316 Poisoned (2/2)
Of course, the Dragon King was one of the prime suspects, but even Meng Yuzun himself did not think that it was possible for him to extend his reach to the Meng's residence in North City.
The next suspect was Shangguan Ru. It was a widely known fact that she was not willing to be married to Meng Mingshi, but just like the Dragon King, she did not have the capability to strike in the Meng's residence from afar.
Therefore, the most logical explanation for many people was that Fifth Young Master Meng was so resistant and fearful of his impending wedding that he took his own life with poison.
Next came another piece of news from the Meng's residence: Before setting off for the Stone Castle, Fifth Young Master Meng had drunk a bowl of soup to freshen himself. It was the only possible opportunity to poison him that day, and he had personally ordered the soup to be served. The soup was brought to him by his most trusted attendant.
It seemed to corroborate the news that Meng Mingshi had taken his own life.
The Meng's residence was extremely chaotic; there were crying and bawling everywhere. Nowhere else to vent his anger, Meng Yuzun killed dozens of slaves who could be linked, however slightly, to the bowl of soup Meng Mingshi drank.
That day, the reaction of Golden Roc Fort, the other party involved in this tragedy, was pretty intriguing.
The Supreme King, who rarely showed himself to the public these few years, came to visit his old friend Meng Yuzun personally. He publicly announced that his Ru'er would be part of the Meng family. ”No matter whether the wedding ceremony was completed or not, she would also be considered as Fifth Young Mistress Meng.”
That very afternoon after Supreme King's visit, a splendidly dressed Shangguan Ru was sent to the Bodhi Garden in North City. She was thus condemned to a life of solitude in the empty garden.
The residents of Jade City were united in their pity for Shangguan Ru, which was a rarity. None of them suspected that she was the murderer anymore. They believed that having a useless husband was even better than spending the rest of her life as a widow.
As the wedding ceremony was not completed, many did not acknowledge her as the Fifth Young Mistress of the Meng family and still addressed her as the 'Tenth Young Master' out of habit.
The person who was the most uneasy over the entire incident was Fang Wenshi. He spent nearly all of his time at the Residence of the Dragon King in South City, trying to find out who was the actual poisoner. ”You have to tell me the truth, Dragon King. Are they... you ordered someone to do it, and I know those women are adept in the use of poisons. They would do anything for you.”
The existence of the New Moon Hall was still a secret for the time being, and as such Fang Wenshi addressed them as 'those women'.
”It's better if you don't know anything about this,” replied the Dragon King nonchalantly. His calmness, however, made his military counselor even more uneasy.
”You ordered it, didn't you?”, Fang Wenshi continued questioning. ”All because of a woman? To tell you the truth, I'm a little disappointed.”
Gu Shenwei lowered his head in thought before replying. ”I respect your knowledge and strategies, counselor. However, if you do not even have this little bit of trust in me, I believe it would be better for us to part ways here.”
The expression on Fang Wenshi's face immediately changed. He knew that he had gone overboard; this young man was the Dragon King of the Great Snowmountain, not one of his students. ”You are being too serious, Dragon King. Hehe, of course, I trust you, even more than I trust anybody else. We still have to work hand in hand to achieve our goal of regional hegemony.”
The counselor did not bring up the issue again. Facing questions from other people, he answered righteously, ”How could it be possible? It was definitely not the Dragon King's doing. It must be someone with ulterior motives trying to smear him. He had not entered North City for the longest time, and besides, he does not know a thing about poisons.”
The first phase of the war with the Meng family was just over, and only dozens of their banks and shops had been destroyed; it was not enough to topple the foundation of the Mengs.
Two days after the death of Meng Mingshi, the Residence of the Dragon King was suddenly crowded as many came, hoping to visit the Dragon King.
The ability demonstrated by the Dragon King, as well as the countless amount of gold and silver being produced finally convinced a bunch of major and small protectors, and some desperate people who were willing to take the risk to publicly announce their intent to co-operate with the Great Snowmountain, hoping to get a slice of the pie.
It was quieter on the evening of the third day. The visitors from the day had already left and the Dragon King was not accepting any more guests. Tonight, he had set aside time for discussions with the two most important people for his plans.
Lyu Qiying, the manager of the Southwall Tavern, was so excited over the past two days that he could not sleep well. He had made up his mind that, regardless of the risks involved, he would do business with the Dragon King. With the millions, and possibly even tens of millions of taels of silver I could earn from doing business with him, I would have more than enough to spend for the rest of my life just from the commission alone , he thought.
The other guest was a character who was rarely seen. If anyone saw the famous prostitute Xiao Fengchai leaving Pleasure Alley at night with only a maid to pay a visit to the Dragon King personally, he or she would definitely be left standing agape in bewilderment. No matter the time of the day, the onlooker would still spread the news all around Jade City.
Shopkeeper Lyu did not know that he was once on Xiao Fengchai's hit list. He was a little beside himself at being able to see the most famous woman in South City in person and seemed overly eager and toady. ”Oh my, imagine being able to meet Madam Xiao here. It's a real honor, a real honor I say.”
Xiao Fengchai smiled indifferently and quickly classified Lyu Qiying as the type of man not worthy of her attention. She did not want to bring herself down during her visit, but the pull of the two million taels of silver and with more possibly coming from robbing the Meng family's banks and shops was too strong for her to resist, so much so that she could not even pretend to reject accepting them.
Aside from the money, she had another reason for meeting the Dragon King personally: Xu Yanwei had leased five small blocks situated just opposite her house. They occupied a tract of land even bigger than Xiao Fengchai's and she was prepared to start operating the biggest brothel in Pleasure Alley.
Xiao Fengchai would be lying if she claimed to not be envious. She wanted to know how much money the Dragon King was exactly hiding since he could afford to be so generous when assisting a down-and-out third-rate prostitute.
However, the Dragon King would not divulge much. No matter how hard Lyu Qiying and Xiao Fengchai tried to dig, he would not give them any substantial information on the exact amount of money in his hands. Furthermore, the terms he offered were disappointing. ”I want to bring down the commission offered to both of you. Two percent is too much, I feel that zero point five percent is enough.”
”Zero point five percent?”, exclaimed Lyu Qiying and Xiao Fengchai simultaneously. They could not believe their ears; they were here to make money, not become bankrupt.
”Yes,” replied the Dragon King. His tone was extremely calm, yet carrying an obvious steely quality. ”The amount of money both of you would be making would not decrease, but increase as a result.”
The two competitors gave each other a glance and remained silent, waiting for the Dragon King to explain how things actually stood for both of them.
”I want to establish another network of merchants in the Western Region, bigger in scale than even that of the Meng family's and also worth more in money than theirs. I'm willing to give this chance to the both of you.”
Xiao Fengchai and Shopkeeper Lyu looked at each other in dismay. Establish another network of merchants? Bigger in scale than even that of the Meng family's? He either must be insane or has not told us everything yet , they thought.
However, if the Dragon King was to fulfill his ambition... they would become the next 'Meng family' and have countless riches, not to mention gaining a strong foothold in the Western Region in the process.
For a long while, neither of them spoke.
Gu Shenwei waited patiently for their reply, but he was thinking of something else. Just as it was getting dark, a caped stranger came bearing a letter stating that both Tie Linglong and Chu Nanping were currently in Bodhi Garden.