Dragon's Origin

Without the need for the inner attendant to report, Wang Sheng had already heard everything. At this distance, he couldn't claim to hear every tiny sound, but he clearly heard the commander's furious shouting and the sound of slaps.

…

"Get lost! Tell him to go back where he came from! Is the Emperor's personal army supposed to listen to the orders of some unknown Marquis?"

Slap!

…

This commander was likely another one who resented the Emperor's generous gifts to Wang Sheng. Moreover, Wang Sheng was certain that this commander wasn't truly one of the Emperor's confidants, otherwise, he wouldn't dare to make such comments about Wang Sheng, no matter how much courage he had.

To be honest, Wang Sheng's sudden appointment as the Changsheng Marquis, the bestowal of a mansion, the execution of several important officials, and even a Seventh Prince, with their families and belongings all sent to Wang Sheng's residence, how could anyone who wasn't a true confidant know the key to all this?

The general consensus was that the Emperor valued and courted Wang Sheng so highly because of the Thousand Absolutes Land. Not only did many people in the capital think so, but many people in the various vassal states thought the same.

Wang Sheng was making so much money in the capital that it made people's eyes red with envy, yet they were helpless. Now that something had happened to the Runzi Workshop's estate, wasn't this a golden opportunity? Even if they couldn't get a piece of the pie, they could at least take advantage of the situation, right?

What interrogation of internal spies? It was clearly a blatant attempt to pick out a group of skilled workers and take them away under the guise of accusing them of being spies. As for where they were being taken, Wang Sheng was sure it wasn't the imperial prison. How could the Emperor undermine his own wife's business?

The capital wasn't a monolithic entity. The royal family had their plans, and the ministers had their own thoughts. Even within the royal family, some princes weren't entirely aligned with the Emperor. Wang Sheng had seen plenty of such power struggles in movies and TV shows on Earth.

"Which hand did he use to hit you?" Wang Sheng ignored what was happening inside. He softly asked the inner attendant who had just run errands for him.

"Reporting to the Marquis, it was his right hand!" The inner attendant didn't know what Wang Sheng meant, but he honestly replied.

"Hmm, his right hand." Wang Sheng grunted inscrutably, then asked with a smile, "Do you want his right hand? Do you dare to want it?"

Want Commander Yang's right hand? The inner attendant was stunned, then suddenly understood, and his face immediately lit up with ecstasy. He quickly nodded and said, "Yes! Marquis, this servant wants it!"

"Alright, I've reserved it for you. You can wait to receive it another day!" Wang Sheng nodded and instructed everyone, "Let's go to the next estate!"

Mei'er didn't say a word. The surrounding guards were all disciples of the Old Monarch's Temple, of a much lower seniority than Wang Sheng. They all controlled their horses and followed Wang Sheng away.

When they arrived at the second estate, Wang Sheng didn't even need to enter to see a scene almost identical to the first estate, except with a different group of people.

Wang Sheng didn't even go in. He patiently turned to the third estate. The situation was the same. When they were still several miles away, Wang Sheng directly turned his horse around and went back without even looking.

"The other estates must be the same," Wang Sheng explained to Mei'er. "There's no need to look. Let's go back."

Everyone didn't say a word and obediently followed Wang Sheng back to the capital and into the Marquis's residence.

The situation before and after had been seen by countless people, both openly and secretly, especially those officials and commanders who were handling matters in those three estates.

Seeing Wang Sheng and Mei'er return in defeat, many people secretly laughed. This was a huge net, and Wang Sheng and Mei'er were at the center of the net. Now the net was slowly tightening. Even if it couldn't take Wang Sheng's life, taking away one of his sources of wealth would be a very happy thing.

An annual turnover of several hundred million gold coins could make countless people salivate. Even the Emperor was tempted by this figure, so how could anyone else resist such a great temptation?

"Someone has set their sights on Runzi Workshop and wants to divide it up," Wang Sheng said to Mei'er in his study after returning to the Marquis's residence. "There may be more than one, possibly several or dozens of families."

Mei'er wasn't stupid. Of course, she could see through today's situation. Just as some signs had emerged, at least a group of people in the capital couldn't wait to seize the various cosmetic production estates in the name of protecting the industry or investigating internal spies. How ugly was that?

She had indeed been a little worried before, fearing that it would affect the normal operation of Runzi Workshop. But now that things had become so serious, Runzi Workshop could be said to have been severely affected, Mei'er wasn't worried anymore.

"Fortunately, you made arrangements early, otherwise they would have succeeded?" Mei'er had experienced so much that she was no longer a pushover. Her face was full of frost as she said to Wang Sheng, "Marquis, I can't swallow this anger."

"Don't worry, if there aren't enough heads rolling this time, I won't be able to swallow this anger either," Wang Sheng said to Mei'er with a smile. "We're not in a hurry, we'll wait until they realize something is wrong. When you go out, look a little uglier, um, make your makeup look a little haggard."

"I know!" Mei'er pouted and agreed. To make a woman as beautiful as Mei'er look haggard was simply torture for her. But to make things look better, she had to make some sacrifices.

"By the way, what realm have you reached now?" Wang Sheng asked Mei'er. "If you've reached the peak of the Fourth Realm, I can tell you how to upgrade your Yuanhun."

"Guess?" Hearing Wang Sheng's question, Mei'er suddenly asked back with a mischievous smile.

"Early stage of the Fourth Realm?" Wang Sheng also cooperated and immediately said a guessed realm. Mei'er's situation was special, she wasn't a combat type, so Wang Sheng couldn't even guess her cultivation realm.

Mei'er shook her head.

"Mid-stage?" Wang Sheng guessed again.

Mei'er still shook her head.

Seeing Wang Sheng's depressed look, Mei'er giggled happily. After being very proud, she said the answer: "Early stage of the Fifth Realm! How about that?"

"How did you do it?" Wang Sheng directly widened his eyes and asked in surprise. Did Mei'er also firmly believe that Yuanhun could be upgraded?

"A very secret method that Aunt Su told me," Mei'er happily showed off. "It can upgrade my four-star Phantom Fox Yuanhun by one star, reaching five stars."

"That's good!" Of course, Wang Sheng wanted Mei'er's Yuanhun to be as advanced as possible. "When you reach the limit, I'll tell you how to continue to upgrade."

Mei'er nodded heavily, then suddenly asked with some worry, "These people want to move Runzi Workshop, I wonder how Uncle Su and Aunt Su will respond?"