Chapter 250

The worse of a reputation Lee Bohan possessed, the more convenient it would be for him. However, he could not simply build up a name of being an utter fool either as no one would ever have a favorable impression of a pervert. On the other hand, only by acting as if he was completely infatuated and obsessed with Concubine Qin would it better convince everyone that he was simply engrossed in his habits of lazing around and doing nothing. This was a single fault of his that could be easily fixed.

Even though Chu Xiang dared to contradict the other senior concubines in public, Lee Bohan was not willing to punish her whatsoever, which solidified her position as the person with full control of the house. Naturally, Chu Xiang’s nickname as the “witch concubine” began spreading like wildfire, engraving itself into everyone’s minds as the source of “calamity”.

In fact, Chu Xiang’s origin could even be considered a legendary occurrence. Having been thrown into the doghouse despite being the emperor’s most favored concubine in the past, she somehow managed to attain the title of Concubine Qin after the Prince of Qin entered the capital. Furthermore, she had even obtained the sole pamper of the Prince of Qin, which fit perfectly with the archetype of a witch concubine.

The truth behind the “masks” of the couple was not very important at all. Rather, it was because of Chu Xiang’s infamy as that she slowly managed to gain more freedom, so much so that she could already do whatever she wanted in the residence. Even up till this point, no one had any idea that she and the brilliant Lin Mu were the same person. It could be said that she had become the ideal figure that all women during this period sought to become.  Aside from not being afraid of her mother-in-law nor having to worry as a mere insignificant concubine, she could afford to pull off reckless ideas and live however she wanted.

Even Chu Xiang herself never expected to be content with her life so quickly. Despite that, she never let herself be too engrossed in this “temporary” comfort, for she understood that everything she had now was given to her by Lee Bohan. In other words, it could be taken from her at any time.

Moreover, Lee Bohan would sooner or later ascend the throne and become emperor. From Chu Xiang’s perspective, even a man possessing such a powerful title should never be trusted. The emperor himself would become subject to countless restrictions, preventing him from doing whatever he desired. How could such a person protect someone else for the rest of their lives? Even if Chu Xiang had somehow become the emperor, she could not guarantee the protection of her own life, let alone someone else’s.

As such, never once did Chu Xiang ever slack off. Whenever she had extra time, she would either check around the residence or operate her business outside in her cross-dressed attire. Meanwhile, the members of the Chu Family were also doing their best. In fact, Chu Yiru had already gained Lee Bohan’s trust, becoming his go-to advisor who dealt with all the important tasks behind the scenes, including building a social network of connections and coming up with various schemes.

While Chu Wenyuan became one of the soldiers in Lee Bohan’s private army for the time being, Chu Wensong, on the other hand, assisted Lee Bohan by managing the brothels and gathering all kinds of information from there. At this point, the entire Chu Family had not only deeply rooted itself into Lee Bohan’s hands but was even permeating even deeper.

As the conflicts between the rebel army and imperial court gradually intensified, more and more battles began to emerge everywhere. Meanwhile, Chu Xiang’s caravan—consisting of first-class bodyguards—had both brains and brawns. Never once losing their goods during transportation, they gradually built up a name for themselves. Thus, more people started to become interested in doing business with them.

If one played their hands correctly during times of war, they could easily find a way to make a profit. Besides, it’s not as if Chu Xiang hadn’t done anything dirty to other villains before. With her capital increasing day by day, Lee Bohan slowly began valuing “Lin Mu” even more.

Every time Lee Bohan heard his advisors praising Lin Mu and calling him a genius in commerce, he could never hold back his laughter. If they ever figured out that Lin Mu was actually the witch concubine in disguise, he wondered just how they would react. After everything was done and dusted, he looked forward to telling them the story and seeing their response.

Taking advantage of his reputation for pampering his witch concubine, Lee Bohan dispatched a large number of his men out in search of “rare treasures”. However, that was a mere pretense, for the real purpose of his actions was to collect information and get in contact with other people. Since everyone was now fully convinced of his infatuation for Chu Xiang, no one ever doubted his reasoning, allowing his plan to proceed smoothly. In fact, he was making even more progress than ever before. Step by step, he began secretly amassing power and influence.

While Lee Bohan and Chu Xiang put up an act of being affectionate for one another in public, they would, on the other hand, work on making progress with their goals unceasingly. However, sleeping under the same roof at night, they gradually developed a deep relationship with each other as comrades-in-arms.

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