Free Web NovelChapter 283: Chapter 283: The Merchant’s Golden Chair
The second crown attempt came dressed as efficiency.
The Merchant Road leader was a woman in green-gold robes named Lady Qiao Wen. She had sharp eyes, jeweled fingers, and the calm expression of someone who believed every crisis could be priced.
She did not reach for the crown.
That would have been too obvious.
Instead, she placed a golden chair beside the round table.
Not at the head.
There was no head.
Just slightly elevated.
Qin Mo saw it first.
"No."
Lady Qiao smiled.
"A coordinator’s seat. Nothing more."
The mission panel reacted.
[Soft Crown Event Triggered]
[Target:
Merchant Road Leader — Lady Qiao Wen]
[Cause:
Belief that resource control grants natural authority.]
[Warning:
If resource allocation becomes hidden crown authority, council autonomy weakens.]
Qin Mo pointed at the chair.
"That chair is taller."
"Only for visibility."
"It has armrests."
"For comfort."
"It is gold."
"For durability."
Qin Lian quietly said, "Gold is not durable."
Lady Qiao’s smile thinned.
The Merchant Road had a reasonable argument. Shared standards required resources: seals, inspectors, food, medicine, record keepers, transport, communication jade, training manuals. Whoever managed those resources would influence all roads.
Lady Qiao proposed a Central Resource Office.
Useful.
Dangerous.
She volunteered Merchant Road to manage it.
More dangerous.
The Farmer Road objected immediately.
"You will price protection."
The Healer Road added, "Medicine cannot be auctioned during plague."
The Scholar Road said, "Records must be public."
Lady Qiao spread her hands.
"Without management, standards remain slogans. If you distrust merchants, then feed inspectors with poetry."
Her words struck again.
Because she was partly right. freeωebnovēl.c૦m
Qin Yuheng did not reject the office.
He rejected hidden control.
"Resource coordination is necessary. Monopoly is not."
Lady Qiao looked at him.
"Then who manages?"
"Rotating committee. Public ledger. Emergency reserve. Independent audit. No road controls supply alone."
The Merchant Road frowned.
"Too slow."
Qin Mo leaned forward.
"Too visible, you mean."
Lady Qiao’s eyes sharpened.
Qin Yuheng placed the True Value Appraisal Heart Stone and True Debt and False Debt Scale on the table.
"Protection resources must be valued by real cost, not desperation price. Roads may contribute according to capacity. No child, talent, name, future, or road direction may be collateral."
The Refugee Road supported immediately.
The Healer Road too.
The Farmer Road after hearing contribution by capacity.
The Soldier Road accepted if emergency supply lines were protected.
Lady Qiao’s golden chair cracked slightly.
Then she played her deeper card.
"What of free riders? Roads that contribute little but demand protection?"
A hard question.
Qin Yuheng answered, "Minimum rights are not purchased. Additional services require contribution. Contribution may be labor, food, medicine, protection, knowledge, transport, repair, scouting, or shelter. Value is broader than coin."
The craftsmen from the thirteenth road pounded the table in approval.
Qin Mo looked deeply satisfied.
Support contribution recognized.
The golden chair cracked again.
Lady Qiao’s expression changed.
Not anger.
Interest.
"You would make merchants less central."
"I would make trade clean enough to survive trust."
The crown above the table pulsed.
Lady Qiao looked at it.
For a moment, desire flickered.
Not for domination alone.
For recognition.
Merchants often held systems together while warriors took glory. Her crown temptation was not only greed. It was resentment.
Qin Yuheng saw it.
"The Resource Office should include Merchant Road. Not rule through it."
Lady Qiao looked back at him.
"And who audits?"
"Scholar Road, Craftsman Road, Farmer Road, and one rotating road selected by lot."
Qin Mo added quickly, "Also public records."
The Scholar Road agreed.
The golden chair collapsed into dust.
[Soft Crown Event resisted.]
[Resource Coordination Standard drafted.]
[Council Trust: 24% → 38%]
But as before, the crown created a projection.
This one was not a warrior.
It became a golden abacus serpent coiled around the table.
[Golden Chair Resource Serpent]
[Level Equivalent: 70]
[Type:
Resource monopoly / debt-price authority / soft crown construct]
It attacked by turning supply tokens into chains.
The Healer Road’s medicine baskets became debt weights.
The Farmer Road’s grain sacks became collateral brands.
The Refugee Road’s blankets became obligation contracts.
Qin Mo shouted, "I hate economic monsters!"
Lin Xian’er was not present, but Qin Mo had learned enough from her to fight dirty contracts.
He activated the Road Debt Nullification Ledger, while Qin Yuheng used the Clean Exchange Road Seal to stabilize real exchange.
Qin Yuchen protected the Refugee Road.
Qin Lian cut hidden price threads.
Lady Qiao, to her credit, joined the fight.
She used Merchant Road counting techniques to expose false inflation nodes.
"This price is fraudulent," she snapped, striking the serpent with a jade abacus.
Qin Mo stared.
"I hate that she is useful."
The serpent tried to swallow the golden chair dust and reform a throne.
Qin Yuheng used the False Throne Authority Breaker and pierced its head with thunder.
The serpent shattered into coins that turned into plain seed tokens.
[Golden Chair Resource Serpent defeated.]
[Resource monopoly crown broken.]
[Resource Coordination Standard accepted by 9 roads.]
[Main Mission Progress:
Minimum common standards — 2 / ?]
Lady Qiao picked up one plain seed token and looked at it.
"Trade clean enough to survive trust," she repeated.
Qin Yuheng nodded.
"Profitable long term." fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
She smiled faintly.
"Now you speak merchant."
Qin Mo whispered, "Do not encourage him."
The council had survived soldiers and merchants.
But the next crown attempt would not come from power or wealth.
It came from righteousness.
And righteousness, Qin Yuheng knew, could become more dangerous than greed when it stopped listening.
