The Young Master

"Young master, please understand. The money in these accounts is merely held and honored by Zhong'an Bank on the account holders' behalf. It doesn't belong to the bank. No one can withdraw it unless it's time to distribute the dividends," the head manager patiently explained.

"Who said I was going to withdraw it?" Eldest Young Master Qiao sat with his legs planted wide, looking displeased. "I'm only borrowing it temporarily. I'll pay it back in a few days."

"This... This still goes against the rules!" the third manager spoke up. "The old master set the rules long ago. If the young master wants to borrow money, he has to sign a written agreement, provide collateral, and pay interest."

"My father is dead! From now on, my rules are the ones that count." Young Master Qiao was even more annoyed. "Do you still want to keep your job?"

The third manager was struck dumb and could only turn to look at the glass window beside him.

Seeing this, the head manager hurriedly said, "If the young master wants to borrow money, we can waive the collateral and interest, but you still have to sign a contract. Otherwise, we won't be able to account for it."

"You're a clever old fellow." Young Master Qiao nodded. "Bring me paper and a brush. I want to borrow two hundred thousand silver dollars!"

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"This..." The head manager was troubled too. "May I ask what the young master needs so much money for?"

"Is that any of your business?"

"Young master!" The third manager could no longer stand it. "Jincheng Prefecture is remote to begin with, and the bank doesn't make much profit. If you take two hundred thousand silver dollars, you'll drain our reserves. We won't be able to honor the bill right away!"

"I think you really don't want to keep your job!" Young Master Qiao roared.

"Calm down, calm down!" The head manager quickly gave him a meaningful look. "Why don't you hurry up and apologize to the young master? Does the young master not know all this? We're only issuing a bill. He'll find another branch with deeper reserves to honor it. Why are you worrying over nothing?"

Seeing the third manager bow his head and apologize, the head manager turned to Young Master Qiao with a fawning smile. "Isn't that right, young master?"

"You old fellow know how to behave." Young Master Qiao nodded. "Hurry up. I don't have time to waste listening to you chatter!"

"All right, all right!" The head manager promptly drafted a contract for Young Master Qiao to sign and seal, then personally issued him a bank draft for two hundred thousand silver dollars.

Young Master Qiao took the draft and stood up. The head manager secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking he was finally rid of this scourge. To his surprise, Young Master Qiao spoke again.

"Is there someone here named Gao Xiwen?"

The main hall of Zhong'an Bank.

"Gao Xiwen? Isn't he our third manager?" a Zhong'an Bank clerk said to Chen Wu. "He's busy right now. If you have something to take care of, I can help."

So that was the third manager from the entrance just now!

"Oh, thank you," Chen Wu said. "I'm not here on business. I came to see him."

"Then you'll have a long wait."

"That's all right. I can wait."

"You're Gao Xiwen?!" Young Master Qiao's voice rose as he looked the third manager up and down, as if examining some rare treasure.

"That's right. I am," the third manager replied, eyes lowered and voice calm.

The head manager had no idea what was going on and grew tense.

Young Master Qiao examined him for a long while, then suddenly shook his head and laughed. "I heard people talk about you before. You're nothing special."

The head manager breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed there wouldn't be any major trouble.

"Forget it. You all get back to work!" With that, Young Master Qiao turned and left.

The head manager hurried to escort him out, but for some reason, the third manager stood rooted to the spot, not moving at all.

The main hall of Zhong'an Bank suddenly erupted into noise. A group of people emerged from the rear hall, led by Young Master Qiao, who laughed and chatted without restraint with the servant at his side.

Chen Wu looked carefully, searching everywhere, but couldn't find the third manager. He only saw the head manager's old face, so he decided to follow them first and see what happened.

The head manager wore a humble smile as he escorted Young Master Qiao out and helped him into his carriage.

At last, Young Master Qiao was gone. The head manager's expression abruptly changed. He raised his index and middle fingers and pointed at Young Master Qiao's carriage, seeming to want to curse him out, but then he shook his head and lowered his hand.

Chen Wu hurried over, clasped his fist, and saluted. "Head manager, greetings. May I ask where your bank's third manager, Gao Xiwen, is?"

"Who are you?" The head manager grew wary.

"I'm... I was introduced by General Shui. I have something to discuss with the third manager." Chen Wu had a sudden inspiration. He quickly pulled the medal Shui Ziyi had given him from his robe, borrowing the general's authority to lend himself weight. "This is General Shui's token, the Sea-Settling Medal."

The moment the head manager saw it, a smile spread across his face. "Ah, I knew it! The Daoist is handsome and refined, clearly no ordinary man. No wonder you're friends with General Shui."

The change in his attitude was so swift that even Chen Wu was caught off guard.

He hadn't expected Shui Ziyi's influence to be so useful.

"Please wait a moment, Daoist. I'll call him out right away." The head manager thumped his chest, then went to the rear hall to call the third manager.

A short while later, the head manager came out with the third manager. After telling Gao Xiwen to look after Chen Wu, he returned to work at the bank.

Gao Xiwen looked at Chen Wu with suspicion. "Daoist, why are you looking for me?"

Chen Wu glanced at the crowds in the street. "This isn't the place to talk. Please come with me, Manager Gao."

Gao Xiwen nodded and followed Chen Wu to a quiet private booth on the second floor of Liaowanghe Tower.

After tea was served and they had taken their seats, Gao Xiwen grew even more puzzled. "Daoist, can you tell me now?"

Chen Wu didn't beat around the bush. "I'll keep it brief. Manager Gao, was your mother's name Gao Huijun?"

"That's right."

"Then you're Qiao Weisheng's son?"

Gao Xiwen's expression changed drastically. "Who are you?"

"I'm the assassin from that day."

Gao Xiwen said nothing. He stared at Chen Wu for a long while before finally speaking. "How did you find out about me?"

"General Shui told me. He was close with your mother. I heard he even vouched for you when you started working at Zhong'an Bank." Chen Wu met Gao Xiwen's eyes without flinching. "He once told me that your mother taught Qiao Weisheng the Muscle-Shifting Bone-Misplacing Secret Manual."

"I figured that Qiao Weisheng and your mother must have had a close relationship. I came to see you to confirm it."

"What do you want?"

"Did you kill Qiao Weisheng?" Chen Wu asked bluntly.

"Why would you say that?"

"Of course I'm the prime suspect in Qiao Weisheng's death. After all, I stabbed him in front of everyone." Chen Wu did his best to keep his emotions in check. "But I know I didn't kill him. Qiao Weisheng hired me to stage an assassination attempt against him."

"Then his death may have been connected to the political situation at court. Things are tense right now. It's not impossible that someone from the School of Heavenly Principle wanted to kill him as a warning to the others."

"That's right! That old bastard had plenty of enemies. Why pin it on me?" Gao Xiwen narrowed his eyes, his face full of scorn.

Chen Wu nodded. "Unfortunately, I had a fight with people from the School of Heavenly Principle just yesterday, and they really weren't responsible. Since they couldn't find the real killer, they pinned the whole thing on my Golden Wind and Drizzle Tower."

"That left me with no leads, so I changed direction. Since I couldn't figure out the motive, I had to look at the assassination itself."

Gao Xiwen said nothing, quietly listening to Chen Wu's analysis.

"The key is the Muscle-Shifting Bone-Misplacing Secret Manual. This martial art is rare to begin with, and even fewer people knew Qiao Weisheng practiced it," Chen Wu continued. "I tried to assassinate him during the day, and that very night, Qiao Weisheng really died."

"Only someone who knew Qiao Weisheng could use the Muscle-Shifting Bone-Misplacing Secret Manual to fake his death would have struck that very night," Chen Wu said. "I sent General Shui a letter to ask about the manual. He told me that aside from himself, you were the only one in all of Jincheng Prefecture who knew about it."

Gao Xiwen couldn't help clapping. "What a Golden Wind and Drizzle Tower assassin!"

"So you admit it?"

"These are only your guesses. You don't have a shred of evidence, do you?" Gao Xiwen smiled. "Even if you took me to the authorities, they couldn't do anything to me."

"You're right." Chen Wu nodded in agreement. "A few days have passed. Even if there was any evidence, it would have been destroyed by now."

"But I'm not the authorities!" Chen Wu's tone turned solemn. "I don't care why you killed your own father. I only care about one thing. The people from the School of Heavenly Principle used Qiao Weisheng's death as an excuse to ambush our Patrol Commissioner!"

"As the real culprit, you have to take some responsibility!"

"String-Plucking Bewitching Sound Sword is dead?" Gao Xiwen asked in surprise.

"He died yesterday."

"I didn't kill Bo Ren, yet Bo Ren died because of me." Gao Xiwen's expression was complicated. "This all started because of me. Say what you came to say."

"What realm are you in?"

"I just entered the Subtle Realm," Gao Xiwen replied.

"Good. I want you to help me once, and then we'll call it even."

Chen Wu looked into his eyes and spoke earnestly. "I want revenge!"

"I want revenge!" Chen Wu repeated.

"Chen Gawa, have you really thought this through?" In the courtyard of this residence built of Qingbaishi, Old Ma wore a grave expression.

"If they had really been killed by our Golden Wind and Drizzle Tower, it would be perfectly reasonable for the Crown Prince's Mansion to come after us," Chen Wu said. "But they know we didn't do it, and still insist on pinning it on us. I can't tolerate that."

"The Imperial House is unjust, so I'll take up arms and unleash war. Today, I'll start a fight and show them!"

"This is about fairness. Fairness, and more goddamn fairness!"

"What are you planning to do?" Old Ma asked. "You've already reached the Concentrated Spirit Realm, but the Crown Prince's Mansion's experts are no pushovers, especially with Li Changgeng, a Mystic Realm expert, backing them up."

"Old Ma, I'll need your help again this time."