Free Web NovelChapter 84: Chapter 83: Spy Within a Spy
"Mr. Zhu, my name is Lu Jin." Lu Jin took a sip of tea to wet his throat. "I’ve already seen your assessment results from this morning. A perfect score!"
"To be honest, that was quite unexpected. I always took you for a more... rustic sort of hero."
The term "rustic hero" implied someone with plenty of courage and valor, but little in the way of cultural refinement.
In truth, Lu Jin was genuinely shocked. This completely upended his first impression of Mr. Zhu...
"Hold on a minute, Old Lu!" Chu Bamboo sized up Lu Jin, his gaze shifting to Lu Muxue and finally landing on Madam Xue. He sighed. "Is this some kind of matchmaking session?"
"...?" Lu Jin froze. A storm brewed within him, but he maintained a placid expression as he glanced at his wife. When his gaze returned to Chu Bamboo, it had sharpened. "Even if you are Xiaoxue’s savior, words like that will damage her reputation..."
"I know how you got close to Aunt Xue in the beginning!" Chu Bamboo rolled his eyes. "You rose from a mere commoner all the way to your current position by riding the Xue Clan’s coattails, didn’t you? Or are you going to deny it now? Aunt Xue might give you face in public, but once you get home... tsk tsk."
Lu Jin: "..."
He could almost feel Xue Qian’s gaze, as gentle as ever. Though Lu Jin’s expression remained unchanged, his body stiffened slightly.
"How do you know that!" After a moment of deep thought, Lu Jin’s attitude shifted. He was no longer treating Chu Bamboo like a promising junior he admired, but as an equal in a serious discussion.
He narrowed his eyes. "Mr. Zhu, if you can’t give me a proper explanation..."
"Hmm. For Xiaoxue’s sake, I won’t make things too difficult for you... But in the future..."
’So, he’s letting this slide now just to hold a favor over my head later?’ Chu Bamboo remained noncommittal, saying casually, "I’m merely an intelligence merchant."
Lu Jin was silent for a long time before a smile finally broke across his square face. It was a mix of surprise and exasperation. "Just how many identities do you have? Mr. Zhu of the redevelopment district? An honored guest of the God Worship Sect? Not to mention some inexplicable connection to the All-Powerful Association! And now you’re an intelligence merchant?"
Chu Bamboo wasn’t surprised. Given the man’s status and position, it would be stranger if he *didn’t* know these things.
"Is there any contradiction between them?"
Lu Muxue blinked. Her previously calm expression was gone, replaced by a mixture of worry, anxiety, and bewilderment. She was utterly confused.
’On one hand, I don’t get why things suddenly took this turn. On the other... I really thought this was just a dinner to thank him. But from Dad’s tone... was this a matchmaking setup?!!’
’With... with this younger guy?’
’Ugh, I mean, he did save my life, but... I’m really not into younger guys! At most, I don’t dislike him, since we share hobbies and can hold a conversation.’
"Fine, fine." Lu Jin took another sip of tea, his mind working with great interest. ’Mr. Zhu’s guild controls the entire redevelopment district. The district has countless workers and people from all walks of life. With so many assistants, could he really obtain such incredible intelligence?’
’Although, I doubt his intelligence network could compare to the official agencies I have access to.’ Still, he didn’t want to be so impolite as to openly dismiss the young man.
"So," Lu Jin asked casually, "what kind of intelligence are you selling, Mr. Zhu?"
"For example," Chu Bamboo said calmly, "the Xue Conglomerate’s recent acquisition, Nanping Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.... is actually backed by one of the Five Poison Society’s five Poisonous Women: the Eastern Border Poisonous Woman."
Lu Jin: "!!!"
"Or for another example, Judge Xu Sun, who was just dispatched from the Dali Temple in the Imperial Capital. He’s actually acting on orders from the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review to monitor Jinghai City’s upper crust for collusion with the three major societies..."
Chu Bamboo paused. "And one more thing. This Judge Xu Sun is likely the Third Apostle, from the All-Powerful faction... He should be taking orders directly from that Lord Third! That’s right, it’s a case of a spy within a spy..."
Lu Jin’s expression didn’t change, but he froze with the teacup halfway to his lips. His mind was racing...
’What the hell?’
’The judge just transferred from the Imperial Capital, who everyone suspects is an imperial inspector... is a mole for the Third Apostle? And he’s here to investigate the three societies?’
’He’s investigating himself?!!’
’No! This... how could he know this? It has to be fake, right? Even for an intelligence merchant, Lu Jin couldn’t fathom where someone could possibly obtain intel of this magnitude.’
’I suspected he had connections to the All-Powerful Association... but for intelligence of this level, don’t tell me he has an Apostle working as his mole? Or that he’s planted a spy right next to an Apostle?’
The more Lu Jin thought about it, the more confused he became.
A sudden burst of applause broke the silence.
"Mr. Zhu, you’ve certainly been an eye-opener!" Madam Xue Qian interjected, her demeanor a complete reversal from before. A moment ago, she exuded a certain naive innocence, her temperament much like Lu Muxue’s—the very picture of a sheltered flower, untouched by the harsh realities of the world.
But now, Madam Xue’s aura began to mirror Lu Jin’s.
She shot her husband a wordless glance, clearly exasperated that he had been so easily tangled in the young man’s web. Then, she turned to Chu Bamboo. "You should be aware of Jinghai City’s importance, shouldn’t you? As one of the three great financial and industrial hubs of the east, it is the undisputed core of Daqian’s eastern territory. The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review in the Imperial Capital is indeed a person of great power and authority, but..."
"There’s no need for probing questions, is there?" Chu Bamboo sighed. "A decision of this magnitude must have come from someone higher up, someone with the real authority to make such a call. It’s not just the whim of a Minister of the Court of Judicial Review."
"You can choose not to believe me. But the fact that you haven’t called Secretary Song in to throw me out proves that you do. After all, from your lofty positions, surely you can feel the coming storm?"
The quiet of the tea room returned.
"Evidence?" Madam Xue enunciated each syllable.
"None!" Chu Bamboo rolled his eyes. ’Where am I supposed to scrounge up evidence for that? Take it or leave it.’
Lu Muxue: "!!!"
’Doesn’t this scene seem a little familiar?!’
After a moment’s hesitation, seeing the conversation stall once more, she spoke up timidly. "Um, I believe... Mr. Chu Bamboo."
’How could I not believe him! The last time we met, everything he said came true, just like a prophecy... It left a huge impression on me.’
At that moment, she noticed her parents, who had just gotten into their element, had their tense faces twitch several times. A look of visible exasperation and forced, humorless smiles quickly appeared.
"...Damn it all!" Lu Jin rubbed his forehead with the palm of his hand and suddenly said, "Kid, are you really not interested in getting to know Xiaoxue? Even if not romantically, you could start as friends... I can see you two have a lot to talk about."
"Or how about this—after you pass the assessment, forget about the Captain’s Office! Going there is like being half-dead anyway. Why not come be my secretary..."
Lu Jin wasn’t even trying to hide his intentions now. freeweɓnovel.cøm
Chu Bamboo had been right. This wasn’t an assessment for a civil servant position at all. It was a matchmaking test... What else could he do!
Lu Jin couldn’t for the life of him figure out how he and his wife had produced such a naive daughter. On the surface, his wife and daughter seemed to have identical personalities, but in reality, they were completely different. freewёbnoνel.com
His wife only appeared as pure as a white lotus... but in reality, she was devious and manipulative.
Back then, Madam Xue had no intention of accepting the marriage arranged for her by the old master of the Xue Family. Instead, she picked him—a new recruit at the Celestial Capital Affairs Department—and threatened her father with elopement and a pre-marital pregnancy. She forced the old man to acknowledge their relationship. In the end, by leveraging the Xue Family’s network and resources, combined with a little bit of his own hard work... he had made it to where he was today.
Her eye for talent, her sheer audacity... even now, Lu Jin was amazed thinking about it.
But his daughter... she was exactly like his wife’s facade. She looked pure, she made people think she was pure, and she was, in fact, genuinely pure. Wasn’t that just a recipe for disaster?
Previously, when he heard his daughter had gotten involved with Mr. Zhu from the redevelopment district, his first reaction was the rage and humiliation of seeing his fine cabbage rooted up by a pig. But his second reaction was relief, mixed with a touch of melancholy.
He had marveled, ’As expected of our daughter!’
At the time, he had even been proud. ’Is my daughter also a master actress, just like her mother? Good enough to fool even me?’ he had wondered. Was she planning to do what her mother had done—pick a promising young man she liked and force the issue by making it a done deal?
However, after Lu Jin gathered all the intelligence, he couldn’t maintain his composure. Something about the intel just felt completely off.
After much consideration, Lu Jin finally decided to meet Chu Bamboo and see if he could give their relationship a little push...
After all, compared to Chu Bamboo, with whom she could clearly hold a conversation, the other young heirs from families of their own social standing... might be better matches on paper, but Lu Muxue would never be happy with them after marriage.
And then... now... Lu Jin felt as though he’d gone out for a bit of casual fishing and somehow hooked a prehistoric crocodile.
Though his experience told him he’d gotten a read on the young man’s personality, as they talked, it felt like that personality kept changing. He began to suspect that everything he’d "figured out" was merely what Chu Bamboo had wanted him to see.
"Not interested." Chu Bamboo took a sip of tea and rolled his eyes. "Secretary Song was perfectly respectful to me earlier. I have no intention of stealing his job."
"Hey! My dad has lots of secretaries! What kind of excuse is that?" Lu Muxue said, displeased.
Lu Jin: "...?"
Madam Xue: "...!"
’No, sweetie, that’s just an excuse! You actually believe him?’
"Alright, enough tangents. You should be thinking about the Xue Clan’s situation..." Chu Bamboo smoothly steered the conversation back on track. "You acquired Nanping Pharmaceutical Company to break into Jinghai City’s business scene. But aren’t you curious why the local magnate families let you in so easily?"
"As of now, the contract is signed... and the Five Poison Society has already passed the information to Judge Xu Sun. Tsk tsk... As for what comes next... Heh, even if I don’t spell it out, you can imagine what will happen, can’t you?" Chu Bamboo said eloquently.
After a brief pause, he looked at the two of them with renewed interest. "Of course, I’ll say it again: you don’t have to believe me. It makes no difference to me... but can you truly afford the consequences if everything I’ve said turns out to be true?"
The tea room fell deathly silent.
Finally.
"...Have the Five Poison Society and the All-Powerful Association merged? Or is it just a simple partnership?" Lu Jin pursed his lips. He still found it hard to believe, but with Chu Bamboo laying it all out like this, he had to prepare for the worst-case scenario.
"One more thing," Chu Bamboo added, turning to Madam Xue. He spoke casually, "The secretary of yours who handled this matter... was bought by the Five Poison Society. If you check his personal accounts, you’ll find an unexplained deposit of ten thousand Qian Coins. A new account at the Industrial Development Bank. If you make a point to look, you’ll find it."
Ten thousand Qian Coins was an absolutely massive sum in the Dream World.
Watching Madam Xue’s expression flicker, Chu Bamboo added, "Oh, he doesn’t actually know he was dealing with the Five Poison Society. He just took some money. On one hand, he was uneasy because the amount was so large, but on the other, he still followed their instructions and erased certain pieces of intelligence that might have tipped you off. That way, he gets his mission done, gets his kickback, and maybe even a promotion. A win-win for him!"
