Flower Stealing Master

Chapter 598: Reunion

After parting ways with He Tieshou—now known as He Qing—Song Qingshu made his way toward his former residence. Along the way, Song Qingshu pondered over financial issues. Although the Golden Serpent Camp had gained substantial wealth when they captured the prefectural city, the daily expenditure for the camp’s tens of thousands of soldiers was astronomical. The funds and supplies seized from the government could only sustain them for a year.

Establishing an intelligence network was also a costly endeavor. The startup funds for Sang Feihong’s Five Lakes Sect initially came from bribes Song Qingshu had collected during his tenure as an official in the Qing court. However, after Song Qingshu assassinated Kangxi, that source of income was cut off. As the Five Lakes Sect’s intelligence network expanded, Song Qingshu’s personal savings could no longer support it. Ultimately, he turned his attention to the illicit wealth embezzled by Wei Xiaobao.

In the original story, Wei Xiaobao embezzled over three million taels of silver. Although he had passed away prematurely in this version, leaving him with less time to amass wealth, there were still close to one million taels hidden away. Wei Xiaobao guarded this secret closely; not even Kangxi or his wife, Shuang’er, were fully aware of it.

After Wei Xiaobao’s death, the Tong family sought revenge, and the chaos caused by Divine Dragon Island further disrupted the Wei household. Shuang’er, nominally the mistress of the Wei estate, relocated to the Medicine King Manor at Dongting Lake, leaving the viscount’s mansion under Song Qingshu’s covert control. Naturally, Song Qingshu appropriated Wei Xiaobao’s secret treasure. He felt no guilt about it, reasoning that the funds Wei Xiaobao embezzled were ultimately the fruits of corrupt officials exploiting the people. Using this money to drive out the Manchus could be seen as benefiting the common folk.

For the past two years, the Five Lakes Sect had relied on this embezzled wealth for its operational funds. However, this money was only enough to sustain a single intelligence network. Additional funds were needed for He Qing’s brothel intelligence network.

Song Qingshu’s current plan was to temporarily use funds from Kangxi’s imperial treasury to kick-start the project. However, relying on the treasury was a risky and unsustainable solution. He needed to find other ways to secure funding quickly.

Naturally, this led Song Qingshu to recall the famous treasures mentioned in Jin Yong’s universe. The treasure of Emperor Liang Yuan was located in Jingzhou, while the treasure of the Gaochang Kingdom was nothing more than a myth. The treasure of the Daguang Workshop had already been taken by Yuan Chengzhi, leaving only the treasure of the rebel king and the Qing Dynasty’s dragon vein treasure.

‘I wonder how that eunuch from the Sunflower Manual is faring after absorbing the dragon Qi…’  

Strangely, ever since the Sunflower Eunuch began absorbing the Qing Dynasty’s dragon vein Qi, the Qing Empire’s fortunes seemed to have dimmed. Once thriving and powerful, even rivaling the Mongols, the Qing now appeared riddled with hidden crises beneath its strong facade.

‘Could the legend of dragon veins actually be true?’ Song Qingshu shuddered at the thought. Unless absolutely necessary, he preferred to avoid Luding Mountain. Who knew what kind of monstrous creature the Sunflower Ancestor might have become after absorbing so much dragon Qi?
With his sights set on the rebel king’s treasure, Song Qingshu began to strategize. Both Bing Xue’er and Nan Lan’s phoenix hairpin could lead him to the treasure. The challenge now was figuring out how to transport it from beyond the Great Wall without drawing attention.

Lost in thought, Song Qingshu eventually arrived at his former residence in the capital. The plaque that once read “Song Mansion” had been replaced with “Tian Mansion.” He paused for a moment, momentarily overwhelmed. After assassinating Kangxi, the Qing court naturally sought to erase all traces of him. However, under Kangxi’s secret protection, Tian Guinong and Nan Lan had escaped further retribution. Still, the plaque of “Song Mansion” could no longer be openly displayed.

‘I wonder if Bing Xue’er has been comfortable living here…’ Song Qingshu mused. During the Golden Serpent Assembly, Bing Xue’er had avoided meeting the other women in Song Qingshu’s life and quietly brought Miao Ruolan to the capital to find Nan Lan. By now, she should have arrived.

Just as Song Qingshu was about to enter the gate, he heard the faint sound of a young girl crying, accompanied by a woman’s scolding voice. He froze for a moment, quickly recognizing the voices. The young girl was Miao Ruolan, and the mature woman was Nan Lan.

“It seems Nan Lan is disciplining her daughter. It might be awkward to walk in now…” Song Qingshu hesitated for a moment before deciding not to enter through the main gate. Instead, he leaped over the courtyard wall, landing in a lush tree within the yard. His curiosity was piqued—what could Miao Ruolan have done to anger Nan Lan so?

In the courtyard, a delicate young girl with rosy cheeks ran frantically, chased by an elegant woman wielding a feather duster. The girl was none other than Miao Ruolan. As she ran, she cried out, “When I grow up, I’m going to marry Brother Qingshu! He’s a great hero who stands tall and proud!”

Song Qingshu’s expression turned strange. He hadn’t expected even little Ruolan to be smitten with him.

The elegant woman chasing her, clearly out of breath, finally stopped, her ample chest rising and falling like waves. Upon hearing her daughter’s declaration, she grew even more anxious. “Absolutely not! You can marry anyone but him!”

The woman was none other than Nan Lan, whom Song Qingshu hadn’t seen in a long time. Perhaps due to the exertion, a light sheen of sweat dotted her temples, and her fair skin glowed with a faint blush.

“Why not?” Miao Ruolan demanded, her frustration evident.

Faced with her daughter’s question, Nan Lan’s breath hitched, and she silently cursed her predicament. 

‘My dear daughter, how can I tell you that your heroic Brother Qingshu is actually a devil who…’

Recalling the times she had been hum!liated by Song Qingshu, Nan Lan’s legs nearly gave out beneath her. Gritting her teeth, she said, “Because I said so!”

“Does that mean you want to marry Brother Qingshu yourself?” Miao Ruolan suddenly placed her hands on her hips, glaring angrily at her mother.

Nan Lan’s heart skipped a beat. She quickly glanced around to ensure no one had overheard, then sighed in relief. At the same time, she grew angry and glared at her daughter. “How dare you speak such nonsense!”  ʀ

“It’s because you won’t tell me the reason. I hate you so much.” Miao Ruolan started to cry, wiping her tears and ran into the inner room, leaving Nan Lan alone.

Thinking of her daughter’s angry eyes, Nan Lan felt a pain in her heart and subconsciously bent down to cover her chest.

“Madame, are you feeling uncomfortable somewhere? How about I help you rub it?” 

A familiar voice suddenly came to her ears. Nan Lan turned around and found that the man she dreamed of every night had now appeared in front of her.

“You…you…” Nan Lan subconsciously took a step back, but her foot was tripped by the stone bench on the ground, and she fell towards the ground involuntarily.

“Madame, please be careful when you walk.” Song Qingshu stretched out his arms around her round waist and took her in his embrace.

The familiar smell of Song Qingshu made Nan Lan love and hate at the same time. For a moment, she felt mixed emotions and even forgot to resist. However, she suddenly remembered that things were different now and her daughter was still here. She pushed him and said, “Let me go, Ruolan is still nearby.”

Song Qingshu didn’t let go of her at all, but stretched out his hand to grab one of her supple mound and give it a good squeeze, “Did you feel uncomfortable here just now?”

“No~” 

Nan Lan’s b0dy softened all of a sudden. She felt that her b0dy seemed to be completely unable to refuse him. She tried to raise her remaining rationality and m0aned, “Please, at least not here…”

Song Qingshu originally just wanted to tease her, but he never expected that her b0dy was so sensitive. 

Looking at the beautiful woman in his arms, her teary eyes, her slightly opened rosy lips, and the orchid scent of her breath, Song Qingshu’s heart suddenly became agitated. He picked Nan Lan up by the waist and walked quickly to the room next door.

Miao Ruolan, who was hiding behind a window not far away, looked at the two people’s disappearing backs, her lips were almost bitten to bleed, she was trembling all over, and she couldn’t stop the anger in her heart: ‘No wonder my mother didn’t allow me to be with Brother Qingshu, it turns out that she and him…’

Not long after, the girl became excited again: ‘It turns out that Brother Qingshu likes mature w0men, hum, in a few years, I don’t believe that I can’t compare with my mother!’

With Song Qingshu’s martial arts, he naturally knew that Miao Ruolan was hiding aside just now. The reason why he deliberately showed such an intimate act with Nan Lan was to cut off the girl’s thoughts early on, and give her a reason to change her thoughts.

Although he was romantic, he was not a per*verted fre*ak. 

Miao Ruolan was just a little g!rl now. It was normal for her to have strange feelings for him because he had saved her, but she was still too young and did not have the capacity to make a sound judgment. 

Song Qingshu didn’t want to take advantage of her inexperience, so he simply made a ruthless move to cut off the girl’s feelings.

It’s a pity that even if Song Qingshu understood women’s minds, he couldn’t figure out the inner workings of a little g!rl…

At first, Song Qingshu only planned to pretend, but then couldn’t resist Nan Lan’s tantalizing expressions. Feeling the soft b0dy of the w0man in his arms, he couldn’t help it, and decided to make thighs real.

“Ahng~”

Not wasting any more time, he directly plunged his dragon deep inside her dripping wet cave.

“Mhhng~ Wha…what’s wrong?” 

Nan Lan felt Song Qingshu’s b0dy suddenly stiffen during the act, and couldn’t help asking shyly.

How could Song Qingshu’s b0dy not be stiff, because he noticed a soft footstep carefully walking to the window. The person seemed very hesitant, but in the end they stretched out their slender fingers and touched the tip of their tongue, and gently poked a hole in the window paper.

From the sound of breathing, the person outside obviously didn’t know martial arts, but her footsteps were much lighter than those of ordinary people. 

Song Qingshu reacted immediately. 

The person was a young g!rl, and the only young g!rl in the yard was Miao Ruolan!

Song Qingshu was embarrassed now. 

With her daughter watching outside, he had no nerve to continue bullying Nan Lan. But now he was halfway through bullying her. If he gave up and Nan Lan found out something was wrong, how would it end?

Just as he was at a loss, Nan Lan twisted her wa!st and tenderly and shyly invited him to continue.

“To hell then!” Song Qingshu’s eyes glowed with a crimson light, as he made up his mind and simply pretended that he hadn’t noticed Miao Ruolan at all.

And so, three heavy breathing sounds suddenly sounded inside and outside the house. 

Nan Lan soon realized that the man 0n her seemed to be more exc!ted than usual. She thought it was because they hadn’t seen each other for a long time. 

If only she knew the truth…

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