Meanwhile, at the Rice Merchant Association.

A man dressed in rags knelt in front of the rice merchants.

He had come back from where Lin Xuan Qi was dispensing the charity porridge.

They were looking down at him from their seats.

"Are you sure the cultivator ran away after the Governor arrived?"

"Yes, I'm sure..." The man replied.

"Damn it! These cultivators can't be trusted!" One of the rice merchants shouted and slammed his wine cup onto the table.

The other rice merchants' faces pulled long, and they gave out a sigh.

All of them thought that things would get settled by the Magistrate and the cultivators, so they had just bought another batch of rice from the rice suppliers at a very high price.

And it might be the peak price if things didn't work in their favor.

"That's not all..." The man that was kneeling down stammered.

"What else! Say it. Stop keeping us in suspense." The rice merchant shouted at the man in frustration.

The man lowered his head in fear and said, "The Governor also said that there would indeed be an increase in the rice supply very soon."

"You think so?" The rice merchant wasn't convinced as they knew that they had all the rice supply cornered, except for Hun Xiong Kun.

"I think so... The porridge I got today wasn't as diluted. There were even grains of rice that could be seen in it." The man replied with his body shaking.

The rice merchant frowned and asked his compatriots, "Any news from Hun Xiong Kun's shop?"

One of them replied, "Yes, Hun Xiong Kun had more to sell than usual; it was an increase of five hundred kilograms, nothing to be worried about."

"Nothing to be worried about?!" The rice merchant wasn't too pleased and shouted at his compatriot.

"Relax, it's not going to make a dent." The other rice merchant said.

"What if it were true that Hun Xiong Kun will be getting more supplies?"

"Should we take a gamble?"

"I've put all my money into buying more of the supplies; we must make sure that the rice supplies remain controlled by us!"

Some of them got worried, and they started to chatter.

Most wanted to try and keep the status quo as they couldn't afford to lose.

And some of them wavered.

They didn't go all in and didn't want to be stuck with the rice when the price eventually plummeted.

But they kept quiet and pretended to be with those that wanted the status quo.

"Masters! Masters! Bad news." Another man rushed into the meeting room and shouted frantically.

"What is it now?" The rice merchant frowned and had a bad feeling.

Things were going in a direction that he didn't like.

"The buyers refuse to pay at the price we've demanded, saying that there would be more rice supplies coming in, promised to them by the Governor."

The news struck the rice merchants like lightning.

"The Governor...."

More chatter in the meeting room ensued after the rice merchants got the news.

Now, more of them were in two minds about the rice supply.

"Let's get rid of Hun Xiong Kun once and for all!" One of them stood up and suggested.

"Are you dumb or what?" The others shouted at him.

The Governor already had his eyes on them, and it would give the Governor the opportunity to get rid of them if they did so.

Their only hope now was in the Magistrate.

...

"I shall make you pay for your rudeness!" Magistrate Ho shouted at the Governor's men while he tried his best to stay on the horse's back.

The Governor's men had stormed into his residence and dragged him out of it.

And he wasn't allowed to take his constables with him.

Magistrate Ho thought that it might be due to the actions of the Six Pulse Sword Sect, and he was ready to pretend that he didn't know anything about it.

The Governor had so far only given him warnings to suppress the rice price, and nothing substantial had happened to him.

So, he didn't think much about it.

As long as the rice merchants were behind him, he had his chips for bargaining with the Governor.

But when he arrived at the porridge stall, he was surprised to see that it was still operating.

He frowned and got down from the horse's back.

Did the Six Pulse Sword Sect not do anything? He thought silently to himself while he was led to where the Governor was.

The Governor was discussing with Lin Xuan Qi the new factories and how Lin Xuan Qi planned to expand.

Every step was planned, and Lin Xuan Qi made sure to emphasize the fact that he was spending money in Hong Feng City.

He made sure to explain to the Governor how these jobs and the new factories could rejuvenate the city after all the devastation from the rebellion.

The Governor nodded and took note of everything he said and compared his ideas with the Dark Lord's.

There were some similarities and some differences, to which the Governor was now getting more convinced that the Dark Lord's way might not be the only one.

But when the Governor saw the Magistrate approaching, his mood drastically dived for the worse.

"Magistrate Ho, took you a while, huh." The Governor pointed at Magistrate Ho and said.

Lin Xuan Qi stood beside the Governor and kept quiet.

All ready for a good show.

The Magistrate thought that the Governor meant that he had arrived too late, and he said, "Your men came and pulled me out of my work!

"I had to give them a dressing down.

"And I want to complain to you about them.

"They've stopped my constables from coming with me and beaten up some of them.

"These men of yours are getting out of hand; I think it's best you punish them accordingly.

"If not, I as the Magistrate wouldn't be able to give out orders to my men anymore, now that they've humiliated me."

The Magistrate blabbered to the Governor about what had happened, not realizing the situation he was in right now.

When he glanced at the Governor's face, he froze when he saw the Governor staring at him.

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