CH 89

December 8, 2021 by danmeiheaven

The fact that Xia Zuoyi fell into the water again made the servants in the castle very nervous, especially Udit.

Although Xia Zuoyi changed his wet coat and shoes immediately after returning to the Wind Rider, and only sneezed a little when he returned from the ship to the castle, it still made Udit anxious.

Immediately after coming back to the castle, he asked Adai to fetch a bag of herbal medicine for colds and boil it.

After drinking, Xia Zuoyi went to the study and ordered Walker to investigate the matter thoroughly.

The dockyard is now in its infancy. Shipmen are always being hired again and again, and the manpower is often insufficient.

In the two months since he returned from the Anas Empire, the shipyard has recruited people thrice, all because of the tighter progress in building the Wind Rider and needed a lot of help.

The last hiring was a month ago.

It can be seen that these people have been lurking in the dock for more than a month and have not been found by anyone until the first sea trial of the Wind Rider.

—There is no more suitable opportunity than to start on the vast sea.

If it weren’t for the strength of the pope, the grand duke, and the leader, it was indeed unexpected.

Otherwise, just relying on the boatmen with low resistance on board really is not enough. That would be really bad luck.

Even if he jumped into the sea, it’s just to ensure the safety of Xia Zuoyi alone.

In the harbor, everyone must fill in the form before they hire the workers—name, age, address, etc.

This is also the rule that Xia Zuoyi established long ago, just to avoid not having a detailed and clear investigation path after something happened.

Under such circumstances, this group of murderers still even got into the shipyard.

It can be inferred that some relevant personnel must have participated in this incident. It’s also hard to say whether or not there are nobles or officials related to the shipyard involved.

The most important thing was that Segalot and the other two were on board.

Samuel then said to Xia Zuoyi later that he saw almost half of the men rushing towards the Duke and the leader. Seeing their ferocity, they definitely wanted their lives.

Xia Zuoyi thought that maybe the murderers weren’t targeting only him.

After Walker took his order, he dared not delay. Interrogating, investigating, arresting related suspects, etc…

Three days later, the detailed ins and outs of the situation were placed on Xia Zuoyi’s desk, and Segalot and the other two were also sitting in the study. 

This event can be summarized as follows: the remnants of the royal family of the Anas Empire and a greedy noble in the Desinian Territory, for the huge benefits of sugar, secretly united and planned the assassination.

They looked for opportunities, one was to deal with Xia Zuoyi, and the other was to wait for a chance to kill Orville and Archibald.

One of them even involved a detailed work from the Saint Airo Empire, but before Walker could interrogate clearly, he committed suicide overnight.

The remaining royal family members have nowhere to go after the division of the empire.

They had noticed during the turmoil in the royal city before that the whole city was blocked and no one could leave, but this Lord Desinia was exceptionally special that his fleet sailed smoothly from the port.

It was written down by someone with some thoughts for a while.

The remaining royal family waited until the royal city was finally unblocked. After they managed to hide their names and appearance and escaped from the Anas Empire, they chose to come to Desinian Territory and tried to reach a deal with this alien nobleman. 

The original content of the transaction was that their people would sneak into the shipyard with the help of the aristocrat, wait for the right time to kidnap Xia Zuoyi, then force him to tell them the secret recipe of sugar.

Despite using any means, if he resists, there’s no problem as long as your life is left.1

The dissident noble is the mayor of a city. He not only covets the secret recipe of white sugar but also wants to sit in a higher position…

But he didn’t expect that Archduke Archiayoli and Archibald Cavendish also came to Desinian Territory—the murderers lurking in the shipyard were only aimed at Xia Zuoyi.

But seeing such a good opportunity, the three of them were all on board, they couldn’t help it anymore.

However, this group miscalculated the skills of Orville and Archibald, including of the Pope’s. Dealing with them isn’t a problem at all.

Although some boatmen were injured, they were not fatal.

Generally speaking, except for Xia Zuoyi who took the initiative to jump into the water, nothing major happened.

As for how this alien nobleman got in touch with the people of the Saint Airo Empire—according to the investigation, it was because one of his brothers was the lover of a powerful widow in the empire.

This widow also has some methods. She not only raises a lover but is also involved with a marquis…

Among them, the twists and turns are unclear, but it’s indeed this marquis who wants Xia Zuoyi’s sugar formula the most.

When Xia Zuoyi asked the nobleman’s name, he was sitting on the sofa combing through Brown Sugar’s soft fur. He didn’t react to Walker’s reply until 098 reminded him in the system interface.

Walker: “The marquis’s name is Gary Phoebe.”

Xia Zuoyi nodded lightly.

098’s matchstick little head tilted to the side and saw the host’s not reacting much, and couldn’t help reminding:【Host, Gary Phoebe is Samielle Phoebe’s2 father.】

Samielle Phoebe?

This name is a little familiar…

Xia Zuoyi frowned and thought, and heard 098 say—【Samielle Phoebe is the heroine, host.】

He suddenly realized and almost clapped his hands in surprise.

For a long time, he had forgotten that there’s still a growing Mary Sue leading lady in the distant Saint Airo Empire.

The description of the heroine in the novel is that she has shiny silver-white hair and rare pink eyes. She’s innocent, romantic, lively, and cute.

Her voice is very pleasant, like a smart bird singing, and her face is very white, like the tender petals of the holy flower belanka…

Xia Zuoyi who read this, “…”

He can’t imagine how pink a person’s eyes are. Is it a red-eye disease?

Xia Zuoyi also had to sigh. This world indeed evolved from books, the exaggerated3 hair and eye colors are synonymous with beauty.

Orville saw his petting action on Brown Sugar stop, expression obviously distracted, so he couldn’t help asking aloud.

Xia Zuoyi followed his voice, his gaze falling on the Grand Duke’s silver hair and light gray eyes. Before the Grand Duke became confused, his sight swept over the Pope and the leader of the Nagabi Chamber of Commerce one by one.

—Well, Archibald’s blonde hair and green eyes are normal.

The thick paw pads of Brown Sugar pressed against Xia Zuoyi’s hand, whimpering softly, and tilting his head as if asking—”Why don’t you keep touching?”

Xia Zuoyi lowered his head, squeezed Brown Sugar’s small round ears, and combed down the fur on the top of his head and neck…

Brown Sugar’s fur was as soft and beautiful as black satin, and there were strong muscles under his hands. When he had enjoyed enough, Brown Sugar got up lazily, went to Briquette, and lay down.

Xia Zuoyi clutched a few tufts of fallen black hair and put them into a square wooden box— in it were all the hairs collected when combing Brown Sugar.

There are four other boxes— for Briquette, Snowball, Egg Yolk, and for Green Dumpling’s feathers.

Since he was a child, he has made many felt toys from the plushies’ fallen fur.

The feathers dropped by Green Dumpling are beautiful accessories, which are now hung at the head of his bed and on the large sleeping wooden frame exclusively for Green Dumpling.

Xia Zuoyi glanced at the small green dot swimming in the system ocean map again, wondering what could Sweet Dumpling allow him to collect.

The cause and effect of the whole thing have been sorted out, and what should be dealt with has been dealt with.

But there are people beyond reach.

For example, Gary Phoebe, the marquis of the Saint Airo Empire and the father of the heroine.

Xia Zuoyi believes in revenge.

Although the Marquis had just sent a meticulous manuscript over to listen to the news, he also participated in it after all. If he let it go, Xia Zuoyi would be very unhappy.

He remembered his plans in the Anas Empire to fight the king and the greedy aristocrats—

Now he said to Orville and Archibald, “After the Anas Empire split, there’s only one empire left.”

“The Saint Airo Empire also has great ambitions. It was because of the existence of the Anas Empire that they were at peace with each other before. Now…”

Xia Zuoyi said slowly, “Aren’t you afraid that the Saint Airo Empire will annex the Archiayoli Territory and the Anas Kingdom one by one?”

The strength of a divided empire will be greatly reduced.

Segalot has nothing to do with this topic so he didn’t say anything.

When Xia Zuoyi was putting away Brown Sugar’s hair just now, Orville asked curiously what he’s doing, so he asked Udit to bring in the box containing the felt toys.

Segalot is now picking and examining one by one.

The same is true for Orville.

But after Xia Zuoyi spoke, he focused his attention. Now he held a black-and-white kitten in his hand and said, “Alliance?”

Worthy of being the grand duke who held power at a young age, he instantly saw the purpose of Xia Zuoyi’s question.

—Yes, it’s an alliance.

The Desinian Territory, Archiayoli Territory, and the Anas Kingdom will form an alliance. In this way, even if the Saint Airo Empire was eager to move4, it had to stay dormant and hide temporarily. 

Most importantly, in the next period of time, Xia Zuoyi didn’t want to have more trouble.

He needs a calm environment to continue to develop his territory.

He always has a hunch that when the heroine grows up, that is, when the plot in the novel begins, he will meet the heroine Samielle Phoebe. Then…

Xia Zuoyi looks at the upper right of the system interface. The plot deviation value is already at 45% at this time.

But this is not a guarantee.

He needs to further the progress as soon as possible. Samuel’s search for the New World and large-yield crops must also be implemented…

In addition, if beet sugar is produced on a large scale, it will inevitably bring in a lot of labor.

Once this happens, it will no longer be possible to strictly guard and control the secret recipe. Therefore, the method of making white sugar is certainly no longer a secret.

Xia Zuoyi never intended to take sugar just for himself.

Like salt, it should be a necessity in people’s lives. The price drop is an inevitable pattern.

But at least until then, he has a bold plan to carry out.

Xia Zuoyi: Cheating someone makes me happy.

Translator’s Notes:

I thought yesterday was Monday so I thought yes, I still have a day to procrastinate then I realized, it was actually Tuesday so panic overload XD.