"What?! A thousand gold coins?!" The next evening, in a corner untouched by the setting sun, a tall, thin old man with gray hair and a gaunt face, dressed in a grey cotton shirt, screamed in shock. This was Locke, the Viscount's head butler. Locke thought to himself, "That's almost three years' worth of taxes! A thousand gold coins is enough to build a three-hundred-man heavy armored knight regiment! This guy's asking for an exorbitant amount; he's trying to bankrupt this family..."
Wood looked embarrassed. He never cared about money and had always been waited on hand and foot. He had no concept of money. When Yun Zhe mentioned a thousand gold coins that night, he agreed without thinking.
Yun Zhe was also embarrassed. When he came out of the tomb, he had stored a large amount of gold and silver coins in his Qiankun bag. Although he hadn't counted them carefully, he estimated there were at least 80,000, if not 100,000. So he didn't think 1,000 gold coins was a lot. Yun Zhe was a kind person who only wanted to earn some money through his own labor and abilities; he had no intention of emptying a baron's coffers. But judging from the old man's thoughts, 1,000 gold coins was indeed a bit too much.
Locke roughly knew what had happened and had no liking for the short man in front of him. Especially after he mentioned that number, he felt the man was ungrateful and didn't know his place. He even began to doubt his motives. Just as he was considering whether to tell the Viscount about this, the short man stopped him, chuckling, "Sir, please give Wood and me a little time."
Locke frowned and gave a weak "hmm".
Yun Zhe pulled Wood aside and turned his back to her. "A thousand gold coins seems like a lot..."
"I don't really have a concept of it, but it seems like a lot," Wood said with a bitter face. He hadn't smiled since the sun went down yesterday, and today was indeed another unlucky day for him.
Yun Zhe frowned, inhaling sharply, thinking, "To be honest, I don't really have a concept of money either." Yun Zhe put his arm around Wood, "How about this, let's change it to a thousand silver coins, and say that the rest of the money will be exchanged for a promise of a future baron, then we'll be even."
Upon hearing that gold coins would be exchanged for silver coins, Wood looked at the Aruru man in front of him in disbelief. "Are there really people this easy to talk to?" he thought. "And a promise from a future baron? What does that mean? Does it mean I'll become a baron?"
"What are you looking at? Be careful, or I might change my mind." Yun Zhe pretended to be angry and stared at him coldly.
Watching Yun Zhe's rough performance, Wood suddenly felt a sense of bewilderment towards the man before him. He had experienced too much tonight, and he couldn't process it all at once. Moreover, he hadn't yet sorted out his relationship with this man—his brother, and the man before him—whether he should hate him or thank him.
Yun Zhe naturally understood Wood's thoughts, and patted him on the shoulder, "The butler is leaving, don't think about things you can't understand."
Wood nodded blankly, then turned to Locke and said, "Grandpa Locke, a thousand silver coins, that's the least I can offer."
Locke saw the two men whispering to each other with their backs turned. If it weren't for the dramatic events of the night, the old man would have been convinced that the young master had found someone else to help him put on an act and swindle money. Especially what Wood said after turning around made Locke even more convinced that it was a scam.
“One thousand silver coins, one carriage,” Yun Zhe added.
Locke pondered, something seemed rather strange about it; who would ask for such a reward? But then again, reducing three years' worth of taxes to just three months seemed damn reasonable. This price was exactly the same as what those kidnappers outside were offering.
Locke nodded. "I'll go tell the master. Please wait a moment." With that, he hurried away.
Yun Zhe watched Locke leave, then listlessly looked around the room's furnishings. As an architecture student, Yun Zhe naturally had some knowledge of architectural history. The room's layout and furnishings largely matched the descriptions of the Middle Ages in his university textbooks, leading Yun Zhe to a strange thought: "Have I really traveled to a fantasy world, or have I simply traveled back to our Middle Ages?"
"That's actually easy to tell," Yun Zhe asked Wood with a smile. "Wood, do you have any well-known universities around here?"
"University? What is a university?"
Yun Zhe choked, suddenly unsure how to respond.
"Are you talking about the church's workshops? The church has workshops in the three capital cities, where you can study magic, religion, and other things."
"Pretty much, is there a place called Averyk?" Yun Zhe went straight to the point, no more beating around the bush.
"Maybe... the West Continent is that big," Wood shrugged.
"It's nothing, I was just asking," Yun Zhe scratched his head and stopped talking.
The head butler, Locke, returned quickly. "The master said he agrees to your request, sir, but it's getting late, and he hopes you can have dinner before you leave."
Yun Zhe waved his hand, "Please report to your master, Your Excellency the Viscount, I have urgent business to attend to and am in a hurry to continue my journey. Please forgive me." He thought it best to leave this troublesome place as soon as possible. He hadn't seen them all day; who knew if this banquet was a death knell?
Seeing that Yun Zhe refused, the butler did not insist and gestured for him to come this way. "Mr. Yun Zhe, this way. The carriage and silver coins are ready."
Yun Zhe felt relieved. It turned out they were just being polite. Luckily, he was polite enough, or it would have been awkward.
Yun Zhe followed the butler out of the room. The sun had not yet completely set, and the afterglow of the setting sun bathed the entire street in orange-red light.
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