After watching Jian Qiao depart, Rege rushed back to the gallery, stabbed a finger at the paintings hanging on the wall and said urgently, âTake them down and send them to the storage room!â
The servants looked at each other but didnât dare to move. They were suspicious of what they heard because these paintings were the masterâs treasures. Every day the master would walk through the gallery, inspecting one by one the peerless beauties frozen in time, and sigh with satisfaction.
He carefully depicted their beautiful faces with his brush, glossed their clear eyes and delicate lips with bright colors, and praised their lovely temperaments with romantic poetry.
But now he wanted to lock up these precious paintings in a dark and musty storeroom. Was that really possible?
No one obeyed Regeâs order, which made him feel irritated. âAre all of you deaf?â He pointed to the servants, then to the paintings on the wall, enunciating clearly, âI said, for you, to take them, and send them, to storage. All of them. Right now!â
Heâd already arranged to meet the gentleman Earl frequently in private in the future. He didnât need a momentâs thought to know the place theyâd meet would certainly be the ducal residence. If these things werenât taken down, sooner or later the gentleman Earl would find out.
For some unaccountable reason, when Rege thought of this scenario he felt both tense and ashamed.
âWhy do you intend to remove them?â the old Duke walked into the long corridor and asked in a hoarse voice.
His hair was wet from the fine rain and stuck messily to his head, which made him look even more haggard than usual. When his son stood in the rain for a long time, heâd waited silently not far away. He really wanted to know what his son was thinking. Why didnât he go back inside? Wasnât he cold?
And more than anything, he wanted to know what his son was thinking right now.
âItâs none of your business!â Rege said coldly.
The old Duke opened his mouth, momentarily dumb. He wanted to understand his sonâs heart but the opportunity had slipped away forever.
The servants finally realized their master was serious. They hurried forward in single file, carefully removing each of the paintings.
The butler arrived after hearing the news and asked seriously, âMy lord, is the gallery going to be left empty like this? Do you want to hang up something else?â
Rege immediately said, âHang them up, of course. Hang up all my real medals and trophies.â
The butler looked at the pictures of beauties.
Werenât the trophies right here?
Rege realized the manâs confusion and quickly added, âIâm talking about real trophies, spoils won from the battlefield, understand? The crown of King Darley, the sword of King Ziegler, the scepter of EllisonâŚ.â
He recounted all his battle achievements in one breath.
It was no exaggeration to say that the nations crushed under his horsesâ hooves and the enemies beheaded by his sword were too numerous to count.
Gloria was able to occupy the largest area in Tortus because of the Grande familyâs militant and combative genes. And Rege was the best Grande in hundreds of years.
Charles III, that useless coward, could lie securely in his luxurious bed serviced by one beauty after another because of Regeâs bravery and skill.
Of course, Queen Moenâs strategic planning was another major cause. But this reason was never admitted by Charles III.
The butler immediately dispatched servants to bring these war trophies and medals over. There were enough to fill the wide corridor from end to end.
The old Duke looked silently at Rege with crystal tears flowing in his eyes. Ever since Hallâs death, heâd realized again and again that his second son was so excellent, so outstanding, so brave! Every drop of blood in his body was lava quenched by the flames of war, with a searing fighterâs spirit. His character had a will of steel, and he never spoke of defeat.
He was worthy of the long-illustrious surname âGrandeâ.
The old Duke closed his eyes, then fixed his gaze on Rege, preparing to voice the rush of emotions in his chest. But then he heard the man sneer, âBring over the armor Hall was wearing when he died and the longsword I cleaved in two. Those are my latest trophies.â
The butler froze. This was tantamount to taking a knife and stabbing it directly into the old Dukeâs heart, how dare he?
The warm current surging in the old Dukeâs chest, as well as the mind full of confessions, froze at that moment.
âYou, how can youââ
He asked in a hoarse voice, covering his aching heart. The scene of Hall lying in a pool of blood came unbidden to his mind, hurting him to the core.
Rege walked up to him and pointed his finger at his nose. Every word was full of hate. âWhy canât I? When you brought that woman before my mother and drove her to her death from anger, you should have known this day would come! When you brought that woman through the front door and wrote that bastard Hallâs name into the family tree, and gave him the status of heir, you should have thought of this day!
âIf you hadnât pushed my sister every step of the way, she wouldnât have aborted Braytonâs child or broken off their engagement. Those were the two she loved the most! Do you know how much pain she suffered? Do you realize what she lost?
âThe night she drank the abortion medicine, you donât know how she screamed and wept, do you? You donât know the excruciating pain that ripped through her or how she managed to endure it, do you? She almost died! And now her heart is dead!
âSince then, sheâs always miscarried. Sheâs forever lost the ability to be a mother! And she did all this just to protect me! To protect me from being thrown away by you, to protect me from being tormented and humiliated by that woman and those two bastards, to ensure I could grow up safe and sound. Thatâs why I joined the army when I was fifteen! So I could fight for her too! While your precious son Hall was living like a drunkard and making merry here in the castle, I was bleeding on the battlefield!â
Rege was like a lion in a rage, baring his teeth and railing at those dark years. Both brother and sister waded through blood, so their hearts were harder than the stones in hell!
âSo, yes, I can! Iâm just taking everything youâve ever done and giving it back!â Rege bit off this sentence, then with loud footsteps he strode away.
The old Duke stared blankly at his back. His lips quivered but he couldnât say a word.
Two lines of cloudy tears slid down his aging face.
âIâm sorry, child, Iâm sorry!â Outside the window the cold wind finally blew away this belated apology.
â
Jian Qiao didnât dream of Rege.
As usual, he was devoured by the monstrous sea creature, which made his body spasm, and this in turn broke him out of the terrifying dream.
The ache in his muscles and the agony in his heart tormented him. He felt certain if these nightmares continued heâd one day lose himself in that dark, illusory world. And that meant dying in the real world.
His life had never been easy, but he was even more afraid of death. He had to find something to do to distract himself, otherwise his morbid state of mind would continue its slide into an abyss of despair.
âIâll go and have a look at the shop,â he said to the two manservants.
Half an hour later Jian Qiao was sitting behind the counter of the jewelry store, flipping through the account book page by page.
âThereâs an important business deal I want to discuss with your boss. I donât know which one he is?â A man dressed in very ordinary clothes walked into the store, ringing the chimes above the door.
All the shop clerks looked at Jian Qiao. Jian Qiao raised his head and glanced at the visitor, and his eyes flickered.
This was the unfamiliar guest from last night, the one whoâd encouraged Prince Andrew and a large group of nobles to pursue Cassia. Heâd taken off the heavy wig, washed away the white powder and overly gaudy blush, and taken off the exquisite formal attire. Instead heâd given himself a handlebar moustache, put on coarse-woven clothes with a slightly shabby air, and deliberately darkened his skin.
This made him look like a small, weather-beaten peddler who suffered wind and rain year round.
But Jian Qiaoâs eyes were good at observing details. He instantly recognized the man.
Without changing expression he asked, âWhat sort of deal?â
The man also recognized Jian Qiao, and he revealed a hesitant look. But he seemed to trust in his disguise and said immediately, âI can introduce you to a lot of wealthy customers, and I can guarantee these wealthy customers will spend hundreds of gold coins when they come to your door. In exchange you have to share some of the profits with me.â
Jian Qiao blinked and immediately realized that Cassia and this man were probably working hand in glove. The wealthy clients he was talking about must refer to the men at Cassiaâs feet.
Last night, this man used his eloquence to draw Prince Andrew and the others into a mad scramble to join the ranks of those pursuing Cassia. Each of them would make every effort to curry favor with her.
And what was the quickest way to please a beauty?
Without a doubt, it was spending money, spending lots of money! Sumptuous gowns, costly jewels, rare perfumesâŚ.
For Cassia, theyâd buy anything that was expensive.
And Cassia could take them to any jewelry shop she pleased to buy the items of her choice. The shop she picked would surely make a lot of profit.
So she invented a method of making money that hadnât yet appeared in this worldâearning commissions.
For a girl without much formal education it was truly a stroke of genius! She directly converted her beauty into wealth. No wonder she liked to roam around at random, no wonder she never looked for a benefactor and had no plans to swim ashore.
How could making money off one man ever be as rewarding as making money off a lot of men?
Jian Qiao really wanted to applaud this woman. Provided, of course, that she didnât exploit his only friend.
âHow many customers can you introduce to me?â Jian Qiao asked.
âAll the great nobles and lords of Grande and Polsa, I can introduce all of them to you,â the man said rather proudly. He believed no one could resist such a temptation, so Jian Qiao would assuredly agree.
And even if Jian Qiao knew the game was designed and steered by Cassia, he wouldnât say anything because he was their accomplice.
âIâm amazed at your connections. Iâve never seen you at a major banquet.â Jian Qiao pretended not to be convinced.
The man upped the ante: âThatâs not something you have to worry about. As long as you agree to cooperate, we can start bringing clients over immediately. You must have a lot of counterfeits here, right? We can also help you sell fakes for the price of the genuine article.
âWe have our own sales channels. But every time you sell a fake you have to give us a share. To tell you the truth Iâm going to ask several of the high-end shops on this street. Weâll work with the one that gives us the highest offer. This is a good opportunity to make money, you should think it over carefully.â
The man rapped on the counter, prodding Jian Qiao to make up his mind quickly and not dither.
Jian Qiao leaned back in his chair. He gently touched the corner of one of his long, narrow eyes with his fingertips, with a very enigmatic expression.
Interesting, this Cassia was really interesting. Not only did she take kickbacks, she also helped sell counterfeit goods. One could call her a money making virtuoso.
But where did she sell her counterfeits?
People in the upper class were familiar with all kinds of valuables and had a keen ability to appraise them, so she certainly wouldnât dare to pass along fakes to such people. In comparison, her sisters might not see as clearly. These women, her fellow courtesans, were particularly vain and would make excellent customers.
Cassia was perfectly capable of using her good name to take advantage of such people.
She was a famous lorette highly sought after by great lords, and there were countless men at her feet, so the jewels stacked up in her hands must not be few. Naturally, the treasures she sold had to be genuine.
Thatâs what they would think.
She was perfectly positioned to expand her business of taking kickbacks and selling fake gems. She made fistfuls of money from her suitors, turned around and made fistfuls of money from the jewelers, then moved on to the next city with untold piles of money to start the game again.
This girl was very clever and audacious, but also selfish and cold, greedy and unrestrained. In this savage land without moral or legal restraints, in the glittering world of high society that ate people alive without spitting out the bones, she wasnât a weakling but a wolf. She not only wanted to eat the flesh of others, she also cracked open their bones and sucked the marrow.
In short, she would squeeze all of them dry.
Thinking of this, Jian Qiao rubbed between his eyebrows and secretly sighed to himself. Rege, ah Rege, my dearest Rege. Did you know youâre no longer the lion of Grande, but a sheep waiting to be shorn?
TL Notes:
sheep to be shorn â éč â leeks, chives. Slang that refers to people who are repeatedly squeezed or deceived but still donât understand the truth, referring to quick-growing chives that can be harvested repeatedly.
men at her feet â čŁä¸äščŁ â ministers under her skirt. This idiom refers to someone who worships or has been conquered by a certain woman. âMinistersâ means people who obey or submit; in ancient times this referred to male slaves or courtiers.
ĺ¤ĺŚçćŻ â countless â as many as the hairs on an ox, innumerable
Transliterated names, titles, and placesânew in this chapter: