Chapter 753

Late at night, the western part of Louser Arcade.

Unlike the Red Cedar Avenue, known mockingly by the residents of the Capital as the "Noble District" and dotted with numerous old noble estates, the western area of Louser Arcade, called the "Rich District," though also home to many nobles, rarely features large estates.

Since its completion came nearly a century later than that of Red Cedar Avenue, the land-scarce Capital no longer permits enclosing land to build grand estates; furthermore, most residents here are newly risen nobles who made their fortunes through commerce, their political standing far inferior to that of the old nobility, so naturally, the scale of their residences has been downgraded again and again.

To own several rows of exquisite, ornate townhouses here was already considered "top-tier" within the entire "Rich District"; if one could also add a medium-sized garden, then the owner of such a residence would most likely be a key figure wielding influence in the Capital's political arena.

However, this rule was not entirely absolute.

After all, although the full construction of Louser Arcade was completed late, the area was not barren wasteland beforehand; several relatively ancient noble estates were incorporated into the boundaries of Louser Arcade, and the Emerald Feather Estate belonging to the Golden Pheasant family was one of them.

……

Strange, what exactly is that Golden Pheasant Hou Jue after?

Stepping on the road bricks, which should have been very white but had turned deep yellow after hundreds of years of rain erosion, and arriving near the entrance of the Emerald Feather Estate, Hearing Li Ang frowned slightly as he gazed at the magnificent buildings revealed amidst the dense foliage.

To speak reasonably, although in terms of sheer land area the Precious Flower Estate was clearly larger, the estate before his eyes was not much smaller.

Moreover, judging by the intricate bas-reliefs on the main building's facade, the marble statues scattered like stars throughout the garden, and the decorations on the outer portico that were instantly recognizable as the work of a master, the Emerald Feather Estate, purely in terms of splendor, surpassed the simple and unadorned Precious Flower Estate by an immeasurable margin.

So were they mad? Instead of living in their own house, hundreds of years old, they insisted on forcibly occupying Elder Emma's estate, which had been abandoned for six years?

Full of confusion, Hearing Li Ang stepped out of the pitch-black night, walked into the light outside the estate gate, entered the line of sight of the night watch, and slightly opened his mouth.

"Meow~"

"Who is it?!"

Seeing a somewhat hazy figure approach, the guard on duty immediately became alert, instinctively wanting to wake his companion napping in the guardhouse to question the visitor's identity and ask why he was approaching the Emerald Feather Estate alone at night.

However, just then, as if too much oil had dripped into the lamp, the streetlamp directly above the guard post suddenly flared up for an instant; the originally soft night light became abnormally glaring, making the guard involuntarily squint his eyes.

And when he struggled to blink and continued looking at that figure, he discovered it was not a person at all, but a cat with something hanging around its neck.

Strange… the size difference between a cat and a human is so great; how could I have mistaken it?

Staring at the small cat in surprise again and again, but no matter how he looked, it was just a short-legged cat with fluffy long fur all over, showing no sign of transforming into a cat-girl; the Golden Pheasant family guard could only hiss at it twice, then returned to his original position in utter confusion, however…

"Meow!!!"

Accompanied by a cat's cry full of anger, the gray-and-white cat transformed into a gray-and-white phantom, instantly pouncing before the guard's eyes and violently knocking him to the ground.

I… was beaten up by a cat?

Before the knocked-down guard could accept this absurd reality, the small cat with tiny paws used his chest as a springboard, leaped through the open window, and entered the guardhouse.

The doorman responsible for registration inside the guardhouse could only let out a cry of shock before falling silent, while the other two guards on the night shift, after emitting a muffled groan, also ceased all movement.

???

Noticing the guardhouse had become unusually quiet, the guard who had struggled to his feet was startled, hurried over to take a look, and then discovered with utter shock that the three people inside were already lying sprawled about.

The entire guardhouse was covered in tiny cat footprints, but that strange little cat had long vanished without a trace, while a faint, barely audible breathing sound came from the back of his own neck…

"Meow!!!"

……

"Well done."

Catching the somewhat hazy small cat, Hearing Li Ang gently scratched its chin, then lightly flicked the small red cross hanging on his chest.

Accompanied by a dreamlike, melodious chime, the hazy gray-and-white small cat vanished, and a door key carved with a pheasant pattern suddenly appeared in Hearing Li Ang's palm.

Sorry, I'm not very familiar with using this thing; my strike might have been a bit too heavy, but you can all get off work early today.

Apologizing mentally to the guards who had fainted on the ground with terrified expressions, Hearing Li Ang tossed them through the window into the guardhouse, then, using the key found by the Dream Cat, unlocked the already locked main gate and entered the Golden Pheasant family estate with full propriety.

The "Dream Invader," crafted by the old man of the third generation using the weapon of the "Lord of Desire Dreams" as its core material, possessed an extremely concealed activation method.

As long as any form of "interaction" occurred with oneself, the target's soul would be shaken, and the power of the Dream Realm would briefly intervene in reality, using his soul as a springboard.

As an ordinary person with no abnormalities on his body, upon hearing the "meow" sound he himself had made, the Golden Pheasant family guard fell under the control of the "Dream Invader," and under its influence directly "dreamed" of a small cat.

And this Dream Cat, which had invaded reality by leveraging his soul, under Hearing Li Ang's control, easily knocked out everyone inside the guardhouse and left a large number of cat footprints throughout the room.

When the General Bureau sends people to investigate, if the investigators are not thorough enough, once they cross-reference this guard's memory, the direction of the investigation will be directly misled, even led toward some abnormal entity regarding "turning into a cat."

Even if no results are found in the end and suspicion falls back on him, with this non-existent target, his own suspicion will be indirectly diluted; this is his second contingency plan to shed suspicion, following the "alibi" provided by the carriage driver.

And as the saying goes, if there is one and two, there will be three and four; as for his third contingency plan…

"Let's get to work!"

Touching his button and summoning Hearing Heishanyang, Hearing Li Ang pointed toward the main building, still brightly lit in the distance, and said calmly:

"Come! Help me find someone!"

……

"Shh… shh… shh…"

Even though it was already late at night, and the horizon was faintly turning the color of fish belly white, some people were still not in deep sleep, busy at their desks.

After filling nearly half a sheet of letter paper with elaborate, ornate cursive script, the man, looking somewhat weary, folded the letter in his hand and handed it to the secretary standing beside the desk.

"Go, seal the letter and affix the seal; tomorrow, deliver it together with my order to the Mining Guild!"

"Understood."

Carefully putting away the letter handed by the man and completing the processing as required, the secretary, equally showing signs of fatigue, forced his spirits up and said:

"My lord Renard, after your letter is delivered, should we continue to court the Mining Guild as before, or…?"

"No need to court them anymore; they have no further value."

Taking another document from the pile on the desk and glancing at the signature at the bottom, the man named Renard frowned and said:

"Previously, I strongly supported the Mining Guild's request to rely on tax reduction policies to move them to Merino County to mine; the spices produced by the spice plantations in Merino County are our Kukko family's greatest rivals.

Since both mining and spice cultivation require high water usage, once the mines open in Merino County, they will compete for water with the several large spice plantations there, suppressing our rivals while simultaneously reducing the Kingdom's spice production and raising spice prices.

This effect is the reason I supported the Mining Guild, not because the hardworking miners themselves hold any value; now that they have taken the order to begin mining, there is no need to continue expending effort on them."

"Ah, understood!"

After recording Hou Jue Renard's instructions, the secretary pondered for a moment, then spoke hesitantly:

"But the miners of the Mining Guild have already clashed several times with the people of Merino County over this matter; seventy or eighty have died in total. If it escalates..." "Then let them go find the Princess. She issued the decree for the Energy Guild; naturally, she bears responsibility when things go wrong."

"Moreover, she has always wanted to bypass the Treasury and the Council to find sources of revenue requiring no approval, to fill the military's massive funding hole. The industrial guilds formed by these citizens are her strongest supporters; they even voluntarily funded and donated weapons for two regiments.

If a few more people die this time, it might wake up those mud-legs, making them realize that the game between the Royal Family and the Treasury is not something they are qualified to participate in. Perhaps that would even be a good thing.

Also, who delivered this letter to my desk?"

After glancing through the earnest declaration letter in his hand in a single sweep, Leonard frowned tightly and said with a displeased face:

"The Weavers' Guild actually submitted a declaration, crying to me that they can't survive, hoping for a tax reduction... If their taxes are reduced, what will the municipal government do this year? The greenery in the Church District and the Arcade should have been renovated last year; without collecting their taxes, where am I to get the money?"

"This... the Weavers' Guild does indeed have some difficulties..."

After flipping through the corresponding materials, the Secretary Officer cautiously reminded:

"After we lost six years ago, two of the Kingdom's overseas trade routes were seized, including the one for transporting textiles. This caused many goods to go unsold, and a batch of weaving workshops had already gone bankrupt.

And the northbound land route you and Bao... and that family operate together, although it can still transport textiles, is subject to heavy taxes by the Ashito Kingdom, resulting in very low profits. So they might indeed have some difficulties..."

"Why are you so talkative today?"

After slightly narrowing his eyes, Leonard looked at his Secretary Officer with coldness in his gaze and said with an unfriendly expression:

"Did the Weavers' Guild give you money?"

"They did give a little... but these are indeed facts."

The Secretary Officer smiled awkwardly, then spoke:

"You know, many in the Weavers' Guild are still small and medium workshops; they truly cannot compare to those wealthy merchants. With even a slight change, they easily cannot hold on..."

"Then let them hold on!"

Leonard snorted and said:

"I don't care about your taking money, but a tax reduction is absolutely not allowed!

Don't think I don't know; I used to work in this trade. To make money in this trade, there is nothing more than draining the blood of the weavers. One weaver can do the work of two hundred bolts of cloth; giving back the money for fifty or sixty bolts is enough.

So, instead of asking me for that little tax reduction, it would be better to squeeze out more water directly. Press the wages down to forty bolts, and they won't starve. If you can press it to thirty bolts, that would be more useful than me reducing taxes twice!"

"That is indeed correct, but the weavers might..."

"Then drive away the troublemakers. Do I need to teach them this?"

After crumpling the Weavers' Guild's tax reduction declaration letter and casually tossing it into the trash can, Leonard said with extreme impatience:

"If you really can't recruit people, just go to the slums and pull them out! Those people will work for a bowl of rice. They can't do the dyeing jobs that require skill, but can't they do the weaving jobs that just require moving arms and legs?

Also, don't think that because you also bear the surname Kuko, I can tolerate you again and again. No matter how many benefits they squeezed out for you, this matter ends here. Not a single copper wheel of the due taxes shall be missing!"

"Alright, then I will go tell them the day after tomorrow..."

"Go tomorrow! Also, how is Bao Hua Manor?"

After drinking a cup of invigorating tea imported from across the sea, Leonard vigorously rubbed his temples on both sides, which were swelling, and asked with his eyes closed:

"They have been cleaning up over there for four or five days, right? Has the main building of the manor been cleared out? Can people live there yet?"

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

The Secretary Officer said sheepishly:

"My Lord Hou Jue, you know, that place has been abandoned for six years. Except for the garden, which is occasionally cleaned, most of the rest is overgrown, so..."

"Never mind whether the manor is abandoned or not; clear out a place for me to live first!"

"This... that place is so abandoned; if you go there to live, wouldn't it be..."

"Whether it's abandoned or not doesn't matter; as long as it's habitable and won't collapse."

Stopping his hand from rubbing his temples, Leonard explained with eyes full of weariness:

"The Princess has received the support of that Lionheart Duke. Besides obtaining the Military Department and the Road Department, she has also effectively secured the seat of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords. If Prince Joshua wants to compete with her for the position, the support of the Chancellor of the Exchequer alone is not enough; he must also have the ability to speak in the House of Lords.

According to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if I change my tune and admit to the marriage with that woman, he can help me operate things, forcibly securing the Bao Hua family's seat in the House of Lords. In this way, the two Princes can return to the same starting line.

And moving from Cuiyu Manor to live in Bao Hua Manor is the first step of this operation. Even with the endorsement of the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Royal Family, my people must be there. At the very least, the appearance must be maintained properly to inherit the Bao Hua family's political legacy. Do you understand?"

"I understand..."

"If you understand, then do it!"

Looking at this cousin who was nominally his Secretary Officer but was actually here to learn how to handle state affairs by his side before seeking an opportunity for external deployment, Leonard urged with his last shred of patience:

"Other matters can be put aside, but this matter was ordered by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Moreover, if we can secure the Bao Hua seat, His Majesty the King will also strongly support it. It must be done first!

So now, go and urge them. Wake up those workers and start work overnight for me!"

"Alright! I will go right now!"

The Secretary Officer, having received the order, quickly stood up and walked briskly out of the office. With the disturbance gone, Leonard put down his teacup and began to review the pile of documents stacked high on the desk again. The entire room fell silent once more, with only the rustling sound of the pen tip rubbing against the paper, until...

"Crackle!"

The whale oil in the lamp on the table trembled slightly, emitting a faint humming sound, causing the lamp's light to flicker slightly twice as well, which startled the man who was writing furiously at the desk.

Turning to look at the empty side table nearby, Leonard couldn't help but frown and shouted loudly:

"Mark?"

"Where are you?"

After waiting a while with no response, and not even the guards stationed in the outer room making a sound, Leonard couldn't help but frown and stood up from the desk.

"Mark?"

"I am here."

Accompanied by a slightly muffled response, a slightly hazy figure appeared by the door, but the body type seemed slightly off, looking a bit slimmer than the slightly chubby Mark...

"Mark?"

"Mm."

Accompanied by the affirmative response, the person walked out from the shadows outside the door. The figure that originally looked somewhat hazy returned to normal under the light and stabilized completely.

Seeing Leonard's tense body relax again, the Secretary Officer, whose eyes still held weariness, smiled slightly and said with a peaceful expression:

"My Lord Leonard, I have arrived."

(End of this chapter)