Plotting with a tiger to take its skin

  In the great hall of the Pei mansion.

  A dozen guards all fell to the ground, motionless.

  Zhen Ming sat in a Taishi chair at the top of the main hall, where Pei Qian Tong was supposed to be sitting, sipping tea with a leisurely expression.

  Pei Qiantong walked in from the outside, glanced at the guards on the ground, all of whom had been dislocated and knocked unconscious. He raised his head to stare at Zhen Mingsu, who was sitting in what used to be his position, a glint of murderous intent flashing in his eyes as he suppressed his anger and asked: "You're Zhen Mingsu?"

  "I am destined for hardship."

  "I must say I admire your courage, I thought it would be someone from the mining village who brought you here."

  "I have nothing more to do with the mining gang."

  "That's preparing for death."

  Zhen Ming smiled wryly and said: "As for death, I've never thought about it. What I came here for is to make a deal with you."

  "Ha! I never make deals with those who are about to die, I just want you to suffer and die a miserable death, to avenge my useless brother!"

  Zhen Ming was taken aback and asked: "What does your brother's injury have to do with me?"

  "It's come to this point already, are you still trying to pretend to be crazy? If it wasn't for your sake of that tofu western chamber, hurting my younger brother, who else would have done it?"

  Zhen Ming said with a calm face: "If it were me, I would admit it, what's the harm? But if by chance it wasn't me, you've found the wrong person, mistakenly accusing an innocent as the culprit. Wouldn't that let the real murderer go unpunished and make you, Pei Qiantong, a laughing stock in their eyes?"

  Pei Qiantong's eyebrows furrowed at the words, but in fact, from the moment he saw Zhen Mingshu, he felt that this person was not simple. With just the audacity to charge into the Pei manor alone, and seeing Pei Qiantong still able to remain calm, he couldn't ignore Zhen Mingshu's words, and what Zhen Mingshu said wasn't unreasonable either.

  "Just because of your one sentence, you want me to believe you?"

  "I didn't expect you to believe me either, I just wanted to remind you of this possibility. As for whether or not you believe it, I don't care. The main reason I came here today is to propose a deal that you absolutely won't refuse."

  Pei Qiantong heard this and didn't rush to take him down anymore. He walked over to his side and sat down.

  He wasn't worried that someone who dared to force his way into the Pei manor and negotiate terms with him would escape.

  "Let's talk about it."

  "I recall that several months ago, your Salt Union posted a wanted notice about the stolen government silver from the salt transport officials."

  Pei Qiantong's face changed, and he turned his head to stare at him: "Could it be that you know the whereabouts of the official silver?"

  Zhen Ming nodded: "I not only know the whereabouts of the official silver, but also can tell you the exact location. I think you will be very interested in that place."

  Pei Qiantong seemed to have thought of something, his eyes shining as he stared at him: "I know the official silver was robbed by the Miner's Guild, it's just that there is no evidence to prove it was done by the Miner's Guild. Since you are a member of the Miner's Guild, I suppose you must know where the secret warehouse of the Miner's Guild is?"

  "Right."

  "What do you want?"

  "I want you to release those friends of mine. Of course, in order for you to truly let them go, I will prove that I am not the one who hurt your brother."

  Pei Qiantong was taken aback: "How can you prove it?"

  ……

  In Bae Gun's room.

  Pei Qiantong stood in front of Pei Qianguo's sickbed, asking him about what had happened on the boat that night.

  Pei Qian's face was filled with confusion: "Brother, why are you asking these questions? Have you caught that person?"

  "We didn't catch the person, I just want to know, if he appears in front of you, can you really recognize him?"

  "Of course, that night although the other party extinguished all the lights on the boat, but the moonlight illuminated him clearly. Although he covered his face, even if he was burned to ashes, I would still recognize those ruthless eyes! Absolutely no mistake!"

  "Alright, I have someone here. Take a good look and make sure you don't mistake them, because this is crucial to catching the real culprit who hurt you."

  Pei Qiantong said, turning around and facing the door: "You can come in now."

  Wearing a black garment and with a black cloth covering her face, Zhen Ming's bitter expression walked in from the doorway to the bedside.

  "Take a closer look, is it this person."

  "It's not him." Pei Kun said with a glance.

  "Can you see clearly?"

  Pei Qian said with a sigh, "The person who hurt me was able to lift me up to eight feet high with just one hand. This person is less than six feet tall, how could it be him? Moreover, that person didn't have double eyelids and his eyes didn't look as gentle as this person's."

  Pei Qiantong turned his head and glanced at Zhen Mingsu with a hint of belief in his eyes.

  "Let's go and have a detailed talk in the living room."

  ……

  Back in the living room, Pei Qianzhong had someone serve Zhen Mingsu tea, and Zhen Mingsu picked it up and took a sip.

  Pei Qiantong's eyes flashed with a hint of surprise: "Aren't you afraid I'll poison the tea? With your skills, even if it were me, taking you down would require some effort. If I could just poison you, that'd be much simpler."

  Zhen Ming said calmly and unhurriedly, "I think as the leader of the Pei gang, you shouldn't stoop to using such despicable tactics. Moreover, you have many more chips in your hand than I do. For you, betting against me won't result in any loss, but if you win, it will allow you to fulfill a long-held wish and severely damage the Mining Gang. I can't think of any reason why you would refuse."

  "You clearly intend to provoke a conflict between the Salt Gang and the Mining Gang, aren't you afraid that I suspect you are a mole from the Mining Gang, pretending to be a scapegoat, but actually trying to frame me, Pei Qiantong?"

  "You should have investigated my background, shouldn't you?"

  Pei Qiantong did not express his approval or disapproval, but from his expression, it could be seen that he had already grasped a lot of the details about Zhenming's bitter fate.

  Zhen Ming was just a small shop assistant in the Miner's Guild, and it wasn't difficult to find out about his background.

  "You should know that the Mine Guild has been secretly developing a new alloy recently, and I am their R&D master. I can tell you with certainty that the alloy has been successfully smelted. Once they mass-produce it, your chances of winning against them will be less than one in ten. You should understand the effects of this new alloy better than me, so they don't need to use any desperate tactics."

  "Hmph, if high-grade steel were that easy to refine, the Mining Guild would have dominated Luoyang long ago and wouldn't be constantly suppressed by my Salt Guild."

  Zhen Ming smiled faintly: "Words are useless, can I borrow Lord Pei's sword for a moment?"

  Pei Qiantong took out the short knife from his waist and quietly applied dark energy to it, shooting the short knife towards Zhen Mingsu's chest like an arrow.

  Zhen Ming's bitter fate extended one hand, swiftly and accurately tapping the hilt of the short knife with a light pat. The hilt seemed to stick to his palm as it spun around like a windmill, slowly coming to a stop, finally landing in his palm.

  The whole process was smooth and effortless, like a well-rehearsed performance.

  Pei Qiantong was hailed as the strongest martial artist of the Great Sui, with eighteen types of martial arts, all of which he mastered. He was also a master of using knives. Even he couldn't see that Zhen Mingshu's knife flower was useless at first glance, and it wasn't clear which school or sect it belonged to. He could tell that this was only because Zhen Mingshu used his strength cleverly, not because he intentionally did so.

  He couldn't hide the surprise in his eyes: "Where did you learn this skill?"

  "My uncle used to be a top chef, and when I was young, I often watched him chop vegetables." Zhen Ming's bitter fate spoke casually, pulling out a shiny black dagger from his waist.