Chapter 129

Li Fu.

It was long past midnight, yet the main courtyard still glowed with lantern light.

Li Gongpu sat in a room with bare walls, no longer caring about the antique paintings and artifacts he had collected for years.

His guest, Du Mushan, stood beside the Luo Han bed, frowning as he asked:

"Lord Li, are you certain the Emperor…"

Li Gongpu sighed softly: "Today in the Linde Hall, I saw the Emperor cough up blood myself. The Crown Prince's expression… ah, if he goes quickly, he may not survive this winter."

"Why hasn't this spread through the capital?"

"It's already a time of turmoil—such news cannot be allowed to stir up panic."

Li Gongpu had intended to admire the paintings the Emperor had gifted him, but discovered they had been stolen by the Thief Saint—now he didn't know who was defiling them, and with renewed anguish, he tore his gaze away:

"The Emperor always confided in me, yet he didn't even tell me this—clearly, he fears I, his old servant, might take desperate action. But this desperate gamble, I must take."

Du Mushan felt that with this step, Li Fu was mere steps away from being seized and confiscated.

Though the mysterious "Thief Saint" had already raided them once, at least they still had their heads.

Next time they come to ransack, not even the maidservants will remain!

Du Mushan rubbed his fingers: "Besides reading, practicing calligraphy, and studying military strategy, I've never heard of the Crown Prince having any other hobbies."

Li Gongpu shook his head:

"No one is without desires—only the Crown Prince's status is so delicate, he dares not reveal them, fearing to displease the Emperor.

"I recall when the Crown Prince was four, Ruizhou sent a 'Zi Ting Que' as tribute—he adored it, but the Emperor feared indulgence would dull his mind and refused to grant it.

"Lately, his paintings have mostly been flowers and birds. Last year, Prince Zhao De somehow acquired a parrot that could curse, brought it to the Crown Prince's residence to show off—the Crown Prince played with it for two days, but when the Emperor found out, he scolded him twice…"

Du Mushan nodded thoughtfully: "The Crown Prince enjoys watching birds?"

Li Gongpu nodded: "Very much—yet he dares not keep one."

"Then shall I seek out a viewing bird? Xie Jinhuan's eagle is quite spirited, but he certainly won't sell it…"

Li Gongpu waved his hand: "That fat bird—I saw it today. Its feathers are fine, but its body is too large and clumsy—not a true specimen. To move the Crown Prince's heart, we must get the very 'Zi Ting Que' he never received at age four.

"People always crave what they cannot have, especially those who, since childhood, were denied something and have long suppressed their nature—once given a chance to reclaim it, even the most rational will lose their head."

Du Mushan thought that when it came to flattering and winning favor, Li Gongpu was unmatched, and after a moment's thought, said:

"The Zi Ting Que is already a rare auspicious beast fit for tribute—impossible to find on the open market. We…"

"The abbot of Xuanhu Guan, Li Chi, is also of my clan, five hundred years back. He, too, loves flowers and birds—and owns one."

Xuanhu Guan was one of the three great houses of the Danding Sect, and Du Mushan's face darkened:

"Abbot Li probably has little interest in worldly silver…"

"Let him name his price—suffer a loss now, no matter. Once the Crown Prince ascends, we'll recover it tenfold."

"Understood…"

…

——

The Imperial City.

Past midnight, the Emperor should have long been abed—but in a palace hall now, faint lantern light still glowed.

Cao Fuer, clad in a red robe, stood beside the steps beneath the dragon throne, holding a palace lantern; his perpetually smiling, plump face now bore traces of worry.

The aging Emperor of Gan, draped in his dragon robe, held a jade-inlaid sword and said:

"Back then, the Second Prince, full of triumph, donned the dragon robe at night, pretending to be Emperor here first.

"I, you, Ye Shirong, Xu Pingzhi—we were a dozen or so, disguised as eunuchs, sneaking here. It was perilous.

"You took seven slashes, clutching the man without letting go; Ye Shirong was speared through the belly, yet still shoved the spear outward…

"I chased the Second Prince with this sword, running a full circle through this hall before I severed his head—and then I rested right here on these steps.

"Then Lu Wu Zhen 'heard the news' and arrived—just one slap, and he slew every traitor."

…

Cao Fuer stood before him, his eyes filled with melancholy:

"Princely succession is a family matter—Lu Wu Zhen's interference was taboo, but appearing only after delivering the final blow was understandable."

The Emperor examined the sword in his hand and continued:

"I entrusted Ye Shirong to guard me as a death knight—I never failed him. Why, then, did he become so foolish as to join the demon sect?"

Cao Fuer had just heard the news and was deeply surprised; after careful thought, he said:

"Perhaps Ye Shirong's injuries shattered his martial foundation, so in desperation, he fell into error."

The Emperor hoped so—but the truth was clearly more complex:

"Ye Shirong interacted with many people. If the demon sect recruited him, he must have acted over these years.

"The seed the Mingshen Sect planted in Jingcheng may have slowly infiltrated through Ye Shirong's connections.

"I may not last many more years. Before Zhao Jinghuan ascends, this man must be unearthed."

Cao Fuer thought a moment and said:

"This man hides too deeply—he's likely of high rank and spotless reputation, someone no minister would ever suspect of being involved.

"The Imperial Astronomical Bureau and the Chilin Guard are searching, even the Dan Wang is secretly investigating—but until today, not a single clue has surfaced…"

The Emperor rose and tossed Ye Shirong's imperial-gifted sword to Cao Fuer:

"If they can't find him, let someone who can find him. Order Princess Changning: if Xie Jinhuan uncovers the man behind Ye Shirong, I shall enfeoff him as a Marquis."

Cao Fuer followed behind, pondering slightly:

"With Xie Jinhuan's abilities, uncovering the mastermind won't be hard—he'll surely earn monumental merit. Starting with a marquisate, next year he may well receive the Nine Bestowments."

The Nine Bestowments…

The Qian Emperor thought that made sense, and changed his words: "If you can find the person behind the scenes, you'll be made a Viscount; if you can eliminate the person behind the scenes, you'll be made an Earl."

Cao Fo'er felt this was reasonable, said no more, and escorted the Qian Emperor toward the sleeping palace.

The Qian Emperor glanced back at the dragon throne, walked a few steps, then said to Cao Fo'er, who had grown up with him since childhood:

"This chair is actually not easy to sit on. If it weren't for the second brother trying to kill all his brothers, I truly wouldn't want to take over this mess."

"If it were easy to sit on, how would emperors call themselves 'the lonely one'? Still, Your Majesty has done very well."

"Heh, when did you start picking up Li Gongpu's habits…"

……

——

The next day.

Autumn brought much overcast rain; before he could fully wake, a faint "shhh~" sounded again outside the window.

Xie Jinhuan silently opened his eyes and took a deep breath, only for a rich, heart-penetrating feminine fragrance to drift in from beside his pillow…

Forced to take a top-tier deep breath, he felt that the shell of a body which had been violently sat on and squeezed by the great Seeing Bing Tuozi last night instantly revived.

Turning his head, he saw the breathtakingly beautiful bespectacled girl, hugging her arms, lying on her side at the edge of the bed, sleeping sweetly in her clothes, her lashes trembling slightly—who knew what spring boudoir dreams she was having.

Last night's exertion really had been too great; Xie Jinhuan paused for a moment before recalling that last night he'd run over and bumped into little Zisu, who had given him a "Domineering Aura Leakage Pill," after which Wanyi had helped him lie down and wiped his face, and somehow he'd fallen asleep…

Seeing Wanyi sleeping so soundly, Xie Jinhuan didn't wake her. He quietly turned over and got out of bed, changed into the robe Wanyi had prepared, hung the Tiangang Mace and Zhenglun Sword at his waist, tidied himself up, then lowered his head and gave the big kitty-cat face a kiss.

"Phew~…"

As it turned out, Wanyi had learned quite fast—even half-asleep, she still knew to part her red lips slightly and let him in…

?

Seeing this, Xie Jinhuan certainly wasn't going to be polite. He carefully tasted the rouge-red, kneaded the little bowls, then got up with lingering reluctance, and quietly vanished into the misty autumn rain from the window.

Not long after, outside the streets of Lin Fu.

"Baozi, wontons…"

"Hear that? Xie Jinhuan, the great hero Xie, chopped Ye Shirong to bits yesterday—smashed to pieces…"

"Why would Great Hero Xie chop Ye Shirong?"

"They say Ye Shirong was the Saint of Thieves who looted Li Fu clean. Over thirty male concubines abducted from Li Fu were found under the house—all of them male…"

"Whoa—!"

……

???

Xie Jinhuan sat down at the wonton stall, and hearing the street loafers' wild talk, was utterly bewildered.

But that was just how street rumors went, so he didn't pay it any mind.

After eating three or four bowls of chicken-soup wontons, his stomach—tired from a night of exertion—was still not full, when a horse carriage appeared at the gate of Lin Fu, with guard Jia Zheng waiting at the door.

Then the still-charming Lady Lin came out, leading the delicately lovely Miss Zisu, still giving instructions along the way:

"When you go shopping with Miss Wang and the others, you must be careful about safety. Besides, you're not young anymore—watch out for those young masters with nothing but mischief in their bellies…"

"Grandma, you're overthinking this. Any man who's heard my name gives me a wide berth when we meet; if I so much as look at them, they start wondering if I've drugged them; and if I smile mysteriously, that's it—they turn tail and run for some deserted spot, afraid of losing face in public…"

"Sigh, you've grown up now. Just like your little aunt, breathtakingly beautiful—there will always be a few death-defying rascals in this world…"

……

Hearing this, Xie Jinhuan stood up and adjusted his collar.

As for why Zisu called Wanyi "little aunt" but called Lady Lin "grandma," Xie Jinhuan had asked the reason in his spare time.

Zisu had originally been the daughter of Old Man Lin's friend. By the age of three or four, she had already shown a startling talent for compounding medicines that made people's eyes go dark. Old Man Lin, who had no sons of his own, took a fancy to her and adopted her to carry on his legacy. Because Old Man Lin was already advanced in years, his original intention was to wait until Wanyi was fifteen or sixteen, take in a son-in-law, and then have her take over; in reality, the two had no blood relation—"little aunt" actually meant "auntie."

But because of the Wu Sect, Wanyi had kept putting off matters of marriage all the way until now, and the form of address had become hard to change…

In the end, Wanyi had given herself to him cheaply…

Xie Jinhuan held an umbrella and waited by the street for a moment. As the carriage approached, he struck the air of someone out for a stroll and walked toward it, calling out from afar:

"Jia Zheng, heading out?"

"Eh? Young Xie Da?"

Jia Zheng hurriedly stepped down from the carriage and bowed with cupped fists.

Lin Zisu also poked her lively little face out of the carriage window:

"Young Xie Da, are you here to see little aunt?"

"Yes."

Xie Jinhuan, as if he had just come from Wang Fu, paused outside the carriage:

"I have a friend from the jianghu who's not feeling well. I came by to ask a few questions."

Jia Zheng frowned: "Oh dear, then Young Xie Da should hurry and find the master or the lady, or the young mistress would do too—just don't go looking for the young lady…"

"Ahem!"

Lin Zisu coughed lightly twice, warning Jia Zheng not to delay her great mission of healing the world, then looked at Xie Jinhuan and said with a smile:

"What illness? Little aunt only knows women's and children's ailments—she may not necessarily be able to treat difficult and complicated cases."

Xie Jinhuan had come specifically to consult the great immortal Zisu, so he walked beside the carriage window and asked:

"The Immortal-Burning Gu of Queyue Mountain Manor—does Miss Zisu know of it?"

"Immortal-Burning Gu?"

Lin Zisu, born into a medical family and herself astonishingly gifted, had heard of this strange poison from the Gu Du Pai that was famous throughout the cultivation world. She now leaned on the window and thought seriously:

"The Immortal-Burning Gu's effects are quite special. It uses the victim's own qi as a catalyst—the stronger the victim, the stronger it gets. Only the person who planted the gu can remove it without harm. But I happen to have a 'Yin-Yin Yang Guai Qi Powder,' which should be able to temporarily alleviate the toxicity."

Yin-Yin Yang Guai Qi Powder…

Xie Jinhuan blinked, his head full of question marks:

"What is this thing?"

Lin Zisu rummaged in the carriage, pulled out a small medicine box, and after opening it revealed two rows of tiny porcelain vials; she took one out:

"Well, if one is poisoned by this drug, the qi within the body will become chaotically yin and yang; a normal cultivator would suffer a qi deviation.

"But if the cultivator's own qi is pure yang and they are also struck by the Immortal-Burning Gu, then according to medicinal principles, the pure yang qi will weaken, the toxicity will also weaken, and the portion of pure yin qi generated in the conversion can counteract the yang poison of the Immortal-Burning Gu.

"The price, however, is internal qi consumption; one's cultivation will inevitably drop by half a rank to one rank, and it only lasts for an hour or two—it is no long-term solution."

Oh, yin-yang sarcasm in the literal sense...

Xie Jinhuan held the medicine vial and examined it closely, thinking this thing should be able to save Seeing Bing Tuozi in an emergency; he pondered and then shifted his gaze back into the small box—Smiling-Always Powder, Full-and-Bored Pill, Stuck-Together Powder...

Most of them were famous throughout the land!

Xie Jinhuan's expression grew solemn as he picked up one of the vials:

"This Stuck-Together Powder is..."

Lin Zisu blinked her eyes and secretly urged him on:

"This one makes people unable to resist hugging the person beside them; the price is that once hugged, they won't let go. It is very powerful. Young Xie Da, why not take it and try it?"

Xie Jinhuan was quite curious about these whimsical medicines; he placed the vial back into the box:

"These medicines, Miss Zisu, do you sell them?"

Lin Zisu declared boldly: "These things, no one would dare to eat even if given as a gift; I only keep them to show off to my classmates from the Imperial Medicine Bureau. If Young Xie Da likes them, take them."

How could Xie Jinhuan feel right about taking the Great Immortal Zisu's things for free? He immediately took out the silver notes donated by Ye Shirong and stuffed them into Zisu's hands as pocket money...

——

Begging for monthly tickets or2!

(End of this chapter)