived."