DLERB -Chapter 163 The Golden-Haired Barbarians Took the Bait? Prepare That Fake Blueprint for Them!

“People coming to give us money?”

Those words echoed through the grand hall, stabbing into everyone’s ears.

Li Si looked up.

His face was full of confusion.

Wang Jian also frowned.

He had spent his entire life on the battlefield. He had heard of people robbing money, but never of people delivering it themselves.

“Ziye.”

The voice of Ying Zheng carried a trace of puzzlement.

“What do you mean by ‘giving us money’?”

Ying Ziye casually tossed aside the bamboo skewer from his candied hawthorn.

“Father Emperor.”

“That mountain collapsed, and I blasted it open in a single day.”

“Can this matter really be hidden?”

Ying Zheng shook his head.

“It cannot.”

“Then that settles it.”

Ying Ziye spread out his tiny hands.

“They witnessed the power of a god.”

“They want to learn it.”

“They want to steal it.”

He walked over to Li Si.

“Chancellor Li.”

“If you wanted to steal something from someone else’s house, would you charge straight in and rob it?”

“Or would you lurk around outside for a few days first, find an insider, and bribe him with benefits?”

Li Si trembled.

He understood.

Completely understood.

They were not here to give money.

They were here to spend money buying lives and opening roads for themselves!

Ying Ziye then looked toward Ying Zheng.

“Father Emperor, right now they’re just a bunch of thieves wandering around beneath the wall.”

“What we need to do is crack open a small door.”

“Then find an ‘inside man’ and sell them our unwanted trash at an outrageous price.”

Ying Zheng laughed.

Now he understood.

This was yet another trap set by his brilliant son.

A snare woven from gold and greed, created specifically for those overseas barbarians to walk into willingly.

“Approved!”

Ying Zheng uttered only a single word.

“Let Us see just how much money these golden-haired thieves can deliver!”

…

Donghai Commandery.

The coastline.

Tens of thousands of Qin soldiers stood in black armor like a forest, their long halberds rising like mountains.

Several thousand foreign soldiers with blond hair and blue eyes were surrounded so tightly that not even water could leak through.

The atmosphere was murderous.

A Roman commander clad in silver armor and a crimson cape stepped out from the formation.

His name was Lucas.

He was the envoy of this Roman expeditionary force.

Ignoring the cold gleam of the halberd tips around him, he strode directly to the Qin army’s front lines.

Boom!

Behind him, a soldier slammed a heavy wooden chest onto the ground.

The lid opened.

Golden light burst forth.

A chest filled completely with gold coins dazzled the eyes of every Qin soldier present.

Lucas wore the unique arrogance of a Roman.

Using stiff Qin speech with a strange accent, he said:

“Gold.”

“Trade.”

“Meet your Emperor.”

The governor of Donghai Commandery had sweat covering his palms.

The deputy general beside him was already furious.

“General! These barbarians are far too arrogant!”

“Allow me to lead a charge and show them the might of Great Qin!”

The governor stopped him.

Orders from Xianyang had not yet arrived.

He did not dare move.

Nor could he move.

He looked at the Roman named Lucas and forced himself to remain calm.

“Guests who come from afar are guests nonetheless.”

“But not just anyone is qualified to meet the First Emperor of Great Qin.”

“For now, set up camp here.”

Lucas smiled.

That smile was filled with contempt.

This was exactly the result he wanted.

As long as they were allowed to stay—

he had ways to obtain that “divine art” capable of blasting open mountains.

…

Three days later.

Xianyang.

A piece of news spread through every tavern and teahouse as though it had grown wings.

“Have you heard? A group of overseas merchants arrived in Donghai Commandery! They throw around gold like it’s nothing!”

“真的假的？Where did these merchants come from?”

“Who knows? All I know is they’ve got golden hair and blue eyes, and they spend money like water!”

Inside a dim gambling den—

a man lost his final copper coin and was kicked out with a boot to the chest.

His name was Zhao Wu.

He had once been a somewhat wealthy merchant himself.

A few days earlier, he had believed the rumors about the Silver Mountain collapsing and sold off all his dragon notes, exchanging them for piles of worthless copper coins.

Overnight, he lost everything.

Lying on the cold ground, he listened to the discussions around him, and his ears twitched.

Gold?

A greedy flame reignited in his eyes.

He leapt up from the ground.

Selling the last valuable long robe he owned, he exchanged it for a skinny horse.

That very night, he galloped wildly toward Donghai Commandery.

…

Donghai Commandery, Roman military camp.

Lucas looked at the ragged Qin man standing before him, whose face was overflowing with flattery.

“You say you know the magic that can soften stone?”

Zhao Wu bowed repeatedly, grinning like a lapdog.

“My lord, not only do I know about it—I’ve seen it with my own eyes!”

“That wasn’t magic! It was divine power!”

Beside him sat a small chest.

Inside was the advance payment he had just received.

Ten gleaming gold ingots.

He had never seen so much money in his entire life.

“Divine power?”

Lucas’s adjutant sneered beside him.

“It’s probably just another trick from those alchemists.”

“Silence!”

Lucas barked sharply.

He stared at Zhao Wu.

“Continue.”

Seeing hope, Zhao Wu immediately began exaggerating even more enthusiastically.

“That divine art is the exclusive technique of Great Qin’s Ninth Young Master!”

“It’s called the ‘Palm Thunder’!”

“The Ninth Young Master merely pointed at the mountain, and heavenly lightning descended from the sky! With one explosion, the mountain split open!”

He perfectly blended rumors he had heard with his own imagination.

“This technique cannot be learned by mortals, nor understood by gods!”

Lucas’s breathing became slightly hurried.

“Then… how can it be obtained?”

Zhao Wu deliberately lowered his voice mysteriously.

“Though the divine art itself cannot be learned, the Ninth Young Master, in his mercy, once drew the principles of the technique into blueprints.”

“They are hidden in… Xianyang, inside the Directorate of Imperial Manufactories!”

Lucas tightly gripped the hilt of his sword.

The Directorate of Imperial Manufactories.

As long as he knew the location, there would be a way.

He gave his adjutant a look.

The adjutant understood immediately and carried over an even larger chest.

Bang!

The lid opened.

This time, it was filled entirely with gold ingots.

“Take us to Xianyang.”

Lucas’s voice was cold and hard, carrying the absolute tone of command.

“All of this will be yours.”

Zhao Wu’s eyes instantly turned red.

He dropped to his knees with a thud.

“My lord! This humble one is willing to serve you like a dog or horse!”

…

Zhangtai Palace.

Night had grown deep.

On the sand table before Ying Ziye stood rows of tiny flags.

One row represented the Qin army.

The other represented the Roman army.

Qinglong stood silently behind him like a shadow.

A guard from the Black Ice Terrace knelt on one knee, quietly reporting.

“…Zhao Wu has received the gold and successfully convinced the Romans to depart for Xianyang tomorrow.”

“Every single word he said matched exactly what Ninth Young Master predicted.”

Ying Ziye did not turn around.

In his hands, he was casually playing with a complex wooden cube-like mechanism.

With a gentle twist—

the colors of the cube shifted.

“The fish… has taken the bait.”

His childish voice echoed through the vast hall.

“Tell Li Si.”

Ying Ziye paused briefly, restoring the mechanism cube in his hand.

“The banquet can begin.”

He raised his head and looked toward the deep darkness outside the palace.

“And tell the Directorate of Imperial Manufactories…”

“To finish improving that fake ‘Divine Mechanism Crossbow’ blueprint and prepare it for delivery at any moment.”

“And remember—”

“Make it look more convincing.”