That made Le Zheng sneer. He laughed and laughed until his eyes grew wet. In the end, that child wasnāt his own! He treated Lele like his own daughter, wanting to give her not only the Liubei Trade Consortium[1] but a good son-in-law in Ah-Cheng.[2] He never expected her to want his life!
After a while, Le Zheng turned towards Ning Cheng and asked, āAh-Cheng, when are you preparing to betray me?ā
Over the past few days, he had been setting up Lele and Ning Cheng, always telling the latter, āCall me godfather like my daughter-in-law[3], not Boss Le. Thatās too formal. In the future when you and Lele have a child, Iāll hand over Liubei to you both and take care of the children!ā
Ah-Cheng didnāt agree to the marriage, but had long switched to calling him godfather like Lele. He couldnāt see through his feelings about the matter. After all, compared to Ah-Cheng, he trusted Lele more! He wanted to give her Liubei Trade Consortium, not him. He was only using the marriage as a pretext to help Lele keep Ning Cheng and hold him in check. Ah-Chengās business skills were far superior to Leleās.
But everything that happened tonight, the scene he saw upon startling awake from bed, left him in utter despair!
Faced with Le Zhengās question, Ning Cheng remained unaffected. He said, āGodfather, if I had the heart to betray you, you would be already dead.ā Although this was the truth, Le Zheng didnāt believe it. Ning Cheng added, āAnd Liubei would have long been mine.ā
This part Le Zheng did believe. Over the past few years, Liubeiās big business deals were all done by Ning Cheng himself. Although Ah-Cheng couldnāt get his hands on Le Zhengās hidden stash of wealth, itād be easy for him to take over Liubei Trade Consortium.\nNing Cheng told Le Zheng about everything that happened, including how heād tricked Lele. Soon enough, the guards pursuing Lele returned.
āBoss Le, the person with young Miss has extraordinary martial arts. Theyā¦escaped!ā
Le Zheng turned and punched the door. āLele!ā he cried, āYou were unrighteous to treat father cruelly!ā
Ning Cheng said, āGodfather, cut off her finances immediately. She canāt go far.ā
āFine!ā Le Zheng went inside to take out a key and said, āThat treasure stash is still hidden in Immeasurable Peak[4], but the lockās already been changed. Iāll give you this key first. Capture Lele and her key will be yours.ā
Ning Cheng didnāt take the key but said, āNo rush. Godfather should keep the key first and give it to me after I capture her.ā
āVery good! Godfather hopes I didnāt misjudge you,ā Le Zheng said before going inside to slam the door shut.
Although Ning Cheng saw the tears in his eyes, his lips still curved into a mocking lilt once the man was inside. He had no sympathy for him at all. Le Zheng was a slave trader and human trafficker. So what if he was betrayed by Lele?
That very night, Ning Cheng did three things.
First, he spread news that Lele had betrayed Liubei Trade Consortium and that there would be a sky-high reward for capturing her.
Secondly, he locked up all of Leleās henchmen in Liubei Trade Consortium, showing no mercy to even those in the highest positions of the organization. Over ten people were arrested. Ning Cheng didnāt interrogate them, but simply used this as a pretext to imprison them. He needed to clear out Leleās cohorts and replace them with his own trusted men.
Third, he went put a woman named Shaqiu on trial.
The first New Yearās Eve at Liubei Trade Consortium, Le Zheng had gifted him a female slave Shaqiu.[5] Although the present was under Le Zhengās name, the girl herself was one of Leleās people. Ning Cheng still kept Shaqiu by his side to put on an act and send Lele false news from time to time.\nWhen he entered Shaqiuās room, the sleeping woman was startled awake, but quickly recovered her senses. āMaster Cheng, why did you come so late?ā
She threw a wink at him before coming barefoot down the bed, her delicate lingerie hiding her tempting figure. Ning Cheng had received his share of charms from Shaqiu over the years and had to admit that Lele was very good at picking women. He was very grateful to Lele for sending him such a beauty, so much that he could use Shaqiu to enlist the Steward Ma who was serving Le Zheng closely. Shaqiu had excellent alcohol capacity, but was still far inferior to Ning Cheng. Thus, every time she drank herself drunk, it was Steward Ma doing her, not Ning Cheng. To this day, she was still clueless to it all.
Naturally, Lele had even less of an idea.
Shaqiu clung to him. āMaster Cheng, did you miss this slave?ā She groped his chest and tried to burrow her hands into his robes, but Ning Cheng suddenly grabbed her neck and pushed her away. Stunned, Shaoqiuās first reaction was that she was having a nightmare. Ning Cheng shoved her against the wall before releasing her, voice cold.
āAnswer my questions. If you lie, Iāll leave youā¦to a fate worse than death!ā
Shaqiu finally realized sheād been exposed. She wanted to escape, but Ning Chengās sturdy body blocked the way. Ning Cheng took out a dagger and rested it against Shaqiuās face. Before he started asking, he carved a piece of her skin first, causing her to shriek in pain. When Ning Cheng rested the blade against her cheek again, she suddenly stopped and cried, āIā¦Iāll talk! Iāll tell you anything.ā
Ning Cheng interrogated Shaqiu for less than an hour before emerging from her rooms to instruct the guards, āCollect the corpse. Right, and tell Steward Ma that Iāll give him a better one after capturing Eldest Miss Le.ā\nWhen daylight came, Ning Cheng had already set out.
Everyone only knew that he was chasing Lele, but not of his methods or where he was going. Lele and that woman named Jin werenāt very far, but hiding right next door to the Liubei Trade Consortium compound. The most dangerous place was also the safest place. At the very least, it was secure for now.
Leleās arm was injured by the arrow and she muttered about seeing a doctor, but Jin simply knocked her out with a slap and then roughly pulled out the weapon before sprinkling Jinchuang medicine[6] and wrapping it up. Lele woke up from her stupor to see her bandaged arm and Jin dozing by her side. She spaced out for a while before recalling how sheād lost consciousness.
She drew silently towards Jinās ear and coldly growled, āYujin![7] You dare to backstab me? Are you courting death?ā
Yujinās ears were about to go deaf, but she remained calm and changed positions to distance herself from Lele. Then she looked back and said icily, āI helped you with your wound, which counts for 100 taels in consultation fees. Remember to pay me back along with the account for killing Le Zheng together.ā
Her name was Yujin, and she had become a professional assassin after leaving her family. Her first hit came from Lele who had just entered the Mysterious Continent. Lele offered a sky-high price to hire Yujin as her private mercenary, but Yujin refused. Thus, Lele began to owe a debt she couldnāt pay. In her words, there was no relationship more secure than that of debtor and collector in the world. As long as she still owed Yujin money, Yujin would forever be involved with her.
For the sake of expressing her āsincere debts,ā Lele took the initiative to tell Yujin about her background. Yujin, who wasnāt good at or interested in interacting with others, got it into her head to share her background with Lele as well. In this way, their friendship and mutual knowledge was established and solidified through Leleās debts again and again.\nāOne hundred for the consultation fee!ā Lele couldnāt believe it. āYujin, you you youā¦youāve learned from bad examples!ā
Indeed, Yujin had learned to be tricky. Even the most ignorant person could easily pick up bad habits after following Lele around. When Lele found Yujin to kill her first mark, Yujin had only charged 10 taels, which was a thousand times lower than other assassins of her caliber. Yet just yesterday, Yujin had demanded a condition instead of payment when Lele came to ask her to kill. She wanted Lele to pay her 100,000 taels a year.
Yujin replied seriously, āChengāer, I learned it from you.ā
Lele rolled her eyes and stood up with a sigh. ā100 taels it is then. In any case, Iāll never be able to clear debts with you. If I knew this would happen, I shouldāve paid back all my debts in advance.ā
She wanted to assassinate Le Zheng and push the blame on Ah-Cheng, but her plan had failed and she knew very well that Le Zheng would cut off her cash flow in response. Yujin observed Leleās lost look and wanted to comfort her when the latter soon recovered. She said, āThatās good, from today on Iām no longer Lele!ā
Le Zheng had given Lele her name while her real one was Chengāer. She had a very respectable surname in the Mysterious Continent. She had secretly found out all this from Le Zhengās study. She had never thought of going home to recognize her relatives; she only wanted to live a carefree life doing the thing she liked: making money.
She had planned it all out: kill Le Zheng and blame Ah-Cheng, both to get Le Zhengās wealth and claim sole control over Liubei Trade Consortium. But now all was water down the drain. She looked back at Yujin and said seriously, āJin, for the sake of my new life, letās clear our debts, all right?ā\nThe debts that Chengāer owed over the years had accumulate to over a hundred million. Anyone else who heard this would be furious, but Yujin was calm and said, āChengāer, you still have Carefree Joy.[8] If you donāt pay back your debts, Iāll kill the huakui[9] of Carefree Joy.ā
Carefree Joy was Leleās privately owned brothel and its huakui was none other than Chengāer herself. Yujin was clear about that.
Chengāerās expression stiffened before she finally forced out a smile. āI was just joking then, donāt treat it seriously. Itās the right thing to do to pay back your debts! Come, letās go to Carefree Joy. Iāll sell myself off to give you the money.ā
That very night, Yujin took Chengāer to hide safely in Carefree Joy. But reality proved that Chengāerās words were always three parts true, seven parts false; Yujinās harsh words to her were also false. Chengāer ignored all of the numerous people who wanted to buy a night with the huakai while Yujin never pressed her to pay her debts again. Chengāer spent half a month to hook up with a bigshot and said happily to Yujin, āJin, that idiot Ah-Cheng still hasnāt found me yet. Iāve decided to look for him first. No need for you to make a move this time, just rest on the side later.ā
Rest on the side later? What ambiguous phrasing!
Yujinās face darkened and Chengāer quickly changed her tone. āNo no, you can watch the fun from the sidelines, watch the fun!ā
1. Changed from āChamber of Commerceā to match earlier translation.
2. Changed this from AāCheng as hyphens are easier to deal with than apostrophes.
3. Referring to Lele.
4. Changed this from Wuliang Peak in last chapter.
5. See chapters 1233 and 1234 for a reminder.
6. éåčÆ jinchuangyao ā the cure-all medicine found in every wuxia series ever, good for stopping bloodflow.\n7. å¦¤é¦ ā together the words mean āhandsome brocade.ā
8. ä¹éé„ Lexiaoyao ā Le is the same surname as Lele and Le Zheng.
9. č±é huakui ā equivalent of oiran in Japanese, basically a high-ranking courtesan both very popular and highly regarded, usually because of her beauty.\n