"Brother, that's enough!"
Zhou Ying snatched Zhou Qing's long sword away, her pretty face filled with unconcealable anger, a bit like she hated iron for not being able to become steel.
Why can Zhou Huang get Xu Ruqing's favor, but his dignified grandson of the Southern Saint Sect cannot do the same!
If he takes down Xu Ruqing, Mr. Zhou will definitely break with Beishengmen, so why should she shamelessly come to beg for help?
The words made Zhou Qing fall into silence. Finally, he stared at Zhao An angrily, "If you are a man, just fight with me openly! The loser, leave Miss Xu!"
"Brother Zhou, are you polite? I am a scholar with no strength, and you ask me to compete with you. Haha, why don't you compete with me in poetry, poetry, playing the piano, calculations, and construction... Oops , you can’t do any of these.”
Zhao An didn't know what to say.
This short sentence almost made Zhou Qing furious, but the bastard in front of him told the truth.
Apart from being good at martial arts, he is good at everything else.
Zhao An paced the room with his hands behind his back, grinning at the angry Zhou Qing, "Since Brother Zhou is interested, I will fight with you and bet on the future of your holy sect. Do you dare?"
"Zhou Huang, don't be too arrogant. Why do you think you can defeat me with force? I have practiced martial arts since I was a child, and I will kill you like a dog!"
"Who doesn't know how to brag? I also said that killing a great master is like butchering a dog." Zhao An curled his lips and rolled his eyes.
Zhou Qing laughed angrily, "Okay, don't say that I bully you, just tell me the time and place. If I lose, I'll do whatever you want!"
"OK. The time is set in half a month. The location is along the Dagu River. I will let people set up a ring there. You can promote it more and let more people watch the battle and watch you kneel at my feet and sing Conquer. .”
"Crazy guy! What if you lose!"
"Me? There is no word "lose" in this gentleman's dictionary."
Zhao An smiled without showing his teeth and signaled that the brothers and sisters could leave.
Zhou Ying was helpless and finally pulled Zhou Qing away.
After the two left, Xu Ruqing came in with Jiuyin. They also heard some of the conversation just now. This gambling fight was too exaggerated. Zhou Qing was very strong, and he was also at the ninth level after all.
"How about I teach you? As long as you learn from me, it's not impossible to win with your skills." Jiuyin said with a half-smile.
During the last battle at the inn, she had seen with her own eyes that Zhao An's combat power was obviously at level nine, but for some unknown reason, he was just a rookie with no brute strength due to lack of attack methods.
Zhao An stretched himself. He could learn, but he had to spread the news first and let people know about it.
"Sir, what are your plans? Even if it's a duel, why do you want it to be held in half a month?"
Xu Ruqing asked about the key.
Zhao An didn't explain that much, but took Jiuyin out to forge a weapon.
One inch long, one inch strong, forge a long weapon and stab that little brat Zhou Qing to death.
One day later, the new salt went on sale.
The news spread across the capital.
Luo Xiaoxiao organized people and opened shops in Beijing and Xincheng, attracting countless people.
"This is new salt. The grains are crystal clear and unheard of."
"Yes, and the price is so cheap."
The people in the capital went crazy.
It is difficult for ordinary people to eat salt. It is not that there is not enough salt, but that it is too expensive.
They are usually reluctant to use salt when cooking, but choose pickles, which can last for a year and a half at a time.
Ten shops opened at the same time, and people queued up in endless lines.
Not to mention, there was another bombshell half a day later.
New paper appeared in various places in Daxia. The cost was very low, but the quality was no worse than old paper.
Scholars all over the world were shocked.
Cui Shixiang opened ten stores in the capital, including salt stores, and the inner and outer cities of the capital were abuzz. It had never been so lively, as if it was a festival.
All major aristocratic families hurriedly sent people to inquire about the news.
It was said that a family named Luo was in charge of the salt manufacturing business, but Xinzhi was actually led by Beishengmen.
One stone stirred up a thousand waves, turning the government and the public into a mess.
The Duke's Mansion.
Many officials and aristocratic families came to see him, and all of them looked aggrieved, as if they had eaten dead children.
But Chen Guogong did not show up. He stood in the study with an antique flower bowl broken at his feet.
Shi Donghai and Chen Yuan did not dare to breathe behind them.
After a long time, Shi Donghai gritted his teeth and said: "Sir, the advent of Xia paper has caused a devastating blow to our rice paper. Beishengmen has already been making arrangements, setting up agents at all levels, and the strength of local sects has also participated. They came in and even gave dividends to local officials, so there was no way to seal it.”
Chen Yuan also smiled bitterly and said, "The new salt business is very popular. Its price is too close to the people, and its quality is far better than the coarse salt produced by the family. Even the refined salt produced by the family is far from comparable. Therefore, many salt stores choose to sell at reduced prices to compete with each other, but Even so, the quality gap makes it impossible to attract customers at the same price. There is no room for price reduction now, and now everyone will make a profit at a loss."
These two incidents were like bombshells, even Chen Guogong was stunned.
Just as the two parties had agreed, they took action together and caught the wealthy family by surprise.
"Sir, the Queen has sent an invitation, inviting..."
A servant stumbled over.
Chen Yuan cursed angrily: "What do you look like in a panic!"
The servants hurriedly explained the situation, and the queen invited her direct wives to come to the palace for a gathering, and they were all ready to leave.
The study was deathly silent.
When the queen went home to visit relatives, she said a lot of things that she shouldn't have said to the direct descendants of the Chen family. With the prince as her future backer, the direct descendants were very willing to get close to her, and the opposition to seeking imperial power within the family became louder and louder.
Now that the Queen is dragging those women into the palace for a reunion at this critical moment, it is tantamount to giving Chen a chance behind his back.
"That unfilial daughter..."
Chen Guogong's face turned purple.
It's just an outsider, but now his own daughter is jumping on his head to dominate him. If he doesn't do something, he will be disgraced. In the short term, he will be attacked by the Queen and the North Saint Sect from both inside and outside, taking away all his prestige!
Shi Donghai said gloomily: "Master, I think someone is planning this matter behind the scenes. The other party is too vicious. Before the new paper was released, the Queen made a special trip to the Imperial College to meet with Cui Wengong. So about the new paper, the Queen She may also be involved. Now, the Empress should be planning to use the wife of the family to promise benefits and persuade her direct descendants to surrender. I must make a quick decision!"
"Father, what should we do? Should we cut through the mess quickly and clear away those things that eat inside and outside?"
Chen Yuan's claws were numb and he broke out in cold sweat.
Chen Guogong returned to his position with a cold face, his eyes sinister and malicious, "Zhou Huang is planning behind this, and he is Zhao An."
Chen Yuan and Shi Donghai looked at each other, both of them had no objection, because they had already seen it, but there was no evidence.
