Green Mountain

"Half the credit goes to you and half to me, how does that sound?"

The once bustling gambling house was now eerily quiet.

In the flamboyantly decorated private room, the plump Jin Zhu sat by the round table.

Atop the table, a hanging corpse swayed from the ceiling beam, yet Jin Zhu, smiling contentedly, seemed as carefree as if he were sitting beside a girl selling smiles in Hongyi Lane.

Facing him across the table, Chen Ji curiously asked, "Lord Jin Zhu, if we catch a Jing Dynasty spy tonight, the merit won’t be minor. Are you really willing to let me have it?"

Jin Zhu poured Chen Ji a cup of hot tea and said methodically, "Over the years, thanks to the trust of the Lord Prime Minister, I’ve been managing the finances of the Spy Department. At first, I didn’t quite understand—grocery stores, brothels, gambling houses, clothing stores—I fell into many traps and lost a lot of money. But the Prime Minister didn’t say a word, only told me not to fear making mistakes."

Chen Ji suddenly realized that this Jin Zhu was probably also an orphan adopted by the Prime Minister.

At a young age, holding the financial power of the Spy Department and even losing money being tolerated by the Prime Minister, the two must share a profoundly deep relationship. In almost every sentence he spoke, Jin Zhu revealed his admiration for the Prime Minister.

To the outside world, he was the Poison Minister, but to Jin Zhu, he was a father figure.

Jin Zhu continued, "Later on, I indeed found I had a talent for business and gradually learned the tricks of the trade. I discovered that third-rate investment is investing in labor, similar to running small businesses like noodle shops; second-rate investment is investing in technology, doing what others can’t, like frosting; and first-rate investment is making money from money, immensely profitable, like banks. But none of these investments are the cleverest..."

Pondering, Chen Ji asked, "Then what is the cleverest investment?"