Chapter 219 “Hush Money”
Aside from the assorted seeds, there were also some stones, rice, and pieces of porcelain mixed into the pile. There shouldn’t have been a need to go to such lengths, but whenever Hou Qi imagined Ling Yue sifting through the seeds by “herself”, an unbridled fury would immediately burst out from within. As such, he will make an example of this woman today to deter any future candidates from causing trouble.
Making a bitter face, Manager Meng eyed the pile of junk on the ground with most of her focus on the sharp fragments that radiated a painful chill.
To think she herself, a dignified eight cauldron alchemist master, would be forced to kneel before a pair of lowly brats.
Just knowing this fact caused her to choke on the frustration confined to her stomach.
Damn you Lan Ling Yue. Once the prince leaves I will be sure to pay you back for this, she mumbles to herself so none can hear.
Not missing the dangerous gleam coming off the woman’s eye, Hou Qi raised his voice and started to shout: “You are not allowed to use your spirit force to clean this up!”
That command was no different from a death sentence to Manager Meng, “I… I understand.” On her knees, she began sorting through the mess like a ragged dog.
Without the aid of her spirit force, Manager Meng’s physical body was no different from a normal person’s. As a result, her hands were soon cut by the sharp edges of the porcelain, causing blood to seep into the messy pile. As painful as it was on her fingers, she endured and finally finished the task using two-three hours of time.
As the woman raised her head again, the moon had already risen overhead by now. But that’s not the shocking part, the shocking part was when she turned around to find the pair responsible for her misfortune enjoying themselves in fruits on a nearby table.
Never in her life had she endured such humiliation.
“Your Highness, the seeds have been sorted. May I get up?” Though there’s enough anger pent up inside to make the woman gnash her teeth, she didn’t dare show it. Instead, Manager Meng continues to keep up her servant face.
After staying in the kneeling position for nearly three hours, her body can’t take anymore and was in dire need of relief. No way she’s willing aggravate the prince further.
The woman had the right idea in mind – Hou Qi was about done anyways – unfortunately for her though, just as the prince wanted to let her stand, Ling Yue cuts in at the critical moment. “Your Highness, I heard Da Xia is strict with the laws. According to the rules, a court official caught accepting bribes is punishable by dismissal, or in worse cases, exile to the frontier. Is this not true?”
As soon as her words came out, Manager Meng knew things are going to be bad. Instantly, the rising legs lost their footing again and jerked back to the ground where it landed right atop of some gravel pieces lying below. This caused quite the painful experience from the stab.
As painful as it were, there’s plenty more coming right up.
“Your Highness, Princess Yue, General Chiyan, please have mercy on my old bones.” She’s a wise woman. Now that she’s caught red handed, the only outcome would be her dismissal, something she can’t afford to allow.
“Manager Meng, your meaning is that you wish to give us some hush money. Am I correct?” Ling Yue blinks and blink, “But you know, the three of us aren’t your average person so its not going to be cheap.”
Hearing himself being dragged into the charade by the miss, General Chiyan wanted to object but found his tongue at a loss when the prince glared at him. Needless to say, this “caught red handed” idea also originated from the girl.
Xia Hou had no delusions about Ling Yue’s intellect because his mother was constantly reminding him of this fact. In the queen’s wording, if Ling Yue were to be a male instead, such a character will no doubt become a pillar holding up the state.
Now that things have come to this extent with the words spelled out for her, Manager Meng can only obediently pay the asking price: “Princess… Your servant here is willing to offer you three thousand gold…” With the sensation of cutting her own flesh, she shakily pulls out three pieces of bank notes from her sleeve.
“Three thousand gold? Manager Meng, are you treating us like beggars? How can you only offer that sort of number when you’ve been taking bribes for all these years?” Despite her attitude, Ling Yue’s hand moved faster than her words and grabbed the bills before anyone could react.
Biting her lips, Manager Meng reached into her sleeves again, but this time, even her voice had a trembling tone to it.
“Princess, here’s fifty thousand…”
“Just fifty? This won’t do, this won’t do at all. I’m an odd person you know and likes to count money at night. If I don’t have enough money to count then my mouth will start running by itself when I sleep. I can’t guarantee that my lips won’t slip if that happens.”
Feeling the frustration and anger swelling up from her stomach again, Manager Meng nearly choked herself to death when she had to forcibly force it back down.
You thankless wretch, I only wanted a thousand gold from you and now you are saying even fifty times that is not enough for you? Helpless, she can only reach down to her boots to pull out several more bank notes.
In total, that brought the number up to one hundred thousand gold.
Forget about General Chiyan, even the sixth prince was surprised by the number. If they can easily squeeze this much out from a deputy manager, then wouldn’t that mean Main Manager Chou…
After gathering the hush money, Ling Yue properly divided the spoil among the three of them. She and the prince split eighty percent of it while the last twenty will go to General Chiyan. This way around all three of them are in on it together. No chances of anyone ratting anyone out.
Getting up, Manager Meng may be hurting on her knees and hands, but the most painful part remains to be her heart. Not only did she not get a penny from the blasted wretch, she just lost one hundred thousand gold in night. Just thinking of this made her heart feel like a knife had just stabbed itself in there.
“Manager Meng, let me advise you on something. If one takes the night road too often they are bound to capsize one day. You must cherish what you have.” Ling Yue didn’t forget to leave this statement behind as they left.
Finally no longer able to suppress the anger and frustration that’s been pent up all night long, the aching woman plops to the ground and fainted away like a corpse.