Chapter 19: First-Rate Trick! He's Very Naughty
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"How many people have racked their brains trying to approach Jing Zhongyue all these years?" Yun Zhonghe asked rhetorically.
"Countless," Xu Anting said.
"Were they all spies from the Southern Zhou Empire or the Great Ying Empire?" Yun Zhonghe asked.
"Not all of them," Xu Anting said. "The majority of them were after Jing Zhongyue's power. They just wanted to curry favor with those in power and use her to raise their social status."
Now that was a normal thing to do. Jing Zhongyue was the only baroness in the Land of No King, and she was single. Hundreds of thousands of people were under her rule, and almost 10,000 soldiers were under her command. Her wealth was unparalleled, and she was the most beautiful woman in the Land of No King. The man who married her would immediately possess wealth that a normal person would need to work for ages to accumulate.
"Which means she thinks everyone who approaches her harbors evil intentions?" Yun Zhonghe suggested.
"That's right, lots of those who have tried to approach her all these years have ended up dead."
"So, approaching her using the normal methods isn't going to work," Yun Zhonghe said flatly. "If I want to go near her, I need to find another way. Do you know the fastest way to make a woman remember you?"
"I'm all ears," Xu Anting said.
"Become her enemy."
Yun Zhonghe was speaking from experience. The more dominating a woman was, the more she would look down on you if you submitted to her. If you gave her a hard time, she would remember you instead.
It was the foul nature of humans. Although it might sound a little too harsh, to a certain extent, it was true for both men and women.
Naturally, Yun Zhonghe would have to be talented enough, as well. He had to be able to churn her up when he went against her. If he was a worthless piece of garbage, she would only think he was an idiot and destroy him without hesitation.
The captain of the mercenaries in X Psychiatric Hospital, Colonel Li, had once been extremely cold and arrogant. Plus, she was married, and she led an honest and unsullied life like a swan. Yun Zhonghe figured out ways to cause her trouble and give her a hard time until she couldn't take it anymore. That made her hate him to the core, and hence, she remembered him.
Then, Yun Zhonghe designed one or two accidents that brought Colonel Li huge problems, and he came forward to help her solve those issues.
Once he saved Colonel Li, Yun Zhonghe became gentle to her all of a sudden. The nature of their relationship abruptly changed, and Colonel L, who had once hated Yun Zhonghe, soon fell in love with him.
The stronger the initial hatred, the more powerful the eventual love.
To some women, only the tenderness of strong men counted. The tenderness of weak men was despised.
Within a month, Li Li, who was cold and proud like a rose covered in thorns, had fallen victim to the pickup artist, Yun Zhonghe, and slept with him.
But, of course, Yun Zhonghe had also gone overboard. He hadn't expected that a beauty like Colonel Li would divorce her husband right away to be with him.
Her husband ended up detonating a bomb that turned the scumbag, Yun Zhonghe, into ashes.
"Xu Anting, does Jing Zhongyue have any enemy in the City of Torn Gust?" asked Yun Zhonghe. "Furthermore, we need someone that she can't do anything about. I need to strike a delicate balance between becoming her enemy, impressing her, and protecting myself from being killed by her too easily."
"Her brother, Jing Wubian, fits that description."
Jing Wubian. Yun Zhonghe had read about him in the files.
The former castellan of the City of Torn Gust was called Jing E. He was Jing Zhongyue's father, a hero in his time. Forty years ago, the leader of the Jing Clan was useless, and he lost his family's properties that had been passed down by their ancestors for hundreds of years. The Valley of Torn Gust fell into the hands of the An Clan.
The An Clan had been Jing Clan's servants for hundreds of years. The loss of the city was a tragedy in which the servants overpowered the lords.
After seizing the castellan's position in the City of Torn Gust, the An Clan wiped out the members of the Jing Clan, and only Jing E and his sister managed to escape.
Thirty years ago, the young Jing E changed his looks and came back. He sneaked into the City of Torn Gust and became a servant in the castellan's residence.
From a servant's position, Jing E rose to power swiftly. He was glorious. Besides, he was very clever and cunning, and he became Castellan An Daotian's adopted son and most trusted subordinate.
After that, Jing E created wonders upon wonders, and he became the most outstanding general under An Daotian's command. Finally, he married the man's daughter.
If he followed the ordinary path, after marrying Castellan An Daotian's daughter, he would have slowly taken over the city and seized the castellan's position once the old man passed away.
However, he didn't do that. Jing E chose to launch a rebellion the night of his wedding, and he slaughtered all of the members of the An Clan, including his newly-married wife. Then he revealed his true identity and seized the position of the castellan back.
Within a few years, after he became the castellan, he almost doubled the territory of the Valley of Torn Gust, expanding it from 7000 square kilometers to 13,000 square kilometers.
And within those few years, he eliminated all of his competitors, monopolized the market of table salt in the Land of No King, and made the City of Torn Gust a trade center.
However, the universe was fair and just. After Jing E murdered his first wife during the wedding, three of his wives thereafter died for no apparent reason. It was as if he was cursed.
The story gave rise to much discussion during that time, and no more barons in the Land of No King dared to allow Jing E to marry their daughters. Only the lord of the cave barbarians didn't care about that and let his daughter marry Jing E. She was Jing Zhongyue's mother, who was given the title "Lady Torn Gust."
Perhaps this woman was just hard to kill. She was healthy and happy after marrying Jing E, but she bore only daughters, three of them.
A baron in the Land of No King couldn't be without a son; girls weren't allowed to inherit properties. If Jing E had no heir, all of his properties would go to outsiders.
Jing E then took a few mistresses, who gave birth to three sons. All those sons died at a young age.
Then, a wizard visited Jing E and told him that he had too much blood on his hands. He had defied the laws of nature, and that was why he was being punished.
Then, after Jing E stopped expanding his territory, his wife finally gave birth to a very healthy son.
Jing E was in his thirties, but he had a son, and he was over the moon. He held a celebration that lasted weeks, and gave away countless gold coins to his people. Hundreds of thousands of people shared his happiness.
That baby boy was Jing Wubian.
In everyone's opinion, he was a nobleman who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He would one day inherit the City of Torn Gust, a 13,000 square kilometer territory.
However, Jing E's happiness didn't last too long because his son was… a scumbag, an *sshole, a wastrel, and the black sheep of the family. He was a good-for-nothing.
Jing E put in a gallant effort to train his son, but his son only indulged himself in frivolous pastimes and engaged in lawlessness.
He bullied innocent girls, harassed widows, raided tombs, et cetera. There wasn't a single evil deed he hadn't committed.
As time went by, he became a scourge to the City of Torn Gust, and even to the whole Land of No King. If he walked down the street, every household would shut their door.
Jing E had tried everything. He grounded his son, he even broke his son's legs, but nothing worked. He could only give up at last.
But when God closed a door, he would open a window.
Jing E's son was a good-for-nothing, but his daughter, Jing Zhongyue, was very outstanding. She excelled in both martial arts and intellectual pursuits.
Castellan Jing E had to defy the universal will of the people once again to appoint his daughter, Jing Zhongyue, to take over his position as the next castellan.
Last spring, Castellan Jing E suddenly had a stroke, and he had fallen into a coma. Jing Zhongyue became the new castellan of the City of Torn Gust.
Everyone thought that the City of Torn Gust was going to fall because there had never been a female castellan.
Chaos ensued once Jing Zhongyue took over the position of castellan, but that only lasted for half a year. After that, everything was in perfect order. Moreover, under Jing Zhongyue's command, the City of Torn Gust started expanding its territory once again, and they won every battle.
Although Jing Zhongyue was a woman, she was more capable than the other castellans. In comparison to her, Jing Wubian seemed even more useless.
After his father had a stroke, Jing Wubian was like a horse that had broken free of its bridle. He committed even more atrocities.
Jing Zhongyue could be ruthless to everyone except for her little brother; regrettably, she couldn't do anything about him.
To show that he was important, Jing Wubian announced wherever he went that he wanted to overthrow his sister, Jing Zhongyue, and take back the position of the castellan of the City of Torn Gust that was supposed to be his.
But no one took him seriously. They thought he was just a dog barking at the moon.
One was like a glorious phoenix, and the other one was like a rabid dog. The people thought that even if everyone in the city died, a scumbag like Jing Wubian still wouldn't be allowed to take the castellan's position.
However, to a certain extent, Jing Zhongyue's scumbag brother was still her only nemesis.
Plus, there was nothing she could do to him.
"My plan is very simple," Yun Zhonghe said. "I'm going to pledge my allegiance to that scumbag so that I can set foot in the castellan's residence. Then, I will take advantage of Jing Wubian's power and identity to give Jing Zhongyue a hard time, make her almost despair of living, and hurt her so badly that I'm engraved on her heart. Then, I will turn her hatred into love, conquer her body and her heart, and take her down once and for all."
Xu Anting was astonished. They could complete the mission that way?
"Did you just come up with this plan, or did you already have it in mind earlier?" asked Xu Anting.
"I had it in mind earlier," Yun Zhonghe said.
"Then why didn't you tell us?"
Yun Zhonghe shrugged. "I thought that your plans were also pretty good, especially the one that involved seducing Lady Musk. That one was really clever. Life is like a chunk of brownish stuff; if you don't taste it, how will you know if it is chocolate or sh*t?"
Xu Anting didn't know what chocolate was, but according to his knowledge of Yun Zhonghe, he thought that it would be better if he remained ignorant on the subject.
"Mr. Yun, I have to tell you, Jing Wubian is very temperamental, volatile, and crazy. If you pledge allegiance to him, you could be in grave danger at any time. He is foppish and vain, but he isn't friendly at all. He is extremely arrogant. He even treats a chiliarch of the City of Torn Gust's garrison like an animal."
Yun Zhonghe laughed. "He's crazy? This couldn't get any better. I'm an expert in taming nutjobs."
"If so, then please tell me what your first move will be," said Xu Anting.
"I have no interest in currying favor with anyone or begging anyone to let me into the castellan's residence," Yun Zhonghe said. "I only need three days' time, and Jing Wubian will welcome me into the castellan's residence with eight palanquins. He will pay homage to me and regard me as a demigod. So, my first step is to make Jing Wubian fall into the snare willingly!"
-- Gift
received