Building a Martial Dao Celestial Family by Laying Low

The clean-shaven man gave a sinister chuckle. "How will they answer obediently if we don’t show them the consequences?"

He turned his head toward Liu Shaochuan and Xie Qingyan. "How much silk is in this warehouse?"

"Just who are you people?" Xie Qingyan retorted, steeling himself.

"You don’t need to know who we are. You just need to know that if you don’t cooperate, your fate will be utterly miserable."

The clean-shaven man’s tone was casual as he sneered, "I learned the art of castration from an old craftsman years ago. Would you two like a demonstration...?"

As he spoke, his gaze drifted faintly over their lower bodies. The look in his eyes sent a chill down Liu Shaochuan and Xie Qingyan’s spines, and they instinctively retreated.

"Enough!"

The beautiful woman in palace attire seemed to have lost her patience. She shot the clean-shaven man a cold glare, her tone full of irritation.

Ignoring him, she fixed her gaze on Liu Shaochuan and Xie Qingyan. "Look at me. Answer my question!"

Liu and Xie’s Heart Spirits trembled violently, and they instinctively stared into her eyes.

The moment their eyes met hers, a wave of dizziness washed over them. Their expressions instantly became vacant and dull, all sense of self gone, replaced by numb obedience.

The beautiful woman’s voice was like ice. "How much silk is in this warehouse?"

"Twenty-seven thousand bolts."

"Is that all? Is there more anywhere else?"

"There might be some at the silk shops, and some at the main residence."

"Be specific. How much?"

The beautiful woman in palace attire frowned, clearly unsatisfied with such a vague answer.

"We are only in charge of guarding this place. We don’t know the exact quantities."

"Who does?"

"Elder Zhan knows. And the Third Miss might know as well."

A flicker of displeasure crossed the beautiful woman’s eyes.

"Useless."

She snorted, and with a casual flick of her sleeve, unleashed a wave of insidious Palm Wind.

Liu Shaochuan and Xie Qingyan couldn’t even let out a grunt. As if struck by a heavy hammer, their eyes rolled back in their heads and they fell stiffly backward, collapsing onto the cold, damp ground, out cold.

The beautiful woman in palace attire didn’t even spare the unconscious pair a glance, instead turning her icy gaze on the clean-shaven man, who stood nearby with his hands tucked in his sleeves, a mocking smile on his face.

"It’s not enough."

Her voice was thick with suppressed rage. "The Master demands one hundred thousand bolts by year’s end. What are we going to do?"

The clean-shaven man rolled his eyes, his shrill voice full of scorn. "All that hair and not an ounce of sense. What good does it do to ask only what’s in the warehouse? Why didn’t you ask how much new silk this Textile Workshop produces in a month? And what about the other Chen Family Textile Workshop in Lingxi? Why didn’t you ask about their stock?"

The beautiful woman was choked speechless for a moment before erupting in fury, her elegant eyes blazing with killing intent. "Why didn’t you ask then? It’s easy to play the strategist after the fact!"

"Me?"

The clean-shaven man scoffed, his voice dripping with acid. "I was in the middle of scaring them when some brainless fool cut in, just had to show off your Binding Silk Bone Curse, didn’t you? You’re more of a hindrance than a help!"

The beautiful woman trembled with rage, her ample bosom rising and falling dramatically. "What are you trying to say? And let’s not forget your part in this! Were you blameless? Couldn’t you have just asked the questions properly? No, you had to beat around the bush, terrifying them with your eunuch proclivities. What purpose did that serve, other than satisfying your own twisted habits?"

"That’s right, I have my disgusting habits."

The clean-shaven man sneered again and again. "If you’re so capable, you stupid woman, then solve this yourself. Why are you asking me?"

With that, he turned his head to the side, refusing to even look at the woman, making it clear he intended to wash his hands of the matter.

"Dust-Cleaning Slave!"

The beautiful woman seethed, "Don’t you forget, if we fail the Master’s mission, you won’t escape the blame either. Let’s see if you’re still laughing then!"

These three were, of course, the Silk Lady and the Dust-Cleaning Slave from the Xiang Sect’s Twelve Celestial Fragrances, along with Jiang Nanyue.

The Dust-Cleaning Slave’s completely unbothered demeanor only made the Silk Lady’s fury burn hotter.

She abruptly shifted her gaze to Jiang Nanyue, who had been standing silently with her head bowed the entire time, and snapped, "You tell me. What do we do now?"

Jiang Nanyue hesitated for a moment before answering cautiously, "In this humble servant’s opinion, since the sect only requires silk, perhaps we could conduct a normal transaction with the Chen Family. We could offer a slightly more favorable price; they might agree. A deal this large would be a considerable source of income for the Chen Family..."

"Impossible!"

The Silk Lady interrupted her without a moment’s hesitation. "We don’t have enough silver taels for a normal transaction! Think of another way!"

Before Jiang Nanyue could think of a response, the Dust-Cleaning Slave let out a sneer dripping with sarcasm. "’We’ don’t have enough silver? Heh... Why don’t you mention the two million taels of silver you embezzled to go to Yazhou and buy a pile of worthless rocks no one can make sense of?"

"Dust-Cleaning Slave, you’re looking to die!"

Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, the Silk Lady’s fur practically stood on end!

Her suppressed rage and killing intent could be contained no longer, and they erupted violently.

A terrifying pressure, far surpassing that of a Grandmaster, radiated outward. The air seemed to vibrate with invisible ripples, and the small pebbles on the ground began to tremble.

Standing behind her, Jiang Nanyue bore the brunt of the force. Her breathing suddenly grew labored, her face turned deathly pale, and a fine sheen of cold sweat broke out on her forehead.

Even for her, the pressure of a Grandmaster was nearly impossible to resist.

The Dust-Cleaning Slave, however, seemed completely unaffected by the pressure. He remained standing leisurely with his hands tucked, a sneer on his lips, as if he hadn’t noticed a thing. "Is the crazy bitch done with her tantrum? When you’ve had enough, you can quietly listen to my plan."

After a stalemate that lasted for about ten breaths, the Silk Lady suppressed her towering rage and killing intent. The terrifying pressure slowly receded like a tide.

Only then was Jiang Nanyue able to gasp for breath, her body completely drenched in cold sweat.

The Silk Lady stared at the Dust-Cleaning Slave, forcing her words out through clenched teeth. "Then you tell me, what the hell do we do now? If you can’t come up with a plan and we jeopardize the Master’s affairs, I’d like to see how you’ll answer for it!"

The Dust-Cleaning Slave snorted. "You dare have another outburst and ruin things, and I’ll be the first one to report you to the Master."

The Silk Lady’s chest rose and fell violently, a clear sign of her fury. She gritted her teeth and practically spat two words from her throat: "Do it!"

The Dust-Cleaning Slave no longer looked at her, instead turning his gaze to Jiang Nanyue. "Those two useless fools mentioned that the Chen Family’s Third Miss, and that Elder Zhan... they should be residents of Liyang Commandery City, right?"

Jiang Nanyue quickly lowered her head and answered cautiously, "The Chen Family does have a residence in Liyang City. But as for who exactly resides there, this servant is not privy to the details."

The Silk Lady, standing to the side, couldn’t resist cutting in. "What exactly are you planning to do?"

The Dust-Cleaning Slave shot her a look, the corner of his mouth hooking into a cruel, cold smile as he said blandly, "It’s simple. Didn’t those two say the Chen Family’s Third Miss is here? We’ll just kidnap her. Problem solved."

"Kidnap her?"

The Silk Lady was stunned for a moment before scoffing. "And here I was, thinking you had some brilliant plan. One hundred thousand bolts of silk is worth more than six million taels of silver. What family would pay such an astronomical price to ransom one daughter? Your idea is completely delusional!"

The Dust-Cleaning Slave shot back without a hint of courtesy, "A fool is a fool. Who said anything about demanding all one hundred thousand bolts at once?"

The Silk Lady frowned. "What are you getting at?"

The Dust-Cleaning Slave smiled sinisterly. "We do it step-by-step. First, we kidnap the Chen Family’s Third Miss. Then we send a message asking for thirty thousand bolts of silk in exchange for her release. The Chen Family will most likely scrape it together."

"When they’ve gathered it, we’ll cripple her Martial Arts and sever the tendons in her arms and legs, turning her into a complete invalid. Then we’ll send another letter, claiming she accidentally suffered some minor injuries that we can treat... for another thirty thousand bolts of silk as a ’medical fee’."

"After they pay that, bringing the total to sixty thousand bolts, we’ll inform them that the Third Miss has unfortunately been afflicted by a rare poison and will die without the antidote. The antidote, of course, costs forty thousand bolts of silk. And just like that, we’ll have our one hundred thousand bolts."

He looked at the somewhat stunned Silk Lady and sneered, "The Chen Family couldn’t produce one hundred thousand bolts on short notice anyway. This gives us time to slowly spring the trap. We don’t need to worry about them not taking the bait."

The Silk Lady’s brow was tightly furrowed as she listened. "This is just... a scam."

The Dust-Cleaning Slave let out a disdainful snort. "This is one of the Thirty-Six Celestial Stratagems. You should take notes, you stupid woman."