Old Foye: A Masterstroke of Genius!

Seeing the Vice-Commander's shifting expression, Antoine smiled. "Under the current circumstances, you must have come to a realization, and understood its implications..."

"Hmph, even if he has value, I will not rescind the order to expel him from the family!" Arges huffed, clearly displeased.

"There, there, Your Grace! I wasn't asking you to reconsider the order. Besides, Francis might not even... What I mean is, Francis may now be capable of swaying His Majesty's opinion. Coupled with my influence, this grand conflict can finally draw to a close!" He shrugged, a smile playing on his lips. "However, Wedno is oblivious to this. He's still plotting against Francis, so..."

Arges nodded, his eyes flashing with resentment. "I understand. Nothing happened here tonight! Wedno will remain ignorant of the formidable Master by Francis's side, powerful enough to change His Majesty's mind. He will never know!"

"Precisely. And with that, poor Lord Wedno, along with his ally, General Kirisek, will put on quite the spectacular farce for us! Shall we look forward to it?"

Antoine clapped Arges on the shoulder. "Furthermore, I must say, 'The Grand Inheritance' is always better shared among fewer people! Francis is such a lucrative piece of 'The Grand Inheritance,' and it wouldn't do for us to openly contend with His Majesty and the Holy Church for him, at least not overtly!"

"I understand. Neither you nor I know what transpired here just now! And rest assured, I will not lay claim to this 'Grand Inheritance'! No matter how tempting it may be!"

Antoine's smile broadened, becoming even more cheerful. "Then, what of the marriage between Avril and Francis..."

"My word is my bond!"

Meanwhile, at the Aluman Estate, Kaman, who harbored a bone-deep hatred for Du Chen—for stealing the sacred artifact and for causing him to be afflicted with a slow-acting poison during the Battle God examination—was excitedly relaying news to his father. "Father, word from the City Watch is that Francis has entered the city!"

"So soon?!" The corpulent Wedno leaned forward with an effort, urgency in his voice. "Too soon! My plans against him aren't fully prepared, but they're close enough. Kaman, go and summon Uncle Kirisek tonight. Your father can finally avenge you!"

Kaman asked, surprised, "Father, haven't you already established charges of Francis claiming undue credit and inciting a commoner's riot? Isn't that enough to condemn him to death? Why the need for other plans?"

"No, certainly not enough!" Wedno shook his head. "I hadn't anticipated so many people supporting Francis. Now it seems this single charge will be insufficient to secure his demise—don't forget, your father is the Minister of Rites, head of the Empire's legal departments! In my experience, His Majesty will likely sentence Francis to exile, but spare his life to silence his supporters!"

He patted his son's shoulder, chuckling. "Moreover, even if that charge could eliminate him, I have a deeper objective. Francis is hailed as 'the Virtue of Saint John City,' isn't he? I will utterly tarnish his reputation, making him an object of public scorn and universal contempt!"

Kaman chimed in, "If Francis's reputation is sullied, his supporters, for the sake of their own standing, wouldn't dare to openly support him! And, you could seize the opportunity to criticize the entire Saint Sigurd Cain family! A complete victory, wouldn't you say, Father?"

Wedno embraced his son, full of satisfaction. "Kaman, I am truly gratified! You've matured!"

At the same moment, Du Chen and Old Foye embraced, a warm feeling spreading through Du Chen's heart. After more than half a year apart, the aging Old Foye was still sturdy of build, his hands not trembling at all when he walked with his cane, and the gleaming white teeth revealed in his smile were as pristine as ever—even if they were dentures!

"Ah, you've grown taller, even taller than your old servant!" Old Foye affectionately stroked Du Chen's head, chuckling kindly. "Why didn't you come straight home after entering the city? If the Foundation members hadn't recognized you, your old servant wouldn't have known you were back, Young Master! As soon as I heard, I immediately sent Matthew to find you... Matthew didn't find you at the Grand Cathedral, but he's sharp; he thought you might have gone back to the Saint Sigurd Cain Estate..."

The old man rambled on, a common trait of the elderly, but Du Chen found it incredibly endearing, responding with cheerful laughter.

Du Chen, who had been away from Saint John City for over half a year, finally felt a sense of home at this moment. Led by Old Foye, he toured the newly renovated small courtyard, recounting in detail his and Aliza's adventures.

"That silly child Aliza truly has good fortune, hehe! Oh, you mentioned you made a princely friend named Arthur, didn't you? Could you tell your old servant about your friends? Also, I've heard the rumors from outside; you must need money, right? The Lotus Charitable Foundation still has some funds!"

Du Chen naturally held nothing back. However, when Old Foye produced the operational report for the Lotus Charitable Foundation, Du Chen, whose heart was still brimming with the warmth of returning home, was utterly taken aback—it was completely unexpected.

In just over half a year, the Charitable Foundation, which started with mere thousands of Gold Coins, now boasted assets of fifteen thousand Gold Coins! And it was still expanding at a rapid pace, showing signs of becoming a mid-sized economic force within the Imperial Capital—were it not for its initially modest capital!

This swift development was partly due to Du Chen's reputation in the Imperial Capital and the covert support of some ministers. But more importantly, Old Foye proved to be an unparalleled prodigy in business! Under his management, the Foundation's affiliated industries formed an economic cluster in the Southern District, where land prices were low and labor was abundant. He leveraged this inexpensive workforce to develop labor-intensive handicraft industries, gradually expanding into upstream and downstream sectors with handicrafts as the core...

This was the macro view. In detail, Old Foye had even devised an entire system of rewards and competition, greatly spurring the Foundation's growth. Most incredibly, Old Foye had actually realized the wisdom of persuading poor farmers from the city outskirts to abandon their land and work in the Foundation's handicraft workshops...

Staring at the report in his hands, Du Chen felt a profound resonance, wondering, "Is Old Foye cultivating the seeds of capitalism here?"

However, seeing Old Foye's white hair and realizing he was toiling for him, Du Chen sighed inwardly. He abandoned the thought of asking Old Foye to immediately develop the estate's economy. Instead, he considered asking him where he had learned these methods—for in the Battle God World's economic landscape, these were truly cutting-edge economic strategies.

But the old man, exhausted from a day's work, had already slumped over his desk, fast asleep. Du Chen gently carried Old Foye to the bed, tucked a blanket over him, and smiled faintly.

In the early morning, Old Foye, leaning on his cane, fumbled around the courtyard in confusion, his lips pursed in suspicion. It turned out that mischievous little Beibei had stolen his dentures...

At this moment, Du Chen was leading the two Grand Matriarchs, Lucy and Lily, on a tour of the Southern District. Arriving at a commoner's house, under the first rays of morning sunlight, he began the activity he had always looked forward to.

"Hmm, Francis, isn't what we're doing improper? Isn't it a bit too early?" Lily asked hesitantly.

Lucy also frowned. "It's not about being early or not; it's that we shouldn't be doing this at all!"

Du Chen, full of anticipation, grinned, feeling refreshed. "It's fine, don't you two worry! Heh! Ladies, I bet you've never done this before, have you?"

"This... of course not, never even once... You're a noble, how can you do such a thing!"

"This is quite normal! I do it all the time!"

"Francis, what you're doing is completely beneath a noble's dignity! How can you do this? Come down at once! And you, Lily, you're a young woman, you're being far too casual! Stop this instant!" Lucy exclaimed anxiously.

"Oh no, the water's leaking out, Francis, quickly look down here! I don't know what to do! This is really my first time..." Lily cried out in surprise. Du Chen hurriedly followed her pointed finger, but then Lucy gasped, "Francis, this is bad, someone's coming! Should we hide?"

Du Chen waved his hand dismissively. "It's fine, I never hide when doing this sort of thing in Saint John City. I do it in broad daylight!"

"But look, they're coming closer! This... this is too embarrassing!" Lucy watched the approaching onlookers from the rooftop, a little self-conscious. "Francis..."

At this moment, the commoners recognized Du Chen and cheered, shouting, "Lord Francis, you've come to repair our houses again?! Haha, and you've brought two beautiful ladies!"

Du Chen waved to them, then turned to the two Grand Matriarchs. "Didn't I say it wasn't early? Actually, you two ladies don't understand the lives of the common folk. They have to leave for work before dawn, so early morning is the best time to help them repair their roofs! This is an experience I've accumulated after repairing countless houses!"

Lily looked down and pointed below herself. It was the roof's drainage tile; she had accidentally stepped through it earlier, and the accumulated water was now flowing into the house through the small hole. Du Chen came over and skillfully patched the hole, then added, "Old Cherry, your drainage tiles need replacing. These are completely rotten; you can almost poke a finger through them! Go to my workshop later and get thirty tiles! Make sure you go!"

With that, Du Chen resumed his work. "Back when I was in Saint John City, more than half the houses in the entire Southern District were repaired by me... What, you don't believe me?"

Lucy felt her face burning hot. After all, she was once a noble. It was already inconceivable for a noble to help commoners repair houses, but now Francis was not only doing it but was surrounded by onlookers. It was truly mortifying!

However, Francis could cast aside his noble status, perform such lowly work for commoners, and do it with such dedication and persistence... Alas, she had always thought Francis was merely a kind person. Now it seemed she was terribly mistaken, profoundly so.

Francis's virtue was enough to rival the sages of the pre-war era! Perhaps even surpassing them!

Rumble, rumble! Lucy's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of approaching hoofbeats. The commoners below quickly scattered, grumbling, "Damn City Watch, can't they learn something from Lord Francis?"

A squad of soldiers swiftly surrounded the house, and the leader bellowed at Du Chen on the rooftop, "Francis, I am Buzer, Captain of the Imperial City Watch! I am here to arrest you on General Kirisek's orders! Drop everything and jump down, or I will consider it resistance to arrest, and I have the authority to execute you on the spot!"