Chapter 185: Chapter 184 Change of Heart (Part 1)
A better outcome...
While getting ready in the bedroom to update the next Chapter of his novel, Le Yu’s mind kept replaying what that scoundrel Qin Leyin had said.
After Le Yu started working so closely with the Youth Daily, it was only natural for him to figure out a thing or two; in fact, as long as anyone could read between the lines in the Youth Daily, they could pretty much guess what Le Yu was up to.
Xuanzhu County was huge, and there was no shortage of smart people; but even though they saw through it, nobody openly tried to stop Le Yu from pulling these "pulling the rug out from under them" schemes. Sure, the Youth Daily had the Jing Family’s protection—but more importantly, what Le Yu wanted to do wasn’t necessarily against the interests of those smart folks.
Everyone was just waiting for that moment when the game would be reshuffled.
This Xuanzhu County game had dragged on way too long.
It was like a moba match that’d gone 200 minutes, everyone had maxed out their gear, even the jungle creeps and minions had turned into absolute monsters just from the passage of time. All these factions faced off in a standoff—but they all knew whoever popped their ult and made the first move was guaranteed to die an early death and start their next life sooner, so the stalemate just dragged on for years.
Even when the Glorious Emperor collapsed, Xuanzhu County kept enjoying blue skies and spring breezes, all because no one dared to make the first move.
And now, someone wanted to whip up a riot among the commoners—that was like spinning a lottery wheel, randomly picking one or more lucky factions to shoulder the years of resentment the Silver Blood Association had piled on the people of Dongyang.
Smart people didn’t necessarily think they could steamroll every other faction and unify Dongyang, but every smart person believed that as long as they made early preparations, there was no way they’d be the ones picked as the scapegoats in a riot.
As long as the gameboard got overturned by all the "weeds and saplings," and as long as they survived the coming chaos, then a brand new game would begin, everything would get shuffled fresh—they’d at worst swallow up more resources, at best... they’d take over Silver Blood and unify Dongyang.
What Le Yu wanted to do was nothing more than sacrifice the Jing Family to summon a red ghost, evolve the people’s faction into six-slotted monsters before the next round began, and wreck the fat-headed family businesses waiting to pick up the loot.
But there was no doubt that a movement like this would mean blood, it would mean death. It might even end with a blood-soaked Xuanzhu.
"Throughout history, every reform has drawn blood. If blood must be spilled, let it begin with the Jing Family..." That was Le Yu’s original plan.
But Qin Leyin had suggested an even more tempting plan.
From the top, down!
Le Yu didn’t know if Qin Leyin had figured out he might betray him, or just thought he wanted to take advantage of the chaos to rise as a bureaucratic capitalist, but the proposal was undeniably compelling.
Becoming the Silver Blood president, wasted on power, beauties in both arms, building a crystal palace... Le Yu shook his head, quietly despising these dumb fantasies of his.
What was so great about booze anyway? If he really became Silver Blood’s president, he’d spend his whole life developing air conditioning, refrigerators, washers, and Coke!
Even honey Five-Flower Tea just didn’t hit the spot!
If only he could invent AC power, so his brick of a phone could finally be charged!
Then, he’d use Silver Blood’s money to get adventurers to hunt for the Divine Demon Well and open up a whole era of mega-dungeons!
Just go full-on wave-maker!
After savoring those thoughts, Le Yu got back to writing like a good boy.
Honestly, as an old-school proletarian, Le Yu took genuine delight in seeing workers overturn the bourgeoisie.
"Sure, there may be some decent folks among the ruling class, but the class itself—every pore from head to toe—is oozing blood and filth; seeing them ground to dust under the wheel of history is really just paying back my nine years of compulsory schooling."
But Silver Blood still had the Heyang Army, and the Governor’s office, not to mention how every major merchant guild kept its own private army.
"This world wasn’t like the old days—its armies were well into the gunpowder age, and the martial artists here were beyond anything blades-for-hire could handle."
"Would bleeding for the cause even be enough for the masses to hack out a bloody new path?"
Le Yu couldn’t say for sure—but until now, the people of Dongyang didn’t even have the chance to bleed. He could only create that chance.
But if he became Silver Blood president?
Le Yu knew he wasn’t cut out for scheming and wrestling for power, but as long as he worked with White Night from the inside, fattening up the working class wouldn’t be that hard. If it came to it, he could even split the Heyang Army or create opportunities for White Night to set up their own fighting force.
"Who’d ever guess that the big boss of the capitalists was really a spy for the working class?"
So, if he were president, he couldn’t really lose; worst case, the working class would just bide their time and grow. Best case, he’d conspire with White Night and pull off a top-down transformation—spill only capitalist blood, and the revolution would be done.
Of course, that all hung on Le Yu actually becoming Silver Blood president.
Qin Leyin could talk a good game, but it wasn’t just Blue Yan he had to outmaneuver—he’d have to beat out nine other rivals, including that bastard Qin Leyin himself.
But Le Yu had to admit it.
His heart had shifted, just a little.
Until he became Patriarch, Le Yu was always a "one last job and disappear" guy—pull off a huge stunt, then ghost out.
Like seeing some crazy OP strategy online and starting a game just to try it—win or lose, who cares, long as you had a blast.
But now, Le Yu knew he’d changed.
His Ice Blood Physique had wiped out all that useless "running away" or "hesitation," and made him see his own heart clearer than ever.
"He’d already lost the ability to deceive himself."
"Maybe Qian Yuliu, Xia Lingguo, Jing Shou, and the rest seemed so indifferent because they couldn’t lie to themselves either. They couldn’t go on naively buying nicer fantasies, they just had to stare down their own ugliness over and over. Anyone would end up endlessly self-examining, either turning into a ’saint’... or just another leftover."
Still, Le Yu’s change wasn’t because a capitalist’s filthy seat had rotted his soul.
It was...
Le Yu downed his honey Five-Flower Tea in one go, glanced over, and locked eyes with Qing Lan, who was perched on the bed pretending to read while keeping a sneaky eye on him. She calmly turned her gaze back to her book, like nothing was up at all.
"Why are you looking at me?"
"Young master looks nice."
Jing Zhengwei was, of course, good-looking—otherwise Le Yu would never have thought he was a woman at first glance.
But Le Yu was confident he looked better than Jing Zhengwei, so he took the compliment with a smile.
"So what’s so funny?"
Qing Lan smiled innocently, "Did I laugh?"
Le Yu tugged at his own lips, "You can’t even stop yourself from smiling. You’ve been grinning this whole time!"
Qing Lan reflexively tried to cover her mouth, then placed her hand down and replied openly, "I’m just happy."
"Why are you happy?"
"Because young master just said he likes me more."
"But pay attention to who I said it to," Le Yu reminded, "I said that, between Mi Die and you, I like you more. Beating Mi Die—um, that mature, seductive bodyguard—does that really make you satisfied?"
Qing Lan’s smile didn’t fade She closed her eyes and gently swayed, like savoring a sweet memory, whining, "I don’t care, I don’t care, I only know young master said he likes me more, heehee."
Le Yu snapped back to his senses, "Wait, it’s not like I even know that many women—I’m just familiar with you and Mi Die at most. I can’t even remember all the maid names at Jing Garden. So saying I like you more means you’re my favorite woman."
Qing Lan hummed a tune, bouncing around the bed She’d obviously thought this through long ago.
"But there are a few more pretty girls on my mind," Le Yu turned his pen slowly, "For example, Mu Qingmei from the paper—I recruited her myself, you know? I make a special point of reading every piece she writes, every issue. You know that, right?"
Qing Lan froze slightly She, of course, remembered that energetic young editor, seemingly bursting with life every day. She’d always envied Mu Qingmei; maybe in looks they were about equal, but Mu Qingmei’s innate confidence was something she might never possess in her whole life.
"Wanna know whether I like you or her more?"
Qing Lan turned her head, "No."
"Also, I actually have a non-blood-related younger sister," Le Yu said with a sigh, "She’s studying at Yanjing’s Royal Academy right now—I have no idea how she’s doing."
"Hey, I wonder how she ranks in my heart...?"
"An unrelated little sister... emotional little sister, more like!"
Just thinking about how she’d been by his side all this time and never even knew this, Qing Lan felt her eyes sting and her heart twist up into a knot She said with her eyes squeezed shut, "I don’t want to know!"
Le Yu let out a sigh, "Honestly, compared to all that romance stuff, the Jing Family weighs on me the most. You know my third brother, right? Old Patriarch once thought about picking him—but if he had, that would mean killing off my brother’s fiancée first. The Jing Family patriarch has to put the family above everything—love, affection, friendship, all of it comes second."
"So, based on all that, you should know by now what matters most to me—what I love most, right?"
"Why do you have to ask me? Can’t I even be happy for one night?"
Qing Lan just wanted to clap her hands over her ears She protested, "I don’t know!"
"The answer’s obvious."
Le Yu looked at the draft page covered in a certain someone’s name, crumpled it up, and tossed it in the trash.
"I really do love you more."