Xuanxia

Chapter 774 Shen Chuke

The person who strode into the private room was naturally the president of the Nebula Chamber of Commerce, Shen Chuke.

He was tall, like a mountain towering over the world, intimidating... His thick and rough beard added a bit of the heroic temperament of a chivalrous knight. The fur coat on his body was made of precious animal skins hunted in the extremely cold land outside the Great Wall. There was no other such coat in the world.

His eyes were as sharp as knives, as if they could see through all appearances and reach people's hearts. If someone who didn't know him saw him, they would definitely mistake him for some swordsman from the frontier, wandering around the world, taking pleasure in avenging enemies.

But who could have imagined that this awe-inspiring hero was actually the president of the world's largest chamber of commerce, possessing wealth that could rival a country, and was one of the richest men in the world!

As he walked in, the three people present stood up.

"President."

Zixuan looked apologetic and bowed slightly.

Fu Qingzhou smiled and cupped his hands: "I have heard of your great name for a long time, President Shen."

Wu Yan wasn't very good at speaking polite words, so he just followed suit, bowed, and casually said, "I've heard a lot about you."

"Hahahaha, you two, please sit down, please sit down."

Shen Chuke smiled generously: "Zixuan, go get me my best tea!"

"Yes." Zixuan responded lightly and left the room in small steps.

Shen Chuke sat down in her original seat, and Fu Qingzhou and Wu Yan naturally followed suit.

"Let's get straight to the point, President Shen."

Fu Qingzhou smiled and said, "Since you know I will come, then you must also know why I am here."

"I guessed a little."

Shen Chuke also quickly got into the state and said calmly: "Cooperation with Xishuo Palace is more complicated than Shen imagined."

"At the beginning, Prince Zhao approached me and promised to borrow the power of Xishuo Palace and make Xingyun Chamber of Commerce an imperial merchant. He also promised to let me take over 40% of the commercial assets of Xishuo Palace. So, I joined the game, assisted Prince Zhao, and seized the power of the first retainer of the palace."

"From now on, Mr. Shen and Prince Zhao will sign a contract, and those properties in the palace will be held by Mr. Shen on behalf of Prince Zhao."

Holding shares on behalf of others is a relatively modern term. Fortunately, Fu Qingzhou understood it.

He frowned slightly: "This sounds a bit complicated. In other words, you paid money to help Zhao Hao recruit some forces in the palace, and he agreed to let you become an imperial merchant?"

"Exactly."

Shen Chuke said in a deep voice: "But now more than half a year has passed, and the matter of the imperial merchant has been delayed and difficult to move forward."

"Because Zhao Hao himself couldn't convince King Xishuo." Fu Qingzhou's eyes were slightly strange: "He was even imprisoned by the prince until he escaped a few days ago and asked me for help."

"That's right." Shen Chuke nodded: "Logically speaking, I should be the Prince Zhao's man, but not long after, the prince came to me personally."

He spoke briefly, roughly explaining the whole story.

The matter was not complicated. To put it simply, King Xishuo accepted Zhao Hao's promise and agreed to help the Xingyun Chamber of Commerce become an imperial merchant. However, becoming an imperial merchant "is certainly not that easy." They must first produce some goods in response to the needs of the court for "bidding."

What are these products?
It is armor, weapons, war horse harness, and medicine.

All war materials!

Of course, the war in the northern border was still at a stalemate, and the evil spirits in the southern border were also causing trouble. It was normal for the court to need high-quality and low-cost war supplies. Although Shen Chuke was cautious, he still rushed to make them.

Under normal circumstances, private merchants are absolutely not allowed to privately manufacture many military supplies. Take weapons for example. A private blacksmith shop can never produce standard military weapons, and a private pharmacy can never purchase and prepare a large amount of medicine in a short period of time. If this happens, the offender will go to jail.

But now with King Xishuo's promise, the Nebula Chamber of Commerce naturally dared to do it.

But as mentioned before, Shen Chuke also held back.

He looks very heroic, but to be able to make such a big business, he must have a dirty heart——

He had the craftsmen stamp the most sensitive armor and military standard weapons with the Xishuo Palace label. Of course, these labels were stamped in extremely hidden places, and those who were not aware of it would not notice it at all.

Not long after, the Xishuo Palace sent a sum of money, saying it was the silver for purchasing these military supplies, indicating that the bidding would still go on, but at the moment military supplies were in urgent need, and the things provided by the Nebula Chamber of Commerce needed to be sent to the front line first, so the court had already spent money to buy them all.

This is exactly what Shen Chuke wanted.

Soon after, he sent some spies to the front lines in northern and southern Xinjiang.

These spies secretly searched through every batch of military supplies sent by the court to the front line, but did not find a single label.

The armor, weapons, horse gear, medicines made by the Nebula Chamber of Commerce...all disappeared.

"Mr. Shen is not a fool."

Shen Chuke said leisurely: "I can see that Xishuo Palace is plotting something bad."

Fu Qingzhou secretly expressed his admiration.

A little bit of holding back allowed him to find the clue.

"But after more than half a year, our Xingyun Chamber of Commerce has been deeply bound to the Xishuo Palace." Shen Chuke smiled casually: "If the Xishuo King really did something at this time, our Xingyun Chamber of Commerce's promise of a great business would be over."

When he talked about such a big thing, his expression did not change at all. Instead, he talked and laughed as usual, as if he was talking about a family matter.

But Zixuan beside him was obviously not so good-tempered.

She had already returned to the house and was making tea elegantly, but her face turned pale as she listened to these words.

Fu Qingzhou smiled and said, "President Shen, don't you want to try your luck?"

"Just kidding."

Shen Chuke laughed and said, "King Xishuo has reached this point, but he has not leaked any information to me, which means he doesn't trust me. I was recruited by Prince Zhao, and as soon as I entered the palace, I picked the most trusted retainer of the prince. How could he tolerate me?"

"In my opinion, if the prince really wants to start a rebellion, the first person to be dealt with will be me, Shen Chuke!"

After that, he took a sip of tea and put down the cup in his hand: "Thanks to you, Mr. Fu, for being smart enough to find Mr. Shen."

Fu Qingzhou blinked: "Why did King Xishuo invite you to this Xuanmeng Ceremony?"

"He said that he wanted Shen to be on standby. He said that after this ceremony, there might be important things for Shen to do. That is also the key for Xingyun Chamber of Commerce to become an imperial merchant."

Shen Chuke said in a deep voice: "I guess there will be drastic changes in this ceremony."

Fu Qingzhou smiled and said nothing: "Since President Shen is worried about drastic changes, why didn't he try to find me?"

"Don't dare."

Shen Chuke said calmly: "If what I guessed is correct, the two most terrifying demons in the world, Jiang Baichuan and Huijue, are both under the command of the prince. If I act rashly, the end will be terrible."

Fu Qingzhou curled his lips and said, "Then you want us to enter your territory and talk to you in detail?"

"So Shen arranged an ambush and placed poisoned tea."

Shen Chuke smiled and said, "In a little while, the two of you will have to act together and pretend that we are leaving on bad terms."

"our side……"

He turned to look at Zixuan: "From now on, Zixuan has died from drinking the poisoned tea by mistake during the fight."

Zixuan's expression remained unchanged. She gently added two cups of new tea and handed them to Fu Qingzhou and Wu Yan.

Fu Qingzhou picked up the teacup, twirling it between his fingers, and said softly, "Then I have an extra female secret envoy from the Mingjian Pavilion who came from the capital."

After saying this, he and Shen Chuke looked at each other and smiled.

(End of this chapter)