AUBTN -Chapter 144 Playing Landlord

“Sir! A secret passage has been discovered in the backyard!” a Jinyiwei guard hurried over to report.

Several of them rushed to the back courtyard, only to find a pitch-black tunnel entrance. The place was already empty—whoever had been there was long gone.

Lu Yan slammed his fist against the wall, shaking loose a shower of dust. “She got away again!”

Su Hewan crouched down and examined the traces around the tunnel entrance. “The wheel ruts are very deep. She must have taken the core experimental data and finished products with her. She knew we were coming—this was cutting off her tail to save herself.”

“What a cunning rabbit with three burrows.” Shen Jue narrowed his eyes, his fingers lightly rubbing the jade thumb ring on his hand.

“But we’ve wiped out her workshop and destroyed her raw materials. For the time being, Zhao Jieyu won’t be able to stir up much trouble.”

Although they had destroyed the base and captured her lackeys, the mastermind was still at large. The group couldn’t shake their unease.

Three days later, Wutong Courtyard.

The late-autumn night carried a growing chill, yet inside the room it was warm and cozy.

A copper hot pot sat atop a charcoal stove, red chili oil bubbling vigorously. Paper-thin slices of lamb rose and sank in the broth, their rich aroma aggressively invading everyone’s noses.

“Hey now, don’t look so gloomy! Come on, eat some meat first. I had people bring this little lamb all the way from beyond the frontier!”

Yu Qing held a pair of long chopsticks, busily piling meat into everyone’s bowls.

Her face glowed with festive excitement, like a nouveau riche who had just hit the lottery.

Lu Yan looked at the mountain of lamb in his bowl and frowned. “Zhao Jieyu’s whereabouts are unknown. Those drugged test subjects have been restrained, but the antidote hasn’t been developed yet. How can you be…”

“How can I be this happy?” Yu Qing blinked and pulled out a thick stack of banknotes from her sleeve, slapping them down on the table with a loud smack.

“Ta-da! Look what this is!”

Shen Jue glanced at them and raised an eyebrow. “Banknotes? Looks like Huaxiangrong has been doing well these past few days.”

“Well? It’s more than well—it’s exploded!” Yu Qing stood up, boldly planting one foot on a stool while waving the notes in her hand.

“Ever since we launched the Qingxin Pills, plus our hunger-marketing strategy, those noble ladies are practically begging to throw money at me! And all those people who got cheated by knockoffs—now they only trust our shop. In just three days, the silver has been flowing in nonstop. This stack alone is worth five thousand taels!”

She cleared her throat and lifted her chin proudly.

“From now on, please don’t call me Miss Yu. Call me—President Yu!”

“Pfft—” Su Hewan was sipping tea and nearly spat it out.

She shook her head helplessly, though her eyes were filled with fond amusement.

Lu Yan also looked at her with the same indulgent affection.

“President… Yu,” Shen Jue repeated with a half-smile, savoring the strange title.

“Calm down already. Stop showing off!”

Su Hewan grabbed her and pulled her back down to sit.

“I never expected our Qingqing to have such a head for business!”

Then her tone shifted.

“Since we’ve made this much money, shouldn’t we talk about the real issue? Zhao Jieyu’s funding chain may be broken, but she’s hiding in the shadows while we’re out in the open. If she becomes desperate and lashes out…”

“Stop, stop, stop!” Yu Qing interrupted, resting her chin in both hands as she looked at the three gloomy faces in front of her.

“I swear, you people are just too tense. If you keep a bowstring pulled too tight, it’ll snap sooner or later. Get it?”

She pointed at Lu Yan.

“You—these past few days you’ve been arresting people so much that the dark circles under your eyes are about to drop to your chin.”

Then she pointed at Shen Jue.

“And you—you’re already gloomy enough, and now you look even more like a debt collector.”

Finally, she looked at Su Hewan. “And Wanwan, you’ve been analyzing that account book these past few days. Your skin even looks tired!”

Su Hewan put down her chopsticks and sighed. “We’re in the open while the enemy is in the shadows. Until we catch her, the capital will never truly be at peace.”

“Heaven’s net is vast—nothing slips through it. There will always be bad people, so we need to learn how to balance work and rest!” Yu Qing’s eyes rolled mischievously, clearly brewing another one of her wild ideas.

Su Hewan knew her best friend far too well. Whenever Yu Qing wore that expression, it meant someone was about to suffer—or something shocking was about to appear.

“What are you planning this time?” Su Hewan asked with an indulgent smile.

“Hehe.”

Yu Qing mysteriously pulled out from behind her back a deck of… cards that she had specially ordered craftsmen to make over the past few days.

“Since our clues have run dry, there’s no point sitting here worrying. Why don’t we switch up our brains a bit?”

She snapped her fingers and skillfully shuffled the cards with a rapid shua-shua sound before spreading them across the table.

“Come on, come on! There are four of us—perfect for a round of Dou Dizhu!”

“Tonight we’re not talking about the case. We’re only talking about victory and defeat!”

Lu Yan stared at the strange slips of paper marked with “J, Q, K,” looking completely baffled. “What is this? Some kind of formation diagram?”

Shen Jue also frowned, picking up a card with a jester drawn on it. “This painting is… rather ridiculous.”

“What formation diagram! These are playing cards!” Yu Qing rolled her eyes and began explaining enthusiastically.

“The game we’re playing is called—Dou Dizhu!”

“Dou… Dizhu?”

Lu Yan and Shen Jue exchanged a glance, both seeing enormous question marks in each other’s eyes.

“So, here’s how it works,” Yu Qing said while dealing the cards, her eyebrows dancing animatedly.

“There’s one landlord who fights against two farmers. The landlord tries to get rid of all their cards first, while the two farmers work together to stop them. It tests not only luck but also calculation, teamwork, and psychological warfare!”

She shoved a hand of cards into the utterly confused Lu Yan’s hands, then handed another set to the thoughtful Shen Jue.

“Lord Lu, think about it—when you’re chasing criminals, don’t you have to predict their movements? That’s called card counting!”

“Chief Shen, when you’re in court politics, don’t you gather allies to attack your rivals? That’s farmer cooperation!”

“This game combines military strategy, political scheming, and psychology. It’s top-tier entertainment! Who knows—maybe while playing, you’ll suddenly have a flash of inspiration about how to deal with Consort Zhao!”

Watching Yu Qing spout nonsense with a perfectly serious face, Su Hewan couldn’t help but laugh.

“Qingqing, your ability to talk people into things is becoming more and more masterful.”

Lu Yan looked at the cards in his hands. Although he still didn’t fully understand, hearing the words military strategy made him take it slightly more seriously.

“In that case… let’s give it a try?”

Shen Jue chuckled softly. His slender fingers lifted a card as his gaze swept over Su Hewan.

“Since Wanwan is playing, of course I’ll join in. But I wonder… who exactly will be the landlord?”

“As for the landlord—that’s up to fate!”

Yu Qing slapped the table heroically and drew a card from the strange deck, flipping it over.

“Whoever draws this designated card becomes the landlord! Come on—draw!”

After the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn.

The atmosphere in the Wutong Courtyard slowly transformed—from the cozy warmth of a hotpot gathering into a silent battlefield without smoke.

“Straight. From three to ten.”

Shen Jue leaned lazily against the rosewood chair, his long pale fingers holding several thin cards as he lightly tossed them onto the table.