Chapter 35

The innkeeper of Jin's shop and the boss of the casino, though they were just two dogs of Zhi Ning and Zhi Li, had been serving them for many years.

Solen's influence was still too small to make Zhi Ning kill these two dogs.

After all, the fat innkeeper of Jin's shop did not lie. Despite having no title, a group of earls were all courteous and even eager to please him. The reason was that he was close to Prince Zhi Li.

Solen was merely an earl's heir, and an earl's heir who was about to be ruined. To say he wanted to kill these two people close to Zhi Li was indeed presumptuous.

But since Solen had said it, Duke Zhi Ting did not want to cause trouble. He put away his smile and said, "You proposed at the Royal City Academy that the kingdom's expansion strategy should develop the navy and attack the heart of the Wilderness Plain from the south, right?"

Lan Ling replied, "Yes."

Duke Zhi Ting said, "Xiuyan submitted your proposal, and in recent days, it has caused a great debate in the royal family and the cabinet. Zhi Li insists on entering the Wilderness Plain through the Wilderness Canyon and continuing the expansion. I insist on developing the navy and attacking the Wilderness Plain from the sea. These two viewpoints have been fiercely debated. Zhi Li and I are almost at odds. I really feel that the ten thousand gold coins from your family are not worth it."

"Thank you, Your Grace," Lan Ling bowed.

Duke Zhi Ting said, "Do you know the key to saving your Solen family?"

Lan Ling replied, "It lies with His Majesty the King."

"Right, don't look at how fiercely Zhi Li and I argue; everything depends on His Majesty's decision," Duke Zhi Ting said. "Do you know what it means if the king chooses to develop the navy?"

Lan Ling replied, "It means that His Majesty is sending a signal that Prince Zhi Li's position as heir is in danger. So, you can lose this battle, but Prince Zhi Li cannot."

Duke Zhi Ting nodded and said, "Exactly, Zhi Li cannot lose, and neither can your Solen family. If you lose, it's over. Do you think who has a greater chance of winning between Zhi Li and me?"

Lan Ling replied, "Prince Zhi Li."

Duke Zhi Ting said, "Why? Explain."

Lan Ling replied, "Because if the Raging Wave Kingdom develops the navy, it can not only attack the heart of the Wilderness Plain but also move north to attack the important cities of the Flame Empire. Many cities of the Flame Empire are coastal and lack sufficient defense. Therefore, developing the navy will alert the Flame Empire, meaning the Raging Wave Kingdom's strategy of hiding its strength and biding its time with the Flame Empire is over. Now, the Raging Wave Kingdom does not have the strength to challenge the Flame Empire's dominance."

Upon hearing this, Duke Zhi Ting was completely shocked.

Was this still the wastrel Solen? Was this still the uneducated playboy? His insight was so profound and wise?

"Did you come up with this?" Duke Zhi Ting asked.

"No, my sister did," Lan Ling replied.

Duke Zhi Ting sighed in relief, "Thank goodness it's your sister, otherwise, you would be in danger."

Indeed, if a noble's son were so wise and also an enemy of the royal family, the king might not tolerate him.

After all, nobles are not ordinary aristocrats; they are semi-independent forces.

Then, Duke Zhi Ting said, "Since you have seen through it, I will tell you that the king's decree will come down in about two or three days. We will wait together!"

Then, Duke Zhi Ting suddenly said, "Did you threaten Zhi Li's two dogs?"

Lan Ling nodded, "Yes."

Duke Zhi Ting said, "Then you must be careful. These two dogs have many skilled subordinates and are ruthless. They may not dare to kill you, but they will kill the people around you."

Lan Ling replied, "If nothing goes wrong, they will die soon. Zhi Ning will kill them."

Duke Zhi Ting was stunned, completely disbelieving.

...

At this moment, Lady Zhi Ning was still lying lazily by the water, reading a book.

In her hand was a handful of fish food, and the pond was filled with many beautiful and rare goldfish.

In the other hand, she held a book, but her gaze was not on it.

In front of her, two people stood bowing, one the innkeeper of Jin's shop, and the other the boss of the casino.

Lady Zhi Ning said lazily, "This defeat is not your fault. My trap was not deep enough, and that playboy Solen managed to escape. This fool is not entirely useless."

Immediately, the two bowed deeply, "Lady, you are magnanimous, and we are deeply grateful."

These two, in front of the kingdom's nobles, even high-ranking nobles like earls, were always arrogant. The innkeeper of Jin's shop, who always seemed friendly and smiling, had a condescending gaze.

In recent years, as Prince Zhi Li's position as heir became clearer, their status also rose. Now, in the royal city, they were already major figures, like underground emperors, and even noble families had to avoid their sharp edges.

As the casino boss said, his two bodyguards were both Dragon Warriors. How many Dragon Warriors were there in the entire kingdom?

But at this moment, these two were as obedient as dogs in front of Lady Zhi Ning.

Despite Zhi Ning's seductive curves and her beautiful face, and despite these two being the most lecherous, they did not dare to raise their eyes, only daring to look at their own feet.

The innkeeper of Jin's shop smiled, "There is a joke to amuse Your Highness."

Zhi Ning said, "I am not a highness. The only princess in the kingdom now is Princess Zhi Yan, who is studying in the Divine Dragon Sanctuary."

The innkeeper of Jin's shop said, "But who doesn't know that His Majesty and Princess Zhi Yan are not close, while you are like his own daughter, and he listens to you."

Zhi Ning frowned slightly, seemingly disliking such words, and said coldly, "What joke? Tell me."

The innkeeper of Jin's shop said, "When Solen paid back the money, he threatened to kill our families and said he would do it by tomorrow."

Zhi Ning said, "He probably wants to bribe Zhi Ting and then sow discord, saying you had designs on Duke Zhi Ting and wanted him to kill you."

The innkeeper of Jin's shop said, "Your Highness is wise."

Zhi Ning sneered, "Zhi Ting's good days are numbered. He has been too aggressive these days. His methods are dirty, but yours are dirtier. He can't kill you. Using power, Zhi Ting can't get around us. Using dirty methods, he will suffer. Solen's plan to use us to kill you is just a dream."

The innkeeper of Jin's shop said, "We have no skills, only the protection of the Crown Prince and Your Highness. We just pretend to have power."

At this moment, a eunuch came in and said, "Your Highness, Solen has sent a letter, and it has been checked for poison."

Zhi Ning said, "Bring it in."

Then, Zhi Ning extended her hand, and a servant came forward to put on thin, soft gloves for her.

Zhi Ning had a phobia of dirt; she looked down on everyone and did not want to touch anything belonging to others.

Taking the letter from (Solen) Lan Ling, it read, "Zhi Ning, please kill your two dogs."

Lady Zhi Ning waved the envelope at the two and said, "Look, Solen wants me to kill you two."

The innkeeper of Jin's shop and the casino boss immediately laughed, "This playboy is really out of his mind. Your Highness is so kind to us, and even if we make mistakes, you only scold us."

Lady Zhi Ning smiled beautifully, accepting their flattery, and then read the letter.

"Zhi Ning, why is your Jin's shop so successful? The key lies in the specific anti-counterfeiting technology. The gold notes issued by your Jin's shop have never been forged. Therefore, other shops also store large amounts of gold and silver in your vault and use your gold and silver notes for large transactions."

Indeed, this was true. The reason why Zhi Li and Zhi Ning's Jin's shop dominated was the special anti-counterfeiting technology, which no one could crack. Therefore, the gold notes issued by their Jin's shop could circulate throughout the kingdom.

This was equivalent to Zhi Li and Zhi Ning's Jin's shop having the right to issue currency.

The letter continued, "Of course, I cannot crack your anti-counterfeiting technology. But I know it very well. If I tell other shops this anti-counterfeiting technology, and your shop loses its unique right to issue currency, will it still be as powerful as today?"

Lan Ling's letter ended here, and it did not specify what Zhi Ning's anti-counterfeiting technology was.

However, Zhi Ning's face changed, and she scattered all the fish food into the pond, immediately standing up and entering her secret room.

In the secret room, she opened a series of tightly sealed cabinets, inside which was a special crystal stone emitting a purple light.

Zhi Ning used this purple crystal stone to shine on the letter. On the originally blank paper, seven large characters appeared, shining with a green light, clear and dazzling.

"Zhi Ning, you bitch!"

This was the unique anti-counterfeiting method of the Jin's shop in the royal city, the principle of ultraviolet light!

This purple crystal stone was a natural ultraviolet lamp. The last seven characters on the letter were written in blood and then washed clean. On the surface, it looked like nothing, but when illuminated with an ultraviolet lamp, the residual characters would emit a glaring green light.

Even modern Earth's banknotes used ultraviolet anti-counterfeiting technology.

Zhi Li and Zhi Ning's gold notes had three layers in total.

The middle layer used special blood to write a special code and complex patterns. After washing, it was sandwiched between two layers of paper and thoroughly pressed together.

So when these gold notes entered the Jin's shop in the royal city, Zhi Ning only needed to shine the purple crystal stone on them to know if they were genuine and when they were issued and to whom they belonged.

Lan Ling discovered this secret while playing with the gold notes, accidentally shining them in the sunlight.

Then, he associated it with the ultraviolet anti-counterfeiting technology of Earth's banknotes and inferred that Zhi Ning probably used a similar technology.

After discovering this secret, Lan Ling originally wanted to forge the gold notes directly but found it impossible. The special patterns and the hidden light code in the middle layer were perfectly matched, and there were corresponding codes in the Jin's shop.

Without understanding this code, it was impossible to forge. Even the paper used by the Jin's shop was unique, and Lan Ling could not replicate it.

However, he could threaten to reveal this unique anti-counterfeiting technology, which would mean that Zhi Li's Jin's shop could no longer monopolize the right to issue currency, causing significant damage.

Of course, this damage was harmful to others but not to himself. Therefore, Lan Ling used this to threaten Zhi Ning to kill the two dogs herself.

Lady Zhi Ning stared at the green glowing characters, completely stunned.

How could this be? How could the wastrel Solen know the core secret of her Jin's shop?

If she lost the right to issue currency, what kind of impact would it have on her Jin's shop? This shop was Zhi Li's largest money bag. Without astronomical amounts of money, how could Zhi Li buy off nobles and secretly develop his power?

Then, Lady Zhi Ning's beautiful face turned pale, even distorted, and she tore the letter to shreds.