When the prince heard the attaché's low-pitched report, his face changed drastically and his brows knitted together. Jiang Meilu, who was sitting opposite him, suddenly became nervous and reached for the bottom of the suitcase with her right hand. That was her pistol.
The prince's face turned red and white. Hearing the secret report, he stared hard at the wooden floor under his feet, not looking at Jiang Meilu. He just grabbed the armrests of the Ming-style sofa with his hands, until his fingertips turned pale, almost to the point of breaking the hardness.
There are traces of huanghuali wood pinched out.
After a while, he leaned on the sofa and let out a long sigh. Then he turned and asked the attendant:
"So, how much money did we lose in total?"
The attendant was stunned. He also understood Chinese, but he didn't understand why he suddenly said such a sentence. He was a close aide of the prince, named Pachai.
Prince Ananta stood up angrily, paced, and continued to curse harshly in Chinese:
"Those brokers are all getting paid for nothing. The situation in Spain is unstable during this period, and I asked them to keep an eye on it. We have millions of dollars in Spanish Republican government bonds, and now they have fallen by at least
It’s 20%, right?”
Pachai was still looking at him blankly, wondering what was going on when His Highness the Prince spoke a long paragraph in Chinese, and it was incomprehensible. But he didn't dare to ask.
The prince looked at him, patted his head and said in Thai:
"Look, I forgot about it and kept talking in Chinese... You go to the study room first, I'll be right over and we'll talk in detail."
Then he turned to Jiang Meilu and said with an apologetic smile in Chinese:
"Ms. Jiang, I'm just kidding. There's a little trouble with overseas investment... Excuse me for a moment. Miss Jiang will have tea first."
Then he followed Pachai to the study. Only then did Jiang Meilu give out a false alarm and slowly took his hand out of the box.
However... I know from the Spanish election that the situation in Spain is becoming more and more chaotic every day. Is there something big going on now?
…
The prince and Pachai came to the study and closed the door. Then the prince said:
"Show me what you said."
Without saying a word, Pachai put a stack of newspapers on the table, spread them out, pointed and said:
"Your Highness, I just bought this pile of newspapers... This pile of newspapers was delivered by the hotel... Look at this one, and then look at this one..."
The first two copies of "Nanyang News" were spread out. They were exactly the same and dated on the same day. The front pages of the two copies were put together. At first glance, there was no difference. But Pachai pointed at them separately:
"Look here, look here again."
The headline on the left is:
"Bangkok Electrocution Kidnapping Case-Siamese powerful figures were kidnapped!"
The prince stared at the title, his eyes widened, and he glanced through it quickly. His whole body fell into a cold state, and he grabbed the lower end of the newspaper and almost crushed it.
"Your Highness... Your Highness..." Pachai called the prince carefully, and after attracting his attention, he whispered, "The problem is not here yet... Look here again..."
He pointed to another copy of "Nanyang News", which was also on the front page, but in the same position, there was another piece of news:
"The century-old rosewood tree plantation in Siam will be cut down today, and the price of rosewood will fall for the first time in four hundred years!"
The prince couldn't believe his eyes, and compared the two newspapers again and again, and found that except for the headlines on the front page, the other news was the same.
"Your Highness," Pachai said in a low voice, "This one with the red sandalwood cutting was brought to me by the hotel... This one with the Bangkok kidnapping case was bought by me outside."
With trembling hands, the prince opened another newspaper. This was the "Jinling Business Daily", and the headline on the back page was the kidnapping case in Bangkok. But the same newspaper he brought to the hotel and delivered to the room, the back page
The headlines are different news.
Then, he read several more copies and found that in the newspaper bought outside Pachai, the Bangkok kidnapping case had become a hot news. And in the newspaper delivered by the hotel, the same newspaper, in the same position, must have printed another article.
Irrelevant news.
In other words, when I read the newspapers in the hotel these two days, I had no idea what was going on in Bangkok! My communication with the outside world was completely "shielded"!
The prince bit his lip, his face was pale, and big drops of sweat rolled down. He murmured:
"They... in order to stabilize me, they printed a separate version for me... It's over, it's over... they all know... Teacher Sawang Susi was kidnapped, it was them..."
Pachai approached the prince again and whispered:
"Your Highness, no wonder they send people to follow us when we go out these days, saying that they want to protect us for fear of being assassinated again... That is not to protect us at all, but to cover us in a glass cover and isolate us from the outside world! Your Highness
, maybe even the waiters in the hotel are from Dongchang!"
The prince raised his head and murmured:
"No wonder... No wonder I feel that the waiters are a bit weird these past two days... I thought Daming's hotels were like this... Ah!"
He looked back at the direction of the living room, squinted his eyes and whispered:
"Maybe that female Cartier manager was sent by them too! I mean, why didn't the general manager come? Instead, a deputy manager came... He also said that the general manager was sick... Isn't it a coincidence that the general manager got sick?"
Pachai also squinted his eyes and asked:
"Your Highness, what do they want to do by sending someone to replace Cartier's manager?"
"What I don't want to do!" the prince said bitterly, "I'm just afraid that if I communicate with a person for a long time, the external affairs will be leaked to me unintentionally! If I have explained it to the general manager of Cartier in advance, they are afraid that he will be afraid and reveal it.
Bullshit! Then they sent a female agent here! This woman must know a little bit about jewelry, they think they can fool me..."
…
There was a moment of silence, and both of them felt a strong sense of fear. They felt like prey under a hunter's gun, unaware of it, but the hunter could pull the trigger at any time and kill themselves.
Pachai was so scared that his face was as white as a sheet of paper. Among the prince's delegation in Nanjing, he was the only one who knew about this matter. Now he can be said to be more scared than the prince. Because the prince is the crown prince of a country and represents the Kingdom of Siam.
The identity of the leader of the Ming Dynasty is so important that even if the Ming Dynasty suspects him, they dare not do anything to him for a while. But he is just a small person, and the "relevant departments" of the Ming Dynasty can definitely kidnap him again, just like kidnapping Sawang Susi
That, and then torture yourself.
Pachai hesitated and said with a glimmer of hope:
"Your Highness, they may just suspect us. There is no evidence... If there is evidence, they will arrest people."
The prince lowered his voice and said angrily:
"Just suspicion? Just suspicion. Is it necessary to go to Bangkok to kidnap Sawang Susi? Is it necessary to print a newspaper specifically for me? Let me tell you, they have confirmed it! ... The only reason why there is no arrest now is that there is no
Conclusive evidence, you are right about this!... Maybe they are interrogating Teacher Sawang Susi, and Teacher Sawang Susi hasn't said it yet... No, maybe they have already said it, just because it is a confession obtained through torture,
Maybe Ming Dynasty’s law stipulates that it cannot be used as evidence for conviction... They are still collecting more convincing evidence..."
"It's over... it's over..." The sweat on Pachai's head continued to flow down, and he could hardly stand on his feet. Suddenly he raised his head and said, "Your Highness, let's run quickly! Before they confiscate the net, we can also
You can run away!"
"Where to run?"
Pachai blurted out:
"Go to the Siamese Embassy to take shelter first! They can't rush in and arrest people..."
"Damn, trash!" The prince raised his hand and slapped him on the head, saying angrily, "Use your brain! Even if they can't go in and arrest people, do we have a future hiding inside? Can we run away? Let me tell you,
They will not go in to arrest people, they will only contact Bangkok and force Bangkok to come forward! My father dare not offend Ming Dynasty because of this! What I did this time is really too much. My father knows that if I don’t do what Daming said,
Siam is the second largest in East India! And my brother, that boy has been eyeing me as the crown prince for a long time! As soon as I finish, the next king will be his!
"My father is ill in bed. No matter what happens, the military and political ministers in the court will surrender to my brother! Then my brother will order the Siamese embassy in Nanjing to hand us over! ... Hum hum, I tell you, I will
I can only imagine what that girl Zhu Yourong would do! She would probably return me to Siam hypocritically and let Siam deal with me on its own. She would probably also say that she hoped that the Siamese royal family would spare my life and let me live in a certain temple for the rest of my life.
Just repent... Hum, I know that girl! Pretend to be soft-hearted, so that Ming can still look like a gentleman in front of the whole world, and his hands will not be stained with blood...
"But my brother, that boy is very narrow-minded. As long as he succeeds to the throne, he will not tolerate me alive! In less than two years, he will declare that I 'died of depression' in the monastery! And God knows how I died.
Yes! Humph, as for you, Pachai, you won’t be in that much trouble, you might lose your head in the Ming Dynasty!”
Pachai's face turned pale with fright, and it took him a long time to tremble:
"Then... let's find a way to run... run... by the way, run to the Qing Dynasty! Your Highness, as long as we can run to the Qing Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty will never hand us over to the Ming Dynasty! They still have
They will treat us as honored guests, and will also give you a large amount of money to continue to be a prince in Beijing, just like the Ming Dynasty treated the Princess of Liaoyang! How about it, Your Highness?"
The prince licked his lips, thought for a moment, shook his head and said:
"No, I don't want that!...I know what you mean. Yes, as long as we arrive in the Qing Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty will definitely use us as a propaganda banner: Look, even the princes of the vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty cannot bear the persecution of the Ming Dynasty.
Fleeing to our Qing Dynasty!... Just like the Ming Dynasty used that Liaoyang princess!
"Hmph, the Qing Dynasty will not only continue to recognize me as the prince of Siam? They must directly recognize me as the legitimate king of Siam! Just like the Ming Dynasty recognized Shanggui as the legitimate king of Ryukyu... In fact, the Ryukyu royal family is still there
What about Japan!... But what’s the point of that? Spend your whole life being an idle nobleman in that ‘magical land’ of Beiqing, and spend your whole life doing nothing? No!”
The prince looked at Pachai, who had been stunned, and showed a fanatical sneer. The corners of his mouth cracked, showing his white fangs, and he said word by word:
"No, things are still getting better! The initiative is still on my side! Now... they should be made to think that I am trying to escape to the Qing Dynasty, but in fact we are going to get a boat and sneak back to Siam quietly.
Luo Qu... Return to Bangkok, take advantage of the fact that the military and political ministers support me, launch a coup, and succeed to the throne with lightning speed. In this case, the dead game will become a living game... Once I become Siam
King, there are many ways to solve the problem with Daming...
"I can pay compensation, cede land, and grant Ming more preferential privileges. I can even grant them the right to operate the railway and part of the tax rights... then they will not be so stubborn. Daming also knows that for a prince
, and it is unrealistic to ask a foreign king to pay for his life... The ministers in Nanjing will persuade Zhu Yourong to accept these favorable conditions, instead of thinking so much about avenging her grandfather... Zhu Yourong has no idea in the first place, and
If you are soft-hearted, you will probably agree...
"In case, if Ming is stubborn and must send troops to threaten, then we will make a desperate move and ask for the protection of Britain, France, and the United States... At least one of these three countries will be interested in getting involved... Ming
You won’t lose the traditional sphere of influence in Siam because of this matter, right? If you take a step back and say that you are really desperate, it will not be too late to go into exile at that time, and it will be much more calm. You can bring enough money and you can go.
Go to whichever country you want... Pachai, do you understand?"
Pachai was stunned and dumbfounded. He was suddenly glad that His Highness the Prince was such a thoughtful person and could quickly choose the best way in a crisis. He immediately discussed it with the Prince and made a plan to escape.
…
The prince and Pachai returned to the living room. The prince smiled and apologized to Jiang Meilu for keeping Miss Jiang waiting for so long. Then he asked to follow Miss Jiang to the Cartier Company to see their products and then buy some of their jewelry.
Talk to the designer.
Jiang Meilu felt a little nervous, but she was also glad that Dongchang had done all the work. Now even if he takes them to Cartier Company, the relevant personnel there have already made arrangements and will not cheat. However, he just doesn’t know how to use his own
Three-legged cat jewelry knowledge, how long can it take to communicate with the prince without revealing the truth.
While talking, Pachai had already gone to the treasurer of the mission, and with the prince's signature, he withdrew all the cash from the treasurer, a total of 14,000 mingyang. Most of these banknotes were 50 mingyang.
This was Mingyang's largest denomination. Pachai went back to his room, rolled up the money, hid it in his clothes, tied it around his waist and inside his trouser legs. Then he took two more pistols and hid them on his body.
At this time, the prince was in the living room, pretending to be impatient and calling Pachai. Pachai ran over with a smile on his face, apologized repeatedly, and at the same time gave the prince a wink to show that he was ready.
Only then did the prince act like a gentleman and invited Jiang Meilu to walk to the elevator with him.
"Ding--"
With a crisp ringing sound, the elevator door with its precious rosewood grille slowly opened, and the elevator lady inside bowed with a smile and invited His Highness the Prince to come in.
Prince, Pachai, and Jiang Meilu entered the elevator.