195: Chapter 195 Furious

Hearing Pei Tianquan say this, the Pei Clan representative fell silent.

Once Pei Qingyun made a decision, it was not to be questioned.

Meanwhile.

Scattered throughout Jinhuai Prefecture City, the Great Families who had invested and were closely following the matter all received the answer provided by Pei Tianquan.

From Qian Handong's visit, they all sensed something unusual, a feeling of an impending storm.

However, this alone wasn't enough to make them withdraw their shares.

Many of them contacted each other to discuss their views.

"I don't know what the Qian Clan is planning, but it feels unsettled," someone muttered.

"Since we're already on board, it's too late to get off. No matter what, we can't back down now. It's not like we don't have backing. Besides, are you really willing to quit just like that? You've seen the market for the Yuanhang Trade Caravan. In as little as five years, or eight at most, we'll have fully recouped our investment. After that, it'll be pure profit. And the annual profit is no small sum," another person suggested.

Hearing this, one of them fell silent.

Anyone could do the math.

Five to eight years really wasn't long for a Great Family.

Even the youngest Great Family among them had a history of nearly seventy or eighty years.

Not to mention the older ones; there were several Great Families with centuries of history.

This amount of time wasn't even enough for half a generation to pass.

"Then let's wait and see," the person sighed.

In fact, considering the many unstable factors in the early stages, Pei Tianquan would report the business operations to the shareholding Great Families every quarter.

Once things stabilized later on, it would become an annual report.

It could be said that the steadily increasing quarterly earnings constantly stimulated the nerves of these Great Families.

Without a doubt, in the eyes of these Great Families, the Jinhuai Branch of the Yuanhang Trade Caravan was like a goose that laid golden eggs.

It was no exaggeration to say they were raking in money hand over fist.

Even if they only held a five percent stake, if the trend continued, their annual returns would reach nearly a hundred thousand taels.

A hundred thousand taels was definitely a significant sum for a third-rate family.

Taking the Jinhuai Xu Clan as an example, their annual profit was only two hundred thousand taels. Yet this was just the dividend profit given to them by the Yuanhang Trade Caravan for a single year.

...

In the blink of an eye, a month passed.

Business for the Yuanhang Trade Caravan remained booming, maintaining a steady upward trend. Qian Handong's visit seemed to be nothing more than an insignificant interlude, and the matter of buying shares had fizzled out, as if all previous speculations were merely illusions.

Qian Clan Main Residence.

In a private study, Qian Ninghe was focused on handling official business.

Suddenly.

The door was pushed open, and a slender, tall figure walked in.

A flash of displeasure crossed Qian Ninghe's eyes, but when he saw who it was, his expression instantly turned to helplessness. "Handong, why are you always so reckless?"

Qian Handong scratched his head and said sheepishly, "Father, I was in a hurry and forgot."

Seeing Qian Handong like this, Qian Ninghe didn't have the heart to scold him further. "Why have you come to see your father? Is something the matter?"

"You'll understand once you see this." Qian Handong didn't answer directly but instead respectfully handed over a set of dossiers.

Qian Ninghe looked up slightly and slowly opened the dossiers in his hand.

Every page of the dossiers contained detailed intelligence on the Yuanhang Trade Caravan and the Wuyang Pei Clan.

Qian Ninghe flipped through them silently, his brows gradually knitting together. Even after reaching the last page, his expression remained tense.

Qian Ninghe closed the dossiers, his brow furrowed. "Have you investigated these details thoroughly?"

Qian Handong quickly explained, "Father, I spent over half a month organizing and verifying this intelligence. I dare not say everything inside is absolute fact, but it is everything I managed to uncover."

When he first saw the contents, Qian Handong found them hard to believe and had verified them multiple times. Otherwise, with the Qian Clan's power, why would it take nearly a month to investigate a single Great Family in Jinhuai Prefecture?

Listening to Qian Handong's explanation, Qian Ninghe knew he shouldn't doubt the results of the investigation.

It was just that the development of the Wuyang Pei Clan was simply too astonishing, far exceeding the growth rate of a normal Great Family. Combined with the other aspects mentioned in the intelligence...

He couldn't help but overthink it.

Qian Ninghe said with a serious face, "Son, it's not that I don't believe what you said. This Wuyang Pei Clan is truly not simple. They might very well be a branch of the Longxi Pei Clan. No wonder the Yuanhang Trade Caravan could obtain those Dragon Scale Horses. This matter might be difficult to handle."

Qian Handong said anxiously, "Father, then what should we do? Although the Longxi Pei Clan isn't a Great Family from our Jinhuai Prefecture, they are a second-rate family. Moreover, their strength is immense. It's said that the Old Ancestor of the Longxi Pei Clan is a Grandmaster of Meridians. If the Longxi Pei Clan is behind the Yuanhang Trade Caravan..."

At this point, Qian Handong stopped and stared at his father with bright eyes.

Qian Ninghe pondered for a moment before saying nonchalantly, "Alright, let's leave it at that for now. I'll find a way to handle it. Even if the Longxi Pei Clan is behind the Yuanhang Trade Caravan, so what? Jinhuai Prefecture is the territory of our Qian Clan, not the Longxi Pei Clan."

"Father, I understand." Qian Handong bowed and withdrew.

Shortly after Qian Handong left, the atmosphere in the study instantly became very oppressive. Qian Ninghe's heart was far from as calm as he appeared on the surface.

His face was livid, and he unconsciously crushed the teacup in his hand to pieces.

He thought it would be an easy task, but he hadn't expected someone like Cheng Yaojin to pop up out of nowhere and interfere.

Although the Qian Clan acted like kings in Jinhuai Prefecture, among second-rate families, they were actually quite mediocre, or rather, in the lower-middle tier.

The Qian Clan didn't know much about the major second-rate families in other prefectures, but they had heard some basic information.

That the Longxi Pei Clan had a Grandmaster of Meridians was no hidden secret; it was more like public knowledge.

Anyone who inquired in Longxi could basically come to that conclusion.

Unlike the Qian Clan, whose strongest member was only at the Six Bowels Realm Perfection.

Six Bowels Realm Perfection seemed only a step away from Meridian Opening, but that single step had halted countless Grandmasters; not even one in a hundred truly succeeded.

If the Qian Clan had a Grandmaster of Meridians, the landscape of Jinhuai Prefecture City would not be as it was now.

...