In the middle of the night, the busy city gradually became silent, and Bowang finally finished his day's work and quietly returned home in a carriage.
His home is the testimony of the "brilliant achievements" of his life's struggle. This luxuriously furnished mansion is also a place where he is unique. Although Bowang has a low-key personality, he does not mind spending a lot of money to enjoy life. After all, that is
It also allows him to experience the magic of money.
Dinner had already been prepared, and his wife was already waiting here. After he appeared at the table, the two of them started to eat in silence, following the habit of being married for many years, without much communication.
Although he and his wife have no feelings, he has never treated her materially, and he has maintained a superficial sense of dignity and respect. It can be said that he "respects each other as a guest".
He is also quite satisfied with this kind of marriage. Anyway, he has never expected anything like love. Family life has never been a burden to him. He also has a son, which is enough.
According to his usual habits, if there are no banquets or other social activities, he will take a short rest after dinner, then take a shower, then go to the study to deal with personal paperwork, and then go to the bedroom to sleep until early in the morning.
And today, when he had just finished dinner, he was suddenly notified by his servant that Duke Nordlyon had come to visit secretly.
The reason why he said it was a secret visit was because he came in a simple carriage without any markings. He was obviously worried about being discovered.
Upon hearing the news, Bowang suddenly became alert.
He has a secret against the Duke's family - not long ago, it was he who, together with the Count of Monte Cristo, brought evil upon the Duke, almost causing him to fall into the predicament of bankrupting the family business; and now, he too
Cooperated with the Duke's daughter Alice and hijacked the Duke's family.
Could it be that the Duke had found out that I was the one behind the scenes, so he came over to accuse me? A thought flashed across Bowen's mind.
Impossible, how could he know? Then, he was a little unbelievable, because he had never appeared in public during these incidents, how could the Duke find himself?
After much thought, he couldn't come up with a clue, but since the person had already come to the door, of course he couldn't directly refuse and drive them back. He could only take one step at a time and wait and see.
So, he forced himself to calm down, and then ordered his servants to take the Duke to the reception room.
Soon, the two people met in the brightly lit reception room.
With the help of candlelight, Bowang took a look at the Duke. Normally, this noble gentleman was very airy. Although he was polite to a wealthy banker like himself on the surface, the pride and contempt in his bones were not at all.
He couldn't hide it; but now, the Duke was obviously in a lot of desolation, his hair was gray, his face was covered with wrinkles, and his bloodshot eyes revealed an unspeakable exhaustion.
Moreover, the bigger change is the temperament.
Just a few months ago, Bowen rarely even had the opportunity to set foot in the living room of the Duke's family, but now, it was the Duke who came to visit him - no matter what his purpose was, this inversion in power was obvious.
Already.
Although Bowen didn't care much about this kind of vanity, he could not help but feel a little happy in his heart when he forced the Duke to do this as a commoner.
Of course, feeling relieved, Bowang had done enough on the surface. He politely asked the Duke to take a seat, then asked the servant to bring him coffee, and then spoke to the Duke unhurriedly.
"Sir, this is the first time you have visited my home. It is a great honor for me. It's a pity that I didn't get the news today, otherwise I would have made preparations in advance and you would have a great time."
These words were very polite on the surface, but there was a bit of teasing hidden inside. Of course the Duke could hear it, and he felt very unhappy. But at this moment, he didn't have the capital to get angry with Bowang, so he could only suppress it.
Unhappily, he forced a forced smile.
"You're serious. It's just because I don't want to trouble you to spend time on making a show, that's why I came here dressed lightly. Please don't mind my reckless behavior."
"You are adding glory to my home by coming to my place, how could I mind?" Bo Wang smiled sincerely, and then asked the other party, "I just don't know what advice you have for coming to my place in such a hurry.
?”
Seeing that Bowen's question got to the point, the Duke didn't want to talk in circles anymore. His face darkened, and then he let out a long sigh.
"Alas...it's all my fault for that useless daughter! I loved her so much and worked so hard to raise her, but when she grew up, she actually tried her best to plot against her father. How unfilial this is! The family is unfortunate, this kind of scandal is really
Make you laugh..."
Hearing what the Duke said, Bowang was finally sure that what he was worried about had happened - the Duke had actually tracked him down!
Damn it, how on earth did he find out?
At this point, since people have come to the door, there is no use in denying it, and he does not want to use sophistry to make himself look more ridiculous.
The smile on Bowang's face could no longer be maintained. He was using his brain frantically to figure out how he made the mistake.
Seeing Bowang's nervous expression, the Duke also felt a little pleasure in going back for revenge, but he also knew that he did not come here today to fight with others, so he spoke again.
"Sir, don't worry. The outside world doesn't know about this. I learned about it from my daughter. For the sake of the reputation of the family, like you, I don't want to make this matter a big deal, so I secretly
Come find you."
"I see..." Bo Wang finally calmed down, and then showed a sarcastic sneer, "You are really amazing."
Although the Duke did not explain clearly how he found out about himself from Alice, it no longer mattered to Bowen - the key issue was that Alice acted carelessly and exposed herself, and this was her responsibility.
After all, she is just an inexperienced female prostitute. Even though she seems to be doing well, she still lacks too many things... He thought with regret.
However, now that he knew that the source of the news leak was Alice, he was not so worried.
What he was most worried about was that the Duke knew that he and the Count of Monte Cristo had forced his family into this situation in the first place, which was tantamount to a feud between the two families. And Alice didn't know about this, so now all the Duke knew was -
-Alice and the Count find a big sponsor to help them complete their plan to give the Duke a blood transfusion.
As far as the Duke knew, he had done nothing to offend his interests, and he had even done him some credit.
And he has no excuse for others to catch him. The previous financial crisis caused by the bank's tightening of money was a collective decision of the Poncena Bank board of directors, and there was no way to trace him personally; and the batch lending to the Duke was completely complete from a procedural point of view.
It is reasonable and reasonable, and the flow of funds has been carefully designed by him. A layman will never be able to find any faults.
"The Female CEO's Almighty Soldier"
If that's the case, what else is there to fear about him?
If the Duke really intends to defeat the enemy, he will not run over to see him in disguise now, but now he wants to see what he wants to do.
When he thought of this, he became calm again.
"Sir, I'm very sorry for what happened to your family. This is not what I want to see." He took a sip of coffee slowly and then calmly continued, "But please also
You understand, I am a banker, and the meaning of my existence is to judge whether a transaction is reasonable and then decide whether to lend or not. What I focus on is the transaction, not a specific person."
"I'm sorry too, Mr. Beauvain." The Duke also sighed, "But please don't worry, I'm not here to ask you for guilt today. To be fair, I don't think you did anything wrong - I
I just came to discuss a deal with you."
"Trade?" Bo Wang suddenly became interested, "What do you mean?"
"For you, whether you lend money to my daughter to save my family, or lend money directly to me to save my family, the effect is exactly the same, right?" The Duke looked at Bowang hopefully, "If that's the case, why do you have to do it?
What about through the hands of my daughter? You can stand directly with me, and I guarantee that I can give you more commissions and rebates, and you will definitely be satisfied."
Hey, you old guy, you have a pretty good idea, but why should I stand with you? Bo Wang taunted in his heart.
He looked down on commissions and kickbacks. To him, this was not a normal transaction, but to please His Majesty the King of Rome. Compared to the possible political gains, the conditions the Duke could offer were simply nothing.
Naturally, he was unmoved.
"It's really a pity, sir." So, he shook his head coldly, "As a banker, I admit that I am really mercenary, but I must also talk about some professional ethics. Since I have already discussed this transaction with Mrs. Alice,
If she executes it, then from a rational point of view, I cannot break her promise to her, as that will affect my reputation."
You bitch, what reputation do you have! The Duke also cursed in his heart.
However, Bowang's reaction was already expected by him, because he knew what Bowang wanted in his heart.
"I very much appreciate your insistence on professional ethics, sir." He suppressed the anger in his heart, and then looked at Bowang with a sly smile, "But is your motive really just because of the so-called professional ethics?
Are you afraid that if you change your stance, you will offend the King of Rome——"
When the Duke mentioned the last word, Bowang's expression suddenly changed, and he almost couldn't hold the cup in his hand.
Where did this old guy know this? Did he also know it from his daughter? This is too outrageous.
He didn't care to think about what happened to Alice, and his brain was used to calculate his current situation. Since the Duke mentioned the King of Rome, it meant that the nature of his actions had completely changed——
The Royal Government cannot allow itself to act recklessly.
So, is this old guy threatening me? Bowang thought to himself.
He mentally reviewed all his actions again and assessed how much he could be caught with. Finally, he came to the conclusion that all his actions were ostensibly within the scope of his boss's authorization - even his signature was very strict.
Don't get too literal.
In other words, even if the Duke reports himself, he will never bring himself down.
A Duke who is about to go bankrupt has already been pushed down by the crowd. How much strength can he still have to compete with the Poncena Bank?
When he thought of this, he was no longer afraid.
"I don't quite understand what you are talking about, sir." He looked at the other party coldly, and then replied. "From beginning to end, the reason why I participated in your incident was just a normal transaction. The bank
Isn’t that what we do here? If you think you can scare me into spending money to eliminate your troubles by threatening and framing me, then you are probably totally wrong. France is not a place where you can be lawless!
"
With his temper, saying this is already a break-up. This is also to show his attitude - it's okay to have a good talk, don't scare people with big hats, you can't control me.
Bowen's reaction was also what the Duke expected. He never expected from the beginning to the end that he could force Bowen to kneel down and beg for mercy by relying on threats without evidence.
"At this point, let's not play such tricks anymore..." He shrugged indifferently, "Mr. Bowang, actually, we have reached the same destination through different paths. We all hope that the King of Rome will come back."
"Huh?" Even if the Duke said anything, these words did not surprise Bo Wang. It was a bit of a twist.
He really didn't expect that the other party was also planning an escape route.
Before he could react, the Duke continued to speak, "As you know, Alice is a friend of His Majesty, but you may not know that my youngest daughter Agnes has a much better relationship with him...
…They are very close to each other.”
Although the Duke didn't speak clearly, the meaning was certainly understood by Bowen.
"So...so what's going on? Didn't His Majesty say that Lady Alice will be in charge of all this?" he asked.
"After His Majesty heard the bad news about my family, he was moved by Agnes's plea and decided to help us. But he was deceived by Alice at first, thinking that she would be enthusiastic to save us, so he entrusted it to Alice. Who
How could you imagine that there are daughters who are like evil wolves in the world, who would threaten their father like this?" The Duke frowned, and then sighed, "However, later I told His Majesty about this matter, and he told me
I promise that I will do my best to protect my family business."
Bowang blinked. The whole incident was so bizarre that even with his brainpower, he couldn't keep up.
"My words are unfounded. You must see the evidence to feel at ease." The Duke sighed, then took out a page from his arms and handed it to Bowen.
Bowang took the letter and looked at it carefully.
The content was short and he read it quickly.
"I don't know how much loss you have suffered at this moment, and I don't know if you really need my help, but as long as you open your mouth, I can guarantee that I will do my best to help.
In case you have any doubts, let me explain in advance that I do not ask for any conditions, nor will I force you to pay any price, and I am not willing to make you face political embarrassment. If you insist on asking me for a reason, then I can
Let me tell you - this is to protect Miss Agnes's delightful smile, which is more precious and more brilliant than any gold."
There is no doubt that if this letter is true, it proves that His Majesty did intend to help unconditionally and left the evidence in his own handwriting. This disgusting statement also proves that what the Duke said is true. He and Miss Agnes
There is indeed something.
Although Bowang was cunning, he did not expect that the Duke also played a trick on him.
He cut off the beginning and the end and changed the timeline. This letter was written by Aiglon to him before Alice intervened, but he regarded it as the key to convincing Bowen.