Chapter 1797: Trap

Ling Chen very quickly received a letter from Blinken.

"Prince Soubise, I didn't expect the fish to take the bait so quickly."

After finishing the contents of the letter, Ling Chen revealed a smile; he had not expected Prince Soubise to take the bait so soon.

He was, after all, the number one man of the Holy Cross Army right now.

The Holy Cross Army stationed in Hanover was entirely under his jurisdiction; if he took the bait, it would absolutely deal a heavy blow to the Holy Cross Army's finances.

However, Ling Chen could tell between the lines that Blinken was extremely unwilling to sell these shares to Prince Soubise.

Ling Chen knew the reason; through his understanding of Blinken, he was very clear about how Blinken's wife and child had died.

Blinken was not German, but his wife was, and she practiced Protestantism.

In the eyes of the Holy Cross Army, anyone who practiced Protestantism was a heretic.

This poor woman and her child were cruelly murdered by the Holy Cross Army precisely because of such matters.

As the current Commander of the Holy Cross Army, Prince Soubise bore an inescapable responsibility.

Blinken naturally hated him.

Ling Chen sympathized deeply with Blinken's plight, and the things he himself was doing were also targeting the Holy Cross Army.

However, he could not tell Blinken this information; it would be a burden for him.

"Let Mr. Blinken temporarily forget the pain."

Ling Chen burned the letter, and in his reply to Blinken, he wrote: "You may cooperate with Soubise, but we have no more shares to sell. Let Prince Soubise understand our goodwill, but we have few shares left. The project is about to start, and his entry now requires major adjustments, which are all losses. He can enter, but the money must be handed over when the contract is signed.

This is our greatest sincerity.

Mr. Blinken, I know of your plight, and I know you hate Prince Soubise, but I am a businessman and will absolutely not offend our clients because of such matters. I hope you can understand; do not do anything foolish, Blinken, please do not do anything foolish..."

Ling Chen's letter was soon delivered into Blinken's hands.

He looked at the letter in his hand and remained silent for a long time.

Having long guessed that this would be the result, Blinken took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

Not everyone has the ability to temporarily forget this pain.

Blinken drank a glass, attempting to numb himself with Alcohol; that night, he got dead drunk at the Saint Luo Hotel and hid in a corner to weep.

This made him look exceptionally disheveled.

The waiters did not know why Mr. Blinken would show such an expression; this gentleman, who had always maintained the demeanor of a successful person, was actually so down-and-out.

This made them somewhat suspicious of whether Mr. Blinken had encountered something, such as bankruptcy...

But the generous tips Blinken gave them made them instantly dismiss this thought.

A bankrupt Noble would not be willing to give them such large tips.

Waiting until the next day.

Blinken invited Prince Soubise to come to the Saint Luo Hotel for dinner.

These waiters finally knew why Mr. Blinken had been so sad and disheveled last night.

Prince Soubise displayed a very overbearing side.

"Mr. Blinken, I knew you would agree to my conditions."

"Alright, let us talk about business; how many shares am I able to purchase?"

Blinken spread his hands helplessly: "Your Highness, before discussing this matter, I must tell you that I do not have many shares left in my hands to sell to you now."

"I must ensure the interests of my partners, so I can only set aside a portion from my own shares."

Prince Soubise laughed heartily.

"Is that so, Mr. Blinken? You are truly a sensible person; from now on, you will be my most precious friend."

Blinken smiled, but anyone could see how forced his smile was.

These waiters had also seen those in the upper echelons of society.

They could tell at a glance why Blinken would show such a smile.

He had been threatened by Prince Soubise and forced to give up a large portion of his interests.

These waiters sighed inwardly.

Mr. Blinken was truly unlucky; doing business properly and yet being extorted by the Commander of the Holy Cross Army.

Prince Soubise did not care at all about the gazes of others; he took the contract before him and began to examine it impatiently.

Blinken explained from the side: "Your Highness, you can probably purchase 10,000 Gold Coins worth of shares; this is all I can provide for you."

"But you must hand the money to me today; this is also my accountability to the company, please understand."

Prince Soubise closed the contract, glanced at Blinken, and said with a slight hesitation: "10,000 Gold Coins is not a small amount."

"It is impossible for anyone to take it out all at once."

Blinken sighed: "Your Highness, you should also know that it is already too late to enter now; the shareholders behind me were originally very dissatisfied with this matter."

"This 10,000 Gold Coins is still something I set aside from my own shares. Now that the project is about to start, it is impossible to delay the progress of the project because of this matter; this would be unfair to other investors."

"For us, it would also cause huge losses."

"I hope you can understand."

Prince Soubise frowned; what Blinken said was all correct.

He knew that entering now was already very difficult, but this 10,000 Gold Coins was indeed not a small amount.

Even if he gathered all the cash in his house right now, there would not be 10,000 Gold Coins.

And those precious antiques and rare treasures would require a large amount of time to convert into money.

Prince Soubise frowned slightly: "Can you grant me two more days? I need time to raise such a large sum of money."

Blinken shook his head helplessly.

"I apologize, there is truly no Method for this."

Prince Soubise did not use the military power in his hands to continue applying pressure; Blinken had already made concessions, and if he continued to apply pressure, it would be harming everyone participating in the investment. Prince Soubise did not have the capability to dare offend so many Nobles at once.

Soubise frowned deeply, and after pondering for a moment, he said, "I will think of a Method."

"Please wait a moment."

Prince Soubise did not even eat his meal, rising directly to leave; ten thousand Gold Coins, he was currently in Hanover, not in France.

It would be extremely difficult to actually make him scrape together this sum of money.

However, he still had some assets in his hands in Hanover.

Watching Prince Soubise leave in a panic, the corners of Blinken's mouth rose slightly as he took a sip of tea; all of this was within his plan.

He was deliberately making things difficult for Prince Soubise to prevent him from entering the game.

Ten thousand Gold Coins, there might not even be that many Gold Coins in the Bank in Hanover right now.

Prince Soubise would absolutely not be able to scrape together this sum of money.