Chapter 199: The True

A towering castle, a solemn hall, a young king sitting on the throne at the end of the red carpet.

The tall arched windows cast soft winter sunlight, and the stained glass depicts the glorious history of the Campbell family. The cashmere red carpet extends from the door to the front of the Grand Duke's throne, surrounded by attendants and guards, and the air is filled with the warmth of the fireplace and the light fragrance of candles.

This is the audience hall of the castle.

Kneeling on one knee at the other end of the red carpet, Yan Andi's face was pious and solemn, and he said in a respectful voice.

"... Respected Your Majesty, your loyal servant in Lei Ming City pays you the highest respect!"

Looking at Andi crawling on the ground, Edward sitting on the throne nodded with satisfaction, with a bright smile on his face, saying.

"Please get up, my loyal Mr. Andi; your contribution to the Campbell family and Lei Ming City is something everyone can see, even if I am sitting in the castle, I have heard of it. I don't know what good news you brought today?"

This sentence is asking what he already knows.

He certainly knew what Andi came for; as early as earlier today, the news had reached his ears.

Andi naturally knew this, but pretended to be surprised, and after thanking him respectfully, stood up and said.

"Your Majesty is truly wise; I dare not say good news, but I do have a treasure I want to present to you."

While saying this, he clapped his hands lightly, and a servant accompanying him held a square wooden box and stepped forward.

After getting the nod from Grand Duke Edward, Andi took the wooden box from the servant's hand and opened it himself.

Just at the moment the wooden box opened, a diamond the size of a pigeon egg immediately entered the eyes of everyone in the hall.

Andi's standing position was very scheming, just standing under the sunlight passing through the colored window, letting the dim sunset fall just right on the velvet cushion.

Brilliant light shone in the hall.

Although he had heard of the style of this diamond early on, Edward still couldn't help but be attracted by its radiant appearance.

Too beautiful!

His index finger couldn't help but rub the armrest of the throne, wishing he could immediately let the craftsman inlay it on his crown!

Seeing Grand Duke Edward's reaction, Andi breathed a sigh of relief in his heart; Kelin Mining had already succeeded more than half.

As long as the Campbell royal family is conquered, it is equivalent to entering the noble circle of the Lei En Kingdom, which itself is the largest piece of cake along the Vortex Sea.

Buying this market with fifty thousand gold coins and also being able to gain the Grand Duke's favor, this deal is definitely a huge profit no matter how you calculate it.

Clearing his throat, Andi continued.

"... I saw this diamond at the charity banquet; it was a gift from Mr. Roxai Kelin to your sister Ailin Campbell and Lei Ming City, and that crystal-clear, limpid, and shining brilliance made me think of you, who are shining, for the first time. So I didn't have any hesitation; even if I offended your vassals, I had to bid for it and present it to you, who are truly noble."

This word hit Edward's heart.

Even knowing it was a polite remark, his heart was still slightly moved, like the slight drunkenness after tasting fine wine for the first time.

"You have a heart, Mr. Andi; my vassals only think about sharing the glory of the Campbell family, but no one has ever thought about what they should do for our glory. You are the only one who thought of this point, and not just talking about it... I am very satisfied."

Looking at Andi, who was bowing respectfully, Edward Campbell nodded with a smile, and continued in a gentle and pleasant tone.

"I like your gift very much; I believe it will become the most dazzling embellishment on the Campbell crown, just like you and your family are to me."

Andi made a flattered appearance, knelt on one knee again gratefully, put his right hand on his chest, and said as if from the bottom of his heart.

"It is the honor of the Andi family to be able to share your worries."

Edward nodded lightly, elegantly and majestically saying.

"Please get up; I can see your loyalty, no need to prove it to me again and again."

He was very satisfied with this steward left by his father.

Wealthy, dignified, and knowing how to advance and retreat... not many people can do all these things, but few can do everything.

The heads of the Andi family through the ages seem to have such skills, and this seems to be the reason why they can last for a long time.

The old stubborns of the Campbell Principality always opposed accepting the rising citizens into the power class of the principality, saying those high-sounding reasons were just because they were reluctant to give up the power in their hands.

Saying that gold coins would corrode the foundation of the principality, the ones with the most money are the dragons who only guard the treasury and don't come out.

Edward sneered at those remarks.

Of course, his attitude toward this Mr. Andi was not the unreserved trust in the eyes of outsiders.

The demon hunter organization he established in the Trident Knights was not just to supervise internally to weaken Jerok's military power, but also to strengthen the control over Lei Ming County while pushing a series of reforms.

The Isaac Dynasty died from the backstabbing of its own people; he is a person who will learn lessons from history and will not make the same mistakes.

Looking at the treasure sent to him by the servant, Edward reached out and picked up the diamond from the velvet cushion, holding it in front of his eyes and scrutinizing it carefully.

Those neat cut surfaces were like the mirrors of a kaleidoscope, reflecting the thousands of faces of his servants.

After a long pause, Edward suddenly opened his mouth.

"Speaking of which, my sister has been with you recently."

Andi said respectfully.

"Yes, Your Majesty, she is staying in the manor where we once talked happily, with her guard team."

Edward continued.

"And then? What is she doing there."

Andi nodded and said.

"As you can see, she is just fulfilling the obligations she declared, such as paying attention to the movements of the labyrinth below Lei Ming County, such as practicing swordsmanship, such as helping the poor people outside Lei Ming City."

Edward looked at Andi with a smile that was not a smile, and said pointedly.

"Just to help the poor people, do you need to taste their food?"

Andi was stunned.

"Your Majesty, I... don't know what you are talking about."

He really didn't know this time.

After all, he got on the carriage early in the morning and rushed to Campbell Castle with the diamond, fearing that he would be intercepted if he was a step slow.

"Nothing."

Looking at Andi, who seemed to really not know what happened, Edward smiled lightly and skipped this topic lightly.

Regardless of whether he was pretending or not, this matter actually had nothing to do with the Andi family, but was the internal affair of the Campbell family.

In the past thousand years, what ordinary people on this land thought didn't matter at all; the only difference was being a happy sheep or an angry sheep.

If she was doing it to buy people's hearts, it could only be said that she was still too naive. Many things were enough to become her political capital, such as that imperial noble who came from afar, and such as the sword of orthodoxy in her hand... but only the love of the people could not become it.

Even on the contrary, the cheers of the people might expose her ambition too early, thereby letting a group of people with ulterior motives push her to a dangerous position.

Especially when people cheered for the glory of the Campbell family, but forgot who the real master of this principality was.

"I am very grateful for your support for my sister, but you are a person who knows the measure; you should know where the distance is. Besides, if you want to do something for me, please share this virtue with Ailin Campbell."

That light sentence seemed as light as a feather, but it fell into Andi's ears like a thunderbolt, making sweat break out on his back.

With his ability to observe words and expressions, he could hear that this sentence carried a trace of murderous intent, even if this person was his own flesh and blood. Struggling to swallow a mouthful of saliva, Andi said respectfully.

"I will keep your teachings in mind, Your Majesty, and will definitely remind the Princess to pay more attention to her words and deeds."

Looking at Andi, who didn't dare to breathe, Edward nodded with satisfaction and let go of this respectful servant lightly.

"Very good."

His beating of the Andi family stopped at the right point; after all, he still needed the financial support of the Andi family for his ambition, and to balance his younger brother who was becoming more and more disobedient.

Changing to a relaxed tone, Edward continued with a smile.

"By the way, what is the situation with that Kelin. I heard that he has been very popular recently, and his popularity in Lei Ming City seems to have surpassed you."

Andi said respectfully.

"The identity of that Mr. Kelin seems to be a noble from the Empire; according to various rumors, his father is a Prince of the New Continent."

A Prince who owns a continent shouldn't care about the title of a principality; could it be that this guy really, as rumored, just took a fancy to Ailin Campbell's appearance?

Edward always felt that it was not that simple, his index finger tapped on the armrest of the throne, and after thinking for a while, he muttered to himself.

【Missing text】

"When did the nobles of the Empire become interested in us."

"Perhaps it's just the interest of the Kelin family or Mr. Kelin himself?" Andi said cautiously, "At least for now, he hasn't shown more ambition... I think he won't support Ailin to do dangerous things."

He didn't care about Ailin, just worried that Grand Duke Edward's jealousy would spread to Mr. Kelin, thereby affecting the prosperity of the Andi family for the next century.

However, it seems that it didn't for now.

"Hmm." Edward just responded ambiguously, and his thoughtful face didn't know what he was thinking.

Andi rarely couldn't see through his thoughts.

After a long while, that noble Grand Duke finally opened his mouth.

"Perhaps I should find a time to go to Lei Ming City and visit this mysterious and noble imperial friend by the way."

"That is naturally the best; the citizens of Lei Ming City welcome your arrival," Andi breathed a sigh of relief and continued respectfully, "And I believe that gentleman and the Kelin family behind him must also hope to make friends with such a prominent and noble person as you."

The diamond Andi presented to the Campbell family became the most shining treasure on the crown of the Campbell Principality, and the story about this diamond successfully became a beautiful story for the upper society of the Campbell Principality to talk about after tea and dinner.

The dining bar in the lobby of the Morning Embrace Hotel.

Ando, dressed in a tuxedo, stood like a round penguin, holding a bottle of champagne by the bar, talking and showing off to the friends he had recently made.

"... That night, I was at the auction site, and that diamond was less than fifty meters away from me! Maybe it was forty meters... but that's not the point; the point is the shining light! I can swear to Saint Xisi, I have never seen a treasure more dazzling than that, and there will never be any treasure that can exceed it in the future!"

That loud and eloquent voice attracted countless surprised and envious gazes, but some people cast disdainful glances at him.

There were not a few people who attended that auction, and there were naturally some here, but they wouldn't show off loudly like this upstart.

It is worth mentioning that although Mr. Ando had already sold this hotel, he would still visit here from time to time.

Even if he claimed it was nostalgia for his past career and the hope of retaining the time before, everyone knew what his ambition was.

However, no one cared about that kind of irrelevant matter.

Because they sitting here were the same, eager to suck up to that mysterious imperial noble.

And unlike before, this time they had a clearer goal, which was to hope to get more diamonds from his hands.

According to the various clues he revealed at the banquet, everyone could infer that this diamond was not obtained by the Kelin family by accident, but from the diamond mine under their control in the New Continent.

Compared to a shining diamond, that was what they were truly drooling over.

The only pity was that Mr. Kelin was too mysterious, to the point that even the hotel staff didn't know where he was.

People didn't even know if he was in the hotel, or went to the ship with the purple moon flag at the port, or was dating the respected Princess in some unknown place.

And just when everyone was discussing, a thing that made them even more jealous happened.

As Kelin Mining Company officially unveiled its plaque in the port area of Lei Ming City, a batch of small but equally shining diamonds soon landed at the port of Lei Ming City, just like those mattresses that crossed the ocean.

The diamonds that appeared in the local area of the Aus Continent could not be compared with these carefully screened and cut treasures at all, as if they were things from two dimensions.

And just as everyone expected, the appearance of these diamonds immediately caused a frenzy in the upper society of Lei Ming City!

Especially influenced by the story between Princess Ailin and Mr. Kelin, under the intentional pushing of the Andi family, those bright and precious stones were covered with a filter of love, becoming a popular token of love in the upper society of Lei Ming City and even the Campbell Principality.

Not only the nobles of the Campbell Principality, but also the nobles of the Lei En Kingdom, and even the nobles of the Empire sent people to the port of Lei Ming City to "hunt for treasure."

It's just that unlike the spring mattresses before, these diamonds are too expensive, and not as practical as the former.

The f-grade diamonds certified by Kelin Mining Company, the cheapest ones are also above 100 gold coins. And if it is an a-grade or even aa-grade diamond, it is simply unimaginable for ordinary people.

If a mattress of 10 or even 20 gold coins was still in the acceptable range for wealthy citizens, then the love of 100 gold coins could only make them look up.

Better to send a bouquet of flowers to your lover.

In fact, those shiny stones themselves don't shine, it's just that those pairs of looking-up eyes gave it the light it didn't possess.

And just when the entire upper society of Lei Ming City was drooling over the wealth of the Kelin family, this respected and generous gentleman didn't enjoy this glory alone, but actually chose to take out the wealth in his hands to share with the citizens of Lei Ming City.

A piece of small news spread like wildfire in a tea shop in the Queen's District—

In order to solve the problem of diamonds being in short supply, and also to satisfy the desire of people in the Campbell Principality and even the entire Vortex Sea for this kind of shiny jewelry, the Kelin family intends to further develop the diamond mine in their hands, and at the same time go deep into the Kao Continent to find more treasures.

This requires money.

And it's a lot, a lot of money!

Even for Mr. Kelin, who is strong enough to buy a hotel just to live for ten days and a half months, and throws out ten thousand gold coins just to win a beauty's smile, he has to consider the turnover of this fund carefully.

Assets do not equal cash.

For example, Father Matt, the largest landlord in Yinsong Town besides Baron Gess, although he has ten million Aus silver under his name, in fact, many are real estate in Lei Ming City and local land in Yinsong Town.

The more traditional the noble, the higher the proportion of land-occupied assets, and the nobles of the Empire are naturally no exception.

So the noble Mr. Kelin intends to take out 10% of the shares for "financing," and use the raised funds to expand production in the colonies.

Financing is undoubtedly a fresh concept for the Aus Continent, but the concept of equity is not strange to the locals; it is a concept born in the Isaac Dynasty, but ordinary people rarely participate in it.

And now, Mr. Kelin thought of a wonderful idea, splitting the equity worth tens of millions of gold coins into ten million shares, and conducting a public auction in the form of registered tickets.

The starting bid is tentatively set at 1 gold coin; anyone, noble or citizen, can participate in the bidding, as long as they can provide an asset certificate of more than 100 gold coins.

The popularity and short supply of diamonds are something everyone can see; even the profit before production increase is over one million gold coins a year, and the profit after expanding production is simply unimaginable!

Spending one hundred gold coins to buy a diamond, it's still that diamond ten years later, but if you invest one gold coin to buy Kelin Mining Company's stock, you can participate in this business, not only can you get dividends, but this gold coin might also become a diamond ten years later!

According to the anti-usury law promulgated by the Campbell royal family a hundred years ago, the highest legal interest rate in Lei Ming City is only 6%, and in the eyes of the citizens of Lei Ming City, this potential return of one hundred times in ten years is no different from doing charity!

Sure enough, kind people can always form a pair.

The benevolent Princess Ailin let the poor people outside the city drink hot porridge, while the respected Mr. Kelin opened his wallet to the citizens of Lei Ming City out of love for her.

After the news spread, it immediately caused a sensation in the entire Lei Ming County, and once again made the Kelin family a topic of discussion in the whole city.

And the last time Lei Ming City was so sensational was when they just sent away the Demon King Regi Dragong...

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 200 =====