184: Chapter 184 Lillian's Money-Making Secrets! The Four Women Devise a Plan! Rowan Makes the Final Decision!

Red Maple Manor.

Ever since Lady Lillian began frequenting Golden Flame Castle, everyone knew that she had a close relationship with the new Count.

Naturally, the number of carriages at the manor's entrance increased.

On this day, the carriage of Carolden Willis, the second son of the late Viscount Willis, stopped in front of Red Maple Manor.

Lady Lillian received this young noble in a reception room.

Carolden Willis was about twenty-five or twenty-six, with an air of restlessness and impatience between his brows.

After a few pleasantries, he directly handed over a bearer gold note from the Vilantia United Bank, stating his purpose.

A full one thousand gold coins.

Carolden's intention was clear.

He hoped that Lady Lillian would put in a good word for him before The Count, so that at the County Council's upper house hearing seven days later, The Count would be inclined to support his succession to the title and territory of Viscount Willis.

Lady Lillian picked up her teacup and took a light sip. Her gaze lingered on the gold note for a moment before shifting away, a perfectly measured smile on her face.

She did not offer any explicit promises, merely stating vaguely things like, "The Count has his own considerations," or "I will do my best to put in a good word."

This made the other party feel that the money had not been spent in vain, while leaving no handle for anyone to seize upon.

After Carolden left, Lady Lillian stood by the window, watching the carriage recede along the path it had come, a smile of excitement forming at the corners of her mouth.

She keenly realized that this was an excellent opportunity to make money.

The recent series of actions at Golden Flame Castle made it clear to her that The Count might be looking for ways to raise funds.

And this internal strife within the Viscount Willis family was simply a piece of fat meat delivered to her doorstep.

As an outsider, she saw things much more clearly than those involved in the situation.

Those two fellows had already lost their minds in the fight for the title, and this was the exact moment they were easiest to lead by the nose.

She immediately changed into a beautiful dress, ordered the servants to prepare the carriage, and headed straight for Golden Flame Castle.

Golden Flame Castle, top-floor bedroom.

Rowan was leaning on a lounge chair by the window, flipping through a book of love poetry.

His personal maid, Catherine, who possessed a certain artistic temperament, was nestled in his arms, reciting the verses in a leisurely and melodious voice.

"I see the ocean in your eyes, the rising and falling tides are all my name..."

Her clear, soft voice was like a mountain stream, carrying a soothing rhythm.

At this moment, a maid announced that Lady Lillian requested an audience.

Upon hearing this, Rowan raised an eyebrow slightly.

When Lady Lillian took the initiative to come see him, it was usually because she had something to request.

"Let her in."

He put down the book, patted Catherine to signal her to step aside, and then sat up straight.

A moment later, Lady Lillian walked into the bedroom with graceful steps.

She sat down on the chair opposite Rowan and, without much pleasantry, stated her purpose directly.

She had a way to get a large sum of money!

Upon hearing this, Rowan immediately became interested: "Tell me."

Lady Lillian smiled slightly. She first informed him about Carolden Willis coming to see her earlier, then proceeded to detail her plan.

She said confidently, "My Lord, we can drain the value of the Willis family's Frost Hill Territory completely dry in seven steps."

"Step one: Collect." She held up her first finger. "I have already accepted the one thousand gold coins in bribes sent by Carolden Willis."

"But I gave him no explicit promises, merely releasing some vague signals to make him think that I have been swayed by him and will put in a good word for him before you, My Lord."

"This money is safely in our pockets."

"Step two: Spread." She held up her second finger. "I will secretly send someone to cleverly leak the news of Carolden bribing The Count's estate to the third son, Hadrian."

"Given the personality of that third son of the Willis family, Hadrian, he will inevitably be unable to sit still and will also try every means to raise money to win your support, My Lord."

"In this way, the two brothers will begin to compete in using the assets of the Frost Hill Territory to raise funds in order to win The Count's favor."

"Step three: Seal." She held up her third finger. "Once they have utilized the territory's assets, they will have violated the relevant provisions of the Imperial Law."

"At the Council hearing seven days from now, you can cite the reason that the lord is not yet determined and that the territory's assets are at risk of being stolen or sold, allowing the County Council to step in and temporarily take over the asset supervision rights of Frost Hill Territory."

"Prohibiting the heirs from disposing of land, mineral resources, cash reserves, and valuable materials without authorization."

"This step is justified and has a legal basis."

"Step four: Stall." She held up her fourth finger. "Using the excuse that the evidence for the murder charge is insufficient and requires a second investigation to verify clues, we can indefinitely postpone the next hearing."

"According to Imperial Law, during the period when the lord is undetermined and the dispute is being adjudicated, all regular taxes paid by the territory must be submitted to the County Council's special escrow account, and no one is permitted to intercept them privately."

"At the same time, the prolonged trial period you can orchestrate will cause the operations of the Viscountcy's manors, workshops, and mines to stagnate, generating high operational costs and debt interest, further exacerbating the economic crisis of Frost Hill Territory."

"Step five: Loan." She held up her fifth finger. "Secretly arrange for a lending company to provide loans to the two heirs."

"Make them believe that as long as they can ultimately seize the territory, these current investments are worth it."

"When people are desperate, they will accept any seemingly reasonable terms."

"They know that if they cannot achieve final victory, then everything will be meaningless."

"Step six: Harvest." She held up her thumb, a flash of excitement in her eyes. "Wait for their debts to accumulate to a critical value. When they can no longer repay the high interest, we can initiate the foreclosure process and directly harvest the high-quality assets of Frost Hill Territory."

"Mines, manors, shops, woodlands..."

"These will all be legally and compliantly transferred to the creditor's name in the name of debt settlement."

"Step seven: Determine." She lowered her hand, finishing the exposition of the entire plan. "Finally, designate the heir who gave more money to inherit the title."

"But what he gets is an empty-shell territory that has been hollowed out of all its quality assets, along with a massive debt that is enough to crush him."

"He gets the Viscount title and the Upper House seat he dreamed of."

"At the same time, he must also be grateful to you, My Lord, because it was you who supported him."

After finishing the seven steps, Lady Lillian picked up her teacup to moisten her throat and looked at Rowan with a smile.

Rowan listened, silent for a moment. Then, he laughed.

He had to marvel—the woman before him was truly a talent!

This plan was interlocking and calculated, exploiting both human greed and anxiety while operating within the framework of Imperial Law, leaving no room for anyone to find fault.

"About how much money can we get?" Rowan asked the question he cared about most directly.

Lady Lillian had clearly already calculated it in her mind and immediately gave a number: "Although Frost Hill Territory is not as wealthy as the Mist Territory, it still has two medium-sized iron mines, a hot spring manor, and plenty of farmland and woodlands."

"If we mortgage and discount the future asset returns of Frost Hill Territory for thirty years, package them as debt claims, and sell them, after deducting operating costs, we can directly squeeze out... about two hundred thousand gold coins."

Two hundred thousand gold coins. This number made Rowan's breath catch slightly.

Gino City's annual fiscal surplus was only about sixty to ninety thousand gold coins, and this one job could equal several years of Gino City's fiscal surplus.

For the next ten years, Gino City had to pay off debts for the Beauty Pageant, so he wouldn't be able to touch a single coin of that.

He made a prompt decision and said to Lady Lillian, "Wait a moment."

Then, he immediately had someone summon the three ladies: Helena, Melissa, and Sylvie.

The three ladies soon arrived in the bedroom. When they saw Lady Lillian was also present, a flash of surprise crossed their eyes, but they quickly returned to calm.

Rowan concisely repeated Lady Lillian's plan to the three ladies.

The three ladies listened, looking at each other, speechless for a moment.

They were all intelligent people and could naturally see the ingenuity of this plan. But this operating method, which exploited human weaknesses and walked the edge of the law, was indeed somewhat outside the scope of conventional thinking for the academic-minded women.

Helena was the first to recover. She pondered for a moment and gave her assessment: "From a process perspective, every step has corresponding legal support."

"Temporary takeover of asset supervision, postponing the hearing, escrowing taxes, exercising debt claims... these all have corresponding clauses in the Imperial Law that can be cited."

"As long as the paperwork is done meticulously, there won't be any major problems with the procedure."

Melissa followed up, saying: "From a financial perspective, the return rate of this scheme is extremely high."

"The operating costs are mainly concentrated in the lending company's handling fees, which, compared to the final gain of two hundred thousand gold coins, are almost negligible."

"The key lies in accurately valuing the various assets of Frost Hill Territory to ensure the mortgage loan amount does not exceed the actual value, avoiding bad debts."

Sylvie spoke last, her tone cautious: "This operation has no issues in terms of jurisprudence, but it is prone to leaving a bad reputation in the county's business circles."

"However, if The Count's estate does it, that is another matter. I think no one should have any objections to this."

"Is that so." Rowan was satisfied after hearing the three ladies' evaluations.

He looked at Lady Lillian and nodded: "The plan is feasible."

"The specific operational details should be discussed by the four of you together to refine the process."

"At the same time, arrange the personnel to be sent to directly intervene in the asset management of Frost Hill Territory."

"If you need the City Guard to intervene and execute, Helena, you can issue the deployment order directly."

The four ladies acknowledged the order, roughly finalized the division of labor and timelines, and then rose to take their leave.

Helena walked in front. Lady Lillian consciously lagged half a step behind. Melissa and Sylvie were in the back, whispering and discussing something.

The bedroom door closed gently. Only Rowan and Miss Catherine, who had previously appeared somewhat bored, were left.

Seeing the four ladies leave, a flash of excitement flickered in Catherine's eyes.

She picked up the poetry book, nestled back into Rowan's arms, and began to read rhythmically.

In the bedroom, the girl's soft, beautiful voice rang out again...