Chapter 14 - New Governor Found Lobbying with Minister of Finance During His Wedding
He explained. "Let me ask you this. Which species are the greediest, humans or demons?"
"Correct! Then, which species can lie to parents, kill their kin, or step on their comrades to get ahead in life? Humans or demons?"
"Bingo! Now, one more question. Which species are more prone to hypocrisy?"
"That's RIGHT! It's always the humans! Last question, which species is smartest in procuring and preserving food? The hint is your transformation!"
"THAT'S THE CORRECT ANSWER! YIPPEE!" Fu Tong cackled and pointed at himself. "And that makes them our ideal trade partners. Humans and cultivators have a lot of food, but they want immortal goods. We have everything but food and something to keep us entertained. Therefore, we move to a human continent, trade with them, and we lurk while we strengthen ourselves. Easy solution, right?"
"And what about the Yuemei Clan?"
"Do they dare to provoke human cultivator clans? Those mortals on the mainland are backed by big clans, no?"
Jin Yu brightly smiled. She kissed his lips and hugged him back.
"I guess I picked the right alpha."
"You damn right I'm your Chad. Now, let's continue with the wedding." Fu Tong turned to the crowd of spectators and shouted. "Who wants 10 coins, make some noise!"
The local population looked at each other for a moment and cheered. They all raised their hands, expecting free money.
After chasing Yuemei Xie's gang away, no male fox dared to challenge Fu Tong or disapprove of his marriage. Elders and military generals who guarded the city gradually arrived and joined the tables.
The generals and elders had witnessed Fu Tong's performance earlier, so they lowered their heads, showing respect to both Fu Tong and Jin Yu.
They also brought gifts for the couple. Every time an important person entered the wedding, someone among the crowd announced their names and their gifts.
"General Huli Er offers 10,000-year-old ginseng wine as tribute!"
"General Huli Yi offers a 5,000-stone cow dragon as tribute!"
"Elder Jin Sansi offers 50 earth-grade fertility pills and 50 earth-grade aphrodisiac pills as tribute!"
"Elder Jin Bai offers a 108 Heavenly Positional Art manual as tribute!"
All the elders stopped by the stage and bowed to Fu Tong and Jin Yu. Without exchanging pleasantries, Jin Yu's subordinates greeted the guests and guided them to their seats.
Fu Tong observed the new crowd and whispered to Jin Yu.
"Where did those old men come from? Where were they when the blue gang showed up?"
Jin Yu bitterly smiled and explained. "Everybody with my surname is my relative. As for the Huli folks, those were originally orphans. The previous city lord, my father, gave them the surname to honor their services."
Fu Tong nodded as the information aligned with what he knew. They seemed like a stranger to Jin Yu. However, they were loyal retainers who had been protecting this city for several thousand years.
While Fu Tong was gazing at her retainers, she whispered back.
"Give them some gold coins when you talk to them after this."
The wedding ceremony proceeded smoothly. Fu Tong entrusted Jin Yu and her retainers to distribute gold coins to everybody. While he was at it, he chatted with the elders and generals, slipping 100 karma coins into their pockets.
The elderly foxes brightly grinned and pretended nothing had happened. They approved of the gesture and wished him well.
While Fu Tong was sitting at the same banquet table as the elders, the treasury minister Jin Bai asked Fu Tong.
"My lord, our vault may run dry in a mere month. How dost thou plan to counter this?"
All the elders at the table stopped talking, their eyes fixating on him in curiosity.
Fu Tong stroked his chin and disclosed his initial plans.
"Help me and my wife bring the cloud plateau to the human mainland. We will import food and daily necessity items from human countries."
"We art dealing with mortal humans?" Everybody was surprised.
"They art cunning, deceitful, and dishonorable! Hatred and damnation they deserve! We despised them."
"But you feast on them sometimes."
"Because they art stupidly delicious! They taste like pigs!"
Fu Tong suppressed his laughter. Their dialect and their fancy wordings sounded like cavemen attempting to speak like nobles. He reminded them.
"Let's be honest. Our city doesn't need food. It's our people who need entertainment or something to distract their dull daily life. You disguise yourself as humans for fun, but that's about it. You don't understand how humans entertain themselves."
The faces of all elders turned dark, yet they patiently waited for Fu Tong to make his point. The treasury minister cupped his fist and sought Fu Tong's advice.
"And what dost thou suggest?"
"First, we move to the continent. We then deploy intelligence agents to infiltrate their cities to learn their culture, entertainment methods, and update our understanding about cultivators and commoners. While we're at it, our delegates will negotiate with the top dogs of cultivation sects, major clans, and countries to import their food, wine, games, and some dead-row prisoners just in case you're craving for human flesh, though I don't recommend it."
All the foxes looked at each other and nodded. They had an idea of their own, but they were looking forward to seeing Fu Tong's abilities as the spouse of their liege. Suppressing their cunning minds, they all cupped their fists and saluted.
"Thou art very wise!"
Fu Tong saw through these old foxes and reminded them. "Do me a favor. No backstabbing and no sabotaging. You are loyal to my wife, and I am. We want nothing but her happiness. Let's cooperate, alright?"
The old foxes finally cackled and raised a toast. "Fear not, my lord. We art thy allies!"
Fu Tong snickered and raised his cup, accepting their gestures.
That night, the old foxes attempted to make him drunk, but his 9999 VIT saved him. In the end, the immortal foxes reverted to their true forms, sleeping drunk on the cold floor.
Fu Tong washed his mouth and returned to the wedding chamber at midnight. On the decorated bed full of flower petals, Jin Yu had been chatting with her retainers. As soon as Fu Tong entered, the girls scrambled out of the room, leaving the bride and the groom alone.
The couple looked at each other, admiring each other's faces and burning this day's events to their memory. However, as they were tipsy, they quickly transformed into beasts.
He wished that this peace could last forever.