Chapter 216: Unreliable Gossip
Three days later!
After conducting an investigation, Taotie provided Fang Xiaocao with a basic understanding of Wan Xiaozhou’s background.
Wan Xiaozhou came from a small southern city. She had been trained in a family-inherited martial art from a young age, developing formidable combat skills. Later, when she attended high school and lived in a dormitory, she accidentally exposed her abilities. This caught the attention of a certain organization, and after a period of interaction, Wan Xiaozhou somehow ended up joining them.
Following intensive training, she became a skilled assassin—an exceptional one at that! After completing several missions, she quickly gained recognition.
Just as this organization planned to cultivate Wan Xiaozhou into a top-tier assassin, expanding their influence both nationally and internationally…
Their headquarters were destroyed.
Yes, completely wiped out by an enemy force.
As a result, Wan Xiaozhou became a free agent.
Don’t ask how she managed to survive when her entire organization was eradicated.
The answer is simple: She was just that strong.
She escaped the siege and regained her freedom. From then on, she became a professional bounty hunter.
As the name suggests, bounty hunters take on jobs as long as the price is right. If they refuse a task, it simply means the offer wasn’t good enough. But with more money, anything is negotiable.
Wan Xiaozhou was exactly this type of “negotiable-for-money” mercenary.
Her decision to join Zhi Corporation and work as Zhi Qi’s assistant was also money-driven. She had been hired by an unknown client to infiltrate the company and gather intelligence. There were no other hidden agendas.
After reviewing the report, Fang Xiaocao nodded, satisfied.
“The information is clean. Nothing too suspicious. She can stay as a maid.”
“However, we need to investigate the enemy that wiped out Wan Xiaozhou’s previous organization. If they recognize her and decide to use her against us, we need to be prepared.”
She turned to Taotie. “I’m leaving this to you. No objections, right?”
Taotie chuckled. “Don’t worry, Your Highness. With the Blacklist’s resources, tracking down people in the underworld is easy.”
His confidence was justified.
Fang Xiaocao nodded in approval. “Good. It’s yours to handle.”
She then turned to Tom. “Tom, go and bring our little maid out. Her background check is complete—she can officially start working now.”
She smiled, clearly pleased with the idea. Having an extra maid around was a plus—especially since Wan Xiaozhou’s cooking was surprisingly good.
Fang Xiaocao had been enjoying home-cooked meals these past few days. Compared to takeout, this was heaven.
She wasn’t ready to let go of Wan Xiaozhou just yet.
Now that the girl had passed the screening, Fang Xiaocao was genuinely happy for her.
“Alright, I’ll go get her.”
With a nod, Tom stood up and headed for the storage room.
For the past three days, Wan Xiaozhou had been confined there.
Whenever chores needed doing, Tom would drag her out, watch her work, and then toss her back inside.
Need her to clean? Pull her out.
Need her to cook? Drag her to the kitchen.
Once the work was done, she went right back into storage.
Basically…
She was only let out when needed.
Watching Tom leave, Taotie smirked. “Your Highness, if you need extra help, I could handpick a few elite female assassins from the Blacklist. They’re professionally trained in all sorts of household skills and have excellent combat abilities.”
Fang Xiaocao hesitated, then shook her head.
“No, that would be too risky. Using Blacklist personnel directly might attract unwanted attention. If someone investigates and traces them back to you, it could expose your identity. That would be a problem.”
Taotie shrugged. He wasn’t concerned. He feared nothing.
If someone dared to dig into his affairs, he’d just label those missing assassins as “dispatched on a mission” and call it a day.
And if anyone refused to drop the matter?
Simple. Beat them up.
Keep beating them until they stop complaining.
But since Fang Xiaocao had made her decision, Taotie didn’t push further.
Her word was final.
Then, Fang Xiaocao brought up something that had been bothering her.
“What about Zhi Corporation? Are they connected to the Blacklist?”
This question had been on her mind for a while.
Was Zhi Qi part of the Blacklist?
If so, why had the Blacklist orchestrated an operation to trap her along with Zhi Qi?
If not, what was the significance of that list? And why did Zhi Corporation’s hotel assist the Blacklist in an assassination attempt against her?
If Zhi Qi truly belonged to the Blacklist, it would at least explain why they tried to have her killed.
Of course…
Fang Xiaocao wasn’t entirely sure that Zhi Qi was the one behind the hit. But among all the suspects, he was the most suspicious.
Hearing her question, Taotie was momentarily stunned.
Then he gave her a look.
“Your Highness… who told you that nonsense?”
He scoffed. “Zhi Corporation? A massive corporate empire? You think the Blacklist raised them? You’re giving the Blacklist way too much credit. Zhi Corporation’s wealth is enough to build two Blacklists from scratch.”
Fang Xiaocao: “…”
Alright.
So I was talking nonsense, huh?
Taotie, you better watch out.
Calling me out like that…
She forced an awkward laugh. “Haha… I just heard some rumors.”
She had to pass off her own speculation as gossip to save face.
Otherwise, what else could she do?
Tell Taotie that the “gossip” came from her own brain?
“Pfft—Your Highness, that rumor is completely unreliable.”
The ever-carefree Taotie didn’t notice the slight shift in her expression.
Fang Xiaocao forced another smile.
“Yeah… totally unreliable.”
She quickly changed the subject.
“So then, what’s the deal with Zhi Corporation?”
“Why did they assist the Blacklist in the assassination attempt against me?”
“And what about this list?”
She pulled out a document from the briefcase she had retrieved from Villa No. 5—the one Taotie had lost.
Upon seeing it, Taotie’s eyes widened in shock.
“Wait… that list—wasn’t it taken by Nemesis?”
(End of Chapter 216)
