Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2566: Atonement for Sins 29.0
After hearing what Boss Luan said, Shen Cha and Ying Er exchanged glances, but there was no trace of surprise on their faces.

They had guessed before that if the marriage between the Luan and Liu families was not more beneficial than harmful to Master Falian and the Qinglian Sect, the Empress Dowager would not risk offending His Royal Highness Prince Ning, Prince Dai, and Wu Qingruo behind them by ruining the marriage between the Liu family and His Royal Highness Prince Ning.

Moreover, they also guessed that, although on the surface the marriage between the Luan and Liu families seemed to be led by the Grand Empress Dowager, it was actually decided by Master Falian. Without the support of this person behind the scenes, not even the Grand Empress Dowager would do such a thing.

As for why the Luan and Liu families were chosen for the marriage, Shen Cha had also investigated. No matter whether they were families of noble character or families of merchants, the Luan and Liu families were in a position that was neither up nor down. They could neither go up nor down, which was very embarrassing.

The heads of these two families are ambitious people. They don't want their family to continue in this embarrassing position, so they want to stand out. However, nothing they do can satisfy their wishes. After accumulating resentment for a long time, they will find a way out by any means necessary. As long as there is a way out, they will not miss it, even if there is a bottomless abyss behind this way out.

"What's wrong?" Boss Luan looked at this and that, stuttering, "Did I say something wrong?"

"That's right, keep talking." Seeing Shen Cha's signal, Ying Wu flicked the whip in his hand again and said, "When did you hear this?"

"On the day when both parties agreed to the marriage," Boss Luan sighed and said, "Marriage is a major event in life, and all six rites must be performed. However, my eldest brother's marriage took less than half a month from the date of the engagement to the wedding. Not long after the wedding, my eldest brother passed away. After a simple funeral, my family and the Liu family moved to Jiangnan. From that day on, he never returned to Xijing City."

"When did you take over the family business?"

"In the second year after moving to Jiangnan, my father was hit hard by the death of my eldest brother. Although we had been prepared for this, and everyone in the family knew that my eldest brother was just barely making ends meet, there would be a day sooner or later when my father would die young. But when that day really came, there was still no way to accept it. In the second month after my eldest brother's funeral was completed and the whole family moved from Xijing City to Jiangnan, my father fell ill, and he never recovered from this illness. I had no choice but to accept the order and take over my father's position as a member of the Qinglian Sect. In the next few decades, our family business did grow bigger and bigger, but we also got deeper and deeper into trouble." Boss Luan smiled bitterly, "Maybe you don't believe it, but in fact, in the past few decades, I wanted to retire many times, but both me and the Liu family were in the hands of Master Falian. It was not easy to get out of it."

"You still want to withdraw?" Ying Wu didn't believe him at all. "Aren't you Master Falian's most loyal... um, lackey? You are the source of the Forget Worry Powder in Daxia, and you also opened up the trade route to the Western Regions for Master Falian. Logically, you should be the one who benefited the most. How dare you want to run away? Impossible?"

"I swear to God, I really thought about withdrawing." Boss Luan sighed, "What the young general said is right. I am the source of Forget Worry Powder in Daxia, and even Jin and Liao. But I am just a general supplier. If the boss doesn't give me the goods, I can't distribute them to the lower levels. Moreover, the profits from Forget Worry Powder are not for me. I just resell them and take a cut."

"Don't play the victim. Can a little bit of profit from selling things to you make you rich and powerful now?"

"I'm really not trying to be pitiful, this is the truth." Boss Luan sighed and said, "Forget Worry Powder has a high profit margin, and I can only take 10%. The remaining 90% will go to Master Falian intact. And of this 10%, I have to give half to the people below." He looked at Shen Cha, "The Ning family is in the hands of the general, right? The kid from the Ning family took away a scroll from the Ning family. It looks like a sea chart, but it's actually an account book. It records the distribution of the Forget Worry Powder by Xia Liaojin. After you crack it, you will know that what I said is true." "Do you still need us to crack it?"

"Because the account book is written in secret code, neither I nor the Ning family know what is in it. We only know that it is an account book, nothing more."

"The Ning family is responsible for collecting the account books, but they don't know how to decipher them?"

"We are only responsible for collecting and taking care of the boss's things. We are not qualified to manage or check them." Boss Luan sighed, "Master Falian is very suspicious. He only trusts himself and no one else." He looked at Ying Er and said, "The boss tests our loyalty every year, and the means he uses are different every year. People like us may look like core members, but we are actually far from the core. The means are quite simple. Every year, we are beaten and tortured. If we pass the test, everything will be fine for the whole year. If we fail, the whole family will be in trouble. As for the core members, they are all controlled by drugs. As for what drugs they use, only they know."

Shen Cha thought of Yanyou. As an adopted son, Yanyou was definitely the core of the core, and he was raised by Master Falian. But even so, he did not get the trust he deserved. The poison in his body was a good example.

Thinking of Yanyou, Shen Cha sighed softly. He didn't know where this guy had gone and whether he could withstand the test of Master Falian's endless tricks.

Ying Er and Ying Wu looked at Shen Cha's expression, then looked at each other. Like Shen Cha, they also thought of Yan You. It was exactly the same as what Boss Luan said, the more core the person, the more Master Falian would be on guard against them.

Boss Luan didn't know what they were thinking, but looking at the faces of these people, he felt that they didn't seem to believe him.

"What I said is true. You can go and investigate."

"Don't be impatient, don't be impatient. I didn't say that what you said was not true." Ying Wu smiled, "So, you want to withdraw because you are not trusted, and you feel that you are losing too much, so you want to find a new boss?"

"There are reasons for this." Boss Luan sighed, "Besides that, there is another very important reason. He does whatever he wants. Sometimes, he doesn't care about the lives of his subordinates at all. He wants us to do things he knows are impossible to accomplish. If we don't complete it, it gives him an excuse to punish us. Sometimes, we think that he may really not care whether we can complete the tasks he assigns to us. He just wants to find an excuse to torment us."