Chapter 1393: All Thanks to This Blade

Although striking at the Donglin faction would benefit him, ordinarily speaking, he wouldn't want to offend so many people all at once, right…

Could it be… he intends to use this item as a threat, to force those ministers to cooperate with him?

That doesn't quite make sense either…

"Alright, Eunuch Wei, are you satisfied now? We have already shown the utmost sincerity in placating you, Eunuch. If you still refuse to cooperate, then you are simply being too unreasonable…" Li Zhao sneered. "Well, I see the hour is indeed late. Eunuch, tell this subordinate where the item is now, so as not to delay your own rest."

"Fine…!" Under Li Zhao's relentless urging, Wei Zhongxian finally made his decision. "All of these things are recorded in my mind. Go fetch paper and brush!"

"No written record?" Li Zhao studied Wei Zhongxian with some doubt, not quite believing him.

"Hmph, something this important, which I regard as my life-saving talisman, how would I dare leave it lying around carelessly?" Wei Zhongxian shook his head. "Don't think that just because I'm old, my memory is failing — it's still sharp as ever!"

"Heh…" After staring at Wei Zhongxian for a long while, Li Zhao finally laughed, accepting his explanation. "Eunuch, you are truly cautious beyond measure. Very well…"

He glanced around the room, and in the dim lamplight, spotted paper and brush laid out on a nearby table. "This humble one will fetch them for you, Eunuch. No… better yet, Eunuch, you dictate, and this humble one will write it down himself, sparing your eyes from strain at this hour…"

As he spoke, he walked toward the table.

Yet, at that very moment… the smile on Wei Zhongxian's face abruptly vanished.

"Qi Wang! Liu Songping! Come in!" He raised his head and shouted loudly.

Then, seizing the brief moment before Li Zhao could react, he shrank back directly and hid himself deeper inside the bed.

With all of Li Zhao's habitual cunning and slyness, how could he dare… how could he dare to follow Wang Zaijin and make himself an enemy of a vast host of court officials? Even if Wang Zaijin could emerge victorious in the court power struggle, would he really shield a mere Li Zhao from the retaliation coming from all sides?

Obviously, Li Zhao was lying. He must have been directed by someone else, and the fact that this person had refused to reveal themselves all along meant there was surely some hidden scheme — perhaps even a plan to silence him by murder.

With a lifetime of shrewdness, how could I be tricked by the cheap ploys of a petty scoundrel like you?

………………………………

"Qi Wang, Liu Songping! Come in!"

This sharp cry, like a needle piercing through brocade, instantly shattered the silence upstairs.

The uncle and nephew, who had been growing somewhat impatient standing guard outside, both jolted alert at once.

"Wang, stay outside — I'll handle him!" Liu Songping reacted the fastest, and without a moment's hesitation threw himself toward the door of the room. By the time Qi Wang had finished hearing those words, Liu Songping was already in mid-air.

"Bang!"

Under this heavy blow, the already loose and rickety door crashed down heavily, sending up a thunderous boom.

The splinters and dust that burst up formed a thin curtain, blurring everything inside the room for an instant.

Yet within that blur, Liu Songping's sharp eyes immediately spotted Li Zhao approaching the bed, and he lunged straight at him.

"Vile scoundrel!"

Having already reacted, Li Zhao abandoned his plan to settle accounts with that castrated dog Wei Zhongxian first, and directly drew his blade, sweeping it backward.

"Clang!" Amid the clash of metal, the impact force of Liu Songping pouncing from mid-air forced Li Zhao to stumble a step sideways before he could steady his footing.

Liu Songping also used the momentum to steady his own stance, guarding the front of the bed. Though he was not tall, he gave off an unshakable feeling, like a towering, immovable mountain.

As he fixed his gaze on Li Zhao, he slowly drew the Embroidered Spring Blade at his waist. In this moment, he moved with the swiftness of a startled hare, his eyes gleaming with sharp light — not a trace of his previous lazy, dull expression remained.

"Heh heh, heh heh." Li Zhao steadied his breathing and stared fixedly at Liu Songping. "I never imagined that among the hereditary ranks of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, there would be a talent like you. Not promoting you to Centurion truly does you a disservice. So, you dare to raise a hand against the Eastern Depot?"

"I am merely a broken man; what talk is there of doing me a disservice?" Liu Songping's expression remained calm. "Right now, it is not that I wish to raise a hand against the Eastern Depot — I am acting under imperial orders, tasked with escorting Eunuch Wei to the imperial tombs to keep vigil. If the imperial orders change, I will naturally obey. There is no question of raising a hand against the Eastern Depot."

"Step aside, and I guarantee you will come to no harm." Li Zhao slowly raised his blade. "This is the last chance I am giving you. If you refuse to listen, then do not blame me."

Liu Songping said nothing, merely raising the blade in his own hand slightly in response.

"Come up!" Li Zhao put on a ferocious expression and bellowed.

The moment Wei Zhongxian had shouted those words, the Eastern Depot agents downstairs had already sensed something was wrong, and had thus slowly begun converging toward the staircase. Upon hearing Li Zhao's summons, they no longer hesitated and filed up the stairs in succession.

By this time, however, Qi Wang had also made his decision. He swiftly drew his own blade and moved to the stairway entrance.

He had long since found this group insufferable, and had only held back because his Third Uncle had restrained him. Now that they were taking action, what was there left to hesitate about?

He did not go inside to help, because he knew his Third Uncle's skill, and was confident he could defeat that detestable Eastern Depot leader.

That being said, under normal circumstances, one man cannot withstand a siege by over a dozen opponents; therefore, making full use of the terrain was of paramount importance.

He stood at the stairway entrance, watching the agents running up one by one. His breathing grew heavier, but his heart grew ever calmer. A bold, reckless courage unique to youth — one that looked lightly upon life and death — suddenly filled his chest.

"Come on then, you scoundrels! Let this young master teach you a lesson!"

…………………………

The lamplight inside the room was growing dimmer.

With no one to replace the wick, the oil lamp's glow grew ever fainter. The murky, uncertain light made everything seem unreal.

Li Zhao and Liu Songping remained locked in their standoff.

Both men were waiting.

Li Zhao was waiting for his subordinates; Liu Songping was waiting for his opponent to make the first move.

Outside, the continuous clashing of blades rang on without pause, like some prearranged musical piece. But Li Zhao, whose hearing was excellent, knew that his subordinates were not getting any closer — they had been held off the entire time by that young Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Just then, several agonized cries reached his ears, making his expression turn even uglier.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard actually sent two men this formidable to escort him! Are they trying to stay out of this affair?

His tangled thoughts made his breathing heavier and heavier, yet he could not think of any better solution no matter how hard he tried.

As time slipped away, he knew that if he did not strike now, he would lose his chance entirely.

"Old scoundrel, meet your death!" Li Zhao roared, then swept his blade horizontally in a vicious slash aimed at Liu Songping's heart.

"Clang!" The ringing impact shook the entire room.

Liu Songping blocked this heavy sweep with his own blade, then slid his blade along the edge and swept it back. His feet shifted lightly, stepping onto a small stool in the room.

The clear, cold blade-light spun as it swept toward Liu Songping's head. The small stool, kicked into the air, was sliced cleanly in two by this stroke. Li Zhao's blade swept aside the obstacle that had suddenly appeared in mid-air, then slashed with great force toward Liu Songping's arm.

Liu Songping retreated a step, then flicked his blade upward from below, sweeping it toward Li Zhao's throat. Although Li Zhao withdrew extremely quickly, a piece of his clothing's hem was still cut away.

Shredded paper, dismembered scraps of cloth, and even splinters of wood from cleaved furniture — all were swept into the sea of blade-light, as if caught up and hurled into the air by a typhoon.

It looked like before they could settle the outcome, they'd manage to completely wreck everything in this room... except for that bed.

Under Liu Songping's deliberate protection, no matter how fiercely Li Zhao attacked, he couldn't deal any damage to that bed — it was just like an unshakable boulder standing firm in a storm.

The room was too small.

Although he'd been practicing diligently lately, it was unrealistic to expect to instantly recover martial skills that had been neglected for so long just by cramming at the last minute. On top of that, Liu Songping first had to mind Wei Zhongxian's safety, so he couldn't exert his full strength. As a result, he quickly fell to a disadvantage and could only hold back, letting Li Zhao seize the initiative.

However, as the fight continued, his originally rusty saber techniques grew more and more refined, and his past combat experience began to play its part. Liu Songping's blade work became increasingly smooth, and instead he gradually forced Li Zhao back, farther and farther from that bed.

No, I can't keep fighting here. I never expected this old bastard still had such skill!

Li Zhao's face was twisted with savagery, and then he made up his mind.

He deliberately picked up a nearby chair and hurled it heavily toward the bed. At the moment Liu Songping rushed over and split the chair in two, Li Zhao suddenly raised his saber and swept it toward Liu Songping's head.

Just then, the wick finally burned out, the oil lamp abruptly went dark, and everything sank back into blackness.

The sudden darkness threw Li Zhao off — he blinked instinctively, and then realized he seemed to have lost track of Liu Songping.

Just as terror surged in his heart, a flash of white light gleamed. He instinctively halted his steps and desperately threw himself backward.

"Pfft—"

The sleeve on Li Zhao's arm was slashed open, and blood burst forth.

The rapidly surging pain nearly paralyzed Li Zhao's nerves, but he forcibly endured the agony, let out a great shout, and then raised his saber, hacking recklessly toward Liu Songping.

Another heavy clash of metal rang out.

The force behind this all-out strike was not to be underestimated. Just as Liu Songping drew back slightly, Li Zhao suddenly leaped and burst out through the door in one motion.

2015 is about to pass, and 2016 is about to arrive. Wishing all my brothers and sisters a Happy New Year, and may all go well with you. Thank you, everyone, thank you for your support.