Chapter 170 Lucius's Showdown

"Then I really have to thank you." Umbridge said gritting her teeth.

Lucius pretended to be very generous and waved his hand.

"What are you talking about? As long as you buy goods from our company, you are our customer."

"As the Muggles say, the customer is king. We will of course provide our best service, and I want to emphasize this point."

"As a wizard I certainly don't believe in God, but I think rules still need to be followed."

"Well said." Umbridge suddenly became excited and prepared to fight back.

"Rules are above all else, regarding Mr. Hohenzollern, and the bank and company you jointly established."

"They should all be subject to the rules of the Ministry of Magic, Mr. Malfoy, I would like to remind you that this meeting is to discuss..."

"Stop!" Lucius childishly put two fingers in his ears and said emphatically.

"I didn't hear a single word of what you said next before the meeting started."

"Since you agree to the rules, we should abide by them. Before the meeting begins, any information about the content of the meeting will be kept secret."

"I have no interest in understanding, and I can't understand. If you have nothing to do, just go and do your own thing!"

"Of course no problem." Umbridge was almost mad with rage, her flushed face looking just like a braised pig's head.

Lucius's remarks were basically a showdown, since the private negotiations had already failed to reach an agreement.

Then don't blame yourself, the toad thought, turned around and prepared to leave.

But when she just grasped the door handle of the conference room door, Lucius' voice sounded again behind her.

"I forgot to remind you, ma'am, to ask Mr. Cornelius Fudge to speed up. It's not because I don't want to wait."

"It's just because in another hour, it will be time for your Ministry of Magic to get off work. For a trivial person like me."

"I'm really flattered that you've specially worked overtime for the meeting. Of course, if I have to wait, I can continue to wait."

"My wife has prepared a lunch box for me, so it won't be a problem until tomorrow morning."

Umbridge turned her head mechanically, only to see Lucius taking out a lunch box in an insulated bag from his wallet.

A smug smile on his face.

Seeing this, she could only pretend to be calm and speak.

"Don't worry, the meeting will start soon. Please wait patiently for a moment."

After saying this, he pushed the door open and left. Lucius sat in his seat and put the tobacco into his pipe and compacted it.

After lighting the fire, we started enjoying it right in the conference room with some Burgundy red wine.

Another twenty minutes passed, just as Lucius was slowly knocking the ashes out of his pipe.

The door of the conference room was pushed open from the outside again, led by Cornelius Fudge, whose face was dark.

A group of officials from the Ministry of Magic walked into the conference room in a mighty procession. There were so many officials that even Lucius was there.

This was unprecedented. A group of people filled a nearly 20-meter-long table.

Lucius, who was sitting at the very end, knew at first sight that this was just a common tactic of the Ministry of Magic.

These greedy guys just want to use the large number of people to deliberately exaggerate the importance of the problem.

To create a sense of oppression for oneself, so as to force oneself to compromise in the subsequent negotiations on dividing the spoils.

He also had to admit that if it were ten years ago, he would probably have been panicking by now.

But now, he no longer had any feelings towards this kind of method, and he had to admit that Carl recommended those books about the Muggle world to him.

It is still very useful. After reading a lot, he can easily see through the tricks of these greedy guys.

Sure enough, just as he predicted in his heart, as soon as Cornelius Fudge sat down, he deliberately or unintentionally spoke in a helpless tone.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting Mr. Malfoy. The Ministry of Magic is really busy right now, and we didn't expect Mr. Hohenzollern."

"He dared to use the Unforgivable Curse in public, killing more than ten lives. Now he is everywhere in the streets of the wizarding world."

"Everyone is discussing these things. In order to minimize the impact of this incident, the Ministry of Magic is already working at full capacity."

When I first heard this, I thought the Ministry of Magic was doing this for Carl's sake and trying to minimize the impact of the situation on him.

But as a core member of the organization, Lucius certainly knew that most of the public opinions were unfavorable to the British Ministry of Magic, and most of them were promoted by Carl himself.

At the same time, the implication of this statement is just to tell himself that his backer is about to fall, and he should choose sides as soon as possible.

But before he came, he had already made all the preparations, so he leaned back in his chair and said indifferently.

"Please forgive my ignorance, Minister. I have countless things to deal with at my company."

"I really don't know much about what's going on in the wizarding world lately. I'll wait until my son gets home."

"I just found out about this incident. My wife severely criticized me for it."

"They said I was only concerned with making money and didn't care about my family at all."

As he spoke, Lucius paused deliberately and glanced at everyone present with contempt.

Then he said hurriedly, as if he had said something wrong.

"It seems that I have said too much. How can trivial family matters be brought up for discussion at a meeting? What will be discussed at this meeting?"

"It has to be professional and in compliance with regulations. It has nothing to do with the content of the meeting. We have plenty of time to discuss it privately after the meeting."

"It's only 40 minutes until the end of the working day at the Ministry of Magic. This is for the sake of your wives not accusing you of not caring about your families when you return home."

"I think we should just get straight to the point. There's no need for any more pleasantries."

After Lucius finished speaking, Cornelius Fauci's expression suddenly turned ugly.

It's a complete showdown, and the meaning is very simple. I won't take sides. If you have anything to say, just say it. I don't have time to waste talking to you.

Such a direct attitude made our minister very angry, and at the same time he couldn't help feeling a little contempt in his heart.

It seems that this guy doesn't quite understand the situation and thinks he still has the support. I must make him understand.

Who has the final say in the British Ministry of Magic? So he deliberately looked at old Crouch who was sitting on his left.

And several high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Magic around him said with a smile.

"Since Mr. Malfoy has said so, let's hurry up, otherwise we will be late when we get back."

"The one in my family won't let me off easily, Mr. Barty Crouch. You will represent your working group."

"Ask Mr. Malfoy. After all, this matter is under your sole responsibility, so I can't interfere any further."