Setting a Trap

"If the price is right, our border troops will certainly need it."

Qian Shuisheng agreed without hesitation, then asked with a smile, "I wonder, Mr. Zhou, how do you plan to sell it?"

Zhou Chen licked his lips upon hearing this:

"Hehe. My family wants this amount."

As he spoke,

He slowly extended one palm, spreading three fingers out among the dozen or so generals inside the tent.

Qian Shuisheng remained calm as he watched the gesture.

"Three million taels is still acceptable."

Thirty million.

"." Qian Shuisheng.

Zhou Chen broke the silence with a dry laugh, his eyes filled with amusement:

"Elder Qian, the Cloud Qi Bomb is very expensive to manufacture; it costs three million taels of silver to even recoup the cost."

Silence fell over the tent. Qian Shuisheng stopped speaking, but his gaze calmly swept over the rest of the people.

"Well"

After a brief silence came a sigh, a middle-aged woman in armor, her tone tinged with a hint of mockery:

"Mr. Zhou, our 300,000 border troops fought a bloody battle here to recapture Beifeng. The court not only failed to send reinforcements, but now they expect us to purchase their own weapons. Aren't they afraid of demoralizing our soldiers?"

Zhou Chen glanced back at the woman.

He, Zhou, thought he had a very thick skin, but this woman was completely shameless.

After a moment's pause, Zhou Chen's mind raced, and he forced a smile:

"Elder sister, you're going too far. My master doesn't hold any official position in the court. The Cloud Qi Bomb obtained on this trip came from his private stash. How could that possibly discourage the border troops?"

Speaking of this,

Zhou Chen stood ramrod straight, clasped his hands in a fist salute towards the sky, and said loudly, "On the contrary, it is precisely because my master is concerned about the country and its people, and worried about the lives of the 300,000 soldiers under Beifeng City, that he sent me, Zhou, to inquire of you all. I hope you can understand his intentions."

The middle-aged woman snorted coldly.

At this time,

General Hou, whose face was scarred, suddenly let out a sinister chuckle:

"So, Mr. Zhou is not an envoy of the imperial court?"

If you're not an imperial envoy, you don't have that protective layer. If I kill you, the settlement later will at most be a personal matter, not a struggle for justice.

Zhou Chen cursed inwardly upon hearing this, staring at the person who spoke, and said, word by word:

"Brother, I am merely a messenger for my master. My life is cheap, inferior to the lives of you noble families, and even less so to these 300,000 soldiers."

Don't try that on me. Killing me is fine, but without the Cloud Qi Bomb, can you defeat the hundreds of thousands of the Barbarian Tribe troops who have absolute advantage in weather?

General Hou narrowed his eyes, a hint of murderous intent flashing within them:

"Mr. Zhou, it is certainly commendable to die for righteousness."

"That's enough."

At this moment, Qian Shuisheng interrupted General Hou again, turning to Zhou Chen with a smile and saying, "Mr. Zhou, if we agree to your family's conditions, how will the Cloud Qi Bomb be transferred? And how will payment be made?"

"Elder Qian is straightforward."

Zhou Chen felt a slight sense of relief upon hearing this, cupped his hands in a respectful gesture, and smiled:

"Regarding the delivery of the Cloud Qi Bomb, you can set a time, and my master will arrange for people to deploy them on time."

"Laugh"

With a soft laugh, the young female general, Liu Mei, spoke with a hint of sarcasm, "Mr. Zhou, there's a limit to how much you can get for nothing. How can we trust you so easily? What if the Cloud Qi Bomb is just a hoax? Wouldn't our border troops' valuables be taken away by you for nothing?"

Zhou Chen had already prepared a response and said without hesitation:

"We have previously supplied your army with two Cloud Qi Bomb. I believe some of you have seen the actual objects and know that the Cloud Qi Bomb are not stable in structure and cannot be stored in Sumeru Ring. If your army is willing to send elite troops to retrieve them, my master can provide a location for hiding the Cloud Qi Bomb."

"."

The young female general sneered, "With such heavy snow outside, you're sending troops to escort them? Do you think those Barbarian Tribe wolf riders roaming outside are blind?"

Zhou Chen shrugged nonchalantly:

"Since your army is unwilling, then we will arrange for a high-level cultivator to accompany me to retrieve it. This will actually reduce the chances of being exposed. You may choose from three delivery methods."

"Let's leave that aside for now."

Qian Shuisheng's eyes showed a thoughtful expression, and he asked in a cool and indifferent tone, "So, Mr. Zhou, how does your family plan to take over our payment?"

Zhou Chen grinned and cupped his hands in a gesture of respect upwards once more:

"My master said he doesn't want land deeds, shares in the Chamber of Commerce, or any property deeds related to Northern Border industries. He only accepts cash, banknotes, or cultivation resources. Of course, if your army is willing to sell military supplies, my master is willing to purchase them at five times the market price."

After he finished speaking, there was a brief silence.

The expressions on the faces of the dozen or so commanders who held considerable military power became somewhat strange.

This statement contains a lot of information.

No actual industry

The Tian'an Chamber of Commerce of the Prime Minister's Estate have been scrambling to enter their Northern Border region in recent years. Now that there is such an opportunity to openly and legitimately intervene in the Northern Border market, it is impossible for Mr. Zhou's backers not to seize it.

It's not that they don't want it, but rather that they can't accept the person behind Mr. Zhou.

Even if you let your trusted subordinates hold nominal positions in real assets, without participating in management and only receiving annual dividends, each time profits are handed over, there is an increased possibility of exposure.

Time passed second by second.

Qian Shuisheng's gaze towards Zhou Chen became a half-smile:

"May I ask, why doesn't your master want any real property in the Northern Border?"

Without a second thought, Zhou Chen followed Xu Yuan's instructions and said directly:

"My family cannot bear the responsibility for the outflow of strategic resources like Cloud Qi Bomb."

"."

The tense atmosphere inside the tent gradually relaxed after these words, and many generals even showed a faint smile on their faces.

Well, it seems that the person behind Mr. Zhou is a high-ranking official in the Prime Minister's Estate who resells goods.

Those who hold power should make the best use of it; otherwise, it will become obsolete.

They drain the public coffers to feed their own families.

Many of the array patterns in the Prime Minister's Mansion are ahead of the rest of the Great Yan Prime Minister's Estate, just like the Ghost Mist Array back then.

Despite its strict security measures, the Institute of Investigation was eventually sold off at a high price.

However, that wasn't what made them happy.

Since the person behind Mr. Zhou is reselling privately, it means that the other party will not dare to make a public announcement, and the price can be negotiated, with a lot of room for negotiation.

Qian Shuisheng's aged face twitched, and he laughed:

"Mr. Zhou, thirty million taels is no small sum. Would you please wait outside the tent for a moment? We need to discuss this further."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chen clasped his hands in a fist salute and exchanged a smile with Qian Shuisheng.

"In that case, I will wait outside the tent for good news."

After saying this, Zhou Chen walked out of the tent under the watchful eyes of the powerful figures in the room.

"."

As the tent flap fell, the relaxed atmosphere inside the tent instantly became heavy, even grim.

Qian Shuisheng, seated at the head of the table, narrowed his eyes and suddenly let out a cold laugh:

"Who do you think is behind Mr. Zhou?"

"It shouldn't be Lou Ji and Zong Qingsheng."

The scarred man spoke up, "They have no children and are all fiercely loyal to Xu Yinhe. Moreover, their positions are too high; it's unlikely they would betray the interests of the Prime Minister's Estate."

The entire Prime Minister's Estate belongs to them; they can simply ask for whatever they want without needing to resort to such methods to gain profit.

The young female general chuckled and said:

"Elder Qian, I don't think it matters who it is, as long as they can provide us with Cloud Qi Bomb."

The hot-tempered, burly man snorted softly:

"Thirty million taels is too much. Last year, the war was unfavorable, and the total military expenditure of our hundreds of thousands of border troops in the Northern Border was only about seventy million taels a year."

The scarred man chuckled.

"This expense is indeed too high. I need to ask those sects in the south for more benefits. Our sects in the Northern Border are holding them off. When the resources are redistributed at next year's Tianyuan Grand Competition, we need to ask those old fogies in the Jiangnan region for more benefits."

After he finished speaking, a low chuckle rippled through the room.

A sect is a large collective with its own set of rules.

Border sects contribute manpower and resources, while wealthy regions receive supplies in return.

The emperor's last stand was thwarted by their Northern Border Sect, so they naturally had a reason and a sense of righteousness to demand benefits from sects in other places during the Tianyuan Grand Competition.

Once the conversation started, some generals who were on good terms with each other began chatting and planning for the coming year.

But while some people are talking and laughing, others are naturally silent, and those who remain silent are not few in number.

The atmosphere inside the tent was quickly broken by a gentle voice:

"You're already celebrating before the halftime break?"

The speaker was none other than the handsome young man from the Valley of Ten Thousand Medicines, but not wanting to overshadow the host, he looked at the silent old man in the main seat:

"Elder Qian, you must have something to say, right?"

"."

Upon hearing this, Qian Shuisheng slowly raised his eyes and exhaled:

"Gentlemen, the person behind Mr. Zhou may indeed be providing us with the Cloud Qi Bomb for personal gain, but they also want to see us fight to the death with that Barbarian Tribe. Once the cloud qi is dispelled, how do you think that Barbarian Tribe Alien King will react?"

The hot-tempered, burly man cupped his hands in greeting, a smile of excitement playing on his lips:

"Elder Qian, with the snow clouds dispersed, those Barbarian Tribe, deprived of the protection of the heavens, will inevitably avoid our army's advance. We can simply storm into Beifeng City and hold our ground."

What if they don't avoid it?

Qian Shuisheng countered with a question, then said, "The Barbarian King isn't a fool. Once we reclaim Beifeng, they'll be sitting ducks."

Speaking of this,

Qian Shuisheng sighed softly, "The Cloud Qi Bomb directly changed the entire battle situation. The Barbarian Tribe army near Beifeng is roughly estimated to still number over 400,000. If we were to fight a tough battle with them, even if we won, our losses would be enormous, and the imperial court would reap the benefits without lifting a finger."

The young female general's brows furrowed slightly, a hint of fierceness appearing in her eyes.

"So we're just going to drag this out like this? If we had chosen to reinforce Beifeng back then, none of this would have happened."

The middle-aged woman in armor glanced at the young female general and sneered:

"Little girl, the decision was made by everyone together. What, now that we're in trouble, are you trying to extricate yourself from the situation?"

Upon hearing this, the scarred man chuckled and said:

"Madam Wang, the decision was indeed made together, but I remember it should have been made by you and your husband."

"Alright! Enough talk."

Seeing the atmosphere below becoming increasingly tense, Qian Shuisheng immediately spoke up to stop it, "In the current situation, what we need is to unite against a common enemy! Everyone, please share your strategies."

"."

Silence began to spread, and no one answered.

In the quiet,

Suddenly someone spoke up out of the blue:

"Can we think of another way to lure the Barbarian Tribe north?"

Another person directly retorted:

"How do we lure them in? Do the Barbarian Tribe know that there are celestial weapons like Cloud Qi Bomb in the Houting County area? Are they really going to attack the well-equipped Houting County defenses under a clear sky? Ha. Unless that Barbarian Tribe Alien King is as brain-dead as you, he'll know that we're an easier target here."

The person who spoke revealed murderous intent in their eyes:

"Dai Xiangfei, you have the nerve to talk back to me? You just give away a third of the supplies like that? I really don't know what you're talking about."

"Shut up!"

Qian Shuisheng spoke again in a low voice, his eyes filled with helplessness.

He had actually anticipated this situation.

Given the current situation, it was only a matter of time before internal conflicts erupted within the coalition forces. Mr. Zhou, who arrived with the Cloud Qi Bomb, merely ignited these conflicts ahead of time.

When things are going well, everyone is a brother; when things are going badly, everyone is a mother-hunter.

The drawbacks of the coalition's chaotic command structure began to emerge at this point.

Rubbing his temples vigorously, Qian Shuisheng glanced at the group of generals and said:

"Further words are useless. We now face only two paths: first, we continue to hold our ground and observe the situation; second, we use the Cloud Qi Bomb to attack Beifeng City."

"Won't both paths ultimately lead to a battle with those Barbarian Tribe?"

"Yes."

Qian Shuisheng's tone remained unchanged as he said in a deep voice, "We simply cannot avoid this situation given the current circumstances."

Several flawed decisions have directly led to a dead end for them.

They were tricked into abandoning Houting County to reinforce Beifeng. Subsequently, due to misjudging the ambition of the Barbarian King and the speed of Marquis of Martial Achievement and Zong Qingsheng's southward advance, they were directly blocked Beifeng City, surrounded by the Barbarian Tribe army.

To break this deadlock, they must fight a tough battle.

After a moment's hesitation, the scarred man asked:

"Elder Qian, which path do you prefer?"

Qian Shuisheng glanced at him, his fingertips lightly tapping the armrest of the main seat:

"The latter."

"The latter?" The scarred man frowned, a thoughtful look in his eyes, but he quickly realized that this was the best option at the moment.

Qian Shuisheng said in a low voice:

"Our army is trapped, but the Barbarian Tribe are even more anxious than us. The longer they wait, the greater the chance that the imperial army will march south. When that happens, our camp, which has no formation, will be completely unable to provide any protection."

"If we use the Cloud Qi Bomb a path and retake Beifeng City as quickly as possible, the Barbarian Tribe may give up and return to the depths of the Northern Border along the mountain path they came from."

"This is the strategy that will result in the least loss for us right now."

"Of course, we still need to plan the detailed marching procedures in detail."

Zhou Chen left, taking several Sumeru Ring and two second-grade Origin Beginning with him, and quietly departed from the sect's camp amidst the wind and snow.

And as they left,

A pair of eyes, gleaming with a deep blue light, stood quietly on a distant hillside, watching them.

Only after the three had completely disappeared from his sight did the burly figure silently turn and leave, vanishing into the wind and snow.