"Manager Xue, do you think this Luo Changqing can actually scrape together the money?" asked the thin, quiet man among the group, standing guard outside and speaking with evident anxiety.
"Hmph! A good-for-nothing who spent three years hiding out in the deep mountains, how could he possibly pull together thirty-six thousand taels of silver! Even the Luo family wouldn't have mortgaged their ancestral home to us in the first place if they weren't at their wit's end!" Manager Xue sneered hideously.
"Just wait patiently. In fifteen minutes, we'll go in and see what other tricks he has left! Today, come hell or high water, we are making the Luo family sell those shops!"
Inside the Luo residence, chaos reigned as well.
Chen Fang sat at the head of the table with a despondent look, heaving heavy sighs.
Ye Wanling rushed back to the courtyard, bringing out every single valuable item she owned!
She stared at the pitiful handful of hairpins before her, a wave of agitation washing over her.
"Brother Changqing, where on earth are we going to get that much money! There's only the space of an incense stick left, how can this possibly be done!"
Luo Changqing looked with amusement at the crestfallen young girl, reaching into his tunic to pull out the communication jade pendant Hua Zuiyun had just given him.
"The space of an incense stick, thirty-six thousand taels of silver, delivered to the old Luo residence!"
Without giving Hua Zuiyun a chance to speak, Luo Changqing directly cut the connection.
"Brother Changqing, stop putting on a front at a time like this! Those fair-weather friends of yours couldn't scrape up this much money even if they wanted to, and even if they could, they'd never lend it to us! They're probably wishing they'd never met us in the first place!" Wanling curled her lips in a bitter pout. Over the years of the Luo family's decline, she had seen far too much of the fickleness of human nature.
"If worst comes to worst, let's just sell this ancestral home!" Chen Fang's old eyes grew misty with tears as she looked around at every familiar sight and object, her heart aching terribly.
"Grandmother! Don't worry! The money will be delivered right away!" Luo Changqing comforted the old lady.
"Grandmother believes you..."
It was obvious Chen Fang was just trying to comfort Luo Changqing, but he didn't bother to explain. Once the money arrived shortly, Grandmother would naturally be at ease!
Though thirty-six thousand taels of silver was no small sum, as a branch of the Red Beauty Tower, their under-the-radar assets were countless. The Red Beauty Tower he had just visited pulled in a mountain of gold every single day, not to mention their intelligence-gathering business, which raked in unimaginable fortunes.
Mobilizing a mere thirty-six thousand taels of silver was, naturally, child's play.
An incense stick's time later, Manager Xue and the others waiting at the gates watched in astonishment as a procession of guards escorted a luxurious carriage closer and closer.
The carriage stopped right in front of the Luo residence, and the accompanying guards were all carrying heavy chests.
"Who is this? Such a grand display! Not even the Four Great Families travel with this kind of pomp, do they?" asked the only woman in the group, her eyes wide with shock.
"Talk about long hair and short wit. Didn't you see the Red Beauty Tower's insignia on the carriage? This is clearly people from the Red Beauty Tower!"
Manager Xue looked at the woman with utter disdain, before instantly plastering a fawning smile across his own face and hurrying forward!
"Old bastard, you're quick on your feet!" the others cursed under their breath at the sight, and hurriedly rushed after him.
You had to understand, this was the Red Beauty Tower—the most famous pleasure house across the entire continent. It was said that every major town had one, and the forces behind them were so mysterious that no one had ever figured them out.
If they could just forge a connection with this person...
Before the group could even get close, they were blocked off as a delicate jade hand slowly reached out from the carriage window...
The moment the woman revealed herself, everyone's eyes lit up, and Manager Xue's face was suffused with infatuation.
"It's actually Hua Zuiyun, the number one courtesan of Cangyang..."
Hearing that name, everyone froze. This was the prized cash cow of the pleasure house!
They watched with their own eyes as Hua Zuiyun, surrounded by an entourage, walked straight into the Luo family estate.
Hua Zuiyun led the men carrying the heavy chests right into the gates of the Luo residence, walking straight up to Luo Changqing.
"Young Master Luo, I have brought you the silver you requested. Furthermore, I have brought you fifty thousand gold taels just in case of any emergency!"
Hua Zuiyun bowed respectfully to Luo Changqing. Seeming to guess that Luo Changqing did not wish to expose his true identity, she addressed him directly as Young Master Luo.
Luo Changqing cast a satisfied glance at her; she certainly was clever.
"Just put them down there!" Luo Changqing nodded in satisfaction.
Chen Fang and Ye Wanling stood dumbfounded, staring at the rows of large chests before them. The instant the lids were pried open, Manager Xue and the others, who had hurried over to catch up, all sucked in a sharp breath of cold air.
Every single large chest was piled high with silver ingots, and there were even a few smaller boxes filled entirely with gold!
Only then did Hua Zuiyun turn her gaze to Manager Xue and the others. "Do you still need to count it?"
Manager Xue and his companions panicked completely, exchanging fearful glances as they could no longer conceal their terror.
"It really was delivered..." He had no way to doubt Hua Zuiyun; without even needing to inspect them, he knew for a certainty that all that gold and silver was real.
What now?
Their plan had failed, so how were they supposed to answer to the person behind them?
Manager Xue's gaze landed on the two individuals Luo Changqing had noticed earlier, and the two men gave a slight nod.
Manager Xue was ecstatic. He turned around, staring at Luo Changqing with a sneer. "You've paid back the money, but we aren't the only ones who came today!"
The two men standing behind Manager Xue stepped up to face Luo Changqing.
"Your business with them is done. Now it's time to talk about the murder you committed at the City Lord's Estate!" the older of the two men spoke first, while the young man beside him drew a token from his tunic. Right in the center of the token, a large character for "Constable" leaped into view.
"Young Master Luo! We are men from the Constabulary. Come with us!"
The two men blocked off any possible escape routes to the left and right of Luo Changqing, speaking with cold grins.
"Luo Changqing! This is Captain Song Ningyuan of the Constabulary! The Constabulary are the enforcers of the Martial Dao Alliance on the Xuanwu Continent. This time, even fleeing into the deep mountains won't save you!"
Manager Xue looked at the surrounded Luo Changqing, wearing the smug expression of a petty villain who had gotten his way.
Chen Fang's face went completely bloodless, and Ye Wanling threw herself directly in front of Luo Changqing.
"My Brother Changqing didn't kill anyone! You have no evidence, so you can't just go around framing people!"
"Little girl, whether he committed murder or not isn't up for you to decide! Our Constabulary has its own verdict!" Song Ningyuan sneered.
"Luo Changqing, the person you killed was no ordinary citizen—it was the young master of the City Lord's family! Are you going to submit quietly, or do you actually intend to raise a hand against the Constabulary?"
Chen Fang rose unsteadily to her feet, bringing her walking staff down hard against the stone ground with a heavy thud. Hearing the sound, everyone looked over, feeling a deep, involuntary reverence for this matriarch of the Luo family.
"Manager Xue! Didn't you come here today precisely for the remainder of our Luo family's estate? Let my grandson go, and the Luo family will hand everything over to you on a silver platter!"
"Very well! Then hand over the title deeds to the Luo family ancestral home right now! And all the houses and shops under the Luo family's name as well!" Greed surged across Manager Xue's fat face.
"Bang! Bang!"
Two loud crashes interrupted the conversation. Following the sound, the two cultivators who had just been standing before Luo Changqing had vanished entirely.
Everyone jerked their heads around to stare at two massive human-shaped holes blasted straight through the courtyard wall, a chilling draft of air shooting straight to their skulls.