The Human Emperor

Just when Wang Chong was starting to feel worried, a forceful hand abruptly stretched out from the crowds and in it was a heavy money pouch. Peng! It fell heavily before Wang Chong.

“Wang Chong, you said it yourself. 2% interest, compounded on a daily basis, and you will accept however much given to you. Those words should count, right?”

A cold voice sounded from above him.

“Su Bai?”

Wang Chong lifted his head in astonishment. Seeing the familiar arrogant face, he smiled:

“Count, of course my words count. Su Bai, you want to loan me money as well?”

“Hehe, Wang Chong, here is 1500 gold taels. Write a debt note to me and you can take all of it away. Remember, you have to pay me 2400 gold taels in a month’s time!”

Su Bai said coldly.

Hearing these numbers, the surrounding crowd gasped in shock. 1500 gold taels was an incredible amount for them; no one could have thought that Su Bai would be able to come up with so much money.

In a single month, Su Bai would be able to make more than 900 gold taels. There wasn’t a single scion in the capital who was able to make so much money in a single month.

With this amount of money, Su Bai wouldn’t have to worry about having insufficient money for a significant period of time.

“Hehe, if you dare to loan it to me, there is no reason for me not to dare to accept it!”

Wang Chong looked at the heavy money pouch and he was overjoyed. He was just worrying over the lack of sufficient money to further his plan when Su Bai delivered it to his door. With this 1500 gold taels, Wang Chong wouldn’t need to be so constrained in his spending anymore, and his plan would be able to be carried out smoothly.

Shuashuashua!

Without waiting for Su Bai to react, he lifted a brush, dabbed it inside ink and the brush flew all around the paper. After which, he signed off with a handprint and a debt note was created. After flinging away the excessive ink off the paper, he passed it over to Su Bai.

“Take it properly! If you lose it, don’t blame me for not repaying you.”

“You don’t need to worry about that!”

Su Bai sneered and reached out to grab the debt note from Wang Chong’s hands.

“Wang Chong, I need to talk to you!”

Seeing Su Bai’s gleeful smile, Wei Hao could no longer hold it in and forcefully dragged Wang Chong outside. In the pavilion, chuckles could be heard.

Su Bai gazed haughtily at Wei Hao and Wang Chong as they left and sneered coldly. Just when everyone thought the show was finished and was planning to scatter, Su Bai suddenly turned around.

“Wait a moment!”

With a cold face, Su Bai halted everyone. The interiors of the Eight Gods Pavilion immediately turned silent and every single pair of eyes shot toward Su Bai.

Just when everyone was perplexed over what he was doing, Su Bai suddenly grabbed a token from his embrace and flashed it.

“This is Yao gongzi’s token! Yao gongzi has ordered that no one is to speak of what that had happened in the Eight Gods Pavilion today to anyone else. Anyone who reveals today’s happenings here will be viewed as an enemy of the Yao Residence, as well as the Su Clan!”

As Su Bai said those words, he glared savagely at the crowd with eyes as cold as frost.

Some scions who were initially dissatisfied with Su Bai’s doing, upon hearing these words, felt their heart turning cold and shuddered. They quickly shut their mouths.

The Yao Clan possessed incredible authority and it was highly regarded by King Qi. It was currently a behemoth in the Great Tang Empire and no one in the capital easily offended them. Adding a Su Clan in the mix, there wouldn’t be a single person who was willing to take such a risk.

No one dared to disregard Su Bai’s warning.

“That’s weird! …”

In the crowd, Gao Fei was taken aback. He had just received orders from Yao gongzi and he clearly recalled that Yao Feng didn’t say such words.

Gao Fei lifted his head to say something, but Su Bai ferociously glare caused him to immediately comprehend what was happening and he shuddered. He hurriedly lowered his head, not daring to say a word.

Yao Feng was a busy person and those he came into contact with were the upstanding future heads of their clans. He failed to consider this aspect, but Su Bai did and acted on his behalf. The Eight Gods Pavilion was filled with many people and humans gossipped. If the affair of Wang Chong borrowing money were to spread out and the Wang Clan were to know of it, it would be impossible for the show to continue acting out.

If Wang Chong borrowed money today and the Wang Clan returned the loan back to them tomorrow, he wouldn’t be able to profit from it, and even less so, blackmail the Wang Clan.

The debt note Wang Chong wrote was an effective weapon to deal with the Wang Clan. How could Su Bai allow any problems to occur in this matter! With the reputation of the Yao Clan and Su Clan crushing down on the crowd, he would really like to see who would be so courageous as to reveal this matter to the others!

…

“Wang Chong, what do you intend to do by borrowing so much money?”

Walking out from the Eight Gods Pavilion and reaching the streets, Wei Hao could no longer hold himself back:

“1700 gold taels, it’s 1700 gold taels! Do you know what kind of calamity would befall if you fail to repay it after a month!”

On the street, Wei Hao stared at Wang Chong. Wang Chong’s actions had truly left him in a fluster.

That 1700 gold taels may seem to be a godsent opportunity to anyone else, but in Wei Hao’s eyes, it was a pitfall. Just by thinking about the possible consequences of the matter, Wei Hao felt his head spinning and his limbs going numb.

Until now, Wei Hao was still unable to understand why would Wang Chong want to borrow such a huge sum of money.

“Wei Hao, don’t panic. I know what I am doing.”

Wang Chong smiled. His expression was extremely calm, and somehow, his tranquil aura seemed to calm Wei Hao down as well. Even though he knew not of what Wang Chong was going to do, Wei Hao believed that Wang Chong had a reason for doing so.

He wasn’t acting on a whim!

“I will not hide it from you. I have my uses for this sum of money and if I succeed, not only will I benefit from it, it would play a big role in bolstering the might of our Great Tang!”

As they had grown up together, Wang Chong did not bother hiding anything from Wei Hao. He revealed everything regarding the Hyderabad to him. Initially, Wei Hao was listening attentively to it but eventually, he couldn’t help but exclaim loudly.

“What?! 90000 gold taels!”

Wei Hao stared at Wang Chong with his eyes widened in complete shock. He yelled:

“Wang Chong, are you insane? How can you agree to such a deal? This is something impossible —— What kind of ore could be worth 90000 gold taels?”

Wei Hao felt his sight going dark from shock, and his limbs felt so weak that he was about to fall limply to the ground any moment now.

He thought that 1700 gold taels was a sufficiently large debt, but to think that there was a larger bomb at the back —— Wang Chong actually owed another person 90000 gold taels!

Wei Hao felt as though his head was going to explode!

“Wei Hao, don’t panic. I know what I am doing, nothing will go wrong.”

Wang Chong’s voice was calm as though nothing happened at all. He knew that Wei Hao would react in this way. After all, they were just fourteen to fifteen-year-old teenagers; anyone who heard of a debt of 90000 gold taels would react in a way identical to his.

However, Wang Chong wasn’t being reckless. If he wasn’t affirmative of the benefits the Hyderabad ore would bring him, it was impossible for him to make such a deal.

“Wei Hao, rather than worrying about my matter, I need your assistance!’

Wang Chong said.

“My assistance?”

Wei Hao took in a deep breath and calmed down:

“Say, what do you need me for? As long as it is within my capabilities, I will try my best to help you tide over this calamity.”

“My good brother!”

Wang Chong chuckled. As expected of a good brother who grew up alongside him, he was reliable when the need calls for it.

“There are too many people here. We’ll talk in the carriage.”

Wang Chong led the way and Wei Hao followed behind him. The duo stepped into the carriage by the road.

Wei Hao’s eyebrows were tightly knitted together, seemingly trying to think of a solution to resolve Wang Chong’s problem.

90000 gold taels wasn’t a small sum. This was a nearly impossible mission; Wei Hao didn’t think that Wang Chong was capable of achieving such a feat.

This was precisely the reason why Wei Hao tried to persuade Wang Chong otherwise once more:

“Wang Chong, can’t you try to find a way to strike off this deal?”

“No way!”

Wang Chong shook his head, “I have no intentions to do so, and besides, it is impossible to annul a contract that had been filed in the Court of Judicial Review. ”

“Then, how do you want me to help you?”

Wei Hao asked.

“I need at least 12 experienced blacksmith to help me refine the ores and forge weapons. Your Wei Clan is well connected in the capital, help me out on this.”

Wang Chong said.

The Wang Clan wasn’t adept in management. On this aspect, the Duke of Wei Residence was much superior to the Wang Clan.

“No problem. I will try my best to help you out on this matter.”

Without any hesitation, Wei Hao agreed.

Even though he hadn’t taken over the family business, looking for a dozen experienced blacksmith was a small matter for him.

“Hehe, good brother. I’ll just skip the words of gratitude.”

Wang Chong chuckled and he felt a burden being lifted from his heart.

90000 gold taels was by no means a small sum. The best way for him to earn that sum was to look for a few craftsmen to refine the ores and forge the Hyderabad ore into the Wootz steel weapon, which would rattle the world soon afterward.

Making use of the opportunity now that the Hyderabad ores weren’t expensive yet, it was entirely possible for him to make 90000 gold taels to pay the two Sindhi monks by making a few Wootz steel weapons.

Now that Wei Hao had promised to help him on this matter, Wang Chong felt more at ease.

Looking at Wang Chong’s expression, Wei Hai opened his mouth only to close again. He was still worried about the matter. He knew what Wang Chong was thinking of, but from the looks of it, it didn’t seem likely that he would give up on this matter.

Thus, all he could do was to give his all in helping Wang Chong tide over this matter.

“Other than that, there’s also another thing that I need your help on.”

Wang Chong abruptly said.

“Oh, what is it?”

Wei Hao was surprised. He couldn’t fathom what else Wang Chong would trouble him on other than this matter.

“I need you to help me look into a man named Zhang Mu Nian.”

Wang Chong said.

“Zhang Mu Nian?”

Wei Hao frowned. He had never heard of this name, so the other party was unlikely to be famous.

“Un, he is an official in the royal court. If I’m not wrong, he shouldn’t be high-ranked. You should be able to find his name by looking through the name list of the officials in the royal court. If you find him, tell me immediately.”

Wang Chong said.

“Why are looking for him?”

Wei Hao was astonished. Did Wang Chong get acquainted with another person that he didn’t know of?

“There are some things that I need his help on. This matter is extremely important, so you have pay close heed to it.”

Wang Chong said grimly.

This matter had far-reaching impacts and for the time being, Wang Chong didn’t want to let Wei Hao know too much of it.

“Alright. My father often brings back some name lists from the Ministry of Personnel. As long as his name is on one of those lists, I would be able to find him. I will inform you if there’s any progress on the matter.”

Wei Hao said helplessly.

“Hehe, good brother! I knew that you would agree to it.”

Wang Chong laughed as he smacked Wei Hao’s shoulder.

“What else can I do? I can only blame the heavens for giving me a brother like you.”

Wei Hao returned with a punch on his own. However, when this punch landed on Wang Chong’s body, Wang Chong staggered backward, nearly falling from his seat. Seeing such a sight, Wei Hao was taken aback and he hurriedly pulled back his fist.

“Wang Chong, why are you so weak?”

Wei Hao was taken aback. He hurriedly stepped forward to help Wang Chong up.

“What do you mean by weak? I have always been like that, it’s not like you didn’t know it.”

Wang Chong said.

“We haven’t met for quite a long time. Just now, the pointers you offered allowed me to defeat Gao Fei, so I thought that your fighting prowess would have increased greatly.”

Wei Hao widened his eyes.

Wang Chong couldn’t find a word to say. Even though Wei Hao was lacking talent, he was diligent and on this aspect, Wang Chong could not match up to him.

“Wang Chong, you should really work harder. ——Forget it, let’s not talk about that. Leave the matters you spoke of to me. I will be going back first!”

The carriage had reached its destination and Wei Hao leaped off the carriage.

After Wei Hao entered his residence, Wang Chong quickly brought the 1700 gold taels back to his residence.

…

Right when Wang Chong was on his way home, two customers arrived at the White Agate Jewelry Store.

“Is this the place?”

In the bustling street, a blue-clothed figure glanced at the white signboard above the store.

“That’s right, White Agate Jewelry Shop. This is it!”

The other person confirmed his doubts.

The two men had long beards and an elegant disposition exuded down from their bones. A formidable aura could be felt from every gesture of theirs and it was clear that they were of noble birth.

“Despite the outer appearance of the two foreign monks, to think that the metal ores they were selling would be so incredible. If not for our clan head noticing the greatness of the ore from the sample coincidentally, we would all have been kept in the dark for the matter.”

“That’s right. The two monks looked ordinary and they couldn’t even speak the words of the Central Plains. It is hard to imagine that they would have such a sharp ore in their possession! If our Zhang Clan could obtain such an ore, we would definitely be able to climb to greater heights.”

As they spoke, they lifted their hands and a Hyderabad ore appeared in their opened hands. This was merely a sample. A month ago, a steward of their Zhang Clan met with the monks, who were in the midst selling their ores. As their usual practice, the steward obtained a few samples of the metal ore back to the residence.

These samples were kept in the Zhang Clan’s warehouse for a significant period of time until they coincidentally realized that something was amiss with it in the midst of refining it. They reported the matter to the clan head and only then did they start noticing the peculiarities of the ore.

No one could have thought that the clan’s steward would unintentionally bring back such a precious metal ore sample. As such, the clan immediately held an overnight meeting over the matter.

The clan head even made an exception and sent two elders to manage this affair. Furthermore, he had specifically commanded that this matter must not fall through.

“Our Zhang Clan isn’t the only clan in the capital that forges weapons and armors. The fight for precious ores is extremely intense. This Hyderabad ore is very unique, and it was highly possible that it might change the current plight of our Zhang Clan in the capital. The clan head had emphasized that we must not alarm any other families and that we must get the matter done at all costs.”

The tall and lean blue-clothed middle-aged man said.

“Un.”

The other one also nodded his head seriously.

The capital’s Zhang Clan wasn’t doing well of recent times. They urgently needed an opportunity to free themselves from their current plight, and that’s the reason why the two elders were making the move personally.

Turning around, the two snapped their fingers and beckoned. Kacha, from the street, around 10 meters away from the duo, the door to a carriage opened and a thirty to forty-year-old bald monk dressed in a loose cassock stepped out. Wisdom reflected in his gaze.

“Amitabha!”

The bald monk surveyed the surroundings before walking over to the two blue-clothed middle-aged men.

If anyone else was here, they would be surprised. This was Monk Hui Ming from the Jiantong Temple in the suburbs.

There were at most five people who could speak Sanskrit in the capital, and Monk Hui Ming was one of them.

These two Sindhi monks could only speak Sanskrit; they were unable to comprehend the language of the Han. As such, considering this problem, the Zhang Clan invited Monk Hui Ming to facilitate this deal.

“Master, please!”

The two blue-clothed middle-aged men bowed and invited him in respectfully. Then, the three of them entered the White Agate Jewelry Shop together.

Even though they had already made sufficient preparations for this occasion to deal with anything that came their way, when they entered the shop and met the two Sindhi monks, they realized that the situation had evolved far beyond their expectations.

“What? The Hyderabad ore has been bought out by someone else?”

The two middle-aged men looked at the two Sindhi monks before them. They were both astounded.

“How is that possible?”

The two of them found it difficult to accept the situation.

They had traveled here secretly to negotiate this deal, and this showed how much their clan valued this deal. For this, they even granted them great authority over the matter.

Yet, the two Sindhi monks actually said that the Hyderabad ore was already bought by someone else.