Qin Shi Ambitious

Page 156

According to Master Lu's guess, he will definitely have a secret conversation with each of the other five masters, and the content of the conversation will vary from one to the other.

Then, Tian Guang will take the Zhu family to see Lord Changping...

He wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to make arrangements for the Siyue Hall, but in fact, this arrangement had started a long time ago.

Situ Wanli's main business was running casinos. He claimed to be a gambler, not a gambling addict. But how could the thin line between a gambler and a gambling addict be completely drawn when someone is in a daze?

Starting with the casino, the investigation revealed numerous incriminating facts against Situ Wanli.

It's just that because Situ Wanli is the head of the Four Mountains Hall of the Farmer's Clan, these incriminating facts are not considered key evidence... provided that no one takes them too seriously.

Some things may seem insignificant on a scale, but once weighed, they can feel incredibly heavy.

The incriminating evidence, whether major or minor, can be thoroughly examined from the perspective of the peasant doctrines. Given that Zhang Er will become the head steward of the Four Mountains Hall, it would not be difficult to remove Situ Wanli, this gambler, from his position as the hall master.

If the Zhu family insists on protecting their interests to the death, they can simply hold the Yan Emperor's Decree.

With Gonggongtang, Lieshantang, and Chiyoutang standing together, coupled with that solid evidence, Kuiweitang Tianmi will make a rational choice.

After Zhang Er was given important responsibilities, Lu Wei no longer considered Siyuetang a threat.

A gambler is a gambler. Even if Situ Wanli might abandon the Zhu family and side with Lu Wei at a crucial moment, the Hall Master is still unwilling to keep him.

It's safer to hand that position over to an outsider at either end of the chain of command, or to one's own subordinate.

Even Zhang Er isn't entirely safe. He'll only be a temporary leader of the Four Mountains Hall. Once Xiao Yan'er is older, and a descendant of Lord Xinling tries to seize power from Zhang Er, will he be able to refuse...?

When a leader of the Six Halls becomes the leader of the Knights, he always entrusts the position to his most trusted subordinate!

Chapter 175 The Yin-Yang Technique for Washing Away Hatred

Just as the Hall Master had predicted, Tian Guang had secretly negotiated with the other five Hall Masters.

Three days after Tian Guang left Gonggong Hall, Zhou Wen approached Lu Wei to discuss the matter of the net that Tian Guang had mentioned to him.

Besides Zhou Wen, the thoughtful leader of the Xia clan also attempted to plant two other disciples of the Farmer's Clan, or more precisely, former disciples of the Farmer's Clan, within the Luo Wang organization:

Chen Sheng and Wu Kuang.

Among them, Wu Kuang was imprisoned in a death row cell because of a non-existent massacre. He has already accepted the offer of surrender and become a murder weapon of the Luo Wang organization.

However, Wu Kuang's situation in the net was far worse than Zhou Wen's.

Wu Kuang started as a "Peerless" level assassin, betraying part of his conscience, and painstakingly spent two years to rise to the "Earth" level.

Before becoming 'Tian Meng', Zhou Wen had already been promoted to the 'Killer' level assassin and obtained the Autumn Toad Sword for his meritorious service in plotting the Chu army mutiny.

Looking back now, it was because of my own actions that Tian Meng needed someone more professional and familiar with his words and deeds to impersonate him, which is why Xiang Yu's father died a few years earlier due to an dishonorable incident.

After all, Zhou Wen was originally supposed to continue his infiltration within the Chu army, and normally he should now be at the same level as Wu Guang, both being of the Earth rank.

The Luo Wang (a surveillance network) kept a close watch on Wu Kuang and treated him as a truly inanimate tool, abusing him without restraint. Therefore, even Tian Guang rarely had any contact with Wu Kuang.

Wu Kuang's days deep behind enemy lines seemed endless.

Walking on such a dark and gloomy road, Zhou Wen was worried about whether he could maintain his commitment to farming, but Tian Guang spoke with great confidence:

"I watched Chen Sheng and Wu Kuang grow up. Their belief in the peasantry was deeply ingrained in their lives!"

Wu Kuang was struggling to move forward, while Chen Sheng was still playing the role of a ruthless swordsman in the martial arts world.

Tian Guang had a clear understanding of the whereabouts of the master of the Giant Sword. He told Zhou Wen that he would contact Chen Sheng again some time later.

Lu Wei guessed that Tian Guang had taken the Zhu family to visit Lord Changping and met Chen Sheng on the way.

The criminal documents of the six states have been collected. Only the Qin state is missing. Once the Black Swordsman's title in the martial arts world is given to him, he will be known as Sheng Qi.

"The matter that the chivalrous leader told me concerns the Net, so the matter he's telling you must concern the farmers!"

Perhaps, as Tian Guang said, Zhou Wenlai found Lu Wei at noon.

"good."

Lu Wei could guess that Xia Kui and Liu Tang had given their explanations, so Zhou Wen could naturally guess as well. However, he first guessed that Tian Guang would contact him and Gonggong Hall, and it wasn't until Tian Hu mysteriously came to tell his elder brother Tian Meng that Xia Kui had arranged a secret mission for him that he further guessed Liu Tang.

"The leader urged me to take over the Four Mountains Hall as soon as possible to ensure that I can fully control the entire Farmer's Clan when I become the next leader of the Xia family."

“This shouldn’t be difficult for you.” Zhou Wen’s eyes flickered. “But I still have to ask, do you need the help of Lieshan Hall and Chiyou Hall?”

"Not now, just cooperate with me when it matters."

Lu Wei didn't say how to cooperate, and Zhou Wen didn't ask either, knowing that they would understand when the time came.

"Furthermore, regarding our plan, Xia Kui said he would cooperate with us... but he would die because of it."

Zhou Wen then revealed a second piece of information, which was shared with Hall Master Lu. Therefore, Lu Wei added, "I'm afraid it's not just the two of us, but also Wu Kuang."

"I've met Wu Kuang a few times," Zhou Wen paused, "The chieftain thinks he can be trusted, but it would be too risky, and it's not worth the risk."

"This isn't a problem for us to consider; it's for Wu Kuang to consider." Lu Wei shook his head with a faint smile.

"How do you think the leader of the chivalrous sects would describe the current rural communities to him?" After giving Zhou Wen three breaths to think, he gave the answer directly: "Some hall masters are from the Luo Wang organization, while others can be trusted!"

"If you were Wu Kuang, what would you do?"

Some of the Luo Wang Hall Masters mentioned here actually refer to Tian Mi, but after Wu Kuang's investigation, he will definitely think that the person Xia Kui is talking about is Zhou Wen disguised as Tian Meng.

This is a misunderstanding, but such a misunderstanding will just happen to fit Lu Wei and Zhou Wen's plan.

After a moment's thought, Zhou Wen also understood this point:

“I understand what to do. Let’s just pretend Wu Kuang doesn’t exist. At this critical moment, a real Wu Kuang who has investigated the matter himself will be more beneficial to our plan.”

"Hmm," Lu Wei nodded, calmly saying, "As long as you don't hold back."

Zhou Wen was taken aback. He stared at the Hall Master for about ten breaths before finally speaking: "I will return those words to you verbatim."

The plan requires both of them to be absolutely ruthless at certain times, but Zhou Wen needs to be ruthless to himself, while Lu Wei only needs to be ruthless to others.

The psychological burden naturally differs depending on the target of one's ruthlessness...

Master Lu shamelessly gains the advantage, while Zhou Wen has to make sacrifices. Both are willing to accept this unfair plan.

Where in the world can there be absolute fairness? The party with higher value is naturally favored... The more dog-eat-dog the world is, the greater the probability of this happening...

From the initial manipulation of Xu Sheng, Xu Qiu, Tian Zhong, and Zhou He, to the current involvement of Zhou Wen and Tian Guang, it is precisely because of the help these people, whether willingly or unwillingly, will Lu Wei ultimately fulfill his greed and become a legitimate dictatorial leader!

Because of Tian Guang's secret talks with the six hall masters, the undercurrents in Daze Mountain subsided slightly. The tense internal strife was no longer a concern due to the Xia Kui's mission, and the atmosphere in the farmhouses became much more harmonious.

When the six halls had some free time, the infighting intensified. But since everyone was busy with other things, they naturally had no time to fight.

Lu Wei spent the entire spring at headquarters, and after gaining a general understanding of the headquarters' affairs, he needed to go out and inspect several local branches.

Aside from the Yan state, which he couldn't visit due to the war, he planned to travel to Sanghai City in the east, the self-built town in Wei, the old Wu-Yue Jinghu, and even the Zhao territory, which had been incorporated into Qin.

If Jicheng in the north can indeed hold out for at least a year as estimated by Lord Changping and Lord Yan, then even if the Qin army conquers Yan next year, it will take some time to rest before it can continue its attacks on Wei and Chu.

Despite the fact that Wei was indulging in a life of decadence and Chu was redistributing power in its court, leaving it with little energy to actively attack Qin, both states were still capable of displaying considerable fighting power when faced with a Qin army offensive.

Both the attacks on Zhao and Yan resulted in significant losses for the Qin army.

According to Wang Jian, conquering Wei was only part of the plan to attack Chu. To face the vast and resource-rich land of Chu, the soldiers needed to conserve their strength.

------

The Moon Goddess and the Eastern Lord returned to the Yin-Yang School with the secret bronze box containing the information about the Seven Mansions of the Azure Dragon.

The Moon Goddess has been away from the Yin-Yang School for over a year, while the Eastern Lord has been away for as long as five years.

The internal environment of the Yin-Yang School has remained unchanged, just like the scene when the two of them learned Yin-Yang techniques as children.

However, their mindsets have changed drastically due to their experiences, so the interior of the Yin-Yang School now appears in very different colors in the eyes of the Sun and Moon.

In practice, Dongjun was a blatant traitor to the Yin-Yang School, yet Donghuang never announced this to the Yin-Yang School and even ordered the Moon Goddess to summon her back several times, which shows his favoritism.

This favoritism stemmed from Yanfei's talent in Yin-Yang arts.

She brought back the Azure Dragon Bronze Box this time. Although she no longer holds the positions of the left and right protectors of the Yin-Yang School, she will most likely have suffered a great punishment.

The fact that the Moon Goddess was able to return to the Yin-Yang School indicates that she saved Yan Fei twice.

The two had been constantly at odds, but Yanfei had always had the upper hand and suffered fewer losses. This time, it was her turn to suffer a loss, but the Moon Goddess appeared in time to save her. Although Yanfei didn't say anything, she still accepted this favor in her heart.

Consort Yan naturally noticed the rapid increase in her 'good sister's' Yin-Yang skills. However, because of the life-saving grace she received from the Cold Palace of Yan Kingdom and her help in dealing with Yan Dan, she did not ask any further questions.

But deep down, Yanfei couldn't help but recall how, after the Moon Goddess's defeat years ago, she immediately inquired about the whereabouts of a certain Farmer's Sect Master...

'The name Lu Wei seems to have been mentioned by Lord Donghuang before....'

The two women, including the Moon Goddess, carried the Azure Dragon Bronze Box and walked together toward the Eastern Emperor's Secret Chamber.

At the entrance, they happened to run into Xinghun, who was walking out of the secret room.

"It's been a long time, Moon Goddess."

After practicing Yin-Yang techniques, Xinghun would always have a faint smile on his lips when facing outsiders.

But the Moon Goddess had secretly discovered just how ruthless this boy, who was stunted by his secret cultivation techniques, was in private.

"Lord Xinghun has always preferred quiet, yet he's being so polite?"

As soon as the Moon Goddess stopped, Yan Fei beside her also stopped, coldly watching the new Yin Yang School members who had joined after she left.

“Quietness has its own beauty, but if the Moon Goddess were here…” Xinghun’s lips curled up even more, and he raised his hand to indicate to Yanfei, “and the Eastern Lord would be in Xianyang, it would surely be more interesting.”

"This is the Azure Dragon Bronze Box?"

The two women remained aloof and did not answer. Xinghun, unaware of the awkwardness, glanced at the box held by the Moon Goddess and began to investigate: "It seems that the Moon Goddess did not leave empty-handed after a year."

"Some secrets are not for Lord Xinghun to be curious about."

"This is a piece of advice."

With a gentle flick of her sleeve, the Moon Goddess unleashed a faint aura of dragon energy, forcing the Star Soul to make way.

Although Xinghun has exceptional talent, he has only been practicing Yin-Yang techniques for a short time and is far from being a match for Yue Shen. Moreover, he has no intention of fighting back, so his retreat is more of a matter of letting things take their course.

The sun and moon stepped through the colossal bronze gate, its faces obscured, leaving only the stars outside. With a soft sigh and an undiminished smile, they departed this place.

Although Yan Fei remained silent, she quietly remembered a key piece of information from Xing Hun's words:

The Moon Goddess left the Yin-Yang School for a year!

She initially thought the Moon Goddess had indeed arrived in Ji City long ago, but at most a month or two. If she hadn't shown herself for a whole year, her younger sister must have been handling other matters...

Judging from the words of the child who practiced Yin-Yang puppetry, these other matters are most likely not Yin-Yang family affairs, but rather their private matters.