Read Novel Full Chapter 1030 - 100: Negotiating with a Tiger for Its Skin (Part 2)
Chapter 1030: Chapter 100: Negotiating with a Tiger for Its Skin (Part 2)
From a young age, the two of them knew each other and have always been competing against one another. They both wanted to surpass the other.
Previously, Swamp Prefecture held a trade conference, which was initiated by Song Dachuan. Before the conference was held, no one had high hopes, but Song Dachuan believed in its potential, thinking Swamp Prefecture had great development prospects. Duan Jiangcheng, however, did not attend the trade conference in Swamp Prefecture.
Upon arriving at Swamp Prefecture and witnessing the benefits brought by the trade conference, Song Dachuan felt very proud. After the conference ended, he immediately rushed back to Gusu and persuaded his parents to move most of their business to Swamp Prefecture.
Song Dachuan’s parents agreed to his proposal and also allowed him to stay in Swamp Prefecture to conduct business. After the Duan Family learned the advantages of the trade conference hosted by Prince Han, they did not hesitate and quickly sent their youngest son to Swamp Prefecture to do business.
In regards to participating in the trade conference held at Swamp Prefecture, Duan Jiangcheng lost to Song Dachuan, and the Duan Family also lost the opportunity to seize the initiative ahead of the Song Family in Swamp Prefecture.
Song Dachuan felt he achieved great success at the trade conference, believing that future business in Swamp Prefecture and the responsibility to monitor Prince Han would fall to him. However, unexpectedly, the higher-ups assigned Duan Jiangcheng to share the responsibility with him, which made him very dissatisfied, but he had no choice but to accept.
All along, Song Dachuan wanted to overshadow Duan Jiangcheng, making him unable to catch up. Hence, he had been secretly investigating the Pei Family descendants over the years. He knew that the item was likely hidden in the Pei Family’s Treasure, and by finding the Pei Family descendants, he would surely find the treasure, and perhaps discover something very important to the Southern Wei people.
Originally, Song Dachuan did not pay attention to Liang Dingyuan, as Liang Dingyuan was the Vice Minister of Personnel, and he had no interactions with him. By chance, Song Dachuan went to a teahouse to eat and happened to meet Liang Dingyuan. He heard someone call Liang Dingyuan "Master Pei," which immediately caught his attention.
He was not attentive to everyone with the surname "Pei," because in Great Zhou, there were too many people with the surname Pei, and not all were descendants of the Pei Family. The reason he was "attracted" to Liang Dingyuan was that Liang possessed a refined and noble aura, which wasn’t something that an ordinary family could nurture. Later, he learned that Liang was the Vice Minister of Personnel, which shocked him.
Although most officials in Prince Han’s court were young, there weren’t many like Liang Dingyuan, who became the Vice Minister of Personnel in his twenties.
At that moment, Song Dachuan did not think Liang Dingyuan was part of the Pei Family, but he was somewhat curious about him, so he sent people to investigate Liang Dingyuan. This investigation revealed an astonishing fact—Liang Dingyuan was indeed a descendant of the Pei Family.
Over the years, Song Dachuan had sent people to investigate the Pei Family descendants across Great Zhou, the Western Regions, Xiongnu, Annan, and other foreign countries, yet there was never any news until unexpectedly, they were right in Swamp Prefecture, right before his eyes. Truly, it was like searching high and low only to find it effortlessly.
Song Dachuan felt that this was God helping him. If he found the Pei Family’s Treasure and that item, he would achieve great merit, not only could he crush Duan Jiangcheng underfoot but also rise to high ranks.
The ecstasy of discovering the Pei Family descendants did not make Song Dachuan lose his cool. He did not spread the news of finding Liang Dingyuan, nor did he share this good news with his family. He planned to find the Pei Family’s Treasure and uncover that item before revealing everything to everyone.
He initially thought finding Liang Dingyuan would lead him directly to the Pei Family’s Treasure and that item. But unexpectedly, Liang Dingyuan had lost his memory. At first, he did not believe Liang Dingyuan’s amnesia, but later investigations confirmed that Liang lost his memory due to a childhood fever.
While investigating Liang Dingyuan’s amnesia, he discovered that the person who saved Liang years ago was Prince Han. Liang Dingyuan lost his memory due to the fever, not knowing his surname or given name, and Prince Han was the one who gave him his name and surname. This indicated that Prince Han knew about the Pei Family affairs and might be aware of the existence of the Southern Wei people. Fortunately, Liang Dingyuan had no childhood memories, and Prince Han was unaware of the Pei Family’s Treasure or the existence of that item.
Prince Han knowing about the Southern Wei people’s existence was extremely important. Song Dachuan originally planned to report this immediately, but upon reflection, if he notified the higher-ups that Prince Han knew about the Southern Wei people, they would thoroughly investigate how Prince Han came to know, consequently discovering Liang Dingyuan and learning he was a Pei Family descendant, leading to his merits losing value.