Wei Yenwu nodded after finishing the video. The speed of action was fast enough, and they did their best to avoid any excessive impact. They acted decisively and didn't let those merchants cause any more trouble. All the merchants' goods were packed up, and with the compensation provided, they lost their stalls, but aside from having to find new storefronts, there were almost no other losses. After all, the stall fees were also refunded. In this way, the impact could be minimized.
Of course, the only ones with significant objections and complaints about this matter were the members of the Schwire Family. After all, they had paid quite a bit of cold, hard cash for it. However, those complaints were all suppressed by the Old Man.
"What a pity they didn't start a fight!" Flandre had a look of regret on her face.
Those merchants really were the type to bully the weak and fear the strong. Previously, they knew Beatrice only dared to talk and wouldn't actually do anything, plus they likely had some connections behind them, which was why they were so unscrupulous. But they didn't expect that Beatrice not only dared to say it but also dared to do it, and that her background was much larger than they had imagined. When they tried to reach out to their usual connections, there was no reply at all; those with higher positions only hinted vaguely that since there were no losses this time, they should just let it go and find new storefronts. As for those who still felt indignant, they could only swallow their pride; otherwise, they would face the combined suppression of Lungmen's military, political, and business circles.
Flandre's words elicited a burst of laughter.
"This is Lungmen, after all. No matter how bold those merchants are, they wouldn't dare oppose the Guard Department in the middle of the plaza." Lin Yuxia reached out and rubbed Flandre's head.
"But didn't someone just throw a rock?" Flandre asked in confusion.
Hearing her words, everyone's expressions turned quite peculiar.
"Perhaps that wasn't a merchant, but one of our own?" Lin Yuxia's answer left Flandre completely baffled.
"One of our own?"
"That's right, because in Lungmen, everything must be done according to the rules. Although the other party didn't obey Beatrice's command to clear the area, as long as they didn't start a fight, Beatrice couldn't use that as an excuse to forcibly arrest people. Those merchants are very shrewd; they certainly wouldn't make a mistake of that level. But if they didn't act and the two sides remained in a deadlock, the longer it lasted, the more troublesome it would be for the Guard Department. Because a deadlock would give the impression that the Guard Department was in the wrong, and those merchants would use it to blow things out of proportion, eventually forcing the Guard Department to compromise.
So, to prevent the situation from falling into the merchants' plans, Beatrice had to find a way to break the deadlock. The simplest way to break the deadlock is to force the other side to act, or to make everyone believe they acted. But as I said before, the merchants are cunning and would never choose to take the initiative to attack and give the Guard Department an excuse. So she could only choose the second path, which was to make everyone believe the merchants had acted. This was very simple; she just needed to arrange for someone to be in the opposing crowd and then launch an attack at the critical moment. Because he was in the crowd where the merchants were, he would be seen as part of the group. Therefore, his attack would be taken by others as the will of the merchants. And in the eyes of others, it would be seen as a violent act of resistance by the merchants against the Guard Department's law enforcement. This gave Beatrice a perfectly valid reason to arrest those merchants."
Lin Yuxia explained it in great detail, to the point where even an idiot could understand, and Flandre was certainly not stupid. After listening, she couldn't help but nod repeatedly.
"That feels quite devious."
"Hahaha, it is indeed a bit of a trick. But if those merchants had listened to her, they wouldn't have had to go to jail in the first place. Moreover, with Beatrice's personality, she probably would have helped them find other storefronts that were just as good and even cheaper. It's a pity their arrogance and ignorance ruined everything."
Having said this, Lin Yuxia looked at the area that had already been torn down and sighed with emotion, after which the car slowly drove toward the villa where Flandre was staying. Upon arriving at the villa, the two servants who were cleaning the house were startled.
"Don't mind us, just go about your business." Wei Yenwu waved his hand to dismiss the two maids and then looked at Flandre.
Flandre had already brought out the new videotape from the room. After turning on the tape, the screen showed a room that looked very academic in style. Flandre and an Old Man with a goatee, looking like an old scholar, were standing together. Beside them, the surgery video that Wei Yenwu had seen before was playing. As it played, the Old Man continuously pointed out some errors and oversights, then offered his own views or better suggestions. Flandre stood there like a model student in class, constantly asking her own questions, while the Old Man would quickly provide answers and pose new problems for Flandre to solve.
This video was even longer. But the three people watching the screen were each more shocked than the last. If one were to divide everyone's understanding of Originium Arts like a mountain, most people's understanding would be at the foot of the mountain. Flandre's level was halfway up, and the two in the previous video were roughly at the two-thirds mark. Then the Old Man on the screen was undoubtedly someone standing at the peak.
He was extremely knowledgeable about all Magic and schools, and he even knew some of the closely guarded secrets of the Yan Celestial Masters Mansion and the ancient Incantations of Sami; it could be said that his breadth of knowledge was the widest and deepest Wei Yenwu had ever seen.
Just as the group was engrossed in watching, the door was suddenly pushed open, and then Beatrice's boisterous voice came from outside.
"I'm back! Flandre, why did you miss our appointment this afternoon? You didn't come to see your sister show off her divi—"
Before Beatrice could finish her sentence, she saw the person sitting in the room and instantly froze in place, as if a Hold Person spell had been cast on her.
"Governor Wei, Madam Fumizuki, good afternoon." The Little Tiger, who had been bouncing around just a moment ago, suddenly turned into a timid quail, greeting them with her head bowed.
"You're already so grown up, how can you still be so reckless? All right, go stand next to Little Lin." Wei Yenwu was a little bit dissatisfied with the Little Tiger for interrupting his video watching, so he gave her a small punishment.
"Oh!" With her tail drooping, Beatrice went to stand obediently next to the smiling Lin Yuxia. Then everyone's attention shifted back to the television screen. Only Beatrice secretly poked Lin Yuxia and asked in a low voice.
"Rat, what on earth happened?"
"See for yourself!" Lin Yuxia pointed at the screen.
Only then did Beatrice look at the screen curiously; she didn't know what to expect, but what she saw startled her. In the video, Flandre and an unfamiliar Old Man were chatting about things she couldn't understand at all.
"What are they saying?" The Little Tiger was a bit confused.
"Sarkaz language..." Lin Yuxia said in a low voice... Well, she hadn't specifically studied this language. So, feeling a bit out of her depth, she shifted her attention from their conversation to the somewhat blurry video. Holy crap, what was she seeing... Why did that transparent thing look so familiar? In the next second, her pupils dilated; wasn't that freaking Talulah? Why was she transparent?
However, seeing the serious expressions of the others, she didn't dare to ask and could only stand silently by the side, her mind starting to wander. It wasn't until after eight o'clock that they finished watching the entire exchange.
"Can you give me a copy of this?" Wei Yenwu asked.
"Just this one?" Flandre tilted her head.
Old Wei rolled his eyes. "Both of them, of course!" Having said that, he felt his mouth was a bit dry and habitually pulled out his pipe, only to be glared back by Fumizuki. Only then did he remember that this was a young girl's home, and making it smell like smoke wasn't quite appropriate.
After putting away his pipe, he inquired about the number of these videos.
"There's one copy of the original video for Rhodes Island, one for me, and Talulah and the others kept a copy. As for the video of the exchange between me and Professor Fremont, only I have that; the Professor doesn't need it, and he can't just teach this knowledge to anyone, or it would cause problems." Flandre counted on her fingers.
"Then why do you want this thing?" Wei Yenwu asked.
"Well, for two reasons: first, to prepare a gift for Patchy. Second, I want to see if I can use this to get some knowledge that can't be learned outside from the Celestial Masters Mansion and the academies in Leithanien. I've already gotten some from Leithanien, so the Celestial Masters Mansion is next." Flandre gave a mischievous laugh.
"You little rascal. To be honest, if it weren't for the second video, I wouldn't have realized how bold you all are. A group of kids who have only just scratched the surface of soul research dared to lay hands on a soul, and Talulah was also incredibly daring to actually agree to your crazy decision."
After finishing the second video, Wei Yenwu couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. Under Professor Fremont's explanation, he realized how lucky the success in the video had been. But overall, things were good. According to that professor's estimation, Talulah's soul would not be seriously affected by the Immortal Black Snake for at least ten years. And in ten years, as long as someone conducts specialized research, it will be enough to make the technology more mature and ensure that Talulah lives much longer.
At this time, not far away, Lin Yuxia and Beatrice were also whispering.
"You've been staring at that TV for ages; did you see anything?"
Hearing Lin Yuxia's question, Beatrice's eyes shone with a light as clear, transparent, and innocent as that of a college student. Seeing that look, Lin Yuxia, who was already serving as a teaching assistant at the school, felt as if she were seeing those "half-empty bucket" classmates in her class. Their eyes were almost exactly like this when facing a problem.
"Sigh, this video was probably filmed by Ch'en." Lin Yuxia said in a low voice.
"Huh? Ah!" The two "ahs" reflected Beatrice's confusion and surprise.
"The filming posture, and then this height, is almost identical to Huijie's height." Lin Yuxia pointed to the images in the video.
"Why would it be this posture?" Beatrice asked in confusion.
"Are you stupid? This posture is the easiest to hold; try holding it for several hours in a different posture." Lin Yuxia rolled her eyes. Beatrice gestured and found that it was indeed as Lin Yuxia said; to hold a camcorder for that long, one would certainly need a comfortable and stable posture, otherwise the length of this video could leave one's hands paralyzed with fatigue.