Li Banfeng sat in the wooden hut, quietly reading the evening papers that Ma Wu had brought back.

News of Lu Dongliang attending the banquet took up nearly half a page. According to the report, he was alive and well, even strong enough to argue with He Yuxiu.

Ma Wu paced anxiously and said, “Yesterday, that private investigator Daboinsky came to see me. He asked about you. He said Lu Dongliang is still alive.

“I heard similar rumors before, but I thought they were nonsense. Now that the evening papers have printed it, Lu Dongliang really is alive. Daboinsky is probably working for him and trying to track you down.”

Li Banfeng put the evening newspaper down. Since he had eaten a Golden Essence Pill yesterday, he was very sure that Lu Dongliang had died. Technically, the pill he ate had been a part of Lu Dongliang.

So where did this Lu Dongliang mentioned in the newspaper come from? Someone is clearly impersonating him. However, what method did they use to impersonate him?

The first thing that came to Li Banfeng’s mind was Lu Xiaolan’s fake skin. When she had disguised herself as He Jiaqing, he hadn’t been able to tell the difference at all.

While Li Banfeng was lost in thought, Ma Wu spoke again. “Brother Li, you shouldn’t head to Greenwater City for the time being.”

“If I don’t go to Greenwater City, how are we supposed to deliver the goods?”

“Don’t worry about that for now. Miss Chu came to the village today and cleared out the warehouse.”

As soon as he saw Ma Wu carrying out those crates of banknotes, Li Banfeng grinned. “See? Didn’t I say you two really have feelings for each other?”

Ma Wu managed a bitter smile. “She even showed up with reporters. At this point, I’m completely dragged into it.”

“She brought reporters?” Li Banfeng paused as a memory surfaced. “So it’s basically the same as when you slept with your Seventeenth Sister-in-law.”

Ma Wu lit a cigarette, inhaled deeply, and finally saw the situation for what it was. “Apart from my third brother, none of the others in the family were really targeting me.”

“From what happened today, it’s obvious Miss Chu has some kind of special tie to the newspaper. When my third brother framed me in the past, he was most likely acting on her instructions.

“My third brother thought his plan had worked. Instead, Miss Chu sent reporters the very next moment to expose everything and drive me out of the Ma Family. As for what happened to my third brother afterward, Miss Chu never cared in the slightest.”

Li Banfeng shook his head. “No, I think Miss Chu cared about your third brother. She wanted that good-for-nothing to take over the Ma Family quickly so he could run every business into the ground for her.”

Ma Wu flicked the ash from his cigarette. “It doesn’t necessarily have to be my third brother. Ever since I was kicked out of the family, my second sister took over my two dance halls. One has already been sold to the Chu Family, and the other is expected to be sold next month.”

“So your second sister is also a good-for-nothing.”

Ma Wu nodded. “That appears to be the case. Miss Chu has been buying up the Ma Family’s businesses piece by piece, and she wants to use my name to make it seem as if our families are working together. By creating that illusion, she wants to also reach her hands into the Lu Family’s business. This woman is extremely calculating.”

Li Banfeng thought for a moment and lit a cigarette too. “This is actually a good thing.”

“How so?”

“Look over the purchase prices from the past few days, make a list, and let Miss Chu know she can come and collect the goods. The Liu Family wouldn’t dare offend her, so they definitely won’t try anything shady. If she agrees, we won’t have to worry about shipping the goods anymore.”

Ma Wu laughed when he heard this. “If she doesn’t agree, I’ll let everyone know. Once the truth gets out, the fake news about the Chu Family and the Ma Family joining forces will fall apart at once.”

It was wonderfully effortless, talking to someone with a working brain.

Ma Wu’s smile faded a little. “Miss Chu will probably agree, but it won’t be that easy to explain ourselves to the Imperial Workshop Hall is another matter. We can’t cut off their supply. That business belongs to the He Family.”

The He Family. Li Banfeng thought. No matter what, there’s no escaping these great families.

Li Banfeng put out his cigarette, rose to his feet, and said, “I’ll deliver the goods to the Imperial Workshop Hall myself.”

“Brother Li, with Lu Dongliang still alive, you should take my advice and avoid going to Greenwater City as much as possible.”

Li Banfeng shook his head. “I need to see for myself what kind of man Lu Dongliang truly is. And there’s another thing. Do you know who is behind those newspapers? How can they report whatever they please?”

Ma Wu did, in fact, know the answer. “All the newspapers in Puluo Province are under Ling Miaowen’s control.”

Ling Miaowen… Li Banfeng thought. This name sounds familiar.

“What is his relationship with Ling Miaosheng, the one who sells gramophones?” Li Banfeng asked.

“Ling Miaowen is Ling Miaosheng’s elder brother. Ling Miaosheng has a younger brother as well, named Ling Miaoying. The three brothers each have their own strengths.

“Ling Miaowen oversees the newspapers, the magazines, and practically every kind of book. If it involves words on a page, he has his fingers in it.

“Ling Miaosheng looks as if he only runs a gramophone shop, but in truth, most of the records produced in Puluo Province are made by him. Singing Kings, Singing Queens, bands, opera troupes, anyone with a bit of fame has dealings with him.

“Ling Miaoying appears to sell only cameras and projectors, yet the films, cinemas, and actors throughout Puluo Province are all under his control.

“To put it simply, Ling Miaowen handles the words, Ling Miaosheng handles the sound, and Ling Miaoying handles the images. Together, those three brothers hold enormous influence.”

Li Banfeng nodded. “If they hold that kind of power in the province, then their cultivation must be strong as well.”

In Puluo Province, no one could run a business without real strength to back them.

Ma Wu nodded. “The Ling Family is a family of Spycraft Cultivators. It was said that all three brothers have cultivation no lower than level seven. Some even say they count as the fifth great family of Puluo Province.”

In the end, true strength was the only thing that could support a large business.

So what was the current strength of Li Banfeng and Ma Wu?

When it came to cultivation, everything depended on Li Banfeng. He was a level-three Homebound Cultivator and a level-two Wanderlust Cultivator.

Ma Wu’s cultivation could basically be ignored, although he could still use the Ma Family’s name to bluff a little.

Given how little strength they had, it was already very lucky that they were able to keep the entire Blue Poplar Village under their control.

Was there a shortcut to improve their strength? There was, but the side effects were far too serious to ignore.

“Brother Ma, do you have any method to neutralize pill poison?”

Ma Wu furrowed his brows slightly. “This is complicated. Different pills require different methods to neutralize their poison, and pills from different medicinal trading houses carry different kinds of poison as well.

“The Mystic Blazing Pill you gave me earlier was very pure, so neutralizing that one was not difficult.”

Li Banfeng leaned forward, a spark of excitement in his eyes. “Tell me. How exactly was it not difficult?”

“You simply let time do the work,” Ma Wu replied. “After I swallow the pill, I sleep for a day. As long as I avoid taking any other pills for the next three days, the pill poison gradually fades.”

Li Banfeng rubbed his forehead, thinking that Ma Wu might as well not have said anything.

Li Banfeng could not afford to sit around waiting. He had to return to the Pocket Dwelling every day, and if he casually took pills, the gramophone would definitely notice.

When Li Banfeng stayed silent for a long moment, Ma Wu hurried to say, “I’ll keep looking for other ways to detoxify pill poison. You never find this sort of thing in books. I’ll ask a few friends.”

Keep looking… Li Banfeng thought. This is basically the same as spouting nonsense.

Li Banfeng took out a pill and placed it before Ma Wu. Ma Wu lifted it for a closer look, and the brilliant golden glow made his fingertips tremble. Even a young master from a wealthy family would shudder upon seeing a Golden Essence Pill.

“Brother Li, where did this pill come from?”

“A friend gifted it to me, and I am giving it to you.”

Ma Wu waved his hands again and again. “I can’t accept this. Something this precious can’t even be bought with money.”

“I’m not giving it to you for free,” Li Banfeng said. “You will look for a way to detoxify this pill.”

Only with such enormous temptation in front of him would Ma Wu take the matter truly to heart.

Back in the Pocket Dwelling, Li Banfeng lay down on the bed and was just about to fall asleep when he suddenly heard the gramophone begin to sing in a slow, drawn-out voice[1]:

「 Big Brother, do not forget me,

I am your beloved Meiniang,

Holds a love that will never part.

I once sat upon the window of your house,

Chewing on that delicious lover. ♪」

It was the “Song of Meiniang.[2]”

The last line is supposed to be about chewing betel nut. How did it turn into chewing a lover, Li Banfeng thought, then asked, “Wifey, did you sing the lyrics wrong?”

“Hey-yaaaa~ Husband dear~ This little wifey sang it correctly. It is you who remembered it wrong. Your little wifey had a lovely meal some days ago, but my lord has not bought groceries in quite a while.”

“Oh, if it is only about getting groceries, that is easy.”

“It is easy to eat your lover as well.”

“Wifey, you always say such words out of anger.”

Li Banfeng placed his hand on the wooden cabinet beneath the gramophone’s turntable and gave it a gentle scratch.

The gramophone giggled softly and released a small puff of steam that drifted toward him before she settled down to sleep.

***

At daybreak the next morning, Liu Liangyi, who owned the Liu Family’s Paper Oblation Shop, set out for the Ma Family residence together with Si Wenian, the head of the Si Family.

They were welcomed by the Ma Family’s fourth son, Ma Junjiang.

Liu Liangyi first presented a pair of jade ornaments as a token of goodwill. Only after that did he explain to Ma Junjiang that Ma Wu had already taken control of Blue Poplar Village.

Hearing this, Ma Junjiang was furious. “That troublemaking fool. I never thought he would do something like this.”

Liu Liangyi released a heavy sigh. “We never wished to make things hard for Young Master Wu. He fought for Blue Poplar Village with his own blood, sweat, and tears, and we only collected the monthly fee as the rules required. Yet my son was beaten into a cripple, and more than a dozen of my men were killed…”

At this point, Liu Liangyi’s voice began to shake, and his old eyes were on the verge of shedding tears.

There was a bit of rhetorical trickery in his words, but it did not fool Ma Junjiang.

“Shopkeeper Liu, I do not quite understand. You are saying Junyang[3] crippled your son and injured more than a dozen of your men? I know Junyang’s cultivation. He should not have that kind of ability.”

Liu Liangyi lowered his head and said nothing. Si Wenian spoke the truth beside him. “The one who injured Changyu was the Chu Family’s second young lady. I don’t know what her relationship with Young Master Wu is, but she was willing to stand up for him.”

Ma Junjiang asked again, “You mean Junyang went to find Miss Chu and then went specifically to beat Liu Changyu?”

“That…”

Ma Junjiang was not especially skilled in business, but he had plenty of life experience. It was impossible to fool him with clever phrasing.

With no other choice, Liu Liangyi recounted the entire incident truthfully from beginning to end.

Ma Junjiang shook his head once he had heard the whole story. “Old Liu, I cannot help you with this. It was your son who ambushed travelers in the mountains, and he happened to block the road in front of Miss Chu. Whatever grudges there are, you should ask Miss Chu for an explanation.

“As for what relationship Junyang has with Miss Chu, I do not wish to know. He is no longer part of the Ma Family, and what he does has nothing to do with us.”

With things laid out so plainly, there was no reason to continue the discussion. Ma Junjiang returned the pair of jade ornaments to Liu Liangyi, and the two sides parted unhappily.

As soon as Liu Liangyi passed through the gates of the Ma Family residence, he clenched his teeth and complained, “Ask Miss Chu for an explanation? What kind of nonsense is that? With that evil witch, how could I hope to get an explanation for anything?”

Si Wenian tried to calm him. “Old brother, do not be rash. We cannot reason with outsiders, so let us go to the Lu Family’s Second Master. The Lu Family is on our side!”

Liu Liangyi did not look very optimistic. “If the Eldest Master were here, this matter might have a clear resolution. But the Second Master…”

“When we see the Second Master later, you better not say that!” Si Wenian warned, glaring at Liu Liangyi.

However, Si Wenian’s concern was unnecessary. There was no chance for Liu Liangyi to say anything wrong in front of Lu Dongjun, because Lu Dongjun did not see them at all.

After successfully impersonating Lu Dongliang last time, Lu Dongjun believed he had finally paved the way for himself. Yet when he tried to review the Lu Family accounts two days ago, Monkey Qiu did not even allow him a glance at the ledgers.

Qiu Zhiheng was so audacious, yet he had the full support of the entire Lu Family. Lu Dongjun found it unbearable and had spent the past two days looking for a chance to strike at Monkey Qiu. He had no mind at all to concern himself with the Liu Family’s petty troubles.

Si Wenian tried to persuade Liu Liangyi. “Second Master Lu is in a foul mood today. We should come back another day to discuss this.”

Liu Liangyi let out a cold snort. “Another day? Who knows which year or month that day will be!”

Si Wenian frowned and scolded, “Old Liu, if you chatter on like that for one more second, I shall stop poking my nose into your family mess entirely.”

Liu Liangyi gritted his teeth. “Fine, then no one needs to lift a finger. I will settle it myself! Did Ma Junjiang not say it? Ma Junyang is no longer part of the Ma Family. Then they can sit and wait to collect his corpse!”

Author’s Note: PS: Liu Liangyi is mad! Don’t make decisions when you are extremely angry!

1. Listen to the song as you read. ☜

2. The “Song of Meiniang” (梅娘曲) is a classic Chinese song written in , with lyrics by Tian Han (田汉) and music by Nie Er (聂耳). The song was first performed by the famous Chinese singer and film actress Wang Renmei (王人美), whose recording is the version linked on YouTube.The song tells a tragic story set during the Anti-Japanese War. A young Chinese man named Gao Weihan returns from Southeast Asia to join the resistance. He is gravely wounded in battle and later loses his memory. His lover, Meiniang, defies her parents’ wishes and travels alone from Southeast Asia back to China to see him. When Gao Weihan finally wakes up, however, he no longer recognizes Meiniang. Standing by his hospital bed, she sings this song in the hope that her voice and their shared memories will awaken his lost past. Tragically, they do not. This is just a song of a woman realizing that love, memory, and identity can all be taken away by war. ☜

3. This is Ma Wu’s real name ☜

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep