DLWAV CH91

Wait a moment–

Didn’t this plot feel a little familiar?

Wasn’t this exactly the same method Ao Ruize had used against the Xia family?

Although the situation back then was that whenever the Xia family brought out a new technology, Ao Ruize would follow up with an even better one and crush them flat.

Whereas the current situation was that whenever Song Qingying brought out a modern technology, they would wait for her to open the market, then sell that same technology at a marked-up price.

One could only imagine what Song Qingying’s reaction would be when she discovered that her technologies had been “leaked” yet again.

The middle-aged man and the others: “……”

Not because they felt their behavior was particularly excessive, but rather because they had suddenly understood the kind of joy Ao Ruize must have felt back then.

And that gave them even more motivation.

Ao Ruize: “……”

Lu Dang: “……”

Watching the middle-aged man turn around in no time at all and earn another hundred-odd thousand taels of silver just from selling the refined white sugar formula, with all his other tasks also going from strength to strength, Lu Dang found himself completely unable to sit still any longer.

He immediately picked up the pace on recruiting the Li family and Third Master Liu.

But what he never could have anticipated was that things turned out nothing like he had imagined.

The Li family agreed to join them on the spot.

Whatever happened to that forty percent chance of them accepting his offer?

Lu Dang couldn’t help but ask: “Second Master Li, are you not at all worried that if we fail in the end, the entire Li family will be dragged down into ruin along with us?”

But hearing this, Second Master Li simply let out a bitter laugh.

He said: “I dare not deceive you, sir.”

“The truth is that ever since our patriarch got on in years, he has become completely taken with the theories of geomancy and the occult, and has taken to keeping a whole host of Taoist priests around him.”

“Those priests, trading on our patriarch’s favor, have not only shamelessly swindled him of his money, but have also used their status as his honored guests to throw their weight around everywhere they go.”

“In barely three years, our patriarch had a hand in building six new Taoist temples for them, purchasing over ten thousand mu of land, and spending more than three hundred thousand taels of the Li family’s silver.”

“My youngest son couldn’t stand the sight of it, played a trick on them once, and was nearly beaten to death by our patriarch for it, then sent off to the Yunnan-Guizhou circuit.”

Just from Second Master Li’s tone alone, it was clear how deeply he despised those Taoist priests.

And equally clear how completely the Li patriarch trusted those charlatans.

Lu Dang: “Could it be that the moment we left, your patriarch went straight to those priests and had them cast a divination, and they declared that we would certainly succeed, which is why the Li family made up their minds to pledge their allegiance to our master?”

He reasoned that, setting aside the questionable character of those priests, the Li patriarch, however old, didn’t seem like someone who had lost his wits entirely. Given how much he trusted those priests, they surely had at least some genuine ability.

Thinking about the priests declaring they would certainly succeed, Lu Dang couldn’t help but smile.

But in the very next moment, he heard Second Master Li say: “No. Every one of those priests said that if the Li family got involved in this matter, the only outcome would be complete and utter annihilation.”

Lu Dang: “……”

He immediately cursed aloud: “As expected of a pack of fraudulent charlatans.”

“But if your patriarch trusts those fake priests so implicitly, how did he end up agreeing to serve our master in the end?”

Everyone else in the room also sat up straighter, unable to help their curiosity.

Second Master Li paused for a moment, then said: “The truth is that the house to the left of the residence you purchased half a month ago is our family’s old ancestral home.”

Lu Dang’s expression shifted instantly.

Because they had always approached the Li family under disguise. They had assumed their concealment was airtight, only to discover that the Li family had long since investigated and uncovered everything about them.

But before Lu Dang and the others could say a word, Second Master Li continued directly: “On the night of the first day of the month, our patriarch happened to be at the ancestral home for the ancestral memorial rites.”

“Because old grievances came to mind, he had not yet fallen asleep even by the second watch of the night.”

The first of the month?

Lu Dang thought back. Wasn’t that the very day the middle-aged man and the others had arrived in Yangzhou?

Second Master Li: “That night, our patriarch witnessed with his own eyes an enormous object radiating white light descend from the heavens.”

“The following night, he witnessed with his own eyes that same enormous object depart from your residence.”

“And then, your household suddenly had eight additional people in it.”

……

“Our patriarch did not dare send anyone to follow you, but he surmised that the glass formulas and the like circulating on the market were all released by you.”

“And most critically, that one had been suffering from tuberculosis, and yet recovered just like that, as though it were nothing.”

“What does that tell us?”

“It tells us that person is without question a true Son of Heaven.”

“The eight people who appeared in your household are without question emissaries sent down by the heavens to assist that person.”

“So pledging allegiance to that person at this moment is to act in accordance with the will of heaven and the hearts of the people.”

By the time he reached this point, the flush of excitement on Second Master Li’s face had finally subsided somewhat.

“These were our patriarch’s exact words.”

But it was plain to see that because of those fraudulent priests, Second Master Li, who had never placed any stock in fate or destiny, had come to believe every word of it himself.

Second Master Li did not forget to add at the end: “And it was precisely because of this that, upon hearing the priests’ divination result, our patriarch immediately saw through their true nature and had them handed over to the authorities.”

Saying this, Second Master Li felt a wave of immense satisfaction.

Come to think of it, the reason those fraudulent priests would have conjured up a false divination result right away, when the patriarch hadn’t even told them the full story and had only described it vaguely as the Li family wanting to undertake a significant venture, was almost certainly because they had read from the patriarch’s manner that the matter carried enormous risk. Fearing that if the Li family came to grief, their own comfortable existence would be forfeit, they had tried to cut off the patriarch’s intentions at the root.

Lu Dang and the others: “……”

They had seen plenty of blind superstition before, but someone practicing superstition with this much independent judgment was something they were encountering for the very first time.

Wait, though. That might not even be the most important part here.

The most important part was that the Li family had chosen without hesitation to pledge allegiance to them because they had mistaken the middle-aged man and the others for celestial emissaries sent by heaven to assist their master.

Lu Dang: “……”

He had still lost.

Lu Dang was completely floored.

No. He had not lost yet.

Lu Dang snapped back at once.

He still had Third Master Liu.

As long as he brought Third Master Liu over to their side, he would be back on the same footing as the middle-aged man.

But what he never could have anticipated was that Third Master Liu flatly refused them.

Whatever happened to Third Master Liu being too ambitious to ever say no?

And most critically, neither Third Master Liu nor they themselves had any way back now.

Because both sides had already revealed their identities openly.

For their part, to be safe, they had only one option: eliminate Third Master Liu and ensure their whereabouts would not be exposed.

For Third Master Liu, he now had two options.

One: report their presence in Yangzhou to the authorities and strike first.

Two: keep this information concealed, in which case the Canal Gang would likely know no peace from this point forward.

Because if they lost in the end, the Gang would have to guard against them dragging it down with them out of desperation. And even if they won, Third Master Liu would have to guard against them settling scores with the Canal Gang afterward.

So when all was said and done, Third Master Liu really only had the one option anyway.

Second Master Li immediately panicked: “Sir, what do we do now?”

Lu Dang forced himself to stay calm.

“I’ll say it again. I don’t believe Third Master Liu has no desire to rise above his station.”

“So the fact that he refused us just now most likely means he found the terms we offered beneath him.”

Hearing this, the others said one after another: “But what kind of terms could possibly be more enticing than titles and rank?”

Lu Dang immediately turned to Second Master Chen: “You are a native of Yangzhou and the foremost salt merchant here. You should know Third Master Liu better than anyone. Do you know what he values most?”

Second Master Chen’s brow furrowed at once: “Well…… does a love of pleasure count?”

“He once spent fifty thousand gold to build a manor estate covering a hundred mu of land.”

“And he once spent a hundred thousand taels of silver to buy out the most celebrated courtesan in all of Jiangnan from her contract.”

Hearing this, Lu Dang said at once: “So you’re saying Third Master Liu has a weakness for beautiful women?”

Second Master Chen: “…… What are you suggesting?”

Lu Dang: “Then let us send him a few more beauties and see how he responds.”

Undignified as such behavior was for an emperor’s representative, things had come to this point, and there was no longer any need to stand on ceremony.

Second Master Chen nodded: “Very well.”

But what no one had expected was that Third Master Liu rejected them again.

Second Master Li refused to accept it. He assumed Third Master Liu simply hadn’t taken to the first group, and sent another group over. This time, they didn’t even make it through the Li family’s front gate.

Lu Dang was now completely unable to sit still, and it was right at this moment that word came from inside the residence: Ao Ruize had gone out.

At that, Lu Dang was very nearly frightened out of his wits entirely.

He scrambled after him without a moment’s delay.

He finally caught up with Ao Ruize beside the Little Qinhuai River.

Fortunately, no one had recognized him yet.

But that did nothing to stop Lu Dang from planting his feet and standing ramrod straight in his agitation: “Master, do you have any idea how dangerous it is out here right now?”

Taking advantage of the fact that there was no one else nearby, Ao Ruize simply said: “I’ve been lying in bed for over two months. I was getting a bit restless.”

And most critically, after more than two months, he still hadn’t seen his wife. He was getting a little anxious.

But he also knew Lu Dang meant well, so he kept a conciliatory tone: “Besides, I’ve fully recovered now and my health is considerably stronger. And the court has already announced my death. Even if someone thinks I look vaguely familiar, the most they would suspect is that I’m some minor member of the imperial family. No one would think to connect me to Zhou Ruize.”

Because Emperor Zhangwu had never managed to find him, and on top of that, certain ambitious border kingdoms in the western territories, seizing on the chaos in Da Qian, had raised their troops under his banner in rebellion. Emperor Zhangwu had no choice but to follow the advice of his court officials and announce that Zhou Ruize had died of illness. And, just as in the original storyline, he stripped him of his place in the imperial family, assigned him the posthumous title of “Benighted Commoner,” and had him buried with the rites of a ninth-rank court lady on a barren hillside outside the imperial mausoleum.

Lu Dang of course knew all of this: “But don’t you know the saying, it’s the one-in-ten-thousand chance that will get you?”

Meanwhile, not far away on a painted pleasure boat, a young man of roughly twenty-three or twenty-four was seated on the upper deck, leaning against the railing, watching a performance of song and dance on the pleasure boat moored across the water.

Right at that moment, one of his subordinates suddenly said: “Third Master, isn’t that……”

“Hm?”

The young man known as Third Master followed his gaze, and immediately broke into a smile: “Well, so it is.”

He had recognized Lu Dang at a glance.

Even though Lu Dang had always come to him in disguise.

But more often than not, a person’s appearance could be altered at will, while their bearing was something that could never be changed regardless of effort.

Of course, the vast majority of people would never notice this.

Then his gaze drifted to the man beside Lu Dang, a middle-aged man dressed in a trim light-blue long robe, standing tall and straight as a pine, with a face of sharp and well-defined angles, a small goatee at his chin, and a folding fan in hand. He looked every inch the dignified, composed type, exactly the sort of mature man favored by ladies of good family tucked away in their inner chambers. Lu Dang appeared to be giving him quite a fierce scolding.

Thinking again of the beauties Lu Dang had sent him, the young man understood in an instant. His brow lifted: “It seems this head steward still refuses to give up……”

Finding that sending him beautiful women had gotten him nowhere, he had apparently decided to try an unexpected angle and send him a handsome older man instead.

Support me on Ko-fi