CHAPTER 560: CHAPTER 17: PROVOKED

Not long after Yue Jinghua left, a man emerged from behind the Viewing Maple Map folding screen in the main hall of Yunhu Commerce.

The man appeared to be in his thirties, with a tall and slender figure, a bamboo hairpin in his topknot, and an elegant and dashing appearance. Merely standing there, he resembled a famous landscape painting, eliciting an enjoyable and pleasing sensation to observers.

"I never thought there would be someone even more arrogant than me in this world," the man said with a smile at the corner of his mouth. He turned to ask Yun Shangjun, "Father, do you really intend to cooperate with that young man?"

"Yanyue Chamber of Commerce has been making moves that are indeed too conspicuous lately. Moreover, our two families have been engaged in a secret struggle for a long time, with no clear superior party. Although Yue Jinghua is an external force, the matters he mentioned earlier have also been confirmed by Luoluo. There has been chaos around Linlan Street for a long time. If that young man truly has the capability, rectifying Linlan Street could indeed prove his ability."

"Father, I’m afraid you’re going to be disappointed this time. Have you forgotten? I once crafted a Holy Rune for a street punk from Linlan Street. If I remember correctly, that guy is now one of the local tyrants on Linlan Street," the man shook his head, expressing skepticism about Yue Jinghua’s ability to subdue Linlan Street.

"If he can’t even subdue a local rascal and tyrant, then what cooperation is there to talk about," Yun Shangjun said nonchalantly. The Yun Family owned numerous shops, and even by leasing them at ordinary rents, the Yun Family stood to make a guaranteed profit. "Also, about those two Tattoo Masters who left..."

"You needn’t worry, Yun Lang has everything under control," Yun Shangjun’s sixth son, Yun Lang, replied indifferently, a sharp glint flickering in his eyes.

The Yun Family was no charitable institution; they command comings and goings at their will, and to leave the Yun Family, one must pay a certain price.

After leaving Yunhu Commerce, Yue Jinghua immediately found several people from the Eagle Department and collected information about the power distribution in Linlan Street within a day.

Through this investigation, she realized that Linlan Street, seemingly dilapidated, was indeed an extremely complex place, with the four major underworld forces of Imperial City distributed along this short street.

No wonder Yun Shangjun initially showed a look of astonishment when she made her request, and only after did he agree. It seems Yun Shangjun also understood the difficulty of reorganizing Linlan Street.

Based on the data gathered by the Eagle Department, Yue Jinghua delved into the origins and development of Linlan Street.

Like Wohua Avenue, Linlan Street has been an ancient street since the Dragon Battle founded the nation.

However, it differed from Wohua Avenue, as Linlan Street had always been outside the public eye.

Until the era of Long Teng the 71st, Linlan Street remained the largest slave market in Wo Hua Imperial City. Slaves trafficked from various places, bankrupt Xuanwu Martial Artists, retired soldiers, and people forced by life to fall upon hard times converged in that area, directly leading to the street becoming the most difficult to govern and the worst in public security within Wo Hua Imperial City.

Alcohol abuse, extortion, violence, murder, prostitution – any dark term that Yue Jinghua could think of had some connection, big or small, with Linlan Street.

By the time of Long Teng the 72nd, the new Emperor was determined to eradicate this cancer of the Empire.

The Imperial Military Department sent over ten thousand soldiers and ten Dragon Knights and finally destroyed the slave market on Linlan Street. The most powerful and highest Cultivated gang in the area was uprooted in its entirety.

After that, Linlan Street became leaderless, never again becoming a major force.

Even so, those who broke away from the original gang forces but were unwilling to settle down – Dark Practitioners, slaves, and enforcers – continued to linger on the fringes.

They engaged in extortion, forced virtuous women into prostitution, and even colluded with the government, forming a notorious underground black market in the local underworld, staging beast fights and human combat, becoming another cancer that Imperial City could not eradicate.

And several shops of the Duke Mansion were awkwardly situated within such an environment on Linlan Street.

In earlier years, the shop had also been leased out, but the tenants were not able to run the business for long before they were extorted by the local thugs, and had no choice but to close down.

"If you want to establish a foothold on Linlan Street, you must pay protection fees, which has already become an unspoken rule in the local area," this was the last piece of advice given by the members of the Eagle Department after gathering information.

Additionally, the data listed the profiles of several of the most powerful small bosses on Linlan Street, namely Ripper Bei Lun, Anying Qian Chang, Poison Bee Woman Fen Xiang, and Ghost Hand Ming Lang.

All four of these people are bullies in the Linlan Street area, each with a varying number of subordinates, but their influence is roughly equivalent.

Among them, Ripper Lun Feng has the most retired soldiers under his command and is the best at group fights.

Anying Qian Chang has the best Qinggong, and most of his subordinates are petty thieves.

Poison Bee Woman Fen Xiang is skilled in using poison, and all her subordinates are prostitutes.

As for Ghost Hand Ming Lang, compared to the other three mentioned before, there is the least information available about him. His entry into Linlan Street is also the most recent, and unlike the other three, his identity and background are unclear.

His most significant characteristic is that he doesn’t have subordinates, being a typical lone operator.

Yet, even so, he has become the fastest rising new force on Linlan Street.

The members of the Eagle Department speculate that there may be support for Ming Lang from local prominent families, but for the time being, it’s impossible to determine which one.

These four forces have very different people involved, and Yue Jinghua plans to make a decisive move. While she was hesitating about which force to choose as a breakthrough point, Hongling rushed in with an urgent expression.

"Miss, I just got news that several of our shops on Linlan Street are on fire," Yue Jinghua frowned upon hearing this. She had just visited Linlan Street that afternoon, and now the shops caught fire by the evening, which seemed too coincidental.

Taking Hongling and Shalman with her, Yue Jinghua visited Linlan Street for the second time within a single day.

The fire at the Duke Mansion’s shop has been extinguished. The already dilapidated shop, after being burnt by the fire, was left with only a few blackened columns that had yet to collapse.

The people around all said they hadn’t seen any suspicious persons.

The crowd of onlookers gradually dispersed, and at that moment, several nimble and tiger-like Dark Practitioners quietly approached.

Seeing Yue Shaleman and Hongling, they blew a loud whistle: "Two beautiful ladies, why not ditch the pretty boy behind you and come with us to live the high life?"

Shalman and Hongling ignored them, and Yue Jinghua sneered in her heart, "I wonder which path our brothers are from? Where did the Duke Mansion offend you to bring about such an unjust disaster?"

"Since you’ve come to Linlan Street, you have to follow Linlan Street’s rules. If you want to keep your home safe, you have to pay," the two Dark Practitioners chuckled.

"Pay? Pay what money?" Yue Jinghua continued to play dumb, her heart faintly realizing that the fire at the shop was far from simple.

"It’s sufficient for others to pay money when opening their shops, but for Blood Cherry Duke Mansion to open a shop, lives need to be paid," the two Dark Practitioners gave an irrelevant answer and glared fiercely at Yue Jinghua before leaving on their own accord.