Ailafu, Who Could Wipe Spit from His Face and Carry On

Ailafu's frankness caught Chen Cheng off guard. He also knew this was not the best time to speak, so he stuck to the excuse he had prepared.

"My lord, my name is Brown. I'm from the Hazy Kingdom, where my family runs a small fur business.

"An uncle of mine used to live on the Northern Frontier and supplied the furs for our business. But this time, he said the Northern Frontier had become too dangerous, and he could no longer supply us.

"So I came to you in the hope of securing a new source of furs."

As Ailafu listened, he began rapidly weighing what he knew of the Hazy Kingdom and the fur business Chen Cheng had described.

"The Hazy Kingdom? That's over a hundred thousand li from here. I remember visiting your kingdom when I worked at the Administrative Council. The river festival you held on the Hazy River left quite an impression on me."

Honestly, if Chen Cheng had not known that he had made up his entire identity, Ailafu's easy manner might have made him lower his guard without even realizing it.

"I truly didn't know you were familiar with our river festival, my lord."

Chen Cheng convincingly played a man of lower standing, trembling at the attention of someone above him.

"Beautiful as the Hazy River is, your King told me your country spends tens of millions in gold on river management every year.

"Without that investment, the mother river that looks so beautiful and bountiful, and feeds hundreds of millions of your people, could fly into a rage at any moment and become a fierce mother indeed."

Chen Cheng gave a nervous smile and said:

"You're right, my lord."

"Ah, you face that struggle with the Hazy River. Is my situation here any