Lan Ling said, “How can such a grand earl’s house only have this little money left?”
Suo Ningbing replied bitterly, “Previously, to bribe Duke Zhi Ting, I already handed over our last remaining properties.”
Lan Ling asked, “Is it too late now to return to the territory and ask my sworn brother Suo Hanyi for money? Otherwise, we could go to my future father-in-law and borrow from him. He owes our Suo Clan an enormous debt of gratitude.”
Suo Ningbing said, “It is already too late. Big Brother Suo does not have that much money. He has to support an army of over ten thousand men. Your father-in-law, City Lord Gui Xingfu, certainly has that amount, but the journey from here to Linhai City is more than three thousand li. Even at the fastest speed, it would take at least five days to arrive. Yet we only have two days left until the final repayment deadline.”
Once those two days passed, the two creditors would sue Duke Zhi Ting in the Royal City law court. The Suo Clan would then thoroughly and irreparably offend Duke Zhi Ting to death.
Of course, one might ask how a mere gambling den boss and a gold house owner could be so audacious as to dare sue a duke.
The reason was simple: behind them stood the future crown prince, His Highness Zhi Li.
Immediately afterwards, a terrifying realisation struck Lan Ling. The incident where Suo Lun saved his former lover at the gambling den, and the sky-high purchase of the Dragon Emperor’s handwriting, were all part of Princess Zhi Ning’s schemes. They were pits she had deliberately dug for him.
Even though those pits might not necessarily succeed, she had still dug them. Moreover, she had already prepared defences against possibilities such as Suo Lun not dying, or the Suo Clan seeking help by bribing Duke Zhi Ting.
If that was truly the case, then this woman was intelligent to the point of being almost demonic.
A woman so beautiful, so clever, and so vicious was far more terrifying than any venomous snake.
This second move by Zhi Ning was truly pulling the firewood from under the cauldron, directly driving the Suo Clan to their doom.
In short, this was a dead end. No matter what, the Suo Clan could not possibly gather three thousand nine hundred gold coins within two days.
Moreover, at this critical juncture, not a single person in the Royal City dared to lend the Suo Clan even one gold coin. Whoever lent them money would be offending Prince Zhi Li. In the entire Royal City, apart from Duke Zhi Ting, who else would dare stand against Prince Zhi Li?
He was the de facto crown prince, the future king. Offend him, and your entire family would be wiped out.
……
Lan Ling came to the living room, looked at the thin and fat creditors, and sneered coldly, “Gentlemen, why did you not come to collect the debt a few days earlier?”
The gold house boss hurriedly stood up and said, “How would this humble one have the guts to come early to the earl’s house to demand payment? Even coming today is merely a gentle reminder, so as not to trouble the young earl with too many worries.”
Lan Ling said, “If I do not repay within two days, you will sue Duke Zhi Ting in the Royal City law court, correct?”
“Heh heh…” The gold house boss gave a laugh, neither admitting nor denying it.
Lan Ling said, “Very well, I understand. You may leave now.”
The two creditors stood up, bowed once more, and said, “Then we shall trouble the young earl to take care of it. Please repay the sum within two days, so as not to make things difficult for us humble ones.”
With that, the two backed out of the earl’s house, their attitudes extremely respectful on the surface, yet their hearts brimmed with sinister contempt.
We are precisely here to trap your Suo Clan. We are going to drive you to your deaths.
After the two creditors left, a deathly silence fell over the earl’s house.
“Little Ling, I am sorry. I really should not have dragged you into this. With your exceptional talent, you should have had a bright and promising future ahead of you. Yet now you are trapped in this hopeless quagmire of the Suo Clan,” Suo Ningbing said softly. “Listen to your sister’s advice. Go to the Nine Spirits Warlock, have your face changed back, and return to being yourself.”
After Suo Ningbing finished speaking, Ye Jingyu remained silent, her head bowed.
Back then, when she had brought Lan Ling to the Royal City to impersonate Suo Lun, she had thought the matter would be simple: just inherit the title and be done with it. Who could have imagined the situation would be so treacherous and so complicated?
Prince Zhi Li, in order to achieve his strategic goals, absolutely had to seize Tianshui City. As for the Suo Clan, they were merely an innocent piece of cannon fodder.
All that nonsense about Suo Lun offending the royal family by pursuing Princess Zhi Ning? Complete rubbish. The reason Suo Lun had gone mad pursuing Zhi Ning was most likely because she had secretly teased and provoked him.
This really was a dead end, one that could cost lives. At the very least, Lan Ling was very likely to die.
Hearing his sister Suo Ningbing’s words, Lan Ling did not become agitated or furious. Instead, he said calmly, “Sister, I have been an orphan since childhood. I do not even know who my parents were. My sister was called Lan Kou, so I was called Lan Ling. I took my sister’s surname.”
He took a deep breath and continued, “Now, my sister is called Suo Ningbing, so I shall change my surname to Suo as well.”
With that, Lan Ling knelt down directly and said word by word, “From this day forward, I am surnamed Suo and named Lun. There is no longer a Lan Ling in this world, only Suo Lun. In the future, if anyone calls me Lan Ling, I will stab myself once.”
His words were very calm, yet filled with unshakable determination.
Suo Ningbing and Ye Jingyu were both deeply moved.
“Little brother, you…” Suo Ningbing began.
“Lan Ling, you…” Ye Jingyu said at the same time.
Neither of them could say anything more.
Before Ye Jingyu’s words had even finished, Lan Ling swiftly drew a small knife and stabbed it hard into his own thigh.
Instantly, blood gushed out like a fountain. Lan Ling’s face twitched slightly, but his expression did not change in the slightest.
Suo Ningbing cried out in heartache, tears surging from her eyes. She rushed over, wrapped one arm around Lan Ling to hold him, and with the other hand tore open his trouser leg. Carefully yet decisively, she pulled out the knife.
At the same time, Ye Jingyu dashed into the room and brought out wound medicine and needle and thread.
Suo Ningbing gently and meticulously applied medicine to the wound on Lan Ling’s leg, then carefully stitched it closed.
After finishing everything, Suo Ningbing’s hands were covered in blood. She stared blankly at Lan Ling and said softly, “You really are foolish.”
“You used to say that to me often as well,” Lan Ling replied with a smile. Of course, he was referring to his sister Lan Kou back on Earth, but in his heart, the two were one and the same.
Suo Ningbing caressed Lan Ling’s face and said tenderly, “All right. From now on, sister will never say such things again. For the rest of this life, we will still depend on each other. If someone wants to kill us, then we shall die together.”
“Good,” Lan Ling replied softly.
……
“Sister, we will not yield. Although our enemies are unprecedentedly powerful, I will absolutely never compromise, and I will absolutely never surrender,” Suo Lun said word by word. “No matter the reason, robbers cannot take Tianshui City from my hands while they are still alive. This is the foundation of our Suo Clan.”
Suo Ningbing said softly, “Very well. Sister will listen to you.”
Ye Jingyu said, “But we cannot even get through the immediate crisis. The moment those two creditors sue Duke Zhi Ting in the law court will be our day of death.”
Gathering three thousand nine hundred gold coins within two days was a completely impossible task.
Lan Ling closed his eyes, his mind racing through countless possible solutions.
Although he was a liberal arts student, he still possessed basic knowledge of the sciences. Using Earth’s advantages to earn three thousand nine hundred gold coins was not impossible. But all of those methods required time.
Earning so much money in just two days was nothing but a pipe dream.
It was like a penniless person on Earth trying to make a hundred million in two days. Even robbing a bank would not suffice.
One could imagine that every powerful clan and wealthy individual in the Royal City had already received warnings from Prince Zhi Li’s faction. Suo Lun could not possibly get even one gold coin from any of them.
What method could he use to gather three thousand nine hundred gold coins, or nearly two hundred thousand silver coins, or seventy to eighty million copper coins, within two days?
He pondered for nearly an hour, yet still found no solution.
Suddenly, Suo Lun’s eyes lit up. “Among the previous Suo Lun’s closest relationships with courtesans, who was the best one?”
“Yi Manman from the Yuhua Pavilion,” Ye Jingyu replied.
Lan Ling asked, “Was she a lover?”
Ye Jingyu said, “At first she was a lover, later a close confidante. Their relationship was extremely, extremely good. Are you thinking of borrowing money from her? It is impossible. Although she is very popular, even if she emptied her entire fortune, it would not exceed three hundred gold coins.”
Lan Ling stood up and said, “Sister, I am going out for a while. Before tomorrow arrives, I will gather the three thousand nine hundred gold coins.”
Earning three thousand nine hundred gold coins in a single day? How could that possibly be? Was Lan Ling delirious with fever and talking in his sleep?
Ye Jingyu was straightforward by nature and immediately looked at him with full scepticism.
Although it was completely unimaginable how Lan Ling could achieve it, Suo Ningbing showed no trace of doubt. She simply nodded gently and said, “Very well. Sister will wait for you at home.”
……
Suo Lun took Ye Jingyu and headed to one of the largest brothels in the Royal City, the Yuhua Pavilion!
Not long after he left, an uninvited guest arrived at the Tianshui Earl’s House. The person was completely shrouded in a black cloak, entering through the rear gate of the earl’s house, followed by a single attendant who was an absolute top-tier expert.
Soon, Suo Ningbing met this uninvited guest.
The woman lifted her black cloak, revealing a face of breathtaking beauty that took one’s breath away. It was none other than the chief culprit who had plotted to destroy the Suo Clan: Princess Zhi Ning.
When she stood beside Suo Ningbing, the two peerlessly beautiful faces were perfectly matched, causing everything in the room to fade into insignificance.
Suo Ningbing was slightly startled. She truly could never have imagined that Princess Zhi Ning would personally come to visit, and in such a secretive manner.