Chapter 28: Chapter 25 Brothel Farce
"Bang..." The door burst open, and a figure flew out from inside the house, crashing directly into the elegantly wooden door and falling onto the corridor outside.
Inside Chun Gui Pavilion, the brothel workers and customers, noticing the rare excitement, peeked out to watch, some even with disheveled clothes as though they were in the middle of coitus, couldn't contain their curiosity and came out to see what was happening.
After all, business could always wait, but the excitement at Chun Gui Pavilion was not a common occurrence. The enforcers from the Iron Saber Association didn't mind loosening up their fists.
The man lying in the corridor was dressed in blue brocade robes, wearing a golden crown and a fine jade ring on his belt; his outfit screamed of a dandy young man. Unfortunately, his face was swollen and bruised, the golden crown atop his head was askew, and a large gray footprint stained his clothes, as he lay on the ground moaning weakly.
"Song... you... dared to use poison, the Zhang Family will not... let you go..." He recognized the words, this must be the young master of the Zhang Family. As he saw the crowd gathering, he tried to rise and cover his face to leave.
Little did he think, his body was stiff, unable to exert any strength, even speaking was difficult. Realizing something was wrong with his body, he figured he must have been poisoned.
"Ha ha ha." A dashing young man who dressed similarly walked out from the house, handsome and tall with a beauty in his arms who seemed reluctant to speak. Unfortunately, his pale face and the typical signs of debauchery spoiled the image of his fine appearance.
"Zhang Mingyuan, just lie down on the ground, Miss Sisi and I will leave you be. A moment of spring night is worth a thousand gold; such a beautiful time cannot be delayed at all. Don't worry, it's just a potent sedative, lying on the ground for four hours will cool down your fiery heart. Ha ha ha ha..." Song Ziyu declared with the stance of a victor.
It's just a sedative... phew, Zhang Mingyuan sighed in relief, assured that Song Ziyu wouldn't dare to harm the only son of Family Head Zhang.
With the fear gone, the anger from being kicked out of the room and the embarrassment of being watched surged in his heart.
"You... despicable..." Zhang Mingyuan wanted to bitterly curse Song Ziyu, this shameless person, but alas, he could hardly speak, and even these three words took considerable effort.
"Say whatever you want, it doesn't change the fact that you are a drowning dog," Song Ziyu, seeing his usually superior foe Zhang Mingyuan now lying on the ground, was in high spirits. He didn't care what he said, treating it all as the wails of a defeated dog.
"Brothel owner, no need to change rooms." Song Ziyu, sharp-eyed, noticed the Brothel Owner about to speak, guessing she wanted to move them to another room to break up the disturbance.
Obviously, because these two, one being the only son of the Zhang Family head and the other the young master of the Song Family from the City Lord Mansion, with only one elder sister, being an only son was not far-fetched. Had they been ordinary people, they would have long been suppressed and beaten up by the enforcers.
"I, for fear that Brother Zhang might catch a cold on the ground, will spend the night with Miss Sisi in this doorless room. I hope this fiery spring passion will give Brother Zhang some warmth. Ha ha ha ha ha..." Song Ziyu, relishing his upper hand, didn't miss the opportunity to kick a man when he was down.
"..." Zhang Mingyuan's tongue was completely numb, he couldn't speak a word.
"This..." The Brothel Owner opened her mouth, hoping to mediate.
"Shut up, let him lie there tonight, no one can help," Song Ziyu glared at the Brothel Owner threateningly, his intentions clear.
The Brothel Owner hesitantly didn't dare say more.
Song Ziyu, with the girl in his arms, laughed heartily as he entered the room.
Zhang Mingyuan, seeing his smug look, felt the rage in his eyes about to burst forth; had his mouth not been numbed, he probably would have bitten through his own teeth.
The Brothel Owner of Chun Gui Pavilion, seeing that neither party could afford to offend them, chose neither side, dispatched enforcers to disperse the onlookers, sparing a bit of face for the only young master of the Zhang Family.
Among the dispersed crowd, there was a middle-aged man, silently watching this farce unfold, nodded subtly seeing events unfold as planned, and quietly slipped away as the enforcers cleared the crowd.
This farce had also been timely reported to Li Qiusheng, who was handling matters at the Li Family.
Li Qiusheng poured himself a cup of tea and set it beside him, supporting his forehead with his right hand, and took a moment to rest.
These past few days, Li Qiusheng had been arranging people non-stop to investigate and gather findings from his subordinates. He only managed to rest for brief moments each day, and it had been several days since he had comforted his cherished wife.
However, at this moment, his father was still busy with important matters, his second brother was not at home, and his younger brother had recently passed away, leaving him as the only one who could bear this heavy burden.
Squinting his eyes slightly, Li Qiusheng had just started to rest when a servant came to report urgent matters from Chun Gui Pavilion.
Li Qiusheng pressed his throbbing temples and waved his hand to signal the servant to let the messenger in.
The messenger from Chun Gui Pavilion quickly entered and meticulously recounted the night's upheaval at Chun Gui Pavilion.
Li Qiusheng listened without uttering a word, only indicating to the messenger that he could leave.
After a long while, with a loud "thud", Li Qiusheng slammed his palm onto the table, causing the tea cup to crash to the floor.
"Song Family..." the words burst forth from his lips one by one, his face stern and his eyes filled with coldness.
"Someone. Gather the men; follow me to Chun Gui Pavilion."
Immediately, someone outside responded and then departed to call the people.
"Wait," Li Qiusheng called out again, "Never mind, let him stop. Send someone to secretly investigate. I want to know the source of the sedative in Song Ziyu's hands."
Another servant went to stop the previous gathering.
Li Qiusheng suppressed the urge to immediately rush to Chun Gui Pavilion and capture Song Ziyu for questioning. Now was not the time to confront openly. Besides, it might be someone else framing him.
Li Qiusheng leaned back in his chair, troubled and silent for a long time.
Li Xin clenched his fist tightly, twisting the neck in his hand until it snapped. The body slowly slid from Li Xin's grasp, hitting the ground and raising a thin layer of dust.
Under the moonlight, Li Xin, wearing a headscarf, had the appearance of a corpulent middle-aged man who had prospered with age.
The middle-aged man who had quietly left the crowd at Chun Gui Pavilion was none other than Li Xin. The corpse in front of him had been during his lifetime a servant of Song Ziyu, bribed by Li Xin to offer the sedative to Song Ziyu to set up Zhang Mingyuan.
Li Xin sneered at the disbelieving eyes of the corpse in front of him. Previously, this man had demanded a large amount of money, not knowing that a destined dead man could never use the riches.
Li Xin crouched down beside the body and searched it, taking back the money he had given. It was not that Li Xin was greedy for money, but a common servant shouldn't possess so much wealth, even if he was a servant of Song Ziyu.
Excess money would only expose that someone was behind this, which would be detrimental to the execution of the plan.
Having made sure everything was handled, Li Xin turned and left.
Chapter 29: Chapter 26 The Court Takes Action
Li Qiusheng woke up at 9 a.m., and it was already bright outside.
Already standing by, the servant, seeing his master awake, reported, "Young Master, it has been found that the sedative held by Song Ziyu came from a servant's offering. That servant who offered the sedative died last night in an alley near Chun Gui Pavilion."
Li Qiusheng felt his head, which had just rested, begin to ache again and waved his hand, "I see, you may leave."
The servant bowed and exited.
'Was he silenced? Was it truly the Song Family who silenced him, or was someone creating an illusion?'
Li Qiusheng rubbed his forehead and remained silent for a long time.
Qing Yu spent his days as usual, cultivating at the inn. During this period, Qing Yu cultivated during the day and at night either discussed plans with Li Xin or went out disguised in black, on assassination missions.
Sometimes there was nothing at night, or he came back early from discussions and continued cultivating. With the Quanzhen Heart Method's breathing technique, Qing Yu's quality of sleep was excellent, needing only six hours of sleep a day to satisfy his fatigue from the entire day.
Suddenly, Qing Yu opened his eyes. There was now an additional silent person in the room, Xiao Gao.
Xiao Gao was very strong. Qing Yu could only be sure of that much, as to how strong he was, Qing Yu at his current realm couldn't estimate at all. If Xiao Gao hadn't deliberately emitted his aura, Qing Yu would not have noticed his arrival. This meant, if Xiao Gao wanted to kill Qing Yu, it would be as easy as reaching into a bag.
Xiao Gao looked deeply at Qing Yu, "You are about to make a breakthrough." He spoke with certainty.
"Remember the wager."
A shadow flickered in Qing Yu's eyes, which quickly cleared, and he looked up at Xiao Gao, "I will suppress it, and will never break the conditions of the wager."
Xiao Gao nodded, his expression unseen beneath his mask, leaving Qing Yu uncertain whether he believed his promise or not.
Xiao Gao then said, "The court has already started making its move."
Hearing this, Qing Yu couldn't help but wonder, "When did they start?"
Recently, Yang City had been quiet, despite Qing Yu's attempts to stir up trouble, he couldn't make any waves. The Li Family had lost so many people, yet Li Qiusheng had been keeping a low profile like a turtle hiding, and Li Pingsheng didn't even show his face.
Zhang Mingyuan suffered a big loss last night, lying outside in the open listening at the corner of a house for two hours. If not for the Song Family having sent protection, this proud and unchallenged only son of the Zhang Family would surely be battling Song Ziyu to death. Yet today, the Zhang Family was completely silent, as if it wasn't Zhang Mingyuan who suffered last night but Song Ziyu instead. This false alarm caused the cautious Song Family to breathe a sigh of relief.
Xiao Gao looked at Qing Yu oddly and said, "A distant relative of the Sun Family, named Sun Man, who deeply trusted by the Five Tigers of the Sun Family, is also the village chief of Wohu Village. Half a month ago, this man led a group to rob a wealthy merchant, stealing a thousand taels of patterned silver. Unbeknownst to them, this merchant was an official dealer purchasing medicinal materials for the court from the Southern Border. The issue of Sun Man's robbery has reached Six Gates, and recently, the Six Gates constables have begun sweeping the mountain bandits around Yang City."
Qing Yu finally understood why Xiao Gao gave such an odd look. Sun Man was killed by himself right after he returned to the village with the silver, not even entering his own gates, and the thousand silver taels were exchanged by Qing Yu for Villain Points.
"Wait, that's not right. The court's official merchant carries only one thousand silver taels, is the court that poor?"
Xiao Gao's look became even odder, making Qing Yu slightly uncomfortable, and his words carried a rare hint of emotion, "Do you perhaps misunderstand the value of one thousand silver taels? For an ordinary citizen, the necessities for a year's living costs approximately one silver tael. A thousand silver taels are enough to cover the living expenses of a thousand people for a year."
"······"
Dammit, TV dramas have misled me. Qing Yu roared internally in outrage.
In his past life, he watched TV dramas where the protagonists casually spent over a dozen taels on a meal, and bandits would rob others of a million taels in patterned silver at the slightest disagreement. In this life, Qing Yu had spent the earlier ten years as a beggar on the streets, frail and weak, with every small amount of copper coins he obtained being snatched away by other beggars. Later, he spent years confined to Beicang Mountain, utterly clueless about the purchasing power of silver.
"So," Qing Yu awkwardly changed the subject, "the court apparently engineered Sun Man's raid on the merchants to use it as a pretext to sweep through the mountain bandits, starting from the Sun Family to set the stage."
"That doesn't make sense, don't they have an insider in Yang City? Why would they need an external excuse to make a move?"
Xiao Gao spoke gravely, "This means they are ready to make their move······"
Hearing Xiao Gao's words, Qing Yu also realized something: the court was attacking from both inside and out, fully prepared.
"The only good news now is that it has been confirmed that the Sun Family is not colluding with the court."
Xiao Gao said, "Mr. Mo suggests that you take action as soon as possible, better to kill mistakenly than let go, starting by eliminating one family in Yang City."
"I understand, I will act swiftly," Qing Yu nodded slowly.
Xiao Gao said no more, his figure flashed, and he disappeared from the room.
Although Qing Yu knew he must have left through the open window, he couldn't detect the slightest trace of his departure. He guessed that Xiao Gao must also be cultivating a speed-focused martial arts like Exorcism Swordsmanship. Such individuals were highly skilled in assassination; Qing Yu had killed several times in Yang City recently, each time successfully without leaving any traces, which highlighted the terrifying enhancement of such martial arts for assassination.
Each meeting with Qing Yu, Xiao Gao adopted this manner of coming and going, not lacking in warnings. Your life is in my hands, stay in line if you want to live.
Qing Yu closed his eyes once more, fully concentrating on his cultivation.
Mr. Mo had become somewhat indifferent to disguising his malice. Even though the court had already taken action, he still entrusted the handling of matters to Qing Yu, merely at the Postnatal Realm, as if the duck wasn't cooked yet and he wasn't afraid it would fly off to someone else's bowl.
For now, strengthening his cultivation was crucial. More strength meant a better chance of surviving the upcoming treacherous whirlpool.
Recently, with the aid of elixirs and his extraordinary heavenly talent, Qing Yu had managed to unblock all the Yin Meridians in his limbs. All that was left was to unblock the Governor Vessel, which would directly proceed because he had previously unblocked the Yang Meridians in his limbs while practicing Exorcism Swordsmanship.
When the moon reached its zenith, Qing Yu stopped his cultivation. Having just started practicing martial arts not long ago, although he had the aid of elixirs, extraordinary talent, and profound internal cultivation methods, his quick progress still wasn't enough to unblock the Governor Vessel all at once.
Although Qing Yu was anxious, he also understood that haste makes waste and immediately ceased his cultivation.
With Mr. Mo's orders already given, now was not the time to turn against him. To do so would be akin to seeking his own death.
He still needed to discuss with Li Xin before taking action, and although Qing Yu considered himself not less cunning than others, he acknowledged that his familiarity with Yang City was far inferior to Li Xin's; thus, discussing with him was necessary.
Guessing that it was about time, Qing Yu stood up, covered his face with a scarf, picked up the Bishui Sword, and, like Xiao Gao, leaped out of the window to head toward Li Xin's residence.
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