“Mr. Swift, thank you!” After sending off the reporters, Franklin Young beamed as he spoke to Samuel Swift.

“In the future, stop bringing me all this nonsense. There are plenty of British people in our country too. If these reporters check with them and eventually find out that China doesn’t have such a medicine, it will seriously damage my reputation. I am an envoy, not a businessman,” Samuel Swift said irritably.

“Don’t worry! Our traditional Chinese medicine is broad and profound—how could those foreigners possibly understand it? Besides, you already told them it’s legendary. It’s perfectly normal that they don’t know about it. There are even legends about immortality elixirs in China—are they going to try to verify those too?” Franklin Young said with a sly grin.

This time, he had come to ask Samuel Swift whether he still wanted that watch. If not, he really would take it to Spain to sell.

“No, we already have gifts prepared. If your watch were cheap, it wouldn’t matter, but at a hundred thousand pounds each, there’s absolutely no way we could buy it,” Samuel Swift said.

This was exactly what Franklin Young had expected. He would just auction the watch in Spain later. In fact, he had another reason for coming to see Samuel Swift.

“Mr. Swift, you’ll have to attend the Queen’s birthday celebration in person, right?” He sidled up to Samuel Swift and spoke mysteriously.

Samuel Swift nodded and looked at him.

“As your interpreter, I’ll have to go with you, won’t I?”

Samuel Swift nodded again. Although he had more than one interpreter, for such occasions Franklin Young was the best choice. Sometimes he even wondered if the refined, elegant young man at social events was really the same person as the cunning merchant reeking of money standing before him now.

“Can I say a few extra words while interpreting?”

Samuel Swift immediately became alert. If he tried to peddle his wares at the Queen’s birthday, it would be a huge embarrassment.

“No!” Old Swift said without hesitation.

“Just hear me out! First of all, my medicines are incredibly effective—you have to admit that, right?” Franklin Young said unhurriedly.

This, Samuel Swift did admit. He had seen with his own eyes Franklin Young cure people with Tianyi Shengshui; it was almost miraculous.

“So, if you recommend me to the British royal family, it can only be beneficial. First, as a Chinese, they wouldn’t think of me unless they had no other options. That is, if they ask me to treat someone, it’s because British doctors have failed. If I succeed, it’s a pleasant surprise; if I fail, it’s only to be expected. So there’s really no risk,” Franklin Young said.

Samuel Swift thought about it and realized this was true. And Franklin Young’s Tianyi Divine Water was almost miraculous—if he could really cure a member of the British royal family, it would be a huge boost for Sino-British relations.

The old man’s eyes turned as he considered it. It seemed worth the gamble—there was nothing to lose, just a matter of finding a pretext to recommend Franklin Young. Besides, he really did have confidence in Franklin Young’s Tianyi Shengshui.

Chapter Six: The European Grandmother

Boss Young was learning from the great comrade Rasputin.

That old Rasputin only had a little folk remedy for hemophilia, plus a certain special talent, and yet he could stir up storms in Russia, plunging a vast empire into rivers of blood. Now, with hundreds of tons of miracle medicine in his own hands, why couldn’t he achieve such greatness?

Hemophilia was nothing in his eyes. There was plenty of hemostatic powder on the ship, and a batch of prothrombin complex in the cold storage. Combined, these were the ultimate weapon against hemophilia.

It should be known that the source of this disease was the very old lady about to celebrate her birthday—Queen Victoria. Not only did she nearly conquer the world with her fleet, but she also destroyed Britain’s greatest enemy with her hemophilia gene. The last Empress of Russia was said to still often reside with her grandmother. The fall of the Romanov dynasty was, to a large extent, because of this woman who would do anything for her son. Poor little Alexei—who knows how he feels about his great-grandmother in the afterlife.

May 25th, Buckingham Palace. Samuel Swift, as the Chinese envoy to Britain, accompanied by his interpreter Translator Young, officially attended the royal celebration for the Queen’s birthday on behalf of Cixi and Guangxu, naturally bringing various gifts.

As thanks, they were subsequently granted a ceremonial audience with Queen Victoria. Standing beside Samuel Swift, Franklin Young looked at the elaborately dressed, short, plump seventy-year-old lady seated on the throne, and couldn’t help but feel a surge of emotion.

One could say, this was the true ruler of the world. Victorian Britain, like America more than a century later, stood high above all, dominating the masses. Its vast fleet suffocated all challengers, making every corner of the globe feel the might of the empire on which the sun never set. In stark contrast, on the other side of the world, another old woman was striving to push another vast empire into the abyss.