Chapter 214: Entrapped
Translated by Gumihou
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“Master Su, His Lordship has a thorny matter in his hands. After pondering over the matter I believed that you are the best person to solve it. If possible, I want to settle this matter personally. It is of great importance to His Lordship.”
Lu Feng Yu had sent an urgent invitation to Su Dong Lou to meet him at the Offices of the Historian. The moment the door closed, he quickly informed him of this.
“What kind of important matter is this? Is Teacher Lu really trusting me to do this?”
Su Dong Lou casually sipped his tea. What matter of great importance? It’s all dog farts. When had this Venomous Snake Lu ever handed him a mission great importance? All of his ‘matters of great importance’ were all investigative in nature. Such as the investigation of the army provisions from Duke of Ping. Whatever, I’m fine doing investigative work, but after that you still refuse to trust me, even after I’ve done all those dirty deeds for you. In the end, you still suspect me. Even Dou’e [1] is not as wronged as me, ah.
Therefore, words like ‘important matter’ did not rouse Su Dong Lou’s interest anymore. However, in the next instant, Lu Feng Yu leaned in closer to say, “You must help me assassinate someone, he has no business being in the world of living anyway.”
“What do you mean?” Su Dong Lou was stunned. “Where? Who am I to kill?” What the heck, have I finally earned the trust of this venomous snake? After a few words of suspicion against Duan Tingxuan and a few missions later, have I really gained his trust?
“Immortal’s Range.” Lu Feng Yu’s eyes grew even more serious. He enunciated each word carefully. “Listen closely, Su Dong Lou. This is not a probationary mission. This is the first mission His Lordship and I are entrusting to you for real. Once this mission is completed, in the future… you and I will be the left and right-hand men for His Lordship. It will be up to us to assist His Lordship to achieve his great ambition. Once it is achieved, all glory and riches will be at your fingertips.”
Su Dong Lou licked his lips. The moment he heard the words Immortal’s Range, he knew that this was no probationary mission. Before this, Duan Tingxuan already informed him that someone of vital importance to their investigation must be hidden at this place. Despite this being such an important place, Lu Feng Yu had never mentioned it to him before. Now that he was being sent on an assassination mission to this secret place, the other party must have finally decided to trust him.
In that instant, Su Dong Lou was both ecstatic and nervous. Ecstatic that the year’s work that he had put into this mission had not been wasted; nervous because he had no idea just what kind of person Lu Feng Yu wanted him to kill. A person that had to be killed? This was nothing like the mission with Duke of Ping. He could act unrestrainedly against the Duke because he trusted Duan Tingxuan to be there to mitigate the matter. At the very least, the Duke of Ping and his family would escape with their lives if not their money and reputation. People who ended up dying were either Lu Feng Yu’s trusted confidants or greedy people who deserved death anyway.
However, things were different this time. Lu Feng Yu, who never liked to dirty himself with the blood of others had directly ordered him to assassinate someone. He had no idea as to what level of importance this person has, but there was no time to second guess himself. If it could gain the trust of King Xiangyang and Lu Feng Yu, he had to do it. Su Dong Lou leaned forward on one elbow and nodded seriously, “Who do you need killed?”
“Long Pingzhang.”
With just this one name, shock nearly sent Su Dong Lou out of his chair. He shook his head, did his best to control his expression and said with incredulity, “Long Pingzhang? Jiang Nan’s Imperial Censor, right? But, isn’t he…” he suddenly stopped himself as dawning realization crossed his face and he nodded firmly. “I understand, no wonder you say that he’s someone who has no business being in the world of living anyway. What happened? Had he really escaped death?”
“Yes.” Anger flashed across Lu Feng Yu’s normally calm and serene expression. He sighed and gritted his teeth, “Those good-for-nothings could not do anything right. After pushing a man down the hill they did not bother to check whether he had really died or not. To think that he’d be so blessed as to still keep his life after tumbling down that sheer cliff… at any rate, now that we know of it. He must die. Su Dong Lou, this is extremely important. You absolutely cannot fail, you… you understand my meaning?”
“You insult me.” Su Dong Lou drawled with a laugh. “He’s just a weak scholar without even the wrist strength to truss a chicken, surely there’s no need to use words like ‘absolutely cannot fail’? Enough, just leave it to me. But… is this news accurate? Are you sure that’s even Long Pingzhang? Could it be possible that someone is just making waves with a dead man’s name? Be careful that it’s not an attempt to ‘Entice a Snake Out of Its Hole [2]’.”
“Am I such a fool in your eyes?” Lu Feng Yu glared at Su Dong Lou. A corner of his heart felt oddly comforted: If this idiot could muster this much thought for my safety, he must really be loyal. Wu! Now that I think about it, I feel a little guilty for stringing him along for a whole year, ah. However, it’s better to be safe than sorry. After all, we are in the business of wrecking the imperial family and snatching merit, it’s better to be cautious no matter what.
With this thought in mind, he suddenly found Su Dong Lou a lot more pleasing to the eye. The two spoke for a moment longer before Su Dong Lou made his excuses to leave.
Lu Feng Yu turned away from the door after sending the Jianghu man off, intending to polish off the rest of the snacks on the plate when a eunuch came in with the message that King Xiangyang wished to see him. This guy actually sighed with a hand on his forehead and muttered, “Please wait a bit, I shall go once I’ve eaten the rest of these snacks.”
When Imperial Historian Lu appeared to present himself before King Xiangyang, stray crumbs still clung to the corners of his lips. His Lordship felt crossed enough at the sight to jeer at the man, causing this Ultimate Super Foodie to blush with resentful shame. He snapped, “Has Your Lordship called this subject over just to make fun of him?”
King Xiangyang finally reigned in his amusement to nod solemnly, “Oh, no. I have something I wish to consult with Teacher Lu.” He withdrew a letter and handed it to Lu Feng Yu, “Have a look at this, Duan Tingxuan and his wife have finally surfaced.”
The hand that Lu Feng Yu extended to accept the letter trembled, he nearly lost consciousness from the shock of this news. Was the thing he is most afraid of coming to pass?
One could not blame him for being so anxious. The moment King Xiangyang realized the true identity of Duan Tingxuan and his wife, his would insist on having them killed. For Lu Feng Yu to not realize the true identity of the couple after having them by his side for so long would be a great failing on his part. In the future, not only would His Lordship not trust him anymore, all the work and effort he had put in all these years would be wasted.
More importantly, he would no longer be able to enjoy all those delicious food Su Nuan Nuan had yet to serve him, ah!
So, how could Lu Feng Yu not be nervous?
Luckily, the many years he had spent as the prince’s first rank strategist was not wasted, and some things were second nature by now. Therefore, no matter how much he was crying and wailing inside, Lu Feng Yu remained calm and collected on the surface as he read the letter.
When he reached the end of the letter, he let out a relieved sigh and said gravely, “So, they have finally appeared. If this letter is to be believed, and the Duke of Ping really have said this. This means that Duan Tingxuan must have acquired some crucial evidence to help him regain his previous status. Otherwise, he would never have uttered such nonsense.”
King Xiangyang also sank into deep contemplation, “You’re right, that Duan Tingxuan has always been a cunning one. Though we have news that he was heading towards Niu Tou Mountain, we never received report of their presence in that location. Not even the local official knows his whereabouts. This is clearly not an ordinary familial visit.
But even after they had suddenly shown themselves, they made no contact with anyone of significance. If not for the Duke of Ping’s bragging, we would not have known about this couple’s movements. Heheheh! For a noble heir of a marquis house to do all this for in-laws who have lost power, humph! Who knows how much this Duan Tingxuan favours that He Dong Lioness of his?”
Lu Feng Yu muttered to himself for a moment before saying out loud, “My Lordship, do not worry. There is no way for them to connect this matter to us. Everything related to that matter had been neatly dealt with. More importantly, the key people who were involved with the matter had all been wiped out, the grains all sold in small untraceable batches. There is nothing to find. Duan Tingxuan may waste his time trying to find out where the grains went, but nothing will lead him to us.”
King Xiangyang nodded,” I know this, but hearing you say it makes all the difference. Now that I think about it, it’s just as well that I listened to your advice and did not hand over the duties of selling the grains over to Dong Lou. Otherwise, if Duan Tingxuan found out our connection with Mingyu House, we would have taken a loss for nothing.”
Lu Feng Yu smiled, “Precisely, under this particular circumstances, having Mingyu House power on our side is very important. This lowly official knows that Your Lordship already trusted Dong Lou, but had only withheld your trust at this official’s advice. Your Lordship may be at ease, this official is not one to let envy or jealousy cloud his judgements and block the rise of a capable man.
As long as they contribute to Your Lordship’s success, this official believes that the more trustworthy and capable the men we have, the better. This time, if Dong Lou is able to pull off this mission cleanly, this official will treat him like a trusted brother and together, we shall be your brains and arms, and work hard to bring glory to Your Lordship.”
“Good, well said.” King Xiangyang nodded, admiration shooting from his eyes. “This king has always liked your calm and wise attitude. In the future, if there’s anything you wish, this king shall not disappoint you.”
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As soon as he stepped beyond King Xiangyang’s study, Lu Feng Yu’s calm and wise façade collapsed: So, yet another report of the heir and heir’s wife appearance have surfaced. The matter was becoming even more confusing. Just which of the An Ping couple was the real one? Jiang Nan or Niu Tou Mountain? Was it his imagination, or was he really seeing that little marquis couple everywhere? Or, was someone trying to pull wool over his eyes?
If that was the case, why haven’t they made their move yet? If Duan Tingxuan was in cahoots with Su Dong Lou, and both arranged this kind of show to throw him off the scent… but that was just too stupid, right? There is simply no benefit to all this shadow play. Will a man to whom the gangster bosses of the country call the Fox Boss do such a stupid thing?
Despite his superior wisdom and thinking power, even Lu Feng Yu ended up with a headache trying to work out what was happening. Finally, he shook his head: Whatever, don’t think about it anymore. I’ll just observe that Su Dong Lou’s performance, whether he’s truly loyal or was just a swaying tree, I will know at the end of this mission.
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Hangzhou was not at all far from Suzhou. Instead of taking a boat, Su Dong Lou rode a horse and arrived alone at Suzhou.
He dismounted at the location given to him by Lu Feng Yu. He took his time taking in the lush green mountains and deceptively serene scenery. Finally, he took a deep breath, and clenched his fist. He narrowed his eyes and moved forward along the road, very soon, he spotted a small tent at a distance. Because of the hot day, there were stalls set up on both sides of the road selling cooling drinks and snacks. Some of the more elaborate stalls put up little tents for passers-by to escape the heat as they quench their thirst.
Su Dong Lou entered one of the tea shed and sat down. His eyes fell upon the lone tea girl there. She was seated on one of the benches and was stretched out lazily, not even bothering to greet Su Dong Lou when he entered. She was pretty enough to look at, and when she noticed him looking at her, she said impatiently, “The tea is over there. Go pour it yourself, don’t expect this old lady to serve you.”
Author White Pear Flower: Su Dong Lou is walking into a trap, guess what happens next? Wakakakaka!
[Gumihou: Lu Feng Yu’s gap moe is strong and deep, lol.]
[1] Dou’e, of the Injustice to Dou’e or Snow in Midsummer – Is a play written by Guan Hanqing (1241-1320). The story is about a really, really pitiful child bride turned widow, who was subsequently wrongly convicted by a corrupt court official for something done by a rejected suitor. In fact, the saying ‘Snowing in June’ is a metaphor for miscarriage of justice.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Injustice_to_Dou_E
[2] Entice a Snake Out of Its Hole – To lure a villain out and expose themselves. Similar to entrapment, but against villains
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Translated by Gumihou from kitchennovel dot com.
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