Chapter 44

The appointed date for the banquet arrived quickly.

Before setting out, the Huo Family’s private tailor took Luo Li to try on his clothes. The outfit prepared for him was a fashionable milky-white Western-style shirt with layered sleeves and a velvet bow at the collar, paired with perfectly tailored burgundy trousers that seemed made to measure just for him.

Luo Li examined himself in the mirror as the Western tailor lavished praise on his good looks, leaving him embarrassed.

However…

Was it really okay to dress like this? He’d half-expected to have to disguise himself as a woman.

If word got out that Huo Jieqi was keeping a boy as a paramour, wouldn’t it spark a scandal?

The tailor seemed to sense his worry. “The dignitaries and nobles of Jinzhou City have seen it all. What’s unusual about Master Huo preferring boys? You can relax.”

He chuckled. “Of course, if you’d rather dress as a young lady, I can make that happen too. Do you prefer a Western dress? Or a qipao?”

Luo Li had no interest in cross-dressing and waved his hands hastily in refusal.

They had just finished trying on the outfit and stepped outside when Huo Cheng appeared, waiting for him.

The young man was tall and handsome, though a veil of brooding melancholy clung to his features, softening only slightly at the sight of Luo Li.

Dressed this way, the boy truly resembled a spoiled little young master. His fair skin glowed against the luxurious fabric, and his neatly tied low ponytail bobbed at the nape of his neck like a pair of rabbit ears.

“Time to go. We’ll drive to the hotel.”

Luo Li hurried after him.

They traveled the entire way by car, with Huo Cheng remaining utterly silent, which left Luo Li increasingly on edge.

As Luo Li stewed in anxiety, Huo Cheng finally spoke in a low voice. “People from the Jinzhou Chamber of Commerce will be at this banquet.”

“One of them is a foreigner who framed our father in the past. After Father’s death, he seized control of the Chamber of Commerce. His influence stretches across the major ports, railway stations, and banks, all part of his plot to gradually absorb Father’s empire.”

“Of course, none of this intrigue has anything to do with you.”

Huo Cheng turned, the streetlights casting shadows through the car window to highlight the sharp lines of his profile. “You don’t need to concern yourself. Just make an appearance at the event, and that foreigner will walk right into the trap.”

Luo Li’s mind raced as the meaning sank in.

“You… you want me to act as bait?”

“You could put it that way. But don’t worry—I won’t let any harm come to you. For you, it’ll just be an ordinary reception.”

Huo Cheng paused. “The Chamber of Commerce controls Father’s entire inheritance. If we can eliminate that foreigner this time… I’ll give you shares in the Chamber, along with your share of the inheritance.”

Luo Li’s heart pounded wildly.

Inheritance. So that was the real stakes here—fighting over the inheritance!

Wait. Huo Cheng had come alone this time. Neither Huo Lan nor Huo Yin knew about it.

Was he scheming to seize control of Huo Jieqi’s inheritance without telling his brothers?

What profound cunning.

What a ruthless elder brother.

Luo Li felt his legs start to shake.

Dusk had fallen by the time the car pulled up in front of a shop. Luo Li peered out the window and nearly jumped out of his skin.

It was a funeral supplies store, with several pallid paper effigies propped up at the entrance.

Huo Cheng opened the car door. “I’ll take a quick look. Wait here in the car.”

Luo Li huddled on the leather seat, shivering. The window was slightly ajar, allowing him to overhear Huo Cheng speaking with the shop owner.

“Oh, it’s the Eldest Young Master! Long time no see—you look even more spirited than before. Is your illness fully cured?”

“Yes, it’s better now. Thank you for your ongoing concern.”

“Oh my, that illness back then gave everyone quite a fright. Thank goodness Master Huo’s blessings ran deep, carrying you through the crisis… Sigh, such a pity heaven should claim him in his prime! Are you here to arrange funeral goods today, Young Master?”

“Yes. The servants at the mansion bungled the order, so since I was in the city anyway, I thought I’d handle it myself.”

The owner set out several paper effigies and muttered a few words. Huo Cheng nodded. “Your work is masterful, boss. These figures look just like A-gong and A-ma.”

The owner waved it off. “No trouble at all. But Young Master, why so many paper effigies? They’re just shells without souls—too many could disrupt the mansion’s feng shui.”

Huo Cheng fell silent, his gaze darkening, and the owner quieted as well.

Somehow, Huo Cheng seemed so different from the boy he remembered.

Had young Huo Cheng always been this poised, this inscrutable?

The owner couldn’t quite recall.

At that moment, a faint voice drifted from the nearby car. “Huo Cheng…”

The owner glanced over and caught sight of half a porcelain-pale face at the window.

His body jolted.

The boy in the car—why did he look so familiar?

Many years ago, on his first visit to Zhaohua Mansion, he thought he’d seen that face.

But before he could get a better look, Huo Cheng’s broad shoulders blocked the boy completely from view.

Huo Cheng bent toward the window. “What is it?”

Luo Li was too embarrassed to admit his fear and only stammered.

Huo Cheng grasped the door handle. “All right, let’s go.”

He had just started to pull it open when a gunshot cracked through the air, followed by a volley of shots echoing around them.

Bullets peppered the car in seconds. Huo Cheng’s expression turned thunderous as he slammed the door shut and barked at Luo Li, “Close the window tight!”

A bullet grazed his left shoulder, blood instantly soaking through his coat.

Luo Li froze in terror, his hands shaking as he cranked the window up. He watched Huo Cheng draw a pistol from his pocket and snap at the driver, “To the hotel—now!”

The driver stomped the accelerator, and the car tore away down the street. Luo Li glimpsed a gang of shadowy figures in pursuit, but the car outpaced them easily.

Even as they escaped the city center into quieter outskirts, Luo Li’s pulse hammered relentlessly.

Who were those men?

It had been so dangerous—how could Huo Cheng have stayed behind alone?

If he was killed, if something happened to him…

Gripping the seat, Luo Li asked the driver, “Should… should we go back for the Eldest Young Master?”

The driver said nothing.

Luo Li tried again. “…Sir?”

A chill realization hit him.

Hadn’t Huo Cheng ordered them to the hotel?

This route was heading straight out of the city.

Luo Li’s fingers clenched the door handle, his voice quavering. “You—you’re an inside man—”

The words barely left his mouth before the car lurched to a stop. The driver whipped around, a dagger pressed to Luo Li’s throat. “Stay put. Doors are locked—no escape for you.”

The icy blade hovered right under his chin, beads of cold sweat breaking out on Luo Li’s forehead.

He cowered in the corner, trembling, tears pooling at the corners of his eyes. “What do you want… I—I don’t have any money…”

The driver narrowed his eyes.

“Who needs your money?”

“What I want is the brat in your belly. I want it dead.”

The car veered into a desolate corner of Jinzhou City as night fully descended, plunging everything into blackness. The faint interior light caught the boy’s ashen face—almond-shaped eyes, flushed lips, lashes drenched in tears.

He sat alone in the back, looking completely bewildered by the peril he’d stumbled into.

The Jinzhou Chamber of Commerce was fracturing from within, and Huo Cheng already held the upper hand. If Luo Li announced at the banquet that he carried Huo Jieqi’s posthumous child, the entire organization would undoubtedly pass to Huo Jieqi’s blood heir.

But the child wasn’t born, and Luo Li was naive and guileless. In short, even if they claimed the Chamber’s assets, Huo Cheng would render them powerless.

Then every foreigner in the Chamber would be shipped out on the next boat.

That was why Luo Li’s child had to die.

Tears streamed down Luo Li’s cheeks.

This was pure calamity—he was nothing but a greedy little beggar, a petty swindler. How could he possibly carry Huo Jieqi’s child?

He could abandon the money, but not his life.

Desperate, he blurted through sobs, “I—I don’t have one… I’m not pregnant… I never even slept with Huo Jieqi…”

The driver scoffed. “The whole mansion swears it’s true. You think I’m stupid?”

“It’s true—there’s nothing!”

Luo Li was speechless with panic. “I’m just a regular boy… Boys can’t get pregnant…”

No one could confirm a pregnancy right now.

But verifying if he was truly male? That was simple.

The driver weighed his options. “Then drop your pants.”

Disbelief flickered through Luo Li’s watery eyes.

The dagger inched closer. “Do it!”

The edge bit against his throat.

Luo Li’s legs buckled. Clutching the seat, he wept uncontrollably. “O-Okay… I understand…”

The bespoke burgundy trousers hugged his form, their zipper and buttons fiddly and complex—not easy to remove.

Cramped in the backseat, he fumbled awkwardly, trying to twist away.

“Face me.”

The driver growled, “Turn toward the door and how will I see? Sit there. Spread your legs.”

The boy’s face flushed red, though whether from shame or fear, he couldn’t tell. His pale, tender little hands pressed against the leather car seat as he freed one to clumsily tug at his belt.

His petite knees trembled as they parted, the tailored trousers outlining the perfect curve of his hips and the graceful lines of his legs. His fingertips dug into the soft flesh of his thighs, leaving faint indents.

Though he had a delicate frame, his legs were slender and long, with proportions so striking they were almost unreal. He bit his lip in unease, his fingers pinching the waistband of his pants and pulling them down inch by excruciating inch in utter embarrassment.

The driver stared at him without blinking.

How could anyone be this innocent?

Even if he really wasn’t pregnant, now that he knew this boy was the mole in his midst, did he seriously think he’d be spared?

What a spineless coward, utterly devoid of cunning.

His whole body amounted to nothing but that one breathtakingly beautiful face—a beauty that went against the heavens themselves.

And yet the driver couldn’t fathom what spell had come over him.

He could have ended it with a single knife thrust, rather than forcing the boy like this in the car: making him wrap his arms around the driver’s thighs, parting them with a quiver of his slim, supple waist, and strip off his own pants.

The driver swallowed hard without thinking.

His gaze, as if under a trance, clung inch by inch to the boy’s sheer shirt and the strip of dazzlingly pale waist it revealed.

Hurry up and take them off.

Just a little more.

Unable to hold back, he leaned toward the exquisite beauty in the back seat. Up close, he could make out those teary, rounded almond eyes even more clearly, along with lips parted just enough to reveal the tip of a pink tongue.

This couldn’t be real, could it?

Could a boy actually look like this?

He did.

The driver had never witnessed anything so extraordinary. This time, he had to see for himself—

His hand shot out and fastened onto Luo Li’s belt.