"What is it? Why are you so flustered?"
Unlike his foolish disciple, who was panicking, Xu Shi kept himself as calm as possible.
"Master, it's the newspapers..."
Pan Ling held a thick stack of all sorts of major papers and tabloids, unable to hide the anxiety on her face.
"What's so surprising about newspapers?"
Xu Shi laughed. "Is this your first day seeing them slander your master?"
The Hualan Empire's newspaper industry was actually quite diverse. The royal family and the church each had their own official newspapers, while all kinds of private tabloids flew about everywhere—strictly speaking, the latter were not permitted by law. But after both sides tried banning them several times and found they could not be eradicated, they could only turn a blind eye, making it an open secret.
And ever since the Sea God Stone trade began, reports about Xu Shi, who had gradually entered the public eye, had never stopped.
The coverage had always been mixed—during the Sea God Stone trade, some praised him for bringing economic prosperity, while others accused him of profiteering and disrupting the market.
Things quieted down for a while after the mess—though it was not that no one was criticizing him. It was just that both the royal family and the church had been involved at the time, and criticizing one meant condemning them all. Xu Shi had also reached a partnership with the royal family quickly, so public opinion eventually faded away.
Only Xu Shi's own people knew that those reports were actually rather... accurate. The details were completely unrelated, of course, but the overall tone was not too far off.
"Then hurry up and get ready."
Otherwise, there was no need for them to drag the royal family into it. Targeting him alone would have been enough,