Chapter 71: Confrontation


    Afterpleting the transaction, Su Chen didn’t stay any longer. He quickly handed overmand to Tang Ming, Zhou Juanjia, and the others. Then, he left the Third River Army behind and hurried back to Clear River City.


    Before he left, he didn’t forget to find Tang Ming and ask him for a vial of blood to research, causing Tang Ming to grumble unhappily.


    He hurried back to Clear River City under the cover of night. At this point, the sky had yet to brighten, and Clear River City was still quiet and restful.


    However, Su Chen knew that this peace and quiet probably wasn’t going tost for much longer.


    He didn’t do anything else. Instead, he headed back to the Su Pce to rest.


    The next morning, Su Chen was still sleeping when he heard the low ringing of a belling from the direction of the docks.


    That bell represented failure and mourning, implying that a massive loss had just been sustained.


    When he heard the sound of this bell, a trace of a smile appeared on Su Chen’s face.


    He knew that the notice had finally been delivered.


    He turned over and then went back to sleep.


    Two hourster, Mingshu came and knocked on the door.


    “Sir Daiyang requests to see you.”


    “Let him wait in the guest hall for a bit.”


    A momentter, Su Chen emerged. A young Confucian Schr was standing in the guest hall; it was An Siyuan’s servant, Lu Yiyang.


    When he saw Su Chen, Lu Yiyang raised his hands and bowed in greeting. “Yiyang greets Knowledge Executor Su.”


    “Sir Lu is courteous. For what reason have you suddenlye here today?” Su Chen invited Lu Yiyang to sit, then motioned for Mingshu to pour some tea.


    Lu Yiyangughed, “Actually, Sir Su, you should know why I’m here.”


    Su Chen pushed the dregs of tea leaves in his cup and said, “Sir Lu, I’m a bit confused by what you could mean.”


    “If Knowledge Executor Su doesn’t know, then I will just say it. Last night, a fleet ofmerce ships belonging to the Clear River Alliance was robbed.”


    “Oh?” Su Chen remained expressionless. “Is that really so strange? Lingyuan Marsh is filled with pirates that roam there, andmerce ships are always being robbed. Is that so strange?”


    “But this is the first time that boats attached to the alliance have been robbed.”


    “So what?” Su Chen raised his head and looked at Lu Yiyang.


    Lu Yiyangughed, “Nothing much, really. I’m just worried that there are going to be a lot of people who think that you had a hand in it. I am just under the City Lord’s orders toe and check in first. There will probably be some others who are going toe and pay you a visitter.”


    When he heard this, Su Chen finally retracted his yful expression and asked, “What did the City Lord say?”


    “Just like everything else that Knowledge Executor Su has done previously, you cannot admit to it.”


    “I’m afraid that even if I don’t admit to doing it, they’ll think that I was the one who did it anyway.”


    “I trust that Knowledge Executor Su has your own way of dealing with it,” Lu Yiyang said.


    “Mhm,” Su Chen said calmly as he yed with the dregs of tea leaves. “These next few days, I will appear publicly a number of times. After a few days, when the robbery urs again, there naturally will be evidence that I was not present at the robbery.”


    “That’s one way to do it. Even though they might not believe you...... But why do you need them to believe you? As long as you can get away with it, that’s good enough. But Sir Su, if you aren’t there, do you still trust those people to take care of things?”


    “You can let the City Lord know that I have some friends who I can trust.”


    “Alright! Then I will say goodbye for now.”


    Having obtained the answer he needed, Lu Yiyang didn’t waste anymore words and took his leave.


    Lu Yiyang had just left when Chief Steward Lao came to visit.


    Of course, he was not representing the Lian n this time but all ten Bloodline Nobility ns.


    The Lian n was one of the first ns to get into it with Su Chen, but because of the peace negotiations afterward, the Lian n had never made any more trouble for Su Chen. Furthermore, Chief Steward Lao knew what he was doing, so Su Chen’s rtionship with the Lian n was actually decent.


    After the robbery happened, all of the Bloodline Nobility ns wanted to find Su Chen immediately, but they discovered after a long time that Chief Steward Lao was the most suitable.


    After Chief Steward Lao came, they began to talk.


    First, Chief Steward Lao expressed his “cordial greetings” on behalf of the Bloodline Nobility n alliance, then brought up his own thoughts on the matter involving the Lingyuan pirates. Su Chen cooperated by expressing his “shock” and extreme unhappiness over the Lingyuan Disaster. He believed that the Lingyuan Disaster was a big issue and that everyone needed to unite to deal with it. Finally, both sides reached a mutual agreement on what to do regarding the pirate attacks; they agreed to strengthen their mutual efforts to wipe out the pirates before Chief Steward Lao bid farewell. Su Chen saw him out personally, demonstrating that this was a sessful discussion.


    Of course, as soon as he left the Su Pce, Chief Steward Lao’s expression copsed.


    After sending Chief Steward Lao away, people from the Origin Bureau arrived.


    Xing Shabei wanted to see him.


    When he arrived at the Origin Bureau, Xing Shabei sat on his high seat, his expression gloomy.


    When he saw Su Chen, he said directly, “Knowledge Executor Su! You seem to be quite free these days.”


    Xing Shabei was used to being bossy, and he had no interest in beating around the bush. He made an usation right off the bat; evidently, he had already made up his mind that Su Chen was responsible for robbing the fleet.


    Unfortunately, Su Chen wasn’t a pushover. He didn’t even look up as he said, “You wanted to see me just to ask me how I was doing?”


    These words were extremely infuriating. Xing Shabei almost spat out a mouthful of blood.


    He stared at Su Chen and said, “Su Chen, you......”


    Su Chen raised his hand. “Let’s not beat around the bush. I have a lot that I need to do every day. A lot of people have alreadye looking for me today, so I already know what you want to say. I’ll answer you directly – I have nothing to do with the robbery of the alliance fleet. I’ll just say that. Whether you believe me or not is up to you.


    As he spoke, Su Chen began to walk out.


    “Su Chen!” Xing Shabei mmed the table. “Do you really think that you can act outside of thew after doing something like this?”


    Su Chen turned around and nced at Xing Shabei. “Act outside of thew? Well said! These past years, the Bloodline Nobility ns have been cooperating with pirates to monopolize the waterways and resources without paying any taxes. Not only that, but they have also roped in criminal gangs and damaged this city. Do they really think they can act outside of thew?”


    Xing Shabei stared angrily at Su Chen. Su Chen stared back at him impolitely. Sparks flew as they red at each other confrontationally.


    After a moment, Xing Shabeiughed dryly, “Good, good, brat! You’ve got some guts! I want to see how long you can act so arrogantly for.”


    “It will be longer than you can,” Su Chen answered as he continued to walk out of the Origin Bureau.


    As Xing Shabei watched him leave, he suddenly yelled, “Su Chen, the Blood-Robed Guards and the Hero’s Medal won’t be able to protect you forever! If you push someone too far, they might not even need too many people – a single expert might be enough topletely wipe you off the surface of this world!”


    Su Chen paused for a moment, but he didn’t say anything in the end and left.


    However, the killing intent in his heart only grew stronger.


    He originally didn’t have any feelings about Xing Shabei, but now it looked like he was getting more and more annoying.


    Perhaps it would be good to think of a way to get rid of him; otherwise, having this Origin Bureau Head always handicapping him was always going to be a bother.


    On the other side, however, Xing Shabei’s words gave him a warning.


    He knew what Xing Shabei was getting at.


    If he really pushed the ten Bloodline Nobility ns too far, it wasn’t impossible for them to kill him as long as they were willing to pay a price.


    A Light Shaking Realm cultivator could take care of everything.


    Perhaps...... I should start making preparations for that, Su Chen thought to himself.