Chapter 138: Extortion and Sowing Discord

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Kid, you better pray hard that you don’t fall into my hands. I will definitely train you until you wish you were dead, turning you into a dog beneath my crotch. Madame Zhen said with a kind and gentle look on her face, “The child has grown up; you should go out and hone your skills. However, as a mother, I really can’t bear to let you go.”

“Auntie, you are mistaken,” Lei Qing said righteously. “Loving a son is a feeling shared by every mother in the world. However, excessive spoiling will only harm Jimu. If you always hold a fledgling eagle in your arms and don’t let it fly out, it will never learn to fly in its lifetime. Only when it falls hard and suffers miserably will it become strong and independent, and learn to spread its wings and soar high. Ah Mu, isn’t that right? Tell your mother, do you want to go to the Northwest to see the desolation and vastness?”

A hand rested on Zhen Jimu’s shoulder. As the Heavenly Thunder Fighting Qi poured into his body, Lei Qing whispered in his ear, “I, Lei Qing, have a worthless life. I don’t mind dying together with you. If you don’t want to suffer or die, behave yourself and cooperate with me. I guarantee you will be fine, otherwise…”

Numbness and intense pain made Zhen Jimu almost scream out, but with his life at stake, he had to endure it and cooperate, saying, “Yes, Mom. I used to be ignorant, but under Big Brother Lei’s guidance, I suddenly realized many things. I also want to stay at home and serve you well, but as a man with great ambitions, I cannot always live under my mother’s protective wings. Mom, please let me go out and venture!”

These words from Zhen Jimu were half true and half false. In fact, although he lived freely and comfortably in Northern Yan City, who could understand the depression in his heart?

Although he was coerced by Lei Qing this time, he actually wouldn’t mind going out for a walk. For so many years, he had wanted to go out several times, but he never got permission.

“Auntie, you heard it too, right?” Lei Qing squinted his eyes and smiled, putting his arm around Zhen Jimu’s shoulders. “Jimu has grown up and wants to go out and venture. Please let him go, Auntie. He is no longer that little child breastfeeding in your arms.”

A trace of anger flashed through Madame Zhen’s eyes, but she quickly regained her elegant and charming demeanor and said, “Since Jimu insists on going, then I ask you, my nephew, to take good care of him. This child is quite willful; if he doesn’t listen, you can teach him a lesson.” She thought to herself that this kid was too cunning, grabbing onto Jimu’s weakness and refusing to let go.

Listening to this conversation, anyone who didn’t know the inside story would really think that the two sides had a great relationship.

“Auntie, although it’s a bit embarrassing to say some things.” Lei Qing gave an awkward smile and scratched his head, as if he were really shy.

“Go ahead and say it. As long as it’s a request from you, I will definitely agree,” Madame Zhen said, glancing at Lei Qing with a double meaning.

“Well, you know Jimu. He has no other faults, except he is used to spending money lavishly,” Lei Qing said with a chuckle, pretending to be embarrassed. “It’s a thousand miles from here to Yehe Town, and I, your nephew, came in a hurry, so I don’t have enough travel expenses.”

Not far away, Li Baobao felt a bit dizzy when she heard this; she thought Lei Qing had changed his ways. But in the blink of an eye, he started extorting again, and even claimed it was because his travel expenses were insufficient. Good heavens, how much travel money would it take to get from here to Yehe Town? This man’s courage was simply boundless; he even dared to extort the Poisonous Widow, Madame Zhen.

However, she also knew that if Lei Qing didn’t extort, he wouldn’t be Lei Qing.

Madame Zhen’s face remained calm, but a surge of anger rose in her heart. Never, ever had anyone dared to treat her like this. Lei Qing’s handsome face, smiling so honestly, gave her an impulse to pin him to the ground and ravage him severely. But her precious son was in his hands, and given that kid’s level of alertness, trying to rescue him was simply a fool’s dream.

“Little Nine, you are right. It was careless of me, your aunt,” Madame Zhen said with a charming smile. “However, our Zhen Family Ranch isn’t as wealthy and power ful as the Li Chamber of Commerce. Is ten thousand gold coins enough?”

“Auntie, what are you saying? It sounds like I kidnapped Jimu to extort money from you,” Lei Qing said, winking at her. “But you are right about one thing: Zhen Family Ranch is indeed not the Li Chamber of Commerce, and Jimu is not Li Baobao. How about this? Jimu will stay with me for three years, and I will help him correct some bad habits and polish his character. Why don’t you give some more living expenses and teaching fees, Auntie?”

“Th, three years?” Madame Zhen felt a bit unsteady, revealing a vicious look in her eyes. “Lei Qing, you actually want Jimu to stay with you for three years? Instead of letting him come back immediately after arriving?”

“Haha, Auntie, you really love to joke,” Lei Qing said as if he had heard the funniest joke ever. “If Jimu came back immediately, you would definitely think that I, as his Big Brother, didn’t teach him well. Maybe out of anger and embarrassment, you would gather a group of people to hack me to death. I, Lei Qing, am timid and can’t bear that responsibility. If Auntie insists on refusing, then we will just have to part ways. I, Lei Qing, do not want a brother who has no desire to improve.” By the end, Lei Qing’s eyes also began to look fierce.

He was clearly warning Madame Zhen: either three years, or they part ways as enemies. In short, Lei Qing would definitely not be stupid enough to believe that Madame Zhen would let Zhen Jimu go immediately just because of a promise or a poisonous oath.

You must be kidding; to trust the reputation of a Poisonous Widow? Lei Qing might as well not bother coming out to mix in society. It would be better to find a rope and hang himself earlier.

“Three years, that is what you said.” Madame Zhen thought it over and over but had no solution; her precious son was in his hands, truly making her hesitant to act for fear of harming the hostage. Her shoulders trembled with anger, and she dropped her disguise, her voice squeezed out from between her teeth. “Lei Qing, if anything happens to my Jimu in these three years, you know what a mother like me is capable of doing.”

“Auntie loves her son dearly, and Lei Qing understands,” Lei Qing said with a smile as calm as still water. “Jimu spends money lavishly; Auntie must give more living expenses.”

“Then calculate, how much is needed?” Madame Zhen smiled, but her smile was gloomy and terrifying. “Our Zhen Family doesn’t have as much money as the Li Clan; you must have some consideration for your aunt.”

“Auntie, thank you for the five hundred high-quality warhorses you sent earlier,” Lei Qing said with a charming smile in his eyes too. “However, your noble son likes to ride horses, so give a few more as spares; a total of one thousand five hundred horses would be enough. Auntie also said that the Zhen Family has no money. But the Zhen Family has many horses~”

“You…” The viciousness in Madame Zhen’s eyes grew denser. One thousand five hundred high-quality warhorses, even for the Zhen Family, was a huge sum. However, her son was her lifeblood, and his value was far beyond compare with one thousand five hundred warhorses.

“By the way, Auntie. Nephew knows you don’t have much cash, but you run a ranch, so you have many cattle and sheep,” Lei Qing smiled honestly. “Nephew has recently set up a few small ranches, just playing around. How about you support me with another thousand high-quality cows, four thousand high-quality ewes, and one hundred head each of breeding bulls, stallions, and rams?”

“Fine.” Madame Zhen no longer had any lustful feelings toward Lei Qing; her mind was entirely filled with thoughts of how to cut this kid named Lei into hundreds of pieces. Although the things Lei Qing asked for wouldn’t hurt the foundation of the Zhen Family, the experience of being held down and extorted like this was truly disgusting and unbearable.

“Right, Jimu needs to cultivate, and cultivation requires Demonic Beast Crystal Cores,” Lei Qing said with a grin. “For three years of cultivation, I don’t need much: two hundred Bronze-rank Crystal Cores, ten Silver Crystal Cores, and one Gold Crystal Core will be enough.”

“Don’t go too far.” Madame Zhen’s face had turned livid with anger, and she said in a low voice, “Do not cross my bottom line.”

Lei Qing also knew it was about enough; if he asked for more, he might trigger the madness of this Poisonous Widow. If she was really pushed to the brink and decided to take a desperate risk, it would be big trouble.

“Then Little Nine thanks Auntie for her generous gift.” Lei Qing smiled foolishly and cupped his hands. “Auntie, one last small request. I have made some enemies in Yehe Town, and sometimes I may not be able to protect Jimu. How about this, let Auntie let me take an expert with me. I see this Gongsun Xu is not bad; his aura is restrained and steady, and he looks very capable.”

It would have been better if Lei Qing hadn’t mentioned Gongsun Xu; the moment he did, she stared at him with a vicious gaze. Gongsun Xu, it was because of this Gongsun Xu that her son fell into Lei Qing’s hands.

On the way here, she had already found out exactly what happened. This guy named Lei had registered directly under his own name after entering the city, and the report went up level by level until it reached Gongsun Xu. In the end, somehow, the news of Lei Qing’s arrival reached her son’s hands.

As a result, her son found Gongsun Xu, who was in charge of that area, and told him to take some men to mess with Lei Qing.

Madame Zhen had every reason to believe that this Gongsun Xu was a suspect. Otherwise, why didn’t he stop Lei Qing when he attacked? Most importantly, this Lei Qing actually wanted to take Gongsun Xu away; he clearly wanted to save the life of this spy.

“Madame, I have been wronged! I am loyal to the Zhen Family and have no second thoughts,” Gongsun Xu knew things were bad as soon as he saw Madame Zhen’s expression. He knew very well what kind of person Madame Zhen was: vicious and suspicious.

“That’s right, Madame, you have wronged Brother Gongsun,” Lei Qing said with a faint smile. “I guarantee I have never met Brother Gongsun before.”

Lei Qing was clearly trying to cover things up, playing a game of sowing discord. Gongsun Xu glared at him angrily.

It was an obvious tactic of sowing discord, but who knew if it wasn’t intentionally helping Gongsun Xu get off the hook. Last time, she had taken a fancy to this Gongsun Xu and wanted to transfer him to be her Personal Guard, but he righteously refused. She had then transferred him to be the city gate guard captain. Perhaps he held a grudge and was taking the opportunity to retaliate.

Madame Zhen actually knew that perhaps Gongsun Xu was innocent. But many times, once doubt begins, it is like a seed sprouting, becoming difficult to reverse.

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