My dream connects to three thousand years later.

Chapter 84 Mission: Impossible

"Young master, my name is Lu Jin." Lu Jin took a sip of tea to moisten his throat. "I've already reviewed your assessment results this morning. Full marks!"

"To be honest, this is quite unexpected... I always thought you were the kind of rough-and-tumble hero!"

The term "grassroots hero" implies that while they possess courage and boldness, they lack cultural refinement.

In truth, Lu Jin was genuinely shocked. This completely overturned his first impression of Mr. Zhu…

"Old Lu, wait a moment!" Chu Zhu sized up Lu Jin, then looked at Lu Muxue, and finally at Madam Xue, sighing, "Are you playing the role of choosing a son-in-law here?"

"...?" Lu Jin was stunned, his heart churning. He glanced at his wife without showing any emotion, then looked at Chu Zhu again, his gaze sharpening. "Even if you are Xiaoxue's savior, these words have tarnished Xiaoxue's reputation..."

"I know how you got in touch with Aunt Xue back then!" Chu Zhu rolled her eyes. "You were able to rise from a commoner to where you are now, wasn't it all because you rode on the coattails of the Xue family? Or are you trying to deny it now? Aunt Xue might give you face outside, but once you go back... tsk tsk."

Lu Jin: "..."

He seemed to sense Xue Qian's ever-gentle gaze. Although Lu Jin's expression remained unchanged, his body stiffened somewhat.

"How did you know!" After pondering repeatedly, Lu Jin's attitude changed. She was no longer like before, as if she were facing an admired junior. Instead, she was genuinely having a serious conversation.

He narrowed his eyes. "Young sir, if you can't provide a concrete explanation..."

"Well, considering Xiaoxue, I won't make things too difficult for you... but, as for the future..."

In other words, are you treating not pursuing today's matter as a favor? Chu Zhu remained noncommittal, saying leisurely, "I'm just an information broker!"

Lu Jin remained silent for a long time before a smile finally appeared on his square face, as if surprised, or perhaps speechless. "Just how many identities do you have... Mr. Zhu from the shantytown redevelopment area? A guest of honor of the God Worshipping Society? And you have an unclear connection with the Almighty Society... Now, you've become an intelligence dealer?"

Chu Zhu wasn't surprised. Given the status and position of the person in front of her, it was normal for them to know these things. It would be strange if they didn't!
"These shouldn't be contradictory, right?"

Lu Muxue blinked, her expression finally losing its previous composure, showing some worry, some unease, and some confusion... She was truly in a state of confusion.

On one hand, she didn't understand why things had suddenly turned out this way. On the other hand, she genuinely thought this was just a thank-you dinner, but judging from her father's tone earlier... this was actually a blind date?!
With...with this little brother in front of me?
Ah, well, although he did save her life, she really wasn't interested in people younger than herself! At most, she didn't dislike the person in front of her because they shared the same hobbies and could chat.

"Good, good, good." Lu Jin took another sip of tea and pondered with interest. The union established by Mr. Zhu controlled the entire shantytown renovation area. The shantytown renovation area had countless workers and all sorts of people. With so many people assisting, it was indeed possible to obtain a lot of information beyond imagination.

Although he didn't believe this person knew more than he did, given his position within the official intelligence agency, he didn't bluntly reject the man's offer.
"So," Lu Jin asked casually, "young sir, what kind of information can you sell?"

“For example,” Chu Zhuping said, “the Xue Group just acquired Nanping Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.... and behind it actually stands one of the five poisonous women of the Five Poisons Society, the Eastern Frontier Poisonous Woman!”

Lu Jin: "!!!"

"For example, Judge Xu Xun, who was just dispatched from the Dali Temple in the capital, is actually under the orders of the Dali Temple Minister to monitor the upper echelons of Jinghai City and find out who is colluding with the Three Societies..."

Chu Zhu paused, "One more thing, this Judge Xu Xun should belong to the Third Apostle of the Omnipotent lineage... He should be directly under the orders of that Third Lord! That's right, he's a spy within a spy..."

Lu Jin remained expressionless, but he stopped drinking his tea. His mind was racing...

what?
The judge, who was just transferred from the capital and is highly suspected of being an imperial envoy... is he an undercover agent of the Third Apostle? And is he here to investigate the Three Societies?
I'm checking myself?!
No! How... how did you know this? It must be fake, right? Even as an intelligence dealer, Lu Jin couldn't understand where one could obtain such important information.

Although he had previously suspected that Chu Zhu had connections with the Omnipotent faction... but with this level of intelligence, you can't just say that an Apostle is your mole, can you? Or that you planted a spy among the Apostles?

The more Lu Jin thought about it, the more confused she became.

Applause suddenly erupted.

“Young sir, you have truly broadened my horizons!” Madam Xueqian interjected, her attitude completely different from before—before, she carried a touch of naive innocence, her temperament quite similar to Lu Muxue's now, clearly a flower in a greenhouse, having not experienced much hardship.

But now, Madam Xue's temperament is gradually becoming similar to Lu Jin's.

She glanced at her husband speechlessly, clearly exasperated that he was now caught in this mess, then turned to Chu Zhu, "You should know the status of Jinghai City, right? As one of the three major financial and industrial cities in the east, it is undoubtedly the core of the eastern part of the Great Qian Dynasty... The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review in the capital is indeed a high-ranking and powerful official, but..."

"There's no need to test them, is there?" Chu Zhu sighed. "To make such a decision, there must be someone higher up, someone who truly has the ability to make the decision, someone who has such thoughts... not just someone from the Court of Judicial Review!"

“You may not believe me, but I think that the fact that you didn’t directly call Secretary Song in and kick me out... actually means you believe me! After all, those of you sitting in this position should be able to sense that a storm is brewing, right?”

The tea room returned to its quiet state.

"Evidence?" Madam Xue asked, enunciating each word clearly.

"No!" Chu Zhu rolled his eyes. Where was he supposed to find evidence? Believe it or not. Lu Muxue: "!!!"

Does this scene look familiar?

After hesitating for a moment, looking at the frozen scene again, she cautiously spoke, "Um, I believe this... Mr. Chu Zhu."

She couldn't help but believe it! Last time, this guy's words were so absolute, it was like a prophecy... It left a very deep impression on her.

At that moment, she noticed that after her parents got into character, their tense faces twitched a few times, quickly giving off a visible expression of speechlessness and a forced smile.

“…Really! Ugh!” Lu Jin rubbed his forehead with his palm and suddenly said, “Kid, are you really not interested in getting to know Xiaoxue? Even if you’re not interested, you can be friends first…I see you two get along quite well.”

"Otherwise, after you pass the assessment, don't go to the Commandery! What's the difference between going in there and being half-dead? Why don't you become my secretary..."

Lu Jin no longer tried to hide it.

Chu Zhu was right before; this wasn't an assessment for civil servants at all. It was a matchmaking test... there was really no other way!
Lu Jin couldn't understand why he and his wife could have such a pure-hearted daughter. On the surface, his wife and daughter seemed to have the same personality, but in reality, they were completely different.

His wife is only as pure as a white lotus on the surface... but in reality she's a cunning and ruthless person!
Back then, Madam Xue had no intention of accepting the arranged marriage from the Xue family patriarch. Instead, she chose him, who had just entered the Tianjing Affairs Department. She used the threat of eloping and getting pregnant before marriage to threaten the patriarch, forcing him to acknowledge their relationship. Ultimately, by leveraging the Xue family's connections and resources, along with his own efforts, she brought him to this point.

Even now, Lu Jin is still amazed by the way he looks at people and the audacity he displays.

But his own daughter is just like his wife on the surface—she appears innocent, gives the impression of being innocent, and is indeed very innocent in reality… Isn’t this a disaster?

Previously, when he heard that his daughter would be in contact with Mr. Zhu from the shantytown renovation area, his first reaction was the embarrassment of a cabbage being eaten by a pig, but his second reaction was relief, and a little melancholy.

He exclaimed with emotion, "She truly is a worthy daughter of him and his wife!"

He was even proud at the time that his daughter was also a movie star, just like his wife? She could even fool him... Was she going to do what her mother did back then, pick a promising guy she liked, and then force herself on him?
However, after Lu Jin finished gathering the intelligence, he couldn't hold back any longer. Something just didn't seem right about the intelligence.

After much deliberation, Lu Jin finally made a decision: to meet with Chu Zhu and see if he could push their relationship forward...

After all, compared to Chu Zhu, with whom she could clearly have a good conversation, the other wealthy and powerful men of the same social class... might be a better choice in terms of matching social status, but Lu Muxue would definitely not be happy after marriage.

And then... Lu Jin now felt like... he was just fishing, but he ended up catching a prehistoric crocodile—

Although with his experience, he felt as if he could see through the personality of the person in front of him... but as they talked, he felt that the other person's personality had changed, and he suspected that what he saw was actually what the other person was deliberately showing him!

"Not interested." Chu Zhu took a sip of tea and rolled her eyes. "Secretary Song was quite respectful to me just now. I have no intention of taking his job."

"Hey, hey, hey, my dad has a lot of secretaries! What are you saying?" Lu Muxue was unhappy.

Lu Jin: "...?"

Lady Xue: "...!"

No, this is just a pretext for rejection! You actually believed it?

"Alright, enough of that! You should think about what to do with the Xue family first..." Chu Zhu subtly steered the conversation back on track. "You acquired Nanping Pharmaceutical Company, intending to use it to get involved in Jinghai City's business! But aren't you curious how those local powerful families let you get involved so easily?"

"Now, the contract is signed... and the Five Poisons Society has also handed the information over to Judge Xu Xun! Tsk tsk... what's next... hehe, even if I don't say it, you should be able to imagine what will happen, right?" Chu Zhu spoke eloquently.

He paused briefly, then looked at both of them again with interest. "Of course, as I said before, you don't have to believe me! I don't care... But can you really afford the price of everything I've said being true?"

The tea room was deathly silent.

at last.

"...Have the Five Poisons and the Omnipotent already joined forces? Or is it just a simple collaboration!" Lu Jin pursed his lips. Although he was still somewhat skeptical, Chu Zhu had already put it this way, so he really had to prepare for the worst.

"As an aside, your third secretary, who orchestrated this matter!" Chu Zhu then looked at Madam Xue and said casually, "was bribed by the Five Poisons Society... If you check his accounts, you'll find an extra 10,000 yuan of unexplained funds in his account! It's from the Industrial Development Bank, a newly opened account... If you investigate deliberately, you should be able to find it!"

Ten thousand Qian coins is an absolute fortune in the dream world!

Seeing Madam Xue's ever-changing expression, Chu Zhu added a few more sentences, "Oh, actually he didn't know the other side was the Five Poisons Society! He just took some money, and while he felt uneasy about having too much money, he still deleted some information that might have made you suspicious, as requested by the other party... He also completed the mission on the side, and after taking the kickback, he could get promoted. A win-win situation!"

(End of this chapter)