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 wasnât 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 Weiâs persistence in asking for slaves, Biliaibuer became puzzled over the odd demand: âDuke, itâs not like the empire is lacking in slaves. Why must we struggle over a couple of thousand slaves?â
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.
Itâs just that Du Weiâs 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 thatâs done, he can toss these people away if he needed.
âCount Biliaibuer⊠⊠These five thousand slaves are for myself. As to for the reasoning, Iâm afraid I canât go into details.â
Giving Du Wei a quizzical look, Biliaibuer thought inside: whatâs 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 Weiâs back and made things clear during the break.
Likewise, Hamuye also wanted to stop wasting time: âSo itâs the Duke whom wants the peopleâŠ. 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. Itâs just that five thousand is beyond my reach in such short noticeâŠ. Consider it my personal gift and we can settle the numbers at two thousand!â
When Biliaibuer brought the new proposal up, Du Weiâs 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 Weiâs good side and now that the opportunity presented itself, he would of course not let it go: âCould it be that your Dukeship wants to build a new city by taking in so many slaves? If you donât 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.â
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.
âUncle Biliaibuer is mistaken. I intend to open a ranch here so regular slaves wonât be any good.â
Hearing this, Biliaibuer thought for a moment: âSo its wranglers that you want. The problem is that we havenât been at war with the natives for so long that there is shortage in the market. Let me go home and have a look, Iâm sure I can gather up a couple of hundred for you.â
âIf thatâs the case then Iâll give my thanks!â Du Wei did not beat around the bush and accepted the offer.
Afterwards, Philip couldnât resist and secretly asked Du Wei:
â⊠⊠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 wonât be easy to run a ranch.â
âWho said Iâm getting it for myself!â Du Wei smiled and shook his head: âHmm, 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 heâs alone and canât do much in the short termâŠ. Therefore, I will gift these slaves to him. You can say itâs my way of sending him along the roadâŠ. Haha!â
Seemingly enlightened by the explanation, Phillip bursts out laughing at the plan.
By the afternoon, the talks continued smoothly and Hamuye didnât request for anything out of the ordinary.
Itâs common knowledge the people of the prairie craved for metal, but the Empire strictly forbade this term; therefore, Hamuye didnât 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 âapologyâ? 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 doesnât 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!
Whatâs more, his Desa Province was the biggest victim in this whole thing. If the other party doesnât 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 âthatâ!
Seeing Du Wei leave with great displeasure on his face, Philip could only smile wryly at Hamuye and say: âAlright then, the day is already getting late. Letâs rest for the night and continue the talks tomorrow.â
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.
Itâs 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.
âThatâŠâŠ That terrible Duke actually, actuallyâŠâŠ.â
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 guyâs face.
âHe ⊠⊠The way he smiles, and his eyes, looks so handsomeâŠâŠâ
Thereâs definitely shame and humiliation in Aoiâs heart, but itâs 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 Weiâs face would always come nagging at the back of her mindâŠ..
Finally, when she heard the sound of the door opening, her body instinctively quivered at the thought of meeting him again, âHe, heâs here!â
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 thatâs 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: âYou see, do I not look like a Shaman?â
âYou ⊠⊠You, why do have a Shaman robe?â Aoi faltered as she asked this question.
âHumph.â Du Wei grumbled: âI 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 thereâs any flaw.â
Lapsing out, Aoi did not even pay attention to the question for her soul instantly flew to Du Weiâs body. Then like a blank sheet, she reflexively answered the question, âMmm⊠The robe should be a little shorter, other than that, nothing else.â
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: âAlright, your clothes are inside, hurry and put it on. We will be doing something in a bit.â
Clo-clothes?
Hurrying to open the bag, Aoi couldnât believe her eyes. Inside was a robe like the one worn by Du Wei, but instead of white, itâs grey.
âYou ⊠⊠What are you planning to do? WhyâŠâŠâ
Du Wei did not answer her question and spent the time assessing himself: âAigh, thereâs 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, itâs not like someone will dare touch a shamanâs gown.â
âYou ⊠⊠What are you doing?â Aoi may be falling heads over heels at Du Wei these past few days after being hypnotized by the devilâs eye, sheâs still a member of the Snowy Mountain. Out of habit and instinct, she can vaguely sense Du Weiâs evil motives.
Grinning, Du Wei slowly stepped forward and quietly whispered his plan into Aoiâs ear.
Turning green from what she just heard, Aoi pleads: âYouâŠ.. I will never do such a thing! Please, just kill me! I can never betray the Snowy Mountain!â
âAgain with the âkill meâ line.â Intentionally blowing a whistle, Du Wei reaches out with his hand and gently punches the girlâs 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 Weiâs momentum.
Getting close, Du Wei looked her in the eyes and smiled: âDonât worry, you will definitely do it!â
In the present of the âCharming Eyeâ, Aoi could only mutter: âI ⊠⊠I ⊠⊠IâŠâŠ â
âYou what?â Du Weiâs voice seems to have the power to strike into her heart.
âI will doâŠâŠâ Aoi sounded like she was talking in her dream: âIâm willing to do whatever you want me to doâŠâŠâ