Chapter 17 Prelude to the Storm
A month passed, and it was July, the hottest time.
The trees outside Eagle Castle have long been cut down, and there is no annoying sound of cicadas, but under the long scorching sun, the castle is as hot as a steamer.
"Well..."
Denise combed a strand of slightly damp hair back and exhaled a breath of hot and boring breath, but the expression on her face revealed her joyful mood Revealed.
Thanks to Raven's marketing and her superb business skills, Angel's Tears sold for a high price of one gold coin and seventy silver coins per bottle.
Although Lei Wen gave away more than 60 bottles for promotion, and the first batch sold to nobles were mostly discounted, a total of 376 bottles were sold, excluding various costs. , in the first month alone, a total profit of 336 gold coins and 55 silver coins was obtained.
Of course, 70% of this belongs to Raven, but even so, Federo Business has a hundred gold coins in its account.
The nobles will not buy in large quantities in the short term, but they can have a great demonstration effect. As long as it becomes popular, sales should not drop too much for at least the next year.
This is indeed a good deal.
In less than a year, her initial investment will be completely repaid, and all subsequent income will be pure profits. Even if sales decline later, the dividend she will receive every year should not be less than 500 gold coins.
Five hundred gold coins!
This is almost equivalent to a gold-gold town, and the net profit of Federo Business in a year is only so much!
And all of this stemmed from Raven's invention. From start to finish, it only took three days.
Denise felt that she could not see through this man more and more. Was he really just a gangster from a lowly background?
Boom, boom, boom.
There was a knock on the door: "Mrs. Denise, you want the ice-cold angel tears."
"Come in." Denise leaned back on the chair, ready to enjoy it. A rare relaxing time in summer.
The door opened, and the maid was about to bring the plate in, when she suddenly found a big hand holding it under the plate. She was surprised and was about to scream when she saw Raven's face.
His index finger was raised to his lips, signaling her to be silent, and then he turned his head slightly.
The maid understood and left quietly.
Leaven walked into the room carrying the dinner plate and gently closed the door.
On this sultry summer day, Denise was wearing very thin clothing, only a thin lavender silk dress.
Dampened by sweat, the thin layer of silk skirt gently stuck to her tender skin, making it difficult to tell whether the silk made her skin look tighter or whether her skin made the silk look firmer. Become more tender and smooth.
She closed her eyes and leaned on the back of the chair. Her black hair was scattered, her plump red lips were extremely eye-catching, and her slender and slender neck showed a sexy and alluring moist luster.
Next is the plump figure, without any sagging, holding up the clothes in a sexy arc.
Vacuum.
Under the silk skirt, her knees were facing each other, her legs were slightly spread apart, and her ten toes were playfully spread apart on the soft carpet, each one dyed with a fresh bright red color.
Raven couldn't bear to break this beautiful scenery. He tiptoed forward, placed the tray on the table, poured a glass of wine quietly, and handed it to Denise's hand.
The latter's hand touched the cup, his index finger fell on the back of Raven's hand, and he suddenly opened his eyes: "Why are you here!?"
She wanted to stand up, but the position of her legs made it difficult for her to exert strength. She fell down halfway and let out a muffled groan.
The water ripples.
"This is my castle. I can be wherever I want." Raven said, "And I advise you not to move around. The more you move, the clearer I can see."
"Scoundrel!" Denise gave him a hard look, threw the wine glass on the table, and stood up despite his dissuasion. Twisting her slender waist, she walked to the closet and took out a heavy nightgown to cover herself: "What are you going to do again?"
Denise has a tall and plump figure and is wearing light clothing. The process of walking from the silk skirt to the wardrobe is so eye-catching, making people want to rush up and take this beautiful scenery into their arms.
Raven adjusted his posture so as not to aggrieve his second brother, and said with a smile: "Of course you are here to urge me for the final payment. Auntie, you still owe me seven hundred gold coins."
" When the funds come back, of course I will give it to you." Denise said, "Business is about win-win cooperation. If I go bankrupt, it will not do you any good."
"Of course I know this." Raven's eyes fell on her neck, which was becoming sweaty due to the heat: "But I urgently need a sum of money now, so you can't add more. "Jin?"
"Impossible." Denise hated Raven's gaze, but she couldn't cover it up any more - it was too hot.
This feeling of heat made her even more irritated: "Last time, in order to deliver the three hundred gold coins to you, I diverted the money to buy autumn grain. This time, the profits must be made up immediately."
"If you want quick money, then give me the formula for making the magical liquid of Angel Tears!"
Raven shook his head: "You know it's impossible."
"Then please wait patiently." Denise pointed to the door and said, "Now I have to proceed. For the next stage of business planning, please get out of my room immediately!"
Raven spread his palms: "You can't go back to Men'en City and borrow money in the name of Federo Business! ..."
Before he finished speaking, a pillow hit his head.
With a snap, the pillow was firmly caught by Raven. He lowered his head and took a deep breath: "Hmm...it smells so good. Is it the rouge produced by [Elegant Lady]?"
Denise was shy again. Angry again: "Raven!!"
"Oh, oh, calm down, Aunt Denise, a calm heart will naturally cool down, you just think too much and you are so hot." Raven slowly said to He backed away: "Since you don't agree, uncle, I'll leave first."
He stepped back step by step, and just when he was about to leave, he suddenly turned back: "By the way, I still prefer The purple one.”
Denise was stunned for a moment, then looked down at her toes, not knowing what to do for a moment.
Raven closed the door and shook his head slightly.
Of course he didn't come here simply to tease Denise - of course, this was indeed very interesting.
He was worried about another thing.
Back in the conference room, Old Gordon was already waiting here: "Sir Raven, everything has been arranged according to your instructions, and nothing is missing."
"Weiss Did Dong come to cause trouble?" Raven asked.
A smile appeared on Gordon's face: "No, Master Weston heard that it was your order and didn't even dare to get close."
"But is this really good, Lei?" Master Wen, after all, this is Eagle Castle..."
"Just because it is Eagle Castle, that's why I have to do this." Raven said decisively: "Starting tonight, you. Just go and stay at Eric's house with Poirot, and remember, don't tell anyone else."
"Your decision is always wise," Gordon said with a bow: "I will obey your orders. "My lord."
There was a sound of rapid footsteps, and a maid anxiously reported: "My lord, it's not good, Mr. Poirot is injured!"
Raven immediately became vigilant. Poirot mastered the technology of saponification reaction, so he couldn't help but ignore it: "Don't worry, tell me in detail."
"Lord Poirot is injured, seriously injured. , There was a big burn on my right hand, it looked like moldy rotten flesh!" The maid had a look of fear and panic on her face.
Her expression was very confusing, but Raven also heard that Poirot's life was not in danger: "Where are the others? Take me there."
"Yes, yes!" The maid didn't even care. He saluted, turned around and walked ahead.
Leaven sighed quietly, the quality of this maid was really worrying.
But there is nothing that can be done about it. In this world, there are professions of maids and maids, but the relationship of personal attachment is very strong. They are usually sent to noble territories at a very young age, and then undergo rigorous training, and they work for a lifetime.
In order to reduce the expenses of the castle and reduce the possibility of his secret being discovered, Donald fired all the trained maids and male servants in the castle. The ceremony was held a month ago The ones above were all rented by Gordon from Goldshire at a high price.
Nowadays, the finances of Eagle Castle are gradually easing, and there are three more rough maids in the castle. However, they are all from the territory, and they have not had time to train. They have nothing to choose from, so they can only make do with it.
All the way to the ward, Raven smelled a salty smell as soon as he entered the door, which was obviously the smell of sodium hydroxide solution.
Poirot was lying on the hospital bed holding his hand, sweating profusely. A maid was busy bandaging his hand with gauze, but the effect was minimal, and blood was seeping out of the gauze.
"My lord, why are you here?" Poirot sat up from the hospital bed and glared at the maid: "Didn't I tell you not to disturb your lord?!"
"Yes. I came here myself." Raven sighed helplessly. He said in a cold voice: "You two go out to do things first, I will handle it here."
The maid in charge of bandaging trembled: "But sir..."
"Get out!" Lei Wen strengthened his tone, and the two maids quickly bowed and turned to leave.
Pulling the gauze apart bit by bit, Poirot gritted his teeth.
Although he had a premonition in his heart, Raven couldn't help but take a breath when he saw the wound.
On the fat palm, the skin was burned to become twisted and thick, like a tightened fishing net, and the tender meat inside was exposed, like a sausage that had been grilled and exploded, and there was gurgling blood. flow from it.
“How could it be like this?” Raven asked: “Didn’t I tell you that you must wear gloves when handling caustic soda!?”
“Sir, The weather is really too hot. I have been wearing gloves all day, and both hands are covered with prickly heat..." Poirot lowered his head and muttered: "And I didn't expect that it would suddenly explode when heated..." < br>
Raven asked: "The iron pot you used!?"
Poirot blushed: "Yes...yes, there were not enough wooden barrels at that time..."
"You Really, really desperate!" Raven was going to be angry at him. Laughed: "Do you think the rules I set for you are a joke!?"
Sodium hydroxide and iron react at high temperatures to produce water, ferric oxide and hydrogen. The first two are nothing. , the third one is a fatal thing!
I can only say that it was fortunate that it exploded directly in the pot. If it had been left to react for a while, I'm afraid the entire kitchen would have been scrapped.
Pulling a basin of water from the side, Raven pressed Poirot's hand into it, then turned around, poured out half of the self-replenishing healing potion into the water bowl, and handed it to Poirot: "Drink it."
Poirot nodded and drank the medicine After taking the dose, he exclaimed: "Oh my god, it's amazing!"
The wound on his hand began to close at an extremely fast speed, and the bleeding was stopped at that time. Although it was not completely healed, it It will take at least half a month before you can continue your activities.
"You should rest at home for half a month." Raven said: "I will hire people from Goldshire to make food for the next period of time."
Poirot didn't want to Losing this well-paid job: "But Lord Raven..."
"Don't worry, no one will take your place." Raven said with a smile: "After you recover from your injury, if you don't want to make improvements to Angel's Tears, just focus on your job."
“Yes, my lord!” Poirot nodded: “I promise, I will never disobey your order next time!”
“Well, I believe you.” Raven patted his shoulder and turned to leave.
For a lord, chef and guard are the two most important positions. If you have a conflict with anyone, you cannot get angry or fall out with these two people. Even if you can no longer use them, you must appease them. Substitute again.
Because their positions are related to the safety of the lord.
Raven grew up watching the Romance of the Three Kingdoms in his previous life, and he didn't want to make the same mistake as a guy with a leopard head and ringed eyes and a snake spear eight feet long.
“Talents are rare!” Walking in the castle, Raven sighed quietly.
Poirot did make a big mistake, but Raven still couldn't replace him.
After all, except Poirot, no one is qualified for the task of preparing glycerin.
Although it is technically not difficult, it also requires operational precision, and since it is related to the secret of Angel Tears, only those who are absolutely loyal can do it.
Most of the people in the territory are loyal, but they are not smart enough. If you want to teach them, God knows how much time it will take.
And if more people know about it, the news will inevitably leak out.
"Lord Raven!" Eric's figure appeared at the end of the corridor: "I heard you are looking for me?"
"How are the talks about equipment procurement going?" Raven asked.
“Not too optimistic.” Eric said: “Most of the best bows nearby are produced in Thousand Needle Pine Forest, which is now in the hands of the Wharton family. They ask for five gold coins for a bow of three gold coins. It’s really It’s too expensive. I’ve sent someone to contact Meng’en City.”
Raven was not surprised by this result.
A month ago, after returning to Ironforge, Angel woke up and scolded Judra, and declared that Judra's promise was completely invalid, and the Wharton family would never will hand over the benefits they deserve.
This is certainly against the credibility of the nobles, but apart from a few mild criticisms, no one stood up to uphold justice and help order.
After all, if there is no conflict of interests, who would wade into such muddy waters for no reason?
Leaven asked: "There are still some good beech trees in the warehouse, can't we make our own bows?"
"I'm afraid it's not that easy." Eric smiled bitterly: "I once saw the production process of a strong bow. It is very complicated. It requires dozens of procedures. The process is very long. It can't be made in less than three years, and the yield rate is very low. It's very low, otherwise the price wouldn't be so high. "
Leaven asked casually. Hearing this, he could only sigh again: "Talents are rare!"
"Actually, there is a way." Eric said, "Just. However, it’s not that glorious..."
Raven's eyes lit up, and he looked at his retainer with some surprise. He didn't expect Eric, who had thick eyebrows, small eyes, and an upright face, to say something like this: "What's so disgraceful, tell me?"< br>
“You know, the mainland two hundred and thirty years ago The convention clearly prohibits the slave trade." Eric was a little embarrassed, but he still introduced in a low voice: "But the Bloody Highlands don't care about this. I heard that there is often slave trading there, and there are many skilled dwarves, gray dwarves and gnomes. ”
Raven became interested: "What about the others?"
"Are there elves, catwomen, fox girls, and drows?!"
Eric said: "I guess there are. Yeah..."
Lei Wen asked: "What's the price?"
"I haven't been to this, so Izaya doesn’t know much about it,” Eric said, “But I heard something about it when I was with Mr. Donald. It is said that the price of an elf can reach tens of thousands of gold coins. As for dwarves and gray dwarves, It ranges from a thousand gold coins to several hundred gold coins, and if you have extraordinary power, the price will be even higher.”
Raven had an expectant smile on his face. Although he didn't have enough money now, he would have enough money sooner or later. He was already looking forward to that scene...
The sound of rapid footsteps suddenly reminded him of Gower. He rushed in with sweat on his head:
"Lord Raven! As you expected, traces of rogue bandits were found near Yingzui Mountain!"
At the same time, Jin Jinzhenxiong Inside the Eagle Wings Inn.
A man in a brown cloak knelt down on one knee: "Lord Hyde, I just received the news that people have arrived!"
Hyde asked: "How is the strength?"
The man replied: "Two first-level extraordinarys, six first-level monster mounts, and sixteen masters of murder and robbery. Last year, Viscount John was led by a second-level knight. The team of 20 people they led was destroyed in their hands during the transportation process! ”
"Very good." A cold smile appeared on Hyde's face: "Tell them that they don't have to hold back, just leave Raven a life."
"Leaven, since you refuse to accept Pay these five thousand gold coins, and I’ll use them to knock you out!”
……
(End of this chapter)