Chapter 1231

The broad ship rose and fell, ripples faint and lingering, circles spreading the moonlight.

Winding water stains crisscrossed and overlapped on the deck, as if several snails had crawled over, otters gripping collars or ankles, stepping forward, dragging the household members inside up to the upper level.

"Dong dong dong——"

Heads shook repeatedly, the back of the skull bumping against the stairs.

"Pah! Pah!"

Spitting twice from the palm, rubbing the paws, Otter Kai gazed at the sandbank ashore, one paw seizing the collar of the unconscious, one paw seizing the belt, legs apart, sinking shoulders and dropping elbows, qi sinking to the Lower Dantian, a low shout, twisting the belt at the hips, twisting the back at the arms, twisting the arms at the wrists, the two arms swaying thus, a force of ten thousand catties surged like a tide——

Bang!

The violent chestnut struck down.

The qi force poured forth for a thousand li.

Otter Kai winced in pain and released his grip, covering his head and crouching, a breeze swept by, Long Li bent to receive Lady E Qirui, sidestepped forward, and lightly descended the gangway.

Otter Kai turned back in fury.

"What are you looking at? Baring your teeth again! Baring your teeth! I'll poke your nose! Poke poke poke!" Long Yao rolled up her sleeves, her index finger chasing Otter Kai's flashing, wet nose, poking, "Who let you randomly throw—toss—other people's household members.

They came to defect, maintaining morale is most important, treating household members like goods, how would others think? Do you think our elders are fickle, changing faces after success and not caring? If I don't hit you, you'll surely cause a great disaster! Do you have the nerve to bare your teeth?"

"Ha ha ha ha, ha ha ha ha!"

The Golden Haired Monkey King squatted on the ship's railing, pointing at the otters, baring his canine teeth, laughing while holding his belly.

Otter Kai's hair stood on end with anger, brown fur bristling, in the sweltering heat, his whole body trembled, hands and feet icy cold, otters may be killed but not insulted, he leapt and delivered a kick.

"Plunk!"

Water splashed onto the deck, leaving two white foam spots.

External relatives meddling in governance, no one manages, the eldest fell into the water and was beaten by otters—

The world grows fickle, monkey hearts decline day by day, the state nears collapse, if the state perishes, where will the people cling?

The little monkey children felt uneasy, lowered the stretcher, gently lifted the person up, carefully adjusted the collar and hair bun, picked off monkey fur stuck to the clothes.

"Mm~" Long Yao nodded in satisfaction, turned her head to look at the little otter again, eyebrows raised, "Mm?"

The little otter lowered his head guiltily, released the ankle, ran to protect the slightly swollen back of the head from bumping the steps, then pip-piped to summon another, the two otters jointly carried and lifted.

"This is about right." Long Yao clapped her hands, "Work well, tonight's extra meal! Roasted potatoes, roasted corn, roasted saury, roasted fruit, want to eat anything, just order!"

"Hou hou hou!"

Wind blew the reeds, swaying, reed leaves rustled.

Otters and the Monkey King wrestled in the water, water splashed everywhere, as if someone were rolling, Otter Kai grabbed the monkey's head and ruthlessly drowned it.

The plankway trembled with footsteps, eels burrowed into mud holes, sea snails stood on pebbles blowing bubbles.

Liang Qu, the Angel, Su Guishan, Yang Dongxiong, and several other dignitaries, along with a series of officials, all accompanied E Qirui, enjoying the cool river breeze, night touring Yixing, pointing at Jiangshan, experiencing the beautiful life of the Great Shun.

Liang Qu extended his hand and pointed far away.

"Marquis Gu, do you see that large expanse of glowing curtain? That is the landmark of my Yixing" architecture, the Eternal Spring Tower!

One hundred and thirty-eight zhang high, the entire building leans on the precious tree, inside are many shops, gathering northern and southern specialties, the top is wrapped in Dragon Dragon Lingxiao, have you ever heard of it?"

E Qirui was apprehensive: "How similar is it to the shark people's Dragon Gauze?"

"Marquis Gu has keen insight, exactly the shark people's product, shark people from youth to middle age have some scales on the abdomen turning seven-colored, the more colored scales, the more they attract the opposite sex, and unlike ordinary scales, once the colored scales are damaged, they cannot recover within several years.

The material for Dragon Dragon Lingxiao is precisely this part of the colored scales, due to low yield, only shark tribes above five thousand can produce it, one piece worth a thousand gold, one bolt worth thousands of gold, this large circle amounts to three bolts!

Likewise due to the nature of the colored scales, Dragon Dragon Lingxiao is highly spiritual, needs no cutting, the fabric can freely combine into garments, shift patterns and colors, letting the designs on the clothes come alive, what is being projected now is one of Yixing's most popular games, the Heroes' Assembly——"

Diverse and varied.

Brilliant and colorful.

Multicolored and dazzling.

Turning around in a circle.

All things never heard before, the streets floated with various food aromas, a large part surprisingly fried, packed in bamboo tubes or oil paper, alleys showed no beggars, no poorly dressed children, no heavily made-up women, passersby half had cultivation, young men and women chatted privately in the night—

In Nanjiang, E Qirui is a renowned great figure, what bustle has he not seen, what prosperous place has he not visited, rare treasures and pleasures, everything available, yet now he seems like a country bumpkin dazzled and ignorant!

Staring at the curtain, E Qirui did not want to ask too much, lest he appear ignorant, yet could not help his curiosity.

"Is it glowing? Is that also the effect of Dragon Dragon Lingxiao? Or is there lighting behind?"

"Lighting? Haha, lighting isn't that soft, nor is it Dragon Dragon Lingxiao, it's the fluorescent jellyfish inside. Come, after Marquis Gu gains a title and office, duties will be busy, managing myriad affairs, you may not always be able to come, let's achieve merit in one battle and go up to see." Liang Qu waved his hand.

Everyone rose on the wind, a blue dragon formed beneath their feet, lifting them toward the top of Eternal Spring Tower.

Entered the top floor.

Bright as daylight light struck the face.

What met the eyes was a huge, transparent glass fish tank, ring-shaped, one and a half zhang high, encircling the top floor, inside floated many fluorescent jellyfish and colorful small fish, as if suddenly arriving at an underwater world, and it is precisely the glowing jellyfish that illuminated the outer curtain.

And at a certain spot, another large crowd gathered, carefully observing.

Looking over.

What they surrounded was actually a half-transparent "fish", identical to seven-colored silk?

Small fish passed through the "silk fish" with no hindrance, as if it did not exist.

E Qirui felt he had heard of this somewhere, but could not recall for a moment.

Su Guishan stroked his beard, slightly proud: "Marquis Gu, this is one of the Eight Beauties of Jianghuai, the Phoenix Immortal Fish, famed equally with Meng Bai Huo, isn't it magnificently beautiful?"

"What?"

E Qirui's pupils dilated, his fingers involuntarily trembled.

He had lost composure, he truly had lost composure.

Huaijiang's rare product, supreme treasure fish, even Nanjiang people have heard of its great fame, a heavenly material and earthly treasure beneficial to the great revelation, just placed here for anyone to view?

The world spun, his center of gravity pressed onto his heels, E Qirui tilted his head and turned, his vision rapidly rotating.

Treasure Tree Pavilion, Dragon Dragon Lingxiao, unknown game, no commoners passing through, top-grade treasure fish as ornamental fish——

Cars like flowing water, horses like swimming dragons.

Reins pressing horse heads with gold inlaid patterns, saddles embracing camel backs with brocade stripes.

How has Nanjiang managed to resist the Great Shun for so long without being annexed?

This extreme shock was all transformed into a cool sensation in the lower abdomen. E Qirui practically felt as if he had swallowed a large amount of mint grass, then taken a deep breath, from the tailbone clear to the heavenly spirit cover!

Upper State?

Shock without cease, coming one after another.

"Come come come! Marquis Gu, try a taste, this is also a specialty of Yixing, fried wolf-tooth potato chips, relying on Your Majesty's divine martial prowess, the Western Army's advance, opening up and introducing this product, the taste is exquisite."

"How?"

"Fried potato chips are really delicious."

Eunuch Li laughed: "Marquis Gu, do you know this item shares a Buddhist karmic connection with the Huai King?"

"Unknown, please instruct me, angel." E Qirui was extremely fearful and respectful.

"Hahaha, all past matters, not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning."

Over thirty li of road, one flood dragon, several Entering Zhen Xiang, walked for more than an hour.

From the dock to Wan Gu Ying Chun Lou, from Wan Gu Ying Chun Lou to Huai Yin Wu Tang, from Huai Yin Wu Tang then to Ping Yang Mountain temple.

Jin Mao tiger wearing a cassock, striking the wooden fish.

Liang Qu in the temple, amidst the onlookers of many travelers, holding a brush wrote blessings, personally praying for E Qirui's blessing, throwing up a wooden tablet, hanging it on the tree.

"Heroes' sons and daughters are originally no different! May General E enter my Great Shun, your future like brocade!"

Monk among monks, Jin Mao tiger's paws pressed together.

The long wind howled.

E Qirui almost shed tears.

Universal values are all connected; defectors often feel great insecurity morally.

Only need to provide a little bit of emotional value.

Enter the volcanic pavilion beside.

Fireworks welcome party, soaking in hot springs, eating hot pot——

E Qirui wrapped in a pure white bath towel, bones fully extended, as if cleansed by the Jianghuai waters inside and out, thoroughly and completely becoming a "Great Shun person"!

Gentle ripples undulated beneath him, carrying a faint lotus fragrance.

The drinks in the cups are all special, bubbles bursting on the tongue tip, numb and tingling.

E Qirui even felt that living like this in Yixing wouldn't be bad——

"Pa-da pa-da."

Wooden clogs swinging.

The otter wrapped in a white bath towel, half black half white, it brought the Otter Family troupe, fish-file entered, skillfully arranged Dragon Dragon Lingxiao, pushed in the jellyfish tank, tapped each to illuminate the jellyfish inside.

E Qirui returned to his senses.

"Huai King, this is——"

Liang Qu leaned against the poolside, held a reed tube in his mouth, sucked a mouthful of orange juice, placed it on a tray: "Marquis Gu, have you heard of Bu Ying?"

"I've heard of it, just never had the chance to see it firsthand, heard the Huai King is the creator of many Bu Ying?"

"Not bad, every year's festival, Bing Fire day, are leisure times, there will be many new films released, this year there are several excellent films, among them a new film that blew up, I specially arranged Otter Claw to transport it here, please Marquis Gu to enjoy together."

Su Guishan wiped the sweat bubbling on his forehead.

This brat, opening his mouth to speak, eyes not blinking at all.

Clearly this year he just assigned the task to the merpeople, requiring spring festival and Bing Fire to produce new films, turning into two "release windows", but in his mouth it's already become a "tradition".

Extinguished the oil lamp, bath pool light source only remaining jellyfish lamps, faintly illuminating several old gentlemen's faces.

E Qirui held his breath, fully focused.

The black Dragon Dragon Lingxiao had not yet appeared on screen, the Otter Family troupe already accompanied the chanting, emitting mournful howls and background sounds.

Gradually, the image floated, a vast riverbank, large numbers of martial artists fighting and killing, one after another falling, then the image focused on a young man's face, E Qirui originally thought this young man was the protagonist, but in the blink of an eye, the blade light flashed, the young man was beheaded, blood spurting.

Accompanying the young man's death, the image switched to a peaceful village, viewed from high to low, wheat waves golden, magnificent, several solemn-faced soldiers walked out from the relay station, a small box covered with a Great Shun flag——

Six large characters appeared one by one in the sky.

"Save the Martial Artists——Wang Er?"

Deep into the night, people quiet, light dim.

E Qirui's pupils trembled, completely immersed in the grandeur of Bu Ying, unable to extricate himself.

Huai King Liang Qu, using carefully prepared top-tier audiovisual, plot, gave the Great Shun·Nanjiang people a little bit of,

unprecedented ideological shock!

"Are Marquis Gu's family members all settled?"

Long Eying nodded: "Settled, rented several large mansions, I let the little Shen Dragon patrol, should wake up tomorrow morning, correct, there is a person on the ship——"

Blood fragrance permeated.

Long Yanrui dragged out the wounded Heart-Eating Fiend, the rib injury scars had indeed healed into a pink "centipede".

For Entering Zhen Xiang, missing heart is not a fatal injury, not only need not attend to it, but even require intermittent aggravation of destruction to ensure coma, otherwise over time, self-healing possible.

Liang Qu stroked his chin: "At least Twenty-Four Fiends, should be able to exchange ransom with Nanjiang, make a few doses of great medicine to eat, Yanrui, you've worked hard these two days——"

"No, according to your theory, this guy should not be able to exchange ransom." Su Guishan put on his clothes, walked out of the volcanic pavilion to interject.

"Why?" Liang Qu puzzled, "This person is the Heart-Eating Fiend of Nanjiang's Twenty-Four Fiends, valuable indeed."

"Indeed cannot be exchanged." Eunuch Li spoke openly, "Great Shun and Nanjiang currently have a ceasefire agreement, now for Marquis Gu, together with unknown persons" robbed the Long Qi, afterwards" surrendered to Great Shun, this extent is still acceptable, but if ransom were exchanged again, that would be serious, easily provoke stronger resistance sentiments within Nanjiang."

Liang Qu raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised.

"For this trip I dispatched a great general under my command, and the moves were obvious — there's no reason they wouldn't be recognized, yet they still managed to—"

"Why not? As long as King Huai, your 'stone in the river,' did not personally appear in the southern frontier, and no Great Shun person personally appeared to act during the process, then officially it can be disavowed — blame water beasts or the Northern Court for sowing discord. Moves? There are countless people in the world with the same moves." On certain words, Eunuch Li bit down on the emphasis.

Su Guishan agreed: "The southern frontier tusi's prestige has plummeted, and the Nine Villages cannot unite; as long as we hold our line and refuse to admit it, the southern frontier's emotions find no flashpoint to detonate, making a full-scale war hard to ignite. We can even proactively return the Heart-Devouring Sha and pour on another layer of fire — this guy didn't see you, did he?"

"No." Liang Qu thought for a moment. "After leaving the southern frontier, he has been unconscious the whole time."

Eunuch Li said: "Before I came to Pingyang, the Grand Secretariat ministers had already discussed how to handle this matter — there are three scenarios.

1

Liang Qu bowed: "Please speak."

"Worst case: the southern frontier counterattacks and reignites a great war, while guarding against the Northern Court. Middle case: small-scale clashes, the southern frontier seizes the pretext to demand more negotiations and recoup losses — this is the most likely.

Best case: the tusi's prestige is even lower than imagined, unable to integrate internally, no fighting at all, southern frontier contradictions intensify, and we can splash the nominal blame onto the Northern Court — claim the Northern Court sent people to contact the Bone Marquis, then reneged and tried to frame our Great Shun, so the Bone Marquis defected to us in a rage.

Of course, we prepare for the worst — King Huai is the initiator of this affair—"

Liang Qu understood perfectly: "Understood. These few days I will keep constant watch on the southern frontier Grand Wu; should anything arise, I will set out immediately for Lingnan to join in the defense!"

Eunuch Li smiled and cupped his hands: "Many thanks for your trouble, King Huai!"

Wulong yawned.

Liang Qu took out a glazed bottle and injected Yin Yunzhi with another dose of "Obedience Water," speaking the code phrase.

"I am the Tusi — I want to go in—"

In an instant.

The Ze Ding blazed with light.

A hundred times more violent than the tremor Little Dragon brought.

【Obtained a wisp of Sweet-Dew Condensed Qi; if merged with ten thousand Water Marsh Essences, a spirit fish is born, can elevate Divine Favor, function profound and strange.】

【Sweet-Dew Condensed Qi, myriad things grow. Cleanse the turbid, raise the clear; dry well springs forth.】

【Obtained a wisp of Sweet-Dew Condensed Qi—】

【Obtained a wisp of Sweet-Dew Condensed Qi—】

【Obtained Sweet-Dew Condensed Qi—】

【Obtained Sweet-Dew Condensed Qi—】

A hundred wisps of Long Qi squeezed brutally into the Ze Ding, coiling and winding in vast, mighty profusion!

Tide sounds rose loud.

A stretch of blue-green, squeezing every other color completely into the corners.

Magnificent!

Beautiful!

Shocking!

But, Liang Qu didn't use a single wisp.

Admired the beauty to his heart's content, satisfying his collecting urge.

—

All Long Qi taken out, including the Insect Valley festival reward Long Qi, two wisps of Red Qi.

Liang Qu put them back into their corresponding storage containers, labeling each's function and effect, along with the four remaining Xuanhuang Tally from the old enfeoffment, and had Long Binglin ride post-haste to the capital.

Prompted by Eunuch Li, using reward Long Qi to exchange for more Xuanhuang was already too embarrassing; just a one-to-one swap would do — no, Liang Qu realized an even more profitable method.

A parting of three days.

The southern frontier Grand Wu showed signs of movement.

Liang Qu prepared in advance for the southward journey, only awaiting the Sacred Emperor's handwritten transfer order.

For some reason, E Qirui was still immersed in the shadow play of "Saving Martial Master Wang Er."

Could it be that the welcome celebration was overdone, and this wave of ideological impact was actually more shocking than he imagined?

His identity is special; out of consideration, others are too embarrassed to disturb him, letting him watch repeatedly — only the Twenty Jiaoren and Otter Otter took turns on shift, providing musical accompaniment for the shadow play.

At the same time, Long Binglin returned from the imperial capital.

The Ze Ding trembled violently.

Originally one hundred sixteen wisps of Long Qi.

One hundred Sweet-Dew, five wisps of superior reward, five wisps of medium reward, two wisps of Red Qi — after the capital trip, the structure was thoroughly transformed.

Became ten wisps of Sweet-Dew, thirty wisps of Xuanhuang, ninety wisps of inferior Long Qi.

A full one hundred thirty wisps of Long Qi, all contained within the Ze Ding, shining in mutual reflection!

That's right!

This is the most profitable way.

Since they serve as consumables, whether medium or superior, the effect makes no difference — all should be exchanged for the lowest inferior grade! Beneficial to the imperial court, beneficial to Liang Qu alike!

Communing with the Ze Ding.

【Ding Master: Liang Qu】

【Refined Marsh Spirit: Water Ape Great Sage (Deep Orange)】

【Marsh Spirit Divine Favor: Martial Dao Penetrating Spirit Sixth Layer (River Lord Di Jun); Yinglong Pattern: six layers; Tian Wu Yu Pattern: two layers】

【Can consume six spirit fish, elevate Divine Favor: Martial Dao Penetrating Spirit Sixth Layer.】

"Hah—"

Elevate!

River Lord Di Jun!

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