Lan Jinqin watched as Xiao Rencheng reached out his hand and placed his fingers on both arms of the God of Wealth holding the gold ingot.
He pressed gently.
With a "click".
Just as the sweat on Lan Jinqin's forehead rolled down, she heard a compartment on the side of the bookcase open on its own, revealing what was inside.
"It's... open..." Lan Jinqin exclaimed. "How did you know how to open it like this?"
Xiao Rencheng met her curious eyes, and a doting smile appeared again behind his mask. "Madam seems to know your husband not well enough... The arms of the God of Wealth are particularly smooth, and the color of the colorful clothes is lighter than other parts. Presumably, Lord Wen often uses these parts."
Lan Jinqin detected a hint of teasing. She gritted her teeth angrily.
She had never bothered to pay attention to Wen Zilong's private affairs. If it weren't for looking for evidence, she would have found it disgusting to even take an extra look at Wen Zilong.
At this moment, her mind was filled with the matter of the silver notes. She hurriedly ran to the secret compartment.
Just as Xiao Rencheng had speculated, there was a stack of large - denomination silver notes and many documents such as account books in the secret compartment.
Lan Jinqin counted the silver notes, and her face instantly froze.
Xiao Rencheng was quickly flipping through the account books. Sensing a pair of eyes staring straight at him, he couldn't help but look up.
Lan Jinqin's gaze crashed into his pupils.
Xiao Rencheng's mind buzzed.
The woman's eyes seemed even bigger and brighter than usual, and they were filled with a misty moisture, looking clear and innocent.
It made people feel pity and let their guard down.
She was also like a fairy, hooking his soul and making him confused.
Xiao Rencheng's hand holding the account book stopped. He took a deep breath to steady his mind and asked, "Madam, do you have any questions?"
Lan Jinqin held out the silver notes in her hand in front of him and stammered, "There are only two hundred thousand taels of silver notes here..."
Xiao Rencheng's mind was still in a daze. "Huh?"
He let out a soft questioning tone, his voice gentle. "Not enough?"
Lan Jinqin thought the bandit must be stupid.
They had agreed that he would give her two hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver.
Now there were only two hundred thousand taels of silver notes.
Was he not going to take a single cent, or was he going to carry two boxes of gold ingots onto the carriage?
It would be too noisy to carry those things, right?
Lan Jinqin shook the silver notes and tentatively asked, "Warrior, don't you want the silver notes?"
Only then did Xiao Rencheng come to his senses and remember his agreement with Lan Jinqin.
He secretly berated himself.
When he worked in the Censorate, he was always calm and self - controlled.
But whenever he met Miss Lan, his mind would always be in a muddle.
Fortunately, the mask covered his face, so Lan Jinqin couldn't see his embarrassed expression.
Xiao Rencheng cleared his throat, and finally his voice became firm. He raised his sword - like eyebrows with a half - smile:
"Of course I do... We agreed on one million taels of silver. If I gave you all the silver notes here, wouldn't I have come for nothing?"
Lan Jinqin sighed silently.
Sure enough, he still wanted his share.
She just wanted to keep all the silver notes for herself.
If she used gold ingots to exchange for silver notes at the bank, it would be time - consuming and labor - intensive.
Wen Zilong would immediately investigate the banks in the city as soon as he woke up tomorrow, and she wouldn't be able to exchange them at all.
Only these silver notes could be sent to Hainan immediately.
And if they were sent in Wen Zilong's name, there would be no suspicion in Hainan.
"Warrior, the carriage should be able to hold two boxes of gold. How about you take the gold and I take the silver notes?" Lan Jinqin said without much hope.
Two boxes of gold were probably only worth a few tens of thousands of taels of silver!
The man standing in front of her was a bandit. How could he possibly suffer such a loss?
Sure enough, Xiao Rencheng flatly refused. "Madam, your abacus beads are almost hitting my face... How much are these two boxes of gold worth? We agreed on one million taels of silver. I'm supposed to take eighty percent. Now it's Madam who is going back on her word!"
After saying that, Xiao Rencheng turned around and put the account books into his bosom one by one.
Lan Jinqin bit her lip and blinked her almond - shaped eyes, thinking quickly.
Her eyes were glistening with tears.
Just as Xiao Rencheng finished collecting the evidence and turned around, a slender and fragrant woman's body threw itself into his arms.
The woman's body was trembling slightly, but her two fair and slender arms circled him regardless.
The man was struck like by lightning. He stood there stiffly, his body rigid.
His arms were slightly raised in the air, not knowing where to put them.
But the fragrance of her hair kept lingering in his nostrils, and the woman's unique softness pressed against his chest.
"Madam..." Xiao Rencheng heard his heart almost pounding out of his chest, and his hoarse and broken voice sounded. "What are you doing..."
Lan Jinqin rubbed her head gently against his chest. Summoning up her courage, she tried to seduce him. "Use my body in exchange for these two hundred thousand taels of silver notes."
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, her cheeks flushed bright red with shame.
She came from a noble family, different from her two younger sisters.
As the eldest sister, she had always set an example and learned to be a paragon of a gentle and virtuous young lady.
She never thought that one day she would actually sell her body for silver.
Sell her body for money?
Xiao Rencheng's eyes darkened. He looked down at the woman clinging to him in disbelief.
She was actually willing to compromise herself to a bandit for the sake of silver?
The raging fire in his chest instantly burned into his eyes. He suddenly reached out and pinched Lan Jinqin's chin.
Lan Jinqin suddenly felt a sharp pain in her chin. She was forced to raise her head and look into the man's eyes.
The man's eyes were deep, and a storm was raging in them. "Madam has a very open - minded view. Selling your body for a little silver... How are you any different from the prostitutes in the front yard?"
In his anger, Xiao Rencheng instantly lost his calm, and the thoughtless words blurted out.
Lan Jinqin shrank back at the man's cold and sarcastic words. A bitter taste filled her mouth.
It was true. Her actions at this moment were no different from those of the prostitutes in the front yard.
However, for the sake of her family, what was there to cherish about her already broken body?
Lan Jinqin met Xiao Rencheng's angry eyes and said hoarsely and tremulously:
"It's not a little silver... It's... two hundred thousand taels of silver... Silver that I will never be able to earn in my lifetime."
Xiao Rencheng reluctantly let go of his fingers and looked at her in shock and anger.
He actually knew what Lan Jinqin needed the silver for.
But he didn't expect that Lan Jinqin would make such a sacrifice for her family.
Lan Jinqin spoke again to urge him. "Warrior, just give me a yes or no answer."
"Time is running out. We have to leave quickly."
Xiao Rencheng's body trembled violently again. He lowered his eyelashes, and his Adam's apple rolled slowly.
Soon, he raised his eyes and said hoarsely, making a decision: "Let's leave first and then discuss it."
When Xiao Rencheng took Lan Jinqin out, he didn't take a single gold ingot.
The madam saw the fierce and cold aura emanating from the man. She watched as he dragged her mistress onto the carriage forcefully. She didn't dare to say a word and just let them leave.
The night became even darker.
After the Wen family's carriage left the West Market, it stopped at the edge of a quiet bamboo forest not far from the Wen Mansion.
Lan Jinqin saw through a slit in the window screen that the tall plaque of the Wen Mansion looked like a wild beast in the night.
Suddenly, her palms became sweaty.
"Warrior... What are you doing..." She looked at Xiao Rencheng uneasily.
Why had he brought her back to the Wen Mansion but not let her in?
Xiao Rencheng said nothing and pressed forward, trapping her in a corner.
His knee bone pressed hard between her legs.
The moon was hazy outside the carriage. Through the curtain, it cast a cold light in his eyes.
Lan Jinqin was extremely panicked and started to struggle. "Let me go! What are you doing?"
They were outside the Wen Mansion. She didn't dare to struggle loudly and violently, so she could only twist her body slightly in a low voice.
Her little strength was no match for the man. Xiao Rencheng easily controlled her struggling.
Her pair of delicate white wrists were clamped by his big hand and pinned above her head.
The man's heavy breathing came through the mask into Lan Jinqin's ear. She seemed to sense the meaning of great anger:
"What am I doing?"
"Didn't Madam want me to... you?"