Chapter 997

The nickname Rolling Knife Meat is never given for nothing.

As soon as Fifth Lord opens his mouth, nearly every word he utters is recklessly indifferent.

Fifth Lord suddenly snorted, "Huo Wudi that bastard has always been hiding things from me, never mentioning the true identity of his backer, but I, Wu Lao Ba, am not just messing around in the Rivers and Lakes; I've secretly investigated for years and finally have a suspect: the Wise King!"

"Although I have no evidence, I feel this bastard must be the one!"

His theory really surprised Chen Wuji a bit: "How do you determine it's the Wise King?"

"Because he's hypocritical, feigning benevolence and righteousness. That Wise King superficially avoids suspicion, refusing to participate in any court affairs, but in fact he often runs to the palace to play chess and read with the Emperor—how is that someone avoiding suspicion?" Fifth Lord said mockingly.

"A truly suspicion-avoiding person would absolutely not make himself the Emperor's chess and reading companion. Only this kind of hypocritical, feigning benevolence person would like to use someone as sinister and crafty as Huo Wudi, and would like to keep everything behind the scenes, doing things furtively." Fifth Lord said mockingly.

Chen Wuji suddenly looked at this guy with newfound respect.

This piece of Rolling Knife Meat does have some genuine substance.

"Marquis, this is the first important piece of information I want to tell you; you can send people to investigate, and you will surely uncover the relationship between Huo Wudi and the Wise King." Fifth Lord said, showing his big yellow teeth, proudly.

"What comes next is the main act I want to tell you about, and it's also my proudest masterpiece!" Fifth Lord said.

Fifth Lord solemnly tidied his ragged beggar's garb, pushed aside the long hair covering his face to left and right, lifted his head, and continued: "My life is cheap, but I still value it; Huo Wudi that bastard acts mysteriously, never explaining anything clearly, just ordering us to do things, and I feel uneasy about it."

"So I spent some time carefully pondering Huo Wudi's modus operandi, then pretended to be him to guess what he would do in Nanyue Jun, and I actually managed to figure it out. Right, I don't know about other places, and I wouldn't dare to speak nonsense."

Chen Wuji gave Fifth Lord a strange look.

This guy, he really has something!

Inferring what a person will do from their behavior, then getting down to specific actions, is not easy; it's not something an ordinary person can do.

"Huo Wudi in Nanyue Jun is like a highly venomous spider that loves to spin webs; anywhere he goes, he wants to weave a net. Moreover, this net is double-layered: the outer layer consists of bandits and wanderers scattered throughout Nanyue who cannot appear on the surface." Fifth Lord said.

"The inner layer is Huo Wudi's truly deadly net; these people handle assassinations, win over local officials, make money and grain, and help extend the outer net that, once discovered, is used to cover up tracks."

"The whole of Nanyue Jun is actually already under Huo Wudi's control; more than half of the officials in the prefecture are involved with him."

Chen Wuji frowned slightly: "Do you have evidence for these things you say?"

"Of course there is; if I had no evidence, how could I dare beg the Marquis to spare my lowly life?" Fifth Lord grinned and said: "My beautiful lover, the plump madam, and the prostitute Tang Xiao Yan—they are Huo Wudi's hidden agents in the Refugee Settlement, and also part of that inner net."

"They are responsible for watching us and also for cleaning us up. However, I haven't figured out who does the dirty work; logically, the plump madam and Tang Xiao Yan's subordinates should have a crack team of assassins."

Chen Wuji almost couldn't hold back.

Although what Fifth Lord said was serious, his attention still couldn't help but fall entirely on the words "beautiful plump madam"—probably love makes the eye see a Xi Shi.

Chen Wuji has seen the beautiful plump madam together only once in his life.

That's quite rare.

"So you got close to the plump madam to figure out that inner net?" Chen Wuji forced himself to suppress a grin harder to hold back than an AK, maintaining a solemn, imposing demeanor.

Fifth Lord immediately shook his hair like waterweed: "No, I truly love the plump madam; I'm old, and I usually disguise myself as a disheveled mess, so finding someone who doesn't despise me is rare; I genuinely want her to bear me an heir."

"……"

He is quite persistent in his infatuation fantasy.

Fifth Lord continued: "The people in the outer net are those Huo Wudi uses to rebel, and also the ones who will truly fight in war; whereas the people in the inner net are his eyes and ears, the means he uses to control people and open various joints."

"Before, I really thought this old thing was pretty formidable, with a sinister and meticulous mind, capable of great deeds, perhaps even able to help me earn merit for submitting to the dragon. But later I discovered that this bastard is utterly unsuited to be a strategist; at most he's just a reptile lurking in the dark, fit only for petty theft, not fit for the grand stage."

"He has built up a mighty momentum, almost binding all the officials and bandits of Nanyue Jun to his war chariot, but when it comes to actual fighting, it's nothing but a loose sand."

"They have the ability to seize a region, but lack the ability to hold it!"

Chen Wuji rather agreed with this; what the Snake Staff Elder has done so far indeed shows exactly that, but this does not deny his ability.

This guy still has some tricks.

And he's extremely disgusting!

Chen Wuji suddenly recalled some things Chen Ruoshui had said before.

If nothing unexpected, the inner net Fifth Lord spoke of is exactly those children Chen Ruoshui, who from childhood were taken in and personally trained by the Snake Staff Elder.

"Say something genuinely useful." Chen Wuji said: "What you're saying now isn't exactly fresh news to me. If that's all there is, your life may be hard to save."

Fifth Lord was a bit taken aback, then nodded: "Looks like I still underestimated the Marquis's eyes and ears, impressive, impressive. Since the Marquis wants to hear something practical, I'll give him something practical."

"In Yan Zhou, the prominent clans headed by the Lin family are all Huo Wudi's people; that's the outer net. Cao Lin and the Uyghur People will surely suffer a major setback in Yan Zhou; Huo Wudi has no overt talent, but his behind-the-scenes talent for manipulating people is enormous."

"Lingshouzhou… forget that, I suppose the Marquis already has it figured out. Then Feng Xian Zhou and An Sai Zhou: as far as I know, in An Sai Zhou, from the commandant down to the garrison commanders and brigade commanders, they all seem to have ties with Huo Wudi; Feng Xian Zhou is better off, though Guo Shuhan is somewhat treacherous, and it seems Huo Wudi's hands have been nearly cut off by him."