My Divine Pet Enables Me To Become The Biggest Winner
Chapter 1175 - 459: I’ve Become Prettier_1

Chapter 1175: Chapter 459: I’ve Become Prettier_1

Lord Liam went to the palace early on the second morning, and the Empress smelled the mixed fragrance of powder on him, and couldn’t help but laugh and scold him. Lord Liam coquettishly begged for mercy and then reported that Owen Bertram had arrived in the Capital with his younger sister.

The old lady summoned Owen Bertram to the palace, originally intending to let him bring his sister along in the decree. However, Master Bertram went alone and explained to the Empress that he hadn’t told his sister yet. If the marriage was successful, he would tell her so as not to disappoint her. The Empress was indeed understanding and did not blame him, even apologizing for the unexpected competition among the Five Founding Dukes.

To show that she did not favor any one party, the Empress decided to hold a banquet in her palace three days later, inviting only the Five Founding Dukes and the Bertram siblings to meet each other and for Ava Bertram to make a choice. The Empress also said that, regardless of whether the marriage succeeded or not, she would bestow on Ava Bertram a set of head and face jewelry she had worn when she was younger.

Owen Bertram naturally thanked her for her kindness and left the palace. After bidding farewell to Master Liam, he wandered around the Capital on his own. With his current cultivation, if he didn’t want to attract attention, he could walk past someone’s eyes without being noticed.

Master Bertram’s target was the Duke of Stev’s Mansion, as they were the first to propose marriage and likely the root of the problem. If Andrew Oamond dared not accept the assignment because he was insufficiently skilled, then Master Bertram would take the matter into his own hands!

In Master Bertram’s view, Andrew Oamond was overcomplicating matters. For example, the Duke of Stev’s Mansion had been expanded over generations and now occupied two entire neighborhoods. It had long been divided into the East, West, South, and North Mansions, each representing a branch of the Duke’s family. There were even dramatic struggles for the rank and inheritance rights among them.

The current Duke of Stev came from the North Mansion. But were the other three Mansions content? Master Bertram did not need to witness their misdeeds in the mansion first-hand, as he could imagine them vividly since he had seen a variety of commentaries on Dream of the Red Chamber in his previous life...

Embarrassingly, he had never actually read the original work.

The only consideration in this investigation was that Master Bertram could not use puppetry or soul-searching techniques, in order to leave some face for the dignified Regan Kingdom.

Master Bertram chose a prodigal son from the South Mansion as his target, creating a "wealthy merchant from the South" persona for himself and quickly making contact with the son through a little trickery.

This prodigal son was a gambling addict who lost nine out of ten times. Every month, he would lose all his stipend money and go back to his mansion to steal and sell items. In the big gambling houses of the Capital, there were people who specialized in doing business with these prodigals, acquiring precious items from the mansions at a low price and making at least five times the profit on resale.

The prodigal son, desperate from his losses, went home and stole one of his father’s treasures—a Tier-5 Magical Artifact Folding Fan! But with a little interference from Master Bertram, everyone in the casino felt that the fan was worthless and disgusting. In fact, no one would take it!

When the prodigal son was in a hurry, Master Bertram appeared and bought the treasure at a generous price, becoming friendly with the prodigal son and playing with him. In less than half a day, the money from selling the fan had also been lost. However, he had the illusion that he was already very familiar with his wealthy merchant friend, as if they had known each other for seven or eight years.

The prodigal son and Master Bertram arranged to go drinking at the Gavin Clan building that evening. He planned to go back and catch up on sleep first, but was dragged out of bed and beaten up by his own father! Even for a family like the Stev Mansion, they couldn’t disregard a Tier-5 Magical Artifact. That fan was one of his father’s favorite "elegant items", with a high enough rank and mysterious functionality that it was often displayed to close friends during social occasions.

With no other choice, the battered prodigal son went out to find his wealthy merchant friend, saying that his family was willing to buy the fan back at the original price. The merchant friend readily agreed, but asked to be introduced to his father.

The prodigal son’s father had to make an appearance. Unexpectedly, this nouveau riche merchant from the South seemed to know quite a bit about elegance, and after talking for a while, they became quite engaged. Before long, the father also felt like he was meeting a confidant he had known for seven or eight years. Master Bertram successfully infiltrated the prodigal son’s father’s circle.

Under Master Bertram’s guidance, the prodigal son’s father gradually expressed his dissatisfaction with the North Mansion.

The Empress’s banquet was three days later, and Master Bertram had to uncover the real motives of the Five Founding Dukes within those three days. As he investigated, he never ceased his other activities. Predecessor Santa had already handed over the North Extreme to the Red Dragon Master and returned with the Tier-9 True Fire and a Golden Feather of Heavenly Eagle. The predecessor proactively contacted Master Bertram to deliver these items.

Master Bertram immediately asked him to rush to the Capital.

This time, his reverse scale had been touched! He decided to show off his "muscles" in the Capital, or else any tom, dick, and harry would dare to target his sister!

During the second night of the banquet, Master Bertram used some tricks, and the wine served that night turned into "Truth-Telling Water." The prodigal son’s father spoke of many instances of "unfair treatment" in the Stev Mansion, with the North Mansion supposedly suppressing the other three Mansions. He also heard many colorful stories from behind the doors of the grand mansions, mostly involving petty theft, adultery, and the like.