Chapter 100: Brother, this is part of the plan
Three days later, at noon, Ye Anping stood in the lobby of Jiang Mansion, facing a slightly larger table. He held a brush in his hand and used a ruler to sketch on a blank sheet of paper. Pei Lianxue stood beside him, helping to grind ink and organising the eye-moving talisman purchased earlier from Duchun City.
Dong Dong—
Two indignant footsteps echoed through the room as Liang Zhu walked in holding “Erotic Pictures of Immortal Palace” and threw the book in front of Ye Anping.
Glancing at the book, Ye Anping set aside his brush, looked at Liang Zhu with a sigh, and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Liang Zhu, with a resentful expression, said, “Put away this trashy book of yours.”
“I didn’t give this book. My wife gave it,” Ye Anping explained.
Liang Zhu was momentarily surprised and then turned to Pei Lianxue. His shocked expression seemed to convey, “You, who looks pure and innocent, have such a book, and you even gave it to a twelve-year-old girl?”
Pei Lianxue looking confused, retrieved the book and asked, “What’s wrong with this book?”
Ye Anping smiled and repeated the question, “What’s wrong with this book?”
After a moment of silence, Liang Zhu finally spoke, giving the couple a disdainful look. He then said, “Nothing. The seller of the Shocking Pill has been found—two thousand pills. Is that enough?”
Ye Anping frowned, finding the quantity a bit insufficient. “Only two thousand!”
“It’s not a common pill. There are a total of two thousand circulating in the black market,” Liang Zhu explained.
Ye Anping pondered for a moment and asked, “What’s the purchase price?”
“Twenty,” Liang Zhu replied.
“That’s a bit steep… Negotiate and bring it down to fifteen. If we sell it in Chilong Mansion later, we can price it at fifty,” Ye Anping suggested.
“How do I negotiate?” Liang Zhu inquired.
“I’m not familiar with the black market in Duchun City. Figure something out,” Ye Anping replied.
Taking a deep breath, Liang Zhu hesitated but eventually agreed, “I’ll give it a try.”
“Good,” Ye Anping nodded.
Liang Zhu then turned his attention to the unfinished map in front of Ye Anping. “Is this the map of Chilong Mansion?”
“What? Is there something wrong with the drawing?”
“I have no idea.” Liang Zhu looked at the thirty-two marks on the map that read “one”, “two”, and “three”. These signs were roughly distributed at some crossroads in Chilong Mansion or restaurants, brothels, theatres, and inns outside the mansion. He didn’t understand what these marks meant, but he didn’t ask.
At this moment, a scar-faced man walked in. Seeing Liang Zhu, he nodded in acknowledgement before turning to Ye Anping.
“Young Master, I’ve found the sixty-four people you requested. They are all old members of the Dragon Slaying Association, with most of them at the seventh or eighth level of Qi Refining,” the scar-faced man reported.
“Well, thank you for your hard work, Hall Master Chen,” Ye Anping replied.
Ignoring him, Ye Anping instructed, “Brother Liang, hold the map for me.”
Liang Zhu, annoyed, raised his sword, making the map float.
The four of them walked out of the lobby, and the Dragon Slayer congregation in the courtyard quickly formed rows. Ye Anping distributed eye-moving charms to them.
“Those in the first four rows, come up and look at the map. Write down a location in order. Stay in that place unless necessary, and try not to reveal the existence of the eye-moving charm,” Ye Anping instructed.
The people in the last four rows were told to wander around Chilong Mansion after the conference opened.
“Understood,” They replied.
“Louder!!” Ye Anping urged.
“Yes!!”
Ye Anping cleared his throat and then turned to Hall Master Chen, saying, “Hall Master Chen, triple their monthly pay and prepare some ordinary clothes for them.”
“Understood,” Hall Master Chen replied, hesitating before asking, “May I ask, young master, what is this?”
“It’s just a small business to make some money for the Dragon Slayer Club,” Ye Anping explained.
“But… young master, our people can’t enter Chilong Mansion. It’s only open to sect disciples with invitations,” Hall Master Chen pointed out.
“You can get in,” Ye Anping assured him, patting him on the shoulder. “Prepare yourself. Chilong Mansion will invite seven chambers of commerce, including the Dragon Slaying Society, to handle some behind-the-scenes work. It’s a big business.”
Hall Master Chen was half-sceptical but somewhat surprised. “Really? The previous Chilong Conferences were…”
“Why would I lie to you? I’ve got some inside information,” Ye Anping reassured him.
When Ye Anping mentioned this, suddenly, two Jiang Mansion servants came over from the direction of the Jiang Mansion gate, holding a sixteen or seventeen-year-old woman in ragged clothes.
They asked the girl to kneel in front of Ye Anping, then bowed to the four people present.
Hall Master Chen, looking at the beggar-like girl, asked first, “What’s wrong with her?”
“That’s it…” One of the handymen pointed at the woman, “This girl just suddenly came to Jiang Mansion and said that she was the young master of Jiang Mansion…”
Ye Anping slowly turned his head and looked at Liang Zhu aside, the corners of his eyes twitching slightly. Have you found a girl?
Liang Zhu shrugged slightly. Is it different?
“…”
After the handyman’s words, there was silence in the yard. Not only Hall Master Chen was confused, but also the sixty-four people standing in rows below were confused.
Everyone was thinking that if he wanted to pretend to be the young master of their Jiang family, he had to check whether he was the “young master”. This was missing a little but adding two circles…
Ye Anping hesitated for a while, then squatted down in front of the girl and asked, “Girl, you said you are the young master of the Jiang family?”
The woman thought for a while and nodded desperately, “Yes! I was robbed on the road, and my token was taken away. I am the young master of Jiang Mansion!”
Ye Anping hesitated for a while, turned to look at Hall Master Chen, and asked, pretending to be stupid, “Hall Master Chen, although it’s a little unfilial to ask this… During the seven years I was away practising, could it be possible that my father was outside…”
“How is that possible?” Hall Master Chen looked shocked and shook his head quickly, “Young Master, this person wants to impersonate you at first glance. This kind of thing is quite common. I remember that there was an incident in the Zhou Mansion in Duchun City last year. After this kind of thing happened, I was deceived by that liar and took away many valuable porcelain bottles.”
“Um…”
Ye Anping looked her up and down. Her clothes were in tatters, and her hair was stained with a lot of mud, so he said to the two handymen on the side, “Just give her some steamed buns and send her out.”
“Ah… Yes, young master.”
“Don’t hurt her, be gentle.”
The two handymen, looking confused, took her by the hand and sent her out of the Jiang Mansion gate. After receiving the steamed buns delivered by the handyman, the woman quickly bowed and thanked her, turned around, and ran away.
…
