174: Chapter 174 Interaction with Luo Ningshuang

"Gang Leader Chen, what evidence do you have for saying that?" Luo Ningshuang asked, quite curious.

"Hehe!"

Chen Hu smiled mysteriously: "I don't have any proof, but I do know that our Prefect has been an official in our Linjiang Prefecture for several years, and he has embezzled at least this much!"

Chen Hu held up one finger.

"Ten million taels!"

Luo Ningshuang exclaimed.

"Hehe, I didn't say that; you said it yourself, Director Luo!" Chen Hu said, feigning innocence.

"To think that old thing is capable of embezzling so much. Is he worthy of the Imperial Court? Is he worthy of Your Majesty?" Luo Ningshuang said indignantly, though Chen Hu could detect a hint of envy in her tone.

"Nine out of ten officials are corrupt. Among those in office, who isn't corrupt?" Chen Hu joked with a smile.

"I am not corrupt!"

Luo Ningshuang stared at Chen Hu, somewhat annoyed.

"That is why, Lord Luo, you are a rare and incorruptible official!" Chen Hu complimented casually.

"But even as an incorruptible official, I can't even afford to treat you to a meal at a high-end restaurant!" Luo Ningshuang said with some bitterness.

"That's because you don't know how to be flexible, Lord Luo!"

Chen Hu shook his head.

"What do you mean by that?" Luo Ningshuang looked at Chen Hu and asked.

Chen Hu said: "Within the territory of Linjiang Prefecture, there are quite a few mountain bandits and robbers. With Lord Luo's strength, even alone, you are fully capable of wiping them out. After wiping them out, you can keep the confiscated silver and Cultivation Technique and Martial Skill for yourself. You might not care for the Cultivation Technique and Martial Skill, but you can take them to the black market to sell. That way, you can obtain a large sum of silver!"

Hearing Chen Hu say this, Luo Ningshuang immediately became eager to try.

"This is indeed a method; I can give it a try!"

Chen Hu continued: "I also have a channel for exotic beast meat here. If Lord Luo earns some silver, you can bring it to me to exchange for exotic beast meat. By the way, I haven't congratulated you on your Breakthrough to the Marrow Refining Realm yet!"

"It's thanks to the exotic beast meat you gave me; otherwise, I'm afraid it would have taken me another half a year to Breakthrough to the Marrow Refining Realm!"

"No need to thank me, it's only right!" Chen Hu said modestly.

Afterwards, Luo Ningshuang ordered the waiter to serve the dishes.

Before long, four meat dishes, four vegetable dishes, and one soup were delivered to the private room.

"The meal is a bit simple, please don't mind!"

"It's fine. Being able to eat with Lord Luo, even if there were no meat, I would still eat happily!" Chen Hu said with a smile.

"Slick-tongued!"

Luo Ningshuang glared at Chen Hu, but judging by the fact that her favorability rating above her head had increased by two points, she was actually quite pleased.

"Right, stop calling me 'Lord' every other word. Just call me Ningshuang!"

"Alright, then I won't stand on ceremony. You shouldn't call me Gang Leader Chen either; just call me Chen Hu or Old Chen!"

"Fine, I'll call you Old Chen. By the way, I heard Ye Han came to challenge you and was defeated by you with a single punch?" Luo Ningshuang asked curiously.

"That is indeed the case!" Chen Hu nodded: "I originally wanted to exchange a few more moves with him, after all, I accepted ten thousand taels of silver from him. As it turned out, he didn't appreciate it, so I had no choice but to defeat him in one move!"

"What, he gave you ten thousand taels of silver?" Luo Ningshuang said excitedly.

"I have no relation to him. He came to challenge me, so naturally, he had to pay. Otherwise, why would I fight him?" Chen Hu said matter-of-factly.

"Your silver is too easy to earn!" Luo Ningshuang said with envy, thinking of her fixed monthly salary of only 220 taels.

A year only amounted to a few thousand taels, while Chen Hu received ten thousand taels just from fighting someone once. She was almost crying with envy.

The two of them ate this meal for a full hour.

Chen Hu discovered that while Luo Ningshuang appeared cold and aloof, she was actually cold on the outside but warm on the inside, and she even enjoyed listening to gossip.

For example, after Chen Hu recounted how that guard stole a few of his master's concubines and was about to hook up with the Second Young Miss, Luo Ningshuang listened with great relish.

"By the way, Ningshuang, since you treated me to a meal, I'll give you something too!"

As he spoke, Chen Hu took out a Yuan Stone and handed it to her: "You just had a Breakthrough to the Marrow Refining Realm, and stabilizing your Realm requires consuming quite a bit of Cultivation resources. This Yuan Stone can help you!"

Luo Ningshuang stared at the Yuan Stone in Chen Hu's hand, her expression somewhat dazed.

Because she knew that the Yuan Stone was a top-tier Cultivation resource. In the Zhenwu Division, only the Chief Commander could exchange for it, and the merit points required for the exchange were an astronomical figure.

Now, Chen Hu had actually taken one out to give to her.

"Old Chen, this thing is too precious, I can't accept it!"

"If you don't accept it, you're looking down on me!"

Chen Hu grabbed Luo Ningshuang's hand and stuffed the Yuan Stone into it: "You treated me to a meal, and I'm giving you a small gift. This is called reciprocal courtesy. If you refuse again, I'll get angry!"

"Alright then, I won't stand on ceremony!"

Luo Ningshuang said somewhat shyly, her cheeks flushing red, not knowing what she had thought of.

And the favorability rating above her head jumped directly to 88 points.

Seeing this, Chen Hu smiled slightly: "That's right. Let's stop here for today; I'll treat you to a meal another day!"

Returning to the Zhenwu Division.

Luo Ningshuang held the Yuan Stone in her hand, lost in a daze.

"What exactly is Old Chen's background? To be able to take out even top-tier Cultivation resources like a Yuan Stone. Also, he gave me such a precious item; does he have feelings for me?"

The more she thought about it, the redder her cheeks became.

Moreover, upon careful reflection, that person, Old Chen, is indeed not bad.

Handsome and tall, and his cultivation level is also high.

And he is also generous with his spending.

He is also quite humorous.

If she could marry him, at least she wouldn't have to worry about future Cultivation resources.

If Chen Hu were here, he would discover that after a bout of wild imagination, our Director Luo's favorability rating had soared directly to 93 points.

Evening.

Chen Hu returned home.

He first went to the secret chamber in the backyard.

"Where is the thing I asked you to write?"

Granny Long immediately handed a stack of papers detailing the assets of Mingjian Villa to Chen Hu.

"You've worked hard!"

"It's no trouble. Serving the Master is something this servant is willing to do!"

After Chen Hu walked out of the secret chamber.

He flipped through the contents on this stack of papers.

He discovered that Mingjian Villa had quite a lot of assets.

First, surrounding Mingjian Villa, there were eight farms and two wineries.

Each farm had tens of thousands of mu of land.

The eight farms together amounted to hundreds of thousands of mu of land.

As for the two wineries, they could generate hundreds of thousands of taels of silver in revenue for Mingjian Villa every year.

Besides that.

In Lingzhou City, Mingjian Villa also had over 200 properties.

These included restaurants, inns, grain stores, fabric shops, brothels, and so on.

Therefore, Mingjian Villa's annual income could reach at least tens of millions of taels of silver.

Besides that.

Mingjian Villa could also forge Divine Swords.

Their forging techniques were much more advanced than those of the Nangong Family, capable of forging High Grade Divine Swords.

Every three years, Mingjian Villa would hold a Sword Appreciation Conference.

At the conference, through a martial arts competition, they would gift a High Grade Divine Sword to a young swordsman.

And the price of one High Grade Divine Sword could reach 5 million taels.

Mingjian Villa seemed to be losing out, but in reality, they were making a huge profit.

Because the sword given away was equivalent to advertising for their Mingjian Villa.

Then, if others wanted to purchase Divine Swords, wouldn't they have to go to Mingjian Villa to buy them?

Selling just a few High Grade Divine Swords each year was enough to easily rake in tens of millions of taels of silver.