Chapter 221 (I): Shameless

The mood inside the brightly-lit council hall in Wushi, Fu Province, was grim.

The current head of the Zhu family, Zhu Yangqiu, was an elegant, handsome man past forty, with phoenix eyes, deep under-eye ridges, thick brows, thin lips, and a ring of stubble around his jaw that gave him an air of maturity. An older man of this caliber could make one round through a nightclub and reel in a whole cluster of young, pretty girls.

He picked up a teacup, blew gently to cool the scalding tea, took a sip, and looked across the table at the man and the dog sitting across from him.

The dog was a poodle, while the man was, well, a man.

The man was powerfully built, with flat-cropped hair, a gaze as sharp as a blade, and a severe expression. There was no humor in his face at all. His Spirit Realm ID was Great Tang War God, one of the four grand elders of the Five Elements Alliance's Fu Province Branch, and part of the White Tiger Legion.

The Teddy was the Songhai Branch's Elder Teddy, part of the Hundred Flowers Society.

Besides the two men and the dog, there was one more person in the hall—Zhu Rong herself, lush as a peony.

Flat-haired War God—no, Great Tang War God—rubbed two ruby-clear leaves between his fingertips, while Elder Teddy lowered his head and sniffed at the mortar and pestle in front of him.

"Is this all of it?" Great Tang War God said, his voice low.

There seemed to be a magic in it that made people want to obey. Zhu Rong clenched her pearly-white teeth and gave a grudging nod.

Great Tang War God looked to Elder Teddy, who nodded slightly.

From Green Pine's confession, three leaves had been congealed from Yuanshi Tianzun's blood. Zhu Rong had used one of them, so two remained.

"What was your aim in cursing Yuanshi Tianzun?" Great Tang War God asked.

Under the bright glare of the lamps, a flicker of sick craving crossed Zhu Rong's lovely face. "To break him, to defile him, to cause him to sink into the abyss of desire. I would make him my plaything, obedient to me forever."

Zhu Rong grew more worked up as she spoke, her whole face twisting with a perverted expression. Elder Teddy and Great Tang War God couldn't help but keep their silence.

Elder Teddy gave a small shake of the head. This woman's mind is completely warped.

Before their arrival, he'd learned a few pieces of gossip from Great Tang War God. This daughter of the Zhu family had always been willful and domineering, but she'd never been this notorious, not until a few years back, when she'd rallied friends and allies around her in an attempt to kill Demon Lord. A month later, she returned to the Zhu family alone, and from then on, her temperament changed completely, her conduct growing more and more wanton. She started keeping boy toys, then suddenly divorced her husband, Chi Yue'an.

Anyone who knew Demon Lord's style would have no trouble guessing what Zhu Rong had gone through in that one month.

Anger surfaced on Great Tang War God's stony face. "Has the Five Elements Alliance been too friendly to you noble Spirit Realm houses? Since when did you get the idea that a seed we've singled out for cultivation is one you can strangle whenever you please?"

As an Elder of the White Tiger Legion, the anger in his heart was understandable.

Zhu Rong's lips spread across her face in a manic smile. She was past caring.

"Don't waste your breath on her," Elder Teddy said quietly as he put away the mortar and pestle. "Ask about the Bronze Sparrow Tower."

Great Tang War God's gaze grew abruptly keen, and his voice turned stately and cold once more. "Did you keep the illegal earnings Chi Yue'an acquired from running the Bronze Sparrow Tower?"

Zhu Rong's face was calm. "Yes. But all I demanded was that he wire eighty million a year to my overseas account. How he raked that money in, I didn't care. The Bronze Sparrow Tower has nothing to do with me."

Great Tang War God looked over at Zhu Yangqiu. "Family Head Zhu, Zhu Rong plotted against Yuanshi Tianzun and abetted Chi Yue'an's illegal profiteering. We're taking her with us."

Zhu Yangqiu, who had been drinking his tea with his head down the whole time, raised it and said slowly, "On the charge that Zhu Rong abetted Chi Yue'an's illegal profiteering, the Zhu family has nothing to say to that. However, I don’t accept the charge of plotting against Yuanshi Tianzun. A gentleman always seeks a fair maiden, and it goes the other way too. Zhu Rong fancied Yuanshi Tianzun but couldn't have him, so she resorted to these crooked little methods. She was in the wrong, yes. But where is there evidence for a plot against him?"

His tone was unhurried, his manner mild, like a scholar with a still pond for a heart.

Elder Teddy laughed. "And if I insist on pinning a charge of attempted murder on her? Go ask the Zhu Family Great Ancestor whether they're willing to break ties with the Five Elements Alliance over her."

Cold light glittered in his black button eyes.

Just then the hall door swung open, and an enchanting, alluring woman entered under everyone's gaze. Wherever she walked, flowers and green grass sprang up, teeming with life.

She looked Elder Teddy over and smiled. "Elder Teddy, this is a small matter. There’s no need for you to take action."

***

It was nine-thirty in the morning.

Zhang Yuanqing was sitting beside Fu Qingyang inside the arena, feeling both shocked and furious. "A one-billion-yuan fine, put on the official blacklist, and barred from leaving Wushi for three years? Where's the sense in getting off that easily? Is my life, Yuanshi Tianzun's life, worth less than that of the daughter of a noble house's main branch?"

That was the punishment the Five Elements Alliance had handed Zhu Rong after the bargaining between the Songhai Branch Elder and the Fu Province Branch Elder.

The penalties couldn't be considered light, especially the blacklisting. After such an outcome, Zhu Rong would be hard pressed to increase her standing in the Zhu family ever again. She could never become a powerful figure in her own right, and the moment she stepped out of line in the future, she would be dealt with harshly. Even so, Zhang Yuanqing still felt the sentence was far too soft.

Fu Qingyang leaned back in his chair with his legs crossed, his hands in his trouser pockets, watching the fierce fighting going on in the ring.

"Your life, of course, can hardly be compared to a piece of trash," he said flatly.

Ling Jun, off to the side, hooked an arm around Zhang Yuanqing's shoulder and clicked his tongue. "I know Zhu Rong. That figure, that face... one look and you can tell she's top-shelf material. It's a pity I found out later she's a yandere, so I never dared make a move, and now I've found out her head's no good either. Can't she tell you're a little lecherous too? Wanting to get you into bed isn't hard. Why would she choose such a stupid strategy?"

"Get lost. Just get lost!" Zhang Yuanqing, still angry, snapped straight back.

Zhu Rong hadn't simply wanted to sleep with him. She had wanted to break him, torment him, train him into some kind of groveling slave. He had spent the whole of the previous night thinking about it, and pairing his conclusions with Fu Qingyang's account of things, he'd worked it out.

The main reason why Zhu Rong wanted to turn him into a boy toy was not his grudge with Chi Yue'an. It was all about Demon Lord.

Demon Lord had been a Nocturnal Specter, and he was a Nocturnal Specter too. He was young, like Demon Lord before, and both were talented. Demon Lord had torn her dignity apart piece by piece and trained her to become some kind of slave. The woman had no way to touch Demon Lord, so she turned her sick lust for revenge on him instead. Humiliating him, breaking him in, would allow her to feel like she had humiliated Demon Lord. She would derive enormous pleasure out of it.

Ling Jun shrugged. "There's a difference in sentencing when it comes to attempted murder versus premeditated murder. Since we represent the authorities, we have to follow the letter of the law. We can't put someone to death just because they wanted to hurt you. If we, the officials, did that, that would completely undermine the law. It has to be procedural justice above all else.

"Besides, I hear Family Head Zhu Yangqiu and the Hundred Flowers Society Elder from the Fu Province Branch are lovers. Zhu Rong's a Spirit Realm Walker under the Fu Province Branch's jurisdiction, so the matter falls under them. The Zhu family has run things in Fu Province for a good hundred years, sending out deep roots and thick branches. That we even managed to get a ruling like this at all is precisely because the Five Elements Alliance values you. If it was any other ordinary person, they'd probably have buried the whole thing."

Zhang Yuanqing frowned. "Then what about the Bronze Sparrow Tower case?"

Ling Jun snickered. "Come on now, come on. You really think a case that's already been classified can be used to grind a noble house's main branch to dust? Bringing down a great family like that is never about the evidence. It's always about the power struggle."

You are so damn snide about it, Zhang Yuanqing thought sourly.

The centurion with his handsome features spoke up. "Ling Jun puts it a bit too bluntly, but he's not wrong. If you can't stomach it, then claw your way up. Destroy the Zhu family to death if you'd like, but play within the rules."