"Wh...what? My daughter and...what did Brother Liu do last night?"

Faced with Liu Bei's frankness, Ailinklo was secretly delighted, but still pretended to be surprised and looked at Liu Bei with disbelief.

"It was all my fault, and it has nothing to do with your daughter. Please rest assured, Patriarch Ailin, that I am not a heartless person and will definitely take responsibility for your daughter and for the reputation of the Ailin family!"

"If the head of the Erin family would be willing to marry your daughter to me, I will certainly make her my principal wife and honor you as my father-in-law!"

Liu Bei also stood up and made a sincere request to Elinclo.

"Sigh!"

Ailinklo sighed, "I only have this one daughter, and I have cherished her as the apple of my eye since she was a child. The fact that she and Prince Liu are so in love shows that she also likes Prince Liu very much."

As long as my daughter is happy, what can I, as her father, say?

Furthermore, given Liu Huangdi's noble status, it is truly an honor for my daughter to marry you!

Liu Bei also showed delight: "In that case, thank you for your kindness, Patriarch Ailin. I will immediately send someone to prepare the betrothal gifts, and then come to propose marriage!"

"Haha, very good, very good! Then I will await the arrival of Imperial Brother Liu!"

Seeing Liu Bei's initiative, Elingklow also laughed out with delight.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Liu Bei took his leave and then, with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, went to prepare the betrothal gifts.

Not long after Liu Bei left, Ailinkai also came to the front hall with the account books.

"Father, after my careful planning, the money and resources our family can mobilize are worth a total of 400,000 gold coins!"

"Huh? Why is there so little?"

Elinclos frowned, took the ledger with a displeased expression, and carefully flipped through it.

“Father, in April of this year, the governor received His Majesty’s order to dispatch a legion to attack Parthia.”

The legion's military expenses, weapons and equipment, and food and logistics are all shared equally by our families.

So far, our family has spent nearly 300,000 gold coins!

"Hmph~, it's just a legion, how could it cost so much money? I entrusted this matter to you, and this is how you handle things?"

Upon hearing Elinkais's report, Elinkais snorted coldly, clearly dissatisfied with his son's competence.

Elinkey looked bitter: "Father, if it's just one of our Egyptian legions, it really wouldn't cost that much money."

However, the other provinces were too poor to support themselves, and His Majesty and the Senate refused to contribute funds. In the end, the expenses for the legions of all the provinces fell entirely on our side.

Finally, Ailinkai added, "But they also said that these are all loans on their part, and they will repay us with interest after we return victorious!"

Elingcrown glanced at his son: "That sounds nice, but haven't you heard? Although we won this battle, we didn't gain much substantial benefit. The Parthian reparations were only around 20 million."

His Majesty and the Senate will take at least fifteen million, and in the end, without a single province, there will only be about five hundred thousand left, which is just enough to reward the soldiers. Where will there be any extra money to repay us?

"Other provinces are better off, after all, the land routes have been opened up, and they can make a fortune through trade."

But Egypt profits from maritime trade. Land routes not only don't help us, but they also allow them to take away our rightful share of the trade.

In this war, we not only failed to gain any benefit, but we also spent money and effort, creating a group of competitors for ourselves!

"this……"

Hearing his father's words, Ailinkai was speechless for a moment, not knowing what to do.

Lending money to other provinces was ultimately initiated by him.

If things were really as his father said, wouldn't he become a sinner in Egypt? Then the Erin family would be hated by other families.

Thinking of all this, Erin asked somewhat flusteredly, "Father...Father, what should we do next?"

Elinklo said solemnly, "If it were before, there really wouldn't be any way, but things are different now."

"With Liu Huangdi joining our Ailin family, this might actually be an opportunity for us to rise to power."

"What does Father mean...?"

Elinklo waved his hand: "Let's wait until Brother Liu arrives and ask him for his opinion first!"

"yes!"

...

On the other side, after leaving Ai Lin's house, Liu Bei arrived at Hanren Street, located in the east of the city.

Looking at the streets, so distinctly in the style of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bei suddenly felt a sense of disorientation, as if he had returned to the Han Dynasty.

"Just watch, one day I will make the whole West like this!"

After muttering something softly, Liu Bei walked straight towards the center of the street.

After walking for a short while, Liu Bei arrived at a shop with a sign that read: Royal Trading Company Office.

Inside were mostly merchants from the Han Dynasty, handling various trade matters through the office staff.

After all, these merchants were thousands of miles away overseas, and their individual capabilities were limited. Naturally, they needed to band together for mutual support. Therefore, the Royal Trading Company took on the responsibility of leading the way, helping these merchants protect their rights and manage the allocation of goods.

Liu Bei then stepped inside and walked straight toward a special window.

This window is specifically for individuals or government officials with special transactions.

"My name is Liu Bei, courtesy name Xuande. I wish to see the person in charge here!"

Upon reaching the window, Liu Bei took out a token from his pocket and handed it over.

"Please wait a moment!"

Upon seeing the unique mark of the imperial family on the token, the staff at the window dared not delay. After respectfully returning the token to Liu Bei, they hurriedly ran to the back.

A short while later, a young man of similar age to Liu Bei hurriedly walked over from the back room.

"My name is Mi Zhu. I greet you, Brother Xuande!"

This person was none other than Mi Zhu, the eldest son of the Mi family in Xuzhou.

Liu Bei returned the greeting with a cupped hand: "Manager Mi, you are too kind. I have come here to discuss important matters with you!"

"Brother Xuande, please follow me to the back hall for a talk!"

Mi Zhu suddenly realized, then turned to the side and gestured for him to enter.

Liu Bei nodded, then stepped forward and walked towards the back hall.

After the two were seated in the back hall, Mi Zhu asked first, "Brother Xuande, what brings you here to discuss this matter?"

Liu Bei said solemnly, "I have come to Rome on His Majesty's orders to carry out a special mission, and therefore I need your cooperation..."

"Brother Xuande, please speak freely, and I will do my utmost to assist you!"

Mi Zhu agreed to Liu Bei's request without hesitation.

After all, the Royal Merchant Guild, in a sense, was all the Emperor's people, and they naturally had an inescapable responsibility for the Emperor's affairs.