Chapter 108: Entering the Mo Estate at Night
Behind the Mo Estate lay a garden, not small in size, in which many rare flowers and herbs were planted. The flowery fragrance that the garden emanated was still revitalizing even though it was night time. Han Li involuntarily breathed in deeply.
“Ai!” Han Li suddenly slightly exclaimed. Although the fragrance of the flowers was thick, he could still differentiate between the familiar smells of herbal medicine.
“Someone planted medicinal herbs in here.” Han Li lightly smiled. This familiar herbal scent caused him to feel extremely curious about the person who had planted the herbs. It appeared that someone within the Mo Estate had inherited Doctor Mo’s medicinal skills.
Han Li did not dare to hesitate any longer. He continued on the little path and walked towards the areas that were lit up.
Along the way, Han Li discovered that there were quite a few hidden sentries. He would not have detected the Mo Estate’s tight security if it weren’t for his heightened senses.
Since he had already discovered the hidden sentries, sneaking past them became an extremely easy task.
Han Li stopped in front of a small, two-story building.
He chose this spot because he could sense that security was much tighter in this particular location. There were about twenty to thirty people guarding this area.
This particular two-story building was well lit; he knew that there was probably someone of extreme importance who had yet to fall asleep, which coincidentally suited his purposes.
Making use of the dark night, he moved at a lightning-fast pace, his body blinking as he arrived at the bottom of the building. Using the strength in his legs, he easily jumped up onto the second story of the building. The whole process took but an instant. The surrounding sentries did not even notice that Han Li had already infiltrated the building.
Han Li kept his body close to the walls, causing his shadow to merge into the night, before p.r.i.c.king his ears, trying to use his sense of hearing to discern any movements in the building. Although Han Li could only hear a single female talking, he could discern that there was more than one person in this building.
“The branch from Chang Ping Town sent over 7,300 taels of silver
“The branch from Luo Gu Town sent over 5,800 taels of silver.”
“The branch from Lan Yue Town sent over 10,500 taels of silver.”
“Wu Ling Town……”
………………
“This is all of the profits that we received last month from our a.s.sociation’s various branches. Overall, it’s about twenty-five percent less than the profits we gained in the same month of last year.”
The sound of a melodious female voice that was filled with vitality drifted into Han Li’s ears. The moment that he had heard it, he speculated that it belonged to a youthful female. She was somewhat unhappy, judging from the last words she had spoken.
“Mother, these branch managers are getting bolder and bolder; the tribute they offer is increasingly less as the months go by.” The youthful girl angrily stated.
“I am well aware!” Another low, attractive voice rang out.
“Could she be one of the three ladies of the Mo Clan?” Han Li was somewhat shocked at his good luck. It seemed that the other woman in the room was Doctor Mo’s wife.
“Every time you say that you’re aware about this, why don’t you offer some ideas on how to settle this? If this continues, then all of our branches will no longer put us in their eyes one day.” The youthful girl complained.
“I don’t have any good ideas right now. You must know that the branches are controlled by Fifth Mother. The others in the Mo Clan have no way to interfere!” The woman could only helplessly reply.
Afterwards, the exchange of words stopped, allowing silence to descend.
After several moments, the youthful girl’s voice rang out in an unwilling tone: “Mother, could it be that we allowed Fifth Mother to have sole control over the branches? After Uncle Ma and the others got into a dispute, their in-fighting pushed into branches into a position where they became the pillar of support for our Fearsome Flood Dragon a.s.sociation. Mother, since you are the representative for the Flood Dragon a.s.sociation, this power should instead be in your control.”
“What you said is correct. The year when your father left, he had pa.s.sed the authority of the branches over to Fifth Mother, I don’t really have an excuse to interfere. And because Fifth Mother grants us a large portion of the monthly tribute, I don’t have the face to bring up the topic.” The woman replied.
“But the strength of our Fearsome Flood Dragon a.s.sociation is actually extremely weak. If we don’t consolidate our strength, how can we ever rise again? Father is not thinking straight! He handed the reins of the a.s.sociation to you, but why did he also give Fifth Mother the authority over the branches?” The tone of her words was filled with resentment.against her father.
“Stop your nonsense! Your dad did this; naturally, he had a deeper meaning behind his actions. It’s not your place to criticize!” The woman berated the youthful girl.
“I understand. I acknowledge my mistake, alright? Seems like Mother is still deeply in love with Father!” The girl acted out of the ordinary and started laughing at her mother.
“This child……” The woman loved her daughter very much. Speechless, she could only laugh bitterly.
Han Li had already confirmed that the woman in the room was the Lady Yan he was looking for. In addition, the girl should be Mo Caihuan, the daughter of Lady Yan and Doctor Mo. He was fortunate for having found who he had been looking for in such a quick fas.h.i.+on.
Han Li extended his hands, touching the letter and the items left behind by Doctor Mo, and prepared to reveal himself to the two of them.
“Mother, that faker was extremely irritating! Today he found me at the garden and actually tried to shamelessly curry favor with me. He intended to to sell me a few of his strong points, trying to appear as one who is skilled in both studies and martial arts. How disgusting!” The girl added the last bit coquettishly, startling Han Li and making him withdraw the foot that he had originally extended into the room.
(TL: use of ‘faker’ is to refer to the person with the fake ident.i.ty, Wu Jianming)
“You better be more courteous to the one surnamed Wu. After all, he is your fiancee in name. Don’t let him notice anything that could make him suspicious!” Lady Yan’s tone grew heavy as she reminded the girl.
“Cough! This beautiful me is always surrounded by admirers, but you want me to act as though I’ve fallen head over heels with that man? That’s too difficult of a task for me! If it were up to me, I would have run him through with a sword long ago,” the girl replied.
“This matter is also out of our control. Although we know that the one surnamed Wu is a fake and have fully investigated his background, we have no choice but to sacrifice the reputation of your older sister by interacting with him to buy some more time. After all, our enemy is too strong; if they realize that they can’t win against us through wits, they might use force, making us lose any chance of victory!” Lady Yan’s voice was filled with tiredness, revealing traces of physical and mental exhaustion in her voice.