Let Me Explain, Fairy
Chapter 243 - 188 New Plan_2

Chapter 243: Chapter 188 New Plan_2

Having said that, he closed his eyes and went to meet with Lord Zhou in his dreams.

"....."

Standing in place, Lou Ji felt a mixture of annoyance and amusement, ultimately sighing helplessly and rubbing her temples:

"What a little nemesis....."

...

...

...

This sleep, Xu Yuan was out like a light, and when he woke again, it was already night.

Yet there was no light in the room, but Xu Yuan could still see, thanks to the moonlight seeping in from outside, someone sitting at the desk.

With a slight circulation of his cultivation technique,

it was Lou Ji.

Apparently, not wanting to disturb his rest, she didn’t light the lamp. Wrapped in a brocade quilt coat, she sat in the dark at the desk, earnestly reviewing documents.

To her, it made no difference whether the lamp was on or off.

Xu Yuan was about to get up and make a joke when he suddenly caught sight of a figure hanging at the open door.

Focusing his vision,

it was a woman, and Xu Yuan recognized her—she was a shopkeeper sent by Hua Hong.

"Awake?"

Lou Ji’s voice floated over, and the Bright Pattern Lamp in the room was lit.

As she spoke, Lou Ji slowly got up, carefully carried a cup of water, and offered it to Xu Yuan:

"Here, have some water."

Xu Yuan rubbed his temples and took a sip:

"It’s a bit scary to wake up and see that."

Lou Ji gave a slight smile:

"It’s supposed to be scary. If even you are startled, it’s sure to deter others who come to report."

Xu Yuan glanced at the body hanging outside the door and asked:

"Killing the chicken to warn the monkeys?"

Sitting down on the bedside, Lou Ji also held a cup of hot tea, sipping it as she spoke:

"You could say that. The second and third batches of shopkeepers from Hua Hong have arrived, and with more people it’s harder to manage. She took some benefits and let the Myriad Manifestation Sect smuggle out some things from the east city warehouse."

As she said this, Lou Ji glanced at Xu Yuan:

"If it were you, Changtian, what would you do?"

Xu Yuan was silent for a moment, then spoke truthfully:

"I probably would have just given her a warning."

The cup floating before him, Lou Ji propped her hands behind her on the bed, laughing lightly:

"Changtian, a warning that doesn’t draw blood isn’t really a warning. Only when you draw blood once in a while do your warnings have any effect."

Xu Yuan sipped his tea, saying nothing.

Lou Ji exhaled softly, her tone playful:

"Sister doesn’t really mind them taking benefits, after all, I’ve also taken benefits from you, Changtian. But before accepting benefits, people should get their priorities straight."

Having said that,

Lou Ji’s tone suddenly shifted, and with a dramatic turn like that of face-changing in Sichuan opera, she wore a hint of grievance:

"Changtian, look how hard your sister has been working for you, from morning until night...."

"Sister, this is Enchantress Divine Flower."

"...."

Lou Ji huffed and stood back up: "Not cute at all."

However, after taking a few steps,

Lou Ji changed her face again, turned back and asked softly, "Changtian, I’ve looked at the quality of your Enchantress Divine Flower, it’s been recently blossomed, hasn’t it?"

Xu Yuan raised an eyebrow, leaned back against the headboard, and asked with a smile:

"You can tell?"

"After all, sister is a poison expert~" Lou Ji’s eyes narrowed with a smile: "No matter how well it’s preserved, it’s impossible to have such activity."

Xu Yuan didn’t hide anything and nodded:

"Indeed, it has recently blossomed."

Lou Ji’s breath caught, then became somewhat rapid:

"What about the Enchantress Divine Sakura Tree?"

She was too aware of the value of the Enchantress Divine Sakura Tree. If it existed....

As she thought, catching sight of Xu Yuan’s inadvertently averted gaze, Lou Ji felt a lurch in her heart:

"Don’t tell me the Enchantress Divine Sakura Tree was destroyed by you?"

Xu Yuan cleared his throat:

"Ahem, it’s a bit complicated."

Unless he wanted to reveal the matter of the Qionghua Sect’s Secret Realm, it was impossible to cover up the Slash Strike marks on the true body of the Enchantress Divine Sakura Tree, which belonged to Ran Qingmo.

Hearing this, Lou Ji clenched her fists, her Origin Qi beginning to seep out.

This prodigal son!

Xu Yuan sat on the bed, inching backward:

"Wait a second, sister, just wait a minute, hear me out first."

"Alright~"

Lou Ji wasn’t Xu Changge, so she would still listen to explanations. With a forced smile, she said, "Changtian, you’re quibbling, but I’m all ears."

"....."

Xu Yuan promptly picked and chose the already concocted legitimate reasons to explain:

"...Basically, that’s it. If we hadn’t cut down the Enchantress Divine Sakura Tree, we simply couldn’t have gotten out."

Standing to one side, Lou Ji listened carefully, her aura settling down as she felt a twinge of sympathy:

"Really... just like an idiot."

Seeing this, Xu Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. Just as he was about to grin, his vision blurred,

and the voluptuous and slender figure appeared instantaneously beside him.

Then,

"Bang!"

Lou Ji punched him hard on the head, saying coldly:

"Xu Changtian, what level of cultivation do you have right now?! There are some Secret Realms even I wouldn’t dare to enter lightly. Do you like taking risks? Next time you encounter a Secret Realm and dare to enter on a whim, your sister has a bunch of new medicines that haven’t been tested yet. Would you like to try them out?"

Having said that,

Lou Ji huffed, turned around, and sat down at the desk with a frosty face, silently reading through the documents.

Xu Yuan sat on the bed holding his head in pain for a while, then sheepishly got up, walked behind Lou Ji, and started massaging her shoulders:

"Sis, I get it, but could you maybe... "

"Slap!"

Lou Ji threw the document she was holding onto the desk, glancing sideways at him:

"I can keep this incident from your father."

Xu Yuan sighed with relief.

"But I will tell your little brother Xu Changge."

"..." Xu Yuan.

...

...

...

After the falling-out with Lou Ji, Xu Yuan simply gave up, taking responsibility only for the highest-level decisions, leaving the rest of the matters to her entirely.

If you want the Enchantress Divine Flower, just diligently work for it.

The price for Lou Ji managing the intricate affairs was the addition of several bodies hanging from the eaves outside Xu Yuan’s chamber, a measure that seemed to keep the people below a lot more in line.

And with Aunt Lou Ji acting as a high-level worker, Xu Yuan’s life became much more leisurely, occasionally responsible for small talks with the higher-ups of Myriad Manifestation Sect.

Time passed day by day, but there was little progress.

However, after being hard-lined for over ten days, and tasting the difficulty of taking over the industries, Xu Yuan suddenly changed his attitude towards the Myriad Manifestation Sect.

The Prime Minister’s Mansion conceded.

He promised to leave a certain amount of dry shares for the opposing side within those industries compensated by the Myriad Manifestation Sect to the Prime Minister’s Mansion.

The majority ranged from ten to thirty percent.

Of course, these dry shares were allocated to some families within the Myriad Manifestation Sect, not the sect as a whole.

And the concession of the dry shares was of course no simple gift, but were transformed into partial dividends thru a reduction of a certain amount of money from the remaining industries within the sect.

Xu Yuan tried to reach a basic community of interests with the Myriad Manifestation Sect.

The signal was clear,

although the Prime Minister’s Mansion had taken their piece of the cake, this backing could make the Myriad Manifestation Sect’s cake even larger.

The Prime Minister’s Mansion would eat the meat, and Myriad Manifestation Sect could still sip on the broth, and the meat in the broth they’d sip on in the future would not be less than what they consumed before.

The price for this was that the Prime Minister’s Mansion had taken a big hit in the negotiations, with the total compensation dropping from an initial ninety million taels to around eighty million.

However, if Xu Yuan’s idea was realized, then in the following years, or even within just a few years, the Myriad Manifestation Sect’s industries would be infiltrated by the Prime Minister’s Mansion like a sieve.

If time permitted, they could even use money to plan a revolution within the sect.

.....

On returning from a stroll around Wanxiang City, Xu Yuan dusted off his clothes.

Nowadays, except for the eastern part of the city which was still firmly controlled by the Black Scale Army, the citizens had mostly returned to their pre-war lives, since the war had been short and the destruction was mostly limited to near the city walls.

The Hook Bar on the banks of Liuchuan River was as festive as ever with singing and dancing.

Walking into his own chamber, the diligent worker striving for the Enchantress Divine Flower continued to handle official duties.

Upon seeing her, Xu Yuan went to sit opposite Lou Ji, pouring himself a cup of tea, and asked:

"How are things today?"

Lou Ji, appearing somewhat tired, glared at Xu Yuan and said:

"Your proposal was well-received by your father, but there are some complications on the Myriad Manifestation Sect’s side."

"Oh?"

Xu Yuan raised his eyebrows, took a sip of tea, and leisurely said:

"Is it that Xia Wenlin again?"

Lou Ji nodded:

"Yes, him again. He’s obstructing the plan."

Xu Yuan tapped on the table and chuckled:

"It seems the Myriad Manifestation Sect also has its share of smart people."

Lou Ji handed a document to Xu Yuan and asked with a casual, yet suggestion-laden smile:

"Do you want your sister to take care of him for you?"