With that shout, the entire street, where merchants had just been chatting and looking elegant, immediately turned and ran, fearing to fall behind others.
Crowds gathered and rushed towards the General Affairs Department en masse.
This sight was truly astonishing.
"What are they…?"
Lumine paused, and Diluc softly said:
"It should be the materials Liyue has been putting on the market recently."
"Counting the time, today is exactly the day they're released."
Jean nodded thoughtfully.
"No wonder I felt so many big merchants came to Liyue Harbor yesterday… should we go take a look?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Diluc turned and walked downstairs.
"Dawn Winery has a caravan in Liyue. We should go take a look, and if possible, purchase some. That was our original purpose."
Seeing this, Jean and Lisa exchanged glances, then took Lumine and Paimon and followed the crowd towards the General Affairs Department.
The street where Xinyue Kiosk was located was very close to the General Affairs Department.
Coupled with Jean and the others' quick pace, they soon arrived at the entrance.
The General Affairs Department was guarded by twenty Millelith, ten heavy cavalry, and ten seemingly ordinary infantry.
There were also ten wolves around.
The merchants' attention was mostly on the wolf pack and the heavy cavalry, whispering about how strong these heavy cavalry and wolves were.
But Jean and the others, who had seen the light infantry's alchemy potions and enchanted weapons, understood that those ordinary light infantry were the strongest presence there.
These twenty Millelith plus ten wolves could easily suppress hundreds of people in a riot.
Of course, no one dared to cause trouble here. If there was any movement, the entire Liyue Harbor's Millelith would be dispatched in minutes.
Most merchants gathered in their own groups, which included private merchant associations and large forces, such as the Adventurers' Guild and so on.
But there were also some unusual merchants.
Standing alone, gazing calmly at the entrance of the General Affairs Department.
Diluc frowned slightly, looking at a spot not far away.
Tartaglia stood there leisurely, with a few Fatui behind him.
Sensing Diluc's gaze, Tartaglia raised an eyebrow and smiled, nodding at Diluc.
"The Eleventh Fatui Harbinger, Childe, Tartaglia…"
Diluc grunted unhappily and looked away.
Hating the house and the crow, he disliked all Harbingers because of Dottore.
And because of the Fatui stationed in Mondstadt, he also disliked all Fatui.
However, the Fatui in Liyue were behaving themselves and dared not do anything out of line, so it wasn't his place to interfere.
"It's really lively here. This place gathers most of the top merchants and merchant associations from all over Teyvat."
Lisa's gaze leisurely swept around.
She quickly noticed the merchant dressed in Sumeru Akademiya attire not far away.
However, the people around him were avoiding him as if he were a plague.
This made Lisa curious.
"What's the deal with the Sumeru Akademiya merchant?"
Her information wasn't as free-flowing as Diluc's, so she naturally didn't know that the Sumeru Akademiya was being targeted.
"I heard it's because of a private low-price transaction with the Fatui, which angered the General Affairs Department and the Qixing. Now, all resources acquired by them are tripled in price."
Hearing Diluc say this, Lisa was a little surprised.
"Triple?!"
Diluc nodded slightly.
"All resources produced in Liyue are doubled, and even merchants who trade with the Sumeru Akademiya have to pay high transaction fees. Simply put…"
"Liyue is deliberately suppressing Sumeru Akademiya merchants, but procurement by private Sumeru merchant associations is not restricted."
Lisa frowned, her eyes lost in thought.
If the Fatui's prices were only raised by fifty percent, the Sumeru Akademiya's procurement shouldn't be tripled.
There must be other issues!
Connecting it to Jiang Xuan holding Nahida last night, Lisa had some guesses.
"It seems the Sumeru Akademiya has offended a certain man…"
Lisa chuckled, implying:
"Otherwise, with Rex Lapis overseeing, a triple price increase would be considered commercial inequality, and Rex Lapis would definitely speak with the Qixing personally."
"Are you saying…"
Jean also thought of something, but Lisa shrugged and said no more.
"It seems Mr. Jiang Xuan's status in Liyue is extremely special…"
Jean murmured softly, feeling a little helpless.
But Venti was taken away by Zhongli yesterday and hadn't returned.
So, there was no way to get any information from Venti.
Everything still depended on today's discussion with Ningguang.
While she was thinking, someone from the General Affairs Department pushed the door open and came out.
Instantly, the merchants below looked eager.
The person seemed very familiar with such scenes, calmly taking out a list and announcing loudly:
"This week's resource release: five hundred tons of top-grade timber, three hundred tons of coal, six hundred tons of iron ore, fifty tons of lapis lazuli…"
As the person concluded, the merchants also felt a bit of a headache.
The resources released this time were almost the same as last time.
But they couldn't ask for more.
The General Affairs Department wouldn't change its decisions based on their opinions.
"Those are the resources and materials. Next, are this week's delivered Elemental Resonance Weapons."
"Numbers twenty to thirty, please pay the full amount and collect your equipment."
If Jean and her companions hadn't seen those things last night, they would have been very eager to join the General Affairs Department's resource sales.
But now, there was no need.
They would just let the Mondstadt merchant association handle the procurement; they still needed to wait for Ningguang to summon them to the Jade Chamber.
As the General Affairs Department official finished speaking, hundreds of big merchants present began to frantically make purchases.
Each transaction was at least hundreds of millions of Mora.
Even large merchant associations from various countries were starting with fifty billion Mora.
In less than an hour, all these resources were sold out.
Lumine and the others watched as the Liyue General Affairs Department collected over forty billion Mora in this short time.
Lumine gasped silently and muttered:
"They're so rich… aren't they worried about these resources being stuck in their hands?"
Hearing this, Diluc chuckled and shook his head.
"If they were worried about them getting stuck, do you think these merchants would be so foolish?"
"Merchants make investments, not charity."
"If they buy these resources for ten billion Mora, they can sell them elsewhere for a profit of nearly five billion."
"These resources may seem abundant, but if they were spread across all of Teyvat, they wouldn't even make a ripple."
"These are consumables; they'll never be hard to sell."
Paimon pouted enviously beside them.
"So much Mora… imagine how much delicious food that could buy…"
Everyone smiled wryly, about to turn and leave, when Baiwen, Ningguang's secretary whom they had met yesterday, walked over.
"Acting Grand Master Jean, Lady Ningguang invites you all to the Jade Chamber."
Jean paused, exchanged a quiet glance with Lisa, then politely said:
"Please lead the way."
The formal negotiations were about to begin.
…
Jiang Xuan was unaware of all this.
He woke up in the morning and had breakfast with Ganyu and Nahida.
After waiting for a while, only Keqing, Hu Tao, Xiao, and Cloud Retainer arrived.
Jiang Xuan didn't plan to wait any longer.
Ningguang and Zhongli probably had matters to attend to today, so for the Minecraft World, it would likely just be the few of them.
He opened the Dual-Passage Door, and everyone stepped through.
Xiao still intended to patrol the surroundings, mark the locations of the Lucky Blocks, and then lead a team to explore The Nether.
Cloud Retainer's work on replicating Jueyun Karst was also in its critical phase.
Looking from Jiang Xuan's manor villa, the large mountain behind already had the appearance of Jueyun Karst.
Keqing and Hu Tao, on the other hand, were free.
They followed Jiang Xuan to collect resources.
Today, Jiang Xuan was still performing rituals that they didn't understand.
He took a leash and went to the automatic farm's Nigge (Villager), giving it a flick if it showed any dissatisfaction.
Keqing didn't pay much attention to Jiang Xuan's usual routine, but merely asked with a hint of curiosity:
"Jiang Xuan, do you have any plans for today?"
Hearing this, Jiang Xuan looked at Keqing with amusement.
"What, can't you sit still? You just finished the fifth Iron farm at Base Two yesterday."
Keqing shook her head, helplessly saying:
"I always feel that wasting time in this world is wasting money, so how can I sit still?!"
"What are your plans next?"
Jiang Xuan nodded slightly, thought for a moment, and said:
"Originally, I was planning to summon the Wither Storm to deal with something, and then we'd pack up and go to The End to slay the Ender Dragon."
"But Ningguang and Zhongli aren't here, so let's wait a bit."
Keqing's eyes lit up.
"Is it that powerful enemy you mentioned? Can't a few of us handle it?"
"It wouldn't be too hard to deal with it using some special characteristics."
Jiang Xuan chuckled, still shaking his head.
"However, if we leave them out of such a thing, Ningguang would complain to me."
Keqing pouted, resting her chin on her hand, staring at the animals in the pasture.
"So, are we just going to sit around here today?"
"No, not necessarily."
Jiang Xuan said with a light laugh:
"Later, let's go hunting on the plains. Also, Nahida's flower chariot that I promised her should be made."
"How about making a Redstone Flower Chariot?"
Saying this, Jiang Xuan gently rubbed Nahida's head.
The latter immediately narrowed her eyes happily and hugged Jiang Xuan's leg.
"Jiang Xuan, can you guide me to make it myself? I want to make a flower chariot that Jiang Xuan and I can ride together!"
"Do you want me to be Nahida's coachman?"
Jiang Xuan teased with a smile. Nahida shook her head seriously.
"No way! It's for Jiang Xuan and me to enjoy the scenery together!"
Hu Tao, standing by, blinked and feigned a mournful tone:
"That's so unfair! I've also been taking such good care of Nahida, why won't Nahida save a spot for me?"
"Ugh…"
Nahida was a little conflicted. Her first flower chariot with Jiang Xuan was very meaningful to her.
Hu Tao was her new good friend, but…
Nahida, no matter what, only wanted Jiang Xuan to accompany her.
"Well… then I'll make another flower chariot for Hu Tao later!"
Seeing Nahida's serious expression, Hu Tao stopped teasing her and patted Nahida's head with a giggle.
"It has to be in Wangsheng Funeral Parlor style, okay!"
"What style? A coffin flower chariot?"
Jiang Xuan chuckled in amusement. Hu Tao immediately bared her little fangs.
"Jiang Xuan! You hateful scoundrel! Wangsheng Funeral Parlor isn't just about coffins! You're making this Director furious!"
"Don't run! This Director is going to bite you to death!"
Instantly, Hu Tao lunged forward like a hungry tiger, hanging onto Jiang Xuan's back and biting his neck.
"Hiss…"
Jiang Xuan winced in pain, quickly pinching Hu Tao's face.
"You little brat, you're biting me for real! You broke the skin, you're making me bleed! Let go quickly!"
Hu Tao mumbled a few incoherent words, then snorted and jumped off Jiang Xuan's back.
At this, the tables turned. Jiang Xuan rubbed his neck, glaring fiercely at Hu Tao.
"Hu Tao, you're done for! If I don't spank your butt raw today, I'll give you my Scepter of Vampirism!"
"Ganyu! Help!"
"Whoever helps her, I'll deal with them too!"
"Ugh! You big man, don't argue with this Director!"
"Inciting gender conflict, that's an extra sin!"
"Agh!!!"
Hu Tao and Jiang Xuan chased each other, and soon left the manor villa.
Ganyu and Keqing exchanged glances, both smiling.
Keqing also let go of her perpetually tense work mindset.
Sometimes…
Indulging herself once in a while was also good for work!
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