"Manager, you've finally arrived." After easing his pain, Si Hong knelt on the ground and spoke in a fawning tone.
The old man squinted, but then glanced in another direction: "We can't hold out any longer over there. We need to leave Twin Islands immediately."
"Then, where do we go next?" Si Hong: "I've already listened to you and abandoned my family. I, I just wanted to use that money to..." He yawned as he spoke, a lingering effect of addiction.
"Fight! Fight back to Jiujin! Take Jiujin back!"
Upon hearing this, Xie Ying's tense mood instantly relaxed. She looked at Si Hong, who was now practically a living dead, with a face full of indifference, and even more so, disdain for his nonsensical words.
The old man glanced at her and said with a smile, "There will be. Jiujin will have it. Longevity cake will also be available."
"However, next, I'll need your help to attract Black Gold Manager's attention."
Upon hearing this, Xie Ying immediately became alert and looked at him. It turned out that everything he had instructed her to do and say earlier was a deliberate attempt to lure her away from the situation.
With a smile, the old man took out a loosely packed mint leaf packet from his pocket.
Chapter 186 Who is the turtle and who is the jar?
Xie Lanzhi left, followed by more than twenty gunners from Twin Islands. She fell into deep thought. Marilyn was the only one on the island with a house built with cement. Given Marilyn's wealth and position as the Left Secretary, it was reasonable for her to enjoy such treatment. Cement was readily available in the South Central Plains; it was normal for her to be able to buy it. It also indirectly indicated that she had connections in the mainland.
The Shanxi merchants were notorious for their greed in the Central Plains and were no different from the merchants in Luochuan who bought counterfeit goods and the Hun merchants who resold and distributed opium.
Now she's allowed to use firearms against Qian Gui at will. It's hard to say there isn't an intention to use someone else to do her dirty work. Based on this judgment, Xie Lanzhi believes Marilyn is definitely not just someone blinded by love.
Marilyn was even quite cunning.
"Ce, what did you find?"
Ce said, "This woman has a very clear purpose; she immediately targeted you."
Xie Lanzhi said, "I was the only one who went in at the time."
She was alone. Her identity was naturally easy to guess.
"She is very beautiful."
“She is indeed very beautiful, a classic Western beauty,” Xie Lanzhi replied instinctively.
Turning her head, she saw Ce writing something in the booklet. Peeking over, she saw a line of text: "The third year of the Jin Dynasty, April xxth, Master. She is interested in the Left Minister who is suspected to be a beauty."
Xie Lanzhi's pupils constricted, and she quickly snatched the booklet from the book. Slightly annoyed and embarrassed, she retorted, "Are you a secret agent or a detective?!"
Ce silently reached out to her for the booklet.
Xie Lanzhi tore out that page before returning it to him. Upon closer inspection, she realized something was amiss.
She remembered a spy mentioning that there were people from the Western Guard on Twin Islands, but they were still rookies and therefore not trusted. Ce had come with her later.
Xie Lanzhi instantly snapped to attention, staring at Ce: "Could it be that Little Phoenix already knows everything about what's happening on the island?"
So, knowing Marilyn's existence, Little Phoenix naturally wouldn't let herself act alone. Was she really that distrustful of herself? Was Xie Lanzhi the kind of womanizer?
"Am I the kind of person who flirts with women?" she blurted out.
Ce refused to answer, leaving Xie Lanzhi speechless. She was now certain that this spies' main mission was to prevent her from having an affair.
Just as Xie Lanzhi gave up asking further questions.
Ce said slowly, "You won't get involved with flowers and grass, but flowers and grass will stick to you."
Xie Lanzhi chuckled and said, "This handsome man really is charming."
If she were truly charming, she would have been in a relationship long ago. She wouldn't be without anyone to confess their feelings to.
Twenty gunners followed her. Marilyn was again plotting to use someone else to do her dirty work. Seeing that Marilyn shared the same goal, Xie Lanzhi temporarily tolerated her schemes against her.
But afterwards... Xie Lanzhi's gaze fell on Ce's booklet: "And while you're at it, make a note of Marilyn's debt to me too!"
Ce obediently wrote it down in the booklet.
Xie Lanzhi had barely calmed down when Afanti, who had been fleeing in a panic with his two gunmen, was utterly astonished to see the gunmen behind her.
"What happened?"
"Qian, Qian Gui led his men to hijack our ship!" Afanti exclaimed incredulously, "An old man dares to covet Twin Islands!"
Were they the same ships that had been being moved around all this time? Xie Lanzhi instantly realized Marilyn was lying. She'd just said the island lord had left, but what kind of ship was he on? The only ships hadn't even left the island before they were looted. This meant the island lord was still on the island, or he hadn't been there when she arrived.
The latter is highly likely; otherwise, the island lord would not have left his seclusion after his sworn brother Yang Gao was killed.
Xie Lanzhi wrote down another bill for Marilyn.
She asked with a headache, "Where are the guards on your island?"
Afanti immediately looked at the twenty-odd firearmsmen behind her. The leader of the firearms squad leader said personally, "Manager Lan, the Left Sergeant reminded you that Wulin Island is leased. Naturally, it is not under our jurisdiction."
Unexpectedly, despite its notorious reputation, Twin Islands were actually divided into factions.
At this moment, all the shopkeepers below the gold level on Wulin Island were busy moving things around, each with two guards, forming a force that could not be ignored.
Moreover, every one of these guards can shoot.
As soon as the old man appeared, all the shopkeepers immediately greeted him respectfully: "Shopkeeper Qian, you've arrived."
"Manager Qian, we have completed the task you assigned."
"I don't know when we'll set off."
"The guards on the other side of the island will probably meddle, so we'd better set sail as soon as possible."
"What are you afraid of? We pay ten thousand a year in rent. We're not letting them make that ten thousand for nothing. There's an agreement in there. As long as we don't break any rules, that slut Marilyn won't dare to touch us."
"We didn't steal their ship."
“This is called borrowing; we can pay back the money later. Marilyn values money the most, and for the sake of money, she won’t choose to offend us.”
"Exactly, unless she doesn't want to stay in the Central Plains anymore. If we hadn't helped her get that position at the Central Plains garrison, she, a woman, wouldn't have gotten it. She should be grateful."
The merchants were arrogant and conceited, displaying the smugness of petty people. Profit was their only motivation. They only conspired when their interests aligned.
The old man pointed to a boat near the shore and said, "Leave that boat to me, you can all go back to the four Southeast Asian countries."
It turned out that this group of people had already emigrated. While they were making a fortune in the Central Plains during the national crisis, they were also storing their wealth on Twin Islands. Now they heard that the Xie family had a meddlesome master who wanted to get involved in the affairs of Twin Islands. The Xie family's reputation for bravery and skill in battle, which was renowned throughout the world, frightened these unscrupulous merchants.
The merchants abandoned their get-rich-quick schemes and left the Central Plains as soon as possible to avoid any unforeseen complications. After all, everyone had already made their money.
A total of eight ships set off one after another, leaving only him and Xie Ying, who was being held captive.
The old man looked at Xie Ying, whose eyes were fixed on him. He sighed and said, "You hate me now, but you'll only be grateful to me in the future."
Just as Xie Ying was about to speak, the old man quickly tapped her neck, and Xie Ying felt her voice get stuck in her throat. She coughed violently, but couldn't make a sound.
"Now that things have come to this, I have no desire to hear your high-spirited words any longer." The old man glanced at the remaining guards, each of whom hid a firearm in front of and behind the house on Wulin Island.
These guards were all assassins bought by the shopkeepers, and now they've been abandoned on the island, left to their fate.
The old man said one last thing to Xie Ying: "Come with me to Southeast Asia..." A deafening roar followed. Shells struck the eight ships that were trying to escape.
Boom—Boom—Boom—Boom—Boom! Twenty shots were fired in quick succession, and the eight ships were instantly submerged in the sea, with screams and cries for help echoing from those who had fallen in.
The old man acted as if he hadn't heard.
The shopkeepers in the sea never expected Marilyn to dare attack them. If they died, Marilyn's future would be over. The shopkeepers floated on the water, shouting and cursing, some crying and pleading for help, creating a cacophony of noise. Their voices were completely inaudible on the island.
They didn't know that Marilyn wasn't the one who did it.
Xie Lanzhi saw from the lookout tower that all eight ships had been blown to pieces. She frowned and said, "Marilyn really can't break the rules and use someone else to do her dirty work."
"But there is a rule on the island: the Black Gold Manager has all privileges, second only to the island owner."
To be precise, the Black Gold Manager can only refrain from interfering with the island owner's interests or going to the island owner's location. She holds the power of life and death over everyone on the island.
So what about Marilyn? Did she also have the power of life and death over Marilyn?
Xie Lanzhi pulled one of the gunners by the collar and asked him, "Besides not being able to touch the island lord's interests, does Black Gold Manager have the authority to deal with everyone else?"
"Yes..." The gunner looked at her menacing aura and said with some fear.
"Is Marilyn in the island owner's interest?"
The gunner probably never imagined that his answer would determine the fate of Twin Islands.
"No. Marilyn Zuo, the Left Secretary, coordinates with the Island Owner both internally and externally. Zuo, the Left Secretary, has her own authority."
"So that means your island lord is from the Central Plains, and the Left Minister is from Anluo. Since you've separated," Xie Lanzhi said calmly, "then I can kill your Left Minister."
Upon hearing this, the gunner's heart leaped into his throat, filled with panic and fear, his body tense like a drawn bow.
It looks like some heinous demon!
Xie Lanzhi thought that this management system of Twin Islands was both absurd and full of loopholes.
"But it's not allowed without the island lord's order," Huoqi hurriedly said.
Xie Lanzhi patted his shoulder: "I'll give you credit for that."
The gunners became even more uneasy.
After listening to the whole process, Ce shook his head: "Why are you so sure? How much can a subordinate know?"
"Who knows?" Xie Lanzhi didn't say it explicitly. She wasn't so naive as to assume everything a firearmsman said. She only deduced a general direction.
Soon, the remaining suicide soldiers on Wulin Island were subjected to artillery fire. Those caught in the crossfire shouted, "Is Marilyn trying to break the rules?!"
"We will hold out until the island owner returns and he gives us justice."
"We must not let that bastard get away with this!"
The old man looked at the two shopkeepers who hadn't left. They were silver-level agents, and were only spared because they weren't qualified to board those eight ships.
He cautioned, "It wasn't Marilyn who made the move, but Manager Black Gold. Manager Black Gold's power is second only to the island owner. That woman Marilyn wanted to use someone else to do her dirty work."
Upon hearing this, the silver-medal shopkeepers immediately panicked.
"But isn't there a rule on the island that you can't lay a hand on other shopkeepers?"
“Now that the island lord is not here, she killed him, and the island lord will naturally avenge you.” The old man sneered, “In the end, when the snipe and the clam fight, he benefits.”
They could also take the opportunity to swallow the million taels.
Marilyn, that woman, dug a pit for Black Gold.
"I don't know who Black Gold is, you must come with me." The old man had his assassins escort Xie Ying to his private ship, where Si Hong was also on board.