Chapter 451: The world is already in chaos, a month in the blink of an eye, total annihilation, shocking

【You just smiled and said, "Miss Lady Gongsun, isn't it good to be alone?"】

【Lady Gongsun Niangzi's eyes rippled, "It's just that I haven't met a man who makes my heart beat for many years."】

【"Which woman in the world doesn't yearn for spring, admiring the young and beautiful!"】

【At parting, she suddenly looked serious, "Prince Yan is not an easy person to deal with, Young Master is a gentleman... please be sure to be careful and treasure yourself."】

【When she was in the Purple Xiao Pavilion, Prince Yan was her biggest gold master, she understood his character!】

【You watched the woman's crimson figure go far away, once out of this Above Bianjing, the world is vast, from now on the mountains are high and the roads are long, it is difficult to meet again.】

【The days remained peaceful as usual!】

【Sister Wu Tong always felt that a sense of oppression like a mountain rain coming was permeating the Xie Fu.】

【You instructed Sister Wu Tong not to go out if there was no need, if she went out, let Madam Ruan accompany her.】

【Sister Wu Tong changed Madam Ruan into clothes and put on a bamboo hat, looking like a young girl.】

【Madam Ruan's skills were all in water beasts, but she was also a cultivator who had ignited divine fire, although her temperament was timid, her water-controlling technique had reached the peak. Ordinary clear water in a bowl in her hands could condense into sharp arrows that could pierce stones and walls, the power far exceeding Middle Three Realms cultivators.】

【The most rare thing is that her water-escape technique is powerful, if she encounters danger, taking Sister Wu Tong to escape through the waterways of Above Bianjing that extend in all directions is by no means a difficult task.】

【In the blink of an eye, a month passed, and Above Bianjing City was as prosperous and lively as ever on the surface.】

【It's just that Sister Wu Tong occasionally returned from the vegetable market, always bringing back some unusual news—the price of rice had quietly doubled several times, sometimes even having a price but no market.】

【The grain market of the nine great surnames opened in full swing under this situation.】

【This morning, the courtyard gate was knocked again.】

【The one who came was actually the group of Xue Huaian met at the Grand View Garden that day, besides him, Liu Zixin carried two courtesans, Mei Qingsu and Luo Su Su were also in the ranks. Everyone held brocade boxes and packages in their hands, clearly having prepared thick gifts to visit.】

【Just the identity of "Second Master's sword path successor" was worth them visiting specially.】

【You welcomed everyone into the courtyard with a smile, Luo Su Su's gaze moved slightly, looking around without a trace—a dignified Xie family descendant, actually living in such a cramped place?】

【Although she had heard that Xie Guan's situation in the clan was difficult, she didn't expect it to be so embarrassed. However, what surprised her even more was...】

【Although the courtyard was simple, it was spotless. What was even stranger was that from the gate to the corner of the wall, it was piled with gift boxes of various colors, some even piled high because there was nowhere to put them. Among them were many precious treasures.】

【What was even more surprising was that these priceless treasures were carelessly piled under the eaves by the owner, left to the wind and sun, as if they were just ordinary sundries.】

【Xue Huaian's gaze swept over the courtyard, originally speculating in his heart—Xie Guan might just be lucky to get the Second Master's favor, only then having today's status.】

【At this moment, it completely dissipated.】

【Looking at the owner of the humble room who was still calm and composed in such a situation, respect couldn't help but float in the bottom of his eyes.】

【A gentleman born humble is not the gentleman's fault!】

【After everyone chatted, it gradually turned to business!】

【Mei Qingsu played with the tea cup, "Recently, the grain transported from the Jiangnan Road to Above Bianjing, seven or eight out of ten ships were reduced."】

【He frowned, "If this continues, in less than a month, the granary of the Equilibrium Bureau will fear it will see the bottom."】

【The words were not finished, but everyone present already knew—if it really reached that step, the price of rice in Above Bianjing would fear it would be sky-high.】

【Xue Huaian said coldly, "The granaries of the nine great families should have been overflowing long ago, but they would rather let it mold inside than leak a grain of millet to relieve the disaster."】

【"It looks like they are deliberately waiting to see the common people crying from hunger and cold."】

【Xue Huaian sighed, "In the past, Master Shi spoke of the way of governing the country, enriching the people as the beginning, now..."】

【"The vermilion gates are actually fighting for chaff with the starving people, they are robbers!"】

【"In the vermilion gates and embroidered houses of Above Bianjing City, the Confucian way has long been cooked into eight treasures and jade food."】

【Mei Qingsu reminded, "Second Young Master, please be careful with your words."】

【Xue Huaian understood, but instead raised his voice: "Why? If Prime Minister Su had just entered the court, I would naturally dare to say that the world is clear... even if it were held to my neck, I would dare to say he is a prime minister through the ages."】

【His tone carried a bit more excitement, "But look at now, people will change, the one who played chess in the humble alley back then..."】

【"What have the nine great surnames become, high-gate nobles..."】

【The teacup reflected a look of mockery in his eyes: "The Nine Great Surnames? What kind of noble clans are they? They are nothing but a group of..."】

【His voice stopped abruptly, as if he were speaking of something that weighed heavily on his heart, "Young Master Guan, do you have any strong liquor?"】

【On the side, the woman Zhou Zhirou bowed slightly and opened her mouth, "Young Master Xue has been tired these days, please forgive him, Young Master."】

【You smiled, "Brother Xue is a true temperament, Sister Wu Tong, bring that jar of Bamboo Leaf Green."】

【Luo Su Su and others were already used to the style of this Second Young Master of the Xue family—clearly born in a family of bells and cauldrons, but born with a liver and gallbladder that worries about the country and the people.】

【Among these vermilion gates and embroidered houses, he is truly an out-of-place alien.】

【Xue Huai'an tilted his head and drained the wine in his cup, his Adam's apple bobbing as some wine splashed out: "Of all things, a scholar is the most useless... that is why I entered the Hanlin Academy but was unwilling to take up a post."】

【After a cup of wine... two cups of wine, perhaps it was because he had been wandering in Above Bianjing these days, his heart was bitter, and the wine entered his sorrowful intestines.】

【"Xue Huaian is ashamed, ashamed... Prince Yan once said, why don't men carry Wu hooks, to collect the fifty states of the pass mountains."】

【"The Great Qi High Ancestor said, to open the peace of ten thousand generations, but... but I, Xue Huaian, am just a useless scholar who cannot bear the suffering of the common people, yet cannot save the common people!"】

【Liu Zixin held her forehead and looked at this Second Young Master of the Xue family, raising his cup to the blue sky and white sun in the small courtyard, his face drunk and red, sighing one after another, a bit like a drunkard in the market!】

【She felt a bit ashamed... face!】

【The opposite is the Young Master Guan, whose finger joints holding the cup are like jade, even the folds of his clothes are as neat as a fine brush drawing, his face like a spring breeze.】

【Comparing the two, a difference of clouds and mud.】

【Xue Huaian suddenly leaned forward, his drunken eyes burning as if burning with fire: "Young Master Guan, if it were you—residing in the height of the temple, holding the power to turn the world around, what would you do?"】

【Your hand holding the cup paused slightly, saying slowly, "Not having climbed to the peak, how can one know the wind and cold at the high place?"】

【"Naturally don't know!"】

【Mei Qingsu's gaze flashed. Although this Young Master Guan is gentle as jade, kind to others, he always seems to be separated by a layer of fog when talking and laughing, not revealing his heart, making people unable to figure out his depth.】

【Mei Qingsu suddenly changed the subject: "Speaking of this, Young Master Guan, when do you think the chaos of the Jiangnan rebel army will be clear?"】

【He smiled, "Always hoping for peace in the world sooner, so that we businessmen can open up and do business."】

【The breeze skimmed the Sister Wu Tong in front of the courtyard, in the rustling leaves,】

【You were silent for a moment: "Perhaps. This world will be difficult to have true peace again."】

【"Above Bianjing will not be a paradise either!"】

【Mei Qingsu frowned: "Is the Young Master saying that the Red-Eyed Army can become a climate? But the Marquis of Dingyuan has surrounded the remnants for half a month..."】

【Luo Su Su also said, "The rebel army's grain road was cut off long ago, and looking at their marching and formation, although there is a method, it is originally a mob, simply not daring to fight head-on, only fleeing, now it is even more retreat-less!"】

【You looked at the tea leaves floating and sinking in the cup, saying softly: "When the moon is full, it wanes, when the water is full, it overflows. This principle is the same everywhere, Great Qi has been founded for a thousand years."】

【Xue Huaian was sober for a few points, "But Above Bianjing has the Shocking God Array set up by the Master himself? Ten thousand armies are hard to break!"】

【You suddenly laughed, "Sometimes... the strongest city wall is often not broken from the outside."】

【Mei Qingsu agreed with this sentence, if it weren't for the disintegration of the four masters of the Academy, how could there be the rise of Great Sui, able to compete with it.】

【But for the disaster of Above Bianjing, he did not agree, the Academy is still in Above Bianjing, Prime Minister Su and the nine great surnames are all entrenched in Above Bianjing.】

【A small rebel army in Jiangnan Road, how is it possible?】

【Xue Huaian was also like a play, "Although Prime Minister Su has been a bit... recently, he is a person who plays chess first in the world."】

【"How many strategies in the world are in his hands, even the current nine great surnames, the Zhuge family is a relative, the Imperial Chen family, the Li family holding the army, the Zhao family, all can only rely on his nose, which one dares to speak loudly under the Prime Minister's gate!"】

【A person known as calculating the world, how could he make a mistake.】

【Luo Su Su mentioned one thing, "The dart master who came from the north the day before yesterday said that the two pillar generals of the Li family are leading the Mobei Army south, and will pass through Above Bianjing in a few days. If this iron cavalry is invested in suppressing the rebellion, the Red-Eyed Army is afraid..."】

【The Jinxiu Building is the largest dart bureau in the capital, coming and going north and south, for the news of the north, it is not inferior to the eyes and ears in the court.】

【You lowered your eyes and did not speak, letting the tea smoke blur your expression.】

【Xue Huaian was puzzled, "If the Mobei Army leaves the north, are they not guarding the Eternal Heaven?"】

【"Absurd, those Tatars have long been eyeing the Central Plains, this won't do, Great Qi had a High Ancestor system established at the founding, the north cannot be lost, what are these cabinet ministers doing?"】

【Mei Qingsu said, "Second Young Master, please be calm." Turning to look at you meaningfully, "Young Master Guan thinks... what is the mystery in this?"】

【You thought about it and said, "To make the court willing to withdraw the northern barrier... I fear that over at the Eternal Heaven, it is also in chaos."】

【"Things related to the Eternal Heaven should be the death of that Great Khan, He Lan Zhenshu is so anxious to return to the Eternal Heaven, it is because that ambitious A-Lu-Mu is already sick in the Golden Tent, and his life is not long."】

【Mei Qingsu's eyes flashed with brilliance: "Young Master Guan is truly as clear as fire. That ambitious eagle who unified the grassland actually died in the Golden Tent long ago. The Great E-Shi secretly did not announce the death, wanting to change the will to let the second son inherit."】

【"The matter was exposed, so the process in between doesn't need to be said, in the end, the Eternal Heaven fell into chaos, and is currently staging a drama of brothers fighting in the wall, long ago having no time to care about Great Qi."】

【Northern grassland nomads generally have the youngest son guarding the stove, the older ones separate and live alone after marriage, parents living with the last youngest son.】

【He Lan Zhenshu actually has no right of inheritance, but because his mother was born in a large tribe, he had the name of Crown Prince.】

【Xue Huaian said, "This can be considered a good thing for Great Qi, otherwise they would watch the fire from the other side and reap the benefits of the fisherman."】

【"If Great Sui also falls into chaos, that would be truly satisfying."】

【Mei Qingsu rubbed the cup rim with his fingertips, revealing a smile: "Second Young Master's words, hit the mark a bit."】

【As the Giant Whale Gang Leader who controls the water transport, his business route connecting to Great Sui in the west has always been the most well-informed vein.】

【The Giant Whale Gang is the largest canal gang in water management, connecting the east and the west, especially the Great Sui to the west.】

【Xue Huaian was puzzled, "Great Sui has no internal chaos, Great Qi has the Confucian Academy, Great Sui has the Daoist Three Truths Sect? How can it fall into chaos!"】

【This time Mei Qingsu did not sell the pass.】

【"Second Young Master, you also said, Great Qi has the Academy, who is in charge of Great Qi today? Great Sui has Mount Zhongnan, who is in charge?"】

【Your eyes sank, as if thinking of something!】

【Mei Qingsu said, "Three days ago, the Sui Holy Emperor ascended Mount Zhongnan in the name of praying for blessings, but five thousand black-armored troops secretly surrounded this Daoist immortal mountain."】

【He suddenly laughed lightly, "What's interesting is, that Sect Master True Person seemed to know beforehand, long ago having ten thousand Dao soldiers ambushed in..."】

【"Now the sixteen provinces of Great Sui are filled with smoke of war," Mei Qingsu tapped the table with his fingertips, "The Liu Imperial Family is facing the Three Truths Daoist tradition that has been passed down for three thousand years—it is much more troublesome than the Red-Eyed Army in Jiangnan Road."】

【Xue Huaian's wine cup tilted, "Such a big event, why didn't Master Mei say it earlier?"】

【Mei Qingsu's gaze swept over the two women, Liu Zixin, who were boiling tea, smiling but not smiling: "Second Young Master has been busy redeeming beauties and buying houses recently, rarely even returning to the Xue Mansion..."】

【"I didn't dare to disturb the Young Master's interest!"】

【Xue Huaian's ears turned red. Remembering the running between the Purple Xiao Pavilion and the tooth firm these few days, he didn't even have time to ask about the court's wind and clouds.】

【He sighed trance-like: "The neon clothes and feather garments at the Flower Banquet are still before my eyes, how in the blink of an eye... the world has fallen into the flames of war."】

【A few people chatted again, and it was already afternoon.】

【Luo Su Su originally wanted to ask for advice on sword moves, but in the end, she didn't speak.】

【It wasn't that she was afraid of losing, but that she was afraid her recent progress was insufficient, making you look down on her.】

【A few people said goodbye and left!】

【The small courtyard returned to tranquility.】

【You closed your eyes and focused on continuing your cultivation, projecting the eighth sword—that sword intent figure—from your Mud-Pill Palace.】

【The hard cultivation of these days finally saw results. When you took the lead in striking with the sword, you could already dismantle more than sixty moves with mind and spirit united, occasionally even touching that mysterious realm of "forgetting both sword and self."】

【If the sword intent struck first, you could only hold on for forty moves without being defeated.】

【When fighting against an enemy, the first opportunity is especially important!】

【Waiting for your mind and spirit to be exhausted, you slowly sheathed your sword. That chilling sword intent was like a tired bird returning to its nest, re-nourishing in the Mud-Pill Palace.】

【Turning to start operating the cycle, the true yuan in your body was like a great river surging, circulating back and forth between the extraordinary meridians.】

【When the twilight gathered, you took out the "Nourishing Jade Pill" that was as lustrous as jade from the brocade box.】

【After a month of conditioning the meridians for Sister Wu Tong, today it was finally a matter of course.】

【You said to Sister Wu Tong, "After taking it, hold your origin and guard the one, I will protect you."】

【Under the clear moonlight!】

【Sister Wu Tong obediently sat cross-legged in the courtyard and swallowed it, Sister Wu Tong's whole body gradually glowing with jade-colored light.】

【Madam Ruan was also familiar with the small courtyard, watching the two of you in the water vat while supporting her face.】

【You didn't teach her the Primordial Spirit cultivation method, you only had the "Yin Fu Canon" and "Yang Fu Canon" on hand, the former can only cultivate to the Seventh Realm, the latter is a pure Yang path, and it conflicts with the female physique.】

【When the morning light was faint, Sister Wu Tong suddenly trembled.】

【A hazy phantom emerged from her heavenly spirit, swaying like mist in the morning wind—it was the newly formed Primordial Spirit. She looked at her flesh body in astonishment, her fingertips passing through lightly, unable to touch.】

【You immediately pinched the formula to set up a restriction: "The Primordial Spirit is fragile, not to mention sunlight, rooster crowing, dog barking, even a light breeze can hurt the Primordial Spirit, you must be extra careful."】

【You saw Sister Wu Tong's Primordial Spirit hurriedly shrink back into her body, only then saying warmly: "In the future when I am not by your side, you must not easily leave the body."】

【Sister Wu Tong nodded obediently.】

【In the blink of an eye, time passed like a white horse passing a crack, another half month!】

【This day, you were comprehending the nine swords in the courtyard, when you suddenly heard successive exclamations from the Xie Fu.】

【Xie Yuan looked flustered, clutching a court gazette as he rushed in, shouting urgently: "Brother Guan, something has happened!"】

【"Father's ten thousand-strong army was completely annihilated in Yunyue Ze!"】

【His voice trembled, "It is said that the Red-Eyed Army feigned defeat, luring the official army deep into the swamp... just in time for the heavy rain and tide..."】

【Shocking crack!】

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 452 =====