Chapter 551 - Marriage
Nobody expected Ruyen to return to the Purcell Duchy. Right now, she has been changed, she was very much like another person. Zhao Hai sent her to the Duchy because of her familiarity with the place, not because of the Purcell Family's reputation.
Now, the Purcell Duchy was not named Purcell Duchy anymore. It was renamed to the Northern Border. There is only an ordinary Noble here, not a Grand Duke.
However, this Noble was Boris' trusted aide. This made Boris relieved in in placing him in the territory. Boris was now one of the people who hated the Radiant Church the most. Because of the Radiant Church's machinations, he fell into his current situation. Although he had earned the Aksu Empire's throne, he was actually in very deep debt. His current mood was not very good.
It was not only because of this, because of his error, the Aksu Empire had suffered a huge loss. This made his reputation among the Empire's nobles come crashing down. At present, there were a lot of Nobles who didn't obey him.
The only reason why he was still on the throne was because the Aksu Imperial Family still held a huge influence inside the Empire. And even if the members of the Imperial Family were unhappy with Boris, they knew that if he were to be dethroned, nobody was qualified to please the public. Failure to control the populace would lead to the Nobles gaining more control. So for the sake of the Aksu Imperial Family, the members had no other choice than to support Boris.
Boris also knew about his current situation, therefore he exerted extra effort in arranging his trusted men to hold important positions. So when time comes where the others would want to deal with him, it wouldn't be very easy.
The Aksu Empire's current situation was actually fragile. If a powerful force gently nudged the Empire, then the Aksu Empire would have to change its name.
But no matter what, the Aksu Empire's dilemma was caused by the Beastmen. Anyone who wanted to touch them right now would be despised, therefore nobody took the risk.
When talking about the matter of who would take over the Aksu Empire, unless they were the Rosen Empire, no large influence would be able to face such a mess.
Naturally, Zhao Hai wasn't thinking about any of these. And even if Zhao Hai appears in the Aksu Empire, Boris would not dare to have some disrespect towards him. All the hatred between the two of them were all Boris' fault. And now, Zhao Hai's status was no longer much lower than him, who was an emperor. At this point, Boris can only choose to do good for Zhao Hai.
Zhao Hai didn't care about this, he just wanted to hand the Purcell Duchy's affairs over to Ruyen. He also did this under the consent of Green and Merine.
Green and Merine agreed to it after talking it over with Evan. After Green agreed, Zhao Hai knew that his relationship with Ruyen had already been decided. Ruyen might marry him in the near future.
But compared to Laura and the others, Ruyen's current status surely has a gap for Zhao Hai. If she wanted to marry Zhao Hai, she would need to make some achievements. This management of the shops in Purcell Duchy, now called Northern Border, was Green's way of testing her.
If Ruyen does well, then she would probably be married to Zhao Hai. If she doesn't, then it would be difficult to be Zhao Hai's wife.
Zhao Hai thought that Ruyen's arrogance would have her disagree with this condition. But Zhao Hai didn't expect her to accept it without any hesitation. Zhao Hai knew that Ruyen might have some feelings for him, but not as deep as what Laura and the others had. The reason why she agreed was most likely because of the future of the Purcell Duchy.
The Purcell Family must rely on the Buda Clan to survive as well as to progress. For the Purcell Family, Ruyen agreed to be married to Zhao Hai.
After Zhao Hai heard about this result, he sighed. He didn't object to it. He knew that such an agreement would come. But he wasn't expecting it to happen with Ruyen.
In fact, even if Ruyen didn't make any achievements, Zhao Hai would still be married to her later on. This marriage had a lot of advantages, one could even call it a political marriage. If Ruyen gets married to Zhao Hai, then the Purcell Family would be sheltered by the Buda Clan. On the other hand, if Zhao Hai gets married to Ruyen, the Purcell Family would be willing to follow the Buda Clan.
Although Zhao Hai's wives aren't any lower than one another, but one must say that the most helpful to Zhao Hai right now was Laura. Although Laura's status can't compare to either Megan and Lizzy, but one shouldn't forget that the Markey Family was now almost merged with the Buda Clan. This gave the Buda Clan a lot of talented people to use. Although Megan and Lizzy's statuses were high, they couldn't achieve something like Laura. Their families were just too formidable, and all of them were centered on their own family's benefit. It wouldn't be possible for them to help the Buda Clan while sacrificing their own benefits. Therefore, even if they publicly supported Zhao Hai, it wasn't something hugely significant.
However, Laura's support was very solid. With the Buda Clan's present strength, they didn't need public support, they need support like Laura's. This was something that Lizzy and Megan can't compete with.
Zhao Hai was aware of this, so he was also inclined to marry Ruyen so that he could get the full support of the Purcell Family. Even if the Purcell Family was now in a low point, they still had a lot of personal connections that the Buda Clan can make use of.
Establishing a Clan was much more difficult than what others imagine. Money, personal connections, strength, territory were all indispensable. Although the Buda Clan was doing very well, aside from strength, they were weak in all other aspects. Therefore, Zhao Hai wanted to fulfill those deficiencies in order to grow the Buda Clan further.
One has to recognize that Zhao Hai was a person who has a good sense of crisis, it was because of this that he was very careful in his every action. But he didn't oppose to this marriage. He also believed that Laura and the others wouldn't object to it. These women had given their hearts to Zhao Hai and the Buda Clan. They wouldn't oppose to anything that can benefit the Buda Clan.
The more he thought about this, the more Zhao Hai felt that he owed the ladies a lot. Zhao Hai hoped that they get pregnant as soon as possible. But it was a pity that even if he has tried so hard these past few month, Laura and the others still weren't pregnant.
And when the Space checked, he doesn't have any issues, the same was true for Laura and the others as well. It seems like they were only having bad luck.
Upon looking at the situation at the Northern Border, Zhao Hai felt relief. Then he prepared to set off for the Prairie. The first place that he would visit would be the Cows. Although it was proper for him to go to Beast God City first, he opted to visit the Herculean Bulls. After all, this was his tribe, and he was their Prince.
Zhao Hai didn't ride Alien after he went out of the Space. Instead, he released a Blood Hawk and then sat in it as it went out from the Space. This time, the people who accompanied him were only Shun and Shue since both of them didn't have much to do. Laura and the others were left behind since they had some other matters to attend to. If they also came out with Zhao Hai, things would be much more inconvenient.
Seeing three Blood Hawks coming from the skies didn't make the Cows panic. The Herculean Bulls already knew that the Blood Hawks were Zhao Hai's mounts.
After Zhao Hai landed, he was immediately welcomed by the Herculean Bulls. Zhao Hai was also glad to see them as he returned the gesture. He talked with them for quite some time and gave them his Milk Wine.
Zhao Hai's Milk Wine output was now very high. And to guarantee its price, Zhao Hai didn't sell a huge bulk of them to the continent. Therefore, he saved a lot of these Milk Wine inside the Space. And since the Beastmen loved liquor, it was a good idea to gift them some.
These Beastmen liked Zhao Hai very much, he seemed more like a Beastman unlike the other humans they had met before. And everytime they greet him, he has some small gifts that he'd give them, this made the Beastmen very glad.
At this time, Mendez's voice was heard, "You bastards, get out of the way." When the people heard Mendez, they grunted a bit before they all ran away.
Mendez used this opportunity to approach Zhao Hai. Then he looked at Zhao Hai while shaking his head and smiling bitterly, "Little Hai, you can't make those guys get used to receiving your gifts every time you meet."
Zhao Hai laughed and said, "It's fine, those are little gifts, not really worth much money. It's good that it makes them happy. Right, let's go in." Then he walked to the main tent along with Mendez.
Wales, Yale, and Kony were already inside the tent. When Zhao Hai came in, Wales couldn't help but laugh, "Little Hai, why did you only come this time? Our attack with the Humans was already finished for quite some time."
Zhao Hai smiled and said, "I only found time recently. You made the Aksu Empire very miserable. I sold some grain over there and made quite a small wealth."
Wales quickly replied, "What did you sell to the Aksu Empire? Bread Fruits?"
Zhao Hai shook his head and said, "No, I sold them Bamboo Rice. What happened? You didn't get a lot of food this time?"
Without even waiting for Wales to speak, Kony laughed and said, "You can't be anymore wrong this time, Little Hai. We got a lot of good things this time. And it is because of you."
Zhao Hai became confused as the looked at Wales and the others. Wales couldn't help but smile and said, "Because of the information that you provided, we managed to defeat the Aksu Empire and the Radiant Church. And since you're a Foreign Prince of our Herculean Bull Tribe, the Beast King decided to give your credit to our tribe. Therefore, we managed to get a lot of things this time."
When Zhao Hai heard Wales, he smiled and said, "Well, that means the tribe wouldn't need to buy food for a long time. Right, I brought over some daily necessities. I don't know if you still need it."
Chapter 552 - Anticipation
Wales smiled and said, "Oh, you really didn't have to. You might now know, but we got much more than food this time. We also managed to get some daily necessities."
Zhao Hai smiled and said, "I heard that you came to the Purcell and Iksa territories, but I thought you didn't get much. But if you need some in the future, don't hesitate to tell me. Right, I'll be leaving fifty Blood Hawks here. These things can be used more as scouts. But it's a real pity that your bodies are too big. You won't be able to use them as mounts."
When Wales heard Zhao Hai, his face turned happy as he said, "Fantastic, I have a lot of uses for them right now. Then I'll be impolite and accept them."
Zhao Hai smiled, "No need to be polite with me. Right, do you have any food? I'm quite hungry. I have to go to Beast God City tomorrow. It's been a long time since I went there, do you know the situation there right now?"
Wales asked, "You directly went here from the Human lands? I thought you went to Beast God City first."
Zhao Hai smiled faintly and said, "I'm not too anxious about going to Beast God City, I don't have a lot of things to do there right now. Because of the things that you've brought back, I think doing business there wouldn't be a good idea at this time. Therefore, I decided to come here first."
Wales felt moved as he looked at Zhao Hai and said, "Brother, your sentiment really leaves me speechless. Right no need to talk anymore, come with me for a drink. If I don't have you fall face down today, then I would be very unfair to you."
Zhao Hai laughed and said, "I'm not afraid. Did you think that my alcohol tolerance stayed the same as before? Let's see who'll end up face down." Then the group laughed as they walked out of the tent.
Now, when Zhao Hai comes to the Herculean Bull tribe, Wales doesn't even need to have someone prepare the feast. The Herculean Bulls would already prepare the food as soon as they see him. These people usually receive Zhao Hai's liquor, and they didn't want to just be on the receiving end all the time. So everytime Zhao Hai came, they would prepare some good food from their households. And if they don't have any food, they can just kill some Argali to welcome Zhao Hai.
When the group arrived outside, the Argali and the bulls were already being roasted. What surprised Zhao Hai was that there were two things that were like mouse on the fire. This made Zhao Hai feel strange.
But when Wales saw those two mice, his eyes couldn't' help but turn bright as he said, "Grass Marten? Who brought these things?"
A large Herculean Bull came with a grin on his face. He also had one of those creatures tied up in his hands, then he placed it in front of Zhao Hai and said, "Young Master Hai, when I went out today, I managed to spot these three things. I originally wanted to eat them myself, but since you came, I decided to contribute them and have one given to you since I know you like these peculiar things."
Zhao Hai looked at the Green Marten curiously. This thing looked just like a big mouse but its skin was green and its eyes were bright black. It looked very cute.
Wales looked at Zhao Hai's expression and smiled, "This Grass Marten is one of the Prairie's unique Magic Beasts. Its level isn't high, only about 3rd rank. But it's very fast, it can hide in the grass effectively as well. And most importantly, this thing is a rare delicacy. Remember, if you eat this thing, just eat it as is, no need to add anything other than salt. Its innate flavor is the best."
Then Wales turned his head to the large Herculean Bull and said, "Daws, you really are something. You should make sure to manage your fat. If you get any bigger, people might mistake you to be from the Pig-headed Race. Right, are there a lot of Grass Martens in the Prairie right now? How did you manage to get three?"
Daws didn't mind Wales' words, he only grinned as he answered, "Patriarch, I also came here to tell you about this matter. I recently discovered that there are a lot of Grass Martens around recently. Do you have any solutions for this?"
Wales knit the eyebrows on his head, he knew that even if these Grass Martens taste good, they were one of the pests that can destroy pastures. If the surrounding Grass Martens get to a large number, they would start to hunt and kill, affecting the herds of the Beastmen.
Zhao Hai didn't frown upon hearing this, he just turned and smiled to Wales, "Brother, you don't need to worry too much about this. Don't you have a lot of Blood Hawks? The Blood Hawks are adept in hunting these things. In any case, you still need to feed the hawks, so might as well have them look for their own food, making them hunt these Grass Martens."
Wales stared for a moment before he nods, "That's right, hawks are the natural predators of the Grass Martens. Good, let's do that. Daws it seems like you don't only know how to eat. Right, I need to reward you. Little Hai, come give this guy something."
Zhao Hai smiled bitterly and said, "Brother, but you said that you're going to reward him. How did the price become my responsibility?" Although he said so, he still took out a big bag of Milk Wine and handed it to Daws. Upon receiving the bag, Daws' happiness can be evidently seen on his face.
At this time, the table was already prepared. Then Zhao Hai and Wales sat down before they happily chatted and drank. The group didn't stop until all of them had gotten drunk.
The next morning, after Zhao Hai left the fifty Blood Hawks behind, he left the Herculean Bull Camp and then flew towards Beast God City.
He hasn't gone to the neither the Mastiffs nor the Black Bears. Although he has good relationships with them, they still came lower compared to the Herculean Bulls. Therefore, Zhao Hai passed by them and directly went to Beast God City.
Beast God City was much more prosperous than before. However, even if there were a lot of Beastmen, Zhao Hai didn't see a lot of Humans. Another strange thing to Zhao Hai was because these Beastmen were also sitting down and doing business.
After finding a place outside Beast God City, Zhao Hai left the Space. Then the three walked towards Beast God City. When they arrived, they can see a lot of Beastmen looking at them with hostile eyes.
Zhao Hai didn't care about those gazes. He understood the minds of those Beastmen. They had just fought with Humans and there were no Human Merchants who came here yet. Therefore, Zhao Hai's appearance this time was very eye-catching.
But Zhao Hai believed that those Beastmen wouldn't do anything to him. They only looked at him this way because he didn't have his carriage nor his friendship flags.
Also, when Zhao Hai arrived at the city, a carriage immediately came over to fetch him, it's driver was Ah Tai.
When the Beastmen saw Ah Tai, they looked at each other and then smiled. Those who did business with Ah Tai greeted him, even the hostile eyes towards Zhao Hai disappeared.
All the Beastmen knew that the Magic Lily Shop has the friendship flags of the Dog-headed race as well as the Black Bears. But these friendships flags weren't earned by Ah Tai, instead it was obtained by his boss. At the same time, Ah Tai's boss not only gained the friendship flags of those two races, he was also the Foreign Prince of the Herculean Bull Tribe.
When Ah Tai went and greeted Zhao Hai personally, their status became clear. Therefore, the looks of these Beastmen towards Zhao Hai changed.
Ah Tai drove the carriage up to Zhao hai and then jumped down. After that, he bowed to Zhao Hai and said, "Young Master, I hope that you didn't wait for me for a long time."
Zhao Hai smiled and said, "It's fine, I'm enjoying the walk. I didn't think that the Beastmen would do business here. I thought that they only trade with the Humans."
Ah Tai smiled and said, "Young master might not know, but Beastmen trade as well. Not trading for their entire lives might be possible, but there were rare times when they would, like this time. I heard that they were trading for their spoils of war. They might have things that they deemed useless but can be used by other tribes. Therefore, they might as well exchange some items with each other.
Zhao Hai nodded, then he looked at the transactions of the Beastmen and saw that it was just like what Ah Tai said. There were indeed some things that are useless for the Beastmen, this was because those things are specially made for Human use. For the Beastmen, these items belonged to the weak, but they decided to trade them for something since it was a pity to just throw them out.
When Zhao Hai went got on the carriage, Ah Tai immediately drove the vehicle to enter the city and headed to Magic Lily Shop. Ah Tai's two children as well as Sister-in-law was already waiting for Zhao Hai at the store.
After Zhao Hai got out, Ah Tai's whole family immediately came to welcome him. After they sat down on the backyard, Ah Tai looked at Zhao Hai and said, "Young Master, the business in our shop hasn't been doing good these days. The Beastmen had gotten a lot of good things from the recent war. In the present time, the Beastmen didn't lack in both items and food. Because of this, they didn't come and trade with us."
Ah Tai's expression was somewhat guilty, he thinks that this situation was his mistake. But Zhao Hai didn't care, he just waved his hand and said, "No need to be worried, I already thought about this point. Since the Beastmen already had what they need, then naturally they don't need to buy anything more. But you're not being smart enough, you should've been looking at things that the Humans might use. Since those things are useless to the Beastmen, you can trade them for a low price. When I go back to the Human lands, I can just go and sell them. Even they are sold cheap, wouldn't we still be gaining profits?"
Ah Tai stared, then as if he was enlightened, he tapped his head and said, "Why haven't I thought of that? Fortunately, the Young Master reminded me."
Ah Tai's wife then said, "I've also thought about what Young Master suggested, but most of the things that the Beastmen brought were old. Even if we bring them to the mainland, I'm afraid nobody would buy them even at a low price."
Zhao Hai nodded, it seems like Sister-in-law was more wise than Ah Tai, she had already considered a lot of things. Zhao Hai smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, those things are indeed unsellable to the Humans, but these things aren't that bad. Our Buda Clan can still make use of those. Our Clan now has 100 thousand slaves, and the clan still needs to supply them with various things. If we compare buying those things in the mainland with buying them from the Beastmen, we can certainly get much cheaper rates here with the Beastmen.
As soon as Sister-in-law heard Zhao Hai, her eyes couldn't help but light up. "Right, right, I forgot about this. Now that the Beastmen has a lot of these things, we can certainly save some money if we buy it from them."
Zhao Hai nodded, "Therefore, from now on, you need to think about this matter. Not only could we get items cheaply, we can also make a good impression towards the Beastmen."
Ah Tai and Sister-in-law nodded, then Sister-in-law said, "Young Master, after the Beastmen returned to Beast God City, the Beast King left behind a message stating that once you return to the city, you should go and visit him at least once."
Zhao Hai nodded, he believed that the Beast King would certainly do this. He had given the Beastmen a huge help, so the Beast King would definitely not ignore it. Zhao Hai just didn't expect the Beast King to leave a message this soon.
Zhao Hai thought for a moment before he said, "Since I've just arrived, I'll go see the Beast King tomorrow. Right, you don't need to take care of me, I'll be resting." Ah Tai and his wife nodded and left, leaving only Zhao Hai, Shue and Shun in the tent.
Zhao Hai turned his head to Shue and Shun and said, "Looks like things are going smooth this time. As long as we take care of our matters here, well go back to the mainland. Then we'll go explore the other nations, like Lyon Empire, Buddha Empire and the Ocean Waves Dynasty. It would be very regrettable if we don't go there."
Shun smiled and said, "The map of the southern part still wasn't registered in the Space, so we can use this opportunity to place them into the map. Young Master, can we also go and see the Dwarves? From what I heard, they love drinking. Perhaps we can gain good things if we go and see them."
Zhao Hai nodded, " We should go and see them. If we want to get some iron in the mainland, it would be very difficult. But if we approach the Dwarves, we might get the opportunity to trade with them. That would be very advantageous for us"
Shue nodded and said, "Dwarf Iron Mountain is in Buddha Empire. Because of that, the Buddha Empire's Heavy Armor Cavalry was able to move around unhindered. But I heard that the Dwarf Race also have some special plants and animals. If we get those things for the Space, perhaps Young Master can upgrade it. There's nothing more important than increasing the Space's levels right now."
Zhao Hai and Shun nodded. It was true that the most important thing for them right now was to upgrade the Space. Once the Space levels up, it would be able to produce a lot of high level plants. And if they compound those, they might be able to make 8th to 9th level potions. At the very very best, they can make anyone enter 9th rank. Then in the future, they would be able to walk sideways in the continent.
And most importantly, one of the reasons that Zhao Hai was looking forward to the Space reaching level fifty was the ability to use multiple backgrounds.