Chapter 960: Capsizing

Lü Qiying had packed his luggage, and he was planning on fleeing. But when he thought about everything that he currently owned and his dim future career prospects, he was filled with remorse. He wondered why he had been so gullible and had participated in the conspiracy against the Dragon King.

Things were not supposed to have gone in this direction. According to the plan, the Dragon King should have been pressured into handing the Meng family's money over, and he and Xiao Fengchai should have been well on their way to the Loulan Kingdom with numerous gold ingots under the escort of an army. Then, they would stay in the eastern part of the Western Regions and wait for the situation in Jade City to stabilize.

However, it turned out they had been digging a trap beneath their own feet all along.

Given the transportation capacity of Lü Qiying's caravan, ten chests were nothing. But for a refugee, they were still too many. It was a difficult decision for him to make as it was, but he still downsized them to four, each of which would be carried by a camel. This way, he would be able to travel faster.

Lü Qiying had prepared three horses for himself. He would probably have to spend quite a few days on horseback. Even so, he could still use some luck.

The only trustworthy servant he had quietly walked inside and nodded at his master, indicating that they were ready to depart.

A small team consisting of seven animals and two people entered a pitch-dark street through the back door. The owner of the biggest caravan in Jade City was leading the camels himself. If anybody saw this scene, they would surely exclaim in amazement.

Lü Qiying looked over his shoulder at the city and sighed secretly. This was northern Jade City, a place that he had dreamed about entering for years. He spent quite a fortune on this dwelling and had barely enjoyed spending any days in it when he had been forced to abandon it.

Northern Jade City was different from southern Jade City. There were hardly any pedestrians on the streets after night fell. After passing through three streets, Lü Qiying felt slightly relieved. Nobody had shown up to stop him. Maybe the Dragon King hadn't discovered his betrayal yet, which gave him an opportunity to survive.

The chief of the guards at the east city gate silently took out a small leather bag that the servant passed to him, weighed it in his hand, and gauged it to be two hundred taels. This number suggested that this guy was an old hand who was very familiar with the rules. He waved his hand and ordered his subordinates to open the gate and let this small team through.

Traveling the distance between this gate and the rendezvous point was probably the most dangerous part of the journey. On his horse, Lü Qiying constantly urged his servant and the camels to move faster. He even felt the desire to drop another two chests, but he couldn't go to the Loulan Kingdom empty-handed. Money was a necessity no matter where he went.

As horrified as Lü Qiying was, he couldn't help but fantasize about owning the mountain of gold of the Meng family. Unlike the common residents, he had enough reason to suspect that the money hidden in the old mansion of the Meng family was still fake. The Dragon King was a smart man. By no means would he give up on any possible interests for no good reason.

The moment Lü Qiying thought of that icy-faced young man, his heart lurched. He quickly looked around again, paranoid that the Dragon King's killers could be hiding in any of the nearby houses.

As he traveled forward, the houses gradually became sparse and the clouds in the sky scattered, revealing the moon and stars. Lü Qiying was surprised to find that the night could be so bright. When he had still been a tavernkeeper, his tavern had stayed open all night almost every night, but he scarcely left the city after dark.

The servant leading the way turned his head around and said in a low voice, "This is the place. Right ahead of us."

The Rouge Forest in front of them was like a giant beast lying prostrate on the ground with an evil intent. A pang of fear and suspicion stabbed into Lü Qiying's heart. He would rather walk in the wilderness than enter a pitch-dark forest. "Go and check whether they've arrived or not."

"They" referred to the people from the Central Plains and Xiao Fengchai. Though Pang Jing hadn't stuck to the plan, Lü Qiying had no other choice but to depend on him for protection.

The servant spurred the horse on and rode towards the Rouge Forest. The urgent clattering of horse hooves made Lü Qiying extremely nervous. The camels were relatively calm, quietly chewing their cud, as if very glad to have a chance to rest.

After a quarter of an hour, the servant rode back. "They've all arrived and are waiting for you."

Having run out of trust in others, Lü Qiying said, "There was no need to wait. Ask them to come out and set off with us right now. The Loulan Kingdom is in the east, not in the woods."

"Er. Lady Xiao required your presence in the woods. She said that she wanted to consult with you before departing."

"What's done is done. There's nothing worth further discussion." Lü Qiying looked at his servant. It was a young face. He could still remember what this face had originally looked like - confused and humble. If it weren't for the fact that he had taken this person in as his servant, he would have been rotting in a ditch somewhere in southern Jade City a long time ago.

"This was what Lady Xiao said. Please go there, master. I'll handle these animals." The servant's voice was just as composed as usual, as if he didn't sense his master's suspicion at all.

"Alas. I've been good to you," said Lü Qiying. He suddenly felt that even the moon and stars had turned dim.

The servant was in a stunned silence for quite a while. "The Dragon King's been good to you as well." After saying this, he urged the horse and rode towards the woods again, yelling, "Lü Qiying is on the run! Lü Qiying is on the run!"

Lü Qiying let out another sigh. He did indeed want to flee, but where he could flee to? The people of the Central Plains had merely used him to persuade Meng Mingshu to surrender. Now, he was totally worthless.

This fact was too obvious. Lü Qiying wondered in confusion why he hadn't thought of this earlier.

The clattering of horses' hooves came from behind him. Lü Qiying turned around and saw a team stop in the distance. It seemed as if they were observing the situation on this side.

Lü Qiying's heart lurched. These people were soldiers of the Central Plains. Pang Jing hadn't abandoned him completely. "I'm-" he yelled but was soon interrupted.

A deep sound of a bugle rang out. It was a very short one. Even if the sleeping residents in the distance heard it, they would think that it was a case of tinnitus. For the soldiers of the Central Plains, however, this bugle sound had a specific meaning. They immediately turned their horses around and doubled back.

Lü Qiying had an impulse to spur his horse on and follow them, but he couldn't move his limbs, as if he were under some kind of spell. When those soldiers disappeared from his sight, he finally resigned himself to his fate.

Another small team went out of the Rouge Forest towards him, the leader of which was a young swordsman.

Lü Qiying recognized Chu Nanping. "Did Xiao Fengchai betray me?"

Chu Nanping remained silent.

Lü Qiying gave a glance at his four chests and had a sudden feeling that he was ridiculously stupid. "Little Chu, tell the Dragon King that Xiao Fengchai is the chief plotter, and that I... I failed him."

"Tell him yourself." Chu Nanping's answer gave Lü Qiying a faint glimmer of hope.

Xiao Fengchai, who was supposed to show up in the Rouge Forest, was still in her house in northern Jade City. Upon hearing that Duan Zihua, an old servant of the Meng family, had turned on her and accused his own master, she knew that she had been tricked and had immediately given up her escape plan, obediently waiting for the Dragon King to come.

She was the most popular prostitute in all of Retention Alley. Men regarded her as a rare plaything while she regarded men as her career ladder, which she would keep moving up on and never look back. Unexpectedly, she had still been tricked by men in the end.

While Pang Jing was frequently visiting all kinds of people in Jade City, he hadn't ignored Xiao Fengchai, and had gone to her house himself. He was not cheap with his compliments. In fact, his compliments were even more explicit than the words that came from the bandits of the Western Regions, who came to her due to her reputation; it was just that his words were more refined.

Xiao Fengchai was used to compliments from men, so she certainly wouldn't get carried away merely because he was a noble from the Central Plains. She received the visitor politely and then reported every detail to the Dragon King afterwards.

Then, a lobbyist had come to her home, and he had beat around the bush trying to persuade the Dragon King's financial executive into buying herself an extra route of retreat with the Governor's favor and the powerful strength of the Central Plains. Xiao Fengchai had maintained her politeness but her loyalty never wavered.

Xiao Fengchai had always abided by a simple principle - whoever had the money should have her loyalty, so her mind had been perturbed by this information. She had reported this meeting with the lobbyist to the Dragon King, but hadn't mentioned that gold ingot.

Pang Jing had then paid her another visit. He acted like most other men who couldn't resist the charm of the most famous woman of Retention Alley and acted as if he was trying to establish a closer relationship with her. And this was exactly what Xiao Fengchai had reported to the Dragon King. But in reality, that meeting had nothing to do with romance. It was a negotiation of the most explicit kind.

Xiao Fengchai wanted twenty percent of the Meng family's money, which were the same terms that she had once dictated to the Dragon King. Pang Jing had immediately agreed and assigned her a task - persuading Meng Mingshu to accuse the Dragon King.

Xiao Fengchai had delegated this tricky task to Lü Qiying but didn't tell him who actually had the money. Instead, she had fabricated another story, which was easy for her.

Lü Qiying had been obsessed with Xiao Fengchai this whole time and it had always been a painful regret for him that the most famous prostitute of Jade City had quit her job when he had become rich. In front of the temptation that was her, he had knelt down as quickly as a young man.

"That's all," she said, her face calm, hiding nothing behind it. "I was too confident. I thought that there was no man that I couldn't manipulate in the world, but in the end, I lost to this Central Plains guy."

Xu Xiaoyi swallowed hard. Xiao Fengchai had built up her reputation when he was still a child. Unexpectedly, after so many years, she was still so charming. "The Dragon King... The Dragon King also didn't fall for you," he said, trying to conceal his sexual arousal.

"The Dragon King doesn't count as a man," said Xiao Fengchai, her face slightly perplexed, as if she was lost in thought.

Xu Xiaoyi believed that he was an expert on romantic relationships. It suddenly dawned on him that it was not Xiao Fengchai's beauty nor her reputation, but rather her capability of keeping a moderate distance from men that made her so attractive. She made men feel like she was superior but within reach. He had this feeling right at this moment: he could have this woman, who was seemingly impossible for him to get, at a tiny cost.

But he managed to retain his senses. He knew that that "tiny cost" was actually not tiny at all. It meant betraying the Dragon King.

Thinking that Xiao Fengchai was regarding him as a man and trying to seduce him, Xu Xiaoyi couldn't help but feel somewhat proud. His eyes glazed over, unaware of what he should say.

Shangguan Fei felt that this was the very reason why he had been assigned here. If it weren't for the fact that he was present, supervising this meeting, then the Dragon King's intelligence executive probably have been on his knees, begging to have sex with this woman by now.

'Women are trouble indeed.' For the first time, Shangguan Fei felt smug about his sexual orientation that gave him an immunity to this kind of trouble.

"The Dragon King doesn't count as a man?" There was a hint of sarcasm in Shangguan Fei's tone. There were some facts that he could see distinctly, while those so-called smart people were blind to. "Lady Xiao, you're a terrible judge of character. Pang Jing is the one who doesn't count as a man - no, he is a man, a real man. But just like me, he also likes men. The Dragon King, however, ha-ha. He's a picky man who doesn't think that you're good enough for him."

With a fierce struggle in his mind, Xu Xiaoyi didn't hear Shangguan Fei's words at all, but Xiao Fengchai felt a shiver go through her from head to toe and suddenly understood. It turned out that not only had she been tricked, but she had also failed in the game that she was best at. "I want an audience with the Dragon King. There's something that I'll tell only to him." She wanted to grab onto a life-saving straw.