Chapter 881: The Meng Family
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Meng Mingshu was in a tough spot. He had overestimated his will and courage while simultaneously underestimating the ruthlessness and greed of Jade City.
Everybody knew that the Meng family’s huge amounts of wealth no longer existed and that it was like a dying giant beast. After briefly testing the waters and confirming that there was indeed no secret treasure left, flocks of hunters poured in thick and fast, their eyes on the small amount of meat left on this beast.
Meng Mingshu had become the patriarch as he had wished, but his family members had immediately abandoned him. In front of dozens of family members, his old grandmother had cried as she said that she was too old to suffer any more misfortune, and that thus she would volunteer to live alone. But eventually, with the approving voices of those family members, Second Young Master Meng had ultimately been the one to “voluntarily” move out of the family mansion.
The Meng family of northern Jade City, which had once been renowned throughout the entire Western Regions, now split into several smaller families. The members of the family then divided up the remaining properties, which were not many. Meng Mingshu only received the Bodhi Garden and two small courtyards. But one of his relatives also became his business rival because every business and bank of the Meng family was deeply in debt.
His servants betrayed him right after that. Those with any sense of morals expressed sympathy to their new master, but most of the servants directly chose to flee. The business network of the Meng family broke down at an unexpectedly fast speed. Creditors started coming out of various places, all wanting their money back. None of them ever mentioned how many goods they had taken from the warehouses of the Meng family.
Throughout the whole process, the attitudes of the residents of Jade City also changed accordingly. All those people who once used to race to curry favor with the Meng family now stood in front of the new patriarch of the Meng family with an arrogant look on their faces, as if they had fulfilled their dreams of “surpassing” the Meng family.
This morning, Meng Mingshu left his home for the first time in over ten days. He didn’t even dare to use the front gate, since he was afraid of encountering flocks of creditors. Under the escort of two loyal servants, he left his home through a door at the corner of the courtyard, with his face covered by a hood the whole way. Every time he heard someone said the word “Meng,” his body would involuntarily shiver.
After winding his way through the streets and alleyways of northern Jade City and southern Jade City for about two hours, Meng Mingshu finally received a cue from a strange man: nobody was following him. He could depart.
Upon seeing the army camp of the Shule Kingdom, Meng Mingshu felt slightly relieved as he thought, I only have to endure a longer wait. Sooner or later, I’ll make a comeback and dump all of those ungrateful relatives. I’ll become richer than I used to, and I’ll trample all of Jade City underfoot and humiliate all those residents both inside and outside the city.
The Dragon King hadn’t arrived yet. Meng Mingshu settled down in a common tent. His two attendants were taken elsewhere, which made him very uneasy.
The morale of the Shule Kingdom’s army seemed very high. The words “Dragon King” came out of those soldiers’ mouths very often. The longer Meng Mingshu peeped through the tent flaps, the more strongly he felt the Dragon King’s influence in this army.
Meng Mingshu had only ever seen the Dragon King sneak into Jade City alone, and back then, he had only a couple of killers accompanying him at the most. Meng Mingshu had heard some new rumors, but this was his first time seeing the true strength of the Dragon King with his own eyes.
He felt more uneasy.
It was not until the afternoon that the Dragon King finally arrived. When he saw that cold face that he was familiar with, Meng Mingshu forgot his identity and status as well as the age gap. He immediately knelt down with a thud, saying with a tearful face, “Please help me, Dragon King.”
It had been only a couple of months since the Dragon King last saw Meng Mingshu, but Meng Mingshu seemed to have become over ten years older. Gu Shenwei stepped aside. Old Man Mu walked up to Meng Mingshu and stroked Second Young Master Meng’s head in a friendly manner. “I should pick you up, but I’m not tall enough, so this is all I can do. Are you okay with it?”
The solemn army camp matched the cold Dragon King perfectly. But this eccentric old man was the only one who gave Meng Mingshu an inexplicable feeling. Having forgotten all those expressions and words that he had prepared very well in advance, Meng Mingshu replied out of confusion. “Ah?”
Holding onto Meng Mingshu’s elbows, Old Man Mu abruptly raised Meng Mingshu up. Second Young Master Meng was unprepared and his knees buckled. He shook briefly before regaining his footing. After gratefully smiling at Old Man Mu, he became much more composed. “Dragon King, I’ve finally met you.”
“We shouldn’t have met each other,” Gu Shenwei responded flatly. “This is dangerous for both you and me. You live in northern Jade City, which is still under the control of Golden Roc Castle.”
“Yes, yes. I understand.” Meng Mingshu glanced over his shoulder for no reason, as if someone were staring at him from there. “I’ve been dreaming about the Unique King chasing me and trying to kill me.”
“Did the Unique King threaten you?”
“He didn’t. He even sent someone to comfort me, but… but this makes me feel even more afraid. I fear that the Unique King was trying to conceal his true intentions by doing this, and that he will soon send assassins to assassinate me.”
Gu Shenwei frowned. “That’s why you came here? We’ve talked about this before. Before ascertaining where the Meng family’s wealth is, the Unique King won’t kill you.”
“I know, but he’s the Unique King. Once he gets angry, there’s nothing he won’t do. Dragon King, let me stay in your army camp. Please. I won’t return to northern Jade City ever again. I’ll be a follower of the Dragon Army in public. You have the support of the Central Plains as well as the Norland, and you also have numerous troops. Thus, you don’t have to be afraid of the Unique King any more, and neither will I.”
Gu Shenwei had already gotten the Meng family’s money, which meant that Meng Mingshu’s public support was totally meaningless to him, so he shook his head. “No.”
“Why?”
Meng Mingshu’s face was full of disappointment. Gu Shenwei could barely recall what that elegant, charming Second Young Master Meng used to look like.
“Because I haven’t gotten the Central Plains’ full support yet, and I don’t want the situation in Jade City to change too much. You’re the patriarch of the Meng family, and your every move will attract many people’s attention. Just wait a little while longer. Soon, I’ll need you to make your presence in public.”
“I really even know whether I’ll still be alive by then, Dragon King. I’m the patriarch in name only, and nobody will even notice if I die. Let me stay in the army camp. I won’t let anyone see me. I’ll just stealthily hide here.”
Meng Mingshu was trying to devalue himself, unaware of how dangerous it was to do so. Gu Shenwei was even somewhat sympathetic towards his plight, but he still shook his head. “Trust me. The Unique King is still making preparations for a counterattack, and he will never kill you under these circumstances. His ambition is synonymous with your safety. I’ll get you out of there before he gets desperate.”
Meng Mingshu took a deep breath. “All right. I trust you with my life, Dragon King. Please don’t forget me.”
“Um. I have another two tasks for you.”
Meng Mingshu’s heart lurched, and his face also changed. “Tasks… ”
“They’re very simple. You don’t have to take any risks. Five or six years ago, when Wei Song was the governor of Jade City, I assume that the Meng family gave him a lot of money when his term ended.”
Meng Mingshu didn’t expect that the Dragon King would ask about this issue. After pondering it over for a while, he said, “I think so. Back then, my father was the patriarch, so it sounds right. That has always been the convention. But this year, we don’t have to go through the trouble as the governor designated by the Norland is missing, and the Meng family has lost its wealth.”
“Go back and do some research. Get all of those records and documents ready. I’ll send someone there to get them.”
This task was indeed not risky at all. Those documents were worthless and probably related to more debt, so all of them were Meng Mingshu’s inheritance. “This is easy. I can get that done in three days at the most, but… why do you want these things, Dragon King?”
Having become vigilant, Meng Mingshu unexpectedly regained part of his previous composure and sense.
“Wei Song is now the Governor of the Western Regions, so I want to know how large his appetite is, and I also want him to take the Dragon Army’s side at a crucial moment in the future.”
“Everybody says that the uncle of the emperor of the Central Plains and the Dragon King are like brothers with different surnames. I think that one Wei Song shouldn’t be able to make too much of a difference, right?”
“Better safe than sorry.” Gu Shenwei didn’t want to explain any further. He hoped that Meng Mingshu would just regard this as a simple issue.
Meng Mingshu didn’t ask any more questions. According to his previous experience, the latter one of the two tasks should be the more important one. “And the other task? I’ll do anything you want me to, Dragon King.”
Gu Shenwei paused briefly. “Madam Meng lives in northern Jade City.”
“Yes. She lives with my grandmother, in the old dwelling of the Meng family.”
“You should go back there more often and gather more information about the Unique King’s movements.”
Though he had a very clear understanding of this task, Meng Mingshu looked awkward. “I’ll try my best, but please lower your expectations, Dragon King. Madam Meng is not easy to deal with.”
“Just do what you can.” What Gu Shenwei really cared about was those documents which would be more than enough to help him bring down Wei Song in the Central Plains.
The conversation was coming to an end. Other than these two tasks, Meng Mingshu had gotten nothing, but he desperately needed a guarantee. “Dragon King, please don’t take this to mean anything, but the money of my family… ”
“It’s very safe. We haven’t used a single coin of it. Xiao Fengchai manages the money and she’ll explain it to you.”
“Fengchai is here?” Meng Mingshu’s eyes lit up.
After they went into another tent, Old Man Mu curled his lips up in contempt. “You’re so kind, Dragon King. You actually allowed him to meet his woman. If I were you, I would have forced this guy to swallow a couple of poisonous pills of the Waning Moon Hall and make him behave that way.”
Gu Shenwei’s thoughts had already shifted to another issue. “Speaking of Waning Moon Hall, how’s your observation of Shangguan Hong’s behavior been?”
Old Man Mu slapped his forehead. “I secretly observed him for a couple of days. I can offer my head as a guarantee – Shangguan Hong used to practice the Seven Rotation Skills.”
“But he didn’t become any shorter.”
Smiling, Old Man Mu shook his head. “The evil part about the Seven Rotation Skills is its unpredictability. It may compress some kung fu practitioners’ bones, like what happened to me. Or it might also cause other changes. It’s even possible that people will kill themselves while practicing it, which is why even those crazy women of Waning Moon Hall don’t dare to practice it. Shangguan Hong accepted this cultivation method either because he was desperate or because he was unaware of this. I don’t think it was his bones that were changed. Maybe Shangguan Fei did him a great favor by cutting his thing off. Alas, if only I had caught him and done some careful research.”
Old Man Mu was lost in thought.
Xiao Fengchai only spent a very short amount of time in Meng Mingshu’s tent. When she came out of it, the look on her face was very flat.
Old Man Mu took the hint and left. Xiao Fengchai sighed deeply. “Second Brother actually became someone like this. This is so surprising. I didn’t expected that I, Xiao Fengchai, would misjudge someone.” After saying this, she stared at the Dragon King for a while, as if she was wondering whether the Dragon King would become another man that she had misjudged. “He won’t do anything stupid at the moment, but you have to be cautious, Dragon King. He’s unable to handle too much pressure.”
Gu Shenwei nodded. He just wanted the paperwork.
Xiao Fengchai was still staring at the Dragon King. “I told Second Brother that I keep all of the Meng family’s money right under my nose, and that nobody can touch it. Would you please tell me the truth about where exactly my ‘nose’ is, Dragon King?”
“Somewhere safe.”
Before Jade City was in his control, Gu Shenwei wouldn’t tell anybody the whereabouts of this money.
