The Brutal Beating of Ling Wei

"Mr. Zhang, it’s not that we don’t trust you. It’s just that you’re too sentimental. That’s not good—it’s easy to bring your emotions into your personal life and work."

Shirakawa Rin continued, "If you’re unwilling to deal with Gu Xuanwu personally, we’d be more than happy to do it for you. We’re willing to eliminate Gu Xuanwu and help you take control of Wen County."

"You don’t need to worry about this. I’ll handle Gu Xuanwu myself."

Gu Sheng’s attitude was unexpectedly cold, making it seem as though he was deliberately talking back.

"All right! Since Mr. Zhang knows what he’s doing, Shirakawa Rin will await good news."

Seeing how determined Gu Sheng was, Shirakawa Rin stopped trying to persuade him.

"Mr. Shirakawa, I’ve finished discussing my affairs. You should give me an explanation too!"

Gu Sheng spoke again, his tone full of accusation and chill, as though he had come to call someone to account.

"What do you mean, Mr. Zhang?"

Shirakawa Rin was baffled and couldn’t understand what Gu Sheng meant. He had been away from Wen County all this time, and when Ling Wei had just reported what happened, he had deliberately glossed over certain matters instead of giving a detailed report.

"Mr. Shirakawa, I’ll be frank. Why did you have people sell opium in Wen County?"

Gu Sheng suddenly rose and demanded, "Do you know that no matter how cleanly you handle things, Wen County is still under Gu Xuanwu’s control? You can’t hide it from him. Do you know why I argued with him this morning? He found out about your opium business and came to me.

"I told him that even if you wanted to sow discord, you should at least use a smarter method! Selling opium! Once this gets out, forget about you—even I won’t be able to win the hearts of the people of Wen County. How are we supposed to continue our cooperation?

"You also know that Wen County is close to the Gold Mine and will be the focus of our cooperation in the future. So we have to hold Wen County. To hold Wen County, we need troops—elite troops.

"What do you mean by bringing opium here? Do you want me to recruit a bunch of opium addicts, only for them to be dealt with in no time? Don’t forget, if I’m finished, who will cooperate with you?

"Are you people idiots? Do you never think before you act? Don’t assume everyone is like me. If you fall into the hands of another army, you should thank heaven and earth if you manage to stay alive."

Gu Sheng had thoroughly enjoyed his tirade. After finishing, he loosened his collar and flopped back onto the sofa. Beside him, Mei Daizi considerately offered him a cup of tea to soothe his somewhat hoarse throat.

"Mr. Zhang, I’ll give you an explanation for this."

Shirakawa Rin wiped away nonexistent spit from his face with a handkerchief. When Gu Sheng had first started speaking, he had still intended to argue back, but after hearing about the series of consequences Gu Sheng described, he immediately backed down.

If what Gu Sheng described really happened, Gu Sheng certainly wouldn’t suffer the greatest loss. It would be Shirakawa Rin. Just as Gu Sheng had said, there were very few warlords in this era willing to cooperate with them, and finding another one near Wen County would be even more difficult.

"That’s good. When you do something wrong, you have to admit it, right?"

Gu Sheng sat up straight and said, "I know Mr. Shirakawa hasn’t been in Wen County lately, so perhaps you weren’t aware of what happened.

"But the person you left here to oversee everything is definitely a good-for-nothing. He’s blinded by money. For the sake of a tiny profit, he actually caused something like this, disregarding the bigger picture. He needs to be dealt with properly.

"Selling opium isn’t a minor matter, is it, Mr. Shirakawa? Do you know how much has been sold during this period? How it was sold? Whether the income and expenses balanced? Whether the operation was properly managed? Sometimes, it isn’t a bad thing to handle matters personally. You agree, don’t you, Mr. Shirakawa?"

Gu Sheng smiled at Shirakawa Rin, hinting at something. Shirakawa Rin’s expression shifted slightly, and his heart became quite unsettled.

"Mr. Zhang’s warning is something Shirakawa Rin should take to heart!"

The formal smile Shirakawa Rin had been forcing froze. He called toward the men guarding the door, "Go find Mr. Ling for me. Hurry."

"Heh."

Gu Sheng merely chuckled when he saw this. He patted Mei Daizi, who was pouring him tea, and said meaningfully, "The wolf of Zhongshan is quite good at hiding himself."

"Hehe~~"

Shirakawa Rin also smiled, but his smile was indescribably bitter.

Not long after Shirakawa Rin’s subordinate left, hurried footsteps came from outside. Then a voice announced from the doorway, "Mr. Shirakawa, I’m here."

"Mr. Ling! Come in!"

Shirakawa Rin called out. His scrutinizing gaze swept over Ling Wei. The usually cautious Ling Wei saw the atmosphere in the room, as well as the hidden meaning in Mei Daizi’s look at him, and his heart jolted. He had a bad feeling.

"Mr. Shirakawa, would it be all right if I handled some matters for you?"

Gu Sheng rose with a smile. Shirakawa Rin had already been persuaded by him and showed no intention of stopping him.

"Ling Wei, right? I hear you’re of mixed Chinese and foreign blood."

Gu Sheng walked up to Ling Wei with a genial smile, grinning brightly.

"That’s right, Chief of Staff Zhang. What can I do for you?"

Ling Wei unconsciously retreated half a step, and his ominous feeling grew stronger.

Gu Sheng continued, "Let me ask you something. After Mr. Shirakawa left, all of Wen County’s affairs were handed over to you. So you knew about the opium business, or did you handle it personally?"

"Th-That’s right! But selling opium is one of the businesses of Shirakawa Trading Company. It’s an internal business. Mr. Zhang shouldn’t have the authority to interfere, should he?"

As Ling Wei spoke, he looked toward Shirakawa Rin. But unusually, Shirakawa Rin did not stop him. He merely sat on the sofa, lowered his head, and smiled.

"Good that you’re willing to admit it."

Gu Sheng tilted his head and smiled. He directly pulled a riding crop from the side and lashed it down over Ling Wei’s head and face. "Do you know what a huge blunder you made? Selling opium in Wen County—was the other half of your blood given to you by a beast?

"Do you know that because you were sloppy, Gu Xuanwu discovered the flaw, and the entire matter nearly fell apart?

"Do you know that because of you, I nearly turned against Gu Xuanwu? He’s my sworn brother!"

At this point, Gu Sheng kicked out, sending Ling Wei flying.

Ling Wei was stunned when Gu Sheng suddenly attacked him. When he tried to resist, he felt as though a great mountain had settled onto his body. The sensation was familiar; he had experienced it before while sparring with Shirakawa Rin. In other words, Shirakawa Rin hadn’t merely tacitly approved of Gu Sheng beating him—he was openly helping him.

"Idiot!"

Gu Sheng lashed Ling Wei across the head and face again, drawing a red mark across his pretty face. "Mr. Shirakawa entrusted you with Wen County’s affairs because he trusted you. You should have worked diligently instead of taking risks for the sake of a little achievement.

"As a dog, you have to be loyal to your master. Were you loyal? Were you serving your master? Mr. Shirakawa gave you his trust, and you stabbed him in the back. Was that appropriate? Should you have done it? Don’t you deserve a beating?"

By the end, Gu Sheng could no longer find any good justification, but he continued beating Ling Wei mercilessly. This man was one of the main culprits behind his being dragged into Lord God Space, and he had wanted to beat him up for a long time.