Chapter 1339

Li Yuncong saw off Hong Beimo, pushed the door into his own room, lit the candle, and only then saw someone sitting on the bed, startling him greatly. Although Hu Xiaotian had already changed his appearance with Tendon Changing Bone Shifting, Li Yuncong could still guess his identity. He listened closely to the outside noise, then via voice transmission said to Hu Xiaotian: "At a time like this, you still dare to come to our place."

Hu Xiaotian smiled and said: "In the palace, I originally didn't have many friends."

Li Yuncong said: "Hong Beimo and his men are still outside; they shouldn't have gone far right now. How did you manage to sneak in?"

Hu Xiaotian said: "Sir Li, don't worry; I'm not here to implicate you."

Li Yuncong sighed and said: "It's not that we fear you'll implicate us; where exactly have you hidden the Emperor? The entire palace is now searching for you."

Hu Xiaotian said: "The Emperor is already dead!"

Li Yuncong heard this news without a strong reaction, merely shaking his head slowly; in his eyes, Long Xuan'en being alive or dead made little difference.

Hu Xiaotian said: "Sir Li, you only need to help me contact Liang Yinghao; I won't trouble you with anything else."

Li Yuncong slowly shook his head and said: "The situation is already lost; why do you insist on staying here? With your skills, escaping the palace shouldn't be difficult. Leave while your whereabouts are still concealed; if they discover your trail, you'll likely have no chance to escape."

Hu Xiaotian said: "I still have a secret edict from the Emperor in my hand."

Li Yuncong smiled faintly and said: "What use is that? The Emperor is already dead; do you think a single secret edict could reverse the situation?"

Hu Xiaotian secretly thought: Although the secret edict serves no such purpose, the Universe Opening Alchemy Chapter I obtained is something Hong Beimo has long dreamed of; using it to exchange for Xi Yan's safety should not be difficult.

Li Yuncong said: "You probably don't know yet. Your men at Fengyi Shan Zhuang have all been arrested, and even your sworn brother Shi Xuedong is tied outside the Wumen Gate. The Yongyang Princess has ordered that if you don't appear by noon tomorrow, she will have all these people, together with that demoness, executed by lingchi."

Hu Xiaotian sucked in a breath of cold air; Qiqi is indeed ruthless.

Li Yuncong looked at Hu Xiaotian and said: "It's not that we're saying defeatist talk. Even if you had the ability to reach heaven, you probably can't turn the tide now. Hong Beimo, Ren Tianqing, and Mu Rongzhan are all the Princess's people; now the entire court of civil and military officials has already sworn allegiance to Her Highness the Princess, and the Princess has already labeled you a rebel who usurps power and plots treason."

Hu Xiaotian secretly sighed; in fact, his original intention in coming to Kangdu was also to cooperate with Qiqi, not merely to fulfill their marriage pact. Perhaps his motive destined this outcome. Qiqi's recent actions prove she never truly trusted him; speaking from the heart, Qiqi has the right to choose her collaborators, abandoning him and choosing Hong Beimo, thereby achieving her true rule over the Dakang dynasty, while also pushing all the blame onto Long Tingzhen and himself.

The disadvantage before him does not mean defeat; he still has the Yongjiang navy, and in his hand he still holds what Hong Beimo wants, which is even more important than Long Xuan'en's life.

Li Yuncong said: "We can't get in touch with your people. After he entered the secret passage, we sealed the entrance; we haven't seen him since."

Hu Xiaotian nodded.

Li Yuncong urged: "Come on! As long as you return safely to Dongliang Jun, you still have a chance to make a comeback."

Hu Xiaotian said: "I still want to trouble Sir Li with one matter."

Li Yuncong gave a wry smile and said: "What else? We're barely holding on ourselves; I'm afraid I can't help you." After Hong Beimo's visit just now, Li Yuncong had already made up his mind to leave the palace.

Hu Xiaotian said: "Please trouble Sir Li to invite Hong Beimo over; I want to meet him face to face."

Li Yuncong was startled by these words; Hu Xiaotian should be avoiding Hong Beimo, so why would he have me invite him? Is he planning to take a risky move to capture Hong Beimo? To use Hong Beimo as a hostage in exchange for his friends' safety?

Hu Xiaotian smiled: "Sir Li, don't worry; just hand this page to him, and he will naturally come." Hu Xiaotian passed a page to Li Yuncong, who, looking at it by the lamp light, couldn't help exclaiming: "This… this is the Qiankun Kaiwu… Alchemy Chapter!"

Hu Xiaotian nodded and said: "It's only part of it; there are five pages in total." He looked at the still hesitant Li Yuncong and said: "Sir Li, do you still want to stay in this palace? Aren't you afraid your secret will be leaked?" He was basically threatening: if Li Yuncong refused to help him, he would reveal Li Yuncong's background secret.

Only then did Li Yuncong realize that Hu Xiaotian's staying behind still had some reliance. He gazed at that alchemy chapter page, hesitated for a long time, then nodded and said: "Alright, we'll help you once more, but you must remember: when you one day seize the Dakang throne, those imperial tombs…"

Hu Xiaotian smiled: "Sir Li, take whatever you want; even if you wish to make the imperial tombs your burial place, I will agree."

Li Yuncong nodded, grabbed the page, and walked out.

Hong Beimo indeed had not gone far; standing outside the Cangshuge gate, he ordered his subordinates: "Keep a close watch on this place; don't let anyone freely come and go." He hadn't expected that, just as he and Li Yuncong had gone to search the seventh level of Cangshuge, Hu Xiaotian had already slipped inside.

As soon as Hong Beimo finished speaking, he heard Li Yuncong's voice from behind: "Mr. Hong, please stay."

Hong Beimo stopped, turned, and saw Li Yuncong walking out at a leisurely pace; he smiled and said: "Sir Li, what do you need from me?"

Li Yuncong approached him and then whispered: "Just now someone asked us to deliver this item to Mr. Hong; we're old and our memory isn't great, we almost forgot." He handed over the page he was holding.

Hong Beimo took the page; upon seeing its content, his heart was greatly shaken, he suppressed his excitement and whispered: "Where is the person?"

Li Yuncong said: "Inside."

As Hong Beimo prepared to head toward Cangshuge, Li Yuncong added: "We still have some matters we want to handle outside the palace; please trouble Mr. Hong to give us convenience."

Hong Beimo coldly stared at Li Yuncong; of course he could tell Li Yuncong was trying to seize the chance to escape.

Li Yuncong lowered his voice: "He said he wants to meet Mr. Hong alone; we've delivered the message, the rest has nothing to do with us; please, Mr. Hong, grant us this convenience."

Hong Beimo secretly thought that turning against Li Yuncong now would be unnecessary, and he said calmly: "Sir Li, you might as well wait a bit longer; after I finish this matter, I'll personally see you out of the palace."

Hong Beimo strode into Cangshuge; Li Yuncong saw that this man was crafty and would not easily let him go, so he could only follow behind; he was actually already tantamount to being kidnapped by Hu Xiaotian, and if Hu Xiaotian and Hong Beimo came to blows, he would have no choice but to side with Hu Xiaotian; regardless of tonight's outcome, the palace now has no place left for him to stay.

Li Yuncong pointed to his own room; Hong Beimo walked over slowly, pushed the door open and entered, only to see Hu Xiaotian sitting quietly under the lamp light; Hu Xiaotian had now restored his original appearance, and since he had decided to lay everything out with Hong Beimo, there was naturally no need for disguise anymore.

Hong Beimo smiled and nodded at Hu Xiaotian: "Sir Hu, you truly have extraordinary courage and insight."

Hu Xiaotian said: "Even such courage and insight cannot match Mr. Hong's deep scheming and foresight." He pointed to the opposite chair and said: "Sit!"

Hong Beimo surprisingly sat down politely, and Hu Xiaotian pointed again at the cup of tea on the table, asking, "Would you like some tea?"

Hong Beimo shook his head and smiled, saying, "No, thank you."

"Mr. Hong, are you afraid I might poison you?"

Hong Beimo said, "Lord Hu went to great trouble to invite me here; it's probably not as simple as just trying to poison me."

Hu Xiaotian said: "Using your own methods against you, Mr. Hong, don't underestimate my desire for revenge."

Hong Beimo chuckled: "Your poisoning has nothing to do with me; in my plan I never factored you in." Hong Beimo was not lying; in his scheme, Long Tingzhen is the pawn to take the blame, while Long Xuan'en has become an obstacle on his path forward, so his death is certain, yet he had no plan to eliminate Hu Xiaotian, because he didn't understand Qiqi's feelings for Hu Xiaotian; if he offended Qiqi by dealing with Hu Xiaotian, it would bring no benefit to his plan, only backfire.

Hong Beimo hadn't even realized before that Qiqi had joined forces with Mu Rongzhan and Ren Tianqing; only when Xi Yan appeared did he understand he had still underestimated this little princess—Qiqi's scheming was deeper than he imagined.

Poisoning Hu Xiaotian and eliminating him outright were not part of Hong Beimo's original plan; he couldn't help but admire this little princess's decisiveness and cold-bloodedness.

Hu Xiaotian also saw no need to go into details with Hong Beimo, and he said softly: "Did you see that page?"

Hong Beimo nodded, saying meaningfully: "The thing probably isn't just this one page, right?"

Hu Xiaotian said: "Five pages, each hidden in different places."

Hong Beimo laughed: "It seems we indeed need to have a proper talk."

Hu Xiaotian lifted the teacup before him, took a slow sip, and said softly: "I want you to release them."

Hong Beimo said: "The princess has already issued an order; this matter probably isn't that easy."

Hu Xiaotian took out another sheet of paper and handed it to Hong Beimo: "This is a deposit; as long as you, Mr. Hong, want to do something, it should be doable."

Hong Beimo furrowed his brows, picked up that sheet of paper, and almost immediately determined that this thing was absolutely genuine. He said in a low voice: "If there were two more pages, perhaps I could still manage something."

Hu Xiaotian looked at this Lao hulí who was bargaining with him, and couldn't help laughing: "No problem, as long as you release all the people for me, I'll give you everything; these junk items are of no use to me, but... for now this is all I can do."

Two more chapters, Double Monthly Ticket, after passing this village there is no such shop, Zhangyu also doesn't know how to post a red envelope to ask for votes, can only shout hoarsely twice, brothers with tickets hurry up and vote, let Zhangyu be happy on the first day of the new year. (To be continued~^~)