All Heavens: From Joy of Life to The Great Feng Night Watchman

Page 130

Upon hearing Li Chang'an's words, Zhan Pianpian hurriedly stood up, "No! Please allow me to consider it some more."

Li Chang'an stood up, took Zhan Pianpian's slender hand, and smiled.

"You have no time to consider. If you do not agree to my request tonight, I will submit a memorial to the throne tomorrow."

Zhan Pianpian's big eyes looked pitiful.

This is a lifelong decision, so does it have to be made now?

She clasped her hands nervously, looking somewhat at a loss.

"I... am naturally willing, but I'm afraid the Empress Dowager won't agree."

"After all... this concerns the dignity of the Great Qi royal family..."

"ah!"

As Zhan Pianpian was speaking, Li Chang'an suddenly lifted her chin and easily captured her red lips.

After a long while, Zhan Pianpian finally recovered from her dizziness and headache, and was already being held in Li Chang'an's arms.

She protested by punching Li Chang'an's chest a few times with her little fist, but a sweet smile appeared on her lips.

"Duoduo is right, you really are a scoundrel."

Li Chang'an continued, "After you return to Northern Qi, tell Empress Dowager Wei that you will become my concubine as a princess of the country."

"Moreover, the wedding should be a grand and magnificent affair, which will help me enhance my prestige."

"I am a person of the Heavenly Lineage and a literary giant. My reputation is growing, which will inevitably arouse the suspicion of the Emperor of Nanqing sooner or later."

"This might trigger internal strife in Nanqing, which would be a great thing for Beiqi."

If you speak to Empress Dowager Wei in this way, she will definitely agree.

Zhan Pianpian said in surprise, "Wouldn't this cause you trouble?"

Li Chang'an touched Zhan Pianpian's delicate cheek and said confidently, "Don't worry about that, I have my own way of dealing with it."

He has royal status, and as long as he isn't caught red-handed for treason, Emperor Qing won't take action against him before pacifying the other Grandmasters.

Li Chang'an's only solid evidence of rebellion was the Luo Wang (Net of Heaven). Although Li Chang'an was in fact in control of the Luo Wang, its nominal master was Gao Yao, the powerful eunuch of Western Qin.

Once we're stronger, let Emperor Qing be suspicious if he wants. For the royal family, mere suspicion won't kill them.

Despite Emperor Qing's suspicions, Li Chang'an was also a member of the royal family, and their interests were completely aligned in the pursuit of unifying the country.

If he is strong enough, Emperor Qing will try to win him over, since Emperor Qing needs quite a few pawns to set up a scheme against Si Gu Jian and Ku He.

At worst, he could get involved himself and fight against any princes or princesses; Li Chang'an wasn't afraid of them.

When Emperor Qing finally realized what was happening, Li Chang'an had actually become a Grandmaster. But Emperor Qing himself didn't dare to easily reveal his Grandmaster status, which was incredibly frustrating!

Li Chang'an found it interesting just by thinking about it.

Dongyi City.

The news that Tie Xiang had been killed by Wu Zhu had already reached Si Gu Jian's ears.

At this moment, Si Gu Jian was discussing countermeasures with his second disciple, Li Bohua.

Li Bohua said with some surprise, "Master, Tie Xiang is actually your last disciple!"

Si Gu Jian frowned. "Yes! It's really unexpected that such a promising talent was mistakenly killed by Wu Zhu."

From the message sent back by Yun Zhilan, Si Gu Jian easily recognized Wu Zhu's identity.

Back when Si Gu Jian was still an idiot, he became a grandmaster only because of the secret manual given to him by Ye Qingmei.

Si Gu Jian vividly remembered the young man who followed Ye Qingmei, his face covered, wielding a steel chisel.

His moves lacked any flashy sword or palm strikes; they were as straightforward as a machine, devoid of any true energy. No one else could compare to Wu Zhu.

Li Bohua was a little slow to catch up with Si Gu Jian's pace. "Master, do you know that Grandmaster from Nanqing?"

Si Gu Jian said expressionlessly, "I know him. That person won't be on Emperor Qing's side, so you don't need to be too nervous."

"As for that person's identity, he is an old acquaintance of mine."

Si Gu Jian didn't understand why Wu Zhu was willing to expose his whereabouts for Fan Xian's sake, but who was Fan Xian?

“Bo Hua, what’s frustrating right now is that Tie Xiang was secretly lent to Northern Qi, originally to deal with that Fan Xian.”

"However, this conspiracy must never be revealed to Emperor Qing."

"It's one thing if Tie Xiang and Fan Xian have a fair fight and he might be killed, but it's another thing if the Northern Qi and the Eastern Yi conspire to cripple Fan Xian."

Li Bohua said dejectedly, "In other words, we can't even express our anger about our junior brother's death!"

Si Gu Jian nodded helplessly, "How much does Wu Zhu killing the Northern Qi youth have to do with Dongyi City?"

"Even if we were to seek reciprocal retaliation, it would only be Ku He of Northern Qi who would take action."

"You should personally make a trip to Northern Qi and have Shang Shanhu facilitate this matter. The tacit understanding that Grandmasters cannot act arbitrarily is not something that can be broken lightly."

……

Three days later, at the Bitter Lotus Cultivation Secret Ground.

Haitang Duoduo was entrusted by the Empress Dowager and the young emperor to specially invite Kuhe to come out of seclusion.

“Master, over the years, the three grandmasters have all reached a tacit understanding that they must not act rashly.”

"If a Grandmaster could make a move, you could kill a thousand soldiers with a single slap, and the Great Qi would not have lost its territory!"

"Now that a Grandmaster from Nanqing has openly attacked and killed General Uesugi Tora's last disciple, we must react!"

"Right now, there is a great deal of discussion throughout the court and among the people. They are extremely indignant about the Southern Qing's unauthorized use of Grandmasters!"

Of course, the conspiracy between Shangshan Hu and Zhuang Mohan could not be told to the Qi court, so Tie Xiang's identity was that of Shangshan Hu's disciple.

Kuhe wasn't in a hurry at all. "Duoduo, tell me the news that came back from Nanqing in detail."

After Haitang Duoduo finished explaining in detail, Kuhe suddenly gave a bitter laugh, "So that's how it is, it's actually the person next to Miss Ye."

After listening to Haitang's description, Kuhe instantly understood everything.

First, Tie Xiang's sword gesture used his method of evolving Western magic.

This method was borrowed by Zhuang Mohan not long ago, and now it seems to be used to deal with Fan Xian.

Wu Zhu's features were so distinctive that Ku He and Si Gu Jian recognized him immediately.

If it was indeed Hong Sixiang, as a Grandmaster, who committed the murder, then Ku He could immediately kill a pillar of Nanqing as retaliation.

Grandmasters cannot act arbitrarily. If you use a Grandmaster skill first, then I must use one in return.

This is the typical tactic used in great power rivalry.

If you drop a nuclear bomb, I have to drop one too.

The problem is, it's Wu Zhu who's making the move now.

Wu Zhu is different from the Grandmaster in Nanqing Palace; the Grandmaster in Nanqing Palace has never made a move.

However, Wu Zhu had fought against Ku He and Si Gu Jian.

Therefore, Wu Zhu would definitely be able to tell at a glance that Fan Xian was harmed by the methods of Ku He and Si Gu Jian.

If Wu Zhu were to tell the Southern Qing court about this, then the conspiracy between the Eastern Yi and Northern Qi to assassinate Fan Xian would be exposed.

However, Ku He was also well aware that the two countries conspiring to assassinate Fan Xian was one thing, while Nanqing's unauthorized use of a Grandmaster was another.

"Duoduo, go and report to the Empress Dowager. Your master will definitely take action and make Nanqing pay the price."

"Grandmasters cannot be acted upon lightly; this rule must not be broken!"

Haitang Duoduo asked, "Which important figure in Nanqing does Master intend to kill?"

Ku He opened his eyes and asked, "How is Li Chang'an?"

Chapter 102 Begonia: Grandmaster Wu Zhu? He smells quite nice! (23)

Hearing Li Chang'an's name, Haitang Duoduo was not surprised at all.

Now that the Grandmaster of Southern Qing has made his move, the Grandmaster of Northern Qi must also kill someone of considerable importance.

That's how strategic weapons work; once you fire the first shot, you can't control where the enemy's second shot will land.

Therefore, in most cases, the use of strategic weapons means a fight to the death.

Perhaps this is how the nuclear war 200,000 years ago started.

However, neither Ku He nor Si Gu Jian knew that Emperor Qing, this hidden Grandmaster, would definitely remain patient.

He would not allow a Grandmaster-level battle to break out between the two sides because of Ku He's reciprocal retaliation, as that would expose Emperor Qing's status as a Grandmaster.

He was plotting an opportunity, waiting for the perfect moment, to eliminate Si Gu Jian and Ku He, thus completely clearing away the obstacles to unifying the world.

He had already started making these plans long ago and would not allow any unexpected circumstances to disrupt them.

The most powerful person in the original work is Emperor Qing, not only because he is the most powerful grandmaster, but also because of his strong will and forbearance.

For the Northern Qi, Emperor Qing, the Eldest Princess, Prince Yong, Chen Pingping, and Qin Ye were the five people who posed the greatest threat to the Northern Qi.

Emperor Qing oversees the overall situation, the Eldest Princess controls the Imperial Treasury, Chen Pingping is the head of the secret service, and Qin Ye is a veteran of the military.