A voice called out from beyond the crowd: "Stop!"
The tone was flat, yet it sent a jolt tingling straight through everyone's heart, making them straighten up instinctively.
The guards parted to make an opening, and He Lingchuan and Registrar Yang walked over.
"What is going on here?!" Registrar Yang barked. "Making such a racket and getting physical—what sort of behavior is this?"
A guard immediately reported, "This woman surnamed Lei came to make trouble..."
"I'm making trouble?" The girl's eyes went wide. She thrust a finger right in their faces. "You're clearly bullying honest folk, and you have the nerve to say I'm making trouble?!"
"Everyone make way, step aside." He Lingchuan crooked a finger at the girl. "You, come up and state your case."
The girl looked about seventeen or eighteen, her skin a sun-kissed wheaten tone, with slender willow-leaf brows and bright, piercing eyes.
She was quite tall, far from the fair pallor of inland maidens. Her hair was gathered into a thick braid coiled behind her head, giving her a spirited, bold air.
The guards glanced toward Registrar Yang, stepping aside only after seeing him nod and wave his hand.
Taking advantage of the moment she leaped onto the jetty, Registrar Yang spoke first: "Lei Ni, I already came to an agreement with your father, and the compensation has been paid. From this moment forth, everything on this island belongs to Young Master He. If you keep causing trouble, I will have no choice but to invite you to cool off in the county jail for a few days."
"An agreement? That was swindling!" Lei Ni sneered. "You waited until I was away and tricked my father into signing an agreement. Fifty taels of compensation—and you still have the face to mention it?"
She jabbed a finger at the buildings onshore. "When we renovated this supply post three years ago, we spent far more than fifty taels!"
Fifty taels of compensation? He Lingchuan's brow twitched slightly.
To collect the remaining forty thousand taels from the agreement as quickly as possible, Lu Qing'an wouldn't be stingy over a mere hundred or two hundred taels of breach-of-contract penalties.
Between the trivial and the weighty, He Lingchuan believed the Lu family naturally knew which mattered more. Furthermore, judging from Lu Qing'an's clothes, food, and carriages, he lived up to the standard of first- or second-tier nobility; to him, such pocket change was just a splash of water.
So why did the tenant of Suoding Island only receive fifty taels? He Lingchuan cast a glance at Registrar Yang and understood.
If that ledger were traced up the chain, the numbers probably wouldn't add up.
"That was then, this is now." He Lingchuan's amused look made Registrar Yang's heart drum with unease, and his tone softened. "Do not cause a scene before an honored guest. Come to the county magistrate's office tomorrow to discuss it."
"We settle it right now." He wanted to hush the matter up, but Lei Ni wasn't falling for it. With He Lingchuan right there, she needed to add fuel to the fire. Once this chance passed, it would be gone tomorrow; the authorities had plenty of ways to deal with "unruly rabble."
"Either let us continue leasing the supply post, or increase our compensation!" Looking at He Lingchuan, she asked, "Is this money coming from your pocket, or from the Bailie people?"
"The Bailie people paying..." He Lingchuan smiled. "How do you know I'm not from Bailie?"
Lei Ni let out a snicker, flashing a pair of dainty white canines. "How could I not? Word has spread from Bailie all the way to Blade Harbor that some massive sucker actually bought up the Yangshan Archipelago."
Registrar Yang's expression changed. "What utter rubbish!"
"A sucker?" He Lingchuan pointed to his own nose. "Talking about me?"
"Did you buy the Yangshan Archipelago?"
"Yes."
"Then that's you. Congratulations, you're famous in these waters! Even the local pirates talk about it with relish." Lei Ni was brisk and outspoken. "Before spending a fortune buying islands, didn't you have the sense to gather some intelligence first? If the Yangshan Archipelago were so great, how could a bargain ever fall into your lap?"
With even the word "pirates" coming out, Registrar Yang shot a look at several guards, refusing to let her wreck the scene any further. The guards stepped forward at once to drag Lei Ni away.
Their shoulders had barely moved when Qiu Hu took two paces sideways, half shielding Lei Ni. "Let her finish!"
His face was impassive and his voice flat, yet his gaze was predatory as a stalking tiger's. The moment the guards' eyes met his, a chill ran through their hearts, and their feet failed to take another step.
He Lingchuan asked, "What other intelligence can you share with me?"
Lei Ni curled her lip. "Haven't you and Bailie already signed the agreement? Asking after it's done is too late."
He Lingchuan smiled. "Your father and Registrar Yang have a lease-termination agreement too. Why don't you accept it?"
Lei Ni was momentarily struck speechless.
Registrar Yang looked utterly frustrated. Even though He Lingchuan had scored a point in his favor, he wasn't happy in the least. "Young Master He, this Lei girl and her family are bad eggs. They collude with pirates! That's the only reason Suoding Island was spared from pirate raids while passing ships suffered terribly. This father and daughter are full of lies—you must never believe them!"
Lei Ni's slender brows arched, refusing to give an inch in argument. "Yang Lun, spouting ghost stories in broad daylight—aren't you afraid of ghosts knocking on your door at midnight? Come on, tell us just how much of our compensation money you pocketed!"
He Lingchuan was slightly surprised. The young woman looked loud and rash, but inside she was clear as a mirror.
Just as Registrar Yang was about to strike back, He Lingchuan cut him off: "If you knew they colluded with pirates, why didn't Bailie arrest and interrogate them? Why didn't you revoke the lease on Suoding Island?"
Registrar Yang: "..."
Lei Ni said delightedly, "Exactly! You're pretty quick on your feet for a young master."
He Lingchuan couldn't be bothered to spar with Registrar Yang any longer, continuing, "All right, both islands have surrendered their leases and passed inspection. It's time we returned to port. Isn't Eldest Master Lu still waiting for me? If we head back after dark, who knows what ridiculous mess might crop up."
Hearing this, Registrar Yang's heart tightened. What was Young Master He hinting at?
Without looking at him, He Lingchuan addressed only Lei Ni: "How about this: you answer whatever I ask. If your answers are true, I will let you renew your lease on the Suoding Island supply post."
"Truly?" Lei Ni was thrilled, but then her eyes rolled cunningly. "How much rent?"
"How much rent did you originally pay to Bailie?"
Lei Ni grumbled, "You're the new island lord, why base it on the old amount?"
Registrar Yang chimed in from the side and stated a figure.
"Based on that figure, you will pay half from now on." He Lingchuan waited until her eyes lit up before tacking on: "Furthermore, you will hand over fifteen percent of your net profits to me, but that will only start two years from now. Any future expansion or renovation of the supply post will also be my decision. If the space expands, you must pay rent based on the actual leased area."
Lei Ni's face fell, clearly harboring deep doubts about his design taste and vision, but considering the two-year profit grace period, it was still very appealing. In the past, Bailie had charged twice as much as He Lingchuan. So she said begrudgingly, "Fine, that works."
"Standing around chatting is boring anyway." He Lingchuan pointed at the pleasure boat. "I'm heading back to Blade Harbor. You can tell me on the way."
Only then did he glance back at Registrar Yang. "She's coming back to port with us. That won't be a problem, will it?"
It wasn't an inquiry; it was a statement.
Registrar Yang's mouth felt dry and bitter. "I... I only fear she might throw a fit and hurt you."
What if this woman talked out of turn once aboard?
He Lingchuan pointed to the guards behind him. "With so many grown men here, you can't protect me?"
With that, he smiled at Lei Ni. "Miss Lei, please board the boat."
Until the final payment was collected, He Lingchuan was the paying client. With only one final push left, Registrar Yang naturally had to satisfy his demands as best as he could.
Lei Ni looked at He Lingchuan, then at the pleasure boat, knowing she was in no position to say no.
She poked Qiu Hu on the shoulder. "Hey, big guy, move aside."
Whoa, it was like poking an iron slab.
The fellow stood six feet tall, yet his imposing presence seemed sixty feet high. Standing casually with feet splayed, he somehow managed to block the entire jetty.
Only then did Qiu Hu step back two paces to let her pass. He walked over to the water's edge and retied the mooring rope of her small boat to the pleasure boat.
The pleasure boat soon got underway, carrying dozens of people and towing Lei Ni's skiff as it headed toward Blade Harbor.
The sea breeze had turned at midday, so the return journey had a tailwind as well, and the boat sailed swiftly.
Once on deck, He Lingchuan gestured toward the pastries and tea on the low table. "Miss Lei, help yourself to whatever you'd like. Eldest Master Lu's treat."
The fine food and drinks aboard the pleasure boat were naturally provided by Bailie.
Lei Ni figured she might as well make herself at home since she was here. Besides, after poling a boat for most of the day to rush back to the island, she was quite hungry. She simply sat down and grabbed a piece of almond-walnut cake.
Delicious! The pastry was delicate, with an extraordinarily rich nutty flavor.
He Lingchuan poured her a cup of tea with his own hands. She downed it in one gulp, then swished it to rinse her mouth.
These rich folks were truly wasteful, leaving a whole table of pastries completely untouched. Seeing that the wrappers on two sugar rolls were already turning slightly hard, she hurried to console them with her stomach.
In the midst of happily eating, she turned her head by chance and saw that burly man staring straight at her.
His gaze wasn't fierce, but it pricked a little.
Only then did Lei Ni realize that it wasn't just the burly man; everyone around was looking at her.
The speed at which she grabbed pastries instantly slowed down.
As if sensing her embarrassment, Qiu Hu looked away and turned to stand by the gunwale.
"What do you want to ask me?" He Lingchuan sat with his legs crossed, smiling without a word. Having waited in vain, Lei Ni had to bring it up herself.
"How many people are there in your family?"
The first question was so irrelevant that Lei Ni froze for a moment before replying, "Two. Me and my father. My mother fell ill and died a few years ago."
"With so many livelihoods to pursue in Blade Harbor, why of all places did you go to the Yangshan Archipelago to open a supply post?"
Very few people were in that line of work; across the vast archipelago, there were only two supply posts in total. Such an excessively niche business wasn't even a concept ordinary people would think of.
Lei Ni turned the teacup in her hand. "My father lost money on every other venture he tried, but he wouldn't give up and still wanted to do business. We had very little money left, and after looking all around, only Suoding Island's rent was cheap. Who knew that after he ran it for two years, business actually picked up, so we renovated the supply post. And then..." She glanced at Registrar Yang. "...you people arrived."
"Business at the supply post was good?"
"Not bad." Lei Ni instinctively glanced out toward the sea, where her skiff trailed behind the pleasure boat. "Enough to keep us fed and clothed, with a modest surplus to spare."
He Lingchuan pointed back in the direction of Suoding Island. "There's another supply post out that way. Were they your competitors?"
"Yeah!" Lei Ni frowned. "Did they sign an agreement and leave too?"
Registrar Yang replied, "They did. They were quite straightforward about it—signed the very same day and left the very same day."
Lei Ni was eating malt candy; hearing him say that, she burst out laughing, nearly choking on it.
"Did you see what a dump their place was, Young Master He...? Getting some money to walk away—of course they couldn't wait to jump at it!"
Chapter 899