Yang Wanli was about to discuss with the hall masters how to deal with Old Zhu when he suddenly heard a spine-chilling voice from the courtyard.
"What brings you gentlemen to my humble abode?"
"Also, where are the servants in my courtyard?"
Old Zhu's figure appeared in the courtyard at some unknown time, frowning as he looked at Yang Wanli and the others.
He usually presented a kind demeanor in front of others; this was the first time he had shown such an impatient expression to everyone.
Earlier, Zhao Feng had come to provoke him, wanting to settle the score that had remained undecided in the Ministry of Justice Prison.
How could Bamboo Five Peaks be afraid of Zhao Feng, who had just been promoted to Third-Rank Martial Artist? He chased after him, intending to teach him a lesson.
Bamboo Five Peaks had always prided himself on being upright and incorruptible, with the integrity of bamboo and the purity of a lotus, and had always been at odds with these eunuchs.
But Zhao Feng's techniques were incredibly devious; not only was he fast, but his ability to conceal his aura was also exceptional.
After a battle, with no clear victor, Zhao Feng retreated, leaving Bamboo Five Peaks seething with anger.
Upon returning, he found his courtyard breached and his servants missing. Naturally, he had no pleasant expression for Yang Wanli and the others.
Bamboo Five Peaks already looked down on the Money Gang, considering them nothing more than a low-tier Jianghu sect. With not even a Third-Rank master in their ranks, what kind of 'number one gang in the world' were they? They relied solely on their numbers and wealth.
Such things, in his eyes as a Third-Rank master, were easily attainable.
Bamboo Five Peaks had never agreed to Prince Zheng associating with such a gang, fearing it would tarnish his many years of good reputation.
If not for receiving a direct order from Prince Zheng, he would not have been willing to stay at the Money Gang's headquarters.
But he hadn't expected these low-lifes to become restless again after only a few days of behaving themselves.
Looking at Yang Wanli, who stood at the forefront, Bamboo Five Peaks immediately understood a few things.
"Hmph, he just became the Gang Leader and already can't distinguish between primary and secondary matters."
"A bunch of useless good-for-nothings."
Bamboo Five Peaks silently shook his head, too lazy to waste words with these people.
"From now on, without my command, no unauthorized entry is allowed here."
"Should anyone violate this, do not blame this old man for teaching you what rules are on behalf of the Prince!"
Bamboo Five Peaks's tone was severe, like a grandfather scolding his grandchildren, as he lectured the Money Gang's high-ranking members before him.
He had expected Yang Wanli and the others to be as fearful of him as usual, but instead, they glared at him with anger, heads held high.
This greatly angered Bamboo Five Peaks, making him feel that his dignity as a Third-Rank Martial Artist had been challenged.
Immediately, Bamboo Five Peaks unleashed his oppressive aura without reservation.
Yang Wanli and the others seemed to see a thick green bamboo slowly rising behind Bamboo Five Peaks, growing taller and larger before their eyes, leaving them with no will to resist.
But looking at the illusory green bamboo behind Bamboo Five Peaks, the eyes of several hall masters also turned green with rage, staring at Bamboo Five Peaks with intense hatred, showing no sign of backing down.
For some reason, this illusory green bamboo only further reminded the hall masters of the insult they had suffered that day.
They even felt that the other party was deliberately humiliating them, slapping them in the face directly.
Seeing that they hadn't caved, Bamboo Five Peaks's anger intensified. He was about to increase his pressure to make them truly understand the disparity between them, but then he noticed several disheveled women walking out of his room.
Although these women were covered in outer garments, their exquisite figures were clearly visible.
With Bamboo Five Peaks's seasoned Jianghu experience, he could discern the implications at a glance.
What normal women would dress like this?
Only courtesans from Brothel would have such a taste.
Immediately, Bamboo Five Peaks understood something, sneering disdainfully:
"What do you take this old man for?"
"Do you think these common beauties can satisfy this old man?"
"Today is a joyous occasion. I'll save you some face. Quickly take these people away, and this old man will pretend nothing ever happened."
Bamboo Five Peaks waved his hand, directly dispelling the illusory green bamboo behind him, and spoke with a generous air.
He thought he understood the Money Gang's tactics, believing they were offering him beauties to curry favor.
During his time with the Money Gang, Bamboo Five Peaks had long grown tired of their humble attempts to please him. He hadn't expected them to try a new trick today.
Dismissing the servants in his small courtyard was probably also for this purpose.
Bamboo Five Peaks sneered inwardly. The Money Gang members prided themselves on being thoughtful and considerate, yet in his eyes, they were utterly foolish.
With his strength, worldly beauties and wealth were easily within his grasp. Things others yearned for had long lost their appeal to Bamboo Five Peaks.
As a retainer of Prince Zhengs Mansion, Bamboo Five Peaks's needs were almost always met.
At his level, the things he desired were no longer something an organization like the Money Gang could provide.
This offering of beauties made Bamboo Five Peaks look down on the Money Gang even more.
But Prince Zheng needed them, so Bamboo Five Peaks couldn't be bothered to argue further and decided to give them a pass.
However, Bamboo Five Peaks's posture, in the eyes of the Money Gang's victims, was… "You!?"
Several hall masters were furious, stepping forward as if ready to fight.
Yang Wanli quickly stopped them, preventing them from acting impulsively.
If it really came to blows, all of them combined would not be a match for Bamboo Five Peaks.
But just as Yang Wanli had calmed the hall masters, chaos erupted behind them.
"Master, I can't live anymore!"
"Father, forgive your unfilial daughter!"
Several ladies and young women who had just woken up began to attempt suicide one by one.
They had been vaguely drugged and then rescued, only to find themselves naked and entangled with many others on the bed.
Even more despairing was that their daughters were also among them.
The ones responsible for waking the ladies and young women were female gang members Yang Wanli had found.
As a woman traveling the Jianghu, she always carried some antidotes for aphrodisiacs.
However, the aphrodisiac used on the ladies and young women was not ordinary; it took almost all of her reserves to wake everyone up.
As a woman herself, she understood the feelings of the ladies and young women. After comforting them, she helped them put on the clothes she had brought.
It was a hurried preparation, and she hadn't managed to bring all the undergarments.
Originally, under her comfort, the ladies and young women's spirits, though heavy and indignant, hadn't been pushed to the brink of collapse.
But just as she led the ladies and young women to the door, she heard that old lecher spouting nonsense, which stimulated them to the point of attempting suicide again.
"Madam, no!"
"Nannan, don't!"
The previously enraged hall masters frantically tried to stop their family members from taking their own lives, creating a scene of utter chaos.
Bamboo Five Peaks stared blankly at the chaos for a moment, then, after a pause, asked in shock:
"These are your wives and daughters?"
The hall masters, who were comforting their family members, heard Bamboo Five Peaks ask such a shameless question, and the hatred in their hearts reached its peak.
Then, Bamboo Five Peaks's next words made their minds go blank with fury.
"You gang members are truly heartless, aren't you?"
But then Bamboo Five Peaks's tone shifted:
"To be able to offer up your wives and daughters, you can indeed be considered formidable figures. It makes this old man think more highly of you."
"How about this, you can leave them, but don't let it happen again."
Upon hearing this, everyone's heads, except for Bamboo Five Peaks's, were filled with question marks.
"???"
Moreover, Bamboo Five Peaks, who had previously dismissed the ladies and young women as common beauties and shown no interest, suddenly changed his attitude.
But it would have been better if he hadn't changed his attitude at all; this change only made things worse.
In the eyes of the hall masters and the ladies and young women, wasn't this old lecher just wanting a second round?
No wonder his words earlier were strange; it turned out he was waiting for this.
With this settled, it made it seem as if the Money Gang's hall masters had voluntarily offered their wives and daughters.
As for his first shameless act, it was treated as if it had never happened.
Such despicable trickery caused even the hall masters, who had always feared Bamboo Five Peaks, to start cursing.
"Shameless old scoundrel!"
"Abusing your high cultivation to act recklessly, you'll be struck by lightning sooner or later!"
"You old fossil, we'll take this to Prince Zheng and see who's in the wrong!"
"You son of a bitch, you old dog who'll have sons with no anuses, I'll screw your ancestors!"
"Damn it, you old hillbilly, you just wait!"
"You old crazy arhat fruit!"
"..."
The hall masters couldn't take it anymore; they went all out.
Bamboo Five Peaks's eyes widened, for a moment unable to believe his ears.
How many years had it been since such unbearable curses were directed at him? They were utterly unfamiliar.
While Third-Rank Martial Artists sometimes engaged in verbal sparring, they were ultimately high-ranking individuals and exercised some restraint.
But these hall masters had risen from the bottom, and they weren't going to tolerate Bamboo Five Peaks, letting loose with gusto.
"Silence!"
Bamboo Five Peaks roared, directly causing Yang Wanli and the hall masters to spit out a mouthful of blood.
The weeping women, protected by those in front of them, were not injured but felt uncomfortable and dizzy from the shock.
Bamboo Five Peaks still exercised some restraint, otherwise, killing everyone present would have taken only a moment.
Yang Wanli's face was pale. His cultivation was not high even among the hall masters, but he still stepped forward.
"Old Zhu, for today's matter, my Money Gang will seek justice from His Highness Prince Zheng."
"But my Money Gang no longer welcomes you. We will send someone to contact His Highness Prince Zheng ourselves!"
Yang Wanli also put his life on the line, gambling in his heart whether Mo Tiansheng, who was secretly watching, could protect him.
"Seek justice?"
"Seek your mother's justice!"
Bamboo Five Peaks's face hardened; all his usual demeanor was gone.
Yang Wanli invoking Prince Zheng to pressure him was, in Bamboo Five Peaks's eyes, completely unacceptable.
But Yang Wanli did not back down, raising his head and challenging Bamboo Five Peaks:
"Old Zhu, if you kill me today, let's see if anyone in the Money Gang will still obey you!"
"A scholar can be killed, but not humiliated."
"This can be endured, but what cannot be endured?!"
Yang Wanli's aura erupted, temporarily stunning Bamboo Five Peaks.
This reckless attitude deeply moved the hall masters.
One must know that, upon closer inspection, today's incident had nothing to do with Yang Wanli.
It was their wives and daughters who were humiliated by that old lecher Bamboo Five Peaks. The new Gang Leader could have easily ignored it, focused on being a good Gang Leader, and curried favor with Old Zhu and Prince Zheng.
In fact, putting themselves in his shoes, they might have even made their subordinates swallow their anger if they were the Gang Leader, because the other party was a Third-Rank master whom they couldn't afford to offend.
But what did Yang Wanli do?
They saw all of this, and how could their hearts not be touched?
Now, Yang Wanli was challenging Old Zhu for them, so naturally, they had to support him.
"Old Zhu, if you don't believe a single word of the Gang Leader's, you can certainly try!"
"Try it!!!"
"You, you..." Bamboo Five Peaks pointed at Yang Wanli and the hall masters behind him, his fingers trembling with rage, looking utterly incredulous.
He himself couldn't understand how things had escalated to this point today.
"Didn't you want to offer your wives and daughters to me?"
"My attitude was bad at first, but wasn't that because I didn't know these were your wives and daughters?"
"Now I know, and I've accepted them, so why are you still so angry?"
Bamboo Five Peaks couldn't understand, but he was too angry to think clearly now.
And frankly, Yang Wanli and the others had indeed seized Bamboo Five Peaks's lifeline.
Prince Zheng had sent him to oversee the Money Gang's affairs precisely to ensure that the gang could be successfully brought under his control in these crucial days.
The Money Gang was of great use to Prince Zheng, and thus could not be lost, which was why he dispatched the trusted Bamboo Five Peaks.
But things with the Money Gang seemed to have been resolved quite well. Chen Tan, who had always resisted the gang, had been removed, and Yang Wanli, who had been extremely cooperative, was installed as the new Gang Leader.
It seemed everything was developing positively, but now the situation had suddenly taken a sharp turn for the worse, with the Money Gang members acting as if they harbored deep hatred towards him.
Bamboo Five Peaks, who was originally poised to achieve a great merit, instantly became a useless person who had botched his assignment.
Bamboo Five Peaks could ignore other things, but he absolutely could not betray Prince Zheng's trust.
Today's incident was peculiar, and the emotions of both sides made communication impossible.
Bamboo Five Peaks feared that he would lose his temper and kill these scoundrels before him.
He raised his hand and pointed at Yang Wanli, saying:
"Good, Gang Leader Yang, good tactics."
"In a few days, this old man will continue to learn from you!"
Having laid down a harsh warning, Bamboo Five Peaks turned and left, quickly disappearing.
This matter absolutely could not be brought to Prince Zhengs Mansion just yet; he needed to figure out exactly what was going on.
When Yang Wanli invoked Prince Zheng's name, Bamboo Five Peaks, while enraged, also cleared his head somewhat and remembered his mission.
If he were to fall out with the Money Gang now, and Prince Zheng sent others to mediate, he would receive no credit whatsoever. Instead, others would have to clean up his mess, and he would owe them a favor.
How could Bamboo Five Peaks possibly do such a losing business?
"What the hell is going on?!"
Walking out of the Money Gang's headquarters, Bamboo Five Peaks cursed angrily.
On the other side, Yang Wanli was enjoying a hero's welcome.
"Gang Leader—"
"Today's kindness, we shall never forget!"
"In this life, we shall only follow the Gang Leader's lead!"
Several hall masters knelt in unison, surrounding Yang Wanli and kowtowing repeatedly, their heads hitting the ground with resounding thuds, truly sincere in their actions.
"My brothers, what is this for?"
"Am I not your elder brother as your Gang Leader?"
"How can I stand by idly when my younger brothers suffer injustice?"
"This old lecher is truly excessive; he almost humiliated my entire Money Gang!"
"This time, we must report this to Prince Zhengs Mansion and see if this is His Highness Prince Zheng's intention, or if this old lecher simply has a flawed character!"
Yang Wanli spoke with such righteous indignation that it moved the hall masters to tears, making them wail loudly.
The ladies and young women also hadn't expected the new Gang Leader to be such a righteous official. Looking at Yang Wanli's figure, they found his charm to be no less than that of the previous Gang Leader, and they couldn't help but feel a subtle affection for him.
Li Xuan, hiding on the eaves, couldn't help but gasp:
"Hiss—"
"It seems Chen Tan doesn't need to be revived after all."