Chapter 216: Chapter 190: No, No, Impossible

It wasn’t hard for Chen Yi to guess what kind of mood Lou Yuxue was in.

He figured she probably wanted to kill him right about now.

But he wasn’t worried at all.

For one, his identity was well-concealed.

The only two people in on the secret were Wang Ji and Zhang Dabao. Even Liu Lang only knew of the existence of "Chen Yu."

For Lou Yuxue to confirm that he was "Liu Wu," she would have to overcome two obstacles.

It wasn’t impossibly difficult, but before Lou Yuxue could get past the "Liu Lang" barrier, Chen Yi would have time to take countermeasures.

The second reason was much simpler—Lou Yuxue wouldn’t dare to make a move against him.

At least, not for now.

Between the incident with the "burning of the Three Towns’ summer grain," the three hundred thousand taels of silver, and the involvement of Bright Moon Building and the Hidden Guard, Lou Yuxue had to be somewhat wary.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to describe her as full of apprehension.

In short, Chen Yi had indeed put himself on the chessboard.

But he was a game piece hidden deep within the board.

He wouldn’t let anyone discover his existence anytime soon.

The rest of the journey was silent.

After taking a winding route, Chen Yi and Liu Lang returned to the residence on Chuansi Street.

After the incident where Black Tooth had killed Elder Demon Fang, their return trip was much smoother; they didn’t detect anyone following them.

They entered the main hall.

Liu Lang took off his bamboo hat, plopped down onto a chair, and couldn’t help but ask:

"Boss, why were you at the Spring Rain Building tonight, too? When Black Tooth told me you were here, I almost blurted out something I shouldn’t have."

"I had no idea that you and Miss Lou..."

Chen Yi shot him a glare, cutting him off.

"Never mind me. Tell me what happened after you got to the Spring Rain Building."

Liu Lang gave a knowing smile and said casually, "When I arrived, Black Tooth and his men weren’t around, so I sat in the main hall for a bit."

"The Spring Rain Building truly lives up to its name as the top Qin Building in Shu State. I hadn’t been in a few days, and they already had a new batch of girls, every one of them a real beauty."

"And their tea drinks! I only knew that Hundred Herbs Hall sent them by the cartload to Yanhua Lane, but I never imagined they’d sell so well. Nearly everyone had a bottle in hand."

"I even..."

Seeing the displeased look on Chen Yi’s face, Liu Lang stopped, coughed, and changed the subject. "Later, I ran into Black Tooth. When I heard from him that you’d arrived, I went to look for you."

"You didn’t find anything else?"

"Nothing."

Chen Yi thought for a moment, then asked for more detail. "Where did you run into Black Tooth? The main hall? The first floor, second, third, or fourth?" 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Liu Lang’s mouth fell open. He replied awkwardly, "The third floor."

"...How much silver did you spend?"

"Th-thirty or forty taels. I don’t quite remember."

Chen Yi said irritably, "Try to be more frugal. Otherwise, you can just live off the monthly wage Hundred Herbs Hall gives you from now on."

Liu Lang let out a couple of sheepish chuckles but didn’t say anything.

’He knew himself best. His conduct lived up to the ’Lang’ in his name—with money in his pocket and time on his hands, how could he not go up to the third floor and enjoy himself?’

’Even if the Spring Rain Building’s courtesans sold their art and not their bodies, just feasting his eyes was satisfying enough.’

Chen Yi saw from his expression that the words had gone in one ear and out the other, so he didn’t press the matter.

’He silently back-calculated the time of Black Tooth and Liu Lang’s meeting.’

’He concluded that Black Tooth had probably stashed the silver coins somewhere on the third floor of the Spring Rain Building.’

’Either that, or he’d handed them over to someone else from Bright Moon Building for safekeeping.’

Chen Yi mentally filed away this deduction as his mind began to race.

With Liu Wen’s three hundred thousand in silver notes secured, all the pieces of his puzzle were now in place.

Now, there were only two things left for him to do.

After a moment of thought, Chen Yi tapped the armrest of his chair. He looked at Liu Lang, his expression serious. "Tomorrow, go to the Governor’s Office and give Xiao Dongchen a message."

"Xiao Dongchen? What message?"

"Tell him my young master wants to meet him tomorrow at the hour of the Dog, in the alley beside Jishi Medicine Hall in the East Market."

"Young Master?"

"Liu Wen."

Liu Lang jolted, his hand instinctively going to the long blade at his waist. He asked:

"Boss, are you planning to meet him as Liu Wen this time?"

Chen Yi shook his head. "I’m only borrowing Liu Wen’s name. I’ll still be going as Liu Wu."

Liu Lang scratched his head. "What are you planning this time? Are you trying to get silver from Xiao Dongchen? But he’s from the Xiao family! Aren’t you afraid they’ll find out?"

The barrage of questions made Chen Yi frown slightly. "Enough. You’ll find out tomorrow night."

"Remember, the usual rules apply. Deliver the message, say nothing more, and it’s best if he doesn’t see your face."

Liu Lang stared at him blankly for a moment before finally nodding.

But he clearly couldn’t fathom Chen Yi’s intentions.

’Still, based on what he’d learned about Chen Yi recently, he knew this inscrutable boss of his was an expert at setting traps and swindling people.’

’First, there was Black Tooth, who he’d tricked into thinking he was from the Jing State Liu Family to get him to participate in that business deal.’

’Then there was Liu Wen, who fell for his Black Tooth disguise and was cheated out of three hundred thousand taels in silver notes.’

’Xiao Dongchen... he probably wouldn’t be an exception.’

Chen Yi, for his part, paid no mind to Liu Lang’s thoughts.

After confirming there were no other issues, he dismissed Liu Lang.

Once Zhang Dabao had helped him remove his disguise, Chen Yi gave a few instructions and headed back to the Xiao Family estate.

It wasn’t until he was back in his room in the wooden building that Chen Yi finally let out a long sigh of relief.

"One thing after another... what a hassle..."

He might complain, but Chen Yi was well aware of the Xiao Family’s current predicament.

—They seemed like the uncrowned kings of Shu State, but in reality, they were surrounded by enemies.

These enemies came not only from the Imperial Court, but also from the great Noble Families and Government Office officials in both Shu and Jing States.

Even figures from the Evil Demonic Dao, like Black Tooth, were trying to trip up the Xiao Family.

They didn’t even have to confront the Xiao Family directly. They just needed to exploit the conflict between the Xiao and Liu Families, fishing in troubled waters to muddy the situation and severing the Xiao Family’s network of informants. That alone was enough to plunge the Xiao Family into a quagmire.

Under such circumstances, even if the Old Master was cautious and had contingencies in place, he would still struggle to distinguish friend from foe before the situation became clear.