World-Ending Demon Emperor-Chapter 37 - 35 Borrowing Zhi Ning to commit murder furious!

37: Chapter 35: Borrowing Zhi Ning to commit murder, furious!

37 -35: Borrowing Zhi Ning to commit murder, furious!

The shopkeeper of Gold Coin and the owner of the gambling house, though merely two dogs serving Zhi Ning and Zhi Li, had held their positions for many years.

For Zhi Ning to kill these two dogs, Suo Lun’s influence was still too small.

After all, the corpulent shopkeeper of Gold Coin had not been lying.

Though he held no title, the earls were all very courteous, even eager to please him.

Simply because he was a close associate of Prince Zili.

And Suo Lun was merely an earl’s heir, and a doomed one at that, to think about getting rid of these two close associates of Zili was indeed overly ambitious.

But since Suo Lun had said as much, Duke Zhi Ting was not inclined to make 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 launch a southern offensive against the heart of the Barbaric Wilderness Plains, correct?”

Lanling said, “Yes.”

Duke Zhi Ting said, “Xiuyan submitted your proposal, and it has caused a great debate within the royal family and the cabinet in recent days.

Zili insists on passing through Barbaric Gorge to enter the Barbaric Wilderness Plains to continue our expansion.

While I maintain that we should develop our naval forces to attack the Barbaric Wilderness Plains from the sea.

These two points of view have been contentious.

The situation between me and Zili has nearly reached a standoff, and for your family’s ten thousand Gold Coins, it really feels like more trouble than it’s worth.”

“Thank you very much, my lord duke,” Lanling bowed and said.

Duke Zhi Ting said, “Do you know where the key to saving your Suo lies?”

Lanling said, “In his Majesty the King.”

“Right, don’t be fooled by the fight between me and Zili; in the end, everything depends on His Majesty’s own decision,” Duke Zhi Ting said.

“Do you know what it means if His Majesty decides to develop the navy?”

Lanling said, “It means that His Majesty is sending a signal that Prince Zili’s position as the heir is in jeopardy, so you can afford to lose this battle, but Prince Zili cannot.”

Duke Zhi Ting nodded and said, “That’s correct, Zili cannot afford to lose, and neither can your Suo family.

If you lose, it’s all over.

So, between me and Zili, who do you think has the greater chance of winning?”

Lanling said, “Prince Zili.”

Duke Zhi Ting said, “Why?

Let’s hear it.”

Lanling said, “Because once the Rage Wave Kingdom develops its navy, not only can it directly attack the heart of the Barbaric Wilderness Plains, but it can also move north to attack the important cities of the Flame Empire.

You must understand that many cities of the Flame Empire are coastal and not well defended.

So, just by pursuing a naval strategy, we would alert the Flame Empire, signifying the end of Rage Wave Kingdom’s strategy of biding its time against the Flame Empire.

And right now, the Rage Wave Kingdom isn’t strong enough to challenge the dominant position of the Flame Empire.”

Upon hearing this, Duke Zhi Ting was completely shocked.

Was this the same prodigal Suo Lun?

Was this the same ignorant playboy?

How could his vision be so far-reaching and wise?

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

“No, my sister did,” Lanling said.

Duke Zhi Ting breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Thank goodness it’s your sister; otherwise, you would be in danger.”

Indeed, if the son of a noble such as this showed such wisdom, and was an enemy of the royal family, then even the King might not tolerate his presence.

You see, lords are not ordinary nobles; they hold semi-independent power.

Then, Duke Zhi Ting said, “Since you’ve figured it out, I’ll tell you that the King’s decree will probably come down in the next two or three days.

Let’s just wait and see!”

Suddenly, Duke Zhi Ting said, “You threatened Zili’s two dogs?”

Lanling nodded and said, “Yes.”

Duke Zhi Ting said, “Then you’d better be careful.

Those two dogs have countless skilled men under them who won’t hesitate to act ruthlessly.

They may not dare to kill you, but they could kill those around you.”

Lanling said, “If nothing unexpected happens, they will soon be dead.

Zhi Ning is about to make her move against them.”

Duke Zhi Ting was astonished, once again in disbelief.

…

At this moment, Commandery Princess Zhining was still lazily lying by the water, reading a book.

She held a handful of fish food in one hand, as many beautiful and rare goldfish swam in the pool.

With another hand, she held a book, but her gaze was not on the pages.

In front of her, two people stood with bowed heads, the shopkeeper of Gold Coin and the gambling house owner.

Commandery Princess Zhining lazily said, “This defeat isn’t your fault.

The trap I set wasn’t deep enough, allowing that wastrel Suo Lun to escape.

But this idiot is not completely useless.”

At once, both men bowed deeply and said, “The Commandery Princess’s magnanimity knows no bounds, we are eternally grateful.”

In front of the kingdom’s nobility, even in front of high-ranking nobles like earls, these two acted insolently.

The shopkeeper of Gold Coin, always appearing amiable with a constant smile, looked down on everyone from his lofty position.

Over the years, as Prince Zili’s position as the heir became clearer, the status of these two men rose with the tide.

Now, in the Royal City, they had become important figures, like underground emperors, causing even noble families to tread cautiously around them.

Just as the gambling house owner said, his two bodyguards were Dragon Samurais.

In the whole kingdom, how many Dragon Samurais were there?

But at this moment, in front of Commandery Princess Zhining, these two were as docile as dogs.

Despite the allure of Zhi Ning’s lounging curves, despite her ravishing beauty, and although these two were among the most lecherous of men, they dared not even lift their eyelids now, only able to gaze at their own feet.

The shopkeeper of Gold Coin said with a laugh, “I have a joke to share, for the amusement of Her Highness the Commandery Princess.”

Zhi Ning said, “I am not a princess, as currently the only princess of the kingdom is Princess Zhi Yan, who is studying at the Dragon Temple.”

The gold shopkeeper said, “But who doesn’t know that Your Majesty and Princess Zhi Yan are not close, while you seem like his biological daughter, obeying every word you say.”

Zhi Ning slightly frowned, as if she did not like hearing this, and indifferently said, “What kind of joke is that?

Let’s hear it.”

The gold shopkeeper said, “When Suo Lun repaid the money, he threatened to kill our whole family, and said he would do it before tomorrow.”

Zhi Ning said, “He probably wants to bribe Zhi Ting, then provoke him by saying you all once had designs against Duke Zhi Ting, trying to get Zhi Ting to kill you.”

The gold shopkeeper said, “The Commandery Princess is wise.”

Zhi Ning sneered, “Zhi Ting’s good days are numbered; he has been too brash these days, his methods are dirty, but yours are dirtier, he won’t be able to kill you.

With the use of power, Zhi Ting can’t get around us.

With dirty tricks, he will be at a disadvantage.

Suo Lun thinking he can use someone else to do his killing is purely dreaming.”

The gold shopkeeper said, “What abilities do we lowlies have, sir?

We solely rely on the protection of the Crown Prince and Commandery Princess, just a bit of borrowed power and influence.”

Just then, a eunuch came in and said, “Commandery Princess, Suo Lun has sent a letter, checked and free from poison.”

Zhi Ning said, “Bring it in.”

Next, Zhi Ning extended her jade hand, and a servant came forward to help her don a thin, soft glove.

Zhi Ning was fastidious; she looked down on everyone and did not want to touch anyone’s belongings.

Taking the letter from Lanling, it read a few words, Zhi Ning, please kill your two dogs.

Princess Zhining waved the envelope at the two men and said, “Look, Suo Lun wants me to kill the two of you.”

The gold shopkeeper and the casino manager immediately laughed obsequiously, saying, “This playboy has gone mad, Commandery Princess is so kind to us servants that even if we did something wrong, we’d only be scolded at most.”

Princess Zhi Ning revealed a stunningly beautiful smile, accepting the flattery, then pulled out the letter to read.

“Zhi Ning, why is your gold shop so successful?

The key lies in the specific anti-counterfeiting technology.

Your gold shop’s Gold Coins have never been successfully forged.

Thus, other gold shops also store large amounts of Gold and Silver Coins in your vaults, then conduct large transactions with your Gold and Silver Notes.”

Indeed, the reason the Zhi Li and Zhi Ning gold shops were so dominant was precisely because of the Gold Notes’ special anti-counterfeiting measures, which no one could crack.

As a result, the Gold Notes issued by their Royal City shop could circulate throughout the world.

This was equivalent to Zhi Li and Zhi Ning’s Royal City shop having the minting rights.

The letter continued, “Of course, I cannot crack your anti-counterfeiting measures, but I know your anti-counterfeiting technology very clearly.

If I share this technology with other gold shops, and your shop loses its unique minting rights, would you still be as powerful as you are today?”

The content of the letter from Lanling ended there, without specifying what Zhi Ning’s anti-counterfeiting technology actually was.

However, Zhi Ning’s face changed, and she threw all the fish food into the pond, then immediately got up and walked into her secret chamber.

Inside the chamber, she opened the layers of closely-packed cabinets, inside which was a special Crystal Stone emitting a purple glow.

Zhi Ning used the purple Crystal Stone to illuminate the letter, and where the paper had seemed blank, seven big characters now shone with a green light, strikingly clear and eye-catching.

“Zhi Ning, you bitch!”

This was the unique anti-counterfeiting measure of the Royal City’s Gold Notes, the principle of UV light!

This purple Crystal Stone was a natural UV light.

The last seven words on the paper were written in blood and then washed clean with water.

This way, the surface looked as if there was nothing there, but under the UV light, the residual blood traces emitted a piercing fluorescence.

Even in the modern-day banknotes on Earth, besides watermarks, UV light anti-counterfeiting measures are also used.

Under UV light illumination, certain parts show glaring fluorescence.

Zhi Li and Zhi Ning issued Gold Notes in a total of three layers.

The middle layer was written with a special blood containing a special code and complex patterns, then cleaned and trapped between two layers of paper, and thoroughly pressed together.

So whenever these Gold Notes entered the Royal City shop, Zhi Ning would use the purple Crystal Stone to tell if the note was genuine and even know when the note was issued and to whom it belonged.

Lanling discovered this secret while playing with the Gold Notes and inadvertently saw something under the sunlight.

He then thought of the UV light anti-counterfeiting technology used in Earth’s banknotes and surmised Zhi Ning probably used the same technique.

After discovering this secret, Lanling originally wanted to forge the Gold Notes, but found it was impossible.

The special patterning on the notes and the hidden codes in the layers were a perfect match, and the gold shop had the corresponding codes.

Without understanding this code, they couldn’t forge a thing.

Even the paper used by the gold shop was unique, and Lanling was unable to replicate it.

However, he could threaten to disclose this unique anti-counterfeiting technology to the public, which would then prevent Zhi Li’s Royal City shop from monopolizing the issuance of Gold Notes, a huge blow indeed.

Of course, such damage would hurt others without benefiting himself.

So, using this as leverage, Lanling threatened Zhi Ning to personally kill those two “dogs.”

Princess Zhi Ning, looking at the last few characters emitting a green fluorescence, was completely stunned.

How was this possible?

How could Suo Lun, this degenerate, know the core secret of her gold shop?

Once the minting rights were lost, the immense impact her gold shop would face, and this shop was Zhi Li’s biggest financial resource.

Without an astronomical sum of money, how could Zhi Li continue to bribe nobles and secretly grow his influence?

Then, Princess Zhi Ning’s stunning face instantly turned ashen, even distorted, and then she furiously tore the letter to shreds.