Chapter 213 – 4:6 Split
With respects to Zhao Hai’s worry about Laura, if one were to describe her current situation with a single word, then it would be miserable. After Laura received Zhao Hai’s letter, she was stunned. How could she imagine things would end up like this.
Nier looked at Laura, who just sat there foolishly and motionless, and was scared for a moment. Then she ran as fast as she could to look for Quinn John and to inform Karen.
When Quinn John entered Laura’s room, he saw Laura staring blankly as she sat on a sofa. She held a letter in her hand, but was obviously just staring blankly at nothing, not even giving it a glance.
Startled, Quinn John immediately went over to Laura’s side and softly said, “Laura, Little Laura, what happened to you?”
As if she’d just stepped on a cat’s tail, Laura jumped. Her eyes began to tear as she said, “Grandpa Quinn John, what do we do? What should we do?”
Quinn John was scared when he saw how Laura was acting and hastily asked, “What is it? What has happened? Little Laura, calm down and talk to grandpa.”
Laura was consoled by Quinn John’s voice and slowly calmed down. Her tears still fell, however, and she sobbed lightly as she passed the letter in her hand to Quinn John.
Quinn John took the letter and carefully read it. The more he read, the more ugly his face became. He never would have thought that such a situation would happen. Originally, the Markey Dell clan by itself was already a large headache. Adding in the Southern King, and it was no wonder Laura became so agitated.
After he read the letter carefully, Quinn John placed it on the tea table. He looked at Laura and sighed. As he was reading the letter, he had begun to weigh things in his heart. Finally, he concluded that they couldn’t stay in the Purcell Duchy anymore. It wasn’t just the Purcell Duchy, but couldn’t stay the whole of the Aksu Empire.
Quinn John went to Laura’s side and patted her shoulder gently. “It’s alright, Little Laura. Now is not the time to cry. First, think of what we should do.”
At this time, Karen also arrived. When he saw Laura’s tear-stained appearance, he couldn’t help but start and say, “Laura, what’s the matter? Why are you crying? Who bullied you?”
Quinn John smiled bitterly and just passed the letter to Karen. After he read the letter, Karen’s complexion changed. He clearly understood the meaning behind the letter. Although he didn’t go out much, he still knew how strong a character the Southern King was. Now that he suddenly began to intervene, the issue became much more difficult to manage.
Karen placed the letter back on the table and turned to Quinn John. “Uncle, what are your thoughts?”
Frowning, Quinn John said, “Anything we say now is useless. Even if our three sides were to cooperate, we cannot fight against Boric. I think we need to tell Evan of this matter. Then we must prepare to leave the Purcell Duchy as soon as possible. If would be better to leave the Aksu Empire itself.”
Karen also frowned as he said, “We’re going to leave the Aksu Empire. Leave the Aksu Empire in order to avoid being hunted down by Boric. Yet, what about the Markey Dell clan? The Markey Dell clan is situated in the northern area of the continent and possess a very strong influence there. Even if we leave the Aksu Empire, it will be very difficult for us to run away from them. Don’t forget, we have already withdrawn from the clan.”
Quinn John nodded. “This is something I understand as well, but so long as we go to another country, even if we face the Markey Dell clan, it would be alright. By doing so, at least we won’t have to fear Boric going ahead and becoming our enemy.”
Karen thought about it for a while, then nodded. Compared to facing two formidable enemies, it was without a doubt better to face just one. Furthermore, in other countries the Markey Dell clan wasn’t omnipotent.
Laura had calmed down by this time. She cleared away the tears on her face and said, “I’ll immediately go to the Grand Duke’s Mansion and explain the situation to the Grand Duke. Grandpa Quinn John, I’ll leave you here to begin the preparations.”
Quinn John nodded as Laura stood. She told Nier to prepare the carriage as she rushed towards the Grand Duke’s Mansion with the fastest possible speed. The situation must be explained to Evan, especially since Evan had been so good to her. She thought she shouldn’t hide such an important matter.
* * * * *
When Laura arrived at the Grand Duke’s Mansion, Evan was informed of her coming. He immediately welcomed Laura to the study. When he saw Laura enter, he was stunned to see her red eyes, which were obviously caused by crying. Evan didn’t know what matter could make Laura cry this much.
Evan hastily said, “Little Laura, how are you? What happened?”
Laura looked at Evan and bitterly smiled. She reiterated the contents of the letter Zhao Hai had sent. Evan listened to Laura’s explanation and couldn’t help but frown. He hadn’t thought this matter would become so troublesome.
After Laura finished, she looked at Evan and said, “Uncle Evan, the situation this time is very troublesome. We have already come up with a plan. We are ready to temporarily withdraw from the Purcell Duchy. We won’t need to clash with both Boric and the Markey Dell clan that way. What are your thoughts?”
Evan looked at Laura and sighed. “Little Laura, your uncle cannot deceive you. With this kind of situation, our Purcell clan is incapable of participating. Furthermore, we cannot assist you. It is truly better for you to leave. Be at ease that I can keep your stores as is. I will send people to take them over and send you the monthly income. This will work, even if I am temporarily taking them over.”
Surprised, Laura didn’t think Evan would give such a proposal. She couldn’t help but be moved. Laura knew Evan wasn’t seizing her stores. If Evan wanted to seize them, then there was no need to say those words. So long as they leave, it would have been okay for him to take them over freely. Obviously, Evan was doing this out of sincerity.
Laura knew it was risky for Evan to do this. It wasn’t only a possibility of him offending Boric, but he would definitely be offending the Markey Dell clan. She didn’t outright turn down the offer as she thought Evan might get offended, thus, she shook her head as she said, “It’s alright, Uncle Evan. Although you are the patriarch at present, if you really did such a thing, the Elders Assembly will oppose it. It just wouldn’t give any advantages to the Purcell clan, only harm. As such, they will not agree.”
Evan snorted. “I, Evan, never hits a friend when they are down. You can be at ease and feel relieved about giving me the stores. So long as you leave, I can just tell them you sold the stores to me. With this, they cannot say anything. Although the Southern King is formidable, people with high positions invite criticism. In addition, mud cannot be thrown at our Purcell clan so easily. He won’t dare to do much to us.”
Laura agreed to what Evan said as there was no other way. If she didn’t agree, then Evan would think she were looking down at him. She nodded and said, “Alright, I’ll return later and arrange it. I’ll also discuss with Mister when it is convenient and ask him to not break off the supply of Taoyuan products.”
Evan stared as he nodded. “This is good. I’ll see you off as you leave. The stores will be turned over to our Purcell clan and managed by us. They won’t have any reason to take those stores away from us. If they dare to act unreasonably, then don’t blame me for how I react.”
Laura smiled faintly. “Since we must leave, the stores will naturally be turned over to Uncle Evan’s management. Uncle, however, cannot just take care of us and get nothing out of it. If you buy some stakes in the stores, then looking at this, we can divide the proceeds. How about a 4:6 split? We’ll take 4, and the Purcell clan can take 6.”
Evan’s face sank after he heard Laura. “Little Laura, what do you mean by this? Are you looking down at your Uncle Evan? Am I that inadequate? I’m helping you manage the stores, so how can you give me so much money?”
Laura smiled and said, “I won’t ever look down on you, Uncle Evan. But uncle, don’t forget that you are now the Purcell clan’s patriarch. If you don’t do it for the Purcell clan, then they will start to gossip and think, ‘You are sitting in the patriarch’s position, yet you won’t help us?’ I will give you the stores to manage and 60% of the income. This is so those elders of your clan won’t be able to say anything. I haven’t sold the store at a low cost, right?”
Evan calmed down as he understood that Laura was correct. He was the Purcell clan’s genuine patriarch, so he must take the Purcell clan into consideration. In fact, when he decided to help Laura deal with the Markey Dell clan, some of the clan elders were somewhat discontent with the decision and thought it wasn’t worth it. If he now chose to help Laura manage the stores and didn’t get any benefits in return, then the clan elders would definitely disagree.
With this thought, Evan’s heart couldn’t help but feel intolerant. Although he now held real power, he found that there were still many things he couldn’t simply call the shots on. After all, the Purcell clan didn’t practice the idea of ‘What I say goes.’ Those elders also had a certain amount of authority. He couldn’t just completely disregard what they felt.
Evan looked at Laura and couldn’t help but smile bitterly. “Alright, I’ll do as you say. If one day, however, you do come back to the Purcell Duchy, I’ll hand the stores back to you.”
Laura nodded with a smile. Her heart actually ached as she couldn’t believe she would be able to return to the Purcell Duchy one day. She had offended Southern King Boric here in the Aksu Empire. Unless one was from a large aristocratic clan like the Purcell clan, it was impossible for someone like her to return to the Purcell Duchy. She feared she wouldn’t even be able to return to the Aksu Empire.
After discussing this matter with Evan, Laura left the Grand Duke’s Mansion and returned to Faith Mansion. Faith Mansion didn’t show any signs of confusion as most of the servants didn’t know of the situation. One must know that Laura controlled nearly 50% of the shares of the entire Purcell Duchy’s daily necessities. If they panicked here, then the entire duchy’s daily necessity prices will fluctuate. That was something Laura didn’t want to see.
When Laura entered the study, she found Quinn John writing a series of letters. Laura looked at the letters and found that they were to be sent to the Higanbana store managers. It seemed that Quinn John was planning to dissolve the whole of the Higanbana store chain.
Placing the letter back down, Laura said to Quinn John, “Grandpa Quinn John, you don’t need to write these letters. I have reached an agreement with Grand Duke Evan. We will let him handle the stores and the profits will be split between us, 4:6. We’ll take 4, he’ll take 6.”
Notes:
-This chapter was MTL’ed. Please leave a comment for constructive criticisms and advice. Thanks.
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