This was quite the scandal. Normally, Li Xiaofei had no interest whatsoever in this kind of salacious gossip. At the same time, this was a scandal involving the City Lord’s Office.
If word of this got out, it would deal a heavy blow to the credibility of the City Lord’s Office and seriously damage the prestige of City Lord Song Jinglun himself. If the City Lord was to find out that it was his own son who let the secret slip, then no matter how much he doted on Song Shiyan, he would likely beat him half to death.
Using this as leverage against the City Lord might not be entirely fatal. But it couldn’t be more perfect when it came to threatening someone like Song Shiyan, who was all bark and no bite.
“Keep talking.” Li Xiaofei held the camcorder in his hands, pressing him further.
This device, a product from Earth No. 1818, didn’t have any internet connectivity. It was practically a relic from a bygone era compared to the level of technology in Chongque City. As such, there was no need to worry about it being hacked or any data being leaked. That made it the ideal tool for storing these kinds of secrets.
“My dad has a private vault,” Song Shiyan continued, “ He keeps a lot of wealth and resources there that nobody knows about... Oh, and he’s got six or seven lovers. My dad’s a total lecher. Not a single maid around him is a virgin. He swaps them out every month. Also, my dad once secretly bribed some of the Supreme Gods in Heaven. He’s got connections there too... Wait, do you even know what Heaven is?”
As he spoke, Song Shiyan started getting carried away, puffing up with pride. His face lit up with a smug expression as he looked up at Li Xiaofei. Li Xiaofei’s response was simple and direct.
A slap landed squarely across his face.
“I told you to talk, not to ask questions,” said Li Xiaofei, his voice cold and full of menace.
Song Shiyan instantly came crashing down from his arrogant high and shut up immediately. After that, he spilled a whole slew of secrets, both big and small. This kid was truly throwing his father under the bus. He was going all in without hesitation to save his own skin. He wasn’t just selling his father out, he was doubling down.
He kept going for over forty minutes before he finally started to stammer and run out of steam. For a moment, it seemed like he genuinely couldn’t think of any more dirt on his father.
“That’s it?” Li Xiaofei asked, clearly dissatisfied. “Nothing else? Like maybe your father colluding with the rebel group Eden or something?”
“Huh? No, no, no! My father is the City Lord of Chongque. He’s way up there, a trusted ally of the Supreme Gods of Heaven. There’s no reason he’d cooperate with those rebels from Eden. Really, there’s nothing like that.”
“No, really, there isn’t—”
“I said, there could be.”
“Ah, right, right, right! I just remembered! Thank you for the reminder, otherwise I would’ve completely forgotten! That old bastard Song Jinglun, he really has colluded with those rebels from Eden. There’s this guy, uh... um...”
“Yes, yes! That’s it. He’s been secretly working with someone named Angrus. He’s provided him with a lot of intel and resources under the table.”
With Li Xiaofei’s not-so-subtle ‘guidance,’ Song Shiyan floored the gas pedal on the road to betraying his own father. There was no turning back now.
Li Xiaofei was quite pleased. Originally, he had originally planned on dealing with Song Shiyan with some dirt, enough to stop this spoiled official’s son from bothering Si Kongxue or himself. But he hadn’t expected to dig up quite this many secrets.
Now Li Xiaofei began to come up with even more ideas. He had Song Shiyan escorted out of the room, and Zhou Yifei brought in. He was quiet and cooperative, offering no resistance whatsoever.
But Li Xiaofei didn’t show him even the slightest mercy. He went straight for the Life and Death Talisman treatment. Ten minutes later, Zhou Yifei looked at Li Xiaofei with terrified eyes. That was when he began his own journey of betraying his family, starting with his mother.
“My mother... she has an improper relationship with the Head of Commerce Division...”
The moment he opened his mouth, he dropped a massive bombshell. Li Xiaofei almost dropped the watermelon in his hand again.
What the hell. So the Inner Division Master’s wife really knows how to play. Not only is she involved with the City Lord, but she also hasn’t spared one of the Six Pillars, the Head of the Commerce Division. Is she some kind of high-end, VIP luxury ride? Just how chaotic is the upper echelon of Chongque City?
Li Xiaofei suddenly felt an overwhelming curiosity about this woman named Lin Yi, the wife of the Inner Division Master.
What kind of extraordinary woman could pull off something ? To have the City Lord, the Head of the Inner Division, and the head of the Commerce Division, all three major powers, wrapped around her finger?
It was important to understand that every one of those men could have any woman he wanted in Chongque City. They could play however they wished. Women, to them, were mere amusements, ornaments to decorate their lives.
There was no need to risk their reputations and defy public morality for a single woman. Yet, they had all fallen under the spell of the same woman.
Just how stunning must this woman be?
“Oh right, my mother has another secret,” Zhou Yifei continued. “I... I suspect she’s colluding with people from Eden. I saw it with my own eyes. One of her maids, named Gu Yue, gave her a small token. It had the emblem of Eden on it...”
Zhou Yifei kept talking without pausing for breath as he spilled secret after secret.
“Wait a second?” Li Xiaofei stared at him in surprise and said, “You little bastard, I haven’t even told you to start making things up yet, and you’re already getting carried away like a drama addict?”
“I’m telling the truth!” exclaimed Zhou Yifei as he raised his hand and swore to the heavens.
Li Xiaofei froze for a moment, then fell into deep thought.
He isn’t making it up? Now that is interesting. The wife of the Inner Division Master... is possibly affiliated with Eden. At the same time, she’s seduced the City Lord, the Head of the Inner Division, and the Head of the Commerce Division, three of Chongque’s biggest heavyweights. Is it a honey trap?
Li Xiaofei was at a bit of a loss for words. He had always believed that the towering figures who stood at the pinnacle of power in Chongque, those who had lived for hundreds of years, must be incredibly shrewd, masterful strategists with minds as deep as the sea.
People like that didn’t make rookie mistakes. But now, it seemed... maybe he had overestimated them? After all, anything that lived had desires. And when it comes to intelligent beings, their desires and their obsessions might run even deeper.
Those desires could manifest as grand, world-spanning ambition... Or simply as the urge to sleep with a woman. Perhaps these powerful figures had grown lax in restraining their baser impulses because power and authority had granted them nearly everything they wanted in life. When they set their minds on something, they pursued it without hesitation. They believed they could control everything.