Chapter 35 - Malice
The Mayor’s Mansion was illuminated by beautifully ornamental lights. Inside the main hall of the General’s Office, pretty serving ladies were walking back and forth, serving endless fine wines and delicacies to all the guests within. The hall was filled with loud music. Groups of girls were dancing fanatically, their hair was weaved together with colorful ribbons. At a glance, one would they they had been possessed by some demons.
Wu Qi thought there were only six hundred guards and some servants that were following Liu Suifeng and Lu Quyuan here, but, not far behind their coaches, there was actually another parade of coaches, which held dozens of serving ladies, over twenty female dancers, and all kinds of fine wines, luxurious clothes, etc. Also, there was an army of four hundred elite cavalry men escorting this parade. The two of them had actually brought a team of nearly a thousand guards to Little Meng City.
This army of thousand soldiers, no matter their equipment or cultivation level, they were a few times better and stronger than Little Meng City’s City Guards. With just a single charge of this elite army, eight thousand City Guards of Little Meng City would be instantly defeated. Whether it was Zhang Hu and his barbarian hunters, or those rogue hunters that had been hired by Lu Chengfeng recently, none of them would be able to fight with this group of soldiers.
Liu Suifeng had a few dozen men, who were currently sitting beside him and feasting with delicacies and fine wines, and all of them were at the peak of the Houtian Warrior Realm. They constantly unleashed a cruel aura, making it so that Zhang Hu and Hu Wei, who were sitting right beside Lu Chengfeng, were unable to move at all.
“Indeed, with the status of a Marquis, all his right-hand men are so powerful!” Wu Qi took a glance at the messy hall, and shook his head, a frown coming over his face.
The inner courtyard of the Mayor’s Mansion had been burnt to ashes, so the only mansion still available within the Mayor’s Mansion was the General’s Office. Lu Chengfeng was still raising funds, in order to strengthen the city wall of Little Meng City, therefore he had no intention of rebuilding the Mayor’s Mansion. Therefore, Liu Suifeng and Lu Quyuan immediately occupied the General’s Office once they came to Mayor’s Mansion, making it their place of residence in Little Meng City.
What’s worse, Liu Suifeng had held a great dinner on the same evening, as if he was the host, inviting all of the most powerful tradesmen in Little Meng City, and asking them to celebrate his arrival.
Liu Suifeng, Lu Quyuan, and their right-hand men, had occupied the north side of the hall and were throwing a great party. On the west side of the hall, few hundred nervous tradesmen were sitting around, either keeping their heads lowered and their mouths shut, or staring blankly at their wine glasses. Some were whispering with nearby tradesmen, wondering why this lawlessness Marquis Liu asked them to be here.
On the east side of the hall, Wu Qi, Lu Chengfeng, Zhang Hu, Hu Wei and few other people were sitting behind tables, speechless as they watched those dancers perform in a possessed manner. Small and delicate bronze bells were placed behind them and few musicians were passionately playing a fast paced tune.
The bell sounds were pretty annoying, and Wu Qi scratched his head, wondering if there was something wrong with Liu Suifeng’s mind. Why did he bring these bronze bell with him when he was traveling.
The awkward party went on for almost fifteen minutes, then Liu Suifeng let out a burp after he had his stomach filled with wines and foods. Then, he simply threw his wine class on the floor. The sound of it smashing into the ground made the dancers stop their dancing. They turned to Liu Suifeng and gave him seductive smiles, taking their leave. The musicians also bowed respectfuly to Liu Suifeng, and followed those dancers, leaving the hall.
Placing both his hands on the messy table, Liu Suifeng threw a stern look at the mass of tradesmen. Under his vision, those tradesmen lowered their heads to show their respect. These tradesmen had been living here for a long time, so there was nothing that happened in Little Meng City that could escape from their notice. They all knew what happened this morning, when Liu Suifeng arrived at the city. This man was not someone they could offend.
This group of people was so lawless, that they even crippled dozens of City Guards at the North Gate, and the Acting-Mayor couldn’t do anything to them. He even had to invite them into the Mayor’s Mansion. Although these tradesmen were wealthy, they didn’t have the courage to offend these rich kids.
After clearing his throat, Liu Suifeng let out a loud laugh, “Gentlemen, I’ve come a long way to be here. The tough journey was part of my duty to supervise all military related affairs in Little Meng City and protect your safety. Due to me putting such a tiring effort on your behalf, all of you should show me your gratitude. I know what the specialties of Little Meng City are. Here is a list which lists some invaluable items. Have a look, gentlemen. If you guys have no problems with it, just gather all of them and submit them me, and then there will be no issues between you and me!”
Liu Suifeng waved his hand, then the old man in red, standing behind him, let out an evil laugh. He walked toward those tradesmen and took out a thick scroll out from his sleeve. He threw it onto one of tradesman’s tables. With a stern tone, the old man said, “I’m Liu Zhong, butler for the Marquis. After you all have gathered all the listed items, you just come straight to me.”
All of a sudden, Liu Zhong grabbed on to one side of the tradesman’s, who was standing in front of him, nose and, with a cruel expression, tore his nose from his face. The tradesman couldn’t help but cry out in pain, but Liu Zhong burst out laughing and said, “Three days. If you can’t get me all the items on the list in three days, your lives will be ruined! I know all of you have special backgrounds, or else you wouldn’t have such big businesses in Little Meng City, but I think all of you should get your info right. Lord Puyang is far above you!”
Slapping the face of the crying tradesman, Liu Zhong snapped, “Get out, all of you, get the hell out of here! If you can’t give me everything on this list in three days, I’ll kill each and every single one of you!” The slap was so strong that it kocked the tradesman from where he was sitting and out of the hall. His head hit the floor and began to bleed.
No other tradesmen dared to say a word. One of them grabbed the scroll thrown out by Liu Zhong, then he followed the rest of tradesmen, bowed toward Liu Suifeng and left the hall. These tradesmen, who were normally at each other’s throats, were actually showing each other a rare show friendship. tThey didn’t forget to carry out the fainted tradesman, who got slapped by Liu Zhong. Then they left the Mayor’s Mansion in a group.
Wu Qi kept shaking his head while watching this. He had a good guess at what was written on the scroll.
Steal a fish hook and they would hang you. Steal an entire country and they would make you a prince! The greatest thieves in the world were still these men in positions of power! It was obvious that Liu Suifeng was blackmailing them, and what an awful way of asking for a bribe. But what could those tradesmen say?
Putting down the wine glass in his hand, Wu Qi rubbed his arms and stared at the arrogant Liu Zhong.
Lu Chengfeng placed his hand on the table, his eyes burning like torches. He gazed at Lu Quyuan in a speechless dismay.
Liu Suifeng’s right-hand men also put down their glasses and chopsticks, and then leered at Zhang Hu and Hu Wei.
The awkward silence continued for almost fifteen minutes. Finally, Liu Suifeng spoke in a slow tone, “Lu Quhai, he was my best friend, a friend that I could die for. We even shared our concubines and serving ladies. Eight months ago, he and you, Lu Chengfeng, had a fight, and you purposely broke his left arm.”
Lu Chengfeng replied with an indifferent voice, “Therefore, he sent some assassins and tried to chop my left arm off?”
Lu Quyuan let out a bright smile, “Those men were not from second brother, they were from me. I sent those killers. Elder brother, you and second brother have the same mother, so he wouldn’t dare to do that. It was I, your sixth brother, who was not satisfied with what you had done, so I sent a group of men, who belonged to grandfather, I just wanted to chop off the eft arm of elder brother, and we will have our score settled.”
Lu Quyuan said like it was just some casual matter, but Wu Qi was shocked by what he had just heard. So this was the wealthy and influential families were really like? This was how a rich son behaved? Were they really brothers? There was such hatred between these two!
Lu Chengfeng glared at Lu Quyuan and, with a sneer, said, “That’s the reason you came all the way here? You just wanted to abuse me a little more?”
Lu Quyuan burst out laughing, “Of course. Those fifty killers from grandfather were not easy to raise, and they required quite a large amount of money. None of them returned, and their wives and children are still being fed by my grandfather. The expenses are quite large. If I didn’t find elder brother and release this stress by hurting him, I have trouble sleeping at night!”
Breathing out a long sigh, Lu Chengfeng spoke solemnly, “Sixth brother, do you really have to make things ugly?”
Lu Quyuan glared back at Lu Chengfeng and, with a strange laugh, said, “Definitely. We are not in Liyang now. No one would know what I’ve done here. Therefore, why would I need to do things in your favor?”
Liu Suifeng sneered, “If Maiden Rongyang showed you the tiniest bit of care, both of us wouldn’t dare to be this way. But, Maiden Rongyang never even took a second look at you, so don’t blame us for being brutal.”
Wu Qi breathed out a long sigh. Liu Suifeng and Lu Quyuan were so arrogant and lawless. Were all the sons from influential families like this? Or was it because of Wu Qi’s ill fate that he had bumped into these two outrageous beings?
WU Qi stood up and held his fist, bowing to Liu Suifeng and Lu Quyuan, “Young masters, my master had been forced to live in Little Meng City, it was expected that he won’t have a bright future. Why are you still trying to push him away? Do you really want to force him out of the Lu Kingdom?”
Lu Quyuan clapped his hand and burst out in laughter, he pointed at Lu Chengfeng and said, “Perfect, what he said was brilliant! Lu Chengfeng, if you chop off your left arm and move into Meng Mountain, we will stop abusing you! Meng Mountain covers an area of few thousand miles, and there are countless rare treasures within it. You could live a happy life there!”
Move to Meng Mountain? Lu Chengfeng’s face darkened.
Indeed, there were countless rare treasures within Meng Mountain, but there were also countless barbarians residing near the base of the mountain. Ever since the Lu Kingdom was established, a few hundred years ago, and in the entirety of the two thousand over year history of the Great Yan Dynasty, all those who were brave enough to move to Meng Mountain had perished. Asking Lu Chengfeng to move to Meng Mountain, this Lu Quyuan really was quite audacious.
Liu Suifeng grabbed a clay plate and threw it toward Lu Chengfeng.
Lu Chengfeng moved his body and evaded the plate, letting it fly past him and shatter on the floor.
Liu Suifeng sneered and said, “So be it. Either you chop off your left arm and move to Meng mountain, or we’ll ruin your future completely, having you as our toy for the rest of your life.”
“Hee, hee hee!”
Wu Qi let out a strange laugh, pulling Lu Chengfeng up and walking out of the hall.
Such a daring movement, it simply stunned Liu Suifeng and Lu Quyuan.
Liu Suifeng pointed at Wu Qi’s back and roared angrily, “Wu Qi, once we finish with Lu Chengfeng, you’ll be dead too!”
Wu Qi paused and turned his head back, waving his hand, “If you have the courage, why don’t you kill me now? Or, you could just get all of your men and kill my master now as well? Do you, have the courage?”
Liu Suifeng and Lu Quyuan felt thier faces faces darken and they glared at Wu Qi. The next second, the cushions underneath their butts were shattered into pieces by an invisible force.
[ED: Uh… What? Farts of anger? Qi farts? :P ]
“This Wu Qi must die of an accident in the next three days!”
Lu Quyuan let out a stern humph.