Chapter 325

A quarter past the Shen hour.

Above Bianjing.

Yulong Street, Su Fu.

Su Yun had long been obedient and respectfully waiting outside the left side of the main gate.

In front of him were the aunts from various courtyards of the Su family, and behind him were more than a dozen clever servants of the Su residence looking down at their toes.

Chen Jiuyan also followed, still dressed as a man, wearing a drooping-foot turban on her head, wrapped in an emerald jade belt around her waist, supporting the jade belt with one hand, and her wonderful eyes had a bit more spirit.

The vermilion main gate of the Su residence was tightly closed.

A group of important officials of the imperial court stood on the right side of the entrance.

None of them wore purple robes or official uniforms, but were all in casual clothes.

On the street at the entrance!

The carriages were lined up neatly, and the tall horses occasionally snorted and stepped lightly with their hooves.

A crisp sound echoed on the bluestone road.

The snow on the street had long been cleared, and only a little white snow fell on the eaves and walls of the vermilion walls, adding a bit of winter chill.

Everyone had been waiting here for a long time, but didn't dare to whisper, all silent.

Only the white air exhaled from their heads, rubbing their frozen red hands in their sleeves.

The scene was solemn!

Su Yun and Chen Jiuyan also bowed and waited.

At this time!

The main gate of the Su family was slowly pushed open by the servants, and everyone's expression instantly froze.

Immediately after, someone took the lead and shouted with a low waist:

"Pay respects to the Prime Minister!"

The voice was neat and loud, echoing on the street.

As the voice fell, the heavy main gate was completely opened, and two people walked out facing them.

Su Yun's uncle, Su Zhou, was a middle-aged man with a majestic appearance.

Su Zhou carefully supported an old man in his eighties or nineties wearing a green robe.

The old man's face was covered with wrinkles, and a faint spirit flashed in his gray and sparse eyebrows and eyes.

Su Jing, this Prime Minister of the Great Qi, was once the fourth teacher of the academy.

The old man raised his eyes, and the steps were full of people bowing and bending over.

Su Jing nodded gently, and everyone dared to straighten up slightly.

Su Zhou reported from the side: "Father, everything has been prepared properly, and the commanders of the Brocade Guards and the Imperial Guards are on duty today."

"The commanders of the Divine Imperial and the Demon-Slaughtering Division have also arrived."

"The West Wing Building has long been set up with a net!"

The old man didn't seem to care much about these arrangements, just asked faintly:

"Where is His Majesty?"

Su Zhou hurriedly replied: "The Empress Dowager and His Majesty have already set off from the Yangxin Hall, and a group of concubines and people in the harem have also followed."

Su Jing nodded and asked again: "Where is Minister Tang?"

Su Zhou replied helplessly: "We invited the old man, but Military Governor Sima had already taken the Sima family over."

The old man heard this, gave a light "heh," and shook his head.

"This old thing, like a dog's nose, slips away as soon as he sees something wrong."

Su Zhou's expression was as usual, without answering; the court knew that the relationship between this Minister of Rites, Tang Ziang, and his father was extraordinary, and they were old friends for many years.

The old man looked up at the sun in the sky, his voice slightly low: "Have the people from the academy arrived?"

In the crowd, a Confucian scholar walked out respectfully and bowed: "Report to the Prime Minister, the Third Master of the academy should have already set off at this moment."

The old man nodded gently: "He has always been a punctual person."

Everyone knew in their hearts that this "he" refers to the famous Third Master in the academy.

In previous years, no one in the Great Qi court knew about the sensational "Three-Four Dispute."

The academy broke up because of this, the Fourth Master joined the court, while the Third Master imprisoned himself in the academy and never took a step out.

The old man wrapped his robe gently and walked down the steps slowly.

"Let's go, don't delay the auspicious time."

Everyone bowed and saluted, watching the old man step into the carriage at the front.

With a whip of the horse.

"Drive—".

The carriage moved slowly, driving forward along the ancient bluestone road.

After the carriage went far away, everyone breathed a long sigh of relief, and the tense atmosphere dissipated.

On the Su family side, the family members either supported their waists or twisted their bodies, pressing their necks with their hands, really standing a bit tired, and began to chatter and laugh.

Everyone boarded the carriage one after another, preparing to set off.

Chen Jiuyan was not in a hurry, after all, there were enough carriages, and in Above Bianjing, who would dare to block the Su family's motorcade?

She pondered secretly, wondering if she could see that Xie family concubine's son today.

Su Yun sounded in the crowd: "Qiongyan, come here."

Chen Jiuyan heard this, smiled slightly, and stepped forward.

～

Zhao family, as one of the nine great surnames.

Today, they went to the Qunfang Banquet with the Zhuge and Zhang families.

At this moment, at the entrance of Zhao Fu.

The elders of the Zhao and Zhang families had already boarded the carriage and went to the banquet place in a mighty manner.

Only the juniors of the three families and the late-arriving Zhuge family were left to board the carriage one after another.

Mentioning the Zhuge family, the current Empress Dowager and even the Empress all come from the Zhuge sect, and their power is so huge that it can be seen.

There are even rumors that the Empress Dowager of that year was the confidante of the Su Xiang, accompanying him in reading, with deep friendship.

In this way, the status of the Zhuge family is even higher, stronger than the Zhao family.

Among the family members of the Zhao family!

A young master looked up and looked into the distance; he had a thin figure like firewood, wore brocade clothes and jade belts, hung four or five sachets around his waist, had a donkey face, had powder on his face, and his cheeks were slightly sunken.

It was Zhao Yang of the Zhao family who was on good terms with Xie Renfeng in the Hongjing Courtyard of Xie Fu and asked for Sister Wu Tong.

At this time!

Zhao Yang's gaze shuttled through the crowd and finally settled on the handsome middle-aged man beside the Zhuge family's carriage.

I saw this man with a slender figure, wearing a snow-white robe, wearing a jade crown, and his appearance was even more delicate and beautiful than a woman.

Especially the cinnabar point in the center of his forehead was like the finishing touch, making him bright and moving, as if he had walked out of a painting.

However!

Between his eyebrows like a painting, there was a bit of heroic spirit, and the Adam's apple on his slender neck moved slightly, allowing people to clearly distinguish that he was a man.

A man with a woman's appearance!

Most of the women of the three families were full of "longing and admiration" for him.

Zhao Yang's eyes were also full of obsession.

"It's really too beautiful, if only it were a spring night..."

At this time, an old man with a broken gong voice suddenly said:

"Young Master Yang, please be careful with your words. The Primordial Spirit cultivator's ears and eyes are sharp..."

Zhao Yang heard this and barely restrained his expression, but his gaze was still tightly fixed on the carriage that was gradually moving away.

After the carriage completely disappeared from sight, he continued softly:

"Ziqing is truly a beauty in the world, every time I see him, I can't help but—"

Zhao Yang's breathing was a bit rapid, his eyes were full of heat, he carefully took out a sweat towel from his arms, held it with both hands and placed it between his mouth and nose, greedily sucking, as if some kind of aura remained on it.

This is the sweat towel used by Zhuge Ziqing.

The old man behind Zhao Yang wore a fur hat, had a strange big nose, and was born ugly.

It was Zhao Yang's personal attendant Shen Kuan, who accompanied Zhao Yang to the Hongjing Courtyard that day.

Shen Kuan shook his head; he really couldn't understand Zhao Yang's extreme "admiration" for Zhuge Ziqing.

Although Zhuge Ziqing was born more beautiful than a woman, he was a man after all, and he really couldn't get interested.

Of course!

In Above Bianjing, men applying powder, loving appearance, and liking the male style is also a common thing, and it has long become a trend.

Zhuge Ziqing, the direct son of the Zhuge family's first branch of the nine great surnames, the nephew of the current Empress Dowager.

The top scholar in the imperial examination of the 20th year of the Yuan Emperor, once studied and cultivated in the academy, and now serves as the Minister of the Dali Temple; at less than thirty years old, he is already a high-ranking official of the third rank, in charge of reviewing the world's memorials and detailing suspicious cases.

The first physiognomist of the Great Qi that year, said to come from the Sanzhen Sect, saw the six-year-old Zhuge Ziqing for the first time and made a firm judgment.

"A man with a woman's appearance, noble beyond words."

Of course, there were also storms; the most noble person in the world belongs to the emperor on the dragon chair!

The Zhuge family has already had two empresses, and the Zhuge family in the court also holds the military power of the Left Imperial Guards in the capital, and most of the officials in the court are people of great power.

It belongs to the true "powerful" relatives.

It's just that the Su Xiang in the court also has to "lie down" in front of the relatives.

However, the sentence "noble beyond words" broke the Zhuge family's thoughts.

The Great Qi has existed for more than thirty dynasties and has cultivated scholars for nearly a thousand years, with a deep foundation that cannot be shaken overnight.

This Zhuge Ziqing is actually of the same generation as Zhao Yang's father.

Although Zhao Yang also loves women, he was obsessed after seeing Zhuge Ziqing.

Shen Kuan just sighed, the Dao of Heaven is unfair!

This Zhuge Ziqing, except for his background and extraordinary appearance.

His talent in Primordial Spirit cultivation is also extremely high, and he ignited the Spirit Fire at a young age.

Thinking of this!

Shen Kuan recalled his three months of suffering in the "Primordial Spirit," and the resentment in his chest was like fire burning.

Three months ago, he went to Xie Fu with Zhao Yang; he originally thought there was a beauty to enjoy, but he didn't expect to cause trouble.

The main soul in the "Soul Banner" was destroyed, and he was slapped by the surging lake water in the pavilion and passed out on the spot.

Fortunately, he was taken home by Zhao Yang and invited a cultivator to diagnose and treat him, but he spent all his savings over the years.

However!

What hurts him the most is that the soul banner he is proud of has lost its main soul, and its power is greatly reduced.

This kind of Yin Spirit treasure is extremely difficult to repair. He has bought dozens of "cheap lives" of disaster victims in the black market of Above Bianjing in the past few days to devour their living souls.

For the soul banner, it can only be said to be a "drop in the bucket," and it must be the soul of a cultivator.

It is truly hateful!

That lake water in the Hongjing Courtyard is very strange, and he will never go there again.

Shen Kuan also dare not look for trouble with the Xie family.

All this!

Shen Kuan gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

It's all to blame for that Xie family concubine's son; you shouldn't have done it, you should have fulfilled the old man.

For the past three months, the Xie family's concubine's son, Xie Guan, has become Zhao Yang's inner demon, lingering day and night, unable to get rid of. For a cultivator, an inner demon is the most taboo existence; it may erode the mind, affect cultivation, and even trigger qi deviation.

And the best way to eliminate an inner demon is to kill the person who made you have an obsession.

Zhao Yang came back to his senses, put the sweat towel back in his arms, and his eyes fell on the angry face of the old man Shen Kuan, and he already understood why Shen Kuan was angry.

Shen Kuan's hatred for Xie Guan had reached the point of being engraved in his bones.

"Shen Lao, haven't you been guarding near Xie Fu these past few days? Haven't you found a chance to make a move?"

Shen Kuan replied gloomily: "That Xie Guan has been hiding in the residence and not coming out; otherwise, I would have lit him up like a lamp long ago, and then practiced him into the soul banner, making him unable to ask for life or death."

Zhao Yang naturally knew that if Shen Kuan rashly broke into Xie Fu and captured Xie Guan, it would be equivalent to being completely at odds with the Xie family, equivalent to hitting a stone with an egg.

There are many experts in Xie Fu, not to mention that Xie Hong has returned to the residence now; if Shen Kuan stepped into Xie Fu, he would only die.

"I heard from Cousin Renfeng that he also wants to make a move on Xie Guan at the Qunfang Banquet; why don't you cooperate?"

Shen Kuan was stunned when he heard this, and a doubt arose in his heart. Aren't Xie Renfeng and Xie Guan blood relatives?

Why does Xie Renfeng hate this cousin so much?

However, Shen Kuan soon felt relieved; it's not like he hasn't heard of the Xie family's infighting; for power and profit, brothers turning against each other happens often.

"Qunfang Banquet..."

Shen Kuan muttered to himself, a ruthless look flashing in his eyes.

Perhaps, this is really a good opportunity to get rid of Xie Guan.

But!

People from the Xie family will also be present at the Qunfang Banquet; how can Xie Guan be killed like this?

"Shen Lao, you don't have to worry,"

"Cousin Renfeng has already invited a killer from the Blood Moon Hall; he will find a way to divert the Xie family's people on the Nai Bridge on the way to the Qunfang Banquet."

"A concubine's son of the Xie family dying is just dying, and there won't be any waves in Xie Fu."

"Shen Lao, if you want to kill him with your own hands, you can also do it here."

Shen Kuan's eyes froze when he heard this.

Blood Moon Hall, that is the most brutal killer organization in the Above Bianjing black market; they cultivate orphans who were selected since childhood.

As long as the price is right, they even dare to make a move on the teachers of the academy.

They act cautiously and will collect half of the deposit before making a move; if the assassination fails, the deposit will be fully refunded.

What is even more commendable is that they have never betrayed their employers.

Shen Kuan's ugly old face revealed a ferocious smile: "It seems that Xie Guan is dead this time."

He said coldly: "However, I want to kill him with my own hands and peel his skin."

Zhao Yang asked with interest: "What about his maid? Do you still want her, Shen Lao?"

Shen Kuan shook his head, a cruel light flashing in his eyes:

"I only want Xie Guan's life. As for his maid, I will take her to Xie Guan's soul afterwards and use a corpse puppet to humiliate her to death alive."

The old man's words were full of cruelty and pleasure, as if he had already seen the scene of Xie Guan and his maid dying miserably.

Zhao Yang didn't care and boarded the Zhao family's carriage.

His eyes were looking forward to seeing Zhuge Ziqing again at the Qunfang Banquet.

Shen Kuan did not follow into the carriage but gradually disappeared into the crowd.

～

【You followed Xie Yuan to the entrance of Xie Fu, only to see that many people had already gathered there.】

【Today, the main gate of the Xie family is wide open, which is not common among famous families.】

【Usually, the main gate is only opened when welcoming important guests in officialdom or business.】

【And today, prominent families like the Li family and Sima family are coming here, so naturally, the Xie family did not neglect them and opened the residence gate to show respect.】

【You saw several Xie family wives, young masters, and young ladies in the crowd whom you had never seen before; they were all carefully dressed, each one radiant.】

【At the year-end Qunfang Banquet, both juniors and elders had expectant expressions on their faces.】

【Women are happy to be able to accompany their best friends from the other nine great surnames at the gathering and see the handsome and talented teachers of the academy.】

【Men mostly want to see the courtesan and like the excitement.】

【You were not in a hurry, just quietly following behind Xie Yuan.】

【The juniors who were familiar with each other also gathered together, as if huddling together.】

【"Xie Yuan, you are so stupid, we are here."】

【A familiar female voice shouted.】

【You looked up and saw several people gathered beside a luxurious carriage at the entrance, seemingly the "focus" of the surroundings; many disciples of the Xie family, Li family, and Sima family nearby were quietly paying attention here.】

【(End of chapter)】