Sage was a little surprised to see such flirting right out of the gate, but he was briefed beforehand that this was one of Zhuge Xinyan’s most common tactics. There were many men that were easily swayed by a pretty face and just like having a gorgeous auctioneer, having a pretty and flirtatious business partner gave them an advantage. Even if they didn’t fall for her entirely, they were still more likely to give her a better deal after she flirts and pouts at them. It was just unfortunate for her that her prior business deals had been made with Sage’s wife Ling.

Now that she was meeting with the new Clan Leader, Yating, she seemed to be trying to appeal to him with beauty. It’s just too bad for her that Ling had taught her children from a young age not to fall for such things. In fact, she even got some criticism that exposing them to such issues when they were young had led to her fifth child, Yahui, being such a degenerate in his early years. Sage felt it was far more likely it was because they had pheromone control powers and knew they were the rulers of a whole world. They were bound for at least one of their ten kids to go out of control.

Zhuge Xinyan didn’t seem to be discouraged by the lack of response from Yating. Instead she kept on trying to flirt, “Unfortunately, I didn’t come all this way just to see you, Lang Yating. I may enjoy the view, but sadly we’ve got other business to discuss. We’ve had such a great relationship so far that we were sad to find out you didn’t bring your new products to us! You know we’d love to sell them for you.”

“That’s so kind of you to offer, but don’t you worry your pretty little head. We’ve already figured out how to market and distribute our products ourselves, you don’t need to waste any time doing any work on our behalf.”

“Really? How impressive! So you know exactly what you’re doing and aren’t going to sell any of your new products through Thousand Treasures? Are you sure you can handle things properly? You don’t want to use our distribution channels?”

“You really are so nice, but don’t stress yourself. The Lang Clan has plenty of airships and guards to protect them. We don’t need Thousand Treasures, the Black Dog Company, or even the Iron Mountain. We are very confident in our vault as well.”

The older Zhuge couple who had been quiet this whole time had serious looks on their faces as they glared at Ling, “Are you sure you know what you’re getting into? It’s not too late to change your mind, but once we leave you know what will happen.”

Ling smiled at Zhuge Xinyi and her husband Zhuge Haoran. She nodded slowly, “I believe the Clan Leader knows exactly what he’s doing.”

Sage was somewhat surprised by how much subtext was involved in this little private meeting. He’d assumed that with so few people they could skip all the pretense and veiled words, but he was wrong. They both spoke so calmly with words that might be considered to be kind conversation, but actually conveyed so much more. It was especially telling when the Zhuge’s finished their cups of tea and then left. They didn’t bother to waste any more words, giving the Lang Clan only a few more minutes to change their minds before they left.

The representatives from Thousand Treasures left a few hours later, having visited them for only a single night before returning to where they came from. The Lang Clan already had a very good idea of what was going to happen next.

In fact, they’d already been experiencing a little bit of it already. Lotus Valley was known for their entertainment venues. Each location was a restaurant, teahouse, brothels, drug-den, and casino. Lotus Valley could cater to any vice. Many other smaller businesses existed, but it was almost like Lotus Valley let them remain to act as a comparison to the greatness of their own businesses. These types of establishments were also perfect for gathering information, which was the true power of Lotus Valley.

The Prosperity Company had already irked them, as its luxury and services were unique and unusual. Offering some things the people had never even imagined, like a waterpark, along with a set of extremely comfortable services with its spa treatments. No one had thought to combine a bathhouse, barber, masseuse, pedicures, and cosmetics into one. It was truly pampering on the level of nobility that anyone could access. They were tolerated as their services were quite expensive and their popularity was still far below that of Lotus Valley. At least until recently.

Yahui changed everything, though it took the Lotus Valley quite some time to figure that out.

The compartmental nature of the falcons meant that all their actions were not so easily tied to the Lang Clan. Some of them bought businesses while others merely invested in and backed other normal citizens purchasing different businesses. Some of them merely got hired at established businesses and worked their way up to management positions. While the spies of Lotus Valley catered to the richest and most powerful members of society, the Lang Clan’s information network spread into the lower levels. They couldn’t reliably gather the most important information, but they could collect many rumors and piece together a story out of them.

After nearly a decade in operation, Lotus Valley finally realized what was going on and tried to take them down. Unfortunately for them, capturing an agent only led to a few others before the trail went cold. Each of them only knew a few others they were trained with as well as their teacher, and most of the people they trained with were sent to somewhere far away from them. The trainers were far more trustworthy and were not so easily coerced to give up their own trainers. Even if they did, those trainers, just like the others trained with them, would be stationed somewhere far away. They had Messaging Jades only they could use and if they died or willed it, those jades could self-destruct.

It was only after a few dozen of their agents had been hunted down that Yahui finally made himself known to Lotus Valley. Rather than continue to lose people or start a war he chose to use intimidation. After making a threat, Lotus Valley’s spies tried to kill him, but Yahui always had the protection of a Nascent Soul from the Purple Mist Sect. Since they tried to go after him, Yahui’s guard stepped into action and eliminated the majority of an elite team.

As one of the Four Major Businesses of the Dou Kingdom, Lotus Valley wasn’t inferior to any of the first rate powers. They also had more than a few Nascent Souls of their own, but after the show of force, they decided not to start a war over a ‘small business’. Just like they allowed the smaller restaurants, teahouses and casinos to exist, they also let the Lang Clan information network continue.

Or at least they had in the past. As soon as the representatives from Thousand Treasures left the Lang Clan’s headquarters in Lionheart Town, Messaging Jades were put to use and many things were set into motion.