An uninterrupted drizzle fell from a gloomy sky.
Zi Di’s father was buried behind the manor, next to her mother. That was Zi Di’s mother’s dying wish and her father fulfilled it.
At the time, he used his initial profits to marry Zi Di’s mother, purchase everything on this small mountain, and construct this manor.
To Zi Di’s father, this was a witness to his splendid life, it was where his happiness began and also where his life ended.
A priest prayed as the coffin dropped into the grave.
A group of people dressed in black were silent in the solemn atmosphere.
Zi Di stood in front and quietly gazed at the coffin.
Her final relative in this world was buried here.
Her face was expressionless, but her heart brimmed with grief and enmity.
Falling off a horse, what a ridiculous way to die!
As the president of a super-merchant alliance, her father was an iron level cultivator, and his body was a formidable object. Even if it were an explosive blazing horse, he wouldn’t have died.
But this ridiculous reason was accepted by others.
Ignorant people really believed it and sighed that fate was fickle.
Intelligent people or those deeply versed in society’s rule understood——this was actually the imperial officials giving the lower class an ice-cold warning——even with the size of the Wisteria Merchant Alliance, the president can still suddenly die by falling off his horse. You should understand who rules the empire!
The priest’ prayer finished, then someone took an iron shovel and filled the grave with earth.
Not long after, the funeral finished.
“Thank you priest.” As a family member, Zi Di acknowledged the priest.
“Beautiful Miss please lament; I honestly hope your father received the gods’ guidance and has ascended to heaven.” The priest comforted.
Zi Di’s father believed in the wealth god, but he wasn’t pious.
Most of the wealth god’s pious believers were poor, while the rich ones were superficial believers.
This was rational.
The ability to make money all relied on one’s gains from sweat and blood, and no one wished to contribute their wealth to the gods.
The poor longed for riches but could only pray for it, thus they were usually pious believers.
Of course, there were rich pious believers, there were simply less compared to the other gods.
As far as the priest’s blessings were concerned, Zi Di’s heart knew it was impossible.
Don’t speak of her father’s beliefs, the most important part was that after her father died, his soul also dissipated.
In this world, death doesn’t mean a burial. Regardless of whether it was magic or divine spells, there were many methods to step over death and unearth information.
His soul dissipating indicated the assassin was clean and skilled.
The culprit behind the scenes didn’t wish to leave behind any information. They weren’t worried about Zi Di or the people in the merchant alliance, rather they did it to prevent information from falling into the hands of other powers.
Zi Di and the others didn’t know which of her father’s enemies had him killed.
“However, I will still do my best to investigate the truth and avenge you! My……father.”
Zi Di stood like a statue for a long time.
Behind her Fei She sighed and clapped her shoulder: “Don’t be too sad, little Zi Di.”
“The president actually had a premonition.”
“He always loved you and felt ashamed of himself.”
“After you rejected the Garden City Lord, he stood up to pressure and didn’t force you.”
“These last few years, you have refused his funds and instead worked hard by yourself. This made him feel sorry and very gratified. Many times in private, he used your small gains to dazzle me——he had an excellent daughter.”
Zi Di was silent for a long time: “Uncle Fei She, I want a moment alone with my father.”
“Alright.” Fei She nodded, turned to wave, and indicated to the others that they should move away.
Seeing they moved to a distant place, Zi Di looked at the gravestone and began to whisper.
“How long does she want to stay? Are we going to wait too?” Someone lost their patience.
“Hmph, if she wasn’t always hiding in the academy, the Lord President’s burial wouldn’t have been delayed for so long!” Someone expressed their resentment towards Zi Di, “Even if the father and daughter had conflicting views, it shouldn’t be this bad.”
“According to the plans, there will be a meeting following this. Be a bit faster, time is scarce.”
Fei She turned around and looked at the crowd, his different gaze indicated: if you want to wait, you can wait. If you don’t want to wait due to time constraints, you can depart immediately and not participate in the meeting.
The people’s discussion immediately stopped.
Fei She looked at Zi Di again with a worried heart. The group that participated in the funeral were merchant alliance veterans or elders, but nowadays their thoughts were all different. Some wanted to work on their own, some wanted to revitalize the merchant alliance, and some were naturally spies. Compared to her father, Zi Di didn’t have the prestige to keep the situation under control.
At the beginning of the meeting, Zi Di immediately said: “Currently, I still don’t understand how to operate a merchant alliance. If anyone wants to say something, state it directly.”
“Then I will speak, my main product is lion vulture seats. But currently all of the merchant alliance’s alchemists have left and I cannot finish the large order on hand. I need the merchant alliance to give me sufficient alchemists to assist me through this crisis!”
“My business in Stone Statue City has also suffered suppression. Many merchants in the city have united to harm their competition. They hired local gangsters to disturb my storefront and also hired robbers to attempt to burn down my grain depot. I captured the robbers, however the city lord and city guards stationed there are not just.”
“My banks in the Fire Ash province have suffered consecutive bank robberies. Currently my cash flows have fractured, and I need great amounts of capital to support myself.
……
Everyone was in difficult situations, the previous Wisteria Merchant Alliance had been gigantic as it flourished and rapidly expanded into many territories, its speed even scared the president.
But now, everyone knew the Wisteria Merchant Alliance had collapsed and most of its industry had been divided up by the large powers. As the crocodile slowly ate its fill, the stench of blood attracted schools of piranhas. Everyone could see the Wisteria Merchant Alliance was weak, and all of them wanted a bite.
The merchant alliance elders and employees suffered unspeakable misery, this meeting was basically them seeking aid and gathering to warm themselves.
Faced with these requests, Zi Di slowly shook her head: “I can’t help everyone, if fact, I simply don’t know what to do.”
“Miss Zi Di, it is actually very simple.” The banking elder smiled, “We know that for the past few years, your father always remitted money to you for your tuition.:
“However, that sum of money is immense, it far surpasses the amount needed for your studies.”
“I think that is the Lord President’s rainy day fund prepared beforehand, we can use to deal with our current situations.”
Zi Di was safe in the academy, thus the assets in her bank account there were probably safe.
Zi Di blinked: “Are you saying you want me to lend this money to you?”
“That’s right, as long as I cross this crisis I am sure to pay you back, beautiful miss.” The elder replied.
Zi Di nodded: “I agree to this method, in fact, I really want to do my best to help everyone.”
The merchant alliance elders smiled, and some of them praised that Zi Di’s benevolent and assumption of responsibility was just like her father’s.
Zi Di reflected for a while: “I am willing to lend one hundred thousand coins, I hope you can use the Black Horse Market as collateral. There will be a ten percent yearly interest rate.
The merchant alliance elders’ smiles didn’t move.
Fei She laughed to himself. On the road, he warned Zi Di of many things, however after this exchange he was pleasantly surprised to find that Zi Di had matured far beyond his expectations.
Then the banking elder’s look also changed as he got out of his seat: “You robber!”
Notes
Yes, Zi Di is a very kind and benevolent president, just like how Fang Yuan is a very kind and benevolent venerable. Considering the average interest home rate is around ~2.98%, 10% is Zi Di easily making money without doing anything. That is a credit card level interest rate. I really wonder how much Zi Di has in her technically not a trust fund, but it's probably worth less than the stuff she’s currently bleeding on.