Chapter 981 - 946: I Suspect

Shennong Pharmaceutical Group has been investigated one after another, and soon he heard that the top lawyer handling Xu Chunliang’s lawsuit, Chen Yuan, had been hospitalized due to illness, so the chance of him appearing in court personally was already slim to none.

After the Zhou Brothers transferred their shares to Cao Bingyi, one kept sitting in prison, the other withdrew from public view. Clearly it should have been them stepping out to confront Xu Chunliang, yet they both chose to hide, which proved the two brothers had long since been scared.

Cao Bingyi started asking around everywhere about Xu Chunliang’s background and connections. As he gathered more and more information, he finally learned that the person in charge at the Traditional Chinese Medicine Administration, Lin Sijin, was Xu Chunliang’s godmother, and that Acting Weary Sect Leader Xiahou Mulan also had a close cooperative relationship with Xu Chunliang.

Only now did he realize that Xu Chunliang might not be bound to lose this lawsuit; there might even be a reversal.

Cao Bingyi had no choice but to consider an exit strategy. In fact, the five million a year in trademark usage fees that Xu Chunliang asked him for wasn’t even that high. After all, Renhe Hall had quite a few product lines, and this brand had a high level of recognition in the traditional medicine market, especially Renhe Hall’s bone injury plasters, which had always ranked among the top in online sales of that category.

The reason Cao Bingyi came to see Xiahou Mulan was because he knew that if he tried to contact Xu Chunliang he would definitely hit a wall. Xiahou Mulan had just been designated as Xiahou Yuan’s successor, the future Sect Leader of the Weary Sect, and was already fully in charge of the sect’s affairs. She only needed to pass the Weary Sect’s Six Skills assessment a few months from now to legitimately become the Sect Leader.

During this period, important figures in the Weary Sect were also flocking to Qiaocheng to pay their respects to Xiahou Mulan. Although there was a saying that she could never pass the Six Skills assessment, with Xiahou Yuan’s support, who knew if the rules might be changed? Anyway, Xiahou Mulan had already taken over management of the Weary Sect. From a long-term perspective, it was only sensible to pay respects in advance to the future Sect Leader.

Of course, Cao Bingyi’s motives were nowhere near that simple. He also wanted to use this opportunity to meet Xiahou Yuan.

After some polite small talk, Cao Bingyi presented an order for two medicinal materials from the Mulan Base: Bozhou white peony and Duanxueliu. First, his pharmaceutical factory needed them; second, the quality of these two herbs from the Mulan Base was top-notch. Buying from someone was buying anyway—submitting an order could also show his goodwill.

Cao Bingyi said, "Miss Mulan, there’s something else I want to deliver to the old Sect Leader in person. I wonder if that would be convenient?"

Xiahou Mulan said, "He’s gone out, and I don’t even know where he’s gone. Whatever it is, leave it with me and I’ll pass it on."

Cao Bingyi said, "It would still be more appropriate to hand it to him in person."

Xiahou Mulan didn’t care about his things at all. She said coolly, "For such a small order, Mr. Cao, why bother making a personal trip?"

Cao Bingyi said, "My main purpose this time is to congratulate Miss Mulan on stepping up to take charge of the Weary Sect’s overall situation."

Xiahou Mulan said, "It’s only temporary. You should know the rules of the sect—without passing the Weary Sect’s Six Skills assessment, one has no qualification to inherit the Sect Leader’s position. You don’t recognize it either, otherwise you wouldn’t address me this way."

Cao Bingyi thought to himself, looks like I offended her. How easy is it to pass the Six Skills anyway? Since the founding of the Weary Sect, no one has ever passed the Six Skills assessment before the age of thirty. I know Xiahou Mulan’s level more or less—if she were capable, she wouldn’t have put off the assessment until three months later.

Cao Bingyi laughed and said, "Force of habit. Oh, and I heard that Mulan Group has already entered the national support list for traditional medicinal planting bases."

Xiahou Mulan said, "That did happen. My information was a bit slow—I was one of the last to submit an application. Didn’t you make the list too?"

Cao Bingyi sighed and said, "We passed the preliminary review, but when the final results were announced, we got knocked off."

Xiahou Mulan smiled and said, "I hope it wasn’t Mulan Group that replaced you."

Cao Bingyi knew perfectly well that Xiahou Mulan was saying this deliberately for him to hear. Nine times out of ten it was indeed Mulan Group that replaced his Shennong Chinese Herbal Medicine Group. He had no idea what exactly was between Xiahou Mulan and Xu Chunliang; she had actually colluded with Xu Chunliang to go after her own fellow sect member.

"To be honest, that support program isn’t much. Even if you get in, it’s just icing on the cake, nothing more than a formality." When Cao Bingyi said this, it was a bit like sour grapes.

Xiahou Mulan said, "You can’t put it that way. Getting onto the list means you’ve been recognized by the state; from another angle it also proves the value of the herbs. By the way, I’ve heard that you’ve been targeted by the Traditional Chinese Medicine Administration recently—multiple batches of your products were found not to meet standards. President Cao, you absolutely must handle this carefully. In our line of work, reputation is critical. Once your reputation collapses, the customers you’ve accumulated over many years may evaporate overnight."

Cao Bingyi had already had a taste of this. Ever since the Traditional Chinese Medicine Administration set its sights on him, order cancellations had surged, and the trend was growing worse. If not for that, he wouldn’t have come all the way to Qiaocheng to look for a way out.

Cao Bingyi sighed and said, "Miss Mulan, I suspect someone is working against me from behind the scenes." As a member of the Weary Sect, if he were being set up by outsiders, turning to the Sect Leader for help was only natural. Otherwise, why would he be placing so many orders with Mulan Group every year, supporting her business? That was essentially protection money. Since he’d paid his protection money, she had an obligation to keep him safe.

Xiahou Mulan said, "Who do you mean by ’someone’?"

Cao Bingyi glanced around. There was no one else present, but he still lowered his voice and said, "It should be Xu Chunliang."

Xiahou Mulan deliberately said, "He has no grievance or hatred with you, so why would he go after you?"

Cao Bingyi let out a sigh and said, "Isn’t it all because I bought shares of Renhe Hall?" He went over the whole sequence of events again. Xiahou Mulan clearly already knew, but he still had to repeat it, mainly hoping Xiahou Mulan would look at the problem from his perspective.

Cao Bingyi didn’t think there was anything wrong with buying the shares held by the Zhou Brothers. They were willing to sell cheap, and as a businessman, if you pass up a bargain when you see one, isn’t that going against heaven’s will? Besides, he hadn’t known there were so many hidden troubles in it. If he’d known from the start that Renhe Hall’s internal situation was this complicated, he wouldn’t have gone out of his way to stir up this mess.

As soon as Xiahou Mulan heard him, she knew this bastard wasn’t being honest, making it sound like he was the victim. With Cao Bingyi’s level of cultivation, there’s no way he’d buy the Zhou Brothers’ shares without even figuring out the ownership of the trademark. He had long known someone was going to sue Xu Chunliang over the trademark rights, and he’d already made up his mind that Xu Chunliang would definitely lose. That’s why he stepped in to scoop up the cheap shares. If it were just greed for a bargain, that would be one thing, but if he’d actually conspired with others to go after Xu Chunliang, then the only explanation was that profit had made him lose his senses.

After listening to him, Xiahou Mulan frowned and said, "You’ve said all that, and I still don’t hear how Xu Chunliang has messed with you. Clearly you’re the one who went and provoked him."

Cao Bingyi pulled a mournful face and said, "Don’t you know that Xu Chunliang’s godmother is Director Lin of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Administration?"

Xiahou Mulan said, "So you suspect that this whole series of recent events is Xu Chunliang coming after you?"

"Who else?"

Xiahou Mulan said, "Don’t spout off about things without evidence. Looks like in your heart you must also believe I’m the one who squeezed you out of the support list."

"No! Absolutely not!" Cao Bingyi’s mouth was stiff.

Xiahou Mulan thought, even if you do, I don’t care.

Cao Bingyi went on, "I’m just a businessman. I’ve always believed in harmony brings wealth. I’ve never had any dealings with Xu Chunliang in the past—how would I take the initiative to make him my enemy?"

Xiahou Mulan said, "President Cao, are you saying all this to the wrong person?"

Cao Bingyi said, "I just don’t want the grudge between us to get deeper and deeper. If I end up turning completely against him, the Weary Sect surely won’t just stand by and do nothing, right?"

Xiahou Mulan stared coldly at Cao Bingyi and said, "Are you trying to hold the entire Weary Sect hostage?"

Cao Bingyi’s heart trembled, yet he still forced himself to stay calm and said, "Miss Mulan, that’s not fair. Disciples of the Weary Sect share one breath and one branch. No matter who runs into trouble, fellow sect members should lend a hand. Am I not one of the Weary Sect?"

Xiahou Mulan said, "The Weary Sect has its rules. Yes, disciples share one breath and stand watch over each other, but that doesn’t mean we have to lend a hand in every matter. Why was Wu Yuanyi expelled from the sect? Because he broke the law and violated discipline. Naturally we won’t stand by while a Weary Sect disciple is bullied by outsiders, but if a disciple is the one in the wrong, we won’t cover up for them either."

These words were firm and unequivocal, and they made Cao Bingyi’s heart pound. He thought of how Wu Yuanyi and Xiahou Yuan had sworn brotherhood; even he ended up expelled from the Weary Sect, let alone someone like himself.

Cao Bingyi said, "Miss Mulan, I can guarantee I have no intention of harming anyone. Xu Chunliang must have misunderstood."

Xiahou Mulan said, "You’re telling me all this because you want me to explain things to him for you?"

Cao Bingyi said, "I heard you and he are friends."

Xiahou Mulan said, "Just ordinary friends." When she lied, her heartbeat involuntarily sped up. What kind of "ordinary friends" were they? They’d already bloomed N times. Thinking of the time she’d spent with Xu Chunliang only made her find Cao Bingyi more annoying. I hinted to you from the very beginning, but you refused to give me any face. Now you’ve taken your beating, it hurts, and you come running to me. Do you really think your face is that big?

Cao Bingyi said, "To be honest, Xu Chunliang came to me once before. He asked for five million a year in trademark usage fees."

Xiahou Mulan said, "For Renhe Hall’s trademark, five million a year is still reasonable."

Cao Bingyi sighed and said, "If there were no issues at all with the ownership of this trademark, I would’ve agreed. But now someone has stepped forward to sue him, asking to reclaim ownership of Renhe Hall’s trademark. And I’ve heard that Zhou Renhe’s original will has problems and isn’t even valid. Under circumstances like this, how could I agree?"

Xiahou Mulan smiled slightly and said, "You think Xu Chunliang is bound to lose, don’t you? That’s why you’re planning to place your bet on the other side."

Cao Bingyi said, "Anyway, from what I’ve learned, his chances of winning this lawsuit are practically zero."

Xiahou Mulan said, "In that case, you can boldly put all your stakes on the other side."

Cao Bingyi said with a bitter face, "I suddenly realized that no matter how this lawsuit ends, I might still be the loser."