Chapter 8: The Immoral Ximen Daguanren

“Who?”

Ximen Daguanren, who had just been about to enjoy some private-room play with his personal servant, sprang to his feet.

Dai’an, thoroughly familiar with the situation and already half-naked, frantically grabbed his clothes and pulled them back on.

Though male love was common and everyone knew it, word of it getting out would still bring shame.

“Who are you? What business do you have breaking into my Ximen household at this hour?”

Ximen Qing narrowed his eyes, sizing up the black-clad figure before him,

whose entire body—face and hair included—was shrouded in black cloth, leaving only a pair of eyes exposed.

His muscles were taut, ready to shove Dai’an forward as a shield at the slightest sign of trouble.

Surely Dai’an, as his personal servant, would feel honored?

Dai’an: I shit NM!

“Heh!

I’ve long heard that Ximen Daguanren is wealthy beyond measure in Yanggu, with countless rare treasures,

your fortune counted in tens of thousands of strings of cash. I’ve come simply to take some silver for my expenses.

You, Ximen Daguanren, are known for your refinement—surely you won’t let me leave empty-handed.”

Zhang Jie, seized by a wicked urge, shut the window,

then couldn’t resist teasing Ximen Daguanren in the tone of Chu Xiangshuai.

After all, as a lifelong playboy, Ximen Daguanren had always been his idol before he crossed over—

no, his object of revulsion.

Of course, Zhang Jie, knowing his identity must not be revealed, didn’t use his real voice,

but instead channeled his internal Qi into his throat, making his voice deeper, rougher, and more powerful than his natural youthful tone.

“Since you have a request, how could I refuse?”

Ximen Qing, sensing the black-clad man’s profound depth, spoke soothingly.

“Dai’an, hurry to the vault and bring a hundred taels of gold for this warrior.”

Ximen Qing ordered Dai’an.

“Yes, Father.”

Faced with this mysterious black-clad man, Dai’an was equally panicked,

but years of habit made him instinctively obey Ximen Qing’s command.

Saying this, Dai’an, barely dressed, moved to leave the private room.

“Stop!”

Zhang Jie halted Dai’an.

What if Dai’an ran out and raised the alarm?

Though he wasn’t afraid of being surrounded by Ximen’s servants, he wasn’t a murderous psychopath either,

and couldn’t possibly kill every single servant in the Ximen household.

Most of Ximen’s servants, aside from a few like Dai’an,

were nothing more than hired hands doing a job for pay.

Even more tragic was Laiwang, whose wife was stolen by Ximen Daguanren for her beauty,

and who was then falsely accused and sentenced to exile by Ximen himself.

How utterly miserable!

Zhang Jie, once a wage slave himself in his past life, had no intention of harming these workers.

Why make life harder for your fellow worker?

“So you’re a seasoned bandit!”

Ximen Qing silently cursed the failure of his plan to summon help.

He was certain that with Dai’an’s wit, once outside, he’d immediately rally the other servants,

and then this black-clad thief would be at his mercy—whether to kill or spare, it would be his word alone.

But he knew such a trick only fooled greenhorn thieves;

any experienced bandit wouldn’t fall for it.

“Then perhaps you’d be willing to accompany my servant and me somewhere?”

Ximen Qing, his first plan foiled, devised another.

If this black-clad man agreed to come with him, he’d lead him to a completely sealed room.

Then, no matter how seasoned a thief or how ruthless a killer he was,

he’d be left screaming for heaven to hear, for earth to answer—no help coming.

“Ximen Daguanren is indeed generous, but I have no desire to move.”

Zhang Jie chuckled lightly, declining Ximen Daguanren’s proposal again.

Though he couldn’t read minds and didn’t know what scheme Ximen Daguanren was hatching,

having studied the Great Man’s theories, he knew:

When facing an enemy, never follow their line of thought,

for your enemy will gladly exploit any information gap to bury you alive!

“I have some ornaments here—perhaps they might please you?”

Ximen Qing said, unfastening a jade pendant from his belt and holding it before Zhang Jie.

“Ximen Daguanren truly has great wealth!”

Zhang Jie, studying the pendant, couldn’t help but admire it.

Though he had no expertise in jewels or jade,

he could tell that the piece Ximen Qing presented glowed with a soft luster in the candlelight,

as if it were a rare treasure among jade ornaments—a glowing Guanyin pendant.

If his guess was right, this pendant was carved from premium sheep-fat white jade,

and the Guanyin figure was clearly the work of a master jade carver,

whose few brush-like strokes captured the Bodhisattva’s boundless compassion perfectly.

It was surely worth more than a thousand gold pieces, but a thousand taels of silver? Definitely worth it.

“I never expected Ximen Daguanren to harbor such ambitions.”

Zhang Jie, studying the pendant closely, spoke with pointed meaning.

“Guanyin” sounds like “official seal”; among the people, it’s common to say, “Men wear Guanyin, women wear Buddha,”

hoping boys will pass the imperial exams, enter officialdom, and seize power.

Ximen Qing wore this pendant constantly—his intentions were obvious.

“Just a trifle, nothing to impress you.”

Ximen Qing’s smile remained unchanged, showing no irritation at being seen through.

What man born in this land hadn’t dreamed of sleeping on a beauty’s lap and ruling the world awake?

And Ximen Qing, having spent so long as a merchant,

knew clearly: there are limits to being a merchant!

To truly enter the upper echelons of the Great Song,

there was only one path—become an official!

Why was he so afraid of Zhang Jie, a boy half his age?

Precisely because this boy was a prodigy of the imperial examinations!

Only by passing the exams and earning the titles of juren or jinshi could one obtain the entry ticket to the upper class!

Lacking any talent for the exams, he’d been forced to find another route—

becoming a lapdog to Cai Jing, Liu Eunuch, Xue Eunuch, and others!

And even that, many men couldn’t even get the chance to do!

Zhang Jie: I think you’re subtly mocking me before I had access to the shared space…

“Father, may I present this pendant to the gentleman?”

Seeing the two seemed to have reached an agreement, Dai’an tried to show his usefulness and loyalty to Ximen Qing.

“No. I’ll present it myself.”

Ximen Qing directly refused Dai’an’s suggestion.

“Please, sir, take a look.”

Ximen Qing stepped slowly forward three paces and held the pendant before Zhang Jie.

“Truly an excellent piece,” Zhang Jie murmured, entranced.

This pendant was the most valuable ornament he’d seen in over a decade in the Water Margin world.

In Yanggu, even a good acre of farmland cost no more than a dozen taels of silver.

That meant this single pendant was worth over a hundred acres of prime land.

Even a penniless refugee who obtained this pendant

could instantly become a small landowner with a hundred acres!

Of course, that bright future assumed he wouldn’t die from carrying gold through a crowded market.

The Zhang family could be called a wealthy household, but its land amounted to no more than a thousand mu.

This single jade pendant is worth one-tenth of the Zhang family’s land!

Master Ximen is carrying one-tenth of the Zhang family’s wealth on his person!

“Perfect opportunity!”

Seeing that Zhang Jie’s attention seemed entirely drawn to the jade pendant, Ximen Qing could not help but smile.

Ever since he noticed that Zhang Jie neither sent Dai’an to fetch money,

nor asked him to accompany Zhang Jie to retrieve it, he knew Zhang Jie had ill intent.

After all, Zhang Jie had come uninvited in the dead of night—clearly not with good intentions.

And since he was not after gold, silver, or jewels, then he must be after something more valuable than gold or silver.

Does the Ximen household have anything more precious or important than Ximen Qing’s own life?

Ximen Qing bent his knees slightly as if riding a horse, then twisted his waist and shifted his hips,

clenched his right fist, and drove it straight toward Zhang Jie’s face with all his might!

Zhang Jie appeared to be caught off guard—he had not moved even as Ximen Qing’s fist drew within a foot of his face.

Seeing this, Ximen Qing’s face lit up with a triumphant smile:

This punch technique he had learned at great cost from a master of fist arts.

The power of this punch was such that even a blue brick would be shattered into fragments,

let alone the soft flesh of a man’s face?

In his youth, when Ximen Qing traveled far and wide, he had relied on such skills,

having personally slain several bandits and outlaws!

He could already picture the black-clad man screaming in agony, collapsing to the ground!

Zhang Jie regarded Ximen Qing’s actions with disdain:

Master Ximen violates the code of martial virtue—he cheats and ambushes a mere teenager like me.

Is this right? It is not.

Zhang Jie urges Master Ximen to abandon this behavior at once and mend his ways!