Chapter 1849

Hu Xiaotian nodded and said, "Only by being well-connected can we reap benefits; we must take advantage of their eagerness to curry favor with Dakang to squeeze out the maximum profit."

Qiqi said, "Isn't this exactly what you're best at?"

Hu Xiaotian said, "I used to live with my tail between my legs, scraping by in the cracks; Da Yong constantly eyed swallowing my territory, the court never regarded me as a good person, branding me a treacherous minister, and at critical moments they didn't help me but kept stabbing me in the back—even the retired emperor doing so would be tolerable..." He paused there.

Qiqi coldly stared at him and said, "Such a huge grudge—are you saying I'm not good enough to you?"

Hu Xiaotian gave a hehe laugh and said, "People can change; you've grown up and become sensible."

Qiqi couldn't help hearing that this guy was saying she used to be clueless; she looked at Hu Xiaotian and merely gave a cold smile.

Hu Xiaotian wiped the smile from his face, suddenly putting on a deep, affectionate expression, and sincerely said, "Actually, all these years the fault is mine; I used to treat you merely as a little girl, overlooking your feelings, and these past days I've really wanted to sincerely apologize to you."

Qiqi seemed unmoved by his words: "Go on, what do you want me to do now?"

Hu Xiaotian sighed and said, "Sometimes I find you're just too pragmatic."

Qiqi said, "There's nothing I can do—who made it so that I'm facing you?"

Hu Xiaotian said, "There's something I've thought over and still ought to tell you: the skull you kept in Long Ling Shengjing was taken by the Wuxian Sect leader, Lady Meizhuang."

Qiqi blinked slightly, then instantly realized it must have been the night Hu Xiaotian and Quan De'an entered Long Ling Shengjing and were ambushed; she whispered, "Even if she took it, it's useless to her—she couldn't possibly comprehend its secret."

Hu Xiaotian added, "I asked you to help order the release of her disciple Rongshi; originally it was because the owner of Huixiang Lou, Ying Shan Chong, came forward, but I didn't know he was secretly making a deal with Lady Meizhuang behind the scenes."

Qiqi frowned slightly, her expression turning grave: "You mean Ying Shan Chong traded Rongshi for the skull from Lady Meizhuang's hands?"

Hu Xiaotian nodded: "I didn't anticipate his aim being this, so I was used by him."

Qiqi said, "That skull is of no use to me either."

Hu Xiaotian said, "Do you remember me telling you that perhaps more than just you can sense this skull in this world?"

Qiqi bit her lip; she had never believed Hu Xiaotian's words before, but that day at Heavenly Dragon Temple, when Ji Feihua's palm approached her crown, for a moment a thread of communication linked with her brain, that familiar feeling left a vivid memory—she sensed from Ji Feihua an extremely familiar aura. After much pondering, she realized Ji Feihua shared some special affinity with her, perhaps Ji Feihua could perceive the skull's secret. She returned to her desk, sat slowly, picked up a goat-hair brush, wrote Ji Feihua's three large characters on paper, then held it up to show Hu Xiaotian.

Seeing Ji Feihua's name, Hu Xiaotian couldn't help but laugh ruefully; Qiqi must have guessed wrong this time, thinking everything was plotted by Ji Feihua and unaware that Huo Xiaoru even exists in this world; for some reason, Hu Xiaotian had a faint premonition that Huo Xiaoru should also be a descendant of the Heaven's Mandate.

Hu Xiaotian said, "It probably isn't her."

Qiqi gave a cold snort: "Just as I expected, you're protecting him."

Hu Xiaotian said, "It's not that I'm protecting her; if she truly wanted to get the skull from your hands, she should have pressed you for its whereabouts that day at Heavenly Dragon Temple."

Qiqi also acknowledged his point had some merit, and said in a low voice, "Then who exactly is scheming behind the scenes?"

Hu Xiaotian said, "I suddenly feel that Gangbamuo and Xima's accidental entry into the Heavenly Mechanism Manor that day wasn't a coincidence."

Qiqi said, "If that's the case, does Black Hu also want the skull?"

Hu Xiaotian shook his head: "It's not Black Hu but Xue Shengjing; he's likely hiding in Black Hu, and Ying Shan Chong is his confidant."

Qiqi's face showed displeasure: "Just how many things are you keeping from me?"

Hu Xiaotian said, "It's not that I intend to deceive you; it's just that before many things are certain, I can't just blurt them out."

Qiqi said, "You're certain now? Do you have to wait until after something happens to tell me? What do you take me for?"

Hu Xiaotian said, "Don't rush; I will definitely get to the bottom of this—I'll retrieve the skull and give you a full accounting."

After venting, Qiqi also realized this had become a settled matter; blaming Hu Xiaotian would be useless, and actually what he said wasn't wrong—before things are clarified, it's impossible to report every detail to herself; she sighed and said, "What do you plan to do?"

Hu Xiaotian said, "The skull inside the Seven Ingenious Pavilion is a trump card in our hands; earlier Gangbamuo and company might have just been probing, but I believe they'll make a comeback for that skull."

Qiqi said, "After all this talk you're still eyeing that skull—you wouldn't be trying to get me to hand it over to you, would you?"

Hu Xiaotian actually meant exactly that, but since Qiqi had pointed it out, he found it awkward to speak up.

Qiqi looked at him full of doubt and asked, "Why aren't you speaking?"

Just as Hu Xiaotian was about to speak, he heard Yin Zheng's panicked voice from outside the door: "Your Highness, something major has happened!"

Hu Xiaotian and Qiqi exchanged a glance; both knew that unless it was a truly grave matter, Yin Zheng would never dare disturb them. Hu Xiaotian turned to open the door, only to see Yin Zheng standing outside, face full of panic; seeing the door open, he hurriedly fell to his knees with a thud: "This servant dares to disturb Your Highness and the Prince's conference—deserving of ten thousand deaths."

Qiqi flicked her sleeve and said, "Rise; you are blameless."

Yin Zheng stood up, trembling, and said, "I just received word from the Heavenly Mechanism Bureau that the Seven Ingenious Pavilion has been set on fire..."

Hu Xiaotian heard this and turned pale with shock, but Qiqi remained calm, saying lightly, "The Seven Ingenious Pavilion isn't so easily burned down; what's the situation now?"

Upon hearing her, Hu Xiaotian suddenly recalled that the Seven Ingenious Pavilion was built by Qiqi based on information from the skull; it must encompass everything, full of myriad mysteries, not easily damaged, so he also relaxed.

Zheng said: "The incident that happened at dawn, I, the servant, also don't know the specific circumstances; but just now, people from the Heavenly Secrets Bureau came over and said, the Seven Ingenious Pavilion suffered severe damage, the fire was ignited from inside, the whole small building now only has its skeleton left."

"What?" Qiqi's face also changed, the design of the Seven Ingenious Pavilion she knew better than anyone; even Hong Beimo lacked the ability to break it, using fire from the outside could at most blacken the outer walls, the Seven Ingenious Pavilion was entirely built of fire-resistant stone, only the interior used wooden structure, and moreover there was a water system surrounding inside, so fire from the outside could not possibly spread inside; only by igniting from inside could the Seven Ingenious Pavilion be burned, but to enter the interior one must break through layer after layer of locks, and only she possessed this ability.

Qiqi had already lost her composure, she pressed her lips, instantly made a decision, she wanted to go to the Heavenly Secrets Bureau to have a look.

On the way to the Heavenly Secrets Bureau, Hu Xiaotian's heart was also uneasy; Qiqi had deliberately spread the news about the Seven Ingenious Pavilion, intending to lure the enemy into a trap, but this time not only did she attract the enemy, they also easily broke through the mechanisms she had set up, and setting fire from inside proved that the intruder had already entered the small building's interior, and it also meant that the skull Qiqi had hidden inside the building was likely stolen. Hu Xiaotian had already thought of several suspects; Hong Beimo's possible self-theft cannot be ruled out, his achievements in mechanisms are unparalleled under heaven, few can match them; Qiqi thought the mechanisms she set up could defend against him, perhaps Hong Beimo was merely feigning ignorance. Moreover, Hong Beimo is currently overseeing work at the imperial mausoleum, which conveniently allows him to use this incident to dispel suspicion, as the saying goes, "to cover up only to reveal more." Xue Shengjing's side is also possible, after all they previously used glory stone to exchange for the skull, and that skull is exactly the one Qiqi had comprehended; if another person could comprehend the secret within the skull, then the mechanisms Qiqi set up would be meaningless to him, and he could easily break them.

Of course there is another suspect, namely Ji Feihua; Ji Feihua had once been in close contact with Qiqi, she and Qiqi are likely paternal half-sisters, sharing bloodline; according to what Qiqi said, at the time in the Dragon Temple, Ji Feihua once pressed her palm against Qiqi's crown, intending to seize her consciousness; although Qiqi felt nothing unusual, who knows if Ji Feihua hadn't obtained some information from Qiqi's mind? If she through this method obtained the blueprint of the Seven Ingenious Pavilion, sneaking into the small building to take the skull would be as easy as turning over one's hand.

Hu Xiaotian accompanied Qiqi to the Heavenly Secrets Bureau; Hong Beimo also received the news and arrived from the imperial mausoleum almost at the same time as them; together they came before the Seven Ingenious Pavilion, looking from afar the main body of the Seven Ingenious Pavilion still stood firmly there, but light smoke drifted from the roof; although the exterior was intact, the interior should have been completely burned; although the Heavenly Secrets Bureau had many personnel, they had no way to deal with the fire of the Seven Ingenious Pavilion, because the fire originated from inside, they couldn't even open the door, they could only watch helplessly as the Seven Ingenious Pavilion burned; from the black smoke rising, it seemed the interior had been largely burned.

The Eagle Unit's Fu Yuhong was leading hundreds of people surrounding the outside of the Seven Ingenious Pavilion; seeing them arrive, he hurried over to meet them.

Hong Beimo simply asked about the circumstances of the fire; Fu Yuhong only said the fire had suddenly ignited, they could not enter to extinguish it, they could only watch helplessly, and before and after the fire they also did not detect any intruder.

Today there is only one First Update, Zhangyu adjusts a bit. (To be continued~^~)