Walnut used me to boost her sales performance.

"Speaking of Zhongli, didn't you keep any money for yourself?" Paimon was speechless.

This is Morax, who can conjure Mora anytime! How can he be so poor!

"Secret stash of money? Generally speaking, that's indeed a good idea..." Zhongli nodded seriously, "Unfortunately, I forgot..."

Jiang Bai, Kong, and Pai Meng all facepalmed.

For some reason, they were not surprised at all by Zhongli's answer.

Forgetting to bring money and forgetting to keep some savings is surprisingly reasonable for this god who represents Mora!

Jiang Bai is currently filled with regret! Utter regret!

If he had known Morax could directly create Mora, he would have made sure to pry him into creating a room full of Mora before Mora gave the Heart of God to the Fools!

However, there's no such thing as knowing beforehand...

He missed a crucial opportunity to become a top billionaire...

"Hahahaha! As expected of you, old man!" Wendy put a hand on Zhongli's shoulder and laughed so hard she could hardly breathe.

Seeing Wendy laughing like that, Zhongli lowered his eyelids and retorted without any politeness, "Although I don't have Mora, I always have ways to earn Mora. I also have disciples who will take care of me in my old age. Unlike you, who need to sing to earn a little money for drinks."

Wendy's smile froze on her face.

Jiang Bai, whose name was called out, looked more like he was about to cry. He glanced at his empty wallet and silently mourned for his future.

No, he needs to work harder!

Tomorrow! He'll go hand out flyers tomorrow!

Only Paimon and Kong were eager to watch the spectacle.

"Yeah, yeah! Two penniless bastards!"

Two gods can't even scrape together a single Mora, that's them for you!

Chapter 305 He's not worth that much Mora!

"The food is served!"

Xiangling and Guoba brought out steaming dishes from the kitchen, and soon the table was full.

"You've worked hard! Come and eat with us!"

Xiangling waved her hand, "You guys are the ones who have worked hard, preparing for such a long time for the farewell ceremony and fighting against the demon god."

"Thank you all for protecting Liyue Harbor! I'd like to raise a toast to you all."

Zhongli raised his wine glass, and the suffocating etiquette of the drinking table came rushing towards him.

"That's an exaggeration. We didn't do anything." Xiangling quickly picked up her cup and drank tea instead of wine.

Everyone responded in kind.

After the breathtaking moment passed, Xiangling looked at Wendy with curiosity, "And who is this?"

"This is Wendy, a bard from Mondstadt, and also our friend."

Venti took out his harp, struck a poet's pose, and plucked the strings a couple of times. "Coming to Liyue and witnessing the battle between humans and demons deeply moved me and gave me a lot of inspiration for poetry. Human courage and determination are the most beautiful poems in this world..."

"According to Liyue's etiquette, since I came uninvited, I should first punish myself with three cups!"

After saying that, he poured out three glasses of wine and drank them straight into his mouth.

Jiang Bai's lips twitched slightly. To put it nicely, he just wanted to drink.

However, since Wendy knew that this was Xiangling's dinner party, he couldn't just remain silent.

He raised his glass and looked apologetically at Xiangling, "I was the one who offered to treat him to dinner, but I was short of money and could only join you for dinner, Xiangling. I feel guilty, and I will punish myself with three drinks."

After saying that, he drank the wine in his glass in one gulp.

"It's alright, it's alright. We're having a lively dinner with everyone!" Xiangling quickly waved her hand.

Kong silently drank his juice, while Paimon held his cup blankly.

Constantly demanding toasts and self-punishments, Liyue's dinner parties are terrifying...

Fortunately, this situation didn't last long, and after skipping the drinking part, everyone had a good time.

Paimon walked out of the Wanmin Hall, patting his round belly, his face full of satisfaction.

"Xiangling's cooking is so good. If I weren't so full, I could eat even more..."

Jiang Bai stared at Paimon's belly, completely baffled as to why such a small guy had a belly like a bottomless pit, eating more than he did.

He patted Kong on the shoulder, looking at her with a "you've worked hard" expression, "Raising her must have been really tough for you."

"Sigh!" Kong sighed deeply.

If he hadn't earned a sum of Mora from Aberdo, he probably would have been eaten into poverty by Paimon long ago.

“Let’s go to the Northern Bank and have them use Mora to ransom people.”

"Yay!" Paimon's eyes lit up instantly.

Having made up their minds, the three went directly to the Northern Bank, which was open for business that day.

The Northern Bank is the largest property of the Fatui in Liyue, involving the loans and deposits of many residents of Liyue. The Liyue authorities have no reason to seize it, nor can they seize it.

Therefore, they opened for business on the very second day, although they didn't have many staff members, at least they still had some.

During yesterday's chaos, the Thousand Rocks Army seized control of many Fools and Winterborns, including these staff members.

Although the actions of the Fools are too numerous to recount, in the end, the ordinary people of Winter are still innocent.

If Liyue were to expel all the Winterborns because of this, it's likely that no one from any other country would dare to do business in Liyue. Therefore, after investigating and finding that they hadn't done anything wrong, they were released.

There may be high-ranking members of the Fools here, but their identities are not questionable on the surface, and they have deliberately not been involved in the Executive's plans. The Seven Stars cannot put them on trial, and the Northern Bank can continue to operate.

Jiang Bai knew the ruthlessness within the Fools. In order to stop them from suppressing the Demon God, the Fools who attacked them at the Jade Pavilion were all suicide squads. Even those who were not killed on the spot fell into the sea, and none of them survived.

So many soldiers, just like that, sent to their deaths. It was ruthless to the extreme!

If ordinary soldiers are like this, then executive officers are probably no better off.

Jiang Bai said to the two people behind him, "Don't say anything after we go in. I'll handle the negotiations."

"Uh-huh!"

Jiang Bai entered the Northern Bank, went straight to a staff member next to him, and said bluntly, "Your executive officer is in my hands now. I want to see the person who can make decisions."

The staff member was stunned and couldn't believe it.

Jiang Bai showed the staff a pitiful photo of the young master being tied up. After seeing the photo, the staff believed it to some extent, but they were still not quite sure that their executive officer had really been captured.

Although he didn't quite believe it, he still reported the matter.

Not long after, a middle-aged man walked over, his gaze falling on them, and he looked them up and down a few times.

"I am the vice president of the Northern Bank. Is the young master really in your hands?"

Jiang Bai crossed his arms. "So you're the one who can make decisions here? Didn't the lady tell you that the young master was in our hands when she left?"

The deputy bank manager frowned. They hadn't seen the young master since yesterday, and even the lady was injured when she left.

It seems that the young master has indeed encountered some misfortune.

What do you want?

Jiang Bai made an outrageous demand: "One billion Mora!"

"Impossible!" The vice president's voice suddenly became louder.

Clearly, the number Jiang Bai reported had a jolt to him.

"Tsk, a dignified executive, not even worth a billion Mora." Jiang Bai's sarcasm was undisguised.

"Northern Bank doesn't have that much liquid cash, let alone the ability to spend so many Mora to redeem him!" Not only would he not agree to that figure, but even their bank manager [the rich man] wouldn't agree!

Because of this incident, Ningguang had them thoroughly overwhelmed at the negotiating table. The mess the young master had caused made those diplomats want to fire him; if they had to pay him another large sum of Mora to ransom him, this vice president could practically apologize to the Queen!

"Eight hundred million!"

"impossible!"

"Seven billion!"

"Too many!"

"Tsk, let's go back and just hand that guy over to Ningguang." Jiang Bai made a move to leave.

"Wait!" the vice president gritted his teeth.

Young Master cannot fall into Ningguang's hands, otherwise they will have to pay more than a billion Mora!

"At most 300 million!"

This is all the savings the young master has accumulated over the years!

But coming up with 300 million is not as simple as just withdrawing the young master's savings. Banks themselves need to reserve sufficient working capital, which cannot be touched. And raising another 300 million Mora on top of that working capital is no easy task!

"Alright then." Jiang Bai was too lazy to haggle any further. Three hundred million was already pretty good; it would allow him to pay off all the debts he owed Zhong Li in one go, and even have some left over.

"You have three days. Three days from now, at 10 PM, we'll hand over the people and the money at Tianheng Mountain North!"

Chapter 306 Investigate where the young master is!

Not long after the group left, the vice president coldly instructed the two debt settlement personnel who appeared behind him:

"Go, follow them! Find out where the [Young Master] is! If possible, rescue him!"

Honestly, he didn't want to save the young master at all. If it weren't for the high status of the executive officer, he would have liked to kick these people who came to extort money out of the house.

Young Master and his group caused such a huge mess in Liyue, and they can just walk away without doing anything. But those of us who have been stationed in Liyue for a long time have to clean up their mess!

If he hadn't sworn an oath of loyalty to the Queen, he would have wanted them to give the prince to Sha to save him from a huge financial loss.

However, there was no other way. The young master could die, but he could not fall into the hands of the Seven Stars. Otherwise, the young master would become a powerful tool for the Seven Stars to use to make demands at the negotiating table, while they would be constrained by the young master's status as an executive officer and could only passively take the beating.

After the two debtors left, he called out two more people, "Go, count out all of the young master's deposits in the Northern Bank over the years, and record the shortfall in the account. He can make up the difference himself later!"

The Northern Bank would never pay this money; only the young master can pay it himself!

The young master was unaware that he was facing the predicament of having to use his own savings to redeem himself.

Zhongli used his magic to place a restriction on him, preventing him from leaving the courtyard. Although no one healed his injuries, no one else was harsh with him.

Zhongli's courtyard was very large and had everything.

D'Artagnan lay in the empty storeroom until the afternoon before waking from a deep sleep.

Having previously strayed into the abyss and fought there for a long time, injuries were commonplace for him.

External injuries are easier to treat, but internal injuries are harder to heal.

He sat up, supporting himself with the clutter, feeling a little better than yesterday, and the redness and swelling on his face had subsided considerably.

With Zhongli's spell, he couldn't leave the courtyard.

As for urging the Demon King's armed forces to forcibly leave this place, that's not even worth considering.

The Demon King Armor puts a tremendous strain on his body; for him to use it in his current physical condition would be tantamount to courting death.

Therefore, he had no choice but to stay there obediently as a prisoner.

He shifted into a more comfortable position, put on the executive mask, and called out to the lady.

He still had many questions to ask this guy.

His consciousness re-entered the virtual space, and D'Artagnan crossed his arms, waiting for the lady to appear.

Perhaps annoyed by his harassment, the woman soon appeared in this virtual consciousness space with an impatient expression.

"What do you want from me?"

D'Artagnan was extremely displeased with her expression. "I made so many arrangements, only to have them all benefit you in the end. Shouldn't you explain yourself?"

Did this guy conspire with Zhongli from the beginning to use him as a whetstone for Liyue? Or did he eventually find Morax and trade the Heart of God with the Queen's contract?

The former means he was completely played, and all his actions were part of someone else's scheme, while the latter means he was the one who got the benefits. Either way, he felt extremely resentful!

The woman sneered, her mockery undisguised. "Ha, an explanation? If it weren't for me, how could you have obtained the Heart of God from Morax? With your flawed plan?"