22 To Guide Patiently and Systematically

Jun Xie glared at Tang Yuan with eyes as sharp as knives. His vision pierced Tang Yuan’s heart as he asked, "Do you really think that you would have the guts to do something as crazy as this?"

Tang Yuan had been crying. Suddenly, a calm expression flashed across his face. He wasn’t a dimwit. In fact, he was rather shrewd. He calmed his mind down, and started to recall the happenings of the day. The more he analysed the events… the surer he became that something had been suspicious about the whole matter. He eventually realized that he couldn’t have done something like that even in his dreams – that is… if he had been in his senses.

However, he had done that. But, how and why?

[Am I such a despicable person? I accept that I’m not the most exceptional and well-behaved person… but I know where to draw the line. I wouldn’t have done something like that if I had been in my senses… even if I was challenged by death itself. Today, I not only did something like that once… but repeatedly. Each of my action was more shameful and disgusting than the previous one. I would rather die than do something that disgraces and disrespects my entire family. These actions can send me to an abyss with no hope of a return.]

[Then, why did I do those things?]

Tang Yang seemed extremely confused.

"Was Meng Haizou wearing the same clothes when you entered the Thousand Gold Hall earlier?" Jin Xie asked with hard eyes and an evil smile on his face.

"Yes. But, what does his clothes have to do with this matter? Was something wrong with them?" Tang Yuan was still confused.

"Did you smell a perfume from his clothes? It was quite unique… wasn’t it?" Jun Xie continued with his questioning.

"Yes… it was a different kind of a smell," Tang Yuan replied in a perplexed tone.

"Did they serve you a cup of tea before you started with the game… as they did with me?" Jun Xie asked further.

"Yes… But, what about it?" Tang Yuan asked.

"What about it? Humph! Humph! Nothing much… It was just the beginning of your eternal damnation," Jun Xie sneered and said.

Suddenly, Tang Yuan jumped-up. He seemed shocked. It turned out that he wasn’t as much of a fool. "You mean… that… there was something wrong with the tea?"

"Something wrong with the tea…?" Jun Xie sneered. "There was something wrong with everything… his clothes… his perfume… the tea… everything. Why would anyone serve tea to a gang of gamblers before the start of a game? What kind of a norm can that be? You idiot! How could you not notice such an obvious thing?"

"You also drank the tea… didn’t you? But, you look fine…" Tang Yuan became even more confused.

"Do you remember that I sneezed on your clothes after I drank the tea… when your clothes had become wet?" Jun Xie said with a smile.

"Yes… I remember," Tang Yuan recalled the incident and answered.

"People discharge sputum when they sneeze… But, I made your clothes wet. Didn’t you find anything unusual about it?" Jun Xie tilted his head to one side and asked.

Suddenly, a realization dawned on Tang Yuan, "Oh… so that what’s had happened? But, how do you know so much about this matter?"

[How do I know so much? That’s a difficult question. How do I tell him that I’m so familiar with these kinds of drugs that I can tell them with a sniff? In fact, even the pores of my body could detect the presence of these drugs in my past life.]

Jun Xie rubbed his nose. He thought that the only way to get out of this situation was to give a bad name to himself, "I know because I’ve played the same tricks myself. Do you understand now?"

"This was expected from Third Young Master Jun… It’s indeed quite a smooth trick. You’re truly a great expert, Third Young Master," Tang Yuan spoke with admiration.

Jun Xie was on the verge of bursting out with laughter. He said, "It’s true that you’ve taken care of the promissory note. But, these guys will do everything in their power to spread this news. How are you going to deal with this problem?"

"You’re right! What should I do?" Tang Yuan became anxious as he heard Jun Xie’s words.

"You should go back home… and tell everything that happened to your grandfather… Everything… without concealing or exaggerating any detail. Let your grandfather decide the further course of action. Let him not hear about this matter from anyone else other than you. Otherwise, you’re finished," Jun Xie laughed secretly as he said.

He continued, "I don’t think that your grandfather will blame you… since you had been set-up by those guys. We both know that your grandfather is much more capable of dealing with these kinds of matters than you are. I guess that you must be extremely angry over those guys. Am I right? Let me tell you something. Leave your sword and accompaniment jade with me for now. Then, take one-million liang worth of silver bills to those guys in order to redeem your assets. Naturally, they won’t be able to return those items to you. Then… do you understand?" Jun Xie said in a sinister tone. It seemed as if a devil was tempting an innocent layman to commit a crime.

Tang Yuan slapped his thigh and said, "You’re right! This is the only way to get an upper-hand over those guys. But, they can easily redeem those items from you in exchange for money…"

"You’re truly an idiot! They had used the sword and the accompaniment jade as a wager against my promise… not money. So, why would I give these items to them in exchange for money? Have you still not understood anything?" Jun Xie laughed and said.

"Oh… right!" Tang Yuan exclaimed.

Jun Xie then took out a teacup from his bosom with a smile on his face. There were still a few drops of tea at the bottom of the cup.

"They served the drugged tea in this cup. I picked it up earlier. See… there are still a few drops of tea left in it." Jun Xie smiled.

"Hahahaha… you’re truly a professional, Third Young Master." Tang Yuan carefully took the cup from Jun Xie. He then started to roll away like a wild horse runs after its rear has been sliced open. "So… you’re plotting against me? Now, I’ll plot against you…"

Jun Xie smiled as he saw the receding figure of Tang Yuan. Both Tang Yuan’s and his fiancée’s families were quite influential. So, the Li and Meng families certainly had busy days ahead of them. And, Jun Xie had already reserved a chair for himself in order to watch the upcoming ‘show’.

However, the outcome of the incident in the Thousand Gold Hall would’ve been something else if not for the sudden emergence of Dugu Xiao Yi and the change in the personality of Jun Mo Xie. Jun Xie wasn’t scared of Meng Haizou or Li Feng. However, he would’ve invited the attention of countless enemies if he had exposed his real strength in front of them. Then, Jun Xie wouldn’t have been in an advantageous position.

Jun Mo Xie’s enemies were backed by many influential families in the city even though they were first-rate debauchees. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have dared to drug people with strong backgrounds like Jun Mo Xie and Tang Yuan. Would they have dared to act in this manner of they didn’t have a powerful backing?

Definitely no! It was simply impossible.

Jun Mo Xie was himself an infamous debauchee. However, he had the powerful backing of Jun Zhan Tian. It was true that Grandpa Jun was the only significant person in the Jun family. But, a weak camel is still better than a horse. Nearly one-third of the military generals were under the command of Jun Zhan Tian. And, these generals would support Jun Mo Xie as long as Grandpa Jun was alive. Their bodies had been engraved with the ‘Jun’ mark; whether they liked it or not.

A monstrous storm would be created in the royal court if something was to happen to the Jun family. These people too would fall in case the Jun family fell. They would be suppressed by the other factions to the limit of being unable to fight back. However, these people could stand strong as long as the Jun family existed. So, these people would always come together to fight their enemies; whether they were domestic or foreign.

Therefore, it was extremely important that nothing untoward happened to the Jun family; and, especially to Jun Mo Xie. All these people looked down upon him. However, they wouldn’t hesitate to do anything in order to protect him from any danger.

This was also true for the Tang family. The Tang family wasn’t as powerful as the Jun family. However, they were one of the most powerful people in the city. So, the combined force of the Jun and Tang families could compel even a mighty family like the Dugu family to take a step backwards.

This didn’t mean that the might of the Jun family was any less than the Dugu family. In fact, the Dugu family didn’t dare to raise their heads in front of the Jun family when the Jun family was at its peak for a period of seven years. However, the situation had changed now. The Jun family had lost its mighty members – except for Jun Zhan Tian – one after the other, while the Dugu family had continued to churn out new talents. Therefore, they had eventually taken over the Jun family.

Therefore, the Dugu family was the most influential family now; at least in the eyes of the outsiders.

Nonetheless, the Jun family couldn’t lose all its might as long as Jun Zhan Tian was alive. In fact, even the Imperial powers couldn’t dare to take a step against the Jun family.

However, the Li and Meng families had come together to plot against Jun Mo Xie and Tang Yuan. This was highly unusual.

It seemed that something wasn’t right.

The people who had been at the forefront of this plot had been the infamous debauchees of the city. So, no one would’ve taken it seriously even if this matter had been exposed in front of the people. People – at the most – would’ve had a good laugh at it. However, what would’ve happened if their plot had been successful?