The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

#492 - Wealth and splendor

"Are you taking me for a fool?" Lu Jing gave Han Shanke a dismissive look. "If I let you out, you'd definitely run off and disappear. Where would I even find you to get my poison pills back?

"You might as well stay here and honestly help me concoct the poison pills first. Afterwards, I might consider pretending I didn't know you came back to life. Read М"

"I can't wait that long," Han Shanke shook his head.

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"Even without the constraints of that strange object, leaving the academy wouldn't be easy. Old Dong, who guards the coffin shop, used to be a fourth-rank supervisor. Although he's injured and not as strong as before, he's still not easy to deal with.

"And it wouldn't be so bad if it were just him, but the key is, if I get entangled with him, experts from the academy and the Court of Judicial Review will continuously arrive.

Han Shanke paused here, "I originally wanted to use Dong Xuan's master and apprentice to test the reaction speed of the Court of Judicial Review and the academy, but I didn't expect this year's freshmen to be so powerful. They beat them all down on their own, without even asking the academy and the Court of Judicial Review for help.

"So I can only be more cautious now. The sooner I leave, the better."

As Han Shanke spoke, he looked up at the sky. "Well, in about half an hour, Old Dong will receive the news. At that time, he will leave for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, which is also the best opportunity for me to leave the academy.

"You see, it's not that I'm unwilling to help you concoct the pills first, it's just that I'm really in a hurry."

Han Shanke was very honest, not hiding anything. He even revealed almost all of his plans for tonight, and then continued, "I can't help you concoct those poison pills, at least not now. As for later... well, I understand if you don't believe me. How about this, I'll give you something else as collateral.

"See if there's anything else you want... How about money? Everyone likes that. Although the Little Marquis has taken the silver I had you withdraw from the Taiping Bank, I didn't just deposit that one sum before entering Mirror Lake Valley.

"If you're worried, you can come with me. We'll go straight to the bank after leaving the academy, and I can withdraw two hundred thousand taels of silver for you on the spot. How about that?"

Han Shanke observed Lu Jing's expression. Seeing that the latter didn't have much of a reaction, he added, "Then what about beauties? I can also give you ten, no, twenty beauties. I guarantee they're not ordinary. Each one is a national treasure. I originally planned to enjoy them after I got out. If you like them, I can send them to you first."

Seeing that the most straightforward temptation wasn't working, Han Shanke changed his tune and started playing the emotional card with Lu Jing. "The reason I told you about my previous experiences is that I don't want you to repeat my mistakes.

"Forget the hypocritical and useless righteousness that the academy teaches you. Think carefully, think about what's the point of being a supervisor, risking all kinds of unpredictable dangers to deal with those mysterious and unpredictable strange objects.

"Yet almost no one in this world knows what you've done. More than a thousand years ago, when no one cared about those messy things, wasn't the world still fine?

"And you waste your youth and gamble your lives. In the end, what do you get for yourselves? You might as well just follow me.

"When the great cause is accomplished in the future, I can even grant you the title of king to play with. Think about it, not only you, but also your children and grandchildren will benefit from your shade, enjoying endless wealth and glory."

"There's no such thing as eternal wealth and glory," Lu Jing interrupted Han Shanke. "A dynasty is considered long-lived if it lasts for three or four hundred years. Besides, your Zhu family has been sitting in that position for more than three hundred years. Now that Kyushu is turbulent and the situation is changing, I don't think you have many good days left.

"If I join you now, wouldn't that be like joining the Kuomintang in '49?"

Han Shanke didn't understand what "joining the Kuomintang in '49" meant, but he understood the meaning in Lu Jing's words. He smiled indifferently, "Dynasties change because the person sitting in that chair is either smart or stupid. Usually, the first generation of founders are smart, but later on, no one can guarantee that their sons won't be stupid.

"If you end up with a foolish ruler, won't they ruin the country? But if you follow me, you don't have to worry about this kind of thing at all. After all, I have already ascended to immortality and live as long as heaven and earth, so I can naturally sit in that position forever, so my country can continue to prosper.

"As for the Court of Judicial Review, you don't have to worry. They will soon be too busy to take care of themselves and won't have time to cause us trouble, otherwise I wouldn't have run out like this."

Han Shanke probably got carried away at the end and drew another big pie for Lu Jing, "If you can really assist me in restoring the country, not to mention a mere royal title, I might even grant you the method of eternal life. Then the two of us can roam the world together, wouldn't that be wonderful."

Unfortunately, Lu Jing had heard this kind of talk every time he joined a new company, so he was already immune to it. However, something Han Shanke mentioned earlier made Lu Jing a little concerned.

So he asked, "Why will the Court of Judicial Review be too busy to take care of themselves? Is it because you've created some new strange object again?"

However, Han Shanke didn't seem to want to explain this issue further, just smiled mysteriously, and then continued, "The opportunity is rare, I hope you don't make the same wrong decision I did back then."

Lu Jing shook his head, "I'm not interested in the money, beauty, or fame and fortune you mentioned. I just want my poison pills back. If you can take out the poison pills now, then we might still have something to talk about. If you can't take them out, then you might as well save your breath."

Just as the two were talking, Gujing finally flew back to Lu Jing's side and landed on his shoulder.

But Han Shanke still looked calm and unhurried, "You always say I'm dishonest, but aren't you the same? If you didn't want people to know, why didn't you look for the many powerful alchemists in the academy and insisted on asking me to concoct the poison pills you wanted?

"Isn't it because you didn't want others to know about this? So you don't have to scare me with Supervisor Huang. You and I are both the same."

"What I plan to do with those poison pills is different from what you think," Lu Jing reached out and stroked Gujing's head. However, Han Shanke was right about one thing. He did summon the messenger just to scare Han Shanke.

Although Lu Jing himself had a clear conscience, if those pills were discovered by others, it would indeed be difficult to explain their purpose.

So he still preferred to solve tonight's matter himself.