Chapter 56: The Situation is Grim

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“You, Young Miss.” The girl named Xiangling had a pale face. Although her eyes were filled with guilt, there was still a stubborn look about her. “This Servant has failed your trust and did a poor job supervising the Qingshi Branch for you, abusing public power for private use. All of this is this Servant’s fault. If you want to kill, then chop off this Servant’s head. This Servant will have absolutely no complaints.”

“Absolutely no complaints?” The woman with the cold voice slowly stood up, revealing her slender and proud figure. Any heavier and she would be too plump; any lighter and she would be too thin. An exquisitely made goose-yellow dress highlighted her noble and outstanding temperament. Her eyebrows were like curved willow leaves, and her eyes were like deep gems. Her lovely face was as white as snow, faintly revealing a healthy rosiness. Her jade-like lips were slightly tinted with crimson, adding a touch of clear beauty. She was truly a rare, stunning beauty.

“Can your betrayal of my trust be cancelled out just by saying you have no complaints?” The woman closed her eyes, her long eyelashes lowering, and sighed gently. “Xiangling, although you are nominally my Maid. From childhood to adulthood, have I ever treated you unfairly? I arranged teachers and masters for you, and never lacked resources for you. You are called a Maid, but in reality, you are not much different from the young misses of great families.”

“Young Miss, you have not treated this Servant unfairly; it is this Servant who has failed the Young Miss.” Xiangling shed tears of sorrow and said in panic, “If there is a next life, this Servant is willing to work like a horse for the Young Miss to repay your kindness in this life.”

The clear and beautiful woman had deep disappointment in her eyes. “You would truly rather die than reveal the person you sold the full-body iron armor to? What kind of magic does that Jiang Yu have? To make you so obsessed? That you would even betray me.”

“Young Miss!” Xiangling was suddenly terrified. She knelt on the ground and sobbed, begging, “Please, have mercy and let Big Brother Jiang go. He didn’t know that this iron armor was carefully crafted by the Wan Family Fort for the Li Clan’s Imperial Guard. It was this Servant… this Servant was worried about Big Brother Jiang’s safety, so, so I made the decision on my own and sold it to him for two hundred gold per set.” She never expected that the person she tried to protect even at the cost of her life would be found out by the Young Miss so easily. After all, the Young Miss had just arrived at Qingshi Town today.

“Hmph, Xiangling, you underestimate our Li Family’s intelligence. Although the Li Family is a merchant family, if our intelligence is not strong, how can we do business?” The clear and beautiful woman sighed and said, “Although you did things secretly and tampered with the account books, in This Miss’s eyes, there are loopholes everywhere. Think about that Jiang Yu, he is just an obscure nobody. What virtue or ability does he have to make you, Xiangling, favor him so much? Forget it. I, Li Baobao, am not a heartless person. We grew up together; I cannot bring myself to take your life. Considering our feelings as close as sisters, I will let you go. You go call that Jiang Yu here, return the ten sets of iron armor, and accept my punishment. As for you, since you are willing to risk your life for him and even betray me, you naturally cannot stay by my side anymore. You will live a good life with him from now on, and cut off all ties with the Li Chamber of Commerce.”

Xiangling was stunned. Although she always knew her Young Miss had a soft heart, she never expected that after committing a betrayal, the Young Miss would still let her go. Immediately, she kowtowed with a mix of surprise and joy. “This Servant thanks the Young Miss for her kind heart. B, but, Young Miss, you may have misunderstood my relationship with Big Brother Jiang. Young Miss, do you remember what Xiangling’s original surname is?”

“Huh? You… I seem to remember, it is also Jiang?” The clear and beautiful woman named Li Baobao said with some realization, “So that is your brother. No wonder…”

“Uh, Young Miss. This Servant has no father or mother and was brought to the Li Clan since childhood.” Xiangling shook her head and said, “However, although Big Brother Jiang is not this Servant’s biological brother, this Servant truly regards him as my own brother and family. If not for Big Brother Jiang’s care and protection, this Servant… this Servant would have died long before going to the Li residence…”

Li Baobao was stunned for a long while. The reason she was so angry before was that she thought Xiangling was selling out family interests to provide for her lover. She did not expect that she had made such a mistake. But regardless, Xiangling sold out family interests and sold things that should not have been sold. The death penalty could be avoided, but the living penalty was hard to forgive.

Moreover, what made Li Baobao uncomfortable was that Jiang Yu actually used Xiangling’s relationship to gain benefits within the Qingshi Branch of the Li Chamber of Commerce? Did he not know that this would bring danger and trouble to Xiangling? According to intelligence, this Jiang Yu seemed to have recently followed a mysterious boss. It was estimated that this iron armor matter was still instigated by that mysterious boss.

“Hmph, how dare he scheme against my Chamber of Commerce.” Li Baobao thought to herself in anger and shame. “Am I, Li Baobao, so easily fooled? I will definitely make you spit out everything you swallowed.” If it were anything else, she certainly would not be so angry, but this matter involved the Maid she trusted most.

Unknowingly, poor Lei Qing suffered an undeserved disaster. He was hated by others without knowing anything at all.

…

But at this moment, Lei Qing also had a huge headache. After ransacking Backing Tiger’s secret room, Lei Qing found some things that gave him quite a headache. These were the letters between Backing Tiger and the Qingshi Branch of the Li Chamber of Commerce. Although the content was hidden, and the other party’s name and origin were obscure, after careful judgment, Lei Qing deduced that this was almost certainly correspondence with someone from the Qingshi Branch. Although the other party repeatedly instructed to burn the letters, it was obvious that Zhao Guang secretly found a way to keep them to hold some leverage. So he wouldn’t be used as a urinal—used when needed and thrown under the bed when not. Unfortunately, Zhao Guang calculated a thousand times but never calculated that he would fall into Lei Qing’s hands.

To raise bandits to maintain one’s position was an old trick.

And the Li Chamber of Commerce was the biggest beneficiary of raising bandits. Otherwise, why would they secretly fund Backing Tiger, Zhao Guang, to let him grow and expand? Was it not to turn the area within hundreds of miles into a minefield for ordinary merchants?

They could suppress the selling price of the mountain people in the remote areas and almost monopolize the business of furs and mountain delicacies within hundreds of miles. It was truly killing two birds with one stone, what a calculation. Other small merchants had to attach themselves to the name of the Qingshi Branch and pay huge fees, and also had to pay visits to the bandits. Even so, there was no absolute safety. Otherwise, why would Jiang Yu, who was doing things properly according to the rules, be robbed? If Lei Qing had not been present that time, Jiang Yu would have become a tragedy alive.

And he himself had directly picked the Fierce Tiger Ridge and occupied it, incorporating Backing Tiger’s underlings. In this way, what would the hidden manipulator behind Backing Tiger do?

Various reasons made Lei Qing feel like he was in a difficult position. To be an enemy of the Li Chamber of Commerce was undoubtedly a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

Of course, once the arrow is shot, there is no turning back. Since things had been done, regret was useless. What could be done now was to figure out how to deal with this matter. But after thinking about it, Lei Qing did not have much of a clue. First, he could negotiate with the Qingshi Branch and use the evidence in his hand that would damage the reputation of the Li Chamber of Commerce to reach a secret consensus. Even if he had to suffer some grievances and temporarily replace Backing Tiger’s position, it would be fine.

If this set didn’t work, then he could only take his subordinates and run away. Anyway, the purpose of Lei Qing’s trip was first to send Qianqian to the Wan Family Fort. To see if he could find a place to stay at the Wan Family Fort. If not, he would detour to the Iron Cavalry Regiment.

With his identity and the friendship between the father he had never met and the leader of the Iron Cavalry Regiment, there was a high possibility that they would give him a place to stand. By then, he could slowly plan for development. Even developing by relying on the Iron Cavalry Regiment was not unacceptable.

As for discarding this first batch of subordinates obtained with great effort and risk of life, and escaping alone? That was also not in line with Lei Qing’s personality. Moreover, if he could not truly establish his own team and power, he would be someone else’s dish at any time. No matter how high his cultivation was, a lone ranger was useless. Just look at the fate of the Saint of Thieves. If the Saint of Thieves had thousands of troops under his command, would Leng Yuewu, even if her cultivation was a bit stronger, have been able to chase him like a dog running everywhere?

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