Chapter 1657: 666

He had almost torn his face off with Qingyang, and he could ignore Qingyang's demands; but he could not afford to neglect the dissatisfaction expressed by the special envoy sent by Beijia.

To neglect the superior envoy was to neglect Beijia.

Qiu Long stepped out from the side.

"Pass the order, summon the main persons in charge of the Tianshui Eastward Expansion project into the palace." The Yao King emphasized, "Right now!"

The Beijia special envoy was chasing for justice, so he had to provide justice on the spot.

Even if it couldn't be investigated tonight, the superficial article must be done thoroughly.

The Yao King subconsciously looked at Qingyang, seeing her expression indifferent, but her eyes flashing with brilliance.

This old hag actually found a good angle to make trouble, tsk! At this time, who would seek revenge on Qingyang? Could that explosion have been a bitter-meat scheme set up by herself?

However, this was also her delivering herself to his door!

The Yao King sneered secretly in his heart.

……

He Lingchuan and Zhao Song drank for who knows how long, the sun sank further west, and sure enough, several riders hurried over, and the leading palace envoy shouted:

"My King orders He Xiao to enter the palace for an audience immediately!"

This palace envoy was surnamed Yu, whom Zhao Song recognized; He Lingchuan frequently entered and exited the royal palace, so he had long since become familiar with him, and immediately asked: "Official Yu, who else was in the Regent's carriage at that time?"

"The envoy from Beijia was injured in the explosion."

So there was also a foreign envoy from Beijia in the carriage; this was a diplomatic accident of some size, and the Yao King had to deal with it.

He Lingchuan thought for a moment: "Besides me, who else was summoned?"

This was probing; Official Yu coughed lightly: "You live the farthest, so you are the last one."

The implication was that there were indeed quite a few officials summoned into the palace.

It was to be expected; the Regent and special envoy sent by Beijia were nearly harmed, which was a big deal; how could the persons in charge of the Tianshui Eastward Expansion project stay out of it? He Lingchuan gave a bitter smile: "The smell of wine on my body is too strong; it would be rude to see the King like this. Let me go back to wash and change clothes, and then I will enter the palace!"

Neither Yu nor Zhao had any objections.

In the palace grounds, who wouldn't change their clothes before entering to show respect? He Lingchuan hurried back to his courtyard; just as he stepped into the main house, the wooden door slammed shut with a bang.

This was the norm; the Master of the Shanzhuang had to maintain his own privacy.

Zhao Song made several gestures to the palace guards, and several people dispersed to the surroundings of the courtyard to prevent He Xiao from jumping over the wall and escaping.

In fact, he had strengthened his guard since last night, and had also inserted people outside the outer wall of the Flowing Spring Shanzhuang to secretly monitor it.

The windows of the main house had long been closed; as soon as He Lingchuan entered, the remaining few Yangshan guards gathered around.

The others had already left in batches, and they were the last few.

The Soul-Consuming Mirror laughed: "That explosion at the Quiet Lake, is it the signal you were waiting for?"

"Exactly." He Lingchuan raised his eyebrows, "Qingyang is truly decisive, moving the time up so much all of a sudden!"

"Wait a minute, you say Qingyang bombed herself?" The mirror coughed; this dishonest master had clearly told Zhao Song just now that he didn't know who did it.

"I have no evidence, I'm just guessing." He Lingchuan spread his hands, "It wasn't me who bombed it, and it probably wasn't the Yao King's handiwork—he is hesitant—and he wouldn't have chosen to do it at the main gate of the Tianshui Eastward Expansion project. So the biggest possibility is that it was her."

"Why would she do that?" The mirror was confused, "Is she learning that trick of yours from Lingxu City, the thief calling for the thief?"

He Lingchuan had followed Bai Ziqi to Lingxu City as a witness for the Elixir of Immortality case. But Fu Shanyue was not a strong enough backer, so he was worried that Qingyang would take action against him, so he took the initiative and bombed the post house where he was staying, attracting half the city's attention.

In this way, it was inconvenient for Qingyang to plot against him again.

Was this trick effective? Judging from the subsequent events, it was effective, and his worries were also very reasonable; State Preceptor Qingyang had killed quite a few people to silence them.

If his inference was correct, why would Qingyang bomb herself? How did this help her uprising plan? He Lingchuan could only shake his head.

"It seems that as soon as she received the news that Shi Song Wei was arrested, she decided to launch it early?"

"Shi Song Wei being publicly arrested means the Shi family of Xin River is completely exposed! It is only a matter of time before they implicate Bai Tan." He Lingchuan laughed lowly, "Bai Tan is not enjoying his family's wealth and glory, but insists on rebelling; that means he has a heavy responsibility and a significant role in this operation. Now that the arrow is on the string, Qingyang has no choice but to do it."

Why did Shi Song Wei come to Tianshui City, and why did he rush out of the Frost Mountain Inn and shout, howling so that everyone knew?

That was, of course, He Lingchuan's handiwork.

From the moment Gu Lin of the Copper Forest Record recognized that the shell companies grabbing grain in the southwest were related to the Shi family of Xin River, He Lingchuan had been very interested, sending people to dig deep into the inside story, spending two months organizing this information, and using a big business deal to lure Shi Song Wei to Tianshui City.

He always felt that this move might come in handy, just in case.

Sure enough, it was used this time.

When the palace guards went to arrest Shi Song Wei at the Frost Mountain Inn, this person was actually already controlled by Wang Fubao's "Heart Shadow Transmission" technique.

This divine ability could temporarily turn a living person into a puppet, with the controller dominating their words and actions for a short time, but they couldn't do very complex work, such as fighting with others.

This was a spell He Lingchuan learned from Xi Yunhe, and later taught to Wang Fubao and others.

Why let Shi Song Wei shout in the street? The Frost Mountain Inn was full, and the surrounding neighbors were either rich or noble; Qingyang and others were about to take action and were of course very alert to any movement in the city.

Shi Song Wei's shouting would very likely be remembered by someone with a heart, and after several twists and turns, it would reach Qingyang's ears.

If she didn't receive the news in a short time, he would have to find a way to let her know.

It could be said that this accusation and arrest of Shi Song Wei was basically a "show" put on for Qingyang to see; He Lingchuan had to make her discover that the Shi family of Xin River was already exposed!

As long as this point was achieved, his pushing of the waves would take effect.

Tianshui City was destined to spend a chaotic, crazy, and bloody night.

And as the key figure accelerating all this, He Lingchuan also had to carry out his second step of the plan.

"Bring that guy over."

At his command, Wan Qi Feng brought a person out from the attic.

This was Han Zheng, the palace guard who had snuck into Dong Rui's cellar the previous night. After he reported to Zhao Song, He Lingchuan had people capture him, lock him in the magic treasure "Bili Cave Heaven," and bring him into He Lingchuan's main room.

"Bili Cave Heaven" could carry a living creature, move with the person, and had high concealment.

It was originally one of He Lingchuan's backup plans for leaving. He Lingchuan had prepared several evacuation plans, but now he had a better idea.

A soundproof barrier had been set up in He Lingchuan's room, so there was no fear of this person shouting. He asked Han Zheng: "Have you memorized the incantation?"

During the time Han Zheng was bound in the attic, the Yangshan guards put a piece of paper in front of him and told him to memorize the incantation on it.

If he didn't memorize it, he would get a good beating.

So Han Zheng nodded repeatedly: "Memorized."

By heart.

After all, the incantation was not long, and he had only done this one thing all day.

"Die here immediately, or reduce your lifespan by three years; how do you choose?"

Han Zheng understood the content of the incantation and said hurriedly: "The latter, I choose to reduce my lifespan by three years."

He Lingchuan then took out a refined copper talisman board, embedded a pale red mysterious crystal in the center hole, and then stuffed it into his hand: "Start."

Han Zheng steadied his mind and began to chant the incantation.

The array on the copper talisman gradually lit up, while his expression became somewhat listless.

But he didn't dare to neglect, and gritted his teeth to persist.

Afterward, this glowing array suddenly detached from the copper talisman and circled around it.

"Very good, successfully launched."

The other Yangshan guards had already moved the tables and chairs here, clearing a piece of open space.

He Lingchuan took the talisman board and slapped it on the ground.

With the landing point as the center, the array suddenly enlarged, and the ground within a radius of two zhang was quickly covered with complex patterns.

Small Mountain-Moving Array, opened! This set of refined copper array talismans was a pair, and was a war trophy He Lingchuan had seized from the Heavenly Palace's Cloud Envoy He Jing; it was an advanced version of the ordinary Small Mountain-Moving Array, with an effective transmission range reaching a staggering three li! The other copper array talisman had been hidden in a mountain forest three li north of the Flowing Spring Shanzhuang in advance.

Moreover, this array was pre-engraved on the copper talisman, so there was no need to scramble to draw it when using it; one only needed to add the mysterious crystal and chant the incantation to launch it.

Of course, the lifespan it deducted was also less, only three years; the Small Mountain-Moving Array Fu Shanyue used back then had an effective distance of only a hundred zhang, but it consumed five years of lifespan!

"Go quickly."

Ling Guang jumped onto He Lingchuan's shoulder, and everyone walked into the array.

Wan Qi Liang grabbed the captive, and the last pair left.

There was another flash of light in the room, and both the people and the talisman array disappeared.

……

Zhao Song in the courtyard sat in the pavilion waiting and waiting, but the house door remained tightly closed, with no sign of opening.

He Xiao's "changing clothes" had two meanings; it could be a euphemism for going to the toilet, or it could really be changing a set of clothes.

Of course, it could also be going to the toilet and changing clothes before coming out.

The noble families in Tianshui City would keep sandalwood and musk in the latrine, and have several servants standing outside; once a guest went in, they would have to change their clothes when they came out.

So Zhao Song waited patiently for a while before stepping forward to knock on the door knocker: "Island Master He?"

It was quiet inside.

Hmm? Zhao Song gathered his strength, knocked on the door with a bang, and shouted twice.

Still no response.

He knew something was wrong, poured strength into his left leg, and kicked hard—

With a bang, the door was kicked open.

The palace guards followed him into the room, but there wasn't half a shadow here.

Zhao Song's face turned pale: "Disperse, search!"

Don't leave any corner unsearched!

Everyone went around in circles and returned to the original spot, all shaking their heads:

Couldn't find him; the main house was empty.

Where did He Xiao go?

Where did those Yangshan guards go? They also searched the courtyard, clean and tidy, without finding any traces of any array.

What method did He Xiao and the others use to leave this heavily guarded villa?

Zhao Song clenched his fists, his heart sinking to the bottom: "Bad, he escaped!" ===== CHAPTER 1658 =====