Transmigration: I, the Dragon Overlord, start by protecting my beautiful bride!

After hearing Jinzhu's words, Chen Lian was somewhat annoyed, but helpless, because she knew what the other party said was true. The Celestial Empire was struggling to survive itself, so how could it possibly spare manpower to deal with them?

Seeing this, Long Aotian changed the subject at the right time, "Miss Jin, we are only here to do business, and we have no intention of fighting each other. Besides, we are all Chinese, how can we treat our own people with swords against each other? At this time, we should unite against the enemy."

Jin Zhu didn't believe Long Aotian's nonsense, but since he had said so, she went along with it, smiled slightly, and said, "Lord Shen is right. Now, let's talk about the terms."

Long Aotian nodded and said, "Miss Jin, what do you want?"

Jinzhu no longer held back and immediately stated her conditions: "Our conditions are very simple. We only need three million taels of silver to buy back the entire mine and the iron ore we have."

Upon hearing this number, Long Aotian nearly fainted. He then looked troubled and said hesitantly, "Three million taels... Miss Jin, isn't your condition a bit...?"

Chen Lian slammed her hand on the table, pointed at the other party, and raised her voice sharply, "300 million taels? Why don't you just rob us?! The entire national treasury only has five million taels. Not to mention we still have to pay military salaries. You're asking for an exorbitant amount; it's just too much!"

"Business is negotiable, Lord Shen," Jinzhu replied with a calm smile. "If you think my conditions are unreasonable, feel free to haggle." She paused, then continued, "By the way, besides three million taels, I also need the court to hand over a person."

When Long Aotian heard that she had a second condition, he had a vague sense of foreboding and asked, "Who?"

Jinzhu parted her red lips slightly and said, "Li Ba Ma of the Celestial Dynasty, Prince Li."

Chen Lian could no longer sit still, because she could not possibly agree to either of these conditions...

Since it's impossible for them to agree, there's no need to continue the discussion!

"let's go."

She stood up angrily, intending to go back first and report the situation here.

But after walking for a while, she suddenly turned around and looked closely, only to find that Long Aotian was still sitting in the same spot, seemingly with no intention of leaving.

Helpless, Chen Lian could only call out to him from afar, "Hey, why aren't you leaving?"

Long Aotian, holding a teacup, said, "If you want to leave, then leave. Why should you care about me?"

Chen Lian shook her head, cursed, and then turned and left without looking back.

She should have stayed and looked into it further, but those two conditions were just too demanding.

She felt that even if he were a powerful figure, the imperial court wouldn't give him face, which is why she left without looking back.

In the tent,

Only Jin Zhu, who was staring at the person in front of her, and Long Ao, who was still drinking his tea, remained.

"Lord Shen, aren't you leaving?"

"If you're too hasty, you won't get anything done."

"So it seems that Lord Shen intends to agree to my two conditions?"

Long Aotian did not answer, but instead asked, "Whether you agree or not is another matter, but I would like to know first, what grudge do you have against Prince Li?"

Upon hearing this, Jinzhu shook her head and replied, "Lord Shen, you misunderstand. Prince Li and I have no grudges against each other."

Long Aotian was puzzled and pressed for an answer: "Since he has no grudge against you, why do you want him?"

Jinzhu was an honest person, and she said everything she could. She began, "Although I have no grudges or conflicts with Prince Li, my master has..."

Long Aotian nodded to indicate that he understood, then asked, "So, according to you, this is a personal grudge..."

Jin Zhu remained silent, only nodding. Long Aotian stroked his chin, pondered for a moment, and then said, "Since it's a personal grudge, then I really can't help you."

Just as Jinzhu was about to speak, Long Aotian took an unexpected turn, saying, "However, given the current situation in Jingcheng, with your master's skills, killing a prince would be a piece of cake, wouldn't it?"

Jinzhu shook her head and said, "Since what happened ten years ago, this person has been living in seclusion all these years. We have no way of tracking his whereabouts, so how can we kill him?"

Upon hearing this, Long Aotian immediately snapped his fingers and pointed at her, saying, "Hey, this matches up! I can't just hand the man over to you directly. But as a condition of the deal, I can reveal his location to you. You can kill him yourselves, how about that?"

Jinzhu was momentarily stunned by his words, and after a while, she asked in confusion, "Huh?", "Is this really okay...?"

Long Aotian waved his hand and said, "There's nothing wrong with it, as long as those long-winded ministers don't know that I handed the person over to you."

Jin Zhu looked at Long Aotian, suddenly smiled, then shook her head and said, "Lord Shen, I think you still don't understand the situation."

"What's happening?"

"This Prince Li was one of your benefactors back then..."

She thought that Long Aotian would change his mind after she said that, but to her surprise, he waved his hand dismissively and said, "So what? I have amnesia, I can't remember anything, let's just pretend none of this happened~"

In fact, even if there was such a favor, it was for Shen Lian, not Long Aotian. So whether Prince Li lived or died had nothing to do with him.

He's come to understand a principle these past few days: if you're not ruthless, you can't stand firm.

To stop the Shang Dynasty's army, some extraordinary methods must be used...

Jinzhu was completely shocked. Her eyes widened slightly as she looked at Long Aotian, her gaze seeming to say, "So this is how it's done?"

Seeing her stunned expression, Long Aotian laughed heartily and said, "I've already come up with a solution for the most difficult condition. How about the remaining condition? Can you offer some discount?"

Looking at Long Aotian's cunning and calculating appearance, Jinzhu felt for the first time that this man had changed!

Back then, Shen Lian was silent and decisive in battle. He alone was enough to withstand a thousand cavalry!

But what's with this sly, cunning feeling? And why does it feel like I'm some kind of old fox?!

"How much discount do you want?" Jinzhu asked cautiously.

"Three million is indeed a bit too much. It won't be easy for me to negotiate when I get back." Long Aotian scratched his head, and after careful consideration, he held up one finger and said, "How about one million taels?"

Upon hearing this, Jin Zhu's expression turned extremely serious, and she immediately said, "One million taels? Lord Shen, you're haggling way too much! You're not even willing to accept half the price?! No, absolutely not!"

After Jin Zhu firmly refused, Long Aotian's expression remained unchanged. He simply smiled and continued, "Hey, Miss Jin, shouldn't we business people discuss things reasonably? If you're not satisfied with my terms, then you can always offer another one!"

Jin Zhu was speechless, feeling that these words sounded familiar. She immediately countered, "280 million taels, no less!"

Long Aotian shook his head, "120 million taels, that's the most I can offer!"

"270 taels!"

"130 million taels."

"270 taels!"

"120 million taels."

Jinzhu: "Lord Shen, isn't your method of cutting the price wrong? Can't you raise it a little?"

Long Aotian shrugged and said, “Miss Jin, a mine is already quite good for this price. Go look around the market, where else can you find a mine that sells for this price? Besides, what do you need so much money for? I’m saving money to raise funds for the army so we can protect our country. If the Celestial Dynasty falls, how good will your situation be? Why don’t you loosen your grip and become friends with me? Consider this money you’ve saved an investment. If the Celestial Dynasty survives, I’ll definitely get promoted and become rich. Then you can come and rely on me, and you won’t have to live a life of hiding anymore, right?”

“Invest, invest.” Jinzhu was taken aback when she heard this.

Over the next incense stick's time, Long Aotian explained his battle plan and his two secret weapons to her in detail.

These are all the methods he intends to use to deal with the Celestial Empire. He tells her these things in order to gain her trust. He needs to make her believe in him first so that she will be willing to invest in him.

"So, did you understand everything I just said?"

"No, Lord Shen, I'm just an accountant; I know almost nothing about leading troops into battle, so even if you tell me that, I still..."

Seeing that she still didn't understand, Long Aotian immediately stood up and asked for pen, ink, paper and inkstone, intending to use a more intuitive method to help her understand.

About an hour later, Jinzhu finally couldn't hold back any longer and immediately compromised, saying, "Alright, alright, Lord Shen, I'm really impressed. Let's make it 250 million then, that's really the lowest I can go..."

Upon hearing this, Long Aotian picked up the teapot and poured a large gulp into his mouth to moisten his dry throat. He then praised her highly, saying, "Miss Jin, you truly have excellent judgment. You will definitely not regret this decision, and it will benefit you for the rest of your life!"

This series of clever rhetoric left Jinzhu somewhat dazed, as if the Celestial Empire were about to stage a spectacular comeback and drive the Shang Dynasty out of the country...

"By the way, I have another question I'd like to ask you."

"what?"

Jinzhu looked at Long Aotian warily and said, "Let me tell you, this time even if you talk yourself hoarse, I won't reduce your price by a single penny..."

Long Aotian waved his hand and said, "Am I that kind of person?" On the contrary, he not only didn't want to reduce the amount, but he wanted to increase it for them.

"Such a good thing is possible?" Jinzhu was somewhat skeptical.

"Of course, don't worry." Long Aotian nodded emphatically and said, "We're all people in the martial arts world. Gangs like yours should all have jobs like accepting commissions to help kill people, right?"