Chapter 206: Chapter 205: Those with the surname Ting, get lost!
Tap.
Tap.
This is the sound of steel-soled boots.
This is Jing Zhengwei’s footsteps.
For this soon-to-be president reigning over all merchants, the Silver Blood peers who value "information is money" naturally investigated everything about this person.
It’s truly astonishing once you investigate it.
Not only because Jing Zhengwei’s battle achievements are impressive, but because his dark past is truly frightening.
Although it’s called a dark past, it really boils down to the "cruel killing of a maid" incident, which isn’t considered a serious crime in Xuanzhu County—for ordinary people it’s a crime, for Silver Blood merchants, it’s akin to breaking a vase.
At most, people would feel you are "extravagant and wasteful."
In the entire assembly hall, there’s no one without blood on their hands. To them, killing a maid they owned is indeed not much of a crime; if someone were to burn this place down, the merit gained might ensure them a lifetime of riches and honor.
But breaking vases is one thing.
But Jing Zhengwei does this.
Regularly shatters one every month.
Every month, every year, without change.
That’s quite terrifying.
Silver Blood merchants may not value the lives of their servants, but they don’t derive pleasure from it; however, Jing Zhengwei evidently finds joy in the act of killing.
Even in the Silver Blood Association filled with perverts, Jing Zhengwei stands at the top of the food chain, and everyone is wary of him.
Although in the last two months Jing Zhengwei seems less psychotic and instead enjoys grooming maids, promoting a woman from Xiangxue Sea to the position of editor-in-chief of a newspaper, everyone remains wary of him, only considering him more adept at playing the game.
In the past, he would buy vases just to smash them; now he buys vases and decorates them with flowers, and after they appreciate in value, smashes them again? No wonder it’s you.
Besides this, Jing Zhengwei’s history of wealth accumulation gradually surfaces.
Rivals suddenly dying, rivals’ warehouses catching fire, entire rival families wiped out... Jing Zhengwei’s rise is tracked through his rivals’ obituaries.
Nonetheless, it’s no big deal; everyone’s roughly the same.
Jing Zhengwu’s suicide, Jing Qingfu’s sudden death on the same day... Hmm, not bad, he’s a real veteran of Silver Blood, with the father and brother dying at just the right time.
And he independently founded "Youth Daily"...
Within the Silver Blood Association, there are plenty of readers of "Youth Daily"; it used to be just light reading, but in recent issues, "Youth Daily" has increasingly skewed in perspective, causing many to feel something is off.
But that’s all; geniuses like Qin Leyin, whose thought processes are out of this world, are few; who among normal people would think Jing Zhengwei would have a "conscience realization" and "betray his class"?
Even if they briefly entertained such thoughts, given Jing Zhengwei’s past of cruelly killing maids and assassinating rivals, they would think they were overthinking.
After the negotiation team returned, they had a new understanding of Jing Zhengwei.
He dared to intervene during an assassination attempt;
The white-haired assassin didn’t harm Blue Flame, but he did;
He could discern Blue Flame’s intentions and effectively delivered a perfect blank paper;
He dared to confront and mock Blue Flame, yet Blue Flame was fond of him, favoring him frequently;
When Blue Flame was obviously going to kill others, he managed to keep everyone safe in front of Blue Flame, bringing them back to Xuanzhu County alive.
Piecing together all the information, the Silver Blood merchants could easily conclude:
Jing Zhengwei is a ruthless individual who crushes delicate flowers.
More than that, he is a strategist with far-reaching schemes.
Also, he is a genius of astonishing talent.
None who enter the Silver Blood Association are fools; how could they not know how formidable Blue Flame is, who decimated the Heyang Army and countered the white-haired assassin?
However, Jing Zhengwei is only slightly lesser than him (as Blue Flame himself said).
In the Heyang Army, Jing Zhengwei could probably become an officer as well.
And the potential of "Youth Daily" is evident; it made a fortune solely from selling newspapers, even without any advertisements—where even the "Xuanzhu Daily" relies on advertisement fees from various business associations to sustain revenue. "Youth Daily" is bound to become a key pillar industry of the Jing family in the future.
Most importantly, it’s only Jing Zhengwei whom Blue Flame acknowledges.
Blue Flame defeated the Heyang Army so decisively, and since the Silver Blood Association is comparable to the Heyang Army, naturally, they must also call Blue Flame "father."
Considering this hierarchy, calling Jing Zhengwei "uncle" by the Silver Blood Association isn’t excessive, right?
After considering all these factors, the upper and lower ranks of the Silver Blood Association were actually ready to acknowledge Jing Zhengwei as their new president.
Although Jing Zhengwei isn’t the kind of cute and harmless president who can be easily manipulated, he is recognized as the heir by "Blackthorn" Jing Qingfu and has many battle achievements, at least qualifying him as a rare hero.
Working with him does not bring shame.
Moreover, reality does not allow for internal conflicts within the Silver Blood Association, with the Backlight Organization watching like a tiger coveting prey internally, and the Linhai Army preying externally, they must swiftly find a leader to give orders, and even if they take a wrong path, it’s better to have a head to turn than remain a scattered force.
But now, it seems that not everyone is willing to "consider the bigger picture."
Tap!
Le Yu stepped into the quiet council hall, as if stepping on everyone’s hearts.
With a casual glance, he understood what had happened, smiled, and asked, "Is everyone here?"
A middle-aged housekeeper of number eighty-eight at the door said, "All the business associations are present."
"Good."
Le Yu walked to the center of the council hall, to the open space directly under the skylight, as if bathing in sunlight.
He stood and said, "Then, Silver Blood council—"
"Wait, young master Jing."
Ting Wanjian stood up and said, "Nice to meet you for the first time, I am Ting Wanjian, the current patriarch of the Ting Family."
Le Yu glanced at Ting Chaozao standing behind Ting Wanjian and asked, "According to the agreement, shouldn’t the second young master of the Ting family be the patriarch? Or does your Ting family have such harmonious internal relations, father and son sharing women, brothers sharing the family head?"
Light laughter echoed in the council hall, Ting Wanjian’s expression remained unchanged: "It seems young master Jing has quite some misunderstandings about our Ting family."
"Why not first explain why Ting Chaozao isn’t already the Patriarch?" Le Yu bluntly said.
Ting Chaozao suddenly spoke up at this time: "After careful consideration, I believe it is wiser for my elder brother to succeed as Patriarch, so I’ve chosen to give him this opportunity."
"Exactly so." Ting Wanjian replied with a smile: "There isn’t any rule that says a new Patriarch can’t pass the position to someone else, right?"
"Indeed, there’s no such rule." Le Yu nodded: "But you brought your brother here just to explain this? Your Ting Family is really interesting."
"Thank you for the compliment." Ting Wanjian effortlessly deflected Le Yu’s attack: "Seeing is believing. My friend also said that the Young Master Jing is interesting, and truly so upon meeting you."
"But enough small talk, since General Lan has appointed Young Master Jing as the new President of the Silver Blood Association, we should hold the succession ceremony."
Le Yu raised an eyebrow: "Oh?"
Everyone blinked, wondering if the Ting Family had conceded?
They thought, by appointing Ting Wanjian as Patriarch, ultimately it was not honorable, so they wanted to placate Jing Zhengwei, allowing the new President to overlook the matter?
As everyone pondered this, Ting Wanjian continued: "However, there’s actually no specific token for the President of the Silver Blood Association. The President is the President because of the support of many members, not just an empty title."
"Therefore, the succession ceremony should be as simple yet symbolic as possible."
Everyone nodded:
"Makes sense."
"The Young Master Ting makes a lot of sense."
"I think so too."
"So I’ve decided." Ting Wanjian said: "Let me present fireworks on behalf of the former President Ting Gu to the new President."
Saying this, Ting Wanjian suddenly drew a small firearm from his back and fired it upwards!
The loud sound echoed through the conference hall, resounding far into the inner city!
Bam!
Bam!
Bam!
At the same time, synchronized shots rang out outside, as if responding to Ting Wanjian’s fireworks!
Ting Wanjian put away the firearm and sat down, smiling: "Welcome the new President to take a seat."
Everyone was struck dumb.
They couldn’t help but look outside the conference hall, already understanding Ting Wanjian’s true intention—
Intimidation!
Ting Wanjian had brought a whole troop of elite Heyang Army into the city!
The Ting Family was no longer just merchants; they were a fusion of merchant and military!
This display by Ting Wanjian was no more than a manifestation of their stance:
This Presidency of the Silver Blood Association is given to you, Jing Zhengwei, by the Ting Family.
We can give it to you.
But we can also take it away!
Within the Silver Blood Association, the Ting Family is the eternal god!
Ting Wanjian’s continued occupation of the main seat in the conference hall symbolized that the Ting Family still did not acknowledge Jing Zhengwei!
Under these circumstances, Jing Zhengwei could only back down, right?
Faced with people’s eyes of either pity, mockery, or anticipation, Le Yu always wore a faintly visible smile, even starting to applaud.
"Very good, very good!"
"As expected from the Ting Family!"
"But it’s just too stingy!"
"These fireworks are just too small!"
Le Yu took out a black pellet from his bosom: "Let me perform a bigger one for everyone."
He suddenly shot the pellet at the skylight, and with a swoosh, it pierced through the skylight, blooming into a dazzling blue light in the sky over Xuanzhu County, clearly visible even in broad daylight.
Formless Battle Technique·Divine Gun!
Everyone looked at Le Yu confusedly, wondering if Jing Zhengwei had gone mad.
But soon, they understood what had happened!
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
A tsunami of gunfire and cannon fire suddenly came from afar, disturbing Xuanzhu County’s midsummer daydreams!
Even within the inner city, the distant sounds of war still startled countless debauched individuals!
"Is the Linhai Army attacking?"
"Will Xuanzhu County fall?"
"Is it time to transfer assets quickly?"
Just as the Silver Blood merchants were spiraling into chaos, they suddenly heard Le Yu begin to applaud again.
"How about it, everyone? My fireworks are much louder than the Ting Family’s, aren’t they?"
Le Yu coldly laughed: "Thanks to General Lan’s misplaced trust, the five hundred Linhai Army stationed outside the county are under my direct command, though I can’t just let them rob and plunder, so I could only perform some fireworks to lighten the mood."
Five hundred Linhai Army actually following any order of Jing Zhengwei!? The Silver Blood merchants were both shocked and pleased, thinking that the Young Master Jing and Lan Yan might have bed relations; otherwise, how could he even have military power in his hands?
Ting Wanjian squinted at him, nodding: "The Linhai Army’s fireworks are, of course, louder than those of the Ting Family."
"That’s good, that’s good, since that is..."
Le Yu beckoned at Ting Wanjian: "Hey Ting, why the hell aren’t you rolling to the side and giving me the seat!?"