(TLN: “You’ve Been Sold Out and You’re Even Counting the Money for Him!”, unaware of the exploitation but are also actively participating in it by facilitating the process, metaphorically “counting the money”.)
Yaoyao felt very wronged: “Master, why would you say that? I’m making money for the Holy Sect!”
The stunningly beautiful woman laughed: “Do you even need to ask? You’ve been gone for less than half a month; tell me, what kind of business in the world can make 2 million taels in such a short time? You must have been up to those unorthodox tricks again, right?”
“Master, you hit the nail on the head! You know, after I left the mountain, I met a particularly interesting little foolish emperor. His name is Lin Beifan, and I made my money from him!” Yaoyao’s expression changed as she spoke with a playful grin.
“Lin Beifan? The young ruler of the Xia Kingdom?” The stunningly beautiful woman was taken aback.
“Master, you know him too?”
The beautiful woman smiled: “Of course, I know. He ascended to the throne not many days ago and has already caused so many ridiculous incidents. It’s common knowledge; it would be hard for your teacher not to know!”
“Master, let me tell you, that little foolish emperor is so interesting, such fun to be around…”
Yaoyao chattered on about the things that happened after they descended the mountain.
During this process, the stunningly beautiful woman listened gently, nodding her head from time to time.
After finishing her story, Yaoyao also took out a banknote worth 4 million taels of silver, boasting proudly, “That little foolish emperor is really too dumb. With just a little trick, I swindled the banknote from his hands! He even feels grateful to me, can you believe it? Isn’t he silly? No wonder he’s called the foolish emperor, ahaha…”
The stunningly beautiful woman shook her head and sighed, “Yaoyao, in fact, the silliest one is you, counting the money for someone else after being sold.”
“How could that be, Master? Don’t talk nonsense!” Yaoyao shook her head, refusing to believe her Master.
“Then let me ask you, did you originally go there to kill him?”
Yaoyao quickly nodded: “Yes! But then I found him to be an interesting person and didn’t have the heart to kill him!”
“Master asks you, was it his idea to increase the bounty?”
Yaoyao nodded again: “Of course! He acted as the bait, and I was the fisherman. Together, we fooled everyone in the world, made more than 4 million taels, and then split it! This is the first time I’ve made so much money, I’m so happy!”
“Master asks you once more, was it his suggestion to exchange money for goods?”
Yaoyao nodded again: “Yes, he wanted grain, so I sold it to him at a price 50% higher than the market rate and made a huge profit! Master, am I not very business-minded, very good at making money?”
The stunningly beautiful woman shook her head and laughed again: “You see, isn’t the truth right before your eyes? And yet you say you’re not the silliest one? You originally went there to kill him, but you gave up on that idea after his smooth talking!”
“Not only did you not kill him, but you also collaborated with him to set up a scheme to deceive the world, capturing all the assassins. Not only did you help him make a fortune, but you also helped that little foolish emperor out of a deadly predicament!”
“In the end, he plans to use this money, which he can’t spend, to exchange with you for the food and supplies he needs!”
The stunningly beautiful woman spread her hands and laughed, “You could say that from beginning to end, he didn’t lose anything! But you helped him out of a life-and-death crisis and also obtained the necessary food and supplies. So tell me, who is the fool here, you or him?”
Yaoyao was dumbfounded: “Ah? So that’s what happened!”
Upon carefully reviewing and recalling the events, she realized that the other party truly hadn’t lost a single hair while she had been running around tirelessly chasing down assassins for him. Now, she was also helping him gather resources and solve the crisis of food shortage.
All this time, she had been smug, thinking she had gotten the better deal, only to discover that she was the real fool!
From start to finish, she had been used by him, and yet she was tirelessly happy about it!
Perhaps that little foolish emperor was laughing at her behind her back!
Growing up to this age, she has never suffered such an infuriating loss!
Yaoyao was so angry that her little face turned bright red, and she gritted her teeth, “Damn it!”
Without any hesitation, she turned around and ran.
The stunningly beautiful woman called out, “Yaoyao, where are you going?”
“Master, I’m going to settle the score with him, I’ll be back soon!” Yaoyao said without looking back.
“Yaoyao, don’t go yet. Listen to your master first!”
Reluctantly, Yaoyao came back: “Master, what is it?”
The stunningly beautiful woman stroked Yaoyao’s little head while smiling and said, “Actually, when you think about it, you haven’t lost out at all! Look at what you’ve earned on this trip – 2 million taels of silver, and you’ve also secured a deal worth another 2 million taels for our Holy Sect, making so much money for us!”
“But I feel so annoyed inside, like I’ve been used by him, and I want to get even!” Yaoyao said, fuming.
The beautiful woman shook her head: “It doesn’t matter whether you’ve been used or not, the rivers and lakes are just like that! As long as it brings us benefits, what’s the harm in being used once? Face is a small matter, benefits are what truly count! So, Yaoyao, you shouldn’t blame him, you should actually thank him, understand?” (TLN: Rivers and lakes = the martial world.)
“I understand, Master. I will… definitely thank him properly!” Yaoyao said through gritted teeth.
The breathtakingly beautiful woman sighed. Her young disciple clearly hadn’t taken her words to heart and hadn’t let go of the matter.
But she let it be; as long as it didn’t lead to any major trouble, it was fine.
“Yaoyao, according to the rumors, he is a foolish emperor, having committed many acts of incompetence and tyranny! But now it seems he is not foolish at all, but rather extremely clever!” the stunning woman mused thoughtfully.
We are currently recruiting. CN/KR/JP Translators/MTLers are welcome!
Discord Server: .gg/HGaByvmVuw