Chapter 21: The Dragon-Nurturing Plan! Heavenly Dragon Ginseng!

In the study of Prince of Qin Manor,

Su Can swaggered in, a flush of excitement still lingering on his face.

Just moments ago, he had been in the tavern bragging all over again, leaving the common people around him completely dumbfounded.

That feeling of being the center of all attention made him feel as though he had returned to his old days as one of the capital’s young wastrels.

“Big Brother, you should have seen it. Outside, they’re practically spreading tales of you as if you were a god!”

Su Can sat down in a chair, poured Xu Tian a cup of tea, then filled one for himself as well.

There was still a trace of unfinished exhilaration in his tone.

“I followed what you told me and showed my face properly this time. Now everyone knows I’m still in the capital.”

After saying that, he seemed to think of something and let out a heavy sigh.

“It’s just that there were two idiots from out of town who kept chasing after me, asking this and that, and even tried to pry into your situation from the side. As if I would tell them anything.”

“If those two fools hadn’t looked so stupid and carried no ill intent, I would have had them arrested on the spot.”

“But that old Wang from the Court of Judicial Review!”

Su Can slapped his thigh.

“This time, he at least had the sense not to make trouble for Big Brother Xu. Otherwise, I would’ve dealt with him right there and then.”

Xu Tian raised a brow at that.

“That old Wang… is your second uncle, after all. There’s no need to be that ruthless, is there?”

Su Can gave a cold snort and said without the slightest concern:

“My second uncle? If he dared make a move against Big Brother, if he helped outsiders bully his own people, then he wouldn’t deserve to be my second uncle.”

Xu Tian could only shake his head helplessly.

The moment this boy returned to the capital, that wastrel aura of his was already starting to get out of hand again.

“All right. Just make sure you know your limits…”

“Big Brother Xu, do you think that envoy from the Shan Kingdom has water in his brain?”

Su Can scratched his head, looking puzzled.

“He actually dared file a complaint at the Court of Judicial Review, in Great Xia, against a prince of Great Xia. Just for the sake of a little face, he turned himself into the biggest joke in the world…”

Xu Tian picked up his brush, dipped it in ink, and pressed down heavily onto the xuan paper.

“That is precisely why there is a problem hidden in all this.”

His voice was calm and unhurried.

“Once he stirred things up like that, did it not draw away everyone’s attention? And if everyone’s attention was drawn away, then was anyone still talking about the Zhao Family worshiping evil spirits?”

The smile on Su Can’s face gradually faded. He frowned and said with some hesitation:

“That can’t be right, can it? Even if he managed to divert attention, it could only be for a short while.”

“He is an envoy. For something like this, he brought trouble onto himself, endured humiliation, and even threw the Shan Kingdom’s face into the dirt. Was it really worth it?”

Xu Tian let out a breath and looked at the “Suppress” character on the paper, its strokes so forceful they nearly pierced through.

“Then that only means the matter behind the Zhao Family is so important that it is worth doing all this.”

“Important enough that… even sacrificing an envoy, even sacrificing a nation’s dignity, would still be necessary to keep it hidden.”

Su Can’s expression became entirely serious.

He sat up straight and said sternly:

“Big Brother, our people already looked into that patch of land in the western outskirts. The land steward there—the one the Zhao Family had arranged—has already died.”

“Looking at it now, the matter is far from over. It may even only just be beginning.”

Xu Tian folded the several calligraphy sheets he had just written and handed them, together with the jade pendant at his waist, to Su Can.

“Go take a look. Be careful.”

Xu Tian’s tone turned grave.

“The Shan Kingdom’s Second Prince has already entered the capital in secret. If I’m not mistaken, he’s here for this matter as well.”

“This Slaughter calligraphy sheet is rather special. Since you are not a Confucian scholar, it will require some time to activate, though it can be activated in advance.”

“This Jiemen Pendant can Draw a Prison Upon the Ground. It can be used at any time. It can preserve your life, and it can also keep others from escaping.”

Su Can accepted the calligraphy sheets and jade pendant, and a flicker of realization flashed through his eyes.

“That’s right! So when the Shan Kingdom’s Second Prince came, the merchant ships were only a pretext on the surface. In truth, he also came for the secret behind the Zhao Family?”

“For something this small on the surface, one nation’s envoy is thrown into prison and one nation’s prince personally arrives… Just what exactly is hidden in the western outskirts?”

He suddenly sprang to his feet, tucked the items close against his body, and strode outside in great long steps.

Without even turning back, he promised:

“Big Brother, rest easy. I’ll keep my eyes nailed to the western outskirts…”

……

In the Shan Kingdom residence within the capital, the Shan Kingdom’s Second Prince, who had entered the city in secret, was currently standing in the empty main hall, his face so dark it looked ready to drip water.

What secret advance arrival?

He had indeed arrived a little earlier, but there had been nothing secret about it at all!

The root problem was that no one had paid them any attention. There had not even been a single person to receive them!

So they had simply slunk into the city in disgrace.

And only after reaching the residence and asking around did they learn the truth. To their astonishment, their own envoy had been thrown into prison by Great Xia.

“Outrageous! Absolutely outrageous!”

Bang!

The Second Prince kicked over the table before him, shattering the tea set across the floor.

“Does Great Xia have any law left at all? Does it still have the slightest manners befitting a great nation? To dare treat an envoy of my Shan Kingdom this way!”

After venting for a while, he took several deep breaths and forcibly calmed himself down.

The most urgent matter now was not to rescue that useless envoy, but rather…

the Dragon-Nurturing Plan!

He turned around and looked at the woman in white standing within the shadows behind him.

The woman’s aura was tightly restrained, yet the slight traces that leaked out were terrifying enough. She was clearly a Second-Rank expert.

“How goes the dragon nurturing?”

The Second Prince lowered his voice and asked.

The woman stepped forward and recalled what the envoy had told them previously.

“In reply to Your Highness, the Nourished Heavenly Ginseng has matured.”

“Great Xia’s national fortune truly is profound! With such powerful national fortune nourishing it, and with the Zhao Family’s previous arrangements added on top, the progress has been more than three times faster than it was in our own nation. Its quality has already reached the peak, producing the highest grade possible: Heavenly Dragon Ginseng!”

“And it has all been done without consuming the national fortune of our Shan Kingdom.”

The woman paused, her tone growing somewhat grave.

“However, although we have concealed it well enough and suppressed the backlash of national fortune, after some time it will inevitably…”

The Second Prince let out a cold laugh.

“By then, we will already be gone. If Great Xia has the ability, let them come to the Shan Kingdom to arrest me.”

“To bring back this Heavenly Dragon Ginseng, which was nourished by Great Xia’s national fortune, and use it to replenish the national fortune of our Shan Kingdom—that is the true purpose of our coming this time.”

“Your Highness, this matter is of the utmost importance. If even the slightest rumor leaks out and Great Xia discovers it, it will certainly provoke a war between nations.”

The woman reminded him.

“That is exactly why I came in person!”

The Second Prince adjusted his collar and revealed a confident smile.

“When we came here, we lost a Second-Tier expert in the attempt to intercept that Su Can. That debt has yet to be settled with them.”

“Tell the Dragon-Nurturers in the western outskirts to take the Heavenly Dragon Ginseng and withdraw tonight to that backup stronghold outside the capital first.”

“Once we finish things on our side and leave the city, we’ll meet up with them outside and activate the Concealment Talismans before returning home together.”

“And one more thing—remember this well! During this time, under no circumstances are they to contact this side again. We’re already being watched too closely.”

The Second Prince walked over to the window.

Looking at the flourishing nightscape of the capital outside, his eyes were full of greed and malice.

“Now that I have come, I cannot leave empty-handed.”

“Great Xia does not intend to receive me? Fine.”

“Then tomorrow at morning court, I will go personally to the Golden Luan Hall and ask them properly—is this how Great Xia treats its guests? Is this the conduct of the so-called land of rites and decorum?”

“I will recover the face the Shan Kingdom has lost, with interest!”