You've found the Gusha-hime Knight, so put your hair up in a bun!

More than their actual value, these contracts represent Shiloh's control over the commercial sector of Maple Leaf Territory, which gives them greater significance.

Shiloh was fairly satisfied with this apology gift.

"This is a gift for you, and I will treat it with utmost care and respect."

Klaus could also see that Shiloh had softened his attitude, and immediately put on a respectful and sincere smile, bowing to him.

Just as Shiloh accepted the contracts, Klaus suddenly spoke up again, saying, "However, the reason I was able to collect these contracts and present them to you is thanks to the help of one person."

"Oh? Who is it?"

Xi Luo raised an eyebrow. Maple Leaf Territory was at most a beginner's village, and he wasn't particularly clear about the specific power divisions within it.

After all, many of these were just background details mentioned in the plot, and Xi Luo's screenwriting colleagues in his previous life did not fill in the corresponding details.

Of course, once you've traveled to the real world, these details will develop within the rules of that world.

Listening to Crow's words, Shiloh was quite interested and wanted to know who could have such great influence in the business world of Maple Leaf Territory.

pop-

As Crow clapped twice more, a young man dressed in exquisite and expensive clothes, wearing a monocle and looking like an elite aristocrat, walked in through the door.

His intimidating appearance actually led some government officials to subconsciously assume that he was a nobleman's son.

Xi Luo narrowed his eyes slightly, then quietly opened them wide, a smile spreading across his face.

Hey, isn't this someone we know?

"Your Excellency, Norman pays you his highest respects."

Standing about a meter away from the girl carrying the tray, Norman bowed deeply to Shiloh, his face full of elegant smiles.

However, the smile froze on his face, his pupils contracted suddenly with fear, and he could not lift his half-bent body, as if he were carrying a ton of boulder on his back, and even his knees made a soft "creaking" sound.

"Looks like my Cecilia still holds a grudge~"

Shiloh smiled and glanced back. Cecilia was startled, then silently withdrew her oppressive aura.

Feeling a lightness in his body, before Norman could even breathe a sigh of relief, Shiloh's voice drifted over again.

"But you'd better speak while kneeling, otherwise Cecilia might get angry with me."

Chapter 19 Socks! She's an innocent young woman!

Norman was not of noble birth; in the original story, he was a commoner. However, he showed extraordinary business talent from a young age. After struggling in Maple Leaf Territory for ten years, he finally succeeded in becoming Crow's son-in-law by relying on his loyalty to the Bull family.

Norman's business spanned various sectors, but his most successful and profitable venture was the slave trade.

He is committed to providing every customer with the best slave buying experience, and has even created a personalized slave program that allows each customer to "tailor-make" a private slave according to their own needs.

Based on this mature system, Norman's business successfully suppressed the slave traders in the surrounding areas of Maple Leaf Territory, forcing them to become his subordinates and work for him.

Norman even established a connection with a large slave market in the capital, allowing him to obtain high-quality slaves in advance and avoid competing with his peers.

Cecilia was bought by Norman from the Great Slave Market before any of his competitors, and then rushed to Shiloh's mansion overnight.

Despite Shiloh's request, Cecilia was not touched in any way.

Norleman was well aware of the rules for escorting high-ranking slaves, and all those who escorted and guarded Cecilia were women.

Even so, Cecilia, who already disliked the slave trade, now that her plan had failed and she had truly become Shiloh's slave, she must have felt a lot of resentment towards Norman, and even developed a slight murderous intent.

After all, they had all come from the great slave market. When Cecilia was separated from the other slaves who had been bought with her, she casually asked the maid what would happen to them. The result she got... made her want to take a sword and kill all these slave traders.

Thinking of this, Cecilia felt a pang of gratitude towards Shiloh.

If he hadn't been the one to buy her, who knows if she would have suffered the same treatment as those other girls.

In contrast, Cecilia's emerald eyes turned icy again as she stared at Norman. Her right fingertips twitched slightly, as if she wanted to summon a sharp lightsaber and cut off his head.

Sensing Cecilia's murderous intent and Shiloh's indulgent attitude towards her, Norman readily lowered his body, kneeling on the ground with a thud, and said with a forced smile, "Lady Cecilia, please calm down. I have treated you with courtesy all along the way, you..."

As the saying goes, one cannot hit a smiling face. Seeing Norman, who had just been acting like a social elite, suddenly turn into a scoundrel, Cecilia couldn't help but chuckle and relax her restless right hand.

Cecilia's smile was naturally beautiful, but this once noble princess knight had now become the plaything of the capricious and deep-thinking young man sitting in the main seat. Norman and the other officials around the table didn't even dare to glance at her, for fear of being discovered by Shilo and then waking up the next day completely bewildered.

Looking at Norman's beaming face, Shilo smiled slightly, a deep-seated sternness flashing in his dark eyes.

To say that Norman did Shiloh a huge favor wouldn't really be accurate.

In the plans of those people in the capital, Cecilia would come to their side no matter what.

Even without Norman, there were plenty of slave traders to choose from.

From the moment he awakened his memories of his past life, Shiloh never changed his mind about uprooting the Bull family, a cancer in Maple Leaf Territory.

Norman, who was practically a member of the Boer family and had provided them with substantial financial support, was also placed on Shiloh's list of targets for elimination.

Although death is inevitable, the pursuit of maximizing the exchange of benefits is still necessary.

All the assets they possess must be converted into bargaining chips for Shiloh to completely control Maple Leaf Territory.

Therefore, rather than forcibly eliminating the Bull family by force, Shiloh prefers to gradually erode them from within.

The key to the Bull family's internal collapse lay with Norman's wife, or rather, Crow's youngest daughter.

In the original storyline, the fact that Shiloh was corrupted by the "blood of the abyss" had little to do with the Bull family, and there was no question of him being punished.

However, thanks to the machinations of Claude's youngest daughter, officials who came from the capital to investigate concluded that the Bull family was involved in the matter, and even uncovered more evidence of the Bull family's crimes.

Thus, under the powerful influence of the capital, the Bull family ultimately met its demise.

Furthermore, this young lady threw her husband, Mr. Norman, into the group of slaves she had freed, where he ended up being torn to pieces.

"I've heard that Mr. Crow has a beautiful young daughter. Why doesn't she come out and meet me, Lord?"

With his legs crossed and his wine glass swirling in his hand, Xi Luo asked with a smile.

Although it was supposed to be an apology banquet, everyone present understood that Shiloh wanted to find fault and nitpick. However, since the target was Crow, they didn't respond and just kept their heads down in silence.

As soon as he finished speaking, Claude waved his hand and laughed, "Haha, Your Excellency is the most honored guest, how could my daughter not come out to entertain you?"

Hearing Klaus's words, Shiloh seemed to understand something. He raised an eyebrow and looked at the mysterious girl standing quietly beside him, asking, "Could this be your daughter?"

Before Crow could speak, the girl stepped forward and gave Shiloh an impeccable ladylike bow, saying softly, "Elena Bull greets Your Lordship."

Silo stroked his chin, his gaze calmly surveying Elena. Then, his eyes narrowed, revealing a chilling glint, and he said in a deep voice, "Do you two think I'm a fool?"

The sudden drop in his voice concealed a fury at being offended, sending a shiver down Elena's spine and making Crow's face contort in pain.

"What...what makes you say that?"

Klaus hurriedly asked, afraid that Shiloh might suddenly turn hostile at any moment.

“If I remember correctly, your daughter should be married to Norman, but this young lady isn’t wearing a ring; she’s clearly still unmarried. Mr. Crow, aren’t you going to explain?”

Silo tapped the table, his eyes becoming extremely sharp, while Cecilia also released a bit of the [Stage of Stars] pressure, causing a cold wind to blow through everyone, making them feel cold in their hearts.

Upon hearing this, Norman, who was kneeling on the ground, saw the troubled expressions on his father-in-law and wife's faces. After hesitating for a moment, he moved two steps while still kneeling and bowed his head to Shilo, saying, "My lord, actually, it's my fault. If you want to blame someone, blame me..."

Chapter 20 Someone else’s pure wife

"Oh? What do you mean by that, Mr. Norman? You have done me a great favor. If you have suffered any injustice, I will not hesitate to help you."

Shiloh rested his chin on his hand, his tone slightly cold.

Upon hearing this, Crow immediately lowered his head, his face grim as he thought to himself that Shilo really wasn't willing to let go of any "legitimate reason" that could be used to deal with them.

Hmph, what a pity...

A hint of mockery flickered in Crow's eyes. Not to mention that the Bull family possessed a great deal of dirt on Norman, the two sides had long been in a relationship of mutual benefit and mutual destruction.

His youngest daughter, born to a former mistress, was quite charming and alluring, managing to bewitch a shrewd businessman like Norman.

Therefore, Crow was not worried at all that Norman would say anything detrimental to the Bull family.

As expected, Klaus nodded in satisfaction at Norman's subsequent answer and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"My lord, you've misunderstood!"

Norman said urgently, then a hint of unease appeared on his face. He cast a loving and admiring glance at Elena, who stood silently to the side, and pressed his hand to his heart, as if to confess, "In my heart, Miss Elena is the most beautiful and purest girl in the world."

"Although I was fortunate enough to marry her, I still cannot bear to let this purity be tainted, even by myself."

After saying that, a hint of sadness flashed in Norman's eyes.

While this statement contains some truth, it only accounts for a small portion of it.

To Norman, Elena was indeed beautiful, charming, and flawless.

But as a slave trader, Norman was not the type to refuse food offered to him.

Although he and Elena got married, they never had a proper wedding.

On the wedding day, Elena did not even appear; the marriage was announced by a servant sent by the Boer family.

It was more of an engagement than a marriage.

Furthermore, Elena usually lived in the Boer family mansion and did not live with Norman.

Norman naturally understood that this situation was Klaus's doing.

Although this behavior was intended to lure him in, compared to other competitors who admired Elena, at least Norman had gained the Bull family's recognition!

With just this one point, he was already in an almost invincible position.

With just a little more effort, once he has gained the complete acceptance of the Bull family, he will finally be able to obtain that pure white flower…

In Norman's account, what was originally the Bull family's act of forcing him to passively accept the separation was now transformed into a concession he made spontaneously out of his love and admiration for Elena.

This skillful speech, coupled with the genuine emotion on Norman's face, almost convinced even Crow.

At this moment, Shiloh also showed a moved expression, seemingly approving of Norman's feelings, and slowly nodded.

"What a sincere feeling... It seems that this pure young lady is indeed Elena."

Upon hearing this, a smile had just appeared on Crow's face when it was interrupted by Shiloh, who continued to pursue him.

Shiro frowned, pointed at Elena beside him, and said in a deep voice, "Miss Elena, I have to say something about this. What you did was not very ethical!"

Elena's expression remained aloof. Upon hearing this, she gave a slight bow to Shiloh and said, "Elena doesn't know where she went wrong. Please enlighten me."

Upon hearing this, not only Norman's expression changed, but also Crow's, who was sitting in his seat, and he shouted, "Elena, watch your attitude towards the lord!"

Despite being reprimanded, Elena remained calm, quietly staring at Shiloh and waiting for his response.

Shiloh raised a hand, interrupting Crow who was about to apologize, and snorted, "You two don't live together, that's your family matter, I won't interfere. But at the very least, you should wear a ring that indicates you're married, huh?"

Hearing Shiloh's words, Norman, who was lying on the ground, was overjoyed. He lowered his head even further, pretending that he had not heard anything, hoping that Shiloh would continue to pressure Elena into agreeing to wear the wedding ring engraved with his and her names.

QQ QQ QQ...

Silo tapped the table three times, then suddenly stood up, frowning. "Miss Elena, even if you're favored, that's no excuse for your recklessness. Now, find a quiet, clean room and come with me!"

Upon hearing this, a question mark slowly appeared in the minds of everyone on the field.

However, upon seeing the genuine resentment on Shiloh's face, he abandoned his sordid thoughts, assuming that Shiloh wanted to save face for the Bull family, which was why he planned to take Elena to a quiet place for education.

Elena was taken aback at first, then secretly exchanged a glance with Crow, and after receiving his approval, she bowed slightly and walked to Shiloh's side, preparing to lead him to a guest room that was some distance from the reception room.

As he watched his wife about to leave with Shiloh, Norman felt a sudden pang of panic.

Over the years, he had done things to the beautiful wives of some people, and seeing this scene naturally reminded him of the times he coerced those women.

"My lord, this is too much trouble for you, and the fault lies entirely with me—"

Before Norman could finish speaking, he tried to get up, but was suddenly pressed down on his shoulder by Shiloh's hand, and forced to kneel back down.

"No need to worry, I can't stand by and watch this happen, so naturally I'll take care of it. I'll use the elegance and manners of a nobleman to properly teach Miss Elena a lesson."

Looking at Shiloh's sincere smile, Norman's anxiety subsided considerably. He wondered if he had misunderstood, so he nodded reluctantly and said, "Yes."

Seeing the glimmer of hope in Norman's eyes, Shiloh's smile deepened. He then glanced at the still quiet Elena and said with a smile, "Let's go then, Miss Elena."

Five minutes later, Shiloh, along with Cecilia and Elena, arrived outside a secluded room.

Elena opened the door first and entered, and before Cecilia could brace herself against the closing door, Shiloh's hand was already on it.

"For the next hour, you'll stand guard outside. Whoever comes, don't let them bother me, understand?"

Upon hearing Shiloh's words, Cecilia was stunned for a moment before her eyes widened and she quickly lowered her voice, saying, "She...she's someone else's wife!"

Chapter 21 Madam, you don't want your secret to be exposed, do you?

Seeing Cecilia's horrified expression, Shiloh raised an eyebrow and said, "You think I'd be interested in secondhand goods?"

Although Cecilia found Shiloh's words somewhat unpleasant, she felt a slight sense of relief, but then her body trembled again at the next moment.