Chapter Forty-Seven: Mission Failed?

Jiang Hu took two days to finish organizing all the accounts.

Mo Nianian understood well that, in such a position, it was impossible to expect anyone to be so selfless as to not pocket a single coin. Yet here he was, from a small jewelry shop, embezzling over ten thousand taels of silver. During that time, he even requested more than a thousand taels from the household, citing reasons such as insufficient funds and outdated designs.

Mo Nianian slammed the table in fury. “Over ten thousand taels!” If she had that much to spend, she could eat her way across the entire country!

With a chill in her thoughts, she summoned Jiang Hu. “Come, let’s go look elsewhere. I want to see just how many people are involved in this.”

The fewer people who knew about such matters, the better. So Mo Nianian brought only Jiang Hu with her. They focused their investigation on several shops with high profits that, curiously enough, reported losses year after year.

Once they started digging, they uncovered a massive case involving several hundred thousand taels. Mo Nianian was livid. Just thinking about how much use she could get out of that kind of money made her wish she could force every last coin out of them right this instant.

“Miss, please calm your anger,” Jiang Hu soothed.

“This is less than half the shops in the capital. Who knows what’s going on with all those branches across the country?” Mo Nianian’s heart ached. People who’ve never lived through hardship can’t imagine how hard it is to have no money—she herself had nearly reached the point where she couldn’t afford meat.

Jiang Hu’s gaze deepened. “Miss, I’ll handle it for you.”

He lowered his eyes, concealing all his murderous intent, his beast-like stare fixed on the account book before him. The names inscribed there had entered his personal list for elimination.

“No, not yet. I want to see who’s backing them from behind the scenes.”

Mo Nianian didn’t want to suspect the people in her own household, but there was no way this could have gone on for so many years without inside help.

No wonder her grandfather’s vast business empire shrank so much after her mother inherited it. Her mother hadn’t ignored the problem, but she’d thought of how these people had worked for the Mo family for so many years and hadn’t wanted to tear things apart with them. Besides, she was genuinely too busy to manage everything and had simply let some things slide.

But that had only emboldened the people below, leading to the blatant corruption she faced now.

Expressionless, Mo Nianian crushed an inkstone in her hand, letting out a cold laugh.

Jiang Hu was silent for a while. “Yes, miss.”

Such matters always came with a tangled mess of complications; the deeper they looked, the more dangerous the waters became.

Especially when their investigation uncovered even darker dealings—using the Mo family name to commit crimes all over the city. Mo Nianian’s head throbbed with anger.

Gently, Jiang Hu massaged her temples, his voice soft. “Miss, rest for a while. Everything will be alright.”

Whether it was Jiang Hu’s skilled hands or simply exhaustion, Mo Nianian eventually drifted off to sleep.

Jiang Hu carefully lifted her and laid her on the bed, tucking her in with a gentle smile. “Miss, everything will be alright.”

He gazed at her with longing before turning and leaving.

That night, a horrific incident shocked the entire capital. It was said that several managers from Mo family shops had gathered for a meeting, when suddenly a fire broke out. All the managers perished inside, their remains completely destroyed.

The next day, the story spread throughout every corner of the capital. The authorities locked down the scene and found six bodies in total, but after hours of investigation, they couldn’t determine the cause of the fire. In the end, they could only rule it an accident.

Mo Nianian woke up after a full night’s sleep, still pondering how to root out the entire group. Then, the system spoke up timidly: [Host… there’s a small thing I need to tell you… really, very small.]

Mo Nianian frowned in confusion. [What’s wrong?]

[Um… the shop managers you planned to investigate last night—they’re dead.] The system hesitated.

[Dead? How?] Mo Nianian was shocked.

[Well… burned to death in the fire.]

[Dead is dead. Even dying seventy or eighty times wouldn’t pay for what they’ve done. But you—] Mo Nianian halted mid-thought as a realization dawned. [Wait, let me get this straight. They’re dead? Was it the male lead’s doing?]

The system stammered, [Maybe, possibly, probably…]

Mo Nianian nearly lost her breath. She had thought she’d come across a pitiable, gentle male lead. Instead? He’d lain low, but when he struck, he took out six people in one move!

She took a deep breath. [Where is he now?]

[Destroying the evidence. He should be back soon.]

Mo Nianian was so distressed she felt her hair would fall out. [So what now? What happens if the mission fails?]

The system sighed along with her, then suddenly perked up. [Wait, no, the mission hasn’t failed.]

Mo Nianian was baffled.

[I haven’t received a mission failure notice. The male lead’s corruption score is steady at fifty.]

Mo Nianian glared at the system. [You said before—if the male lead killed someone, the mission would fail!]

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have tried so hard to stop Jiang Hu from killing Wang Qiang in the last world.

[Ah, maybe I didn’t explain clearly? Here’s how it is: Our main goal is to reduce the male lead’s malice level. In the previous world, the rule was in place because the male lead initiated a series of murders, so that regulation applied.] The system explained, “Those who gaze into the abyss will become the abyss themselves.” The previous world was also a novice mission, so the rules were simpler to lower the difficulty for the host. In the future, there’ll be more male leads and more diverse methods. The only goal is to reduce malice value.

All taskers should know this—except, apparently, Mo Nianian, who hadn’t even read the guidebook.

The system hugged itself in sympathy.

Mo Nianian lay back down. [If the mission hasn’t failed, then so be it. If they’re dead, they’re dead. They deserved it.]

The dirty deals they’d carried out still made Mo Nianian’s heart race with fear. She’d never imagined people could be so wicked.

[Absolutely not!!] The system nearly exploded in panic.

Next, it spent three hours thoroughly brainwashing Mo Nianian, instilling in her the virtues of prosperity, civility, harmony, and kindness, and encouraging her to become a model youth with five merits and four virtues.

To top it off, the main system justified the lecture as “spreading goodness and beauty,” so Mo Nianian couldn’t mute the system and was forced to listen through the entire speech.

[Enough! I know what to do now! Really!] Her head was pounding.

The system was still not satisfied, itching to lecture her a bit more.

Fortunately, Jiang Hu returned, allowing Mo Nianian to escape the system’s clutches at last.

“Miss,” Jiang Hu greeted her with a gentle smile, as if nothing had happened. He was utterly mild in manner, and apart from the collar on his neck, which added a trace of wildness, there was no sign of the slave market’s brutality.

“You went out?”

“Yes, I stepped out for a bit. Here—your favorite dried meat.”