Legend Management Bureau Chapter 245

[ … words ]

Du Yu shot Shiranui Asuka a slightly disdainful look and said, “A’xiang, we are discussing serious business here. Don’t cause trouble.”

In his memory, it was already a blessing if this little lass A’xiang didn’t cause chaos; eighty percent of the ideas she came up with were completely untrustworthy.

“Hmph!” Shiranui Asuka pouted and protested, “Senior Du Yu, you don’t respect me at all. I am actually very capable too!”

When Zhi Nv and the others heard Shiranui Asuka mention that she “had a way,” their interest was instantly piqued. They hurriedly asked, “A’xiang, what do you have in mind?”

“Huh?” Du Yu was taken aback. He looked at the group and asked, “What is wrong with you guys? Are you really going to believe this little girl?”

“Du Yu, if it were not for A’xiang, that previous mission would never have succeeded,” Zhi Nv said firmly. “I trust A’xiang very much now.”

Qu Xi nodded as well, adding, “Same here.”

Du Yu never expected A’xiang to suddenly command such prestige. He could only nod half-skeptically and ask Shiranui Asuka, “Then… what is your plan?”

Zhi Nv followed up with her own question, “A’xiang, what exactly is your method about? Is it regarding Lady Houtu? Or Liu Ling’s drunkenness? Or is it about Xing Tian?”

Now Du Yu was completely lost. “What do you mean you might have a solution for all of them but also might not?”

“Because I am not sure if this method will actually work.” Shiranui Asuka looked earnestly at Du Yu. “If this idea works, it can resolve every single issue before us. If it fails, then I am completely out of options.”

“Are you saying… resolve every issue before us?” Du Yu blinked in surprise. “Including the matter with Lady Houtu?”

“Exactly.” Shiranui Asuka nodded. “If this really works, Lady Houtu’s problem will be nothing at all…”

“Really?!” Du Yu leaped to his feet. “A’xiang, are you joking with me? This is something even the Queen Mother of the West is helpless against. Just what kind of method is it?”

“I cannot say just yet, but can you all wait for me for a little while?”

“Wait? Wait for what?”

“I need to wait for someone to arrive,” Shiranui Asuka said slowly. “As long as this person is willing to help, all our current problems will cease to be problems.”

Stunned, Du Yu asked, “A’xiang, did you invite a friend over?”

“Something like that.” Shiranui Asuka nodded.

“How long will it take for them to get here?”

“I do not know either… He said he would come over once he finished the task at hand. If he is fast, maybe a day or two. If he is slow, four or five days.”

Du Yu turned his head to look at Zhan Qisheng, Zhi Nv, and the others, as if waiting for their opinions.

Because the situation was already incredibly thorny, and the “solution” A’xiang proposed happened to resolve all of those complex issues at once, it sounded a bit far-fetched no matter how he looked at it.

Zhi Nv seemed to see through Du Yu’s thoughts and spoke up, “Although I trust A’xiang very much, A’xiang herself also said that her method is not guaranteed to be one hundred percent effective. We might as well prepare for both scenarios. On one hand, we will wait for A’xiang’s friend to arrive, and on the other, we will enter the legend of Liu Ling’s drunkenness to try other methods.”

“Agreed.” Du Yu nodded. “We must always be prepared for the worst. If A’xiang’s friend arrives and realizes they cannot solve the problem at hand, we will still have to rely on ourselves in the end.”

Shiranui Asuka nodded as well. What everyone said naturally made sense. Her elder brother was an eccentric person; it was not even certain if he would come to Hua Xia. And if he really did come, would he be willing to lend a hand?

Thinking of this, she silently took out her mobile phone and sent a message to Shiranui Jinjiro:

“Elder Brother, where are you now?”

After waiting for a long time without seeing a reply, A’xiang felt a bit of anxiety drum in her heart.

‘Will Brother Jinjianglang really come over?’

“Since we have decided on our next mission objective, let us invite Elder Pu to give everyone an overview of the legend of Liu Ling’s drunkenness.”

Pu Songling nodded and began to recount the entire legend to the group.

Just as Du Yu had said, this legend had a tight plot and a strong narrative arc. Many employees were utterly captivated by it.

It was not until the entire story had been told that Du Yu finally asked, “Colleagues, if I want to implant the idea in Liu Ling’s mind that drinking ruins everything and must be avoided, how should we go about achieving this?”

One employee thought for a moment before speaking up, “How about slipping some medicine into his wine?”

“Slipping medicine?” Du Yu glanced at him.

“Yes, drug it so that Liu Ling thinks wine does not taste that good. Wouldn’t that directly achieve our goal?”

Before Du Yu could respond, another employee chimed in, “That won’t work. If Liu Ling thinks wine doesn’t taste good, he won’t become the Wine Immortal. The impact would still be too huge.”

Zhan Qisheng interjected at this moment, “I believe that if you want someone to learn their lesson, you have to make them feel regret.”

His words carried a hidden depth; it was unknown whether Ying Ning caught the underlying meaning.

Du Yu looked at Zhan Qisheng and asked, “Then how do we make Liu Ling feel regret?”

“Isn’t that simple? While he is dead drunk, we just set his house on fire. It won’t cost him his life, and it won’t force him to quit drinking entirely, but it will definitely teach him a lesson.”

Du Yu furrowed his brows and suddenly realized this was a good idea. Following this plan, the resulting impact seemed to be minimal.

“Is that so?” Zhi Nv offered a different perspective. “Rumor has it that Liu Ling ruined things many times because of his drunkenness. Even when it cost him the chance to become an immortal deity, he didn’t learn his lesson. Will burning his house down really cure him of his crippling alcoholism?”

“This…” Zhan Qisheng hesitated.

“Moreover, wouldn’t the plot of the legend change as a result?” Zhi Nv continued. “No one can guarantee that future historical records won’t suddenly feature a ‘burning down the house while drunk’ storyline.”

“Then what do you suggest?” Zhan Qisheng asked.

“To my mind, what you said does make sense. Making him regret is a good idea, but this ‘regret’ does not need to be soul-crushing. It only needs to make his heart ache slightly.” Zhi Nv seemed to have formed a plan. “We can start with Liu Ling’s wife.”

“Eh?!” Du Yu jumped in fright. “Zhi Nv, you look so proper and serious, why are you always thinking of weird things…”

“What are you on about?!” Zhi Nv glared at Du Yu in exasperation. “I only said we should start with his wife. Where did your mind go?”

“Then do enlighten us, what do you mean by ‘start with his wife’?”

“It is very simple. Liu Ling drank the immortal wine and was dead drunk for three years. It seems like a beautiful tale, but if you think about it carefully, you will realize that his wife never abandoned him during those three years and kept their household running by herself. If Liu Ling is a man of conscience, wouldn’t his heart ache slightly when he wakes up and sees his wife’s condition?”

Hearing this, Du Yu immediately began nodding. “So that’s how it is. You know, I actually see what you’re getting at now. We need to infinitely amplify this slight heartache of Liu Ling’s, making him realize that greedy binge drinking is wrong.”

“Exactly, that is the idea,” Zhi Nv continued. “But I am merely providing a direction. The specific course of action still needs to be discussed by everyone.”

“Now that you have pointed out the direction, I immediately have a plan.” Du Yu flashed a wicked grin at the crowd. “Doesn’t it just mean playing the part of local bullies to harass his wife?”

Zhan Qisheng was taken aback. “Old Du, what kind of idea is this? Is that really appropriate?”

“There is no method simpler and more brutal than this. Since Liu Ling is drunk for three years, we will continuously harass his wife throughout those three years, making her look far more exhausted and haggard. Won’t that do the trick?”

All the employees of the Legend Management Bureau looked deeply conflicted. This method would work, but it was just a bit too underhanded.

So many of them, carrying out a planned, organized campaign of bullying against a frail, defenseless woman—no matter how one looked at it, it just felt wrong, didn’t it?

“I feel it is inappropriate,” Zhi Nv spoke up. “Constantly bullying her like that is definitely not right. Us secretly entering Liu Ling’s legend is already improper; if we then proceed to commit atrocious acts, I will be the first to object.”

“Yes, we cannot just blindly bully her,” Du Yu nodded in agreement. “Whenever she is bullied past her breaking point, there must be a peerlessly handsome man who steps forward to save her. If everyone has no objections, I can endure the hardship and play the role of this handsome hero.”

The group was utterly dumbfounded after hearing Du Yu’s speech.

However, upon closer thought, there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with it. It would protect Liu Ling’s wife while simultaneously exhausting her mentally and physically. It seemed like a despicable tactic, yet it actually had its merits.

“Xiao Nian, I am entrusting you with an important task this time.” Du Yu turned to Xu Liunian and said, “You and Xie Yujiao will disguise yourselves as men and play the roles of the tyrants, while I will play the hero. Are there any problems?”

Xu Liunian looked a bit confused before asking, “I don’t have a problem playing a tyrant, but why do we have to disguise ourselves as men? Can’t we be female tyrants?”

“Of course not. Female tyrants would be far too rare during Liu Ling’s dynasty. It is much more believable to play men, and I believe you have the capability to pull it off.”

Xu Liunian’s expression showed her dilemma. She pondered for a moment before speaking, “Producer Teacher, I can definitely dress up myself and this colleague as men, but what about our voices?”

“Eh?” Du Yu was instantly stunned. “What did you say?”

“I mean, even if we look like men on the outside, our voices will still be those of women.”

Now it was Du Yu’s turn to be confused. The first time he had met Xiao Nian, not only was she disguised as a man, but she even spoke with a man’s voice. Did she actually not have that ability right now?

‘It seems the Saint came up with some method to allow Xiao Nian’s voice to change freely…’

‘But what method could it be, exactly?’

“Ah!” Du Yu shouted loudly. “I’ve got it!”