The saintess is pregnant, what does that have to do with me, a spoiled brat?

"Pay me money?" Xu Nuo pulled over a reasonably intact chair, sat down with an air of superiority, and said, "Fine."

He tapped the armrest of the chair, his gaze sweeping over the mess on the floor: "Seven tables were smashed, customers were scared away, and my men were injured. I'll give you a discount, one million taels."

Zhao Kang suddenly raised his head, forgetting even to kowtow.

One million taels?

The Ministry of Revenue's annual deficit isn't even this much! This isn't extortion; this is confiscation of his property!

"Young Master Xu... I don't have that much money!" Zhao Kang's voice trembled. "Although my father is the Minister of Revenue, our family really can't come up with one million taels of silver..."

Without wasting words, Xu Nuo lifted his foot and precisely stepped on Zhao Kang's right hand, which was bracing itself on the ground.

Click.

The sound of finger bones shattering was exceptionally clear in the quiet lobby.

"Ah—!" Zhao Kang let out a pig-like scream, his whole body curled up like a shrimp in pain, cold sweat instantly soaking through his brocade robe.

"Do we have it now?" Xu Nuo pressed down slightly with her feet.

"Yes! Yes! I'll have my dad bring it! Stop stepping on it! Your hand will break!" Zhao Kang shouted frantically, his face covered in tears and snot.

Xu Nuo moved her foot away and looked at Lin Hu, who was clutching his chest.

"Go to the Zhao residence and report this," Xu Nuo said calmly. "Tell Zhao Dezhu that if he doesn't see one million taels of silver within half an hour, he should prepare for the tragedy of an old man burying his young son."

Although Lin Hu was suffering from internal injuries, seeing his young master's domineering manner filled him with excitement. He loudly agreed, gathered a few guards who could still move, and stormed out of Zuixianlou with imposing momentum.

The diners had long since disappeared from the lobby.

Li Wanning peeked out from behind the counter, looking at Zhao Kang, who was convulsing in pain on the ground, and then at Xu Nuo, who was sitting calmly in his chair.

"You really want one million taels?" Li Wanning walked over and lowered his voice. "Zhao Dezhu is the Minister of Revenue, in charge of the nation's finances. If you offend him badly, the Zhenbei Army's provisions and pay will be..."

"He's already the Second Prince's dog. Even if I treat him like royalty today, he'll still withhold his rations." Xu Nuo glanced at her. "Go calculate how much we lost today."

Li Wanning gave an "oh" and obediently took the ledger to tally the losses. She found herself increasingly unable to understand this纨绔 (wán kù, a spoiled and dissolute young master) prince. He acted without any restraint, yet every step he took seemed to step on other people's Achilles' heel.

The Zhao residence.

Zhao Dezhu was checking accounts in his study. Lin Hu and his men kicked open the gate of the Zhao residence, barged into the study, and delivered Xu Nuo's words verbatim.

Zhao Dezhu was so angry that he trembled all over and overturned the desk.

"You arrogant brat! How dare you detain my son!"

But when he heard that the third-rank guest minister had been killed by Xu Nuo with a single punch, the anger on his face froze instantly, replaced by extreme terror.

Rank 3!

That was one of the top experts in the Second Prince's household! And he was defeated with a single punch?

Zhao Dezhu dared not delay. Without even changing out of his official robes, he prepared a carriage and rushed to the Second Prince's residence.

The Second Prince's residence, study.

After listening to Zhao Dezhu's tearful account, Li Chengqian crushed the celadon teacup in his hand into powder. Tea mixed with blood dripped onto the ground.

"Kill a third-rank official with one punch?" Li Chengqian's face was so gloomy it could drip water.

Wang Yuan, standing to the side, trembled and dared not even breathe.

"Your Highness, what do we do now? Kang'er is still in his hands!" Zhao Dezhu knelt on the ground, tears streaming down his face. "That Xu Nuo is a madman. If he doesn't see the money in half an hour, he'll really kill someone!"

Li Chengqian took a deep breath, suppressing the rage in his heart.

"Give him the money. One million taels; the Ministry of Revenue can afford it."

"But Your Highness, if this money is touched, the deficit in the south will not be covered..."

"Give it to him!" Li Chengqian slammed his hand on the table, shattering the solid wood desk with a crash. "Xu Nuo is too well hidden. Don't make any rash moves before you figure out his background. Go to the Taichu Holy Land's villa in the capital and invite Shen Qingyi over. I want to talk to her personally."

Zuixianlou (Drunken Immortal Pavilion)

Half an hour has passed.

The heavy rumble of wheels echoed from the end of the street. Zhao Dezhu arrived, sweating profusely, leading more than a dozen horse-drawn carts loaded with large wooden crates.

"Young Master Xu! The money is here! Release my son!" Zhao Dezhu rushed into the hall and looked at Zhao Kang, who was lying on the ground barely breathing. He trembled with heartache.

Xu Nuo raised his chin.

Lin Hu immediately led his men forward and pried open the wooden box. The gleaming silver ingots shone so brightly in the sunlight that they made one's eyes dizzy.

After the count was completed, Lin Huchong nodded and said, "Young Master, one million taels, not a penny less."

"The money is right." Xu Nuo stood up and patted the hem of her clothes.

Zhao Kang felt as if he had been granted a pardon and scrambled towards Zhao Dezhu.

"Father! Save me!"

Just as Zhao Kang was about to run to Zhao Dezhu's side, and Zhao Dezhu had already reached out his hand to catch his son.

He promised to snap his fingers.

A dark golden aura shot out like a sharp arrow, piercing directly through Zhao Kang's dantian.

puff.

Zhao Kang screamed and collapsed at Zhao Dezhu's feet, his body convulsing violently. The internal energy within him dissipated completely, like a punctured balloon.

His cultivation was ruined.

"Xu Nuo! You broke your promise!" Zhao Dezhu's eyes were bloodshot, and his finger pointing at Xu Nuo was trembling.

"I only said I'd pay to save his life, not that I wouldn't charge interest." Xu Nuo's tone was indifferent, as if he had just stepped on an ant. "He smashed my shop, beat up my people, and crippled his cultivation—that's too lenient. Take your good-for-nothing son and get out."

Zhao Dezhu stared intently at Xu Nuo, his eyes filled with resentment. But looking at the cold corpse of the third-rank guest minister beside him, he swallowed his bloodied teeth.

With a wave of his hand, he ordered his men to lift Zhao Kang up, and he slunk away from Zuixianlou.

Xu Nuo looked at the dozen or so carts of silver outside the door and was in a good mood.

"Ning Wan, put the money into the treasury. Bring out 100,000 taels and distribute it among the brothers who were injured today. Lin Hu, take 20,000."

Lin Hu was so excited that he knelt on one knee, his voice booming, "Thank you, Your Highness!"

Li Wanning held the account book, his eyes sparkling as he looked at Xu Nuo. One million taels! This speed of making money was faster than robbing the national treasury.

"What are you looking at? Get back to work." Xu Nuo tapped her on the head.

Li Wanning covered his head and muttered as he ran to direct the workers to move the boxes.

Nighttime, the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.

Xu Nuo sat cross-legged on the bed. He had directly sent someone to Wanbaoge that afternoon to exchange one million taels of silver for one hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones.

When the manager of Wanbaoge saw the exchange slip for 100,000 spirit stones, his hands trembled so much that he couldn't even stamp it properly.

At this moment, in the room, 100,000 spirit stones were piled up into a small mountain, radiating a rich spiritual energy.

Xu Nuo formed hand seals and activated the "Primordial Dragon-Summoning Technique".

boom!

A terrifying suction force erupted from him. Ten thousand spirit stones simultaneously lit up with blinding light, and the dense spiritual energy transformed into a visible liquid torrent, surging wildly into Xu Nuo's body.

The jade pendant on her chest was burning hot.

The ancient dragon soul let out a greedy and excited roar.

The eighth dragon pattern began to solidify rapidly.

Late fourth rank.

Peak of the fourth rank.

Click.

It felt as if an invisible shackle within my body had been brutally shattered.

Dark golden energy burst forth from his body, transforming into a ferocious, clawing dragon phantom within the room. A violent pressure instantly swept across the entire courtyard, silencing the chirping of insects outside.

Initial stage of the third rank.

Xu Nuo opened her eyes, and a dark golden vertical pupil flashed in her pupils.

The 100,000 spirit stones in front of him had all turned into grayish-white powder, and with each breath he took, a cloud of dust rose in the room.

"That's fucking expensive," Xu Nuo cursed.

But feeling the power within him, several times stronger than before and capable of shattering mountains, the corners of his mouth curled up again.

A third-rank official. In this capital city, he finally had some leverage to overturn the table.

The next morning.

Xu Nuo had just finished breakfast when a palace eunuch arrived at the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion with an imperial edict.

"The heir of the Duke of Xuanzheng promised to enter the palace for an audience immediately."

The old eunuch's high-pitched voice echoed in the courtyard.

Xu Nuo wiped her mouth and threw the half-eaten pastry in her hand onto the table.

The old emperor finally couldn't sit still any longer.

He changed into his princely court robes and strode out of the mansion. Outside, a carriage bearing the imperial insignia had been waiting for some time. Beside the carriage stood two imperial guards dressed in flying fish robes and carrying embroidered spring knives at their waists.