You're Strong But Now You're Mine
Chapter 172 - 171 Annoying!

Chapter 172: Chapter 171 Annoying!

Incite hatred, crush Silver Blood, disrupt Heyang, overthrow the Governor...

Sitting in the study of the auxiliary villa, Le Yu suddenly felt a bit regretful for having killed Jing Qingfu out of impulse.

At least I should have tricked him into revealing his entire plan first.

Thinking it over, Jing Qingfu’s approach was actually correct. First, by inciting public hatred, chaos could be created in Xuanzhu. The lower ranks of the Heyang Army are ordinary civilians; if some of them can be made to defect— it doesn’t even need to be many — there are definitely skillful and ambitious people in the Heyang Army. Giving them an opportunity could stir up conflict within the Heyang Army.

The army is the foundation for suppressing all conflicts; when the army has problems, other conflicts naturally surface. As long as the Heyang Army is unable to manage Xuanzhu County for the time being, it will be the opportunity for Silver Blood Association’s collapse— Internal dissenters like Qin Leyin, along with the grievances of the bottom-level civilians accumulated over decades, and the ever watchful White Night, all that’s needed is a spark for Xuanzhu County to explode.

The attack on Half City was a heavy loss for Silver Blood, but the merchants have no choice but to appease the workers. Even if they offer jobs for factory reconstruction, the treatment of workers is unlikely to improve significantly.

However, the attack had nothing to do with the workers; they only feel they’ve been mistreated by the factory owners.

Even if Silver Blood sends people to lament the losses from the factory burnings, blaming White Night’s attacks for harming the interests of the people of Xuanzhu, and claiming the burning of factories destroys workers’ livelihoods, it’s a fact that they’ve shifted the losses onto the civilian workers. The grievances of the lower class won’t dissipate.

Moreover, they can’t find White Night, but they can find the bosses! freeNovelFire

Thinking about this, Le Yu knew the next focus should be on the military side. If the Heyang Army remains stable, no matter how much gunpowder is in Xuanzhu County, the Heyang Army can cool down the situation like cold water.

But once the Heyang Army is disturbed, then...

Boom.

Celestial Street treads upon the bones of nobles.

Truth be told, Le Yu also doesn’t know if what he’s doing is right or wrong; for Dongyang now, the capitalist seed represented by Silver Blood isn’t entirely worthless. On the contrary, it is precisely because Silver Blood symbolizes a more advanced productivity system that Dongyang can siphon resources from other regions, even thriving amidst chaos.

Without Silver Blood, will Dongyang really have a better government?

Le Yu is unsure.

But there is not the slightest hesitation in his heart.

Leave everything to history to judge; he just needs to do what he feels is right.

If striving to achieve what cannot be reached, then one can be without regret.

But how to influence the army? Does White Night have channels? Looks like the backing of Qin Leyin’s Glorious Four Guards needs to be consulted...

Knock knock.

"Young Master."

Le Yu stretched with a yawn: "Come in." fre ewe bnove l.com

Qing Lan opened the door, put down a dripping umbrella, and entered calmly to sit down: "Thank you, Young Master."

Le Yu looked at the rainy night outside: "Did you come here specifically to thank me?"

"Yes, the Young Master granted me a manor and erased my indentured contract. Qing Lan has nothing to repay." Qing Lan said politely: "I’ve pondered over and over, not knowing how to thank the Young Master, so I simply came to express my gratitude."

"Just work diligently," Le Yu said: "Youth Daily is very important; you need to continue publishing according to the route I’ve arranged."

If Silver Blood’s decades-long exploitation of Xuanzhu’s lower levels is accumulated gunpowder, then Youth Daily is the barrel collecting these explosives— It allows those unwilling to open their eyes, living thoughtlessly, to open their eyes and see the stark contradictions in reality, the inescapable exploitation, the ’evil’ that permeates the air.

It describes how decadent the lives of the rich are, how separated the upper and lower classes are, tells young people the future has no way out, and incites anger and hatred among the exploited, subtly hinting there’s only one way to change the plight.

If Silver Blood painstakingly makes people resign to fate,

then the goal of Youth Daily is to make people not resign to fate.

However, this is a long-term incitement work, Le Yu just opened the beginning; follow-up needs to be tracked and maintained, as getting started is difficult, the middle is difficult, and the ending is difficult.

The moment the powder keg really explodes will be the time to witness whether Youth Daily has any effect.

Le Yu thought for a moment, feeling Qing Lan might fear he would parachute a Jing Family relative into the newspaper, then comforted: "Don’t worry, I’ll lean resources to take care of the newspaper, you are still the editor-in-chief."

Qing Lan nodded: "Thank you for your appreciation, Young Master."

The room fell silent, Le Yu lowered his head to continue checking the Jing Family’s industry details— he is the Patriarch, after all, he has to do this himself; it’s impossible to go blind regarding how much resources he can mobilize.

"If you want to read a book, you can take one yourself," Le Yu said: "Feel free to look, though most here are account books and the like, novels are in the cabinet at the far edge."

"Young Master," Qing Lan said: "You sent someone to tell me, I am free now..."

"Yes."

"What does that mean?"

Le Yu gave Qing Lan a curious look, and Qing Lan smiled wryly: "No one has ever said such a thing to me..."

"Oh... it’s simple, just that you can do whatever you want, well, preferably without violating morals and laws," Le Yu said casually: "Go to the places you want to go, eat the food you want to eat, play the games you want to play, like the people you want to like... You can even sell the Jing Mansion to fund a new life in a new place, like in Yanjing."

Qing Lan smiled: "Last time when walking back home, you talked about that topic to test if I wanted to take a large sum of money to leave?"

"Pretty much, but since you have a sense of achievement working as the editor-in-chief at the newspaper, staying on is also good, I’m really short on people."

"Just helping the Young Master is good." Qing Lan nodded slightly, suddenly asking: "Will the Young Master leave?"

"Hm?" Le Yu closed the account book and tilted his head to look at Qing Lan.

"I don’t know why, but I always have a sense that the Young Master might leave Xuanzhu County, leave Dongyang at any moment..." Qing Lan looked at his fingers, avoiding Le Yu’s gaze: "You don’t like the current life, you even hate this place, you want to escape."

```

Le Yu laughed and said, "Who would like a place like Xuanzhu County?"

"But, young master, aren’t you in Xuanzhu County, supposed to be... living quite happily?"

"If I’m happy, it means someone else is unhappy."

Le Yu squinted his eyes, gazing into the void of memory phantoms: "Here, if you don’t harm others, you can’t survive."

Qing Lan asked, "Then where do you plan to go in the future?"

Speaking of this, Le Yu became spirited: "Have you heard of the Divine Demon Well in the secret realm of heaven and earth?"

Le Yu briefly described the wonders of the secret realm of heaven and earth, and the rumors of the Divine Demon Well traversing worlds. Qing Lan, thoughtful, said, "So you want to be a traveler in the future?"

"That’s right, once I achieve my goal, I’ll start my journey across mountains and rivers." Le Yu smiled wryly: "But my goal is hard to achieve, and as for the Divine Demon Well, it might just be the fantasy of an ignorant fool... I always feel like I’ve chosen two impossible ideals."

"Can I travel with you, young master?" Qing Lan said, "I am also very interested."

"No, you’re not interested."

"I am—"

"You’re not." Le Yu said, "Just like you’re not interested in playing Battle Cards, you’re not interested in traveling either."

Qing Lan was stunned.

"Although your card-playing skills are indeed good, I can still tell whether someone is playing sincerely or just humoring me when they play with me." Le Yu shrugged: "First, you beat me, then we were evenly matched, but you made a deliberate mistake in the third game to let me win easily... I have to say, being outplayed by a novice like you is quite painful."

Qing Lan hurriedly explained, "Young master, I actually—"

"I understand." Le Yu interrupted her: "You’re just playing with me because I’m your master. You are a servant I bought, trying to please me out of necessity, so even if you’re not interested, you force yourself to share my interests."

"So I’m telling you, you’re free."

"You no longer need to please anyone. You don’t belong to anyone. You can live the life you want, delve into areas you’re interested in, learn a Combat Technique, develop a hobby, maybe even rely on the National Academy. You’re about the same age as my sister... as female students. You might even have a chance to get into the Royal Academy in Yanjing."

"Did you come to me because you were afraid I’d abandon you?"

Qing Lan’s face turned red, instinctively wanting to shake her head, but she barely nodded.

"That’s normal, considering I’m the only person you can rely on, so you instinctively want to follow me." Le Yu spoke calmly: "It’s just an illusion. You’re so used to the life of a servant that suddenly losing your shackles feels strange."

"Go home, get some sleep, return to normal work, and soon you’ll realize you don’t need a master over your head, nor any gods or emperors..."

"So I can’t leave with you, young master?" Qing Lan suddenly asked.

Le Yu suddenly felt like he was back when he was tutoring, explaining a lengthy solution to a math problem, only to be asked with a bewildered look, ’Why can’t we just measure the angle with a protractor?’

"You can leave, it’s your freedom," Le Yu said. "But why do you want to follow me?"

"Because I—"

Are you worthy?

Qing Lan suddenly fell silent. She looked at the young man in front of her, casually dressed yet exuding noble confidence, and found the words about to escape her throat weighed down by the heavy gravity of reality.

Are you worthy?

He is destined to marry a noblewoman of equal standing, and you are merely a toy he bought.

Are you worthy of saying those words?

He has already been good enough to you. If you say those words, it will only make you seem greedy, and people will think you’re delusional.

In this land of silver and blood, every person in Dongyang has to learn the survival skill of accepting fate.

"...Then I’ll be going back."

"Safe travels."

Though Le Yu was quite displeased that Qing Lan had left her words unfinished, it was also possible she simply forgot what she wanted to say, so he forgave her.

Qing Lan left the study, closed the door, and just as she reached the courtyard, the rain hit her, suddenly reigniting her dissatisfaction.

She mustered the courage to turn around, but her hand hesitated in front of the door, afraid to knock or push.

She didn’t want to leave; she sensed that if she walked away now, she would truly be free.

Yet, she dared not go inside. Her status felt like heavy shackles constantly reminding her to accept her fate.

The wind and rain grew stronger, drenching her green robe as Qing Lan stood in front of the door, looking down at her fingers tracing along the gap.

Her mood matched her predicament; wanting to go inside for shelter but too afraid, she could only stand in the rain, enduring the inexplicable storm. fre ewe bnove l.com

As she thought about it, Qing Lan suddenly felt a bit aggrieved.

From the beginning, she hadn’t intended anything with him; it was he who made her think there might be more.

Suddenly, a force came from behind, pushing Qing Lan inside.

She turned around, astonished, to find Mi Die had silently appeared behind her, withdrawing her outstretched hand and grumpily uttering a word:

"Annoying!"