Having the genes of a demon king, I never intended to be a kept man.

The Qin Empire, capital city, imperial palace.

"What did you say?!?"

Upon hearing the news from his scouts, Long Hai's pupils widened in disbelief: "Dark City has released a liquid energy source that can directly replace magic stones as the primary energy source? And it's nearly a hundred times cheaper?!"

"It's like this, Your Majesty," a white-haired minister below sighed, "The Empire just spent a fortune acquiring four magic stone mines from the Ye family, and now they're all likely to become abandoned mines... Yesterday, in just one day, the price of magic stones on the Myriad Races Merchant Guild's online auction house plummeted to one-eightieth of its original price, and it continues to fall... Many people are joking online that magic stones will probably really become nothing more than pretty decorations in the future..."

“…” Long Hai remained silent, his expression growing increasingly gloomy.

"I heard there's something about the Ye family at this press conference?" he asked again.

"Indeed," the old minister said, "I heard that the Ye family stole the show at this press conference. I heard they collaborated with Dark City to develop some kind of high-tech product, called something like a system, and its functions are truly astonishing..."

Long Hai gritted his teeth, having no interest in listening to what the Ye family and Dark City had developed in cooperation.

Suddenly dumping large quantities of magic stones and magic stone ore.

Dark City has also just announced a cheap liquid energy source that can replace magic stones.

No matter how you look at it, it doesn't seem like a coincidence!

Clearly, that despicable, treacherous, and malicious bastard Yege must have already learned from Dark City that they were going to release information about liquid energy, which is why he suddenly sold off a large amount of magic energy stone mines at a low price to weaken the royal family's economic strength!

For many years, the Ye family has been a hidden danger to Long Hai. As the strength of the Southern Territory gradually expands, the power of the Ye family continues to grow, which makes Long Hai feel uneasy and as if his status and authority have been violated. Therefore, he knows Ye Ge very well.

This guy definitely did it on purpose!!

The old minister was still tirelessly babbling on and on.

Long Hai stood on the high place in the main hall and glared at him fiercely.

The old minister was startled and quickly shut his mouth and lowered his head.

"Where is that kid Long Ming?"

Long Hai said sternly, "Bring him here! I have some questions for him!"

"Yes, yes." The old minister quickly withdrew.

"Wait." Long Hai suddenly called out to him again, paused, pondered for a moment, and said, "Summon the five great generals, as well as the three dukes of the East, West, and North, to the palace, along with Priestess Ji Lian, High Priest Anling Yue, all the cabinet ministers in the court, and Long Ying. Have them come to the palace immediately! I have important matters to discuss with them!"

The old minister: "Yes..."

......

A few hours later.

Inside the Xuanlong Hall.

Long Hai, dressed in a black imperial robe, sat on the throne with a gloomy and solemn expression.

Below, in the main hall, stood a full assembly of civil and military officials, including the three dukes besides Ye Ge, Lang Xiao, Xiahou Dun, and Walter, the five great generals of the empire, He Jin, Lian Peng, Sun Yi, Tian Wu, and Zhao Wuming, as well as Long Ying, the ninth princess, and Long Ming, the third prince.

And Ji Lian, a priestess dressed in white with a cool and aloof appearance and a holy temperament.

There was also Anlingyue, the high priest of Qin and the richest man in the capital, who kept yawning and seemed listless.

"I have summoned you ministers today to discuss an important matter with you."

Long Hai's expression was serious and earnest: "As everyone knows, I have always treated the Ye family well over the years. After the Southern Border War eight years ago, I put aside past grievances and conferred the title of Duke upon the Ye family, entrusting them with the management of the entire Southern Border territory."

"However, the Ye family clearly has not seen my good intentions. Over the years, this demonized human family has become increasingly greedy. They have repeatedly crossed the line, challenged the authority of the empire, and damaged the interests of the empire!"

"I have no doubt that in the future they will also sacrifice the interests of the human race for the development of their own families!"

"And this has obviously already happened! Everyone must know about the Ye family's sudden dumping of a large amount of magic energy stone mines some time ago. I found it strange at the time, but I didn't think much of it until the Dark City press conference the day before yesterday, when Ye Ge publicly announced the cooperative relationship with Dark City. I knew then that the Ye family must have gotten first-hand information from Dark City! That's why they deliberately dumped a large amount of magic energy stone mines, just to cheat us human colleagues!"

"Look at how despicable these demonized mutants are! They clearly had firsthand information that the market was about to undergo a major change, but instead of informing their human compatriots, they cooperated with the Dark City and ended up swindling money from our own people!"

Long Hai's words were righteous and indignant.

His gaze swept across the many ministers in the hall, and he said, "I know that many of you ministers present have purchased the magic stones that the Ye family is dumping. In fact, it's not just you ministers; many families, sects, companies, and forces throughout the empire have been severely swindled by the Ye family this time! Some families are almost facing bankruptcy because of this! Their actions will surely arouse public outrage! I have decided to expose what they have done and severely punish the Ye family!"

Long Hai believed that many of the ministers present were victims of the Ye family's dumping of magic stones. After his words, they would surely be mobilized, their anger rising, and they would enthusiastically respond to his call.

However, after he finished speaking, the hall fell completely silent. Almost everyone lowered their heads and looked at each other in bewilderment.

"What's wrong with you?" Long Hai frowned. "The Ye family schemed against you like this, don't you want revenge?"

The ministers exchanged glances, seemingly hesitant to speak.

At this moment, a middle-aged minister finally stepped forward and said, "But Your Majesty... just now, the Ye family issued a statement saying that they also knew nothing about the liquid energy matter, that the sale of the magic energy stones was purely coincidental, and that Ye Ge has already stated publicly that they are willing to provide refunds to buyers who have already purchased magic energy stones, and that the Ye family is willing to bear all the losses for everyone..."

Long Hai was stunned, and asked in astonishment, "You... what did you say??"

The middle-aged minister sighed, “Your Majesty, although you just said that, it was merely your speculation, without any evidence… The Ye family’s transaction for the magic energy stones is complete, and they originally had no obligation to pay for the current upheaval in the energy market. The nobles throughout the empire were initially willing to accept their misfortune, as they couldn’t afford to offend the Ye family. But at this moment, the Ye family has stepped forward, willing to help everyone get refunds and bear all the losses. Ye Ge said they made a lot of money at the Dark City press conference and didn’t want only their family to profit while their fellow humans lost money… Now the nobles everywhere are very moved and owe the Ye family a huge favor…”

"!!!" Long Hai's face turned green, and his cheeks twitched violently.

Night Song...Good lad!

This series of actions involved first throwing out a large amount of magic stones, causing many nobles to face bankruptcy and lose everything, and then actively trying to improve relations, causing their moods to fluctuate wildly...

This is clearly an attempt to buy off the nobles throughout the empire!