Chapter 1500: Meeting an Old Friend

Liu Zheng arrived panting outside Longyan Port.

It was empty.

He frowned; had the person left?

Liu Zheng sighed, but the heart hanging in his chest did not settle.

Could it be her?

Liu Zheng gazed at the autumn leaves falling, saying nothing more.

Ever since that day, Liu Zheng had not heard any news of Teresa.

And among those who knew the name Liu Sheng, even fewer women knew it.

Liu Zheng fell into deep thought.

"Liu Sheng, is that you?"

Liu Zheng was stunned; this voice was so familiar.

He turned around to see a young girl standing on the fallen leaves, a linen garment concealing the temperament she once possessed.

The dust on her face masked her moving features.

Liu Zheng looked at her appearance, his expression startled; Teresa stepped forward, looked at the familiar face, and smiled happily.

"So you were here; they told me you weren't."

"We'll talk about that later." Liu Zheng looked at her dirty face, a wave of heartache rising in his heart.

Teresa was a Grand Duke of Austria; born a Noble, she now looked like a commoner who had suffered every hardship.

What on earth had happened? Liu Zheng had many bad premonitions.

"What happened? How did you end up like this!"

"Was it the Lorraine Family?"

Seeing Liu Zheng's worried expression, Teresa shook her head happily and said softly, "It was none of that."

She blinked her beautiful eyes and looked at Liu Zheng.

"I came out on my own."

Liu Zheng was stunned, utterly bewildered.

"You came out on your own!!!"

After saying this, Liu Zheng instantly understood the implications of Teresa's actions and was quite surprised.

He had not expected Teresa to be able to set aside her status—the most powerful status in Austria—and run to an Austrian city.

Liu Zheng laughed out loud.

"Let's go, let's enter the city."

"Mm." Teresa nodded.

With Liu Sheng's invitation, Teresa entered the city with peace of mind.

The other Longyan officers waiting at the city gate were stunned to see an Austrian woman snuggling up to Chief Councilor Liu Zheng.

This is...

But as Liu Zheng's subordinates, they dared not ask a single question.

They bowed slightly to Liu Zheng and were just about to speak when they were interrupted by a burst of his hurried coughing.

"Cough, cough, cough!!"

The several officials were startled, but they understood instantly.

They watched as Liu Zheng wanted to say something, but it was stuck in his throat and wouldn't come out.

They saw Liu Zheng hurriedly signaling with his eyes.

They also signaled back to Liu Zheng.

In the end, these officials opened their mouths but still said nothing.

However, this scene was taken in by Teresa, who was extremely puzzled; she leaned into Liu Sheng's ear and whispered, "Liu Sheng, what is wrong with them? They seem to keep signaling to you. Is my presence here inconvenient?"

Liu Zheng felt extremely awkward upon hearing this.

He could not let Teresa know his true identity now; after all, she was still a Grand Duke of Austria, while he was the Chief Councilor of Longyan.

Every move made by these two identities concerned the attitudes of two nations.

"Oh... it's nothing, they just... they just..."

"Their eyes aren't very good." Liu Zheng gave himself an affirmative nod, unwavering in his explanation.

Teresa looked at Liu Zheng suspiciously, withdrew her gaze, said "Oh," and did not say anything more.

"You are all getting on in years, so you don't need to come for things like this; I will take your shift tonight."

"The matters of the refugee camp will be left to me recently," Liu Zheng

ordered.

They looked at Liu Zheng, and just as they were about to say something, they immediately saw Liu Zheng's murderous gaze: "Uh, alright, then we will trouble Brother Liu Sheng."

"Mm." Liu Zheng nodded and brought Teresa into the city.

Once the two of them were far away, the remaining people cursed that it was bad.

Today, they had learned a little about Liu Zheng's private affairs.

Xie Chan had not been gone long after becoming pregnant, and already a woman had come knocking.

If Xie Chan were to find out about this...

They would be the first to suffer!

"Everyone keep this buried in your stomachs; whoever dares to gossip, weigh the consequences yourself!"

The few nodded fiercely; they would never speak of this, even if beaten to death.

……

They arrived at the refugee camp at Longyan Port.

Grand Duke Theresa was very surprised to see the progress of the construction by her Austria refugees.

The refugees had not even been in the city for seven days, yet the construction of the refugee camp was already initially complete.

The houses built here were not much different from those in the port city, except that they accommodated more people.

Longyan also did not prevent these Austria refugees from leaving the refugee camp.

According to the regulations established by Longyan.

Young, able-bodied laborers could receive rewards as long as they worked; Longyan provided the houses to live in, but the houses had to be built by themselves.

As for the money needed to build the houses, Liu Sheng and the others did not hike up the prices, but instead lent it to them very generously.

However, Longyan currently needed many construction projects to be completed.

They needed to devote themselves to the construction of these projects.

The Longyan people even gave them additional compensation: two meals a day and three copper coins as compensation.

This was already better than most Austria residents.

Grand Duke Theresa sighed inwardly, feeling extremely guilty.

She looked at Liu Sheng and asked, "Was this all your idea? You are the owner of this port now, so this must be your idea."

Liu Sheng shook his head and sighed, "I am just a merchant; how could I come up with such an idea?"

"This was all the idea of our Longyan's pride, the living legend, the peerless Chief Councilor." Liu Zheng said with great admiration.

Grand Duke Theresa rolled her eyes; she felt very unhappy whenever she heard the name Liu Zheng.

It was Liu Zheng again!

That Longyan troublemaker!

Grand Duke Theresa said irritably, "So you gave this city to him?"

Liu Zheng nodded and said indifferently, "It is all the same."

"What do you mean the same? If you have this city, you can become his kingdom; you can break away from Longyan and become a king yourself."

Liu Zheng looked at Grand Duke Theresa calmly, and Grand Duke Theresa's expression stiffened.

The air went silent for a few seconds.

Grand Duke Theresa lowered her head and said, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought this up to you."

Only then did Liu Zheng withdraw his gaze.

"It is impossible for me to break away from Longyan. This city is in Longyan's hands as long as it is in mine, though the Chief Councilor did give me an official position and three wharves."

Liu Zheng smiled and said, "From now on, there will be no obstacles for my ships when they arrive in Austria."

Grand Duke Theresa nodded slightly.

She trusted Liu Sheng, but she did not trust Liu Zheng.

From the perspective of Grand Duke Theresa, Liu Sheng was merely a merchant; this port city could nominally belong to him, while secretly belonging to their Austria.

If Liu Sheng were to declare himself king, Liu Sheng would be kept in Austria by Grand Duke Theresa for good.

After Liu Sheng passed away, this city would naturally return to the hands of their Austria.

But Liu Zheng was the Chief Councilor of Longyan; how could this legendary figure ever give up this port?

He was much harder to deal with than Liu Sheng.

Perhaps this port would never return to the hands of Austria.