Chapter 434: Between Life and Death
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon BoatT
Qin Xiaoyao walked to Lord Liu s bedside.
The icy cold dagger in her hand slapped against Lord Liu s face.
“Wake up…” she said icily.
Lord Liu was woken up by the chilly sensation.
As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw a dagger placed horizontally across his neck, gleaming with a steely glint under the moonlight.
His body shuddered at once and he instinctively backed away.
However, Qin Xiaoyao wasn’t prepared to let him off so easily.
The dagger immediately followed. At the same time, she reached out her other hand to press against Lord Liu’s back, stopping his movement.
“If you move again, you may lose your wretched life!” Qin Xiaoyao threatened.
Lord Liu immediately stopped moving.
“Hero, please spare me! If you have any orders, I will… I will definitely obey. I only beg… beg you to spare my life, hero!” he cried out in panic.
His voice woke the woman beside him.
When the woman opened her eyes and saw what was happening, she immediately wanted to scream.
However, before she could scream, she was knocked out by Qin Xiaoyao with one slap.
When he saw this, Lord Liu’s eyes were filled with even more fear.
He had completely given up the idea of yelling for help when the intruder was caught off guard.
This intruder s skills were amazing. If he yelled for help, he would probably lose his life before he could utter a sound.
“Hero… hero, are you short of money?”
“I… 1 am willing to offer 5000 taels of silver notes. 1 beg… beg you to spare my life, hero,” Lord Liu said as he cowered down.
Qin Xiaoyao rolled her eyes.
“As a prefectural magistrate, your life is only worth 5000 taels of silver?” she said with displeasure.
She had come to collect evidence of Jia Kun accepting bribes and engaging in ruthless land grabs thereby forcing people to their deaths. She had no intention of robbing him.
However, since the other party had taken the initiative to offer money to her, how could she not take it? Anyway, no one would complain about having too much money, right?
Lord Liu s body trembled momentarily.
At the same time, he also felt a little more at ease.
It was good that the intruder wanted money. What he feared most was that the party was not here for money but for revenge.
“Then how about 10,000 taels?” Lord Liu quickly said in a very timid tone.
A trace of chilliness flashed across Qin Xiaoyao1 s eyes, and she immediately tightened her grip on the dagger.
“How much do you want, hero? Just name it!” Lord Liu immediately screamed. He was afraid that Qin Xiaoyao’s hand would slip and end up taking his lowly life. He even controlled the volume of his voice and did not dare to scream loudly.
A faint smile appeared on Qin Xiaoyao’s face under the mask.
“A hundred thousand taels,” she said in a deep voice.
Lord Liu s heart sank.
He only hesitated for a moment before agreeing.
“Fine!”
As soon as he agreed to her request, Qin Xiaoyao became a little annoyed. She suspected that she might have asked for too little.
However, when she recalled the reason she was here, she did not compel Lord Liu anymore.
“Get the money now.” Qin Xiaoyao waved her dagger again.
“Yes, yes, yes!” Lord Liu quickly replied.
Thereafter, he allowed Qin Xiaoyao to hold him hostage as he get out of bed to retrieve the silver notes.
The silver notes were actually hidden in a secret compartment inside the same room.
When Lord Liu opened the secret compartment and Qin Xiaoyao saw many things inside, she immediately pulled Lord Liu away.
Then, she reached out to grab the items herself.
“Hero, you can’t…” Lord Liu quickly stopped her.
However, Qin Xiaoyao only moved her dagger slightly, and Lord Liu did not dare to go forward anymore.
Qin Xiaoyao quickly took out the items in the secret compartment.
There was a big stack of silver notes, all of which had face values of 500 taels each.
After a rough estimation, there were indeed about 100,000 taels.
What was left were some letters and two accounting ledgers.
Based on her experience in watching TV dramas before the apocalypse, Qin Xiaoyao quickly guessed that these things were most likely what she was looking for.
Under the mask, she smiled gleefully again.
She thought to herself that it really didn’t take any effort to get these items.
As she flipped through one of the ledgers, she saw the information recorded on it.
Qin Xiaoyao’s eyes lit up instantly.
Lord Liu, however, was on the verge of tears.
He wanted to persuade Qin Xiaoyao to leave the accounting ledgers and letters for him. After all, those things were not worth much to her.
However, when he saw Qin Xiaoyao flipping through the accounting ledgers with great interest, he knew then that things were not as simple as they seemed.
Sure enough, Qin Xiaoyao packed up everything in his secret compartment with the silver notes, including the letters and ledgers.
“Hero… hero, you… you are not here to ro… ask for money.” Lord Liu stammered. He was not even using a questioning tone. He wanted to say “rob,” but before he said it, he changed it to “ask for money” at the last minute for fear of offending Qin Xiaoyao.
Qin Xiaoyao glanced at Lord Liu.
Lord Liu immediately lowered his head.
“Don’t talk nonsense!’’ Qin Xiaoyao responded in annoyance.
She took a step forward and tapped the dagger carelessly on Lord Liu’s shoulder.
“Other than these things, there are also the case files of the Wang and Yun families in the suburbs suing Jia Kun. And also hand over the two guys Wang Cheng and Yun Kuan to me,” Qin Xiaoyao said.
Lord Liu s body instantly went limp.
If Qin Xiaoyao hadn’t held him up, he would have collapsed to the ground in fear.
“Hero, please spare me, please spare me!” Lord Liu didn’t allow Qin Xiaoyao to help him up. Instead, he broke free from Qin Xiaoyao’s grip, knelt on the ground, and began kowtowing to Qin Xiaoyao.
By now, how could Lord Liu not see what this person was here for?
What money? He was here to take his life!
The overwhelming power of the Empress’s brother extended from the Imperial Court to all levels of society. He also had the protection of Empress Jia.
If the evidence of Jia Kun’s crime was leaked out from his hands and Jia Kun found out, how could he still stay alive?
Lord Liu was afraid that he would not be the only one affected. At that point, his entire family would probably not be able to escape.
If this wasn’t equivalent to taking his life, then what was?
“Who wants your life?” Qin Xiaoyao said icily.
“Jia Kun has done many evil things and has already incurred tremendous public wrath.
“Right now, there are already people in the Imperial Court preparing to make a move against him,
“You have to give me the things. When the time comes, honorable men will use these things to bring down Jia Kun and Empress Jia. Not only will you be fine, you might even be able to claim some credit.”
Lord Liu was shocked inwardly.
When he heard Qin Xiaoyao’s words, a particular person quickly came to mind.
Following that, he kowtowed twice to Qin Xiaoyao.
“Hero, please spare me. 1 only want to live a stable life. 1 do not seek wealth and prosperity. 1 don’t want to get involved in the struggles of the honorable men! ” Who else in the Imperial Court could go against the Jia family and Empress Jia besides Prince Huaiyin?
However, even if it were Prince Huaiyin, Lord Liu didn’t think that this guy could definitively defeat Empress Jia.
If that guy’s scheme failed, what awaited Lord Liu and his family would be a devastating disaster. He did not want ro take such a risk.
Qin Xiaoyao curled her lips and stepped on Lord Liu’s back.
The force in her foot was so overwhelming that Lord Liu couldn’t straighten his back.
At the same time, he didn’t dare to raise his head.
“You have to get involved whether you want to or not.
“These things are already in my hands, so there’s no reason for me not to take them away.
“As for you, if you don’t cooperate, there’s no need for you to live.
“Give me your answer before I count to five. If you agree to cooperate, I’ll let you live until you hand over the two guys Wang Cheng and Yun Kuan ro me.
“If you don’t agree…
“Hmph! Since I have already obtained the items, I think there’s no need for you to live.1‘
Lord Liu s body trembled, and large beads of sweat kept appearing on his forehead.
“One…” At this moment, Qin Xiaoyao had already started counting.
“Hero, please spare my life! This matter concerns my entire family and even the lives of my entire clan.. 1 can’t give you an answer right away!”