Someone who doesn't spend money on you doesn't love you

This caused Ren Tianye’s heart to surge like stormy waves.

His first reaction was that this opera troupe was set up by the Heart Alliance, by Liu Ruyan. Even if it wasn’t the Heart Alliance or Liu Ruyan, it absolutely had something to do with her.

But... tracksuits…

When Ren Tianye was in Yunjing, he had thoroughly examined Bai Li, Bai Zixuan, and the others, forming a rough judgment about Liu Ruyan.

Based on his judgment, Liu Ruyan had traveled to this world about twenty years ago.

During those twenty years, Liu Ruyan had somehow managed to create firearms. Fine. But now… she could also make sportswear?

The technological complexity of that was no small matter!

However, when Ren Tianye looked more closely, he realized it was a false alarm.

Although the man and woman on stage in front of him were both wearing tracksuits, their material was different from the sportswear Ren Tianye knew.

“They’re adapted from materials available in this era. At first glance, they just look like modern tracksuits,” Ren Tianye mused, easing his mind.

Because almost everyone around him was practically love-struck idiots, he wasn’t afraid of Liu Ruyan. Still, if she actually managed to create something like a system for him, that would be a major headache.

But while Ren Tianye relaxed, Su Jin and the others were on edge.

The Duke had arrived and had seen all this. Not only had they fallen short in their task, but they’d been caught red-handed by the Duke.

Su Jin and Xu Sha were sweating cold on their foreheads.

Xie Changfeng even drew his saber, ready to charge forward.

But Ren Tianye stopped him.

“Hold on.”

Ren Tianye looked toward the opera troupe. “Let’s hear what they’re singing.”

Since the Duke had given the order, no one dared to disobey. But the man and woman on the stage weren’t actually singing opera.

They were… having a conversation.

More precisely, it was a dialogue between an intimate couple.

The woman spoke first, tilting her head. Her pink tracksuit revealed her fair neck; her face was pretty and charming.

“Baby…” she asked the man before her, “Can you love me forever?”

The man answered without hesitation, “Yes!”

As soon as the man spoke, everyone on site, Ren Tianye included, felt a jolt.

This man… actually looked a bit like Ren Tianye!

It seemed the opera troupe had deliberately found someone like that, carefully trained and made up, giving people the impression that he greatly resembled Ren Tianye.

“They’re impersonating the Duke,” Xie Changfeng quickly realized. “They’re trying to slander the Duke.”

Su Jin shared the same view.

Her instinct was to stop the troupe right away, to prevent further damage to the Duke’s reputation.

But when she glanced at Ren Tianye, she saw surprise flicker in his eyes, and he made no move to stop them. She didn’t dare act on her own.

Meanwhile, on the crudely built stage, the woman tilted her head again and asked a second question.

“Can you never cheat on me for your whole life?”

The man answered immediately, “Yes!”

“And can you always spoil me?”

“Yes!”

“And would you die for me?”

“Yes!”

“Louder!”

“YES!” the man shouted thunderously.

The more he acted, the more everyone felt he resembled the Duke, especially in his demeanor. He seemed almost like another version of the Duke.

“Can you…” the woman continued, “transfer one hundred thousand yuan to me?”

The people didn’t understand the word “transfer,” but since money was mentioned, it likely meant asking money from the Duke-lookalike.

Following the previous pattern, everyone assumed the man would agree.

But to their surprise, the man immediately said, “Goddamn it, that’s a no-go!”

“I actually have one hundred thousand!”

The woman shrieked, “You don’t love me at all! You won’t even give me two hundred! You just want to sleep with me!”

“How could that be, babe? If I didn’t love you, I wouldn’t even stop you from going to the club. That’s how much I respect you!”

“But my best friend said that if a man doesn’t spend money on you, he doesn’t love you. You don’t love me. Let’s break up!”

“Fine!” the man agreed without hesitation, stood up, and mimed pushing open a door to walk out.

At that point, the main performance of the opera troupe ended, and the woman made a final summary.

“A man who’s been a martial arts champion for years but won’t give you even that little bit of money — how can he possibly love you?”

“And this man is, is…”

The woman couldn’t finish. Sweat beaded on her forehead, and then she fell to her knees with a thud. The man and the entire troupe also knelt.

Only then did Ren Tianye snap back to reality. He took a deep look at the man and woman, then gave a signal to Wang Ming.

Wang Ming understood and immediately ordered the troupe to be seized.

This time, after taking the troupe into custody, no one else caused trouble. The scene returned to normal.

Ren Tianye, seated on his sorrel horse at the front of the crowd, wasted no words and directly commanded: “Burn the Hongluan Wenyuan Pavilion!”

“Yes!”

Xu Sha acknowledged and acted according to plan.

Soon, flames surged. A massive fire blazed. The Hongluan Wenyuan Pavilion, which had stood in Huaian City for over a decade, was reduced to ashes under official supervision.

The crowd wasn’t much affected by the earlier disruptions; they mostly cheered in excitement.

Huaian City, without the Hongluan Wenyuan Pavilion, would have one great scourge less.

Back in the mansion, Ren Tianye sat behind his desk, listening to Su Jin’s report.

“Your Grace, the investigation is complete. Today, all those who suddenly ran out to cause trouble were tenant farmers of Huaian City. Their lives were in others’ hands, and they had no choice but to obey.”

“The same goes for the opera troupe.”

“They were bought long ago, all under forced contracts. They were coerced into doing this.”

“What’s more, some were threatened with their families’ safety.”

“This clearly shows it was an organized, premeditated action. Their goal is likely similar to that of the Love Mutual Assistance Alliance, but with one addition: to slander the Demon Suppression Office.”

Su Jin had phrased it as slandering the Demon Suppression Office, not the Duke himself, but Ren Tianye understood.

He countered, “Was the mastermind found?”

“Yes, sir,” Su Jin said. “It’s Liu Aijiu, the head of the Liu family. He is not only a well-known bookseller in Huaian City but also has business spread across all of Yunjing.”

“He seems to have met the head of the Heart Alliance, was deeply influenced by her, firmly believes in love above all else, and has long been Hongluan Wenyuan Pavilion’s biggest supporter. He poured countless sums of money into it.”

“He has also appeared many times at the pavilion to give speeches, personally going onstage to advocate, luring Huaian City’s common folk with promises that as long as they believe in love, their wives will be beautiful, their men gentle and talented, and that houses and jobs will come…”

"I have verified this matter with Lord Xu Sha, and I have also interrogated those still in prison from the Love Mutual Aid Alliance. Their accounts are consistent."

"It should be correct."

"However, on this occasion, when the Love Mutual Aid Alliance caused trouble in Huai'an City, he did not show his face. Since we had no particular reason to target him, none of us expected him to be so audacious."

"We have failed in our duties, Lord Duke. Please mete out punishment."

...