Chapter 3702 — Two Pieces of Intelligence
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 3
Li Zhengming, who had been standing silently to one side, glanced at Zhong Yongliang in some surprise. His worries were identical to Zhong Yongliang's—only, given his standing, he had no right to speak up in front of Xu Lingchong at all. He had never expected Zhong Yongliang to voice them on his behalf.
At this point Meng Jueming chimed in as well: "Junior Brother Zhong has a point. The Tri-Layered Pavilion has always placed great importance on newcomers. If a newcomer were killed, it would very likely bring the higher-ups of the Law Enforcement Hall down on us directly. No matter how cleanly we covered our tracks, I fear some loose end would still give us away and bring disaster down on our heads."
In truth, Meng Jueming's words were purely a calculation for his own sake. After all, Xu Lingchong had said this in front of everyone present, and if he truly did conceive the notion of assassinating Wei Zhao, Meng Jueming could not possibly remain uninvolved. When that time came, the Law Enforcement Hall might not dare to move against Xu Lingchong, but he himself would certainly be cast out as a scapegoat—and that would be a death with no burial ground.
"Rest easy. I won't resort to such a low move unless there's absolutely no other way. So all of you, put your minds to it—how can we make our little junior sister Lan'er loathe Wei Zhao?" Xu Lingchong swept his gaze over the group.
Deep as his backing ran, word of assassinating a newcomer would not merely cost a life; it would stain the reputation of the entire Tri-Layered Pavilion of the Northern Isle. If things truly came to that pass, even his own grandfather would have to strain every resource to shield him.
Unless there was no other choice at all, Young Master Xu would never stoop to such a foolish act.
The group frowned and racked their brains for a while, until the most seasoned of them, Meng Jueming, suddenly clapped his hands. "I've got it! I've thought of a fine plan!"
"Out with it," Xu Lingchong urged at once.
Shangguan Lan'er was the wife he had long since earmarked for himself. Though he had not yet won her over, how could he tolerate her consorting with a nobody like Wei Zhao? The sprout had to be nipped in the bud at the earliest opportunity!
"Young Master Xu, you said it yourself just now—the reason a pampered little princess like Miss Shangguan takes an interest in a grassroots commoner from the secular world like Wei Zhao is that she has never met anyone of his kind before, and so her curiosity is aroused. Isn't that so?" Meng Jueming said, deliberately drawing out the suspense.
"Quite right. Go on," Xu Lingchong nodded.
"As the saying goes, once a woman's curiosity is stirred, her fall is not far behind. By any measure, a young gentleman of your caliber, Young Master Xu, could crush a penniless nobody like Wei Zhao—but it's precisely a woman's curiosity that lets such nobodies turn the tables and come out on top! So if we want to strangle this dangerous sprout in the bud, the key lies in snuffing out Miss Shangguan's curiosity!" Meng Jueming declared with an air of great profundity.
Xu Lingchong mused it over. "Interesting. Then tell me, how do we snuff out her curiosity? We can hardly toss her into the secular world, can we?"
"Heh heh, there's no need to go to the secular world. Snuffing out Miss Shangguan's curiosity is actually very simple—we need only let her see the true, ugly face of that penniless nobody Wei Zhao! Didn't Junior Brother Kang say just now that this fellow was forever philandering wherever he went back in the secular world? We need only expose his lecherous, fickle true colors in front of Miss Shangguan, and everything will unravel of itself!" Meng Jueming said with a complacent grin.