Chapter 1400: Conditions and Probing

Very quickly, Tuofu laid out her conditions—

"Any intelligence regarding an Advanced Mage is precious; therefore, I need Lord Xia Duo to support the Moon Crown Family in obtaining an additional twenty percent share in the next spice distribution negotiation, or provide two specified types of live Advanced spice plants."

These two conditions appeared not to be overly harsh, but in reality, they were traps at every turn.

First, the twenty percent spice share—how to distribute it had already been negotiated by the three parties; let alone raising the price at the next negotiation, Xia Duo could not possibly agree to this matter itself.

One must know that the source of the spices was not Xia Duo himself, but Lord Collins; unless Xia Duo was willing to give up his own share, he would be selling out the interests of Collins.

And if he gave up his own share, it would be almost equivalent to him being completely out of the spice smuggling business; even if Xia Duo agreed, Collins might not necessarily agree.

Furthermore, it was impossible for Xia Duo to privately agree to Tuofu before consulting with Collins.

As for the other condition—providing two specified types of live Advanced spice plants, it was certain that these must be spices already extinct in the Elf Kingdom, existing only in a few ancient ruins.

Lord Collins, as an expert on ruins, might have them, but Xia Duo certainly did not.

By proposing this condition, Tuofu either wanted him to suffer a heavy loss to trade with Collins, or wanted him to steal or seize them from Collins; Xia Duo leaned more toward the latter possibility.

Even if Xia Duo had the ability to do such a thing, he would not do it.

As for trading, two types of Advanced spices that were already extinct in current Elf society were almost priceless treasures in the absence of other sources.

Clearly, the two conditions Tuofu proposed were far too unreasonable.

Xia Duo did not quite understand; could it be that the relaxation and even enthusiasm the other party had shown before were just for this moment of being unreasonable?

"Ms. Tuofu, you should know that it is impossible for me to agree to these two conditions. Can we change to other conditions?"

"Regrettably, unless you can provide Mithril ore to the Moon Crown Family, it can only be these two conditions. In fact, I have already told you the most important information; as long as Lord Xia Duo acts cautiously, you can completely ignore the threat from Jielinisi."

Tuofu's original intention seemed to be to persuade Xia Duo to agree to the conditions, but after pondering for a while, Xia Duo proposed: "I think we can change to these conditions—"

"The Moon Crown Family provides the intelligence, and I will arrange an assassination to completely eliminate Jielinisi. I think if the Moon Crown Family and Jielinisi had a good relationship, Ms. Tuofu would not have come to warn me!"

"You can kill Jielinisi?" Tuofu opened her eyes wide, as if she wanted to re-evaluate Xia Duo.

But Xia Duo shook his head honestly, "I cannot, but I can ask my teacher for help. As long as the plan is appropriate, even an Advanced Mage has the possibility of losing their life!"

This was, of course, nonsense; not to mention whether Iolum would agree, Xia Duo himself could not possibly abandon his golden opportunity for peaceful development to engage in any assassination.

Furthermore, the Northland Alliance was facing the threat of the Drow and would not allow serious targeted death incidents to occur between countries at this stage.

However, Xia Duo's answer made Tuofu show a contemplative expression, as if she were truly considering the feasibility of this matter.

Seeing this scene, Xia Duo could not help but feel a bit nervous; he was truly worried that the other party would agree to it. If that happened, he would be somewhat passive and would have to spend who knows how many brain cells to bluff his way through this farce.

"Ms. Tuofu, let's stop here regarding the Jielinisi matter for now. No matter how it is handled, both you and I need to consider it more carefully."

Here, Xia Duo shifted this matter, which originally only concerned himself, onto the Moon Crown Family. Of course, Tuofu's identity still remained to be confirmed, and the other party's purpose was always shrouded in mystery.

But at this moment, the person and the Elf seemed to have some tacit understanding; Tuofu also seemed to realize that such a secretive topic was not suitable to be unfolded here, so she responded to Xia Duo's proposal and said:

"What else does Lord Xia Duo want to ask? Is it about what I did to those human Mages? I can tell you very clearly that I did not do anything to them."

Tuofu said this firmly, to the point that Xia Duo even had an illusion, feeling as if he had made a misjudgment, but the fact was—

Although Xia Duo could not determine the specific details of Tuofu's Spellcasting at that time, he could at least be certain that the other party had cast a spell.

However, with Tuofu's current attitude, Xia Duo estimated that he would not be able to ask anything out of her; if he pestered her further, perhaps the other party would turn hostile.

Thus, Xia Duo shifted the topic at the right time, "I understand, let's leave it at that."

"A few days ago, when I was in Seventon, I heard my teacher mention Mage Kuiersailin of the Moon Crown Family. My teacher praised him highly. I wonder what your relationship with him is—"

"He is my uncle!"

Tuofu only said this one sentence and then stopped talking.

Xia Duo saw that the other party did not seem to want to talk about her family's situation, but he still continued to ask: "I heard that Mage Kuiersailin once challenged the Yilisier Mianwang; is this true?"

Previously in Seventon, Xia Duo and Iolum had chatted about various challengers of Yilisier; that was a topic extended from the challenger from the Wuweilun remnants in Aifuruisi.

Among them, Kuiersailin of the Moon Crown Family was mentioned. Because Xia Duo was relatively interested in the Moon Crown Family, he asked a few more questions, and this time it was just right to use it to probe Tuofu.

At that time, the duel between Kuiersailin and Yilisier Mianwang was at a banquet. The junior was rude, but the Mianwang accepted it very generously and taught Kuiersailin a good lesson.

Although Kuiersailin lost, in Cormanthor, this matter was not shameful, but rather very glorious.

After all, not everyone had the opportunity to receive personal guidance from the Mianwang; that was an experience to show off!

If Tuofu were truly a person of the Moon Crown Family, even if the family had a different political stance from the Mianwang, the nature of this matter itself would not change. As long as a true member of the Moon Crown Family was asked, they should answer.

In fact, Iolum did not know where he got the Magic Image of the banquet at that time, and because Xia Duo asked, he showed it to Xia Duo as well.

Now it depended on how Tuofu would answer!

Would she continue to play dead, or just give a perfunctory answer, or boast to her heart's content?

"It is true, but it cannot be said that Uncle Kuiersailin challenged the Mianwang; rather, the Mianwang gave Uncle Kuiersailin guidance. It was at an Autumn Festival banquet, but I was not present at the time and am not clear about the specific scene."

On the surface, Xia Duo nodded with a look of understanding, but in his heart, he kept shaking his head; in his view, Tuofu's answer was very abnormal.

Elves mostly value family and family members. Now that there was an opportunity to brag in front of a human, how could she miss it, unless—

That was not her family!