Chapter 480: Discussion in the Hall (II)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
"Hmph, you were sent by Su Bai? Bastard thing, since he sent you over, he must not be far. Su Bai, you son of a bitch, show your face!"
Wei Hao angrily snorted, his wolfish gaze sweeping over the crowd. He had no reason to be polite toward Su Bai. If that fellow dared to send people over to make trouble, he was under no obligation to treat him kindly.
"Don't go spouting off any nonsense here. Our young master didn't even come. Besides, the one who invited us was your good brother Wang Chong. It has nothing to do with us!" the Duke Su guard sneered back.
The order he had received was to do his utmost to ruin this venture of Wang Chong's, no matter what it was. However, even if he hadn't received this order, Duke Su had intended for him to come and see what exactly was going on.
Alas, in Su Bai's hands, these orders became ones of selfish mischief, demanding that he ruin Wang Chong's venture at any price.
"Wang Chong, Su Bai can't have had any good intentions by sending over this son of a bitch. Just give the word and I'll help you kick him out!"
Wei Hao was foaming in rage as he pressed out of the crowd and to Wang Chong's side.
As a brother who had basically grown up together with Wang Chong, he had a good grasp of the Wang Clan Residence, but Wei Hao still understood whose home this actually was.
This gathering had been called by Wang Chong, so on this formal occasion, only Wang Chong could decide how to deal with the unwelcome and troublemakers.
"It's fine."
With a grin, Wang Chong pulled on the fuming Wei Hao.
"Cool down a little. I was the one who invited Duke Su's people."
"What?!"
The raging Wei Hao was dumbfounded by these words, his face frozen in shock. He had been under the impression that Su Bai had sent people purely to make trouble.
He didn't think that Wang Chong had specifically invited them.
"Haven't you always been at odds with him? Why did you suddenly invite him?"
Wei Hao had an incredulous look, taken completely aback by the truth.
"Haha, in a little while, I'll tell you."
Wang Chong smiled but did not explain any further.
The matter of the southwest involved enemies of the country while the matter between the Wang Clan and the Su Clan was just a private grudge, and what did a private grudge matter in comparison to what was about to happen in the southwest?
As long as it was of benefit to his current task, as long as it could help the empire and its millions of inhabitants confront this great peril and get through this storm, nothing else was important to Wang Chong.
"Hmph, Wang Chong, don't pay attention to this bastard. Isn't it just ten-some True Martial realm experts? Not only does my Bai Clan have them, it has plenty!"
A voice piped up from the crowd as Bai Siling strode out of the crowd, simultaneously heroic and charming, her head held high.
As she walked over to Wang Chong, she also blinked her eyelashes at him as if communicating some profound meaning.
Wei Hao leaned close to Wang Chong and whispered to him, "We had originally wanted to come and find you, but you happened to be sleeping. Bai Siling also said that there were certain to be troublemakers among all these people you invited, so she recommended that we not rush out to meet you and mix in with the crowd first."
Although he hadn't spent much time in the training camp, he had met the people at Wang Chong's side quite a few times, so he knew the Bai Clan's Bai Siling, who had made her name off her intelligence and cunning.
"Haha, if Young Master Wang needs, you can also count on our Xu Clan!"
On the other side, Xu Gan coordinated with Bai Siling and also walked out of the crowd. He wasn't as bombastic as Bai Siling, but it was enough for him to coordinate with her.
"Haha, then count us in too!"
Like a fiery cloud, the red-dressed Zhao Yatong, a dot of red on her brow, promptly drifted out of the crowd, bewitchingly beautiful.
Buzz!
Both the Xu Clan and the Zhao Clan were very influential clans in the capital, and Bai Siling's Bai Clan ranked amongst the oldest, its influence on par with the Wang Clan's.
These three people stepping forth caused the crowd to buzz with chatter. From the restlessness of the crowd, it was clear that no one had expected this sight.
The great clans always had reasons for their actions. If there were no benefit to them, they would not have done this. To many clans, whenever they were hesitating, they would just need to look at those most influential clans to know what to do.
And there was no question that the support of Bai Siling, Zhao Yatong, and Xu Gan had greatly affected the crowd.
The somewhat minor clans seemed about to act.
"Wait a moment!" the Duke Su guard hastily shouted. "Hmph, if my memory is right, Bai Siling, Zhao Yatong, and Xu Gan, you're all Wang Chong's friends. If you help him… there's no problem. But there's no need for the rest of us to follow!
"And besides, all the people here come from clans that are in no way lacking for money. Moreover, many of these experts are ones that we spent a great deal of time and energy raising. The rest of them are ones that we spent large sums hiring from the outside. If we gave them to you, wouldn't we be helping out the Wang Clan for no gain! I know that your Wang Clan recently sold off the spirit vein, but no matter how much money you offer, we're not selling!"
The Duke Su guard wasn't willing to let the matter end like this. And with his troublemaking words, many people began to hesitate once more.
The prestigious clans had exceptional status that was very effective on the other clans of the capital. However, if one said that Bai Siling, Zhao Yatong, and Xu Gan had always been Wang Chong's good friends, then this matter took on a completely different flavor.
In the end, Wang Chong wasn't borrowing pots and pans or gold and silver from them. For many of these clans, top-notch experts were the backbone of the clan that couldn't be lightly loaned to others.
Damn, how did this fellow know who Bai Siling, Zhao Yatong, and Xu Gan were? Wei Hao silently cursed. This scoundrel seemed determined to make trouble.
"Ha, who said that I was going to buy them with money?" Wang Chong indifferently said.
"Is that not so?" the Duke Su guard immediately shot back. Gold? Treasure? All of these things had utterly no appeal to these clans.
As for status, the Wang Clan couldn't offer such a thing.
Wang Chong gave him no further explanation, only a faint smile. He turned his eyes to the other representatives.
"First of all, my thanks to everyone for coming. And then, the reason I didn't write it in my letters is because just words alone wouldn't be enough to make you believe me. If you didn't hear them from my mouth, none of you would have any faith in the exchange."
Wang Chong paused for a moment, his expression unhurried, his manner exceptionally convincing.
"There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Since I have asked for help from all the clans, I'm naturally not asking for them for free. Thus, each person can decide next if they want to accept.
"I want the clans present to lend me their strongest guards. They must be at True Martial realm Tier 4 or above. I need them for three months. In these three months, all of them have to follow my orders without question. And once these three months are over, these guards will naturally return to your clans! As for the price…"
Wang Chong paused, during which the entire hall was absolutely silent, everyone looking at Wang Chong.
Even the Duke Su guard who had been making trouble kept his mouth shut, a focused expression on his face.
Wang Chong had just stated that he wouldn't be using money to borrow these True Martial realm experts from the clan, so now, everyone was very curious to see what Wang Chong would give them if not gold or silver.
Given the status of all these clans, there was truly little that could attract them.
"One Wootz Steel weapon!"
Under everyone's expectant gazes, Wang Chong slowly raised a finger.
"For three months, for each True Martial Tier 4 or 5 expert loaned, you can obtain one Wootz Steel weapon from me. Once the three months are over, then whether I've completed what I wanted or not, you can get one Wootz Steel weapon along with the guard you loaned me!"
The moment Wang Chong finished speaking, the entire hall fell into an eerie silence.
"Wang Chong, you've gone crazy!"
Wei Hao was the first to react. His wide-open eyes stared in disbelief at Wang Chong. No, it wasn't just disbelief, but deep concern.
"How can you give the Wootz Steel weapons to them? And for only three months? Quickly, take back your words."
"That's right. Wang Chong, Wootz Steel weapons are currently priceless. You can't even buy one if you wanted to. If you require a few elite experts, we can think of ways to help you. There's no need to do this."
Bai Siling was also stunned.
Not even she had imagined that Wang Chong had gathered so many people to carry out this sort of exchange. Wootz Steel weapons could cleave through regular steel and were hailed as the king of weapons.
Wang Chong himself probably didn't have enough of them!
"Siling is right. Wang Chong, do you not want to reconsider?" Xu Gan added in support.
From his perspective, Wang Chong was suffering a severe loss. This sort of exchange was absolute insanity!
"Wang Chong, if you need help, I can also assist. Our Zhao Clan is a military clan and has probably been involved in the army for much longer than your Wang Clan. In this aspect, our Zhao Clan can offer you aid, so there's no need to ask them for help."
Zhao Yatong walked up to Wang Chong's side.
"No!"
Before Wang Chong could respond, someone in the crowd became nervous.
"The Wang Clan is still a clan of ministers and generals. Once these words have left his mouth, they are a horse that can't be retrieved. He's already made the promise, so he can't back down now!"
With these words, a fierce and stubborn figure squeezed their way out of the crowd. It was not the Duke Su guard, but someone else.
"Bastard! Su Bai, it's you!"
Wei Hao's eyes went red as he roared and leaped through the reception hall toward that person who had been hiding in the crowd all this time, Su Bai.