Chapter 42 Mutual Riddle-Solving

As the vehicle drove into the underground garage, Xia Qingyu slowly spoke:
"Daishi."
"Here," Shinichiro Daishi immediately responded.
"State the mistake you just made," Xia Qingyu instructed.
"The other party blocked our entry, which was obviously meant to make things difficult for us," Shinichiro Daishi said, having figured it out belatedly and sorting through his thoughts. "As a diplomatic agency, the embassy frequently needs to receive outside personnel. Its guards cannot possibly be inflexible blockheads who don't understand how to adapt."
"Coupled with the fact that we had already notified the embassy of our arrival, it's impossible that they didn't give instructions to the guards. That leaves only one conclusion—they deliberately made the guards do this."
"Mm," Xia Qingyu nodded and said, "If you had been able to realize this the moment the incident occurred, you could have been promoted from your position as a driver."
"I still have a lot to learn," Shinichiro Daishi said modestly.
Chen Zi'ang was dumbfounded, thinking to himself that you are really this good at bootlicking, no wonder you were accepted here as an exception before even graduating from university.
"Speaking of which," he pondered aloud, "considering we might be eavesdropped on once we step outside, I might as well ask right here in the car."
"Why did this Elfin ambassador try to give us a lower-hand intimidation?"
"Simple," Xia Qingyu said indifferently. "This Elfin ambassador belongs to the Bahkert Group."
"However, his term of office ends at the end of the year, and next year's ambassadorial post has already been secured by the Krubliff family. Therefore, he intends to do something before his term concludes."
"You mean..." Chen Zi'ang after all had some workplace experience and immediately said, "He plans to make a desperate last stand?"
"To be precise, it should be a desperate gamble," Xia Qingyu said coldly. "If he can facilitate the Bahkert mining vessel's official entry into Takamagahara, he can add a remarkable achievement to the end of his ambassadorial resume, and secure a much better retirement position after returning to the Bahkert Group. As for whether things might get messed up, he's leaving at the end of the year anyway, so naturally he has no scruples."
"Just like a gambler about to lose everything and leave the table, placing all his chips on the board in a bid for a comeback," Chen Zi'ang mused. "That's why he had the guards intimidate us, trying to crush our momentum."
"So you should understand the level of difficulty of this negotiation," Xia Qingyu sneered. "Observe more, think more, and don't ask questions."
"Then what about me, leader?" Shinichiro Daishi asked.
"You stay in the car on standby. You are not allowed to leave the vehicle, and you are not allowed to converse with anyone outside," Xia Qingyu instructed.
"Understood," Shinichiro Daishi immediately complied.
Chen Zi'ang pulled open the car door, followed Xia Qingyu out of the vehicle, took the elevator to the third floor, and arrived at the reception desk.
"Hello, do you have an appointment?" The receptionist was a blonde and blue-eyed Elfin young woman. According to Xia Zili's popular science, she should be a High Elf.
"We are here to see Ambassador Pierre," Xia Qingyu said.
"I'm sorry, you are not on the ambassador's scheduled meeting list." The other party pretended to check the list before speaking.

"I haven't even stated my identity yet," Xia Qingyu sneered.
"Uh, I recognize you," the secretary attempted to remedy the situation, but Xia Qingyu quickly interrupted her:
"I don't want to hear your explanation. If you don't grant passage right now, I will leave this place immediately and subsequently inform the ambassador that it was you who obstructed our meeting."
The blonde secretary's expression immediately became tense, because Ambassador Pierre had instructed her to "make things difficult" rather than to "block" them. If the other party truly turned around and walked away without hesitation, the ambassador would surely blame her for "failing to gauge the appropriate measure of obstruction." She hastily said with a trembling voice:
"I'm sorry, actually I made a mistake. The ambassador is waiting for you, I'll arrange it right away."
She swiftly picked up the desk phone, spoke a few words with a voice on the verge of tears, and then said respectfully:
"Please go in."
Xia Qingyu ignored her, simply leading Chen Zi'ang forward, and soon entered a room resembling a reception parlor.
Ambassador Pierre was already waiting in the room, currently standing with his hands behind his back, looking at a portrait on the wall.
The portrait depicted a High Elf in military uniform, with a stern and cold expression, resembling a sovereign ruling over millions of living beings.
"This should be our second meeting, Your Highness," Ambassador Pierre turned around and slowly said.
Hearing the word "Your Highness," Chen Zi'ang knew that Suzuna Tsukimiya's judgment regarding her imperial lineage was indeed true.
"In the Breconia sector, at the Krubliff estate," Xia Qingyu replied. "You were watching the show by the flower bed back then."
"Well, a young girl in her early teens bargaining face-to-face with the head of the Krubliff family—I have truly never seen that in all my years," Pierre chuckled.
"Let's get straight to the point," Xia Qingyu said flatly. "The mining vessel cannot enter Takamagahara. The Empire will not allow this."
"You and I both know that the mining vessel is a purely commercial ship," Pierre chuckled. "We can even allow imperial commissioners to board and inspect it to ensure there is no military equipment onboard."
"A commercial vessel of that tonnage is little different from a military starship," Xia Qingyu did not yield an inch. "This is a matter of diplomatic bottom lines."
"A matter of diplomatic bottom lines," Pierre smiled as he said. "As far as I know, the moment the Federation embassy was established in the Takamagahara sector, there were no bottom lines left to speak of. As long as I can persuade Shidi to let the mining vessel dock, what does it matter whether your Empire agrees or not?"
"If you could persuade Shidi, you wouldn't be bothering to arrange this meeting as an unnecessary extra step," Xia Qingyu coldly pierced through his bluff. "Your internal factions at Bahkert must have conducted an assessment and concluded that persuading him is even harder than reaching an agreement with the Empire."
"Indeed," Pierre remained unperturbed. "But if the Empire leaves no room for negotiation, perhaps we will simply have to resort to dealing with the sector governor."
"It seems neither of us can convince the other in the short term, so the mining vessel issue will be temporarily shelved. Let's go outside for some afternoon tea, and then discuss the folk scholar visit."
He made a gesture of invitation, then suddenly said with surprise:
"Your Highness, this aide of yours... looks very unfamiliar."
Xia Qingyu indicated with a sidelong glance, and Chen Zi'ang immediately introduced himself:

"Hello, Mr. Ambassador, I am Chen Zi'ang, head of the Intelligence Agency's Field Operations Division."
"I remember Your Highness's previous aide was named Izumu Yuki," Pierre looked him up and down. "So you must possess exceptionally outstanding qualities to win Her Highness's regard and promotion."
Indeed, in Xia Qingyu's eyes, I must be the most useful among all the anthropoid apes... Chen Zi'ang thought to himself.
"However, dealing with the Imperial family is not entirely a cause for celebration," Pierre admonished him like an elder. "Every gift you receive now probably corresponds to a bill that will need to be paid behind the scenes."
"There are no free handouts in this world to begin with," Xia Qingyu said coldly. "Fools who believe in pies falling from the sky will sooner or later be consumed down to their very bones."
The two of them began speaking in riddles, which Chen Zi'ang failed to comprehend for a moment, but he still remembered Xia Qingyu's warning before getting out of the car: "Observe more, think more, and don't ask questions." Therefore, he made no response and simply sat in silent contemplation.
Right next to the reception parlor was a small open-air balcony, where a coffee table and dining chairs had already been prepared, complete with an exquisite tiered cake stand and coffee.
Pierre leisurely enjoyed the cake, while Xia Qingyu sat on the other side drinking only coffee, completely ignoring the food on the table.
Sitting alone in the back, Chen Zi'ang gradually realized the malicious intent behind Pierre's words just now—he was trying to drive a wedge between Xia Qingyu and me!
What a pity, you don't need to exert yourself at all. Given Xia Qingyu's terrible temper where she looks at everyone like an anthropoid ape, the relationship value between us probably hit the negative numbers long ago; there's no need for you to sow discord.
"To be honest," Pierre continued, "the series of public safety incidents that recently occurred in Takamagahara has made the Federation side extremely uneasy."
"In fact, several Federation citizens were brutally murdered in North Pole City, and your side's security system has yet to handle the matter in a timely manner."
"Regarding the issue of the security system, I have no need to comment," Xia Qingyu said coldly. "You can go find the person in charge."
"Why must Your Highness feign ignorance?" Pierre said leisurely. "The Federation side has already obtained the killer's identity information. She is not only a paranoid anti-egalitarian, but also an extremely dangerous witch."
"This is also why we are dispatching a team of esoteric scholars to Takamagahara. If your side's security system cannot fulfill the role of protecting foreign citizens, we will have no choice but to take some necessary measures."
Hearing this, Chen Zi'ang immediately understood.
The so-called "private esoteric scholar delegation" was not a genuine academic research group at all, but rather a special unit wielding mysterious powers.
And the purpose of sending them to North Pole City was very simple: to assassinate Seiko Takano.