vrcanaries Chapter 107 Pearl Fish Conspiracy
Chapter 107 Pearl Fish Conspiracy
Mu Hanxing whispered to Long Jin, "Just wait until tonight comes, and don't beat them up anymore. They are just ordinary people. If they make a big fuss, it will damage your merits."
Long Jin's anger had almost subsided. He crossed his arms over his chest and snorted coldly, indicating his approval.
……
People from the Dragon King Temple were leaving and dispersing. As dusk was approaching, many townspeople who could not afford candles were still afraid and did not care about anything else. They quickly rushed to the market to buy things so that they could get home before dark.
As the crowd dispersed, Mu Hanxing and Long Jin were just about to find a place to wait until night when they heard Duoli's voice from behind: "Fairy Sister."
She knew Duoli had something to say, so she said first: "Let's find a place to sit down. Can you lead the way?"
Dolly nodded.
The three of them sat down in a small tea shop not far away.
Mu Hanxing looked up at the sign and found that it was not Tong’s Tea Shop, so he ordered three cups of tea without hesitation. He even wanted to splurge a little more and order a few of the shop’s specialty cakes.
Tea and snacks were served, filling up the entire table. Anyway, she had the money Xiaoyi gave her.
Perhaps it was because of the smell of afternoon tea that Jing Chen appeared from somewhere. He must have come back from a walk. He asked her at the door of the tea shop: "Are you going to treat us, Lord City Lord?"
Mu Hanxing sat there with her legs crossed, took a sip from the teacup, and didn't even look at him: "Yes, drink as much as you want, eat as much as you want, this is not the Tong family's tea shop, so what if I spend a little more money?"
Anyway, strictly speaking, the money spent is Jingchen's money.
"Then I won't be polite." Jing Chen smiled faintly, then sat down in the empty seat at the table.
"Huh? Why does it feel like Xiaoyi is different from yesterday?" Duoli next to him looked up and down at Jingchen curiously.
Temperament is something that is sometimes difficult to describe in words. Even Duoli, who didn't know Jingchen, realized that Jingchen yesterday and today were completely two different people.
Jing Chen picked up a piece of mung bean cake and took a bite, and explained perfunctorily: "There are all kinds of gods and fairies, just get used to it, young lady."
Duoli was indeed surprised. She then looked at Long Jin. Long Jin was sitting there with his eyes closed, not eating or drinking. It seemed that he was still angry, but the dragon horns on his forehead and the dragon scales on his arms had disappeared.
Duoli felt that he was a little difficult to approach, but she still mustered up the courage to ask in a low voice: "Could it be that... this Mr. Long is also a god... Are you really a dragon?"
Long Jin opened one eye and asked her, "Does this seat look like a mortal?"
"No, no." Duoli shook her head quickly. "I know you three are definitely not mortals, but I don't know if this young master Long knows the little dragon king of the East China Sea..."
"It's me." Long Jin said simply.
"Ah?" Dolly's eyes widened instantly.
Mu Hanxing didn't want to hide it from Duoli, so he simply introduced Long Jin's identity to her. He was indeed the son of the Dragon King worshipped in Huaiyu Town, the Little Dragon King.
Perhaps because she had never thought of being so close to the god she was worshipping, the teacup in Dolly's hand fell to the ground and broke with a "pop".
By the time she had calmed down, Mu Hanxing and Jing Chenguang had eaten half of the table's worth of pastries.
"Have you calmed down? Then let me ask you, why did you stop me just now? Don't you think that Mr. Tong is very strange?" Mu Hanxing asked her.
Duo Li also thought about it carefully for a long time. She sighed softly and said, "It's not that I didn't see it, or maybe someone in the town knew about it. It's just that we, a small group of people, don't dare to resist. My family members are all helping the Tong family and doing odd jobs in the Tong family's shop. If we defeat him, who will pay us for our food and money in the future?"
Mu Hanxing paused and asked again, "By the way, what about the pearl fish your father mentioned last time?"
Duo Li explained to her, "That was many years ago. At that time, our town could still go out to sea normally, and occasionally we would catch valuable fish with extremely high market value. Among them, pearl fish was worth millions. I heard that the dignitaries in Huajing liked this kind of fish very much. The scales of the fish were small and round, and they looked like pearls under the sunlight. Putting them on the table would make the whole room look magnificent. It is also said that pearl fish can nourish the skin and keep the face young, which makes it even more valuable."
Mu Hanxing smelled the scent of capital again. She hurriedly asked, "Who caught the pearl fish? Master Tong? What is the annual output?"
Duo Li shook her head. "No, it was caught by another fisherman in the town. After that man sold the pearl fish to Huajing, he never came back to our Huaiyu Town. I heard that he moved away. As for the annual output... I heard from my father that they can only catch two or three a year. If they go further into the deep sea, they will encounter strong currents. I'm afraid that people and boats will not be able to return."
"Are pearl fish considered members of the Liyuan Palace?" Mu Hanxing quickly asked Long Jin.
Long Jin didn't know what names the townspeople of Huaiyu Town had given the creatures in the East China Sea, but he had a vague guess. He shook his head and said, "No, they are all fish that have no spiritual roots and cannot be reborn. Those fish are extremely sensitive and live under deep-sea corals that mortals cannot get into. If you don't have some ability and perseverance, it's not easy to catch them."
Mu Hanxing continued, "Since it is so difficult to catch pearl fish, it must be a unique skill for that fisherman. If he stays in Huaiyu Town, he can catch more pearl fish. Wouldn't it be better to stay here? Why did he move?"
"I'm afraid he doesn't want to move on his own." Jingchen interrupted after he had eaten and drunk his fill.
Mu Hanxing quickly realized what was going on and asked Duoli, "Could it be that Master Tong threatened him to leave Huaiyu Town and let the Tong family catch the pearl fish themselves?"
"I'm afraid it's more than that." Jing Chen continued, "There are many merchants in Lin County around Huajing who want to find ways to build relationships with the nobles in Huajing by supplying goods. If pearl fish is a specialty of Huaiyu Town, then there is no need to find ways. Just relying on this fish to establish connections with the powerful in Huajing, it will not only bring wealth and honor. If you can become an imperial merchant and have direct access to the ears of the emperor, you will be rich and prosperous for your whole life and can also bless your descendants."
After hearing Jing Chen's words, the three people sitting there were shocked. No wonder!
Not only can you make money by selling it, but you can also curry favor with the powerful and become the right-hand man of the imperial court. Who wouldn't want to go?
With a smart minister helping Mu Hanxing analyze the situation, she figured it all out. She was so angry that she slammed her fist on the table and said angrily, "I know. The shipwreck in the East China Sea might also be related to Master Tong. If everyone can't go out to sea to catch pearl fish, then wouldn't the Tong family's fishing industry be the only one left? Who can take his business away?"
Maybe Master Tong would tell the people in the town that the pearl fish were gone, deliberately to make them give up the idea, so Duo San had that reaction. Moreover, I'm afraid that the claim that only the Tong family's ships were strong enough to avoid shipwrecks was all false and just an excuse.