Chapter 79: The Great Zhou Infernal Affairs, New Name, The Heir Apparent Is Coming (Seeking Monthly Votes)

Inside the office, the bloodstains on Pei Shaoqing's face had been wiped clean, but there was no way to deal with the ones on his clothes.

At this moment, he was lying on a chair with his two legs resting on the tabletop in an unrefined manner, a handkerchief covering his face.

"Subordinate Li Kui, greetings to you, my lord!"

After entering the room, Lao Li immediately knelt down to salute.

"I heard that you and Zhao were close, old friends for many years," Pei Shaoqing said indifferently. Because his face was covered by a handkerchief, one could not see the joy or anger on his face.

Lao Li shivered in fear, the color draining from his face at a speed visible to the naked eye. He hurriedly lowered his head and said, "I beg my lord to investigate clearly. I truly had a friendship with Zhao, but I had absolutely no knowledge of his collusion with the Xuan Sect rebels, nor do I have any intention of following in his footsteps."

"I know, why be so nervous?" Pei Shaoqing tossed the handkerchief aside, put his feet down, and stood up to walk in front of Li Kui. "Zhao is dead, and they will certainly want to cultivate another mole. As Zhao's close friend, you are a very good choice in their eyes."

"My lord, rest assured! If the Xuan Sect rebels truly dare to target me, I will immediately inform you so you can capture and kill them!" Li Kui raised his head and said decisively.

"No, no, no." Pei Shaoqing shook his head and smiled slightly. "I want you to cooperate with them."

"My lord?" Li Kui was instantly stunned.

Pei Shaoqing continued, "Over the next few days, you must handle Zhao's funeral arrangements well, then drown your sorrows in alcohol from time to time, grumble in private, and appear as though you are unable to let go of Zhao's death."

"If the Xuan Sect rebels truly approach you, you must pretend that you feel I am too heartless and that you are willing to cooperate with them in order to avenge Zhao, rather than for the sake of gold and silver. That way, they will trust you more."

Zhao said he could play the role of a double agent, but Pei Shaoqing knew that Wang certainly knew that he already knew.

Therefore, keeping Zhao was of no use.

He wanted to personally send someone over.

"My lord, I am afraid I cannot do it and will instead ruin your plans," Li Kui said, looking troubled.

Pei Shaoqing placed a hand on his shoulder, leaned in slightly, and said, "You can do it. As long as you can handle this errand well, I guarantee you a position as a Small Flag."

"Many thanks for your promotion, my lord! This subordinate is willing to go through fire and water for you without hesitation!" Li Kui instantly became confident and accepted the task without hesitation.

Pei Shaoqing laughed, "I knew that among those who serve, there isn't one who doesn't want to get ahead."

Saying this, he waved his hand.

Li Kui saluted again and turned to leave.

"Let's go, Sister Shuang, let's go home and rest too."

Pei Shaoqing stretched a big, lazy stretch and said.

After arriving home, Liu Yuheng, dressed in a bright green long dress, greeted him, "Young Master, you are back. Go bathe and change first; I will have the kitchen set the meal now."

"Mm, thank you for your hard work, Madam," Pei Shaoqing nodded slightly, then he and Ye Hanshuang returned to their respective rooms.

After entering her room, Ye Hanshuang took out the book Pei Shaoqing had given her during the day while waiting for the servants to pour hot water.

She opened the package full of curiosity and anticipation.

The moment she saw the cover, her face turned red.

A pair of naked men and women were intertwined.

The book was titled "Secret Arts of the Boudoir".

After she opened it, the first illustration in the book made her face flush red; it was exactly what she had done for her brother that afternoon.

It was just that the position was different.

Beside it were text notes explaining the techniques.

"So this kind of thing looks simple, but is actually so profound," Ye Hanshuang murmured to herself.

There is benefit in opening a book; this saying is indeed true.

Did my brother give me this book hoping that I would learn the things inside and then use them all on him?

I must absolutely not let my brother down!

She greedily absorbed the knowledge in the book as if famished, her eyes opened wide, and she even tried to imitate it.

Diligently studying and practicing, tirelessly.

In the back residence of the County Government, Wang Xianling had already learned from Shopkeeper Ma that Zhao had been beheaded by Pei Shaoqing.

"My lord, why would Pei Shaoqing set such a trap to lure out Zhao? There must be a traitor among us," Shopkeeper Ma said with a gloomy expression.

Wang Xianling naturally knew the reason lay with himself.

But he had also long suspected that there was one of Pei Shaoqing's people in the branch, otherwise, why was he able to arrive just in time during the incident with the Yang-Opening Saint Son last time, ultimately reaping the benefits?

So, after pondering for a moment, he said, "Find a way to investigate yourself and see if you can ferret out this mole. Also, find someone to replace Zhao as soon as possible."

"Yes," Shopkeeper Ma replied.

Wang Xianling asked, "Is there any news of the Saintess?"

"No," Shopkeeper Ma shook his head.

Wang Xianling sighed and waved his hand, signaling for him to go down.

Shopkeeper Ma bowed and turned to leave.

He exited the County Government through the back door and walked toward an inn that had been open for a long time called "Junlai Inn".

This was a backup stronghold they had prepared in advance.

As for Juyuan Inn, from now on it would simply be an inn used to earn funds for the Holy Sect, just like the previously unused Junlai Inn.

Just after Shopkeeper Ma left, the Saint Envoy entered Wang Xianling's study, "Helmsman Wang, Tongzhou is only so big, and there is still no news of the Saintess. Do you think it is possible that she has already met with misfortune?"

"With Her Highness's strength, there are not many people in Tongzhou who can kill her." Wang Xianling disagreed, and after a long while, he let out a breath, "I will find a way to keep looking."

Oh, Saintess, Saintess.

Where exactly are you?

At the same time, in the Pei Mansion dungeon.

"Do you like today's meal?" Pei Shaoqing asked calmly while feeding the Yaoguang Saintess.

The Yaoguang Saintess pursed her lips and smiled, replying, "In reply to Young Master, this meal is very much to this servant's taste."

On the surface, she had become much more obedient now.

"Eat it clean, don't waste it." Pei Shaoqing held his finger, stained with a single grain of rice, out in front of her and said.

The Saintess of Yaoguang bit her lip, then spread her face into a smile, extended her soft, fragrant tongue, and flexibly curled it around his finger, taking the grain of rice into her mouth.

"Interesting." Pei Shaoqing tossed his chopsticks aside, grabbed the rice directly with his hand, and held it out in front of the Saintess of Yaoguang.

The Saintess of Yaoguang was furious; having her eat rice that had fallen onto his hand versus him deliberately grabbing rice with his hand for her to eat were two different things, the latter carrying a clear sense of humiliation.

But she was helpless, knowing what the other party wanted to see, and kept extending her tongue to lick the rice off his hand.

You bastard, you had better never fall into my hands in the future, or else this Saintess will make you wish you were dead!

Suddenly, her expression changed.

Because Pei Shaoqing had pinched her tongue.

"Gong... zhi..." she called out, her voice muffled and unclear.

Truly soft, truly smooth, truly erotic; Pei Shaoqing reluctantly let go, looked at the empty dishes, stood up, and said: "You call me Young Master, yet I call you Saintess, isn't that a bit improper?"

There must always be a distinction between master and servant in the way two people address each other.

"But this servant has no name; Yaoguang is this servant's name," the Saintess of Yaoguang said softly.

Pei Shaoqing smiled: "From now on, I will call you Yao Nu."

The Saintess of Yaoguang's expression changed abruptly, her delicate fists already clenched, but she forced a smile, "Yes."

"Then Yao Nu, get some rest early; staying up late is bad for your health," Pei Shaoqing chuckled and turned to leave.

The Saintess of Yaoguang's expression turned cold, staring gloomily at his back, wishing she could pull out his tendons and peel his bones.

Only after hearing the sound of the door closing did she dare to grit her teeth and curse "bastard" under her breath.

………………………

In the blink of an eye, two more days passed.

Jingguan City, Shu Prince Mansion.

"Your child pays his respects to Father, pays his respects to Mother."

Early in the morning, Marquis Heir Yan Sichen went to pay his respects to the Shu Prince and Shu Princess with unwavering, respectful devotion.

The Shu Prince was his biological father.

But the Shu Princess was not his biological mother.

His mother had died in childbirth, and the Shu Prince had chosen to save him, the son, later taking another wife.

That was the current Shu Princess, who, after marrying the Shu Prince, had successively given birth to two sons and two daughters.

"Rise," the Shu Prince Yan Wen said indifferently.

Because the Princess often whispered in his ear, and because this eldest son valued martial arts over literature and was quite unruly, unlike the second son whose literary talent was brilliant and resembled him, he did not favor him.

"Thank you, Father." After Yan Sichen stood up, he bowed and said: "If Father has no other instructions, this son will take his leave."

Only after he left did the still-charming Shu Princess speak her first sentence: "My Prince, I have been married into this house for so many years, and I have not treated him poorly. Look at whether he even considers me in his eyes; he didn't even ask if I, his mother, had any instructions, just turned around and left."

"My beloved, calm your anger, calm your anger. I will talk to him properly next time," the Shu Prince said, holding his wife to soothe her.

The Shu Princess looked resentful, her eye sockets reddening, tears shimmering, and she said aggrievedly: "Even while you are here, he treats me with such disregard. When the day comes that he inherits the throne, I fear that I and our two sons and daughters will not even have a roof over our heads. I wouldn't mind dying with you, but I pity the two children!"

"That won't happen, that won't happen, my beloved. I certainly won't let such a situation occur." The Shu Prince's eyes were gloomy; in fact, he had long harbored the intention of deposing the Marquis Heir.

One reason was that he preferred his second son.

The second was because of his wife's constant whispering in his ear.

The third was that he had self-awareness, knowing that he was biased between his eldest and second sons, so once the eldest son inherited the throne, he would surely retaliate against the second son he favored.

However, if the Marquis Heir had committed no major fault, he could not depose him just because he wanted to, so he was also waiting for an opportunity.

After performing the act of a kind father and filial son, Yan Sichen's expression turned cold the moment he stepped outside, making people fear him at a glance.

"Big Brother!"

A young man of similar age and somewhat similar appearance walked up to greet him.

"Second Brother, are you going to pay your respects to Father and Mother?" Yan Sichen revealed a gentle smile.

Yan Siqin smiled and replied: "Yes, Big Brother is always the first one, which makes me seem lazy."

"Alright, go ahead. Father and Mother are having breakfast," Yan Sichen stepped aside to clear the path.

Yan Siqin nodded and passed him by.

The moment they passed each other, both their faces turned cold simultaneously.

Yan Sichen left the Prince Mansion and rode his horse to one of his own residences. As soon as he entered, a middle-aged man came up to him and said in a low voice: "Marquis Heir! The people sent to reinforce Tongzhou have returned; an accident happened over there."

"How did an accident happen again?" Yan Sichen was furious.

The middle-aged man bore the pressure and said: "The first wave was killed by the Jing'an Guard, and the second wave was also lost at the hands of the Jing'an Guard, but they captured a live prisoner."

"What!" Yan Sichen's expression changed abruptly.

The middle-aged man hurriedly said in fear: "Marquis Heir, please rest assured, the Secret Guards are all loyal to you, and they all have families in Jingguan City, so they would never dare to speak nonsense."

"This Pei Shaoqing, his abilities have really grown since leaving the capital." Yan Sichen's expression was uncertain, and after a long while, he said: "I must go to Tongzhou myself to demand the person."

The captured person had to be retrieved, and he also needed to probe whether Pei Shaoqing already knew something.

"Marquis Heir, is this too dangerous? Why not let this subordinate go?" The middle-aged man hurriedly advised.

Yan Sichen shook his head slightly, "I have dealt with Pei Shaoqing a few times in the capital; that guy is arrogant, conceited, and ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth, acting recklessly. Only by going myself can I steadily and surely get the person back.

Besides, I am the Marquis Heir of the Prince, while he is merely a Marquis's son, not even a Marquis Heir. Without evidence, let alone whether he dares to do anything to me, the key is that he does not have the strength to do anything to this Marquis Heir."

Dealing with a small fry like Pei Shaoqing.

He had the confidence to handle it easily.

(End of this chapter)