Chapter 1 Assembling

Qing Yu opened the left wing room and explained with a smile, "Mr. Jing, under normal circumstances, the working hours are twelve hours a day, from 9 am to 3 pm and from 5 pm to 11 pm. You only need to make sure you're on standby during these twelve hours. We'll inform you in advance if there are special circumstances. If Mr. Jing wants to stroll around Lanyue City, please do so outside of working hours."

"Don't worry," Xu Jingming nodded.

"There's nothing else to do in the residence. You can cultivate your mind in the room or practice your weapons in the yard," Qing Yu said. "But if foreign enemies attack, you must protect my young master's life. In fact, the possibility of being attacked in the residence is very small."

Xu Jingming nodded, looking at the left wing room. It was quite exquisite, twelve meters long and five meters wide, divided into living, reception, and study spaces.

"Hmm?" Xu Jingming suddenly sensed something.

The door to the right wing room opened, and a burly man walked out. At the same time, a woman with a saber at her waist walked over from the front yard residence.

"Gentlemen, this is Mr. Jing, newly invited by my young master," Qing Yu immediately introduced. "The three of you can chat. I'll take my leave first."

With that, he left.

Xu Jingming, Mr. Lu, and Miss Zi Teng gathered in the courtyard.

"I heard from Young Master Chang that he would invite three experts to help," Zi Teng said with a smile. "Today, the three of us are finally together."

"In the next three months, we'll join hands and complete the task well. This way, the mission evaluation from the Cosmos Corporation will be higher," Mr. Lu said.

"Actually, the mission isn't too difficult. In the residence, Young Master Chang often exits the virtual world, so enemies can't find him to assassinate him," Zi Teng said. "There's only danger when he has to show his face."

Xu Jingming nodded slightly.

Yes, going offline was the safest way to hide.

"Come, come, come. I just bought some wine in Lanyue City yesterday. Let's chat and drink. Twelve hours a day is boring except for mind cultivation," Mr. Lu enthusiastically led Xu Jingming and Zi Teng into the house, drinking and chatting.

…

In the backyard garden of the residence, the drizzle had completely stopped, but the sky was still gloomy.

"The three experts have all arrived," Chang Yi said as he leaned against the railing, feeding the fish in the pond. He casually instructed, "Go, invite the three brokerage firms that were previously decided on to my residence as soon as possible! Stagger the times."

"Yes, Young Master."

Three guards beside him responded in unison and then left.

Chang Yi looked at the fish chasing after the food in the pond, his eyes distant. "Ever since I became the master of the Chang family, the targeting in the Blood Rain World has obviously intensified. I almost got assassinated on the way to send the old man Chang off to his funeral. I have to be more careful. Once I make a wrong step, all the previous investments will be in vain. For this plan… I sold all my assets in reality! I even took out a loan! Whether I can make a comeback in one fell swoop… depends on this!"

He had been exploring the Blood Rain World for more than ten years and happened to have a suitable opportunity to dare to play big!

In just half an hour, a broker arrived.

"This humble one greets Young Master Chang." The broker arrived at the back garden and respectfully saluted. As a small broker, he was an ant that could be easily crushed by the master of the Chang family, so he naturally didn't dare to be disrespectful.

"Mm."

Chang Yi sat there and casually instructed, "I'm preparing to sell my thirteen rice shops. Your brokerage should help me facilitate this as soon as possible."

"The Chang family is not doing the rice shop business anymore?" The broker was very surprised. "This is a century-old brand, and the business has always been quite good."

"The rice shop business is quite cumbersome. I don't have the ability to manage it. Rather than have it ruined in my hands, it's better to sell it off sooner," Chang Yi said. "It's best to sell these thirteen rice shops to one company, so I don't have to run around so much."

"Yes, yes, yes, leave it to us," the broker nodded. "Then, Young Master Chang, what price are you planning to sell it for?"

"At least 5,300 taels of silver," Chang Yi said.

"This humble one will remember," the broker nodded.

"As soon as possible. If you can't find anyone in half a month, I'll have to go to other brokerage firms," Chang Yi said.

"Young Master Chang, please rest assured. I'll go take care of it for you now," the broker was very proactive. This was a big deal! Once successful, the commission would be considerable.

After the broker left, more than half an hour passed, and it was almost lunchtime when another broker arrived.

"My Chang family's three restaurants are also prepared to be sold together," Chang Yi instructed. "The minimum price is 2,200 taels of silver. Find me a buyer within half a month."

In the afternoon.

"My Chang family's gambling den still has a two-year lease, which is leased to the Three Waters Gang. I'm preparing to sell the gambling den! You can contact the Three Waters Gang first. If they don't intend to buy it, then contact other buyers," Chang Yi instructed the last broker. "This gambling den must be at least 3,800 taels of silver."

In just one day, Chang Yi, through three brokerage firms, prepared to sell the three most important assets of the Chang family. As for the remaining odds and ends and the ancestral house, Chang Yi was not in a hurry.

…

The three brokerage firms, for the sake of the commission, were all actively arranging for the matchmaking, and those who had been secretly paying attention to the Chang family quickly received the news.

In the evening.

In Lanyue City, in the elegant room of a luxurious seven-story restaurant, three men were drinking, eating meat, and chatting with laughter, with beauties pouring wine and serving them, having a great time.

"I respect Brother. If it weren't for Brother's accurate calculations, we would have suffered a great loss this time."

"Yes, it was very dangerous! We had just killed that traitor when the Iron Eagle Gang surrounded us. It seems they used the traitor as bait to deliberately ambush us. Fortunately, Brother sent people to arrive and joined forces with us to attack from both inside and outside, and we won a great victory. Although seven of our brothers died, the Iron Eagle Gang lost nearly a hundred people in this wave. They must be heartbroken!" The two were a little excited.

The man in the golden robe sitting in the main seat said calmly, "In this world, if we don't want to be eaten, we can only eat others!"

The beauties beside them were frightened.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"Hmm?" The three men frowned slightly.

Then, the door opened, and a gray-clothed youth poked his head in and smiled obsequiously, "Hall Master."

"Come in," the man in the golden robe said.

The gray-clothed youth carefully stepped in, walked to the man in the golden robe sitting in the main seat, looked left and right, and didn't speak.

"You guys go down first," the man in the golden robe glanced at the serving women and instructed.

"Yes," the women retreated.

"What's the matter?" the man in the golden robe frowned.

"So careful, what's the big deal?" The two burly men beside him also looked at the gray-clothed man.

"It's Chang Family's illegitimate son," the gray-clothed youth whispered, and the three men in golden robes became more serious. The gray-clothed youth continued, "That illegitimate son, today through three brokerage firms, is selling rice shops, restaurants, and gambling dens separately. It looks like he wants to sell all his assets and may be trying to slip away."

"Selling everything?" The man in the golden robe frowned and asked, "What about the Chang family's ancestral house?"

"I haven't heard anything about the ancestral house," the gray-clothed youth immediately said. "As soon as I learned about him selling the rice shops, I arranged for people to run all over the nineteen brokerage firms in the city, including the official brokers, and didn't hear anything about him selling the ancestral house."

"Mm."

The man in the golden robe and the two burly men looked at each other.

"Old Man Chang was about to die at the time. He was an old man without children, and we were all prepared to swallow the Chang family's property. We even bribed the government," one of the burly men shook his head and said. "Who would have thought that before Old Man Chang died, he would find an illegitimate son! And let him take over the Chang family's business."

"We've been wanting to find an opportunity to kill this illegitimate son, but he's been very careful. A group of guards have been protecting him closely, and he hardly ever goes out," another burly man said. "And he shamelessly spent a lot of silver to become the adopted son of the Blood Rain Guard Commander Wu. The Blood Rain Guard Commander Wu is not easy to provoke."

The man in the golden robe sneered, "That Commander Wu is very greedy and has a bunch of adopted sons! We're dealing with his adopted son, not dealing with Commander Wu! At worst, when we swallow the Chang family's property, we'll give Commander Wu a share of the benefits. Commander Wu… also has to give face to our Flower Moon Gang."

The Flower Moon Gang was one of the three major gangs in Lanyue City, deeply rooted with tens of thousands of members. Although the Blood Rain Guards were a violent department, the empire's rule was weakening, and the Blood Rain Guards' deterrence was also weakening.

"Now that Young Master Chang is about to sell his family property, once it's all sold, he might slip out of Lanyue City, and we won't get anything," the man in the golden robe said. "We can't wait any longer. We must keep an eye on this Young Master Chang. Once he leaves the house… find an opportunity to kill him!"

"He doesn't go out much," one of the burly men said.

"He's selling rice shops, selling restaurants, and eventually, he'll have to go to the government to transfer the ownership and sign the papers!" The man in the golden robe said. "So he must leave his residence. As long as he comes out, we'll kill him in the street!"

"Yes."

The two burly men nodded.

In a large family like the Chang family, the ancestral house must have traps and mechanisms, and they would be at a disadvantage if they stormed into the mansion. But outside? They were confident, after all, he was just an illegitimate son.