Chapter 211: Past Events

Fang Jidao had already run down to the Cuiyu side. Zhang Dingyun looked at the woman's figure on the arena, listening to this clear sentence that left the whole arena speechless, and murmured: "Awesome."

"The Laywoman didn't just give me a poem title, because although I made a good poem... but at that time my family was poor, and what I lacked was actually not fame." The scholar said in a low voice in front of him just now.

"Right, you lacked fire."

"I lacked money." Fang Jidao raised his head and said seriously, "I didn't have money to study at that time. So, the Laywoman contacted a fake scholar for me. In that session, I made three poems; I sold the two better ones that followed to him."

"..." Zhang Dingyun opened his eyes wide; this really damaged Laywoman Qi's reputation. "Isn't she... cheating?"

"Right." Fang Jidao looked at him, then lowered his gaze. "She could have avoided it to protect her name, or lent me some money, letting me spend it sooner or later and owe more and more, anyway, not staining her gentleman's reputation. But she didn't do that."

Zhang Dingyun was speechless.

"So I have always known that the Laywoman is not as good as they spread... she is even better than that." The scholar said in a low voice, "She has always been inconsistent, never really taking those clean and noble feathers seriously, preferring to go into the mud to catch insects. She was indeed forced, Brother Dingyun, by the things she had to do in her own heart."

"What things?"

"... I don't know, but I am willing to run errands for her, not just because of feelings." Fang Jidao said in a low voice, then suddenly smiled. "And look, the Laywoman is also willing to believe that even if I don't know anything, I am still willing to really do things for her with all my heart."

"..."

Zhang Dingyun really wanted to scold him again, "You motherfucker are hopeless," but he had to admit that what the scholar said really made some sense; he motherfucker really tasted some sweetness from this.

"Forget it." The little fatty finally rolled his eyes. "The thing she wants to do is pave the way for her lover."

"No." Fang Jidao said, "If she were for this, she wouldn't let me do these things."

Now, the scholar's words had really come true. Zhang Dingyun had to admit that he really understood Qi Zhaohua better.

But it still couldn't change his status in the little fatty's heart—because the moment he saw the woman go on stage, Fang Jidao, realizing something, immediately rushed down again to protect her.

Does he have that ability?

Running over and panting for a stick of incense first, and still needing others to support you. The little fatty thought, rolling his eyes.

——————————

Qijiao Shang Huaitong looked at the woman in front of him. This exhaustion was a look he had never seen before, just like the woman's unfamiliar eyes at this moment.

Ten thousand thoughts crashed into his mind. Qijiao Shang Huaitong tried hard to pull himself out of them, knowing that he had to face the most imminent one right now.

She was of course lying; he had never said this sentence, and they had never even discussed this matter.

But they both knew this was the truth.

He was of course also lying; he knew it better than anyone.

What righteousness against righteousness, evil against evil, it was simply ridiculous. For grass blocking the way, do you still have to squat down and distinguish between righteousness and evil? You just use whatever means are handy.

A woman as stupidly ridiculous as Zhang Junyu sent to his front, with the opportunity to easily remove two opponents placed right at hand, what reason was there not to take it?

But clearly, the Sword Academy could accept that life was both righteous and evil, but it would never cultivate a monster in human skin without any bottom line.

If Sui Zaihua believed this matter and saw through his true character, then the Sword Academy would completely close its doors to him.

For the first time, Qijiao Shang Huaitong lost his composure during questioning.

He really couldn't imagine Qi Zhaohua doing something like this.

This woman was so wise and clear; just as he viewed morality as grass, she also treated her clean reputation as a rag or merchandise. He saw many profound commonalities in this woman.

When the woman did so much for him with all her might, he never arrogantly thought that this would be paid for entirely by the woman's infatuation with him, but actually intended to compensate her with enough resources in Shaolong Prefecture.

This was originally a tacit understanding between the two. They were both destined to leave this small city; Bowang was just the place where they would grab their last batch of resources. With mutual help, they could go very far.

Therefore, Qijiao Shang Huaitong never thought she would aim her spear at him.

He of course did not easily give her his absolute trust, and he also knew that they had great differences on the matter of diverting the lake—that was something she had planned for a long time.

Therefore, he had talked to the woman about this matter and finally persuaded her to give up.

But in all fairness, if the woman really forced him on this matter, between the Five Lakes Gang and the woman, he would choose the woman and would not damage their alliance because of this. Save the people and lose the land, both people and land will be saved. The Seven Serpents had wandered through several prefectures and finally settled in Bowang, and it had only been seventy years, with no consciousness of an ancestral sect. As the Young Master of the Seven Serpents, he understood this principle deeply.

Not to mention taking a step back, even if they really parted on bad terms, it would just be going their separate ways. He often saw calmness in the woman's eyes and knew she would never make an enemy of herself for no reason.

However, now he looked at this woman, the hostility in her expression had frozen into biting ice, as if this poisonous knife stabbed into his throat was something she had held onto tightly during several sleepless nights.

Qi Zhaohua also looked at the man in front of her.

But her gaze was not on the man, but as if through him, staring at something behind him.

The man's impression of her actually had a considerable part of the truth. Qijiao Shang Huaitong, Pei Ye, Fang Jidao, the scholars—she could make many people with different stances trust her, because what she used to gain people's trust was precisely the real part.

She indeed never intended to be an enemy of the Seven Serpents.

The lake diversion had been pushed to this point, and the Seven Serpents were the only tiger blocking the way. At that time, Cuiyu had not yet reversed everything, and they were the biggest shadow covering the Bowang rivers and lakes.

You absolutely could not persuade them to give up Moon-Catching Lake; that was not only a large sum of silver but also the roots they had deeply planted in Bowang City.

If you couldn't lure them with profit, you had to threaten them.

Yes, the Seven Serpents Cave was cruel and violent. Just looking at their one-eyed Great Elder, one knew that the way they treated enemies must be chilling.

She also knew that they were the most violent group of bears and wolves in Bowang, and their consciousness of "rules" could be said to be weak. And she was just a weak woman without any cultivation. Usually, when they met at the table, people would smile and toast her as Laywoman Qi, but if she wanted to insert herself into their core and stir the wounds to threaten such a group of people, when their core interests were touched, the so-called literary talent and reputation were just a thin veil in front of sharp claws.

But the woman still calmly made this decision.

Those days she lingered in Bowang Garden, paying attention to all news related to the Seven Serpents, hundreds of pieces, large and small, until she finally confirmed—the core interest of the Seven Serpents' next step was to send Qijiao Shang Huaitong to the Shaolong Sword Academy.

Using this matter, she should be able to force them to give up Moon-Catching Lake.

She began to appear in Qijiao Shang Huaitong's field of vision. The Seven Serpents were thirsty for the clean reputation she had, so she generously offered it, not avoiding suspicion in front of everyone, binding herself more and more closely to Qijiao Shang Huaitong.

After that, she found the knife she could hold—the death of Zhang Junyu of Xu Gu.

She of course had no evidence; those conversations in the dark night had left no traces at all.

But she didn't need evidence; she just needed everyone to see that she and the Seven Serpents were close enough.

Then, she was Qi Zhaohua.

When she knew Sui Zaihua would come, things became even simpler. She would catch the Seven Serpents off guard that day and put this fatal knife to their necks, using this sharp blade to exchange for them signing the lake contract.

The Seven Serpents would definitely agree.

Because Sui Zaihua was there.

Therefore, although it seemed impossible to outsiders, she had always told the young man that the lake diversion was "a sure thing" on her end.

However, if the Seven Serpents finally really preferred to die together rather than agree, she indeed would not stab this knife down.

Qijiao Shang Huaitong's cognition of her was correct. If it really didn't work, then forget it. Making an irreconcilable enemy of the Seven Serpents would only make the Moon-Catching Lake matter even harder to handle later.

The woman had indeed heard that the Seven Serpents had done many evil things, but she was not a person of the rivers and lakes, had no deep friendship with Cuiyu, and had no extra sense of justice. Her small management was already exhausting enough to carry the Moon-Catching Lake matter.

This was originally her entire plan.

The change happened two days ago.

The Prefecture Office, which had left a message before, suddenly sent news, saying that the murderer had been brought to justice, but the matter was very big, the case was not over, and the person could not be shown to her, only asking her to temporarily comfort her heart.

She asked who killed him and what the motive was. The Prefecture Office said the motive could not be disclosed, but the murderer looked like the Second Elder of the Seven Serpents, Xu Cang.

This sentence was no less of a heavy hammer in her heart than the day in front of the gambling house.

She didn't need to use any brains to know that this matter was inseparable from the Seven Serpents.

These were her most painful days, unable to escape sadness through busyness anymore. The murderer was originally traceless, and the Prefecture Office and the Immortal Platform could not find his tracks. For an ordinary person like her, "revenge" was a fantasy, not to mention she had things to do and couldn't spare herself.

Yet now, the enemy suddenly stood before her eyes, so within reach.

Those buried and accumulated giant poisonous flames surged out, drowning her soul in an instant.

Whenever she was smiling and talking in front of Qijiao Shang Huaitong, the two Seven Serpents deeply stabbed her heart, and the man's clumsy handwriting and sincere smiles kept boiling her emotions.

She didn't want to make any more deals with these beasts in front of her. Since she held a dagger in her hand, she just wanted to stab it fiercely into the Seven Serpents' most painful and deepest heart.

But the lake diversion... was not only the result of her years of hard work but also a consensus reached with great difficulty by the various departments of the Prefecture Office. Many people had put in countless efforts here, and more importantly, this heavy lake water had been pressing on the people of Bowang for too many years.

Feelings and matters were like two opposite ropes, tightly strangling her heart, making her almost suffocate.

Until she heard the news that Cuiyu had suddenly turned defeat into victory.

She had heard many versions, but nothing was more accurate than the words of the person involved. Therefore, when she saw the young man appear in the Cuiyu team, she walked over without hesitation.

They hadn't actually met many times, nor had they talked deeply, but just as her posture of splitting the lake with her arms had deeply touched the young man, the young man's sincerity and reliability had long left a mark in her heart.

No one in Bowang City knew the person who died. If there was anyone else who knew the feelings buried in her heart, it was just this young man.

Therefore, even though they seemed to be on opposite sides on the surface now, as long as there was a little probing, they both saw the trustworthy person in each other again.

——You approached Qijiao Shang Huaitong, wasn't it to trick him into supporting the lake diversion?

——Qijiao Shang Huaitong can't decide; what I'm threatening is the entire Seven Serpents.

——Oh, so... did you check clearly the matter of Zhang Junyu I told you that day? Is this your weapon today?

——The facts are clear; what is there to check?

Don't sow discord, she said coldly.

Pei Ye smiled.

Qi Zhaohua also smiled.

But this smile flashed and disappeared.

I am very painful, Young Hero Pei. I don't know whether to stab this knife out or use it for exchange. Is there any news on the Cuiyu side?

Cuiyu has a way to make the Seven Serpents lose this industry within three days. If they know this news, they will naturally sell it.

Ah... that's really great.

In this way, I can stab the dagger in my hand into its throat without hesitation.

Thus, without the Young Master knowing anything, Cuiyu and the Laywoman under the lake completed a cooperation of sharing the same hatred, with Cuiyu as the base and the Laywoman as the blade.

This knife was sharp and fatal enough, because everyone thought that Laywoman Qi, who was inseparable from Qijiao Shang Huaitong, knew enough about the inside story of this matter.

And, she was Qi Zhaohua.

At this moment, the whole arena was silent. Li Piaoqing's astonishment at suddenly seeing Qi Zhaohua had not yet faded, and the woman's statement plunged her into deeper shock.

She turned her head, somewhat stunned: "How could she..."

The young girl neither knew the relationship between Qi Zhaohua and Cheng Jiang Hong, nor did she have the energy to socialize with this woman in those days. She was completely unprepared for everything that happened. She looked at the young man who seemed to know everything and said angrily: "You never told me about this—and you said you hadn't met Laywoman Qi many times."

"We haven't met many times!" Pei Ye argued, "But isn't there a phrase called... meeting like old friends?"

"..." Li Piaoqing rolled her eyes at him and said sullenly, "Do you often meet people like old friends?"

"Right!" Pei Ye smiled proudly, "Good people like us quickly become good friends."

"Oh."

"Alright, I'll give you an analogy." Pei Ye leaned toward the young girl and whispered with a smile, "Look at Qijiao Shang Huaitong's expression; doesn't it look like Zhao Zilong entering and exiting invincible at Changban Slope, but suddenly being stabbed by Liu Chan in his arms?"

"... Pfft." The young girl covered her mouth and smiled, then hurriedly straightened her face and patted him lightly. "Then the two of them are Liu Chan and Zhao Yun..."

Pei Ye leaned closer and whispered, "Sui Zaihua is Cao Aman."

"Shh!" Li Piaoqing tightened her face and looked around, "Then aren't all the surroundings Cao's soldiers?"

"That's right, but except for me, I am Zhuge Liang who plans strategies."

"There was no Zhuge Liang at that time." The young girl rolled her eyes at him, then thought with interest, "Then what about me, what am I?"

"You have nothing special; you are the nameless little general just beheaded by Zhao Yun under his horse."

The young girl twisted him.

And on the arena, Sui Zaihua looked at the woman: "Is what you said true?"

Qi Zhaohua bowed earnestly. The poisonous flames that had been churning and burning in her heart seemed to leak out from between her teeth, impossible to suppress. The young woman spoke almost word by word: "Zhaohua is willing to stake her entire life and reputation to testify to the evil deeds of Qijiao Shang Huaitong. If this thief enters the Jian Academy, it will be a disgrace that will be difficult for our sect to wash away."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 212 =====