Lord of the Desert

Chapter 458 Siblings
The next day, June 11th.

After lunch, when Hong Fan sent Xiao Chu and the other two to visit Zhuang Liren in a car, he really didn't expect that another royal noble would come to visit.

It is noon.

The sun is high in the sky.

Hong Fan and the amazed Tang Dage inspected the stable and saw the three horses brought by Xiao Chu staying obediently by the trough. There were diamond-shaped black scales on the inside of their legs, which showed that they were obviously alien species.

As for the usually arrogant Hongqi, it was squeezed in another corner with the Bentley, which it looked down upon. It had a thick layer of white sweat on its body, perhaps due to the heat or nervousness.

Just as Hong Fan was having fun, Shen Hong came jogging, with sweat on his forehead like yesterday, and handed over a visiting card signed "Sheng Wang Ji".

Prince Sheng is the title of the current third prince.

Hong Fan was suspicious and had to frown to greet him. Halfway through the journey, he urgently ordered Shen Hong to put the "Courtesy to the World" sword in the weapon storage pavilion in the study room first.

Parked at the back door of Chaori Mansion was indeed the carriage that Junchixing had customized for Jin Ziming. The young man standing beside the carriage with his hands behind his back had noble clothes and gold eyes, and his identity was self-evident.

By the time he reached Hongfan's position, he had some understanding of the situation in the world.

Among all the princes and princesses except Xiao Chu, Prince Sheng Xiao Ji is the one with the best reputation.

Great talent, far-sightedness, humility, determination and resoluteness...

Of course, a prince's high profile will inevitably bring a reputation for being ambitious.

The two men sat down in the main hall and Hong Fan waved away the waiter.

Xiao Ji's face was full of smiles, and he admitted that he had come from the capital to visit his master, and that he had made the bold visit because he was urged to be close to the wise man.

Hong Fan was humble and submissive.

The topic is naturally dominated by the superior.

Xiao Ji first talked about his impressions of Xijing, then discussed current affairs in Shenjing, and praised the military exploits of Hongfan Shengzhou. After two quarters of an hour, he brought out his worries about the current situation in the world.

When Hong Fan saw this, he felt a sense of alarm.

[Are we about to get to the point? ]

With Jin Ziming's experience, he shouldn't act too hastily.

But considering the rumors he had heard from several senior executives of Shen and Zhu's families, Hong Fan could roughly guess the situation behind it.

The Governor is not a permanent position in Dahua. It has always been a position that is appointed when necessary and removed when not.

Jin Ziming has been stationed in Liangzhou for more than three years due to official business. If nothing unexpected happens, he will leave office in two or three years at most.

To deeply cultivate a state, the time is not only insufficient, but also clearly urgent. No wonder he directly shook the dignified vassal king over.

But no matter what, Hong Fan saw that the other party wanted to force him to express his position after a simple visit, and the contempt in his heart was still evident - it was obvious that Xiao Ji and his group were not interested in Chaori Prefecture, but used this as a stepping stone to have in-depth contact with several top forces in Liangzhou.

Compared with the Shen family, the Zhu family, and even the Shura Sect, Hong Fan's hard power and the influence of the Hong family can only be regarded as better than nothing.

Sure enough, Xiao Ji felt that the atmosphere was right and quickly revealed his true intention.

A silver-wood brocade box was placed on the table, with three colored glaze bottles lying in the box. The liquid in the bottles was scarlet, mixed with brilliant golden light.

Hong Fan recognized at a glance that this was the refined dragon blood essence, and its quality was better than the bottle that Wan Guangji had.

In addition to the wooden box, Xiao Ji also pushed over a book bound with copper nails, with five large characters outlined in gold thread on the cover.

"The Dragon and Elephant Furnace Classic".

"Three portions of dragon blood and one fire-based martial arts manual that is at the peak of Yuanci, all of which can be used by the entire Hong family. All consequences will be dealt with by Prince Sheng's Mansion."

The prince's promise is loud and clear.

"I am willing to exchange this for half of the shares of each business under the name of the Hong family."

Even though Hong Fan was knowledgeable and experienced, he was still stunned by the price.

Let’s not talk about the three bottles of dragon blood.

A family martial arts classic and the support of the Shengwang faction are enough to make the Hong family rise at a terrifying speed in the next few years. Perhaps within one or two generations, they will be able to compete with old second-rate families like the Jiang family and the Bai family.

Such conditions, coupled with Xiao Ji's personal reputation of being "decisive and resolute", made Hong Fan understand his determination to win.

Could it be possible that a genius from a humble family, even if he was endowed with top-level combat power, boundless potential, and the power of a destiny star, could still be invited by a dignified prince in such a roundabout way?

After a moment of silence, Hong Fan calmed down his mind.

The other party's losses and your own gains are already obvious, but what you also need to consider is the other party's gains and your own losses.

Excluding the businesses in Tiannanhang that originally belonged to the Zhu family, the total annual turnover of all the businesses under the name of the Hong family has now exceeded 3 million taels of silver, and the profit share is nearly 300,000 taels.

Cash flow is of course one aspect.

What's more important is that Prince Sheng's Mansion can use overt conspiracy to achieve a certain degree of interest binding with several top forces in Liangzhou.

As for Hong Fan himself... having lost his special relationship with the Zhangwu Academy, he might become hostile to Guan Qimai in the long run, and may not be able to obtain the second half of "The Blazing Explosion Codex".

As for switching to practice "Dragon Elephant Great Furnace Classic", although the three bottles of dragon blood essence can make up for the loss of true essence from the second practice, but firstly, the upper limit of martial arts will drop from the peak of heaven and man to the peak of Yuan magnetic, and secondly, the killing methods such as "cannon" and "Vulcan cannon" will be lost.

The most crucial thing is that the uniqueness of Hong Fan itself greatly reduced the weight of Xiao Ji's bargaining chips.

Martial arts, the world's riders can win;

Realm, the world of sand can take it away;

Dragon blood and dragon soul trees can be drawn.

Moreover, the risks of directly taking sides in the fight for the throne are unspeakable - in comparison, the system of the Zhangwu Academy and the Tiqi system, where money and goods are settled and everyone goes their own way, does not have this problem.

As for Xiao Ji's ambitions, the political program of the Shengwang Party, and even Jin Ziming's centralized academic philosophy of "making the world one, orders from above follow below, and family and country one", there was no point in discussing them when the two met for the first time.

"Your Highness, I'm afraid I can't agree to that."

After a long time, Hong Fan finally shook his head.

Xiao Ji was first stunned, then angry.

"If you are not satisfied with this condition, feel free to raise it again."

He almost immediately suppressed his anger and persuaded with a smile.

But Hong Fan remained silent.

"Master Hong, I don't think there is anything wrong with my visit this time. I'm afraid there will be consequences if you keep me at a distance."

Xiao Ji lowered his voice, his eyes gleamed purple and he looked mighty as he spoke.

King Sheng's characteristic of focusing on the big and letting go of the small, and never being stingy with chips at critical moments are praised by others for his work - it is no exaggeration to say that the two things on the table are enough to make any powerful family in Kyushu surrender.

But the person in front of me is so ungrateful.

At this moment, Xiao Ji was no longer interested in knowing the reason behind Hong Fan's refusal. He only wanted to directly inform Jin Hai of this condition in order to stir up an uproar among the Hong family and force him to surrender.

On the other side, Hong Fan faced the gaze of a prince calmly, but he was in a trance.

[His cultivation is at the peak, his dark eyes have only a few gold dust, and for a 22-year-old, his martial arts talent is average, and his dragon blood concentration does not seem high. Of course, for the ruler, these are not important; well, if Jin Ziming is determined to make things difficult for me, what can I do? ]

His thoughts raced through his mind, and he finally let out a light sigh.

[It is better to resolve a feud than to create one. Let’s take advantage of the power of the tiger and take this kid to the next door to see the sword…]

Hong Fan had made up his mind and was about to speak when he heard deliberately heavy footsteps coming from outside the courtyard.

Xiao Ji frowned and became more angry.

The servants are still able to disturb the master and the guests when they are discussing matters. It really shows that the poor people lack manners!
He let out a deep breath, looked towards the gate angrily, and met the eyes of a tall woman wearing a veil.

Familiar eyes.

Then came a familiar voice.

"I knew it was you when I heard you from afar. Oh, my brother has suddenly come to Liangzhou. Why are you looking for Hong Fan?"

"Royal sister?!"

Xiao Ji's heart skipped a beat and he quickly stood up.

He had grown stronger in the past few years, so he was naturally not afraid of his half-sister. It was just that when he was a child, he was forced to play a foreign race and was beaten many times, so he was a little...

[Damn it, she has been wandering around for so many years and I don’t know how many heads she has chopped off with her own hands. Her martial arts are one level higher than mine. How can I not be afraid? ]

"Hong Fan has just returned from fighting in Shengzhou. What are you looking for?"

Xiao Chu asked in a bad tone.

"Oh, you are trying to steal my girl."

She glanced at the chips on the table.

Xiao Ji was already in trouble at this time.

[No wonder Hong Fan didn't respond to my question. What on earth is this teacher doing? How come he doesn't even know something as important as the fact that the imperial sister lives in Chaori Mansion?! ]

"My brother was reckless in this matter."

The prince actually apologized on the spot.

"I made a mistake today. I heard that Brother Hong will be going to Shenjing to take up his post at the Martial Academy. I will welcome you there then."

After saying a few polite words, Xiao Ji hurriedly put the things back into his arms and left without looking back.

(End of this chapter)