Chapter 543: His Majesty’s Gifts
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
In the end, it was hard to tell who won the match. Ye Chong's unique way of battle was surprising to everyone, but his ambushing style also left a bad taste in many of the guests. In particular, the way he threw Shu Man'er was received with strong disdain and disapproval by many young shooters.
The only thing that Sun Sieha was grateful for was how the match was poised to become the hottest topic amongst the guests of the evening ball. Based on his experience, word of the battle will reach the entire capital by tomorrow. He did not really care if they liked Ye Chong. He only wanted them to be more interested in close range combat.
The night's event came to end. All the guests looked excited. Some of them could see the larger picture behind this duel, while others only saw it as impressive entertainment.
The guests bid each other farewell courteously and gracefully, and left on their vehicles.
Ye Chong sat beside Sun Sieha. He was happy with today's foray. The boring evening ball turned out to be fruitful after all. That was all that mattered for the pragmatic Ye Chong.
Just when Ye Chong thought Sun Sieha was going to send him back his manor, a servant approached their car and said, "Your Majesty, she's here."
Sun Sieha's eyes turned cold as he nodded to the servant.
After that, a woman was brought to them. Ye Chong saw that it was Shu Man'er.
Shu Man'er was only rendered unconscious during the battle, but did not sustain injuries. She looked a little haggard.
Upon seeing Sun Sieha, Shu Man'er panicked and quickly went down on her knees, "Your Majesty!"
Sun Sieha ignored her. He looked at Ye Chong with a smile and said, "You probably don't know this, but her elder sister is Shu Mo'er, the Level 6 shooter that you fought against last time."
Ye Chong listened without expression.
"The Shu Family, well, it's not especially powerful or something, but it does have these two capable sisters. I've had all the Level 6 shooters who survived last time investigated. That is how I came to know that Shu Mo'er is Shu Man'er elder sister. Who could have known that the famous beauty, Shu Man'er has an equally impressive elder sister? Tsk tsk, if those young nobles found that, the Shu Family will find itself busy with visitors."
Sun Sieha spoke casually, but his eyes were cold and stern.
"I left Shu Mo'er alive because of her teacher, Mei Wu. You see, Mei Wu and I have a shared history. I spare her student out of respect," Sun Sieha had an unreadable expression when he said this, but he quickly gathered himself.
"Humph, but the sisters are wrong to assume that having Mei Wu's support allows them to get away with things," Sun Sieha's voice turned cold as he continued.
Shu Man'er shuddered.
"Look at me," Sun Sieha ordered.
Shu Man'er lifted her head. Her pale face framed a pair of eyes filled with terror
"You have good looks," Sun Sieha complimented with a nod, "and talent. A Level 6 shooter at such a young age. There is potential in you."
Shu Man'er bit her lips and shuddered again.
"It's really a pity!" Sun Sieha shook his head regretfully, "You made a terrible and malicious decision despite being so young." He turned to Ye Chong and continued, "You're not aware of this, but she exchanged the energy crystal in her laser gun for the duel to a radioactive crystal. Hehe, no one knew about it! Radioactive crystals can fire laser beams with high radioactivity. You won't feel it when you're shot, and it's not noticeable by the audience. However, you're in for a nasty ride later. Your bones will slowly turn to mush. It's like a slow acting poison."
Ye Chong felt chilled by this discovery.
"Shocking, isn't it? I was also surprised when my subordinate reported to me. It's not every day you encounter such a malicious trick. I'm wonder, though, does she always have radioactive crystals on her? But I can't be bothered to investigate further. Keeping and using radioactive crystals without permission is a crime that's enough to make the Shu Family suffer," Sun Sieha said with a smile to Ye Chong.
"Forgive me, Your Majesty, please forgive me!" Shu Man'er sobbed as she pleaded, knocking her forehead on the ground repeatedly.
Sun Sieha ignored her completely and continued slowly, "There are people in this world who assumed that they're smart, while everyone else is foolish. The truth is, she is the one who is foolish and naïve, don't you think?"
"Please forgive me, Your Majesty!" Shu Man'er was crying.
"Your Majesty, she is here now!" A guard announced with a cold voice. At the same time, they all heard Shu Man'er gasping, "Elder Sis!"
"Man'er! Why are you here?" Shu Man'er asked , surprised.
Shu Man'er knew that she had screwed up mightily this time. She grabbed Shu Mo'er's dress and cried again.
Shu Mo'er noticed Ye Chong then. She looked back at her sister, who was now crying all over the place, and seemed to deduce something from it. She cried out accusingly at Ye Chong, "You, what did you do?"
"How dare you? Show your respect to the King!" The guard yelled at her, then kicked Shu Mo'er from behind her knees. Shu Mo'er cried out in pain and fell onto the floor on her knees.
Sun Sieha smiled coldly at her and said, "Shu Mo'er, I am not killing you now in consideration of your teacher, but don't think I will not do it in future. No one can stop me, not your teacher back then, and definitely not you!"
Sun Sieha seemed to recall something unpleasant from the past. His expression twisted menacingly before he finally got a hold of himself. However, his eyes were still shining threateningly when he said to Ye Chong, "I give these two women to you."
"I don't want them," Ye Chong said calmly.
Sun Sieha was taken aback. "Do you know what other people are willing to do to obtain these two sisters? Why won't you have them?"
"They're a nuisance," Ye Chong replied with one lifted eyebrow.
"A nuisance?" Sun Sieha was surprised, but laughed out loud, "Haha, indeed! You're absolutely right, absolutely! However, I, Sun Sieha, never accept returned gifts." The King said this with an air of dominance.
Ye Chong could not be bothered to respond. He stepped out of the car and said, "Remember to send the money over." He then vanished into the night.
Sun Sieha watched with amusement as Ye Chong made his exit.
He then turned back to the two women and said coldly, "From now on, you are both his. I don't care how you do it, but you must stay with him. If you can't achieve this, humph, then the Shu Family has no reason to continue existing. If you can get him interested in you, then you'll both be rewarded. Of course, the Shu Family will also benefit. You know what to do." The King took one last look at the two sisters of the Shu Family, then waved them off. The two women left escorted by the King's guard.
Shu Mo'er looked very pale. Her arms were around her young sister, who was crying herself into a mess. Her lips were already bleeding from biting too hard on them. A late night breeze caressed her long hair. Her determined gaze showed how humiliated, lost and hopeless she felt.
…
Yi Ju Planet was now a very busy place. Skyscrapers covered the land, bringing life to the once quiet and desolate planet. It was now one of the most modernized planets in the vicinity. High end commercial centres and the advanced academic institutions could be found on this planet.
The Sang Tribe did not expand rapidly, but even so, they already had 52 planets under their power. These 52 planets had Yi Ju as their center. The area became a newly established territory, known by people now as the Yi Ju Zone.
Since Ye Chong was not there, the Sang Tribe could only decide through a vote on how to respond to the request for assistance from the Three Aristocratic Families. As expected, about 80 percent of them did not agree to travel so far to their aid. However, Sang Pu and his team gave them enough reason. …
…
Qiu Man's competence in governance and Sang Pu's military strength allowed the commercial centre known as the Yi Ju Zone to flourish like never before. The greatest benefit they derived from this position was having enough funds. Newcomers who chose to move to the Yi Ju Zone also brought in plenty of resources and, more importantly, advanced technology.
As for the research organizations which were short of money, it was decided that the government would extend financial assistance to them, even in the form of loans. This was because Qiu Man had enough funds. She had been trying to figure out how to spend the money in a way that could encourage growth in the place. This was one of the measures she had come up with.
Aried was short, and had been looked down by others because of this ever since he was a young boy. Nevertheless, he was an unconventional genius. This was because his theories were not acknowledged by any known research center, which refused to fund him because of his weird ideas.
He arrived on Planet Yi Ju to escape the red-tailed beasts. He saw the new policy in place to help academics, and decided to just try it out.
To his surprise, he passed the initial and a few subsequent interview rounds, and finally made it to the final round of interview. He also managed to meet a few legendary figures in the Yi Ju leadership, including the legendary beauty, Ms Qiu Man.
"Ms Qiu Man is more beautiful than the rumors suggested!" Aried thought to himself.
Qiu Man was used to this kind of attention. She coughed softly and smiled at the man, "You must be Mr Aried. A pleasure to meet you. We have looked over your proposed subject, 'V-shaped Spatial Techniques'. We were not familiar with your subject before this, so we have asked for opinions from a few experts in spatial science. They all agreed that your proposal is interesting. They cannot prove that it will work, but it is worth a look. Hence, we have decided to invest in your project."