The Overlord of Puluo

"「 The southern breeze blows cool tonight,

The nightingale sings soft and light.

Beneath the moon, the flowers sleep,

While night-blooming jasmine wakes to breathe. ♪」"

In Greenwater City, Singing Queen Jiang Mengting was performing in the circular hall at Freewind Wharf. The circular hall was not a large ballroom. It was meant for small gatherings and could hold no more than thirty people. That evening, however, there were only two people in the audience: Li Qi and Ma Wu.

Ma Wu lowered his voice. "Old Qi, do you think she is beautiful?"

Li Banfeng glanced at the gramophone behind Jiang Mengting and nodded. "Beautiful."

"Be honest. Do you not feel that there is something different about her?"

Li Banfeng knew Jiang Mengting fairly well. After Freewind Wharf reopened, she had left the Paramount Club and returned to work under Ma Wu.

"She is very loyal to you."

Ma Wu nodded. "She is, but the two of us are not in the sort of relationship you are thinking of."

Li Banfeng was shocked. "Are you two brother and sister then?"

Ma Wu hurriedly shook his head. When the song ended, he asked Jiang Mengting to leave the circular hall.

Once they were alone, Ma Wu turned to Li Banfeng and said, “Jiang Mengting is different from Xiao Xiufei and the others. Xiao Xiufei earned much of what she has in bed, but Jiang Mengting owes everything she has today entirely to me. If I told you that she has never slept with a man, would you believe me?”

That was very hard to believe. After spending a year and a half in Puluo Province, Li Banfeng had long since learned what Singing Queens and award-winning actresses were really like. What’s so special about Jiang Mengting?

“Because I placed a heavy bet on her,” Ma Wu replied. “I signed a contract with her. No matter how difficult things became, she was forbidden to sell her body without my permission.

“She is not like the other Singing Queens. Plenty of wealthy men think about her and long for her, yet none of them can get close to her. Even after she earned her own Singing Queen’s Room at the Paramount Club, she remained beyond their reach.

“That is exactly what drove her worth through the roof. Whenever people talk about Singing Queens, Jiang Mengting’s name is always the first to come up. The status she enjoys today brings me even greater profits.”

Li Banfeng smiled. "You really know how to run a business."

Ma Wu shook his head. "It is not only a matter of business. The woman herself must be worthy of it too. Every year, I can make five or six performers famous. After three or five years, I might have twenty or thirty famous women working under me.

"But a woman like her, one whom no man is allowed to touch, comes along only once in several years. That is what makes her precious. If there is only one rose among all the flowers, then that rose will naturally be worth far more than the rest. And she deserves that. Her face, her manner, and her heart are all worthy of it.

"She is a good woman, and I want to find her a good place where she can settle down. Old Qi, will you take her in? I know you would never marry a songstress as your proper wife. Still, you could take her as a concubine. You would not even have to give her a formal position. It would be enough to keep her by your side."

Li Banfeng frowned. "Why should I take her in? Why don't you take her yourself?"

Ma Wu shook his head. "I cannot. I could never give a woman my whole heart. There has only ever been business between me and her. Now our business is close to falling apart, and I might not be able to look after her much longer. That is why I want to find her somewhere she can belong. One day, when you and I are living quiet and easy lives together, I will feel that I owe her a little less if I can see her safely by your side."

Li Banfeng frowned and said, "What do you mean? How is our business not able to continue? Is it just because of the Border Control Office?"

Ma Wu sighed. "They wanted to take over our newspaper business at Blackstone Slope, but I refused them. I knew you would never have allowed me to agree. So now the Border Control Office has raised our shipping fees by fifty percent. Everything we send outside Greenwater Bay costs fifty percent more to transport. If this goes on, all our businesses outside the city will be finished."

Li Banfeng took a sip of liquor. "Can a fifty-percent rise in shipping costs really be that deadly to the business?"

Ma Wu pulled a fountain pen from his shirt and held it up between his fingers.

"This pen was made in Blackstone Slope. It costs six yuan there and sells for twelve. But Medicine King Gully has no factories that can make fountain pens, so one of these has to sell for twenty-eight yuan there. That isn't because the merchants are greedy. It costs fifteen yuan just to ship the pen from Blackstone Slope to Medicine King Gully. Add the six-yuan cost of the pen, and the merchant has already spent twenty-one yuan. He still has to make a living, so he adds another seven yuan. That brings the final price to twenty-eight yuan."

Li Banfeng had never studied such things very closely. He knew shipping fees in Puluo Province were expensive, but he had not imagined they could be quite so outrageous.

"How heavy can this little pen be? How can it cost fifteen yuan to ship? If they charged that much for a fountain pen, what would it cost to transport a kilogram of grain?"

Ma Wu gave another long sigh. "Old Qi, you really don't understand how difficult it is to do business here. The Border Control Office doesn't care about weight. They look at the price of the goods in different places and charge the shipping fee according to that. They are plainly trying to swallow our money.

"Now they have raised our shipping fees by fifty percent, so sending this fountain pen will cost twenty-two and a half yuan. Add the six yuan we paid for the pen, and the total cost comes to twenty-eight and a half yuan before the merchant earns anything at all. That's already higher than the market price of twenty-eight yuan. How are we supposed to continue doing business?"

It would really be impossible to continue doing business elsewhere. Should they simply give them all up and concentrate on the businesses inside the Greenwater City?

Li Qi and Ma Wu had fought through no end of bloodshed and trouble to build the fortune they had today. They were now men of some standing in Puluo Province, the sort who could walk with their heads held high. If they abandoned everything outside Greenwater City, they would be reduced to ordinary merchants, and all the hard work that had brought them this far would go to waste.

It was a dreadful problem, and Ma Wu could not think of any way around it.

"I wanted to visit the Border Controller and try to smooth things over, but their attitude is very firm. This is certainly not only about the books and newspapers," Ma Wu said. "It is also connected to what happened with the He Family. He Yuxiu has offended the Border Control Office, and we stood firmly behind her. And now, the Border Control Office has held a grudge against us as well."

Li Banfeng lit a cigarette and asked, "What's the situation with the He Family?"

"The Border Controller has already doubled their shipping fees. The He Family's business is finished. Completely finished. Who knows how many of their factories outside the city have already collapsed?

"If He Yuxiu did not still have some prestige, the whole family would already be on the verge of falling apart. No one knows where she is now. If she ever falls into the hands of the Border Control Office, then the He Family will disappear from the ranks of Puluo Province's great families."

"Could we run the outside businesses under the Lu Family's name?" Li Banfeng believed Lu Chunying would be willing to cooperate.

The truth was that Ma Wu had already tried that, but he did not know how long it would last. "The Border Controller wanted to take over the Paramount Club, but Lu Chunying refused. If this deadlock continues, I expect the Lu Family's shipping fees will be raised as well."

"So the Lu Family can barely protect itself either."

Ma Wu nodded. "Of the four great families, the Chu Family is the only one doing well. The Border Control Office has lowered their shipping fees by thirty percent. Next, they will lower the prices of the Chu Family's goods and use them to squeeze the rest of us out of business. It won't be long before the Chu Family becomes the greatest family in Puluo Province."

Li Banfeng bit down on his cigarette and quietly followed every thread of the matter in his mind.

After waiting a long while without hearing him speak, Ma Wu offered an idea, though it was not a particularly good one. "Old Qi, why don't we speak to Lu Chunying about selling the Paramount Club to the Border Control Office? First, we repair the relationship between the Lu Family and the Border Control Office. That might help improve our own relationship with the Border Control Office as well. We can make a few visits, grease the wheels, and perhaps this whole storm will blow over."

"Blow over for how long?" Li Banfeng shook his head. "If he asks for the Paramount Club today and we agree to the request, what if he asks for Freewind Wharf tomorrow? Are we supposed to hand that over too?"

Ma Wu knew perfectly well that this would not solve the problem for long. "Then what other choice do we have?"

"What if we split the business apart, divide it among a dozen or so people, and let each of them run their share separately? The Border Control Office would no longer be able to target us directly. In principle, that should work, shouldn't it?"

Ma Wu nodded. "In principle, it would work, but where are we supposed to find so many trustworthy people? This isn't something we can arrange overnight."

Yet someone had managed to do this. Aside from Li Banfeng, no one else had ever succeeded in targeting that person's business. That person had somehow succeeded in doing this.

"Old Wu, go and see Shen Rongqing. Ask her out and talk business with her," Li Banfeng said.

Ma Wu waved his hand and said, "Old Qi, don't assume that I can do anything because I am good in bed. She doesn't even want to see me anymore."

"Tell her I want to meet her. Tell her I would like to catch up on old times."

Ma Wu was stunned. "You know Shen Rongqing?"

"No."

Ma Wu was baffled. "You have never met her, so how can you catch up on old times?"

"Just tell her exactly that. She will understand."

***

At the Ling Family's film business company, Shen Rongging was very confused. She didn't understand at all.

"You are telling me that Li Qi wants to catch up on old times with me?" she asked. "But I don't even know him."

Ma Wu smiled. "Those were his exact words. I am only here to pass on the message."

The whole thing made no sense to Shen Rongqing. After Ma Wu left, she proceeded to tell He Jiaqing about it.

***

He Jiaqing had just left the market and slipped into a quiet alley. Once he was sure no one was around, he placed the tray from an electronic scale on top of his head.

His body trembled for a while, and when it stopped, he felt wonderfully refreshed. He was just about to put the tray back when the button on his chest suddenly started to vibrate.

"Jiaqing, Ma Wu came to see me today. He said Li Qi wants to catch up on old times with me, but I don't know Li Qi at all. Should I meet him?"

He Jiaqing thought for a moment. "Meet him."

"What am I supposed to say when I see him?"

"Just tell him 'Long time no see.'"

"Long time no see? But I have never even met him before..." Shen Rongqing was completely baffled. She could not make the slightest sense of what either of them meant.

He Jiaqing was about to explain when a muscular fish seller charged into the alley.

"What are you doing with my scale tray?" the woman shouted. "Have you gone mad from being poor that you will even steal this?"

***

In a private room at Springbrook Teahouse, Shen Rongqing sat across from Li Qi. She drew a deep breath and said, "Long time no see."

She felt terribly awkward saying this, but He Jiaqing had told her to say them. She had no idea how Li Qi would even react.

Li Qi reacted very naturally. "Yes, long time no see. How have you been lately?"

Shen Rongqing still had no idea what was going on or what Li Qi meant by any of this. All she could do was give him a vague reply. "Pretty good."

"I have run into a little trouble," Li Qi said. "There's something I need your help with."

***

He Jiaqing walked out of the foot therapy parlor carrying a foot-washing bucket. He placed the bucket over his head and gripped the button. "Sister, did you meet up with him?"

"I did. The Border Control Office has used the shipping fees to choke off their business. Li Qi wants to use our network to get it running again."

He Jiaqing pondered for a while and said, "Sure! They can produce the goods and sell them to use locally. We can then resell them elsewhere. We won't lose any money, and we might even earn a little from the difference in price."

Shen Rongqing froze. "Jiaqing, are you really going to agree to this? The whole thing is absurd. I don't know how he found out about us, but if we help him, we will be revealing the Brotherhood Alliance's greatest trump card."

He Jiaqing chuckled with his head inside the foot-washing bucket. "He has known about some of our trump cards for a long time. Help him with this. Then arrange another meeting and tell him I said, 'Be well.' The He Family isn't doing very well right now, though. I hope the He Family will be well too."

Author's Note:

PS: "Be well" was what Li Banfeng said to He Jiaqing when they parted. It was the last thing they ever said to each other face-to-face.