Transmigrated as the Villain and Driven Crazy by the Vengeful Male Lead - Chapter 62

Chapter 62: She Hates Me to the Core, Yet She Still Wants…

The fire grew more violent. A wooden frame crashed down, kicking up a cloud of acrid smoke that choked He Zixu until blood seeped from his orifices.

Tao Xuanxuan could no longer suppress the tremble in her voice: “Stop moving!”

He Zixu countered: “Then you get out of here yourself.”

He had never spoken with such a commanding tone. Tao Xuanxuan’s heart constricted, but she responded with her usual stubbornness: “I don’t need you to look after me.”

“Do you still hate me?”

He Zixu looked at her with clear, innocent eyes, even as blood flowed from the corners of his eyes and lips, winding down to his chin—innocent yet cruel.

Tao Xuanxuan’s lips parted slightly.

“…And do you still hate me?”

He Zixu thought seriously for a moment, then shook his head honestly. “I forgot.”

“If I leave the Spirit Treasure Shops to you for the rest of your life, would you hate me a little less?”

Before Tao Xuanxuan could speak, the people outside suddenly cried out as if they had seen a savior.

“Master, save the Young Master and the Miss! They are still inside!”

There was no verbal response, but a profound blue light signifying immense spiritual power, mixed with mysterious purple light, surged in from the door. It was as fast as lightning, making those rampant tongues of flame retreat in panic, looking like weasels who had their tails scorched by spiritual energy.

As the intense light faded, a tall figure in purple robes walked in. “Why on earth is there a fire, Tao Xuanxuan?”

The room was dark, making his expression hard to discern, but from his voice alone, it was clear he was furious.

Tao Xuanxuan had never seen Lv Shuyao angry; this was the first time. She had assumed he was only capable of wearing a face full of smiles and shamelessly begging her for favors. Seeing him genuinely enraged actually left her somewhat intimidated.

“…I don’t know.” Tao Xuanxuan first helped He Zixu up, then regained her cold, doll-like face as she wiped the blood from his skin.

Lv Shuyao stepped forward with a somber face to help her. “This room is no longer livable.”

“Mm,” Tao Xuanxuan said. “Go to my quarters.”

Lv Shuyao hoisted He Zixu onto his back. Upon stepping out, he saw Su Cheyue being pushed forward by A-Tong, having followed them after all.

Tao Xuanxuan said, “Regarding the Second Young Master—”

“He’ll sleep in my room,” Lv Shuyao interrupted.

Tao Xuanxuan asked back, “Then what about you?”

The moment she asked, she realized they were already married; there was nothing strange about them sleeping together. She realized the question sounded odd, but she didn’t expect the atmosphere after the question to be even weirder.

Su Cheyue lifted his eyelids, quietly watching Lv Shuyao. He watched him carrying another man on his back, his face turned away, refusing to meet his eyes.

Lv Shuyao said, “…I’ll go to the West Wing.”

“The West Wing has a guest,” Tao Xuanxuan reminded him.

“I’m exactly looking for that guest.” Lv Shuyao looked at Tao Xuanxuan. “Who do you think set this fire?”

Tao Xuanxuan was silent for a moment. “I’ll solve it myself.”

Su Cheyue interjected, answering for Lv Shuyao: “Asking him rashly won’t work. He Zixuan won’t admit it.”

Lv Shuyao: “…”

He Zixu, on his back, gave a soft laugh. “The Second Young Master is right. —I am truly sorry, Second Young Master, I didn’t intend to be unable to walk on my own.”

“Then what do you want to do?” Lv Shuyao suppressed some of his irritation, his tone softening.

“Can we talk back in the room?” He Zixu coughed violently several times.

…

While the East Wing was in orderly chaos, He Zixuan in the West Wing was waiting anxiously. When his confidant finally returned, he asked immediately: “How was it?”

The confidant had a dejected face. “No one cares about the warehouse.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Lv Shuyao’s first priority was protecting Su Cheyue. As for the guarded room in the East Wing, I almost burned the whole building down, but the only person they rescued was the Fifth Young Master.”

He Zixuan asked urgently: “What about other locations?”

“My abilities are limited. The speed of my fire could not keep up with the speed of Master Lv’s extinguishing. However, based on my observations, Tao Xuanxuan doesn’t care about any other spots either.”

“How can this be?” He Zixuan found it unbelievable. “Is the warehouse not in the manor? Or is there no warehouse at all?”

“I do not know…”

“This fifth brother of mine…” He Zixuan pressed his hand to his forehead. “Even ill as he is, he is a tough nut to crack. Why is he hiding the foundation of this business so deeply?”

…

“You’re awake now, so stop worrying about these things.” Gathered in the room, Tao Xuanxuan pursed her lips. “He Zixuan—just kick him out directly.”

Lv Shuyao leaned against the wall and smiled. “That’s your solution?”

“I have neither the Second Young Master’s intellect nor Master Lv’s skill.” Tao Xuanxuan carefully checked He Zixu’s body. “I have what I must do and what I want to do. Those two things alone are enough for me to handle.”

She straightened up. Her face was still stained with the soot from last night, but she didn’t look disheveled; she still appeared cool and detached. “I don’t have time to play games with them.”

He Zixu suddenly vomited a mouthful of thick black blood. Tao Xuanxuan’s fingertips trembled. “I’m going to the pharmacy.”

“Zhouzhou…” He Zixu whispered weakly, “Don’t forget to apply some medicine to yourself.”

After she left, Lv Shuyao began to transfer spiritual power to He Zixu. “This trick of yours was quite clumsy.”

He Zixu said “thank you,” then added, “You seem to be in a very bad mood today.”

Lv Shuyao caught a glimpse of the white-clad figure in the wheelchair from the corner of his eye and said flatly, “I’m not.”

“I apologize that my family affairs have made a spectacle for you.” He Zixu looked toward Su Cheyue. “I didn’t intend to drag you two into this.”

“We’re already dragged in,” Lv Shuyao said. “The Second Young Master almost got hurt.”

Su Cheyue said, “With you here, I won’t get hurt.”

Lv Shuyao’s heart gave a hollow jolt; he couldn’t quite describe the feeling. He finally had to look over. “…These small matters, the Second Young Master will soon be able to solve on his own.”

Su Cheyue’s lips thinned into a line as he switched the topic without a trace of emotion.

“Young Master He, what do you plan to do now?”

“Does the Second Young Master have any brilliant ideas based on what you just said?”

Su Cheyue replied, “It depends on how far you want to go. He Zixuan’s goal is clear: annex the western mines and seize control of the Spirit Treasure Shops in Pingluan Town.”

He Zixu raised an eyebrow. “How does the Second Young Master know this?”

“I have my ways.”

“My second brother has been competitive since childhood; he will use any means to win. When we were kids, he broke my third brother’s wrist just to fight over a piece of malt candy.” He Zixu looked up, a handkerchief wiping the blood. “I will not allow him to hurt Zhouzhou. That is the bottom line.”

“And the limit?” Lv Shuyao asked. “Handing the mines and shops over to him?”

He Zixu said, “Zhouzhou loves the trade. These years, the shops have been left to her management. I handle all the intricate back-end relationships for her so she can focus on the accounts.”

His lips were still pale and colorless, appearing like an immovable rock—cold, hard, and resolute. “Of all the things she wants, this is the only thing I can give her.”

“I will not yield.”

Su Cheyue analyzed calmly: “The Spirit Treasure Shops are He family property. Miss Tao has no official standing. Even if you find a way to keep them now, He Zixuan will try every possible means to take them in the future.”

“There are only two ways to solve this permanently. Either you remain in Pingluan forever, or… you marry Miss Tao. With that status, my Baoshan Sect can have a legitimate reason to help you protect her for the rest of her life.”

He Zixu gave a bitter smile. “The Second Young Master knows well that I can do neither.”

Su Cheyue was silent for a moment, then said: “Then strike first to gain the advantage.”

He Zixu let out a long breath. “I was waiting for those words.”

He pulled several chess pieces from under his pillow and arranged them on the mat, as if he had rehearsed this many times over thousands of nights.

“Second Young Master, do you remember asking me how Zhouzhou changed later on?”

“Ten years ago, in order to return home, I conspired with Uncle Tao to put on a play. I was poisoned while saving Zhouzhou. I wrote a letter home explaining the truth, but after Zhouzhou found it, she didn’t destroy it—she eventually sent it for me.”

“She hated me to the core, yet she still wanted me to go home.”

He lowered his eyes. “But I didn’t expect, and she didn’t expect, that my father—who spent lavishly and left many romantic entanglements in his youth—had so many children that he had no intention of taking me back. They abandoned me from the start. Using the favor of having helped the Tao ancestors when they were still street healers, they discarded me to the Tao family.”

“Zhouzhou nearly collapsed. She threatened her own life to make Uncle Tao write to my father. After months of persistence, she finally traded for a sliver of Father’s pity—he gave the then-desolate western Pingluan to me, but never mentioned letting me return home again.”

Neither Su Cheyue nor Lv Shuyao interrupted him. They watched his thin fingers move the chess pieces, his tone peaceful. “I know my father must have passed away; that’s why Second Brother is so desperate to find me.”

With the pieces in place, he looked at them like a composed superior certain of victory.

“My eldest brother died young. Second Brother manages Yangshuo, Third Brother manages Luzhou, and Fourth Brother manages Huailing. The Spirit Treasure Shop treasures are of two types: low-grade self-produced, and high-grade… obtained through force.”

“These three locations compete fiercely. My three brothers have long been divided. Third Brother openly defies Second Brother, while Second Brother has always used his status as the eldest to suppress Fourth Brother. Fourth Brother operates in secret; both are straining to get their hands on the rare treasures in Huailing.”

Lv Shuyao guessed: “The Bounty Order?”

“Exactly.” He Zixu smiled. “But as it turns out, neither of them has Shuyao’s skill.”

Hearing him say his name, Su Cheyue glanced over. He Zixu’s next sentence was: “Master Lv is my friend, as is the Second Young Master. If the Second Young Master doesn’t mind, may I call you Cheyue?”

Su Cheyue’s brow relaxed slightly. He said, “Let’s stick with ‘Second Young Master’.”

Lv Shuyao curled his fingers and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I didn’t take the Bounty Order.”

He Zixu froze. “You mean the Bounty Order is still at Zhuohua Palace?”

“Mm. It always belonged to Zhuohua Palace.”

“In that case…” He Zixu pondered, continuing to move the pieces. “I have invited wandering guests from all over to this manor. I kept the capable ones as my eyes and ears in various places. Over the years, I’ve collected plenty of evidence of their predatory actions. Most of those they robbed were rogue cultivators without backing, who have been waiting for a chance at revenge.”

It turned out the musicians and dancers he invited were all masters of intelligence.

Su Cheyue asked: “You want to ruin the He family’s reputation?”

“Am I too cruel?” He Zixu asked back.

“It’s different from what I had in mind.”

“What was that?”

Su Cheyue said without changing his expression, “I could just kill He Zixuan directly.”

He Zixu paused, then said meaningfully, “Second Brother still has dealings with the Baoshan Sect Leader, Su Xun. In the past, the Baoshan Sect sent him no small amount of money and treasures. In exchange, Second Brother acted as a middleman to trade the Soul-Transferring Formation to the ghosts of purgatory. Furthermore, he was commissioned by Su Xun to develop tracking Gu insects—”

Lv Shuyao gave a dry cough.

“Family matters have family solutions.” Su Cheyue was very understanding. “Since our plans differ, there’s no need to interfere with each other.”

He glanced at Lv Shuyao. “You choose for yourself which side to help.”

Lv Shuyao said, “The two aren’t in conflict, but I think the Young Master might not want my help.”

He Zixu laughed softly. “Meeting you two is truly a pleasure. If only I could live a bit longer.”

“He almost burned Zhouzhou to death. Out of brotherly piety, I cannot kill him with my own hands. I am glad the Second Young Master can fulfill this wish for me.”

He pushed three chess pieces together. “With the coup at Zhuohua Palace, everyone thinks Young Master Lv has taken the Bounty Order for himself. If we release news now that the Bounty Order is still in Huailing, Second and Fourth Brother will surely strike while the iron is hot. Third Brother might even stick his hand in. At that time, using the voices of Zhuohua Palace and the Bounty Order, we will broadcast their evil deeds to the world. Even if Zhuohua Palace’s reputation isn’t great, for the sake of the Bounty Order’s utility, the major sects will rise up to condemn them.”

“Using Zhuohua Palace as bait… that would be dangerous,” Lv Shuyao noted.

He Zixu asked, “What is the strength of the current Palace Master?”

Lv Shuyao scratched his hair. “His strength is sufficient, it’s just his personality…”

“This is a great opportunity for the new Palace Master to make a name for himself and for Zhuohua Palace to turn its reputation around,” Su Cheyue said. “If you are worried, just go with them.”

“Precisely. In this way, those whose reputations deserve to fall will fall, and those whose lives are owed will be taken.”