Book Pavilion, capital city.
After watching Prime Minister Zhao Kuo leaving, Kong Nanfei went back to the Book Pavilion.
Wearing a wide and thick robe, his master was sitting in the rocking chair, slightly rocking back and forth. With sunshine spilling on his face, he seemed pretty relaxed.
Kong Nanfei kind of could not understand what his master was up to.
In fact, the chaos in the capital city started since his master’s seclusion. If his master were still actively involved in politics, restricting the ministers’ powers, then this bloody turmoil would not have happened at all.
What on earth was his master going to do?
“Zhao Kuo left?” his master asked.
Kong Nanfei nodded without mentioning his doubt.
“Good. This man has wild ambitions. I knew it well even when the late emperor was still alive. And now, he acted as expected.”
“Lu Ping’an sent Beiluo’s 500 armored horsemen to slaughter the aristocratic families in the capital city. Zhao Kuo will totally take advantage of this opportunity to come forward before the public. To him, He Shou is merely a pawn.”
“Zhao Kuo is treating Beiluo’s 500 armored horsemen as a knife, but he forgot that without enough strength, he might not be able to master that knife and could even hurt himself,” Kong Nanfei’s master said slowly.
“He wants to ride on a wave, but he forgot where that wave is coming from.”
Kong Nanfei’s master closed his eyes after he finished speaking as if he had nothing to do with this.
Kong Nanfei thought for a long while. He felt that his master was becoming more and more difficult to read.
******
The wheels of the carriage rolled, raising a cloud of dust into the air.
Luo Cheng was still carrying He Shou in hand. Minister He Shou was as pale as a ghost at this moment.
He saw with his own eyes as one by one the aristocratic families were slaughtered and every single minister killed.
These people were headsmen—headsmen who never acted by reason.
He Shou’s pride was torn into pieces before death.
He wrote that denunciation in the moonlight, feeling high-spirited.
However, thinking back, it was really ridiculous. What that denunciation brought was a drastic change in the capital city.
He Shou thought of the prime minister, who told him to write the denunciation.
There was sadness in his eyes, which was followed by a tragic smile.
The 500 armored horsemen from Beiluo slaughtered so many aristocratic families, but they did not do anything to the prime minister’s residence…
Because the prime minister had always been in the dark. He never submitted even one statute, nor did he spread any rumor in person.
Spreading rumors, writing the denunciation, and impeaching the Imperial Advisor, among others…
All of these were actually done by ministers like him, although it was the prime minister who told them to do so.
It was not fair!
Resentment showed in He Shou’s eyes.
When the last aristocratic family had been eliminated, Nie Changqing stretched himself on the carriage. Then he fixed his eyes on He Shou.
“There is also Zhao Kuo… The prime minister of Great Zhou! He is the one who is pulling strings. He told me to write the denunciation. He made me spread the rumors! Kill him too! Kill him!” He Shou said madly.
Even he had no idea where he had plucked up his courage all of a sudden.
“We don’t need to go. They are coming,” Nie Changqing said in a plain voice.
Then he saw a big troop approaching from the end of the long street. With their armors clanging, a threatening atmosphere was spreading.
******
On Beiluo Lake, a lone boat was advancing toward the shoreline.
Leaning against the prow of the boat, Mo Liuqi stared at his own reflection in the water.
The Mohist City of Traps had been destroyed.
The man he was concerned with was already history.
No one would assign him any more tasks. He, Mo Liuqi, was no longer an assassin.
In the heavy rain, he challenged the Overlord like a madman.
However, for the Overlord, he was just an ant. The Overlord was too strong for him to defeat.
He had never been so eager to get strong.
An insensitive face was reflected in the wavy water. There was no smile, no emotions as if he was suffering from facial paralysis.
He went back to Beiluo City, to Lake Island, in the end.
He knew to surpass the Overlord, following Lu Fan and joining White Jade City were his only options.
All of a sudden…
The ripples began forming in the lake water.
Mo Liuqi’s pupils constricted when he felt dreadful energy came from behind.
He looked back. Suddenly, huge waves began forming in the usually quiet Beiluo Lake, as if someone was deliberately stirring the water.
The birds were startled, flying out from their hiding spots. The flapping of their wings echoed in the air.
The boat was rocking up and down.
Mo Liuqi got to his feet on the boat and stared at the fog behind him.
Suddenly, a gale came, dispersing the thick fog. A giant man came walking on the waves.
“It’s him!”
Mo Liuqi closed his fists tightly.
He breathed shorter and faster.
The Overlord of West County… Xiang Shaoyun!
On Lake Island.
A strong breeze blew by.
Jing Yue, carrying his rosewood sword box on his back, was on edge somehow. Looking at the lake, he seemed to have heard deafening thunder strikes.
“What a strong energy…”
Jing Yue turned serious. The tips of his toes shook. His body seemed to be pushed backward, but he managed to stay where he was.
This was Lake Island. Young Master Lu was here.
There was no need to flee.
Lv Mudui, with his white beard blowing, also perceived the energy.
His fingers were stroking the turtle shell gently.
The teenage girl carrying the pipa on her back went to hide behind Lv Mudui immediately. The energy that had filled the island and startled the birds gave her the creeps.
On the first floor of White Jade City’s pavilion…
Lv Dongxuan opened his eyes. A sort of deep look appeared on his face. He took a long breath.
The Spirit Qi surrounding the island surprisingly went into Lv Dongxuan’s body in spirals.
Lv Dongxuan opened his Qi Core with his mind.
He apparently had gained some insight from the vertical plaques.
“Now that you’ve gained some insight, you are qualified to come onto White Jade City’s pavilion. Come on.”
Lu Fan’s plain voice echoed around Lv Dongxuan.
Lv Dongxuan got to his feet and went into the pavilion after arranging his clothes.
On the second floor, he saw Lu Fan feeling wind by the carved rail of the terrace. With his white clothes fluttering in the wind, Lu Fan looked elegant and relaxed.
“Young Master Lu.”
Lv Dongxuan grinned, showing his yellow teeth.
“Now that you are already a member of White Jade City, just call me Young Master like the others.”
Lu Fan placed a black chess piece on the chessboard.
Then he took a sip from the bronze liquor cup he was holding in the other hand.
“Sit.”
Lv Dongxuan came to the chessboard. He sat down cross-legged before it.
“Have you gained any insight from the couplet?” Lu Fan asked.
“Yes, yes… Young Master’s couplet is extraordinary. Young Master is invincible in this world!” Lv Dongxuan said with a smile, showing his yellow teeth, and giving a thumbs up.
Ni Yu, heating the wine, suddenly burst out laughing when she had heard such dramatic puffery.
Was this old man really the philosopher of Tianji School, one of the Hundred Schools of Philosophy?
He was totally licking Young Master’s boots.
But Young Master would not buy that!
However, Lu Fan glanced at Ni Yu, who was laughing out loud, with a faint smile from his wheelchair. Ni Yu’s laughter instantly…
It instantly stopped.
******
On Beiluo Lake.
The laughter was as deafening as the thunders.
“Xiang Shaoyun from West County is passing by Beiluo, so I want to take this opportunity to pay you a visit!”
“…visit!”
“…it!”
His voice echoed over the entire Lake Island.
Lu Changkong was on a wooden boat. Thousands of elite soldiers on ten-odd boats were following the Overlord from afar. Once something goes wrong, they would go to Lu Fan’s rescue immediately.
Xiang Shaoyun was walking on the waves. His pupils suddenly slightly constricted.
Dispersing the thick fog, he saw the amazing Lake Island with Spirit Qi surrounding it.
On the shoreline of the island, he saw a girl wearing a bun, carrying a black pot on her back and looking at him with a bitter face.
Xiang Shaoyun was slightly surprised.
“Nie and Sister Ning are not here. So Young Master sent me here to greet you,” Ni Yu said to the Overlord who was walking on the waves.
On the island…
Jing Yue was stunned, covering his forehead with his hand.
Sending Ni Yu to hold the Overlord back…
Was the Young Master serious?
Did Ni Yu do anything that pissed Young Master off?
On the shore…
Ni Yu took the black pot from her back. She made an effort to lift the pot with both hands to point it at the Overlord.
“Young Master said you were too arrogant. You wanna get onto the island?”
“Take three pot strikes from me first,” Ni Yu said, a little nervous. Her chubby face was slightly shaking.
Young Master taught her this opening speech. But when it came out of her mouth, it just did not sound threatening at all.
On the lake…
Xiang Shaoyun was astounded. Then he could not help but burst out laughing. After laughing, his look became sharp.
“Rumor has it that Young Master Lu from Beiluo is a weirdo. So he is…”
He looked up at White Jade City’s pavilion. Looking at the terrace, he could vaguely see the white-clothed teenager by the rail feeling the wind.
He did not underestimate this little maid carrying a pot.
In Xiang Shaoyun’s eyes, Lu Fan was using the little maid to test him.
On the terrace on the second floor of the pavilion…
Sitting in the wheelchair, Lu Fan cupped one hand around his chin while holding a chess piece on the other hand. A smile tugged at the corners of his lips. A Spirit Pressure suddenly arose from him, as the air became sticky.
On the opposite side of the chessboard, Lv Dongxuan was playing chess with Lu Fan. Beads of sweat ran down from his forehead.
Upstairs, Lu Fan placed a piece on the chessboard.
On the shore, the maid waved her pot.
The black pot was suddenly tossed at the Overlord.
The pupils of the Overlord, walking on the waves, suddenly shrank!