Chapter 343 - 334: The Xin Republic Capitulates, Seizing Command in Feng’an, The Rumored Young Master Ling

Chapter 343: Chapter 334: The Xin Republic Capitulates, Seizing Command in Feng’an, The Rumored Young Master Ling

This room alone was probably half the size of the main hall on the first floor.

The room’s decor was dominated by deep black and gold. It was furnished with landscape screens, antique paintings, and calligraphy scrolls... The luxurious and elegant appointments were too numerous to count.

At the head of the main hall stood a Profound Wood Long Table. A figure stood before it, back to him, seemingly writing or painting something.

"Just a small token of my appreciation. I hope Young Master Ling will accept it."

Shen Yijun gazed at the slender back of the figure before the table, who was dressed in a yuebai, cloud-patterned long robe. He felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity but dared not dwell on it. Instead, he presented the gift box he had brought with both hands.

The figure did not turn around, speaking in a detached voice. "Leave it.

Find a place to sit."

"Yes."

Shen Yijun answered in the affirmative but remained rooted to the spot.

These noble scions of the Nine Banners of the Previous Dynasty... the more distinguished their status, the more eccentric their temperaments and the more numerous their rules.

Sometimes, when they told you to sit, they didn’t actually mean it. If you actually sat, you would end up offending them.

Shen Yijun had learned this the hard way, suffering countless unspoken setbacks—lessons paid for in cold, hard cash.

Tonight’s business was far too important; it was best to err on the side of caution.

Just as this thought crossed his mind, the person at the table set down their brush. They let out a soft sigh and said, "Since when did the high-spirited Young Master Shenghai, Shen Yijun, become so timid and reserved?"

Hearing this, Shen Yijun’s head snapped up, his face a mask of disbelief.

The person at the table then leisurely turned around.

Beneath the warm glow of an enameled, gilt palace lantern hanging from the ceiling stood a man as graceful and gentle as jade. Beyond his ineffable beauty and noble air, he exuded a detached indifference—an aura only possessed by one long accustomed to a position of power.

"Well, well. It’s only been a few months.

I didn’t expect Young Master Shen to have started wearing a queue."

The man picked up a cloth from the table to wipe his hands, his tone half-joking as he spoke to Shen Yijun.

Staring at that familiar, smirking face, Shen Yijun’s mind simply went BOOM. The gift box he was holding slipped from his hands, landing on the floor with a CLATTER.

He stood stunned for a long moment before crying out, his face a mask of utter disbelief. "It’s you?!

Fu Lingjun! How can it be you?

You... you... you’re the legendary Young Master Ling?!"

...

Five minutes later, Fu Juemin was seated casually in the host’s chair at the head of the room.

Shen Yijun sat in the first seat to his right, a dazed expression still on his face. He hadn’t fully recovered from the shock.

"Alright, that’s enough. Get ahold of yourself."

Fu Juemin said coolly, his fingers tapping on the small tea table beside him.

Shen Yijun finally snapped out of it, just in time to hear Fu Juemin speak again. "Take off the queue. It’s an eyesore."

"Oh, oh."

Shen Yijun hastily removed his hat and pulled off the wig piece.

He had mostly recovered from the shock, finally grasping that Fu Juemin was Young Master Ling, and that the Nine Banners’ Young Master Ling was Fu Juemin. Even so, Shen Yijun still looked as if he were in a dream and remained extremely reserved.

"Ning Yu told me you’ve been taking a lot of grief in Yingjing recently?"

When Shen Yijun didn’t answer, Fu Juemin decided to break the silence.

Shen Yijun didn’t dare leave the question unanswered. He gave a wry smile and nodded. "Things haven’t been going well."

"With the Shen Family’s wealth and influence, not to mention your own abilities, you could be doing well anywhere.

Why insist on coming to Yingjing to be treated like this?"

Fu Juemin was toying with a piece of Red Jade in his hand, the very one he had gotten from Xu Xinyi.

He had been carrying it with him constantly these past days. From being handled so much, the jade had grown even redder, and it even felt warm to the touch.

It was truly magical.

"It’s not that I want to be here taking this abuse. I have to be."

Shen Yijun shook his head and sighed. "Ling... Lingjun, you have to understand, times have changed.

If I don’t produce some results soon, I won’t just lose face—I’m afraid I’ll lose my life."

"What do you mean?"

A flicker of curiosity crossed Fu Juemin’s face, his eyes glinting.

Shen Yijun explained, "My Jiangnan Shen Family might seem like a simple merchant family, but our internal competition is as brutal as raising vipers in a jar.

In my generation, I was supposed to be the undisputed frontrunner. But in just a few short months, two other fiends have appeared within the Jiangnan Consortium..."

"One is brokering deals between the Xin Republic and the Westerners, raking in profits hand over fist. The other is up here in the North..."

"Wait."

Fu Juemin interrupted Shen Yijun, his expression calm. "One at a time.

Let’s talk about the first one. What kind of business is there to be done between the Xin Republic and the Westerners? I wasn’t aware of any."

"There didn’t use to be, but now there’s a ton of it."

Shen Yijun instinctively glanced around, then leaned a little closer to Fu Juemin and lowered his voice. "You have no idea how quickly the situation is changing.

Wars are starting up again all over the south...

You must know about the Southwest Fire Cloud National Defense Army."

"I’ve heard of them."

Fu Juemin nodded. "What does that have to do with the Westerners?"

"The Xin Republic Army can’t beat the Southwest National Defense Army."

Shen Yijun answered, "Plus, there are rebellions breaking out everywhere. And speaking of that, this whole affair is actually a little related to you..."

"Me?"

Fu Juemin froze for a second.

"Yes."

Shen Yijun explained, "Back in Shenghai, you blew up the consulates and embassies of the Six Nations, killing a number of prominent Westerners.

Internationally, the nations of the Western World started pressuring the Xin Republic’s Government. Domestically, they have the National Defense Army breathing down their necks and rebel factions stirring up trouble... The Xin Republic’s Government couldn’t handle the pressure from all sides, so they took the opportunity... to bow down and scrape for the Westerners!"

A sharp light flashed in Fu Juemin’s eyes, but his tone remained flat. "Is that information reliable?"

"Colorful foreign banknotes are pouring into the International Bank like water every day. How could it be fake?"

Shen Yijun continued, "Not many people know about it, though. All the common folk know is that the Xin Republic’s army has suddenly been able to hold its ground on the Southwest battlefield. They think the Xin Republic’s Government has finally gotten its act together, but in reality, they’re just working for the Westerners... Hah!"

Shen Yijun sighed, though he didn’t seem particularly concerned about the fate of the nation. "That guy is just so damn lucky, stumbling into a deal this big. If that opportunity had been mine..."

"If this traitorous business were yours,"

Fu Juemin said slowly, his eyes on the Red Jade in his hand, "then I’d have no choice but to kick your head, Shen Yijun, around like a ball."

Shen Yijun’s face froze. He let out a couple of awkward laughs and quickly changed the subject. "A-anyway, about the other one, the one in the North.

Lately, up in the Northern Army Group, Grand Marshal Zhang of the Feng’an Army is on his deathbed.

He has eighteen beautiful concubines but not a single heir, so after he dies, his military power can only fall to one of his adopted sons...

Those Young Marshals are fighting tooth and nail over it. Add in the other warlords circling like vultures, each with their own schemes, and there’s plenty of money to be made.

I’m not jealous of that business, though. The men of the Northern Army are all black-hearted tigers and wolves. You could lose your head at any moment dealing with them.

That guy’s a real piece of work, earning his money with a gun to his head..."

"So your only option was to come to Yingjing and get into the Demon Fiend business?"

"Mm."

Shen Yijun nodded, his expression complex. "There can only be one next head of the Jiangnan Consortium. I was born from a concubine. To have made it this far means there are too many people who can’t stand the sight of me.

If I don’t fight for it, if I lose my influence in the family, I’ll be killed off sooner or later."

...

Another Chapter later tonight.