Imperial Crown.

Chapter 17 Prelude to the Storm

A month passed and it was July, the hottest time of the year.

The trees outside Eagle Castle had been cut down long ago, and there was no annoying cicada chirping, but under the long-term scorching sun, the castle was as hot as a steamer.

"Well……"

Denise brushed a strand of slightly damp hair behind her head and let out a breath of annoyance, but the expression on her face showed her cheerful mood.

Thanks to Raven's marketing and her superb business skills, Angel's Tears were sold at a high price of one gold coin and seventy silver coins per bottle.

Although Raven gave away more than 60 bottles for promotion, and the first batch sold to nobles had many discounts, he still sold a total of 376 bottles. After deducting various costs, he made a total profit of 336 gold coins and 55 silver coins in the first month alone.

Of course, seventy percent of it belonged to Raven, but even so, Fedro Business also received one hundred gold coins.

The nobles will not buy in large quantities again in the short term, but they can play a great demonstration effect. As long as it becomes popular, sales should not drop too much in the next year at least.

This is indeed a good deal.

In less than a year, her initial investment will be fully recovered, and all subsequent income will be pure profit. Even if sales decline in the future, the dividends she can get every year should not be less than 500 gold coins.

Five hundred gold coins!

This is almost equivalent to a town of shining gold, and this is the net profit of Federo Business in a year!

And all of this originated from an invention of Raven. From start to finish, it only took three days.

Denise felt that she could no longer see through this man. Was he really just a gangster of low birth?

dong dong dong.

There was a knock on the door, "Mrs. Denise, the iced Angel's Tears you requested."

"Come in." Denise leaned back in her chair, ready to enjoy the rare relaxing time in the summer.

The door opened, and the maid was about to bring in the plate when she suddenly found a big hand under the plate. She was about to scream in surprise, but then she saw Raven's face.

He put his index finger to his lips, signaling her to be quiet, and then turned his head slightly.

The maid understood and left quietly.

Raven walked into the house with the tray and closed the door gently.

Denise was dressed very lightly on this sultry summer day, wearing only a gauze lavender silk dress.

Wet with sweat, the thin silk dress clung softly to her delicate skin, making it difficult to tell whether the silk made her skin look tighter, or her skin made the silk look smoother.

She closed her eyes and leaned back in the chair, her black hair was scattered, her plump red lips were extremely eye-catching, and her slender and long neck showed a sexy and attractive moist luster.

Below that is the plump figure, which does not show any sagging at all, and makes the clothes show a sexy curve.

Vacuum.

Under the silk skirt, her knees were together, her legs were slightly apart, and her ten toes were playfully separated and stepped on the soft carpet, each of them dyed with a fresh bright red color.

Raven couldn't bear to disrupt this beautiful scene, so he tiptoed forward, put the tray on the table, quietly poured a glass of wine, and handed it to Denise.

The latter touched the cup, his index finger fell on the back of Raven's hand, and he suddenly opened his eyes: "Why are you here!?"

She wanted to stand up, but the position of her legs made it difficult for her to exert force, and she fell down halfway with a groan.

The water ripples.

"This is my castle. I can be wherever I want." Raven said, "And I advise you not to move. The more you move, the clearer I can see."

"Rogue!" Denise glared at him fiercely, threw the wine glass on the table, stood up despite his dissuasion, twisted her slender waist and walked to the closet, took out a heavy nightgown to cover herself: "What are you going to do now?"

Denise is tall and plump. The way she walks to the closet in her light silk dress is so eye-catching that one can't help but want to rush over and take this beauty into his arms.

Raven adjusted his posture so as not to wrong his second brother, and said with a smile: "Of course I'm here to collect the balance. Aunt, you still owe me 700 gold coins."

"Once the funds are recovered, I will give them to you." Denise said, "Business is all about win-win cooperation. If I go bankrupt, it will not do you any good."

"Of course I know that." Raven's eyes fell on her neck, which was covered with sweat due to the heat. "But I'm in urgent need of money now. Can't you try harder?"

"Impossible." Denise hated Raven's gaze, but she couldn't cover it up any more - because it was too hot.

This feeling of heat made her even more annoyed: "Last time, in order to pay you the three hundred gold coins, I used the money I had to use to buy the autumn grain. This time, the profits must be used to make up for it immediately."

"If you want some quick money, then give me the formula for that magical liquid that makes Angel's Tears!"

Raven shook his head. "You know it's impossible."

"Then please wait patiently." Denise pointed to the door and said, "I am going to proceed with the next stage of business planning now. Please leave my room immediately!"

Raven spread his palms: "You can't go back to Mon'en City and borrow money in the name of Fedro Business..."

Before he could finish his words, a pillow hit him on the head.

With a snap, the pillow was caught steadily by Raven. He lowered his head and took a deep sniff: "Hmm... It smells good. Is it the rouge produced by [Elegant Lady]?"

Denise was ashamed and angry: "Raven!!"

"Oh, calm down, Aunt Denise. If you calm down, you will feel cool. You are just thinking too much and that's why you feel so hot." Raven slowly stepped back: "Since you don't agree, I will take my leave first."

He stepped back step by step, and just as he was about to leave, he suddenly turned back and said, "By the way, I still prefer the purple one."

Denise was stunned for a moment, then looked down at her toes, and for a moment she didn't know how to react.

Raven closed the door and shook his head slightly.

Of course, he didn't come here just to tease Denise - of course, this was indeed very interesting.

He was worried about something else.

Back in the conference room, Old Gordon was already waiting there: "Lord Raven, everything has been arranged according to your instructions, nothing has been left out."

"Westdon didn't come to cause trouble, did he?" Raven asked.

Gordon showed a hint of smile on his face: "No, Master Weisdong didn't even dare to get close when he heard that it was your order."

"But is this really okay, Lord Raven? After all, this is Eagle Castle..."

"That's why I'm doing this because it's Eagle Castle," Raven said firmly. "From tonight on, you and Poirot will live in Eric's house. Remember, don't tell anyone else."

"Your decisions are always wise." Gordon bowed and said, "I will follow your orders, sir."

A burst of hurried footsteps was heard, and a maid reported anxiously: "Sir, it's bad, Mr. Poirot is injured!"

Raven immediately became alert. Poirot had mastered the saponification reaction technology, so he couldn't help but take it seriously: "Don't worry, tell me in detail."

"Lord Poirot is injured, very seriously. A large area of ​​his right hand is burned. It looks like moldy rotten meat!" The maid had an expression of fear and panic on her face.

Her statement was very confusing, but Raven could tell that Poirot was not in danger. "Where is he? Take me there."

"Yes, yes!" The maid didn't even bother to salute and turned around and walked ahead.

Raven sighed quietly. The quality of this maid was really worrying.

But there is no other way. In this world, there are maids and servants, but they are very dependent on each other. Usually, they are sent to the nobles' territory when they are very young, and then undergo strict training and work there for their whole lives.

In order to cut down on the castle's expenses and reduce the possibility of his secret being discovered, Donald fired all the trained maids and butlers in the castle. Those who were used in the ceremony a month ago were rented by Gordon from Glittering Gold at a high price.

Now that Eagle Castle's finances are gradually improving, there are three more maids in the castle. However, they are all born as commoners and have never had time to be trained. There is no choice but to use them as is.

Coming all the way to the ward, as soon as he entered the door, Raven smelled a salty and stinky smell, which was obviously the smell of sodium hydroxide solution.

Poirot was lying on the hospital bed, holding his hand, sweating profusely. A maid was busy bandaging his hand with gauze, but it was ineffective and blood was oozing out of the gauze.

"My Lord, why are you here?" Poirot sat up from the bed and glared at the maid: "Didn't I tell you not to disturb my Lord?!"

"I came here on my own initiative." Raven sighed helplessly and said coldly: "You two go out and do your work first, I'll take care of this."

The maid in charge of bandaging the wound shuddered: "But sir..."

"Get out!" Raven emphasized, and the two maids quickly bowed and turned away.

Poirot clenched his teeth tightly as he tore off the gauze bit by bit.

Although he had a premonition in his heart, Raven couldn't help but gasp when he saw the wound.

The skin on the fat palm was burned, twisted and thick, like a tightened fishing net, and the tender flesh inside was exposed, like a roasted and burst sausage, with blood gushing out of it.

"How did it get like this?" Raven asked, "Didn't I tell you to wear gloves when handling caustic soda?!"

"Sir, the weather is really too hot. I have to wear gloves all day and my hands are covered with prickly heat..." Poirot muttered with his head down, "And I didn't expect it to burst suddenly when heated..."

Raven asked, "What iron pan did you use!?"

Poirot blushed. "Yes... yes, there were not enough barrels at that time..."

"You really, really don't know how to live or die!" Raven was almost laughing at his anger: "Do you think the rules I set for you are a joke!?"

When sodium hydroxide and iron react at high temperature, they will produce water, ferroferric oxide and hydrogen. The first two are nothing, but the third one is deadly!

I can only say that it was a blessing that it exploded directly in the pot. If it had taken a little longer, I'm afraid the whole kitchen would have been ruined.

Raven pulled a basin of water from the side and pressed Poirot's hand into it. Then he turned around, poured half of the automatically replenishing healing potion into the water bowl, and handed it to Poirot: "Drink it."

Poirot nodded and drank the potion, then exclaimed: "Oh my God, it's amazing!"

The wound on his hand began to heal at an extremely fast speed and the bleeding stopped immediately. Although it was not completely healed, he would be able to resume activities in half a month at most.

"You should rest at home for half a month." Raven said, "I will hire someone from Goldshine Town to prepare the meals for the next period of time."

Poirot didn't want to lose this well-paid job: "But Lord Raven..."

"Don't worry, no one will replace you." Raven said with a smile: "After your injury is healed, if you don't want to improve Angel's Tears anymore, just focus on your job."

"I am willing, sir!" Poirot nodded. "I promise that I will never disobey your orders next time!"

"Well, I believe you." Raven patted his shoulder and turned away.

For a lord, chef and guard are the two most important positions. No matter who you conflict with, you must not get angry or fall out with these two types of people. Even if you can no longer use them, you have to appease them before replacing them.

Because their duties are related to the safety of the lord.

Raven grew up reading Romance of the Three Kingdoms in his previous life, and he didn't want to repeat the mistakes of a certain guy with a leopard head, round eyes, and a 10-foot-long snake spear.

"Talents are hard to come by!" Raven sighed softly as he walked in the castle.

Poirot did make a big mistake, but Raven couldn't replace him.

After all, apart from Poirot, no one else could be competent for the task of mixing glycerin.

Although it is not technically difficult, it also requires operational precision. Moreover, it concerns the secret of Angel's Tears, and only absolutely loyal people can do it.

Most of the subjects are loyal, but they are not smart enough. God knows how much time it will take to teach them.

And when more people know about it, the news is bound to leak out.

"Lord Raven!" Eric appeared at the end of the corridor. "I heard you were looking for me?"

"How is the equipment procurement discussion going?" Raven asked.

"Not very optimistic." Eric said, "Most of the best bows nearby are produced in the Thousand Needle Pine Forest, which is now in the hands of the Wharton family. They want five gold coins for a three-gold bow, which is too expensive. I have sent someone to Mon'en City to contact someone."

Raven was not surprised by this result.

A month ago, after returning to Ironforge, Angel woke up and scolded Judra, and announced to the public that Judra's promise was completely invalid and the Wharton family would never give up their own deserved interests.

This was certainly against the credibility of the nobility, but apart from a few bland criticisms, no one stood up to uphold justice and restore order.

After all, if there are no conflicts of interest, who would wade into such muddy water for no reason?
Raven asked, "There's some good beechwood in the warehouse. Can't we make our own bows?"

"I'm afraid it's not that easy." Eric smiled bitterly. "I've seen the production process of a strong bow. It's very complicated, with dozens of steps and a long process. It can't be made without three years, and the yield rate is very low. Otherwise, the price wouldn't be so high."

Raven was just asking casually. He could only sigh again after hearing this: "Talent is hard to come by!"

"There is a way," Eric said, "but it's not so glorious..."

Raven's eyes lit up, and he looked at his retainer with some surprise. He didn't expect that Eric, with his thick eyebrows and small eyes and a straight face, would say such a thing: "What's shameful? Tell me?"

"You know, the continental convention of 230 years ago clearly banned the slave trade." Eric was a little embarrassed, but he still introduced in a low voice: "But the Bloody Highlands don't care about this. I heard that there is often slave trading there, and there is no shortage of skilled dwarves, gray dwarves, and midgets."

Raven became interested: "What about the others?"

"Are there any elves, cat girls, fox girls, or drow?!"

Eric said, "I suppose there is..."

Raven pressed, "What's the price!?"

"I haven't been there, so I don't know much about it." Eric said, "But I heard a little about it when I was with Lord Donald. It is said that the price of an elf can reach tens of thousands of gold coins. As for dwarves and gray dwarves, the price ranges from thousands to hundreds of gold coins. If they have extraordinary powers, the price will be even higher."

Raven showed an expectant smile on his face. Although he didn't have enough money now, sooner or later he would have enough. He was already looking forward to that scene...

The sound of hurried footsteps suddenly came, and Gore rushed in with sweat all over his forehead:

"Lord Raven! As you expected, we have found traces of bandits near Eagle's Beak Mountain!"

At the same time, in the Eagle Wing Inn in Shanjin Town.

A man in a brown cloak knelt on one knee: "Lord Hyde, I just received news that the person has arrived!"

Hyde asked, "How strong is it?"

The man replied, "Two first-level transcendents, six first-level magical beast mounts, and sixteen experts in killing and robbing. Last year, a team of twenty people led by a second-level knight under Viscount John was destroyed in their hands during the transportation of goods!"

"Very good." Hyde showed a grim smile on his face: "Tell them not to hold back, just save Raven's life."

"Raven, since you refuse to accept these five thousand gold coins, I will use them to beat you into submission!"

……

(End of this chapter)