zChapter 936 - Who can provoke Gu Qishao?
Chapter 936: Who can provoke Gu Qishao?
As soon as they reached the Three-Way Black Markets, Gu Qishao took Gu Beiyue directly to Golden Wing Hall. Gu Beiyue was rather surprised. “When did Golden Wing Hall fall into your hands?”
Gu Qishao was too lazy to explain and simply sauntered up to the main seat in the building’s business hall. He crossed one leg over the other as he ordered lazily, “Someone come, call over the head manager!”
Gu Beiyue looked at him before choosing to sit down in a chair nearby with a helpless smile. As soon as the head manager for Golden Wing Hall entered, he fell to his knees. “This subordinate greets master! A respectful welcome for your return to the hall.”
“This is the Medical Academy Head, Doctor Gu Beiyue, my brother!” Gu Qishao introduced.
Forget about Medical Academy Head, just the mention of “my brother” was enough to caution the head manager not to slight their guest. He gave Gu Beiyue a respectful bow as well. Gu Beiyue had no airs, but remained modest and polite. He was akin to a piece of white jade, gentle yet warm. The head manager had seen his share of figures, but was filled with admiration at Gu Beiyue’s manners and submitted instantly.
“What’s the situation at Myriad Merchant Hall now?” Gu Qishao asked.
The first thing he had to deal with was the results of his scheming. All of the disturbances at Myriad Merchant Hall’s gambling houses and auction halls were his doing. Truthfully speaking, he’d sent the entire Three-Way Black Market casino business into an uproar. Gu Beiyue looked a little lost, but he too sat listening quietly.
“Master, Myriad Merchant Hall has closed down all of its gambling houses.” said the head manager. Gu Qishao was quite satisfied as he shot Gu Beiyue a lazy look.
“Money is the lifeblood of the Di Clan. If you want to deal with them, then cut off their source of wealth!”
Gu Beiyue nodded in understanding, agreeing on this point.
“And what about the auction halls? Are they closed as well?” Gu Qishao asked lazily. He was quite confident in the results.
The head manager wiped away the cold sweat on his brow and reported the truth. “Master, Myriad Merchant Hall’s auction halls hasn’t been open for business for days. It seemed like they were on the verge of shutting down, but…”
“But what?” Gu Qishao grew guarded. Could it be that circumstances had changed? But trust was the most important part of an auction! Unless Myriad Merchant Hall exposed its moles and presented evidence of the slanders against them, they’d never been washed clean of their guilt! And if Myriad Merchant Hall really did discover its moles, then wouldn’t that mean Golden Wing Hall had been exposed as well?
“I don’t know how, but Myriad Merchant Hall somehow wrested an alliance with Kangan Private Bank. There’s some sort of loan going on. In any case, by borrowing the trustworthy label of the bank, their business is even better than before. They’ve even snatched quite a few of our own business!” the head manager replied.
Gu Qishao was still puzzling things out when Gu Beiyue suddenly exclaimed, “Kangan Private Bank?”
“Exactly so! No matter the disaster, as long as it’s willing to show face, then there’s no problem!” the head manager couldn’t help but sigh with feeling.
“Ruining this old man’s ploy?” Gu Qishao knew of Kangan Private Bank’s wealth as well, but he had never thought much of the bank. As long as he was unhappy, he could pay any price to fool around until the end. As he narrowed his eyes, his expression grew dangerous. But a single whisper from Gu Beiyue abruptly turned his face white.
Gu Beiyue murmured, “Qishao, the master of Kangan Private Bank is…Long Feiye.”
Gu Qishao was stunned for a while before he exclaimed, “What did you say?”
“There’s something fishy about all this, There has to be a plot afoot,” Gu Beiyue grew serious. Long Feiye had always known that Myriad Merchant Hall was part of Cloud Realm Trade Consortium, so it was already good enough that he hadn’t moved against them. Why would he allow Kangan Private Bank to lend them its trust? Gu Qishao’s heart was still awash with terrifying waves when Gu Beiyue had begun to rationally consider the problem.
“You’re certain that Kangan Private Bank and Myriad Merchant Hall are working together? Did you find out who was the middleman?”
Myriad Merchant Hall and Kangan Private Bank had never worked together before, so someone had to have brought them together.
“That’s still uncertain. This subordinate will go investigate immediately,” the head manager prepared to leave when Gu Beiyue called him back.
“Wait. Who manages Myriad Merchant Hall, the Council of Elders or Ning Cheng himself?”
“There were explosions at Blacktower a few days ago. Rumors have it that Ning Cheng brought red coat cannons there, but there’s all sorts of hearsey spreading about. This subordinate couldn’t find any facts. As for Myriad Merchant Hall, it’s always been the Council of Elders managing things. You can even spot a few of them at the auction halls these days,” the head manager replied. He didn’t know the truth about Blacktower, but Gu Qishao and Gu Beiyue had a pretty good idea. The place had been nothing but ruins by the time they passed by.
Gu Qishao turned towards Gu Qishao. “Let’s find out about Blacktower first before discussing the rest?”
Gu Qishao finally recovered somewhat and silently sighed with emotion. Gu Beiyue had certainly hidden himself deep. As a doctor, he still knew so much about the business world and Three-Way Black Market! He had no patience for dawdling and simply grew gloomy. “Why bother? I’ll go find Ning Cheng right now!”
Gu Beiyue held him back with a serious tone. “I still think there’s nothing simple about Kangan Private Bank cooperating with Myriad Merchant Hall.” After some hesitation, he added, “I’ll take you somewhere, do you dare to come?”
“Where?” Gu Qishao was lost.
Gu Beiyue smiled faintly. “You’ll know when you get there.”
“Then let’s go!” Besides a certain cave, there was no place in Cloud Realm Continent that could scare Gu Qishao.
Gu Beiyue ended up taking Gu Qishao to none other than East Origin Hall. When Gu Qishao followed him out of the secret passage into East Origin Hall’s backyard, he had to exclaim in wonder, “Well, well, Gu Beiyue! So you’re the master behind the scenes of East Origin Hall!”
Gu Beiyue smiled before he replied modestly, “Qishao misunderstands. .This one is only a simple doctor. This is…” He trailed off into uncontrollable laughter.
Gu Qishao was full of doubts. “What’s the meaning of this?”
“Qishao, this is–this is the East Qin crown prince’s turf,” Gu Beiyue said.
In a flash, Gu Qishao stiffened. Only his eyes remained moving as they darted about like a puppet on strings. Wasn’t it enough to be shaken twice in a day? But both of the shocks had to come from one person as well?!
“Long Feiye…” Gu Qishao gritted his teeth.
Gu Beiyue’s gaze turned complex before he stopped joking. “Qishao, I can’t guarantee anything else, but there’s one thing I, Gu Beiyue, can bet on with my life. Long Feiye isn’t using the princess for his own gains.”
Was he trying to coax Gu Qishao? Perhaps he and Long Feiye were simply destined to not get along, because Gu Qishao only smirked and said nothing.
“There must be an inside story to the collaboration between Kangan Private Bank and Myriad Merchant Hall, but we can get answers here. They’ll be far more accurate than anything you dig out of Myriad Merchant Hall!” Gu Beiyue explained. “Long Feiye wouldn’t lie to me; moreover, I need to tell him as soon as possible that Bai Yanqing has no more ace up his sleeve.”
Gu Qishao still looked foul, but he ended up following Gu Beiyue all the way to the Council of Elders’ building at East Origin Hall. On the way, he took in the surroundings of East Origin Hall and realized it was even more luxurious than Myriad Merchant Hall. Although he didn’t want to admit it, he had to acknowledge that Long Feiye was the richest master of Three-Way Black Market. Very soon, they met with a retainer, who Gu Beiyue had issue word that he wanted to meet with the head elder. But the retainer had hardly left when a familiar face flew towards them.
Tang Li!
Gu Qishao narrowed his eyes. “You brat, you won quite a bit at Thousand Gold Pavilion!”
Tang Li examined Gu Beiyue from head to toe, at a loss for words. Finally, he exclaimed, “Doctor Gu, my big bro’s been thinking of you everyday!”
Gu Beiyue gave a start, but Gu Qishao just laughed. “Hehe, Gu Beiyue! Long Feiye certainly harbors deep feelings for you!”
Only then did Tang Li realized he’d said the wrong thing in a moment of impulse. Before he could explain, Gu Beiyue only smiled and said, “Tang Clan Head, I don’t know where the East Qin crown prince might be at this moment? Has he received my secret messages? And also, why is Kangan Private Bank cooperating with Myriad Merchant Hall?”
All of Gu Beiyue questions hit the nail on the head. Tang Li immediately told them the whole story from beginning to end. While Gu Beiyue listened with earnest, Gu Qishao’s face went through a whole host of odd and unusual expressions. When he heard the word “used as a hostage” by East Qin, a flash of pain flitted past his eyes, when he heard that Ning Cheng had been kidnapped, amusement rose to them instead. But when he next heard that Han Yunxi had used less than ten days to resolve all of the issues with Myriad Merchant Hall’s auction halls and gambling houses, then assumed control of its Council of Elders, he couldn’t help but break into a bitter, helpless smile…
Everything had been cleared up and Han Yunxi had already made her choice to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Long Feiye. What was left for him to fight over? Actually, he hadn’t lost to Long Feiye, but Han Yunxi herself. As long as he wanted, he could use his undying body to fight against all the assembled powers and win everything.
As long as she was willing, he could give her anything.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t.
How could Han Yunxi drop such deepset national enmity just like that? Even if she had to meet him on the battlefield, she still chose Long Feiye. Just how much did his Poison lass love that man? His hot-blooded energy was extinguished by ice water in its wake. Gu Qishao shrugged his shoulders and laughed. But rather than remain dispirited, he remained indifferent and a stickler to his own ways as always. As Tang Li and Gu Beiyue watched, he laughed and said carelessly, “It’s fine as long as Poison lass likes it.”
As he prepared to leave, Gu Beiyue quickly stopped him. “Where are you going?”
“I’m going to help Poison lass find medicine. It hurts a lot when you break your bones,” Gu Qishao stated simply. A second ago he’d been smug and ready to win the world for her sake, but now he was only worried about her injuries. Gu Beiyue suddenly realized that all of his previous worries had been a joke. As he watched Gu Qishao’s retreating back, he suddenly felt a little less lonely than before.
Little Qi, do you know that I love her too?
By the time Gu Qishao was far away, Tang Li suddenly remembered something and shouted out loud. “Gu Qishao, Mu Linger was kidnapped! With Ning Jing, from Myriad Merchant Hall!” He had been so excited that he only told them about his big brother and sister-in-law. Gu Qishao halted his steps and finally remembered how he’d left Mu Linger behind.
He turned back and asked, “Who did it?”
Tang Li presented the suspects. Today, he had come to East Origin Hall to transfer some manpower into chasing after Manager Jin and Uncle Cheng’s whereabouts. Gu Beiyue immediately declared, “Qishao, you stay here to help Tang Li. I’ll go to Hundred Poisons Sect. The princess has been recovering for so long that a few doses of acupuncture should be enough to give her a full recovery. Just leave it to me.”