Chapter 045: Fire Consumption

She had originally thought that Wang Bo said these things because he intended to break off relations with her and would refuse to hand over the demon pearl at all costs, but she never expected that Wang Bo would so readily give it to her.

Even though Wu Zetian had seen countless people, for a moment she could not fathom Wang Bo's thoughts.

Could it be that the Demon Pearl is fake?

Wu Zetian secretly observed the demonic pearl a few times and confirmed it was genuine, but precisely because of this, she grew increasingly puzzled as to why Wang Bo would do such a thing.

“What exactly do you mean?”

"Nothing much, I just wanted to warn you." Wang Bo watched Wu Zetian's bewildered expression, feeling utterly delighted inside.

"Warn me?" Wu Zetian's heart tightened with a chill.

"That's right. Your strength, your ambition, your little schemes—I know them all. I'm using this to warn you: from now on, don't disturb my life, and don't think you can defeat me by using the demon pearl to create a few pathetic wretches. As for someone like Eunuch Li, even a hundred of them, let alone a thousand or ten thousand, would be no match for me."

Wang Bo said with a look of disdain, "Doing this not only won't kill me, but will instead provoke me. If you truly anger me, no one can save you."

Yes, the reason Wang Bo talked so much nonsense today, laying bare every last thought in Wu Zetian's heart, was precisely to warn her.

You must understand, a woman who holds grudges, especially one with power and a petty mind, is absolutely not to be trifled with.

For the sake of his own peaceful days ahead, Wang Bo intended to intimidate the other party.

Imagine you are walking down the street, and someone comes up to you and tells you that he not only knows your thoughts, your actions, but even your family relationships.

even knows the most hidden matters of your heart.

Yet you know nothing about this person, and before this, you had no connection with them whatsoever.

You would view this person in this way.

If it were Wang Bo, he would think this person is amazing, as if they know everything.

Wu Zetian now held exactly this thought.

She felt she could not see through Wang Bo; on the contrary, she herself was seen through completely by him. This greatly displeased Wu Zetian. Though she was clothed, she had the feeling as if she were standing naked before Wang Bo.

This was an extremely unsafe feeling.

Especially since she was the exalted Empress, second only to the emperor and above all others, and in the last half year had taken sole control of the court, her word being law.

Yet a mere commoner saw through every thought in her heart.

While Wu Zetian was displeased, she even felt a trace of panic.

Though she tried her utmost to suppress this feeling, her expression betrayed a hint of unease, proving that she was unable to completely quell this panic.

At this moment, Wu Zetian even felt an impulse to recklessly smash her cup, wanting to completely obliterate Wang Bo.

Only in this way could she return to being the Empress, second only to one and above all others.

She did not wish for there to be a single person in this world who could see through her heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys with such ease.

Wang Bo could also see that, after he had exposed Wu Zetian, the murderous intent in her eyes grew stronger and stronger, and her hand gripping the wine cup tightened more and more.

The slender, rosy fingers even began to turn pale from the excessive force.

Just as Wang Bo thought Wu Zetian was about to smash the cup, she gently set it down, as if nothing had happened, and said coquettishly, "The hundred thousand taels of gold I prepared for you are right here. Let me show you."

Wang Bo couldn't help but sigh—truly, a woman fit to be emperor had such deep cunning.

She can even hold back at this—no wonder she'll be able to achieve great things in the future.

He nodded imperceptibly. "Fine."

Wu Zetian rose and walked ahead, with Wang Bo following. The two climbed the stairs to the second floor of the tavern. The second floor had been cleared out; where tables and chairs once stood, heavy wooden chests now lined the space.

Wu Zetian casually opened one of the chests; inside were neatly arranged gold bars.

Then, Wu Zetian opened the second, the third, the fourth... all the boxes one by one, and inside each box were neatly arranged gold bars.

"This is the hundred thousand taels of gold you wanted, no more, no less, all right here."

Wang Bo casually picked up a gold bar and saw a line of small characters printed on its underside.

"Tang Dynasty Gold Reserve."

Wang Bo saw this line of small characters and couldn't help but say sarcastically, "You really are generous, giving me such a fine thing. Do you think I can spend it?"

Wang Bo had been in this world for some time now and had gained a certain understanding of its common knowledge.

For example, the gold bar in his hand, engraved with the characters "Tang Dynasty Treasury," indicates that it is an item from the national treasury.

To put it plainly, it's what common folk call official silver.

Of course, to be precise, it is an official gold ingot.

It's just that common folk find "official silver" easier on the tongue, and this official silver is meant for the treasury—that is, the tax revenue and fiscal income of each province. It must be stamped with the characters or patterns of the official silver mark, to facilitate management when entering the national treasury.

The main uses of official silver were military pay, official salaries, palace expenses, local construction, disaster relief, and other expenditures.

Commoners or officials, private individuals or organizations are not permitted to use official silver privately; it is a capital offense punishable by beheading.

If Wang Bo took out these gold ingots to spend, he would be violating the laws of the Tang Dynasty and could be arrested or even beheaded.

Wu Zetian said, “You may keep the melting loss.”

Wang Bo placed the gold ingot in his hand back into the chest and said calmly, "That's the only way."

After official silver is disbursed to various regions and individuals, the units or individuals receiving the official silver must melt it down once more to produce new silver ingots or lumps; this is the main source of broken silver.

And this process is called huohao, or "meltage loss."

It refers to the loss incurred when melting broken silver and recasting it into ingots, or when melting ingots into broken silver.

After the one hundred thousand taels of gold that Wang Bo receives have been reduced by meltage, he may not necessarily be able to regain the full amount.

It will inevitably decrease somewhat.

But if he didn't do this, the hundred thousand taels of gold couldn't be spent at all. Even if Wang Bo had the nerve to spend it, probably few would have the nerve to accept it.

Clearly, Wu Zetian had subtly played a trick on Wang Bo in this regard. So it can be said that a woman who holds grudges is not to be trifled with.

It was precisely for this reason that Wang Bo wanted to give the other party a harsh shock.

Wu Zetian said with a faint smile, "Should I send someone to deliver these one hundred thousand taels of gold to your residence?"

Wang Bo shook his head and said coldly, "No need."

He casually lifted one of the chests and, under Wu Zetian's stupefied gaze, stuffed it into his four-dimensional pocket. He repeated the process with the rest, and in just a dozen or so breaths, Wang Bo had placed all the chests inside his four-dimensional pocket.

Wu Zetian couldn't help but rub her eyes, thinking she had seen things.

But the facts proved that she had not been mistaken.

Wang Bo indeed stuffed a box weighing over ten jin—more than a dozen pounds—into his pocket.