Durin's Diary

Chapter 923 Day After Day

“My name is Sun Chuanshi, and I am a representative of the Western Chamber of Commerce. As you can see, Marshal, the Qian family has always had dealings with us…” At this point, the middle-aged rat demon with round ears and a hairless tail grinned and said, “Am I being a bit presumptuous by saying this?”

"So you want to plead for them, is that right?" The old man blinked, seemingly wanting to laugh, but he held back his laughter: "Go ahead and say it. I won't take your audacity for granted. After all, these days, it's really rare to see a talking rat demon who wants to rescue dead people in front of the royal supervisor and the two Zhulong."

“Indeed, you see, I’m eloquent, and a businessman at that. As a businessman, I have an extremely keen sense of business and profit. I think killing them, or hanging them on the gallows, would only give the soldiers a momentary satisfaction, but it would only be temporary. Wouldn’t it be too merciful to use the deaths of the Qian family to cleanse them of their mistakes?” Saying this, he looked at the thoughtful soldiers, making sure they were indeed moved by his words, and then smiled and bowed his head to the old man: “Marshal, do you agree with what I said?”

“That’s a bit of a fallacy, tell me more.” The old man nodded and sat down in the root chair that Dulin had laid out for him.

"But the impact they have had on the soldiers is visible to the naked eye, and the damage they have caused to the army is obvious to all. Your Highness, the royal family and the people who are loyal to this land need the heads of the Qian family to express their apologies to the soldiers, but what are heads worth? Heads are worthless, aren't they?"

Although Xiang Shu was young, she shook her head: "But the head represents the royal family's sincerity towards the common people."

"But what if I buy the lives of the owners of these heads? Their wealth will still belong to Changtang, but their lives can be exchanged for even more wealth." The rat demon gestured as it said this.

Immediately, a group of bull demons with high hooves pushed out a group of people who were bound hand and foot.

"What use do you have for them?" Dulin asked.

"In the west, there are too many places that need them—mines, forests, anywhere that needs manpower." At this point, the rat demon smiled and bowed to Dulin: "I have a source. Merchants from the sea told me that in the Western Continent, you are the nemesis of slave traders. So I want to make one thing clear in advance, Lord Dulin: using criminals as forced laborers is legal in Changtang."

Dulin glanced at Xiang Shu, and the little dragon nodded: "It is indeed legal. For example, soldiers who make mistakes will be sent to the penance camp, and people who owe money will be assigned to the labor camp to repay their sins and debts through work."

Dulin nodded—if it was about using criminals as laborers, Dulin had no objection. After all, you can't expect criminals to live in a large 80-square-meter house, have a chef to take care of their meals three times a day, and play the latest and greatest game consoles.

After all, such a thing did exist in Dulin's previous life, which made Dulin wonder for a while if he should just go to jail when he got too old to walk.

Then the tower's own mentor said not to embarrass the tower, and that if he wanted to retire, he should go back to the tower.

So I gave up.

Now that the rat demon had gained Dulin's approval, it looked at the old man and said, "Marshal, what do you think of this deal?"

The old man looked at Xiang Shu: "Your Highness, you are in charge here."

Xiang Shu frowned: "We won't sell the children; they'll be sent to a reformatory for training. We won't sell the young women either; they'll be sent to the reformatory to work as servants."

"Whatever profit is made from this deal, the Imperial Treasury will provide the same amount to improve the food for the soldiers in the pass," Xiang Shu said again.

Dulin finally smiled.

This little female dragon is really much better than Lan En. The royal family has already agreed to it, so you should also raise your price. At least you should give His Majesty and his family a satisfactory figure, otherwise how can you compete? The rat demon was stunned for a moment, then nodded: "I believe that this deal will definitely have a figure that will make Her Highness the Princess, the generals, the Marshal, and Prince Dulin smile with satisfaction."

"Very well, you can discuss the specifics with the young general. Leave the child and the young woman alone; the Imperial Guard will take over." After saying this, the old man stood up, bowed to Xiang Shu, and said, "Your Highness, may this be decided."

"Your Highness, may this be your judgment!" the rat demon proclaimed loudly.

Xiang Shu calmly suppressed the soldiers' intention to echo her, then looked at the rat demon: "I represent the royal family and have only done what I should do. The pursuit of the criminals will continue for a long time, so please do not make a mistake."

"Absolutely not, Your Highness, please rest assured."

Now that the matter was settled, the old man said he wanted to go for a walk along the wall.

The old man has returned to the place where he once fought. Although Dulin doesn't know whether he is currently active or retired, he wouldn't find it strange if the old man went down the city wall to fight aliens now.

Xiang Shu originally wanted to follow Du Lin, but the rat demon said that she had something she wanted to talk to Du Lin about.

So she walked away.

Dulin then raised a coffee table and chairs in the open space and took out tea and hot water: "Before you say anything, I want to say that from a normal point of view, you shouldn't risk offending so many people or even losing your life to save them."

"The Marshal should know about my affairs, but he didn't say anything, which is a huge favor to my family. You, on the other hand, are unaware of this, which makes it seem like you, Prince Dulin, are being too outspoken."

Dulin smiled and accepted the rat demon's compliment: "You merchants really know how to speak to people in a human language and to ghosts in a ghost language."

“Otherwise, how could we become businessmen? But I have to deal with this matter today. My mother had a difficult childbirth, and the car broke down on the road. It was Old Master Qian who happened to be passing by who took my mother to the hospital in his car, which is why we are safe today. Although the old master has passed away long ago, I, as his child, can never ask for more of his kindness.” At this point, the rat demon took the teacup: “I’m sorry for the trouble, Your Highness Du Lin.”

Didn't lie.

Both Shiyi and Daju made confirmations at the same time.

Since he wasn't lying, Dulin was relieved. He looked at the rat demon and said, "Although in my opinion, Qian should die, I appreciate your willingness to stand up for what is right. However, Xiangshu also said that the pursuit of the criminals will take a long time, Mr. Su, please don't make things difficult for yourself."

"Of course I know. Since Her Highness the Princess said so, I will naturally pay a large sum of money. I can't let them go in private until they work for my merchant guild to earn money to redeem themselves. At least this time I have repaid the old master for the life-saving grace of my mother and me, and I have a clear conscience." The rat demon sighed softly as he said this: "As for why they want to make this money, I really don't know."

“This money is hard to come by. In my opinion, it’s money that could wipe out the whole family. But after your explanation, I’m relieved. I originally thought you had some ulterior motive,” Du Lin said honestly.

"Please rest assured about that." The rat demon smiled and shook its head: "As a merchant, I myself don't believe that I don't love money. I also know that if this pass is breached, I'm afraid I'll lose all my wealth. Even if I were a fool, I would never do business with the aliens from beyond the pass."

Huh?
(End of this chapter)