Let Me Explain, Fairy
Chapter 823 - Five Hundred Fifteen

Chapter 823: Chapter Five Hundred Fifteen

"So, that person was Granny Long?"

Upon hearing Lou Ji mention this, Xu Yuan felt like they were finally getting to the main topic. But after pondering for a brief moment, he wondered if it might be his own father, "Or perhaps... my father?"

"How detached from the mortal world."

With a slender finger, Lou Ji lightly tapped Xu Yuan’s forehead, "The Green Snake Assembly is too petty, even back in the day. To destroy it, your father would only need to slightly frown while receiving reports from his subordinates, and by evening someone would have done the deed for him. How could such a trivial matter bother someone of your father’s esteemed status?"

Xu Yuan’s expression was odd:

"After our first encounter, he didn’t send someone to follow me?"

"As far as we know, he indeed did that back then."

"Although the Green Snake Assembly was small, it was destroyed by a ten-year-old girl. Isn’t that worth paying attention to?"

"Of course, it is."

"Then...."

"Changtian, do you know what that person in Wanxiang City who changed his name to Bai Jingtian is doing now?" Lou Ji interrupted.

"....."

Thinking it over, Xu Yuan hesitantly said, "It seems... he is acting as an overseer in Wanxiang City, overseeing the nearby businesses."

Lou Ji let out a soft laugh:

"He’s long been poached. Now he’s the manager of the Willow Source Textile Shop under the Tian’an Commerce Assembly, and just the night before last, he went to the Prime Minister’s Mansion to report on his work."

"..." Xu Yuan fell silent.

"You see."

Lou Ji showed a teasing expression as if to say ’I told you so’:

"Your father was far busier than you are now. Things he did in passing are easily forgotten. I was just one of the seeds he happened to scatter at the time."

Xu Yuan smacked his lips:

"Then who was it that noticed you?"

"The King of the Back Alleys."

"Pfft..." Xu Yuan couldn’t hold back a laugh.

With snowflakes gently falling, Lou Ji murmured with a smile laden with meaning, "It does sound quite self-unaware, but that’s actually the awe-inspiring title people in the back alleys have for him."

Xu Yuan softly asked:

"But didn’t you say earlier that you had a period of peace afterward? Does that mean the King of the Back Alleys harbored good intentions towards you?"

"Not at all," Lou Ji denied.

"Malice?" Xu Yuan had an odd expression.

Beating the small to lure the big, a classic plotline.

"Neither."

Lou Ji denied again, speaking softly, "He is a very complex man. He helped me a lot, and I began my path of cultivation through that old man. However, he also caused me quite some trouble."

"Trouble?"

"He wanted to bind me to his clan."

"A marriage alliance?" Xu Yuan looked perplexed.

"Yes." Lou Ji gently nodded, "That old man received a child late in life and wished that I would help his son after he has passed on a hundred years later."

Xu Yuan whistled,

"That old man quite has an eye for talent."

"Yes."

Lou Ji agreed with his statement, "One’s limit is not necessarily the limit of oneself, but the limit of the stage they stand on. That old man, in a place like Di’an City, managed to control the back alleys for more than thirty years as a mere mortal."

"Mortal?" Xu Yuan raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, a mortal," Lou Ji confirmed.

"That is indeed impressive," Xu Yuan exhaled.

Di’an City, the location of the Great Flame Imperial Capital, guaranteed a mix of those with ulterior motives in places like the back alleys, and ensured that The Imperial Court must have absolute control over it.

A single debate in the Imperial Court could lead to a "clean-up campaign" in the back alleys. To be able to stand unyielding for more than thirty years as a mortal, the old man Lou Ji spoke of was truly a remarkable figure.

On hearing this, Lou Ji waved her hand and whispered,

"Let’s drop it, talking about that old man is actually quite boring overall..."

"Don’t stop," Xu Yuan said, curious about the remarkable old man and a bit gossipy as well.

Lou Ji helplessly smiled and whispered:

"There’s really not much to say. After the Green Snake Assembly was destroyed, I came into quite a bit of silver. I moved, and the old man moved into the courtyard next to where I lived."

Speaking of which, Lou Ji lightly laughed, "In such a dilapidated place, he would sit by the courtyard door every day, dressed in luxurious clothes, playing chess against himself."

"Fishing?"

"Right," Lou Ji explained, "He was trying to lure me in."

Xu Yuan got the gist of it.

Lou Ji wanted to rise higher, and the old man could provide that opportunity, so what followed naturally fell into place.

However...

"Someone like him shouldn’t be doing the stupid thing of forcing you, right?"

"...."

After a moment of silence, Lou Ji just said faintly:

"That old man’s methods were very clever; he never demanded anything by force. Although I was working for him at that time, it was more like a transactional relationship than vassalage. He would arrange tasks for me, and I would receive corresponding rewards."

Xu Yuan’s eyes flickered:

"Given your status at that time, his treatment of you was indeed unusual."

Lou Ji smiled wanly:

"Yes, if he were alive today, even though he caused me such trouble back then, I would have no reason to strike against him."

After a short silence, Xu Yuan curtailed his curiosity about the old man and asked softly,

"Then how did the topic of a forced marriage come up?"

Hearing this, Lou Ji bent her eyes and said softly,

"He created an environment for me."

"An environment to interact with his offspring?"

"That could be one way to put it."

"He’s not a wastrel after all..."

Xu Yuan murmured softly to himself.

He had assumed that the old man wanted to bind this elder sister as a child bride to be a virtuous helpmate for his own offspring. But from her words, that old man must have been quite confident in his son’s abilities and charm.

Lou Ji glanced in the direction of the Prime Minister’s Mansion with a hint of regret: "Of course not. That old man didn’t want to bind me to his son just to maintain his status quo, but to break the shackles of their current platform. He was well aware that while he was a king revered by thousands in the back alley, in the eyes of the real power players of Di’an City, he wasn’t even considered a person."

"It seems the old man succeeded."

Xu Yuan noticed the look in Lou Ji’s eyes.

There, was the residence of the male Guest Elder of the Prime Minister’s Mansion.

"Yes, that old man underestimated his own son."

In the winter night, Lou Ji exhaled a transient puff of white mist from her red lips, her eyes sparkling with amusement: "After that incident, I parted ways with them, and that old man’s son also managed to climb out of the abyss of the back alley step by step."

"That incident?" Xu Yuan asked.

Lou Ji pondered for a moment and then said softly,

"After the destruction of the Qing Snake Gang, I stayed in the back alleys for over three years. Due to the environment he deliberately created, I spent most of this time with that guy—carrying out missions together, sharing hardships, and experiencing life and death..."

"During all this time, elder sister, you didn’t develop any feelings?" Xu Yuan suddenly asked, smiling.

"Of course not." Lou Ji replied directly without hesitation.

Xu Yuan’s eyes showed confusion: "But I see you seem to hold that man in high esteem, after such a long time together..."

"Oh, you mean that."

Lou Ji blinked, pursed her red lips seductively,

"Because he was ugly."

"...." Xu Yuan.

Lou Ji exhaled carelessly and said softly,

"However, after such a long time together, there were indeed a few threads of emotion, and in such a situation, that old man created a dilemma for me."

"A dilemma?" Xu Yuan quipped.

Lou Ji’s jade hand lifted lightly, caressing her chest, her head tilted as she spoke:

"The situation was complicated, but to put it simply, the old man used a few missions as bait, making me harm a lascivious scoundrel in Di’an City outside of the missions. After some twists and turns, that scoundrel came to the back alleys to seek revenge.

"And by a strange coincidence, that scoundrel’s family power was much stronger than the old man’s, but they had to give him some face."

Xu Yuan’s eyes twitched:

"So, he forced you to marry his own son for protection?"

Lou Ji nodded her head:

"Correct, I was unwilling, and then he handed me over."

"...."

"Elder sister, we’re not going to kill the old man’s son tonight, are we?"

Xu Yuan suddenly asked.

Lou Ji looked at Xu Yuan with a hint of surprise and asked,

"Why do you think someone who crawled out of a place like the back alleys would betray your father?"

As she spoke, she smiled gently:

"That guy is one of the most radical senior figures in the Prime Minister’s Mansion. If your father wants to claim the emperorship tonight, he could now provide your father with an emperor’s robe to wear."

"...." Xu Yuan fell silent.

After Lou Ji finished speaking, she hummed softly and said in a low voice,

"However, I actually do want to settle personal grievances. That was the only time I experienced a deadlock with no ability to resist.

"If it hadn’t been for Long Xinling fortuitously visiting the back alleys to rescue me at that time, Changtian, you probably wouldn’t be able to see your sister now....."