Chapter 334: Vertical and Horizontal Alliances (Part 1)

"The true culprit who killed Zhang Zongyang!"

Upon hearing these words, the look in Li Fei's eyes finally changed.

The root cause of all these developments was the death of Zhang Zongyang.

Now that the "Beast King" Yu Longqing was dead and the Zhang family's crisis had been temporarily resolved, many people perhaps no longer cared who the true culprit behind Zhang Zongyang's death was.

But Shangguan Xiao would certainly care, and therefore, Li Fei would care as well.

Moreover, killing a helmsman of the Stop-the-Conflict Institute, a fourth-rank official—what kind of terrifying conspiracy or interests were involved in that?

It is no exaggeration to say that this true culprit could potentially affect the official careers of a group of high-ranking officials in Datong Prefecture.

Even for an outsider, the value of this true culprit was enormous!

Feng Sanniang proposing to use this condition as a trade for a share of the future exotic beast feed market was, in fact, not excessive at all.

The premise was that the true culprit she provided was genuine.

"Do you have concrete evidence?"

Li Fei looked into Feng Sanniang's eyes and asked.

Feng Sanniang gave a charming smile: "If I didn't have concrete evidence, how would I dare to propose such a condition? Young Master Qing is so formidable, how would I dare to deceive you?"

"Fine, if you can prove that the true culprit you speak of is real, I will give you fifty percent of the market."

Li Fei said.

"Very well, then once it is done, I will tell you the true culprit."

Feng Sanniang laughed.

Li Fei narrowed his eyes: "What if I want to know right now?"

Feng Sanniang picked up her teacup, took a sip, and then wiped the water stains from the corner of her mouth with her finger:

"Young Master Qing is joking. You may not fear me deceiving you, after all, you have the ability to kill me outright. But I must guard against you breaking the agreement. What if I tell you the true culprit first, and you refuse to honor the deal afterward? Besides, the Poison King and the Cannon King are not exactly pushovers. What if the two of us combined still cannot seize the entire market? So, it is better to wait until everything has settled before I tell you the true culprit."

Li Fei was silent for a moment.

If it were him, he would also find it impossible to hand over such an important bargaining chip first.

"What if we change the condition? Sanniang can propose something I can provide in advance to exchange for the true culprit."

Li Fei asked.

He still wanted to know who the true culprit was as soon as possible, because he had a premonition that the aftermath of this matter was not yet over.

It was possible that the real storm had not yet arrived!

"Apologies."

Feng Sanniang shook her head, "I only want the future exotic beast feed market."

"Fine, fifty percent. After it is done, you tell me who the true culprit is."

Li Fei said.

Thus, the two settled their upcoming cooperation.

Li Fei walked out of the "Yuanxiang Pool" and got back into that luxury car.

The car slowly drove away from Fenghua Street and headed toward the Datong District.

Last time, when Li Fei left Fenghua Street in the identity of the Green-Faced Ghost, he encountered an ambush.

Now that he was leaving Fenghua Street again in the identity of the Green-Faced Ghost, no one dared to make a move against him!

Ten-plus minutes later, the car drove into the Datong District and entered a street.

There was not a single pedestrian on this street, all the shops were closed, and there were several martial artists guarding the ends of the street.

The car carrying Li Fei entered this street and stopped outside a teahouse.

Outside the teahouse, two martial artists wearing black jackets were guarding it; upon seeing the car, their expressions became serious.

After Li Fei got out of the car, these two martial artists visibly became somewhat nervous.

"Ghost King, please go upstairs."

A martial artist walked up and said respectfully to Li Fei.

Li Fei nodded, let the other party lead him into the teahouse, went up to the second floor, and walked into a private room.

Sitting in the private room was an acquaintance of Li Fei—Xia Huan, an inspection official from the Datong Prefecture Inspection General Institute.

It was this Lord Xia who had specifically traveled from Datong Prefecture to Xingcheng to promote Li Fei and give him a raise, increasing his authority and rank as a secret inspector.

Li Fei had received a call from Lu Mengyang yesterday, saying that he wanted him to help act as a bridge, as the Inspection General Institute wanted to sit down and have a talk with the Green-Faced Ghost.

Li Fei agreed, and thus tonight's meeting came to be.

He had first gone to see the "Queen" Feng Sanniang, and then came to see the people from the Inspection General Institute.

Because the wanted order on him had already been canceled, he could now openly interact with the government.

"Ghost King, I am Xia Huan, an inspection official from the Datong Prefecture Inspection General Institute. Pleased to meet you."

Xia Huan stood up to welcome Li Fei.

"Mm."

Li Fei gave a light "mm" and sat down in the seat opposite the other party.

Xia Huan did not mind Li Fei's arrogance and sat down with a smile.

Although he was also an imperial court official, given the Green-Faced Ghost King's current strength, influence, and power, he was fully qualified to have an equal dialogue with his own direct superior.

If it weren't for the fact that the identity of the Inspection General Institute was too sensitive, this conversation should have been held by Xia Huan's superior, the Deputy Inspector General of the Inspection General Institute, to talk with Li Fei in person!

Therefore, Li Fei being impolite to Xia Huan was something he felt was normal.

"Inviting the Ghost King here this time is to discuss cooperation."

Xia Huan had previously specifically called Li Fei to ask about the Green-Faced Ghost King's personality traits, and Li Fei had told him that the Green-Faced Ghost King was someone who cherished time and liked to get straight to the point.

Thus, as soon as they met, Xia Huan went straight to the topic without a word of nonsense:

"Previously, the Inspection General Institute's exotic beast feed was always bought from Yu Longqing. Now that the Ghost King has taken over Yu Longqing's business, from now on, we will be doing this business with you, Ghost King."

Li Fei nodded and said quite straightforwardly: "That is fine. Whatever price you paid before, you will pay the same price in the future."

Before coming tonight, he had asked Yang Zhe.

The Inspection General Institute also needed to cultivate its own martial artists; although they could apply to the Datong Prefecture government for the implants they needed, they also had a certain quota every year.

But no one would complain about having too many martial artists under their command, and the special nature of the Inspection General Institute determined that it would have a greater need to secretly cultivate a portion of secret martial artists.

Therefore, the Inspection General Institute also secretly raised exotic beasts, and naturally, they needed to purchase exotic beast feed.

In the past, they did this business with Yu Longqing, and in order to possess the connections of the Inspection General Institute, Yu Longqing had always sold exotic beast feed to them at a price lower than the market rate, barely making any profit.

Now that Li Fei had taken over Yu Longqing's business, he did not intend to make money from the Inspection General Institute either, so he said directly that the price would remain unchanged.

Whatever price Yu Longqing gave before, he would give the same price in the future.

Maintaining the relationship with the Inspection General Institute would also be beneficial for the future development of the Qingyuan City Management Company.

Hearing Li Fei say this, a smile appeared on Xia Huan's face:

"The Ghost King is truly straightforward! However, in fact, everyone's cooperation could be even deeper."

"Oh?"

Li Fei looked at Xia Huan, "For example?"

"Our Inspection General Institute would like to invite the Ghost King to become our honorary consultant."

Xia Huan stated his main purpose for tonight directly.

(End of chapter)