Chapter 266 “Harboring evil intentions” (part two)
As smooth as things went so far, there was one issue that came to a deadlock in their negotiation: Du Wei asked for five thousand slaves but Hamuye absolutely refused him.
The population in the grassland wasn’t much to begin with, thus making the young adults extremely precious and valuable in the prairie. Even if the person in question was a slave, the prairie natives will not easily concede such a personal. Main reason for this habit had something to do with the way the natives go about their business in periods of war. Whenever war breaks out, the Prairie King will always hand down an order to allow every slave to join in the fighting. If the slave in question achieves a certain amount of merit, these individuals will be freed from their enslavement status, hence making these individuals extremely ferocious in battle.
During the meeting today, Biliaibuer had always been standing by next to Du Wei and listening in on the conversation. Towards Du Wei’s persistence in asking for slaves, Biliaibuer became puzzled over the odd demand: “Duke, it’s not like the empire is lacking in slaves. Why must we struggle over a couple of thousand slaves?”
Despite his questioning, the response Biliaibuer got in return was only a smile.
Du Wei would of course not care about a few thousand slaves. In terms of price value, five thousand slaves only equate to a hundred gold coins in the empire.
It’s just that Du Wei’s focus lies with the slaves originating from the prairie. Unlike the slaves coming in from the Southeastern Sea, the people of the prairie, including slaves, are very skilled in breeding and caring for horses. More importantly, none can compete with these people in terms of horseback riding! He must get his hands on these people and integrate their skills into his own!! Once that’s done, he can toss these people away if he needed.
“Count Biliaibuer… … These five thousand slaves are for myself. As to for the reasoning, I’m afraid I can’t go into details.”
Giving Du Wei a quizzical look, Biliaibuer thought inside: what’s going on? This kid is already rich enough so why spend so much effort on some slaves?
Wanting to end this negotiation early, Biliaibuer took it to heart and specially sought out Hamuye behind Du Wei’s back and made things clear during the break.
Likewise, Hamuye also wanted to stop wasting time: “So it’s the Duke whom wants the people…. In that case, things are different. Hmm, regarding this slave matter, we can simply leave it out of the agreement. My tribe may not be huge but I can at least gather some slaves. It’s just that five thousand is beyond my reach in such short notice…. Consider it my personal gift and we can settle the numbers at two thousand!”
When Biliaibuer brought the new proposal up, Du Wei’s first reaction was to put on a face to push it away; however, his hand was already signing the paper before he could even finish his sentence.
Biliaibuer had always wanted to get on Du Wei’s good side and now that the opportunity presented itself, he would of course not let it go: “Could it be that your Dukeship wants to build a new city by taking in so many slaves? If you don’t mind, my family just so happens to land on a batch of slaves recently. Tomorrow I will write a letter back home and have two thousand men sent over to the Northwest.”
Du Wei thought inside: the slaves I want are the prairie ones. Like I be lacking slaves when the future king of that United Nation is in my hands.
“Uncle Biliaibuer is mistaken. I intend to open a ranch here so regular slaves won’t be any good.”
Hearing this, Biliaibuer thought for a moment: “So its wranglers that you want. The problem is that we haven’t been at war with the natives for so long that there is shortage in the market. Let me go home and have a look, I’m sure I can gather up a couple of hundred for you.”
“If that’s the case then I’ll give my thanks!” Du Wei did not beat around the bush and accepted the offer.
Afterwards, Philip couldn’t resist and secretly asked Du Wei:
“… … Why do we need so many slaves? Those people are brutes and are not easy to tame… … Besides, the land around here is so deserted, it won’t be easy to run a ranch.”
“Who said I’m getting it for myself!” Du Wei smiled and shook his head: “Hmm, you heard from Guptad right? Last time back at Anglia City we came across a guy called Saladin. That guy got skills, ambition, and most importantly, he got the royal lineage in his blood. With that dangerous guy back in the grassland, it would only be a matter of time before he becomes unsettled and raise a cloud of trouble in his wake. Right now he’s alone and can’t do much in the short term…. Therefore, I will gift these slaves to him. You can say it’s my way of sending him along the road…. Haha!”
Seemingly enlightened by the explanation, Phillip bursts out laughing at the plan.
By the afternoon, the talks continued smoothly and Hamuye didn’t request for anything out of the ordinary.
It’s common knowledge the people of the prairie craved for metal, but the Empire strictly forbade this term; therefore, Hamuye didn’t go after this area in the agreement because he knew it would be denied.
That may be so, but when it came to the wording in the last part of the agreement, Hamuye raised his last objection because Du Wei requested the ending be a written apology to the Empire. Towards the people of the grassland, both proud and untamed, such a statement would be difficult to accept.
Cattle and horse can be given, but “apology”? Definitely not! Standing firm, Hamuye had no intent of budging an inch on this part.
Angered inside, Du Wei did all this just so he can avoid being branded as a traitor. If he doesn’t achieve this last part, Du Wei feared that within a week of the news reaching the capital, his name would be dragged through the mud and be forever shunned!
What’s more, his Desa Province was the biggest victim in this whole thing. If the other party doesn’t apologize, then do they expect him to apologize?!
But it seems that the limit of this Hamuye happens to be this part. They can make the compensation, but admitting their wrong? Impossible!!
Du Wei did not say more and simply stood up to give Philip a glance, his meaning was simple: it appears they need to do “that”!
Seeing Du Wei leave with great displeasure on his face, Philip could only smile wryly at Hamuye and say: “Alright then, the day is already getting late. Let’s rest for the night and continue the talks tomorrow.”
That night, Du Wei made sure to dismiss the guards around the dungeon before heading in to visit his captive. When he finally opened the door, the first image to welcome him was Aoi dazing out in the corner of the room with her hands holding her knee.
It’s been several days since the sexual assault case and not once did Du Wei come visit her. Matched with the isolation involved with being imprisoned inside a dungeon room, Aoi would naturally be depressed inside.
“That…… That terrible Duke actually, actually…….”
But to her horror, Aoi found that inside her heart, not a trace of hatred was there over the incident. Instead, a strange sort of longing kept surfacing whenever he thought of Du Wei. Not only that, her heart would flutter at the slightest memory of the guy’s face.
“He … … The way he smiles, and his eyes, looks so handsome……”
There’s definitely shame and humiliation in Aoi’s heart, but it’s far from the hate given to those of an enemy: that fucking guy stopped! What, am I not attractive?
Left alone in the cell by herself, these few days really felt like years to Aoi. Like an overpowering and undeniable force, the image of Du Wei’s face would always come nagging at the back of her mind…..
Finally, when she heard the sound of the door opening, her body instinctively quivered at the thought of meeting him again, “He, he’s here!”
Looking up with longing in her eyes, the first emotion to run through her mind was the sense of surprise!
The man that came into the room was dressed in white, clearly the same type of wardrobe of the white robed shamans atop of the Snowy Mountain!!
Struck by a thundering shock, the first thought to run through her head was: does the Snowy Mountain value her so highly that master himself would send a White Robed Shaman to retrieve her?
But then the next thing she heard was a cunning and malicious chuckle, clearly the same despicable voice that’s been torturing her these past few days.
Panic immediately overtook her body.
Letting out a loud laugh, Du Wei promptly pulled back his hood to reveal his devilish face before the female prisoner: “You see, do I not look like a Shaman?”
“You … … You, why do have a Shaman robe?” Aoi faltered as she asked this question.
“Humph.” Du Wei grumbled: “I killed a white robed shaman back at the battle in Anglia City. Though my memory is good but just to be sure, help me have a look to see if there’s any flaw.”
Lapsing out, Aoi did not even pay attention to the question for her soul instantly flew to Du Wei’s body. Then like a blank sheet, she reflexively answered the question, “Mmm… The robe should be a little shorter, other than that, nothing else.”
Nodding with satisfaction, Du Wei draws his dagger and immediately cut a section of the bottom part off. Then from his storage ring, Du Wei pulls a baggage out and tosses it over to Aoi: “Alright, your clothes are inside, hurry and put it on. We will be doing something in a bit.”
Clo-clothes?
Hurrying to open the bag, Aoi couldn’t believe her eyes. Inside was a robe like the one worn by Du Wei, but instead of white, it’s grey.
“You … … What are you planning to do? Why……”
Du Wei did not answer her question and spent the time assessing himself: “Aigh, there’s still a flaw. Though a shamans robe is similar to a wizards robe in appearance, the texture is still different. If my memory serves me right, the texture should be soft and smooth, but at the same time strong and elastic, definitely not made by ordinary materials. Oh well, it’s not like someone will dare touch a shaman’s gown.”
“You … … What are you doing?” Aoi may be falling heads over heels at Du Wei these past few days after being hypnotized by the devil’s eye, she’s still a member of the Snowy Mountain. Out of habit and instinct, she can vaguely sense Du Wei’s evil motives.
Grinning, Du Wei slowly stepped forward and quietly whispered his plan into Aoi’s ear.
Turning green from what she just heard, Aoi pleads: “You….. I will never do such a thing! Please, just kill me! I can never betray the Snowy Mountain!”
“Again with the ‘kill me’ line.” Intentionally blowing a whistle, Du Wei reaches out with his hand and gently punches the girl’s chin.
Aoi could have dodged the move with a simple tilt of her head, but her body refuses to listen and began to match Du Wei’s momentum.
Getting close, Du Wei looked her in the eyes and smiled: “Don’t worry, you will definitely do it!”
In the present of the “Charming Eye”, Aoi could only mutter: “I … … I … … I…… ”
“You what?” Du Wei’s voice seems to have the power to strike into her heart.
“I will do……” Aoi sounded like she was talking in her dream: “I’m willing to do whatever you want me to do……”