Chapter 1239

Li Chenzhou finished reading the little newspaper, and couldn't help but secretly admire; no matter who the hidden opponent behind it was, it was astonishing, killing Guo Zhenhai was merely the first step, and then without pause he kept making a big fuss over the Bohai royal family's scandal, his target directly pointing to Zhou Yong, the other side obviously already declared war, Li Chenzhou dares to say that what is before us is only the beginning, the other side will surely continue to cause trouble. He can basically determine that Princess Xue Lingjun and Hu Dafu should be involved; with Princess Xue Lingjun's wisdom she has already realized her own perilous situation, and that merchant Hu Dafu who suddenly appeared in Wanghai City is her strong support here.

Just who exactly is this Hu Dafu representing? Is it Mangjiao Island or Xue Shengjing? Li Chenzhou believes Hu Dafu must belong to one of them; even with his outstanding wisdom he never imagined this person was actually Hu Xiaotian, after all Hu Xiaotian appears on the surface to have nothing to do with this.

Outside the door came a light knocking sound; the warrior reported: 'Sir General, Mr. Lu has arrived.'

"Please let him in!"

The one who came to visit Li Chenzhou was Lu Qingen; this former sixth chief of Mangjiao Island entered Li Chenzhou's Study with a respectful expression.

Li Chenzhou smiled: 'Brother Lu, please have a seat quickly!'

Lu Qingen sat opposite Li Chenzhou, his gaze falling on the little newspaper on the desk, the corner of his mouth revealing a faint smile: 'General Li, did you also get a copy?'

Li Chenzhou nodded: 'Thousands of copies have been spread throughout Wanghai City; don't underestimate the power of this paper, the Bohai King is probably already furious.'

Lu Qingen chuckled: 'Will Zhou Yong be alright?'

Li Chenzhou shook his head and said in a low voice: 'The purpose of their spreading rumors is to make the Bohai King unfavorable toward Zhou Yong; I didn't expect them to act so decisively.' He couldn't help but recall Guo Zhenhai, who was killed by two experts.

Lu Qingen said: 'I have already examined Guo Zhenhai's corpse; the fatal blow was the Crushing Heart Fist, judging from the fist technique and lethal force, the attacker is almost certainly Yan Tianlu.'

"Yan Tianlu is really arrogant!"

Lu Qingen said: 'His nephew Yan Boguang is in my hands. His lover Ling Saniang is imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice's great prison; these two are extremely important to him, Yan Tianlu will not stand idly by, coming to Wanghai City is to be expected.'

Li Chenzhou said: 'It seems Yan Tianlu and Princess Xue Lingjun have already joined forces.'

Lu Qingen nodded: 'That should be the case; otherwise he wouldn't have helped Princess Xue Lingjun resolve this trouble, and another expert should be Hu Dafu.'

Li Chenzhou said: 'Quite possible. This Hu Dafu might be an expert sent by Prince Yan.'

Lu Qingen said: 'Should we act against them?'

Li Chenzhou pondered for a moment, then shook his head: 'Although Hu Dafu is out in the open, the Princess currently resides with him, and the two appear together openly; if we move against Hu Dafu, to others it looks like we are targeting the Princess, which would invite gossip, and the timing is not yet mature. The Bohai King certainly won't stand by; perhaps they are trying to provoke us into acting, thereby drawing the spearhead toward us and letting the Bohai King intervene in this matter.'

Lu Qingen nodded.

Li Chenzhou said: 'Once the case at the Ministry of Justice yields a result, all their advantages will vanish. We can let those two be for now. On the contrary, Yan Tianlu, since he has risked coming to rescue someone, we might as well make good use of Yan Boguang as a card.'

Lu Qingen said: 'As long as we spread the news that we intend to kill Yan Boguang, Yan Tianlu will almost certainly risk coming to rescue him.'

Li Chenzhou said: 'Whether it's Hu Dafu or the Princess, they are not worth worrying about. No matter how formidable they are, they have little influence in Bohai. On the contrary, Yan Tianlu has never given up his operations in Bohai over the past decades; only by first eliminating Yan Tianlu can we destroy their alliance, after which dealing with the two of them will be easy.' He paused: 'Hand Yan Boguang over to the Bohai King. Give him a suggestion, let him publicly interrogate and execute Yan Boguang; Yan Tianlu will surely plot to rescue his nephew before the public interrogation, so we can give him some clues, and when he comes to rescue, we will catch him in one net.'

Lu Qingen said: 'I will personally handle this.'

Li Chenzhou said: 'Yan Tianlu is not easy to deal with, and this time his rescue effort will surely muster his greatest strength; this time perhaps the old master will have to come out of retirement.'

Lu Qingen nodded: 'I will report this to my master!' His master is the sect leader of the Variegated Gate, Bei Ze Lao Guai; Bei Ze Lao Guai has ten major disciples under him, the eldest disciple Du Tianhuo, who is ruthless with water and fire, has already been killed by Hu Xiaotian in Xichuan; disciples Li Yishui, Peng Yijiang, and Gu Saniang also died in Yongdu at the hands of Xi Yan and Hu Xiaotian working together. Now Bei Ze Lao Guai's inner-circle disciples number only six, and Lu Qingen happens to be his most favored disciple, also an inner-door disciple.

As Hu Xiaotian went out, he asked Xiao Lvzhi: 'Where is the Princess?'

Xiao Lvzhi whispered: 'He left early with Zhou Yong, saying they were going to tour the scenic spots of Wanghai City.'

Hu Xiaotian's lips curled into a smile; Princess Xue Lingjun was also diligent in her work, deliberately approaching Zhou Yong according to their plan. He asked Xiao Lvzhi: 'Have you sent someone to watch them?'

Xiao Lvzhi laughed: 'Rest assured, sir, there is no chance of failure.'

Hu Xiaotian said: 'I'm going to the harbor for a trip.'

Xiao Lvzhi said: 'I'll get the carriage ready for you, sir.'

Hu Xiaotian shook his head: 'I'll go on horseback!'

Huang Hua Port is always bustling; even if someone were tailing, arriving here would be overwhelming. Hu Xiaotian and Yan Tianlu had agreed to meet at the harbor, confident no one was following, he then boarded the small boat that had been waiting for him there, winding through the maze-like waterways, and finally arrived beside the merchant ship where Yan Tianlu was.

Yan Nujiao waited on the deck; seeing Hu Xiaotian approach, her beautiful eyes filled with fervent affection; if not for considering the bigger picture, she would not want to leave Hu Xiaotian's side. Hu Xiaotian smiled narrowly: 'A day apart feels like three autumns; my wife seems even more beautiful!'

Yan Nujiao glared at him: 'Some people probably only think of the Princess now, having completely forgotten this poor girl of mine.'

Hu Xiaotian knew she was jealous, laughing: 'I dare not forget, I dare not forget; I'm a son-in-law living in the wife's family, you're a tigress.'

Yan Nujiao couldn't help but laugh, whispering: 'Go quickly, my uncle is waiting for you at the bow.'

Hu Xiaotian arrived at the bow; Yan Tianlu stood with his hands clasped behind his back, facing the rising sun, motionless like an iron tower, the golden sunrise outlining his sturdy silhouette, making him appear mighty as a deity descending. Hu Xiaotian mimicked his posture, clasping his hands and standing shoulder to shoulder with him; Yan Tianlu glanced at him and said in a deep voice: 'Yan Dongsheng that scoundrel will publicly behead Boguang in three days.'

Hu Xiaotian furrowed his brows; this news was truly sudden, there had been no prior news of Yan Boguang falling into the Bohai King's hands; he whispered: 'Could it be a trick?'

Yan Tianlu said: 'It should be an attempt to use this matter to force me to reveal myself; currently Boguang is imprisoned in the Tianxing Pavilion.'

Hu Xiaotian said: 'They deliberately released the news to lure you to the Tianxing Pavilion to rescue someone; that place must have a trap set.'

Yan Tianlu turned his head to glance at Yan Nujiao in the distance, lowering his voice: 'Nujiao still doesn't know; you must absolutely not let her find out about this.'

Hu Xiaotian nodded: 'What do you plan to do?'

Yan Tianlu narrowed his eyes, gazing at the round sun rising slowly in the river, he sighed: 'Boguang met with trouble on Mangjiao Island; if I don't rescue him, what face do I have to face my elder brother?'

Hu Xiaotian said: 'You know it's a trap, yet you still want to go?'

Yan Tianlu said: 'If I don't go, Boguang will surely die; if I go, he still has a slim chance of survival.'

In the past Hu Xiaotian didn't care whether Yan Boguang lived or died, but now that he and Yan Nujiao are truly husband and wife, Yan Boguang is in fact his elder brother-in-law; if he stood by idly, he would feel uneasy. Yet knowing it's a trap, to walk into it is hardly different from seeking death.

Yan Tianlu looked at Hu Xiaotian: 'Will you lend me a hand?'

Hu Xiaotian said: 'Even if I agree to help you, we cannot storm the Tianxing Pavilion by force.'

Yan Tianlu lowered his voice: 'What idea do you have?'

Hu Xiaotian said: 'We must seize the initiative in our own hands; they intend to use Yan Boguang to threaten us, so we can turn their own tactics against them by capturing an equally important person to use in exchange.'

Yan Tianlu said: 'Who should we capture to have enough weight?'

Hu Xiaotian said: 'Ideally a member of the Bohai royal family.'

Yan Tianlu nodded; Hu Xiaotian's words suddenly enlightened him—this fellow truly possesses extraordinary wisdom; having thought they were trapped in a dead end, hearing his words reopened a path; three days is enough for them to resolve this matter.

Yan Tianlu lowered his voice: 'But capturing a royal family member may not be easy; we might end up alerting the enemy.'

Hu Xiaotian smiled: 'Don't forget Princess Xue Lingjun is on our side; even if we can't capture a Bohai royal family member, we can pretend to seize Princess Xue Lingjun, using her to exchange hostages with the Bohai royal family; the weight of the Great Yong Princess is probably even greater.'

Yan Tianlu's eyes lit up; after Hu Xiaotian's prompting, he suddenly felt the sensation of 'mountains exhausted, rivers doubtful, no way out; willows dark, flowers bright, another village appears,' and he couldn't help but burst into laughter: 'Brother Hu, you truly are a great talent, admirable, admirable!'

Hu Xiaotian said: 'We have three days; it would be best to capture Princess Xue Lingjun first, then seize a member of the Bohai royal family; then we will have the capital to confront them.'

Yan Tianlu laughed: 'Damn! How did I not think of this method? Good! Good! Good! This time we must not only rescue Boguang, but also save Saniang and the others together.'

Hu Xiaotian said: 'Any news from the Ministry of Justice?'

The Vice Minister of Justice, Kou Zisheng, took over Li Changxing's position; this person must be one of them!

Hu Xiaotian said: "We must eliminate Kou Zisheng; we absolutely cannot let them achieve their goal of quickly closing the case!"

Tonight we're going to watch a movie, that's it for the First Update! (To be continued~^~)