It doesn't matter what the lord is.

"He lives in a place like this? I think everyone in Rivet City lives better than him! A normal city lord wouldn't live in such a shabby place. He is... hahahaha... like a frog in the well who has stayed in it for too long and doesn't know what the outside world looks like. Why don't we take him back to Xi Qin to see what is grand and elegant, so that the biggest city lord's mansion he can imagine is not like this, and he will think he is living in some kind of paradise on earth until he dies—"

Li Xin said this, jumped off the carriage in high spirits, and strode towards the City Lord's Mansion.

By chance, the door of the City Lord's Mansion opened at this time, and a young girl walked out of the City Lord's Mansion while tying her messy hair into a ponytail, and said to the guards behind her:

"I told you that Lid, that bastard, had problems with his self-drawing every time. It's fine that I was fooled by him, but you were staring at him the whole time and didn't see how he cheated? He played eight games of "National Master", "Nine Treasures Lotus Lantern", "Four Dark Engravers and One Knight" in one night. He was so good that I feel like throwing up when I hear these two words now. Is he still a human being?"

The guards behind him could only respond with a wry smile.

The girl didn't notice Li Xin at all, but Li Xin saw her at first sight. Although he didn't know what she was talking about, the women living in the city lord's mansion must be one of Li De's harems, and Li Xin was immediately curious about her.

Her unkempt and casual appearance had already left a very bad first impression on Li Xin. But when Li Xin looked at her carefully, he was surprised to find something funny.

On her left index finger, she wore a ring exactly the same as Li Xin's.

At that moment, Li Xin's vanity reached its peak. Li Xin couldn't help but transform into a genuine ring defender. He took two steps forward, grabbed the girl's wrist, and deliberately raised his voice and said:

"I can't afford the real thing, so I can only buy a fake one to wear on my hand to satisfy my craving. This is a girl from Yuxi City, and she doesn't mind being embarrassed!"

35. He is your father

The girl was a little slow to react at first. She looked at Li Xin who was holding up her hand blankly and asked:

"We know each other?"

Li Xin ignored her question and flashed the ring on her hand at her, her mouth almost stretched to her ears. She had wanted to do this kind of face-slapping plot since she came to Yuxi City, but she never got the chance. Now that she had a chance to humiliate the person in front of her, how could she let it go easily?

Li Xin acted like a good friend giving advice, took the girl's hand, squeezed her body, quickly got closer to her, and said with a smile:

"Sister, a woman would rather be without money than without self-respect, and would rather have no self-respect than be fooled by others. Look at how old you are this year. If you start wearing fakes now, what will happen in the future? Jewelry is like a woman's second face. If you wear some inferior imitations on your body, who will respect you after seeing them? Listen to my advice, take it off quickly, and throw it as far away as possible."

As he spoke, Li Xin glanced at the girl, and seeing that her clothes did not look very luxurious, he suddenly felt superior and deliberately patted his chest with the hand wearing the ring. On the one hand, he was showing off the expensive silk and satin on his body, and on the other hand, he was showing the ignorant and poor girl in front of him what true "unparalleled beauty" was.

As expected, the girl blinked and asked stupidly:

"How come you have one too?"

Li Xin breathed a sigh of relief. He had been waiting for this sentence for a long time!

She stretched her hand in front of the girl's eyes and said proudly:

"Sister, take a good look at it, don't let some people's sweet words blind your eyes. This is one of the twelve treasures of Lord Yunhai back then, and it is ranked fifth among the world's ten famous rings, [Peerless Beauty]! A ring like this would never have ended up in a small town that is no different from a village... No, it should never have been passed down from Lord Yunhai. But recently, Lord Yunhai's prodigal daughter sold the ring, and it was bought by our Western Qin noble, the honorable Lord Gars, who happened to give it to me... Do you understand, sister? What's real can't be fake, and what's fake can't be real. Why wear it on your body like this to deceive yourself..."

The girl looked at her in shock, and after a long while she managed to utter four words:

“I didn’t sell it!!”

Li Xin waved his hands and explained patiently:

"I'm not talking about you. I'm talking about the prodigal daughter of Lord Yunhai..."

But he was interrupted by the girl again:

"I know that my aunt sold half a box of jewelry, but my father said that this ring was for me to wear when I got married, so I didn't sell it at all."

Li Xin still didn't react, but she was deeply annoyed by the girl's repeated interruptions and couldn't help but say:

"I didn't mention you, do you not understand what I'm saying or what? I'm talking about that Yunhai Baihu..."

Before the word "Phoenix" was finished, a voice came from the room:

"What's wrong? It's so noisy so early in the morning."

The door of the City Lord's Mansion opened, and a young man in splendid clothes walked out. After seeing the scene in front of him, he rubbed his sleepy eyes mercilessly and said to the girl:

"Comrade Bai Huang, I know you are not happy after losing the mahjong game all night, but you have to learn to accept the reality. With your strength, it is not shameful to lose to a mahjong genius like me. Even if you feel embarrassed, you can't hire someone to yell at us in front of our house early in the morning, right? If you continue to be so unacceptable, I will use my long-sealed skill of "Flowering on the Ridge" next time."

The girl turned around and cursed:

"Let you go... you're just talking bullshit! When did I stop being able to accept defeat? I was planning to go on patrol, but the girl from your Yuxi City grabbed my wrist and insisted that my ring was fake. Explain to me, did you sell my ring when I wasn't paying attention?"

Lid recalled it carefully and said seriously:

"I have thought about it a few times... but I don't remember ever putting it into practice."

"You still have an idea! I'll beat you up!"

Lid shrank his neck and quickly waved his hands to beg for mercy. At the same time, he looked at Li Xin, whose face was turning pale and blue. He saw that she was wearing an identical ring on her hand. He blinked and probably understood what was going on. He smiled and said to Bai Huang:

"You patrol in Yuxi City every day with great fanfare. Are there any girls in Yuxi City who don't know you? I won't go to you if I have any trouble. This girl probably just came to Yuxi City and hasn't figured out her place yet. You should go on patrol. It might be too late for a girl in dire straits to be saved by you."

Bai Huang struggled for a while, and Li Xin quickly let go of her wrist. He put his hanging hand behind his back intentionally or unintentionally, and did not dare to take out the ring on his finger to show off.

Bai Huang didn't care. She was not the kind of person who would care about trivial matters. Although Li Xin apologized to her in a hurry, Bai Huang just nodded and left in a hurry.

After she left, Li De looked at Li Xin, smiled, and said:

"My second sister came at a bad time today. She used to go out earlier in the morning. Yesterday, she was tired from playing cards, so we ran into each other. Please come in. Is this my second sister's maid? Come in. Since my father sent my second sister to Yuxi City, it means he is sincere. Let's have a good talk."

Now that Bai Huang was gone, Lid's face regained a friendly smile, and Li Xin's attitude slowly began to return to its original state.

She had just returned to Yunyang, so she was not very clear about the relationship between Bai Huang and Li De, so she did not react for a while. But she claimed to know her brother better than anyone else. He had been the same since he was a child, until she left Yunyang. He lived in such a carefree way, was easy to talk to, and would answer anyone who called him.

It's like there's no heart.

Therefore, Li Xin turned his attention to the City Lord's Mansion again, and couldn't help but point at these old-fashioned and tacky buildings.

Li De also smiled slightly, accepted it all, and nodded from time to time in coordination with Li Xin.

Feeling that his status and position were of great importance, Li Xin completely regained his former confidence and directly talked to Li De about Lineng's matter, saying that if he didn't want to become a deadly enemy with Yun Yang, he should release Lineng unconditionally right now, and by the way, he should also make amends and apologize to him, and give him some compensation for mental damages...

Unexpectedly, Lid stood there, with his hands in his sleeves, smiling and shaking his head, saying:

"You showed off your superiority earlier. I didn't refute you. Do you know why? Because I felt that what you said was like what a person with advanced cerebral palsy would say. You are so pitiful that I have to leave you with some good memories. Anyway, I won't lose a piece of flesh if you say a few words to me, so you can say whatever you want. But it's different when it comes to benefits. If I let it go, I will really lose a piece of flesh."

Li Xin said coldly:

"We Xiqin——"

Before she finished her words, Reed interrupted her with a smile:

"Second sister, you don't really think you have that much face, do you? What about West Qin and East Qin? The Lord of West Qin is your father? If you married an 18th-tier little character, don't think about using the banner of a big shot all the time. I don't even need you to deal with the Lord of West Qin. If you can sleep with that ice-faced prince, I will also obediently call you the boss and treat you as a member of the West Qin family. Right now, it is better for you to use the name of West Qin than to use the banner of the second Miss Yunyang."

36. Can't you be more generous?

What happened next was very simple and can be summed up in three words: the talks broke down.

No matter how Li Xin threw a tantrum or how fiercely she insulted Li De, Li De did not react at all, but just smiled and rejected all her requests. During this time, He Yue passed by once with documents and looked over here. Fang Shisan also passed by once and pretended not to hear anything and let Ti La push the wheelchair away. The senior management of Yuxi City obviously did not care much about Li Xin, or rather, they seemed to be indifferent to the results of this negotiation.

This was very different from what Li Xin had expected.

She originally thought that given her importance, even if Yuxi City did not come to lick her ass, it would certainly be treated as a formidable enemy, and in all likelihood all the top executives would gather around a table and look at her cautiously, while she would speak impassionedly and debate with the crowd, scolding the top executives of Yuxi City and making them retreat step by step.

This is how the plot should be.

However, the fact is, except for Reed who always looked at her with a caring look, no one was willing to spend more than a few seconds on her.

Li Xin was a little unconvinced and wanted to grab Li De's collar and question him, but just after taking a few steps forward, she saw the maid behind Li De draw her sword, with the blade blocking her and Li De. Li Xin looked at the maid and found that there was a murderous look in her eyes, so she quickly retreated.

Reporting the title of Xi Qin didn't work. The usual arrogance now met an even more arrogant one. Li Xin opened her mouth, feeling that she had to do something, but her brain was empty and did not provide any effective information to the body. She watched Li De yawn and said to her:

"If you came here just to say this, then you can go back. Every wrong has its perpetrator. Li Neng brought his army to mess with me time and again, and I finally caught him once. I can't let him go just like that. As for you, although you're not very smart and you're a bit talkative, I'm not the type to fight to the death when I'm insulted. Since there's no substantial conflict between us, I'm willing to let you go back to Lingyun City. Let's go before I regret it."

Li Xin looked at Li De who was calm and composed, pursed his lips, and threatened for the last time:

"Aren't you afraid that Lord Yunyang will retaliate against you? Aren't you afraid that Li Yi will bring his men to raze your city to the ground?"

Reed replied lazily:

"I'm afraid, but I don't think unconditional release of benefits will make the situation better. What's coming will eventually come, so it's better to seek some tangible benefits before that."

Li Xin gritted his teeth and said loudly to Li De:

"Lid, how did you become like this? I miss the happy times we had together. Father and big brother didn't do anything excessive. Why did you make the situation like this? You, you, you...can't you be more generous?"

Lid tilted his head, laughed, and replied:

"Second sister, I wonder if you have ever heard of this saying: If you persuade others to be magnanimous, the whole family will be saved."

Alayya behind him reminded appropriately:

"Master, I am scolding you as well."

"..."

Lid was speechless for a while, shook his head and said:

“Forget it. I am not considered a member of the Yunyang family now, and the Second Miss Yunyang in front of me doesn’t consider herself a member of the Yunyang family either…”

At this point, Li De suddenly clapped his fists, as if he had suddenly realized something. He looked at Li Xin and said:

"Oh, wait, if that's the case, then we can actually cooperate with each other."

Li Xin was somewhat confused by his attitude and asked blankly:

"How to cooperate?"

Li De smiled maliciously, took a step forward, approached Li Xin and said:

"It's very simple. The Third Young Master Yunyang is in my hands now, but he is my third brother by blood after all, so it's not a good idea to keep him in jail. I have to release him, but the key is that I need Lord Yunyang to pay a little money... After all, he is my son, and it's not too much to pay a little money to redeem him after he was kidnapped and turned into a hostage, right? But I currently have no way to communicate with Lord Yunyang, so I need a little help. If Second Sister is willing to be the mediator, I am willing to give a quarter of the ransom negotiated from Lord Yunyang to Second Sister."

Before Li Xin could say anything, Takizawa cursed:

"Okay, you want to trick Sister Li Xin into doing this kind of betrayal—"

Before he could finish his words, Li Xin yelled at him:

"Shut up, you have no right to speak!"

She looked into Reed's eyes and asked:

"How should I trust you?"

Lid yawned again, leaned into Alayya's arms, and said to Li Xin:

"Lord Yunyang asked you to come here, so it's impossible that you didn't bring anything with you. You must have brought some jewelry as a last resort. During the time you were chatting and arguing with me, I sent people to count the things on the carriage. Don't worry, I won't touch those things. I'll give them to you. You can go back and tell him that I still refused to let you go after receiving the money, and asked him to give five times the amount. He will definitely not agree, so you can try to persuade him a few words. In the end, if he gives three times the amount, we will be even. If he gives more than three times the amount, I will give you one more. If he refuses to pay even three times the money, tell him that I will divide the profit into several parts, and I will give him the same amount in proportion to how much money he gives."

Li Xin broke out in a cold sweat when she heard this. She looked at Li De and found that although Li De was laughing, he didn't seem to be joking at all.

After thinking for a while, Li Xin decided to agree to Li De's proposal.

Because this suggestion was the best option for her, she really didn't want to chat with Lid here anymore. This man was simply an unreasonable lunatic, a beast with an unevolved brain, and he was completely unreasonable. Anyway, the one who suffered in the end was Lord Yunyang. What did the people of the Yunyang family have to do with her Xiqin family?

Thinking of this, Li Xin agreed with Li De's opinion and took Takizawa back to Lingyun City by car.

Not long after she left, He Yue passed by with a pile of documents. She glanced at Lid, who seemed to be thinking about something, and asked:

"Is the person gone?"

"gone."

"How was the talk?"

"It's pretty much as expected. Lord Yunyang will probably give the money, since it doesn't matter to them anyway. Li Yi will be full of hatred, and I'm afraid that soon after Li Xin returns, he will contact Kaia, Norn and the others again and sell a lot of resources in exchange for their help. After we release Li Neng, this powerful army will block the outside of Rivet City."

Lid seemed to be talking about something trivial. He was a little sleepy. If it was someone else behind him, he would have fallen asleep by now. The reason he remained awake was not because of his strong willpower, but because Alaiya's chest was hurting him.

He Yue nodded and replied:

"We will fight them head-on. Fang Shisan is already planning it. Both sides think the other has been fooled, and the final result will be determined on the battlefield. But what happened? I see you are so depressed."

Lid looked at the blue sky above his head and said:

"There is a question that I never figured out before, but today when I met Li Xin, I remembered it again."

He Yue raised his eyebrows:

"What's the problem?"

Lid narrowed his eyes, not looking at He Yue, and said with emotion:

"…You can survive standing up, so why do some people always prefer to kneel down?"

37. Cooperation or not

Huaiwang Territory·Huayue City

It is said that wine, sex, money and anger are four walls, and everyone hides inside. But if we talk about the four words "wine, sex, money and anger" that are truly implemented to the extreme, it has to be Huayue City in the territory of the Huai King. There is a truth that everyone knows but no one tells: everyone knows that the annual Yunhai courtesan election is grand, and the women who are selected are extremely beautiful. It is a great honor to meet them. However, the brothel business in Yunhai can only be considered above average. The real good place to find prostitutes is Huayue City in the territory of the Huai King.

If you ask why, the secret lies in the word "charm".

Girls from Yunhai Territory have a stronger aura of immortality. The more famous the top girls are, the less likely they are to come out to entertain guests. Occasionally playing a song behind the curtain is already a great honor for you. It's just like a goddess. Countless people praise her, and the higher she is praised, the farther she is from everyone.