Chapter 874

Ji Feihua saw his expression was off, and softly said: "What are you thinking?"

Hu Xiaotian did not conceal anything, and in a low voice told Ji Feihua his suspicions.

Ji Feihua said: "It's very possible, but why would he have you accompany him to Tianlong Temple?"

Hu Xiaotian said: "I'm also baffled; I've hardly had any dealings with Laohuangdi." He and Hong Beimo were complete strangers; why would they scheme against him?

Ji Feihua said: "Long Xuan'en acts with deep scheming; he wouldn't just let you accompany him for no reason." After pondering, he lowered his voice: "To get out of today's predicament, he must rely on the help of the Jinling Xu family; could it be that he brought you to Tianlong Temple not for that, but to signal the Xu family?"

Hu Xiaotian didn't speak, but he thought the same; after Ji Feihua told him this old story, he suddenly realized there was an inextricably tangled, chaotic relationship between the Chu, Xu, and imperial families.

Ji Feihua said: "Long Xuan'en is finally going to move against the Jinling Xu family."

Hu Xiaotian said: "He outwardly claims to borrow grain from the Xu family, but his goal is to have them provide this overseas trade route to him."

Ji Feihua chuckled: "Old Lady Xu may not agree."

Hu Xiaotian blinked, wondering how Ji Feihua could be so sure; then he recalled that he had previously sent his mother back to Jinling and entrusted her to deliver a letter to his grandmother—could he have also considered this aspect?

Ji Feihua said: "Although I want to destroy the Long clan, I never thought of destroying Dakang; even without Long Yelin usurping the throne, Dakang's realm would inevitably decline. Long Xuan'en is obsessed with immortality, pays no attention to governance, employs villains, listens to slander, and after decades in power has squandered the ancestral estate, leaving the state perilous; in such a situation he will go all‑out, with no scruples left."

Hu Xiaotian said: "You mean he's already resolved to move against the Xu family?"

Ji Feihua said: "Old Lady Xu is extremely strong‑willed; she led a group of orphans and widows to build such a vast enterprise. Her exceptional ability is evident. After the Chu Yuanhai corruption case, she split from the Dakang court. Although Long Xuan'en covets the Xu family's wealth, he is restrained by Xu Lingkong still being alive, so he has never dared to act against the Xu family."

Hu Xiaotian said: "Why did you have my mother go back to deliver the letter?"

Ji Feihua said: "Not only Long Xuan'en but also Long Yelin covets the Xu family's wealth; Dakang suffers famine everywhere, refugees fill the land, the treasury is empty, and the only way out of this predicament is to rely on the Jinling Xu clan. Yet Old Lady Xu has never shown any indication; even when the Hu clan was raided, she never spoke up for your family."

Hu Xiaotian secretly sighed; his maternal grandmother was truly ruthless, preserving herself. To avoid implicating the Xu clan, she didn't even inquire about her own daughter and son‑in‑law.

Ji Feihua said: "Many officials have already suggested moving against your mother to pressure the Xu clan; I once promised you I would look after your parents, but one's energy is limited, I feared mishaps, so I had Wu Renxing send Madame Hu to the Jinling Xu clan ahead of time, and also asked him to deliver a letter to Old Lady Xu."

Hu Xiaotian was curious about the content of Ji Feihua's letter, and asked in a low voice: "What did you write in the letter?"

Ji Feihua did not answer, but softly said: "What Dakang wants is not only the Xu family's wealth, more importantly their overseas trade route; Old Lady Xu certainly understands this—if she agreed to the court's demand, she would surely offend many enemies, such as Da Yong and the Li clan of Xichuan; in their eyes Dakang has become a lamb awaiting slaughter."

Hu Xiaotian said: "But if Dakang falls, wouldn't the Xu clan also be doomed?"

Ji Feihua said: "It seems you don't understand the Xu family's situation; in Dakang the Xu clan merely owns a residence. Old Lady Xu is far‑sighted, having long shifted the business focus overseas; the Xu family's assets are spread across many countries, so even if the court orders the confiscation of the Xu clan, it would only get a small fraction of their wealth. The Xu family's true wealth is not gold and land, but the trade routes and connections built over the years. Even if the court seized all of the Xu clan's assets in Dakang, as long as one member remains, they could quickly regain their former glory—that is the Xu family's strength."

Although Hu Xiaotian knew his maternal grandmother was formidable, he had never imagined she was this formidable. However, judging from the Hu family's experiences these past two years, the grandmother did not overly concern herself with their life or death. Since she could bring the Jinling Xu clan to its present stature, her breadth and vision must surpass ordinary people; perhaps she had already anticipated that the court would not dare to exterminate the Hu clan outright, or perhaps she simply did not wish to drag the entire Jinling Xu clan into this turmoil for the sake of the Hu family.

At that moment Hu Xiaotian's stomach growled; he had only eaten two steamed buns at noon and had not eaten since, and this afternoon Bu Wu had forced him to do hard labor for a long time, so he was already hungry. Hu Xiaotian felt a bit embarrassed and said: "Sorry, my stomach is growling."

Ji Feihua couldn't help but smile, and softly said: "I still have some food here." He rose, walked to the corner, took out a cloth bag from the niche, inside were steamed buns and a gourd filled with water.

Hu Xiaotian wiped his hands, took a steamed bun and ate it heartily, after two bites he drank a mouthful of mountain spring water; seeing Ji Feihua sitting beside him watching, he felt a bit embarrassed and said: "Brother Ji, why aren't you eating?"

"I'm not hungry!"

Hu Xiaotian finished the bun in a few bites and didn't eat the second one; the bag contained only two buns, and if he ate both, Ji Feihua would go hungry.

Ji Feihua guessed his thought, passed the second bun to him and said: "Go ahead and eat it; I really am not hungry."

Hu Xiaotian said: "I'm not hungry either; were these buns and water brought to you by that evil monk?"

Ji Feihua nodded.

"Did you know him before?"

Ji Feihua shook his head and said: "I also only met him after arriving here; I offered to exchange martial arts techniques for his help."

The Seamless Secret?

Ji Feihua smiled and said: "You seem to know quite a lot."

Hu Xiaotian pursed his lips, after a moment said: "Is there anything you need me to help with?"

Ji Feihua shook his head and said: "You can't help me with my affairs; no one can. Just pretend you never met me, pretend I'm already dead, and when you return…." His clear eyes locked onto Hu Xiaotian's: "If you have a chance, get as far away as possible. Staying in Dakang will only make you their pawn."

Hu Xiaotian felt a surge of emotion; Ji Feihua truly cared for him, even though he had sunk to this state, his first thought was still his own safety. Reflecting on how he had concealed many things from Ji Feihua before, he felt ashamed and resolved: "Actually, I too have been hiding things from you."

Ji Feihua said calmly: "In that situation, it's normal for you not to trust me; let the past be the past, no need to bring it up again."

Hu Xiaotian said: "I've long known that Li Yuncong is a man of Laohuangdi."

Ji Feihua stared for a moment, slightly furrowed his brows, then gave a faint smile: "He must be forcing you to work for him."

Hu Xiaotian said: "Do you still remember the secret passage beneath the Si Yuan Bureau? One of them leads to the Cangshuge; I stumbled upon this secret by accident, and Li Yuncong exposed it. He originally wanted to kill me, but afterward he changed his mind—not only did he not silence me, he instead gave me an internal energy method to help me dissolve the ten years of internal force that Quan De'an had forcibly injected into my body. In exchange, he asked me to go to Piaomiao Mountain to scout Laohuangdi's situation."

Ji Feihua narrowed his eyes: "You must have gone up to Piaomiao Mountain's Lingxiao Palace together with Princess Anping Long Xi Yue on the thirtieth of last lunar December."

Hu Xiaotian nodded and said: "Yes!"

Ji Feihua said: "Inspection at Lingxiao Palace is strict; Mu Rongzhan is shrewd. How exactly did you manage to deceive his inspection?"

Hu Xiaotian understood Ji Feihua was referring to his posing as a eunuch; he smiled a little embarrassedly and said: "Quan De'an taught me the Yin‑Yang contraction technique when he sent me into the palace; I had never mastered it, but given the circumstances I feared exposure, tried it once, and it actually worked."

Ji Feihua nodded and said: "Mu Rongzhan's betrayal likely happened after that day; I still can't fathom why he betrayed me, or how Long Xuan'en made contact with the outside world, but it seems the problem originated with you two."

Hu Xiaotian said: "But at that time I didn't pass any message to Laohuangdi."

Ji Feihua said: "Just because you didn't doesn't mean nobody else did."

Upon hearing this, Hu Xiaotian froze; he had never suspected Princess Anping—how could Long Xi Yue, so pure and kind, possibly conceal such a major act from him? He shook his head and said: "Impossible; at that time Long Xuan'en nearly killed Princess Anping, and if I hadn't rushed in promptly, he would likely have strangled his own biological daughter to death."

Ji Feihua said: "Where does that underground passage lead? You managed to find out—could Li Yuncong not have discovered it? The only one capable of turning Mu Rongzhan against me while also evading my notice is Long Xuan'en; outwardly he feigns madness in Lingxiao Palace, but he has been waiting for an opportunity. Princess Anping's visit to inquire after him must have conveyed outside information to him. Then there's Qiqi; I have always been on guard against those princes and grandsons causing trouble, yet I never expected that even with countless precautions there would still be a single oversight."

Saying that Qiqi would use the visitation opportunity to contact Laohuangdi and collude, Hu Xiaotian finds it believable, but claiming that Long Xi Yue would do the same, he still cannot believe it; yet deep down he understands that Long Xi Yue indeed has reason to do so—Long Xuan'en is after all her biological father, seeing her parent imprisoned, how could a child remain indifferent? Yet if she had truly done that initially, why didn't she tell him the truth? Could it be that she never truly trusted him?

First, wishing everyone a happy Dragon Boat Festival; then sending two more updates—Zhangyu isn't sure whether to count them as two or four, better not count; just look at my monthly word count update, that's a hard standard. This passage has been written with great effort, the pace has slowed, but I've put in even more work than before; please give affirmation, recognition, and monthly tickets! (To be continued~^~)