The City Lord's wife did not know that the Great Tang Empire's recent bribery often involved gifting gems. These were produced in astonishing quantities from the Orc Empire, which sold them cheaply to the Great Tang Empire.
In fact, in order to boost export earnings, the Orc Empire deliberately lowered the price of gems sold to the Great Tang Empire, fearing that they would refuse to accept them due to oversupply.
In reality, such gems were incredibly cheap in the Great Tang Empire, with many being given away for free—the Orc elders and priests donated gems or other valuable desert items to ensure their offspring could go to Heaven's Isle.
The Great Tang Empire was very willing to accept these inexpensive gems for bribery. Since they could obtain as much as they wanted, it was better to use them as bribes globally.
