Chapter 75: Xiao Wan, Five Per Litter
Eastern Capital.
Outside the high walls of the Luoyang Prefectural Governor’s Office.
They were still some distance from the actual grounds. The Governor’s Office was as heavily fortified as a castle. Nothing could be seen over the walls, but a long row of lanterns hung along the perimeter, each bearing the large character “Yuan” written in clerical script.
This was the rendezvous point they had arranged with Xiao Ji.
The effects of the truth serum were finally wearing off.
As the haze of alcohol lifted, Wei Wanlan groggily realized someone was carrying him on their back. The person carrying him was none other than the imposing Master of the Heavenly Sword Manor.
And he, without a care in the world, had his legs hooked around the man’s waist and his arms wrapped around his neck, nuzzling against him. It was terribly undignified, and quite forward.
I mean, they’d only just met…
Deep down, he was still a little intimidated by the man.
The moment he sobered up, Wei Wanlan scrambled down and found a place to stand. He then frantically patted out the wrinkles he’d made in Fu Jun’s clothes, carefully trying to curry favor by smoothing each one out.
A voice suddenly sounded by his ear. “Sober now?”
The voice was a bit muffled.
He felt as if Fu Jun’s eyes were looking at him through a layer of fog, not quite clearly. But Wei Wanlan was slow on the uptake and didn’t realize the man’s vision was impaired.
He had simply, without warning, stumbled into Fu Jun’s clean, mellow aura, his mind going a little blank. His little nose twitched. “I’m sober.”
“Do you have any idea what you were doing?”
I’m a great sleeper, Wei Wanlan thought, and I handle my drink just fine… Uh oh. I hope I didn’t say anything I shouldn’t have while under the influence of that truth serum, did I?
I absolutely cannot reveal the three main questlines!
Fu Jun said, “Here, they have five per litter.”
“!!!”
Wei Wanlan was dumbfounded. He felt like jumping out of his skin. How could the seemingly cold and ascetic Fu Jun open his mouth with such a terrifying topic?
Wei Wanlan’s jaw dropped, the tips of his ears twitching so hard they felt like they might take flight. “F-five per litter seems a bit much, don’t you think? W-wouldn’t your belly swell up like a balloon?”
Fu Jun remained expressionless, but his face was the very picture of authority.
The Master of the Heavenly Sword Manor didn’t respond to Wei Wanlan. It was as if, having declared it would be five, it was settled. Five it would be. Not one more, not one less. Fu Jun closed his eyes to regulate his breathing.
Before leaving Chang’an, the Regent had the military doctor prepare a supply of pills for him to suppress the manic agitation that came when his poison flared up. He had just swallowed a large handful while Wei Wanlan was drunkenly rambling, but the effect was minimal—like using a cup of water to put out a burning cart.
So, the Regent didn’t have much energy left to tease the little fool back.
Wei Wanlan, however, was still marveling at the ridiculous “five per litter” setting of this political intrigue novel.
Thank goodness I can’t get pregnant…
Otherwise, five of them… how would I even give birth? How would I raise them all…
Wei Wanlan had a very active imagination, especially when it came to scaring himself. The scenes playing out in his head were incredibly vivid.
Right now, his mind conjured an image of the Hall of Purple Empyrean. There he was, helpless, surrounded by five round, chubby cubs. The six of them, father and children, had to form a team to survive, feigning compliance to please the great villain.
“Let Us massage your shoulders. Cubs, quickly, go give the Regent a back rub.”
“You’ve worked so hard.”
—Nooo!
My life is miserable enough as it is! As a puppet emperor, how could I possibly bring so many little puppets into this palace to suffer? T_T…
S-so.
I absolutely must not get pregnant in this political intrigue novel!!!
Of course, Fu Jun couldn’t see the tragic melodrama playing out in Wei Wanlan’s head. He kept his eyes closed.
Just then, the night wind rustled. The trees outside the Governor’s Office were lush, their leaves making a soft, shuffling sound.
Wei Wanlan snapped back to reality. He heard the movement and thought the “Valiant Warrior” had arrived, but it was just a small, nameless bird hidden in the deep night, trying to fly towards the treetops in the governor’s courtyard.
Wei Wanlan liked birds, so he just watched it, mesmerized.
But then, from somewhere within the high walls and deep courtyards of the office, a sharp arrow shot out. The fletching of the arrow left a white streak as it flew, precisely striking the small bird circling in mid-air.
The bird let out a piercing cry in the night and plummeted to the ground—
Wei Wanlan’s eyes immediately stung with tears.
…What kind of ‘inviolable’ Governor’s Office is this?
Just a random show of force. Even in my own Hall of Purple Empyrean, shooting a little bird like this isn’t allowed!
His thoughts were seized by anger. He thought to himself that if they weren’t guilty of so many misdeeds, they wouldn’t be so obsessively cautious about their own residence.
Wei Wanlan stood on his tiptoes to observe his surroundings. The night was utterly silent. There were no private residences near the Governor’s Office, no human sounds, no barking dogs. It was like a desolate, gloomy island.
Feeling as if he were approaching a demon’s den, Wei Wanlan swallowed hard.
“Young Master.”
“Valiant Warrior!”
Xiao Ji’s voice was as gentle as a spring breeze. Wei Wanlan turned his head, recognizing the sound.
By now, Xiao Ji had already removed his makeup. He was once again a gentleman as pure as jade, tall and elegant. It seemed his experience entertaining that guest hadn’t left much of a shadow on him. He was still as bright as the moon and clear as the wind.
But Wei Wanlan was still deeply concerned, looking Xiao Ji up and down.
“Valiant Warrior, that must have been hard… Are you alright? Did that pervert surnamed Bai do anything to you?”
Wei Wanlan then recalled the things An Ruyi often asked him and, only half-understanding, added, “You shouldn’t stay overnight, do you need to… clean up?”
“Cough, cough cough cough—“
That was it. He couldn’t keep it together anymore.
Xiao Ji completely lost his composure. The disgusting feeling of Bai Lianrong’s hands all over him flooded his mind. The memories he had been trying so hard to erase came rushing back like a turbulent sea.
Xiao Ji tapped his lips with his folding fan, his heart full of helplessness, but his eyes smiled at Wei Wanlan. “I beg you, Young Master, please don’t say another word.”
At that moment, Fu Jun cracked open his eyes and let out a disdainful snort.
So, the topic had to be steered towards something they could actually discuss. Xiao Ji said:
“The man surnamed Bai confessed about Yuan Xizai’s ledgers. There’s a secret base in the Governor’s Office, Yuan Xizai’s ‘den of pleasure.’ The ledgers are there.”
A den of pleasure? A secret base?
That was as good as saying nothing at all. Even without asking, who wouldn’t know the ledgers were in the Luoyang Governor’s Office?
Wei Wanlan mulled over the words, but he was clueless. He pressed, “Isn’t there anything more specific about this ‘secret base’?”
“I didn’t have much time. Even with the truth serum, he kept a tight lip.”
“Oh…”
Unlike Wei Wanlan, who would spill any secret after a dose of truth serum—which was just his personality, and besides, his little secrets were of no real consequence—Bai Lianrong was different. If he misspoke, it could cost his entire family their lives. The truth serum had a limited effect on him.
The atmosphere outside the Governor’s Office suddenly grew heavy. Their biggest fear was that tonight would be a waste of effort.
They had already captured twelve martial artists and had Bai Lianrong under control in the Mianhua Pavilion. They had already tipped their hand. If they were to find ironclad proof against Yuan Xizai, it had to be tonight. Right now.
Otherwise, they would just repeat the failures of countless past investigations, letting the corrupt official slip away.
Just then, Fu Jun suddenly spoke up.
“Repeat everything Bai Lianrong said, word for word.”
It was a command. Fu Jun went from having his eyes slightly open to fully opening them. Because he was so tall, his gaze carried an inescapable pressure.
Wei Wanlan looked down and curled his toes.
This Fu Jun really is something else, Xiao Ji thought. As one of Su Yan’s top subordinates, he was obviously no ordinary man.
Although he disliked being ordered around, the truth was within their grasp. Having another person analyze the information was better than keeping it to himself.
Thus, Xiao Mengshi began to speak.
“I asked him, ‘Where are Yuan Xizai’s ledgers?’ He said: ‘Lord Yuan has me record the accounts, and I return them to him periodically. When Lord Yuan goes to his rear residence, all external affairs are handled in the front hall. We are not permitted to enter the rear residence without authorization.'”
Wei Wanlan carefully processed this in his little dragon brain: Returns to the rear residence to look at the ledgers.
“So… Sir Valiant Warrior, was there anything else?”
“Yes,” Xiao Ji continued. “Bai Lianrong also muttered, as if to himself, ‘He must have a secret base. Otherwise, with a fortune that could rival the nation’s—boasting he’s richer than the little emperor—why would he not gamble or whore around, but willingly stay cooped up in the Governor’s Office, night after night without coming out?'”
Hey!
Wei Wanlan did not like hearing that. He immediately puffed up his cheeks, turning into a little pufferfish.
…I’m just catching a stray bullet here, T_T.
This Yuan Xizai was embezzling money from Our people and Our empire, and he dares to mock Us with it?
Wei Wanlan wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but when Fu Jun heard this, his expression darkened even further. Wei Wanlan snuck a glance at him and saw his thumb twitch, as if unconsciously moving towards the gleaming hilt of his sword.
Xiao Ji then said slowly, “Actually, when I heard that, I found it strange too. Yuan Xizai doesn’t gamble or visit brothels, yet he’s sitting on all that money. Why? Unless he has some kind of pathological obsession with money itself.”
Wei Wanlan thought of a line from a TV show he watched as a child: The old folks from Qin just love their soybean paste noodles.
“But, he’s a former courtier of the late Emperor,” Wei Wanlan said, searching the original owner’s memories. “The late Emperor didn’t like to promote officials from humble backgrounds. On the contrary, he preferred aristocratic dandies—the richer the better, so they could all fool around together.”
Both Fu Jun and Xiao Ji nodded. They had both met the late Emperor. He was certainly incompetent and absurd enough for that to be true.
Therefore, Yuan Xizai didn’t fit the profile of a money-hoarding miser.
Wei Wanlan had a dependent nature; he’d been too well-protected his whole life. When he was in a jam, he could think of solutions on his own. But if there was someone nearby who could help him, he would cling to them.
He didn’t know why, but even though the “Valiant Warrior” was supposed to be his strategist on this trip, he turned to Fu Jun instead, cautiously asking for his opinion.
“Should we enter the Governor’s Office? Wouldn’t that be too rash?”
The reply he received, however, was rather impersonal: “Make your own judgment first.”
Wei Wanlan pouted. So you only ordered the Valiant Warrior to repeat all that just to give me a few more clues?
Fine. In their little team right now, Fu Jun was the muscle, Xiao Ji was the brains, but when it came down to it, the one who had to make the final decision was him, the one they respectfully called “Young Master.”
—He must have a secret base. Otherwise, with a fortune that could rival the nation’s… why would he not gamble or whore around, but willingly stay cooped up… night after night without coming out?
This time, he couldn’t rely on the System.
He had to take down Yuan Xizai!
It wasn’t just because of the warning that he’d choke to death if he didn’t complete the main questline in a year.
He had to become stronger. He had promised Xi Yan. He had promised the souls of the innocent citizens of Great Wei who died in Fenggu Village.
Compared to them, he was lucky. He was the emperor.
He had to protect his people.
“Can I… make a bold guess?”
“I know where the entrance to his secret base is. The ledgers must be there!”
Recommended Reads
