Chapter 4347 — An Outright Denial

"All right, you may leave now." Wei Zhaotong frowned, then regarded Qi Wenhan with a placid expression, cupping his hands in his usual courteous manner and smiling. "Young Master Qi, what brings you here today?"

"What brings me here?" Looking at Wei Zhaotong's composed expression, Qi Wenhan silently cursed him as an old fox and, pointing at the pirate chief beside him, snorted coldly. "Shopkeeper Wei, surely you recognize this man?"

"Oh? And which hero might this be? Could he be a new escort hired by your Qingtian Escort Agency?" Wei Zhaotong feigned surprise, sizing the man up and down, then turned to Qi Wenhan with a look of bafflement, spreading his hands. "Young Master Qi, I have never met this man in my life—how could I possibly know him?"

Hmph, even now, with the truth at his doorstep, the old fox was still putting on an act! Qi Wenhan wasted no more words on him; he suddenly kicked the pirate chief to his knees and sneered, "That filthy business between the two of you—go ahead and tell Shopkeeper Wei all about it, right to his face!"

"Shopkeeper Wei, save me! Please, save me..." The pirate chief had been docile enough until now, but this time he suddenly would not obey—because he feared not only Wei Zhao and Qi Wenhan, but Wei Zhaotong just as much!

If he repeated the whole story to their faces now, even if Wei Zhao and Qi Wenhan let him off, Wei Zhaotong would never spare him. These were all great personages who could summon Nascent Soul-stage enforcers at a whim—he could not afford to offend a single one of them!

"Save you? How amusing. Who do you even think you are to me? Out of nowhere you beg me to save your life?" Wei Zhaotong sneered without cease, not even deigning to look at him directly, and said to Qi Wenhan with a curl of his lip, "Forgive my bluntness, Young Master Qi, but what is the meaning of this? You drag some stranger in from who knows where and let him howl and yelp all over my Hong Chamber of Commerce—is this a monkey show you're putting on for my benefit?"

"Wei Zhaotong, you—" The pirate chief was choked speechless at once. He had turned to Wei Zhaotong for help only because he had no other choice, yet now the man not only stood by and refused to save him, but he had also managed to offend both Wei Zhao and Qi Wenhan. This time he truly would not even know how he died.

"Me? Me what?" Wei Zhaotong gave a derisive laugh, then went on. "Young Master Qi, when I entrusted that shipment to your Qingtian Escort Agency, I warned you again and again that it was life-saving supplies for the Fang family estate, and yet you still lost my convoy. It is truly heartbreaking! But business is business—since you have already compensated me at the original price, I cannot say much more. Besides, our two houses have always enjoyed good relations. So what is this little performance you are putting on for me now, Young Master Qi? And for whose benefit are you staging it?"

Wei Zhao stood to one side, watching coldly, and could not help shaking his head inwardly. Setting everything else aside, the old fellow's hide was truly thick enough. Qi Wenhan was no fool, but before a sly old fox like this, he would probably gain no advantage at all.

Birds of a feather flock together. Setting aside Wei Zhaotong's thoroughly rotten character, the man's own abilities were beyond doubt—otherwise he could never have earned the recognition of a figure like Hong Zhong.

"Shopkeeper Wei, we have come this far—you and I both know the truth of it, so there is no need to keep up the pretense, is there? What is the point?" Qi Wenhan did not fly into a rage. He knew that before an old fox like this, the moment he lost his temper he would have lost; he could only choose to keep sparring with the man.

"Both know the truth? Heh heh, Young Master Qi, now you are speaking even more bafflingly. Why don't you tell me—just what is it that I am supposed to know?" Wei Zhaotong was instantly amused. He settled comfortably into his seat, making it plain that he would not be moved.

"In that case, very well. Brother Ling, I must trouble you to recount the whole affair of the convoy—from beginning to end—for our Shopkeeper Wei here." Qi Wenhan sneered.

Wei Zhao nodded, and in a calm, unhurried voice he laid it all out: how the convoy had set out, how it had been robbed, how they had afterward learned the truth from these pirates, and how they had taken the cargo ship back.

"Well? Shopkeeper Wei, have you anything to say now?" Qi Wenhan stared coldly at Wei Zhaotong.

Raised from childhood on an elite education, he had never been one to lose his temper easily, yet now that this old fox had toyed with him so, costing him not only three hundred thousand spirit jades but the reputation of the escort agency as well, he could not possibly swallow such an insult.

At this very moment, he almost wished he could do it himself—trample the old fox beneath his feet and vent the hatred in his heart!

Unfortunately, reality would not permit it. The man was the spokesman of the Hong Chamber of Commerce; however great his crime, only the Hong Chamber of Commerce could punish him. For an outsider to overstep and act in their stead would be a provocation against the Hong Chamber of Commerce itself, with consequences beyond imagining. As the young master of the Qingtian Escort Agency, Qi Wenhan had to consider the larger picture.

"Hahahaha!" Yet Wei Zhaotong laughed aloud, as though he had heard the greatest joke in the world, and pointed at Qi Wenhan. "Young Master Qi, I have always taken you for a clever man—I never thought you had such a talent for comedy! Never mind whether this creature is really a pirate; even if he is, you catch some pirate at random and come frame him as one of my men—don't you think such a trick is a bit too childish, Young Master Qi?"

"Childish?" Qi Wenhan raised an eyebrow.

"Is it not? Who could not play such a puerile little game? Pull any child off the street and I daresay he could put on the very same show for you." Wei Zhaotong laughed until he was gasping for breath. "Young Master Qi, we are all grown men here—there is no need for such childish games of make-believe. I understand that your agency has suffered a misfortune and that you feel badly about it, but there is no need to stage such a farce. Do you think it means anything?"

"Hmph. With witnesses and material evidence both in hand, Shopkeeper Wei, you still think this is a children's game?" Qi Wenhan forced down the fury in his chest and sneered. "In that case, I shall make this matter public today and let the world judge for itself. What does Shopkeeper Wei think of that?"

Once such a thing got out, it would be a tremendous blow to the Hong Chamber of Commerce—and above all to Wei Zhaotong, the man behind the scenes. However thick the old fox's hide, once this scandal reached the Hong Chamber's Shadow Division, or even the Chamber's headquarters, he would find himself in a very sorry plight indeed.

Qi Wenhan had expected that at these words the man would at least refrain from flaunting himself so brazenly, even if he did not fly into a panic. Yet Wei Zhaotong's expression remained one of unceasing derision, as though his conscience were truly clear and his shadow straight—as though he did not take this threat seriously at all.

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