My Manor

"The plan can start now," Jiang Hai said lightly, his gaze fixed on Qi Li in front of him.

After contacting the people in the imperial court, they left first, but not before handing Jiang Hai a business card. With this card, it meant that if Jiang Hai ever needed them, he could reach out at any time. The two also took a copy of the agreement and left.

Not long after the middle-aged man departed, Qi Li and her assistant arrived. Everyone had lunch together at the hotel restaurant, and Jiang Hai casually spoke to Qi Li at the dinner table.

"Has it been negotiated?"

Hearing Jiang Hai's question, Qi Li couldn't help but raise her head, looking at him in surprise.

"Yes, it's been settled. The day after tomorrow is when Du Famen will hold a cocktail party. People from all over the imperial capital, of all sizes and profiles, will attend. However, the chances of you being invited are slim. If the An family is invited, then you don't have to worry. But if you're not invited, you can still go and offer them some information." Qi Li's words prompted a nod from Jiang Hai.

"We must get rid of them this time!" Qi Li's eyes lit up upon hearing Jiang Hai's comment.

Indeed, when Du Famen held a cocktail party, all the well-known people in the capital would attend. After all, this was the royal family of the Middle East—the local tyrants. It would certainly be beneficial for anyone to form connections with such people.

Even if they couldn't directly profit from them, just aligning themselves with the reputation of these Middle Eastern elites would ensure a prosperous life in China.

However, these prominent figures typically referred to high-ranking officials, the court, and some of the ultra-rich.

For third-rate businesspeople like Qi Li, who had a family fortune of only 10 to 8 billion, it wasn't easy to get into this circle.

In business, what is the most important thing? Money? Yes, money is crucial.

But beyond money, connections are vital. For opportunities like this, if the An family gets wind of it, they will definitely come. This is also Jiang Hai's bait for them, and it's bait they'll have to bite.

"I'll make the arrangements. What are you doing this afternoon? Do you want me to keep her as your guide?" Qi Li asked as she turned on her phone, preparing to begin her fishing endeavor.

Halfway through, however, she suddenly realized that Jiang Hai didn't have anything to do yet. Darlene and the others were coming to play, and Jiang Hai would undoubtedly take them out, but since he wasn't very familiar with the imperial capital, should he arrange a tour guide himself?

"No," Jiang Hai shook his head, directly rejecting Qi Li's offer. He didn't like her assistant.

"Oh," Qi Li responded, momentarily stunned, then lowered her head, returning to her phone. "By the way, your restaurants won't have to pay taxes in the future, and you won't be taxed when going through customs. That's part of my deal with them."

As Qi Li heard Jiang Hai's words, she raised her head in surprise and stared at him. She hadn't expected Jiang Hai to casually secure such a large tax exemption. Wait, no—this wasn't just hundreds of millions. Jiang Hai didn't specify how many years it would last. Does this mean that as long as her restaurant is open, she won't have to pay taxes? Not just hundreds of millions, but it could even be in the billions. Thinking of this, Qi Li's eyes began to gleam. She hadn't imagined Jiang Hai would give her such a substantial gift. Of course, she knew she wouldn't keep it all for herself—she'd definitely take out Jiang Hai's share.

"Okay, we've finished eating. You can get busy now. I want to go out and have some fun," Jiang Hai said, glancing at Qi Li's gleaming eyes. He couldn't help but feel a headache. This money-grubber really was something. He hoped she wouldn't misunderstand anything.

Jiang Hai had agreed only out of the principle of not taking advantage of others. Now, it seemed that Qi Li was reading too much into it.

"Okay, I understand. I'll ask Feng Yunchen and Ai Xiaoxi to accompany you. After all, you're not very familiar with the imperial capital," Qi Li said as she stood up, ready to leave with a smile on her face. But before walking out, she stopped, looked at Jiang Hai seriously, and asked something that made both Jiang Hai and the others—Darlene, Marianne, and Lili—stunned.

Azarina and Penelope weren't familiar with Feng Yunchen and Ai Xiaoxi. Penelope had never met them, and although Azarina had seen them, it was only a brief glance. After all, she had been a prisoner at the time. She knew that there were two Chinese women around Jiang Hai, but the others knew what these women did.

Especially Qi Li's assistant, who couldn't understand how her master had become so easygoing and even proactively sent him to Jiang Hai.

"Forget about them. It's better not to tell them about my plans before everything is settled. Otherwise, if anything happens, it'll be harder for them to act." Jiang Hai shook his head in response to Qi Li's suggestion.

If Jiang Hai had to wait until the An family was dealt with, there was a 90% chance that he would seek them out. After all, they were the first two women he had established a relationship with, and they were far ahead of Qi Li.

"Oh, I understand," Qi Li said with a smile, relieved that Jiang Hai didn't intend to seek out Feng Yunchen and Ai Xiaoxi. While she originally intended to protect them, she was content as long as Jiang Hai didn't want them involved.

Once everything was arranged, Qi Li left to prepare for her fishing mission. Meanwhile, Jiang Hai, accompanied by Darlene, Marianne, Azarina, and Penelope, got into the car arranged by the hotel and set off to explore the imperial capital.

The imperial capital, one of the four ancient capitals of China, is home to the world's most cultural heritage sites, without a doubt.

With over 3,000 years of history, the city is filled with numerous scenic spots and historical sites. However, when it comes to the official history of the imperial capital, it's mostly associated with the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Liao, Jin, and Yuan dynasties—who were historically enemies of the Song Dynasty—aren't often mentioned in history books. The public mostly recognizes the imperial capital from the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Even during the Ming Dynasty, the capital wasn't initially the imperial capital; it was the southern capital. Later, Yan Wang Zhu Di rebelled and moved the capital back to the imperial capital. After the Qing Dynasty was established by the Manchus, the story evolved further. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the previous dynasty actually established its capital in the southern capital, not the imperial capital. The current imperial capital became the capital largely because Taizu, the founder, didn't have any big cities to choose from. Before the country's founding, the original capital was Bingcheng. But due to its cold climate and proximity to the border, it lacked a strategic buffer zone, so it was decided that the capital should be moved to the imperial capital. But this had no relevance to Jiang Hai.

He was just here to have fun. He had to admit, though, that there were plenty of places to visit in the imperial capital, such as the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, and the Summer Palace.

In Jiang Hai's opinion, apart from these three, there wasn't much else worth visiting.

Tian-an and Taimiao were connected to the Forbidden City. Tian-an was the gate of the Forbidden City, and visitors could easily visit them together. The Great Wall lay outside the city, and the Summer Palace and Yuanmingyuan were nearby. So, the main attractions in the imperial capital were these three spots. Of course, if you wanted, you could also visit the Bird's Nest since it was the venue for the Olympics.

The Bird's Nest, the Water Cube, and the National Stadium were all nearby, but you needed tickets to enter. Jiang Hai wasn't particularly interested.

That afternoon, they mostly visited the Forbidden City.

Jiang Hai had been to the imperial capital before, but he found the Forbidden City much smaller than expected. On TV, it always seemed enormous, the place where the emperor lived. But when he visited, he realized it wasn't that large. Including the gardens behind it, you could finish it in half an hour if you walked fast. To see everything, it might take a little over an hour. Of course, if you needed a rest, that would take longer.

Even though it didn't seem vast to Jiang Hai, the Forbidden City remained one of the five largest palaces in the world. The Palace of Versailles in France, Buckingham Palace in Britain, the Kremlin in the Soviet Union, and the White House in the United States all ranked below it.

To Jiang Hai, these things might seem boring, but to pure Americans like Darlene, the Forbidden City was magical. Even Azarina and Penelope were greatly impressed as they walked through it.

They kept marveling at its majesty, magnificence, and grandeur. It seemed that the Forbidden City was still quite beautiful to foreigners. The group walked around, occasionally stopping to check out souvenirs, having a great time.

On the other side, Qi Li visited a department store owned by their company.

As mentioned earlier, Qi Li's company was primarily in the real estate business. Though they didn't have vast amounts of money or connections, they bought stores to rent out, earning revenue from the rents.

While they didn't operate the stores themselves, they relied on rent income to maintain utilities, security, etc. Today, Qi Li's target was a department store in their portfolio. She knew the person in charge was connected to the An family.

(To be continued.)