Chapter 67

Chapter 67

Having successfully escaped, Lu Yunqi breathed a sigh of relief and demanded, "Xiao Jiu, why didn't you tell me that Murong Jie was in that room?"

Xiao Jiu sighed and replied, "Master, he is the Child of Destiny. If he wants to hide, I, as a system, cannot detect him."

Lu Yunqi held up his sleeve and huffed, "This fabric still isn't sturdy enough! Aren't we all using polyester fiber now? Plastic's basically endless—sure, it gives you static, but there's tons of it, and it keeps people from freezing."

So once his tech level went up, the first thing he worked on was clothes—the number one of the four basic needs.

Luckily, the stuff was easy to make, since he'd found massive oil fields up north in the Wanping Wasteland.

Sure, people in later eras would trash-talk polyester, but you can't deny it's cheap and damn good!

Ever since polyester took off, you could visibly see the common folks' happiness go up, and once the road through the mountains was done, this fabric even got sold all over the Western Regions.

Kinda awkward to admit, but instead of the Silk Road, they'd built the Fiber Road.

Then again, silk was nice, but it was rich-people-only. As the poem goes, "The ones in silk and brocade ain't the ones raising silkworms."

Course, that didn't mean they ditched the rich folks' market just 'cause they served the common people. Silk was still part of the business too, obviously.

Lu Yunqi headed back to their contact spot in the capital. Lately, his business in the capital had been absolutely killing it.

No matter how many coups went down in the palace, folks still had to live their lives.

Polyester fabric was the best seller. Cheap, comfy, only a fifth of silk's price, and even cheaper than hemp—how could people not snap it up?

Lu Yunqi watched his reserve funds in the system grow bigger and bigger, which meant more money to pour into Wanping City's construction.

Lately, Wanping City was getting too much attention, and a few small horse-bandit gangs had been hitting the towns below.

Good thing the guards had rifles—they handled those bastards pretty easily.

But the taller the tree, the harder the wind blows. He figured it was time for Murong Jie to take over Wanping City.

Even though his main quest was done, it hadn't been finished perfectly, so a bunch of side quests had popped up.

Only by finishing those side quests could he get the final grand prize and go back to his 21st century.

So it really was possible to go back to the 21st century—he'd always figured Xiao Jiu was just messing with him.

One side quest was to get the whole Dayan Dynasty to 0.7—basically, matching 21st-century civilization.

If he couldn't pull it off, this worldline might get wiped out by the Heavenly Dao.

Lu Yunqi thought, well, I've already gotten this far and my life's not in danger anymore, so might as well keep going.

He thought for a sec and said, "Xiao Jiu! Have someone send Murong Jie an invite for me. I need to see him."

Xiao Jiu snickered, "Master, couldn't hold out any longer, huh?"

Lu Yunqi tsked, "What do you mean 'hold out'? I ain't the one dying to see him! Don't forget our side quest—Wanping City only ends up where it belongs if we hand it to Murong Jie! He's this worldline's Child of Destiny; I'm just keeping the seat warm!"

Xiao Jiu hummed, "Yeah, yeah. You definitely haven't been going to the Prince Peer mansion every day to stand there like some lovesick idiot. You definitely haven't been sneaking in invisible to peep at someone in the bath, and you definitely haven't..."

Lu Yunqi yelled, "Can you just shut up?! A system like you—I could punch out ten of you with one fist!"

Xiao Jiu was used to his hard-headedness by now and said, "I already sent someone to the Prince Peer mansion. You should be able to meet by the day after tomorrow, latest. But Master, my advice is—don't go to Lord Nine Thousand Years' mansion tonight! If you do, you'll probably get cornered in that room by Murong Jie."

Lu Yunqi went "oh" and asked, "And then?"

"And then?" Xiao Jiu was dumbfounded. "Then you're exposed!"

Lu Yunqi asked, "And after I'm exposed, what?"

Xiao Jiu: ...

Xiao Jiu asked, "So, you don't wanna avenge your nine lifetimes of getting killed anymore? You don't want him to never find you this life? Now that the danger's over, you forgot how badly you died in your last nine lives, huh? Master! This thing you got, we call it 'remembering the meal but not the beating'!"

Lu Yunqi went quiet, then said softly, "Honestly... from the moment he fell for me, I already felt revenge didn't matter that much anymore. Course, that's hindsight. Even though I still gripe about him on the surface, it wasn't his fault. After all, I paid back the sins the original owner did on his behalf. Think of it as my payment for borrowing his body."

"So..." Xiao Jiu asked again, "Are you planning to confess to him?"

Lu Yunqi flinched, thinking he still didn't dare. He wasn't brave enough to gamble on how much he meant to Murong Jie.

After all, he had faked his death and fled, which had caused no small harm to Murong Jie's body and mind, and he had indeed deceived him.

If Murong Jie blamed him and his old habit flared up again, stabbing him through...

The pain from before still lingered in his memory. His eyes darted around, and he said, "How about... we meet first and see!"

Besides, he also wanted to test whether Murong Jie's feelings for him were real or fake.

As Xiao Jiu had said, Murong Jie agreed to meet with the Wanping City Lord named Mo Wen the day after tomorrow.

The meeting place was set at the capital's largest restaurant pavilion, named Wangyue Tower—a full five stories tall, the tallest building in the capital besides the imperial palace. It truly deserved the name "Gazing at the Moon."

Lu Yunqi had originally wanted to dress up nicely to see him, but he was waylaid by a Western Region merchant who insisted on swearing brotherhood with him and gifted him a pile of assorted gemstones.

If it weren't for those gems, Lu Yunqi would have long since turned and left in a huff.

Among them was a sapphire that was truly beautiful—he wanted to set it on his beloved's hat.

But his beloved at home was already crying inconsolably, and no one could soothe him. Even Lu Tong, a man who never believed in ghosts or gods, had invited a great shaman to examine what was wrong with his precious grandnephew.

With no other choice, Lu Yunqi had to go meet Murong Jie in his old robes. Fortunately, his current face needed no adornment to be stunningly beautiful.

At that moment, Murong Jie was sitting by the window, exuding the dignified bearing of a gentleman.

But it had only been a little over three months, and he had grown so thin—his face had shrunk a full size. If not for his extraordinary bone structure, he would have looked gaunt beyond recognition.

Murong Jie also looked over at him, his gaze revealing nothing unusual. He simply nodded and asked, "So you are City Lord Mo?"