Chapter 419 – Truth or Dare

Tianji and Tianshu looked at each other and fell to their knees in unison, “Forgive me, Your Majesty, we failed to seize the lotus.”

The smile on Emperor Yuan Jing’s face, gradually disappeared and turned deep as he slowly said:

“Twenty cannons, twenty-six masters, and your two fourth grades. There are Taoist priests from the Earth Sect to work with you. I will give you the opportunity to explain, and if there really is a reason for what happened, I can forgive you.”

Tian Ji twisted his head to look at his companion and said in a deep voice, “Your Majesty, this time, the winds of the Sword State have risen, and apart from us and the Earth Sect, there are also the experts of the Martial Alliance who have almost poured out to compete for the Lotus Seed.”

Emperor Yuan Jing’s face was expressionless: “So, lost to the Martial Arts Alliance?”

Tian Ji felt a chill and hurriedly said:

“It’s not the Martial Arts Alliance, the line of Earth Sect Taoist priests who harbored the Nine-Colored Lotus Flower have hired a few helpers, and they are: the Heaven Sect’s Holy Maiden Li Miaozhen, the former Silver Gong Xu Qi’an, the Human Sect’s titular disciple Chu Yuanjian, the Heaven Sect’s Superintendent Yang Qianyi, and a monk, a young girl from the Southern Border’s Force Compulsion Department …… …”

The female spy Tianshu, who remained silent, was keenly aware that when His Majesty heard the words “Xu Qi’an”, he suddenly became slightly anxious.

She didn’t look up to peer at the dragon’s face, but she could guess that His Majesty’s face must look pretty bad right now.

Emperor Yuan Jing’s face was more than unsightly, his face was sunken like water, his forehead veins slightly bulging, the appearance of him trying his best to hold back his anger.

“I didn’t expect it, but what started out as an insignificant little person has now turned into a dog that can bite.”

Emperor Yuan Jing’s cold laughter squeezed out from between his teeth, “I have just issued a criminal edict, and originally thought that after the storm, I would look for him to settle the score. The entire Xu family is in the capital, so let’s see how I can shell him.”

After a pause, he asked, “Go on.”

Tian Ji stated what he had seen and heard originally, which included the conflict between the mysterious eunuch with a mysterious background and Xu Qi’an. Of course, for this part, his viewpoint was that the mysterious male child was a direct descendant of a certain power, and was deliberately targeting Xu Qi’an because he was jealous of Xu Qi’an’s fame and wanted to step on Xu Qi’an’s rise to stardom.

It’s logical.

“How did Xu Qi’an get involved with the Taoist priests of the Earth Sect?” Emperor Yuan Jing suddenly asked.

“My subordinate has not yet had time to investigate.” Tian Ji reported back, and when he saw that Emperor Yuan Jing had resumed his silence, he skipped over the topic and continued on.

Emperor Yuan Jing quietly listened, until he heard Tianji say, Xu Qi’an threw out the amulet, shouting “national master to save me”, and the national master really ride the golden light to come ………… The old emperor’s face changed drastically.

“How did the State Master get involved, how could he summon, what makes him summon the State Master ……….”

Emperor Yuan Jing paced back and forth in the imperial study, his expression sometimes grim, sometimes somber.

The State Master, why did she, why did she respond to Xu Qi’an’s plea for help, and when did the two become involved?

Indescribable emotions surged through his heart, and Emperor Yuan Jing’s expression was suddenly hideous, giving rise to the idea of immediately removing Xu Qi’an and immediately killing this vicious dog that would bite.

Ignoring the sinful edicts, the opinions of the ministers, and the views of the world ………

It is not because of the fear of his growth rate, the natural talent of the good personage Emperor Yuan Jing has seen a lot of people, Chu Yuan Jing is not also, but Emperor Yuan Jing is not even lazy to take care of it.

Rather, it was because Xu Qi’an had asked the State Master for help and the State Master had responded to him!

“Set up a car and go to Spirit Treasure View!” Emperor Yuan Jing said word for word.

………….

The Vast Building.

Xu Qi’an wore an azure-colored brocade coat embroidered with a light blue dark pattern of echoing clouds, his ringlets jingled, and his hair was bound with an openwork gold crown, his feet stepping on cloud-covering boots.

At first glance, he is more noble than the prince, combined with a straight body, handsome appearance, eyes deep and godly, the brow of the jump …….. Formed the unique temperament of the noble son of the world’s great valves and the frivolous young man of the marketplace mixed together.

Wei Yuan looked at the young man sitting across from him, slightly dazed, and laughed, “I’m used to seeing you wearing a night watchman’s errand uniform, and occasionally changing your outfit is a sight to behold.”

“My sister made it for me, stitch by stitch.”

Xu Qi’an held his teacup, recalled Xu Ling Yue’s infatuated eyes at that time, and laughed, “Duke Wei, if I look like this to hook up with His Highness Huaiqing, do you think there’s any hope?”

Wei Yuan looked at him calmly, his eyes containing the vicissitudes of the years within them, “This is not your usual style of speaking, if you have something to say, just say it.”

“When I was investigating the case of Concubine Fu, I learned from my state uncle that Duke Wei and Empress Dowager were childhood friends and treated Huaiqing as if he were their own, so I thought that if I could be a son-in-law, Duke Wei would surely treat me as a son-in-law as well.”

Xu Qi’an smiled and said, “Wei Gong treats me extremely well, gracious as a mountain, no relatives but carefully cultivated, only because of that ask the heart three passes ……….”

Wei Yuan’s expression was gentle, “You seem to have gained something extra from this trip to Jianzhou.”

Xu Qi’an put down his teacup and took out three dice from his sleeve, placing them on the table one by one, and said softly:

“In my hometown …….. Well, back in the day when I was a shutterbug in Longleaf County, I learned a line of drinking called Truth or Dare from the city folk.

“By the points of the dice, the one with the smallest points will either answer a question or drink a glass of wine. The straw man would like to play this game with Lord Wei, without drinking, and only speaking from the heart.”

He looked at Qing Yi with a calm expression, ”If Wei Gong is not willing, grass …….. humble servant will leave this time. From now on, I won’t bother you again.”

This time, Wei Yuan did not have a smile on his face and stared at him for a long, long time.

“Figure it out?”

“Uh-huh.”

Wei Qing Yi nodded his head and raised his hand, which was gathered in his sleeve, in a gesture of invitation.

Hoo ……… Xu Qi an breathed a sigh of relief, yet inevitably tensed.

He grabbed the teacup and with a gentle swipe, rolled the three dice into the cup, dang dang dang! The dice collided and spun in the teacup, returning to calm as Xu Qi’an snapped downward.

He opened his teacup, six-six-six!

I knew that, with my qi luck, the world is invincible toward the dice, especially when the jade pendant sent by Supervisor Zheng is cracked, and the qi luck is leaking out of the state ……… Xu Qi An Xin said.

Wei Yuan picked up the teacup, followed by a wipe, shook it for a moment, inverted the teacup on the table, did not sell it, and directly revealed it.

Two, five, six.

He smiled gently, “What do you want to ask?”

Xu Qi’an mused, “What is your relationship with the Empress Dowager.”

His choice of this question was by no means mere gossip. First of all, how Wei Yuan’s relationship with the Empress was determined how much Wei Yuan and Emperor Yuan Jing would flip out.

Secondly, Lin An’s birth mother, Concubine Chen, is the secret son of the Mystic Warlock, and the relationship between the Empress and Wei Yuan determines whether or not the Mystic Warlock will repeat his trick of laying out a plot through the Empress to frame Wei Yuan.

In the end, out of lsp’s intuition, Xu Qi’an thought that the Empress and Wei Yuan’s relationship was not simple.

“You know a lot.”

Wei Yuan put away his gentle expression, his pupils that contained the vicissitudes of life within sharpened by a few points, gazing intently for a moment, he said, “What happened between me and the Empress, I will tell you later, but not now. Hehe, you didn’t say you want to tell it now either.”

Your drilling of this loophole is no fun ……… Xu Qi’an nodded, “Good.”

Wei Yuan’s words were actually a disguised admission that his relationship with the Empress was not ordinary, and it was also a sort of answer.

In the second round, Xu Qi’an was again 6-6-6 and Wei Yuan was 5-5-1.

Xu Qi’an lowered her eyes, looking at the dice in front of Wei Yuan, pausing for a moment, her eyes slowly shifted upward, gazing at him, “Lord Wei, do you know what secrets were hidden behind the Battle of Shanhaiguan back then.”

Wei Yuan said indifferently, “If you’re referring to stealing the Great Feng’s qi, then I know.”

He really knew the secret ……….. that the Great Feng’s national fortune had been stolen. The surprise in Xu Qi’an’s heart just surged up, but he forced it back down, his face rippling.

Wei Yuan’s eyes were slightly downcast as he said, “Whenever a war opens, it is the time when the national fortune is shaken. If you win, your fortune rises by one point, and if you lose, your fortune is cut by one point.

“The larger the scale of the battle, the greater the shaking of the nation’s fortunes. In the middle of the Great Zhou, the vassal kings rebelled and the rebels hit the capital of the Great Zhou. History records that the hearts of the people were in turmoil, and the scholarly class was on edge.

“Afterward, although the rebellion was pacified, it became a turning point in the decline of the Great Zhou. The Battle of Shanhaiguan, a mixed battle between various countries, the total number of troops invested exceeded one million. The scale of the large, history books rare. The violent shaking of the country’s fortunes, I think it is far better than when Emperor Wu Zong cleared the side of the king.

“If you want to steal the qi, the Battle of Shanhaiguan is the best time to do so. It’s a pity that I didn’t realize this until later.”

Wei Yuan refers to a troop commitment of more than a million, a truly elite army, not counting militia miscellany. History books often have depictions of 100,000 troops going on campaigns, 300,000 troops going on campaigns, and so on.

But in fact, there is a lot of water, including the logistics militia. The number of soldiers who actually went into battle was probably less than one-third of the total.

As for the Battle of Shanhaiguan, the Dafeng, the Buddha Kingdom, the North and South Barbarians, the Demon Race, and the Witch God Sect, all these forces invested in it, and the elite soldiers that could really fight in the battlefield were more than a million.

I see, no wonder the former head of the Primordial and Celestial Compassion Department wanted to plan such a war, in order to pry the orthodox dynasty of the Central Plains, the national fortune of the Great Feng ………. Xu Qi’an came to a sudden realization.

Although he knew that in the Battle of Shanhaiguan, the national fortune of the Great Feng was stolen, he did not understand the principle.

Round three.

Xu Qi’an’s luck exploded and he shook another 666, but this time the situation was different, when Wei Yuan uncovered the teacup, it turned out to be 666 as well.

“Hardly!”

Wei Yuan laughed, “Why don’t you each ask a question?”

Xu Qi’an nodded his head in agreement, taking the lead in asking his own question, “Does Lord Wei know who the person who stole the qi is? What is the purpose?”

Wei Yuan shook his head, ”Among the major systems, those who are closely related to qi fortune are only the Warlocks and Confucians, and the Human Sect counts as half. And those who can pry the luck of the nation are only Warlocks and Confucians.

“In today’s Confucian system, the person with the highest rank is Zhao Shou, the dean of Yunlu Academy. He wants to pry the Great Feng’s national fortune and comes up short. Then there are only warlocks.

“How could I possibly know who it is when a warlock can shield the heavens. Even if I did know, I would have long since forgotten.”

Xu Qi’an took a deep breath, “It’s the Primordial Supervisor.”

When he finished speaking, he stared at Wei Yuan without blinking, expecting to see such a reaction as a “great change of color” in his eyes.

Sure enough, Wei Yuan’s eyes steeply darkened, and his fingers, which were resting on the desktop, trembled slightly.

He stared tightly at Xu Qi’an, his body actually leaning forward uncontrollably, his tone slightly hurried, “Speak more clearly, what do you know, what intelligence are you in control of.”

Xu Qi’an said, “Lord Wei, is this your problem?”

Unexpectedly, Wei Yuan shook his head, collected his emotions, and resumed his cloudy demeanor.

Wei Qingyi shook his head and asked gently, “My question is: the sealing object underneath Sangpo is inside you, right?”

A bolt from the blue.

…………

Lingbao Guan.

Emperor Yuan Jing sat in the familiar quiet room, looking at the flawless beauty across from him, Luo Yu Heng was one of the most heartwarming women, he had ever seen.

No matter how his moods changed and his preferences for women changed, Luo Yu Heng was able to satisfy his aesthetics at all times without aesthetic fatigue.

This woman, even though she had never agreed to double-cultivate with him, had long been forbidden in Emperor Yuan Jing’s heart.

What’s more, the great plan of longevity that he had dreamed of depended on this woman.

Therefore, any man who was close to Luo Yu Heng was not allowed.

She can be dismissive of me, she can be perfunctory, she can stonewall me, and that’s fine. But if she shows favor to another man, special care.

That man, there’s nothing but death.

Emperor Yuan Jing was filled with murderous intent towards Xu Qi’an, and even if the fiasco of the sinful edict hadn’t passed, he still had countless ways to target Xu Qi’an.

Is it hard for the Emperor to deal with a piker?

It’s not hard at all.

The reason he ignored him before and allowed him to jump up and down was because Emperor Yuan Jing had never considered him as an opponent, not qualified. His enemies were the courtiers, the Supervisors, and Zhao Shou.

Xu Qi’an was just a pawn in the storm.

Even now, he didn’t regard Xu Qi’an as an enemy, originally thinking that he would settle the score after the storm had passed.

I didn’t realize that this vicious dog had bitten into meat it shouldn’t have.

Then, even if it costs something, kill the evil dog.

Emperor Yuan Jing gazed at the woman’s State Master and said in a deep voice, “I heard King Huai’s spies come back to report that the State Master has also interfered in the matter of Jianzhou?”

Luo Yu Heng, whose pretty face was plain white and resembled flawless jade, nodded slightly.

“Why did the State Master intervene in this matter?” Emperor Yuan Jing pursued.

“The nine-colored lotus flower is the most precious treasure of my Dao Sect, how can I allow outsiders to covet it.” Luo Yu Heng’s red lips gently opened, her voice clear and cold: “On the contrary, Your Majesty, why are you plotting to seize the lotus?”

Emperor Yuan Jing patiently explained, “I have a stupid talent for cultivation, and I am anxious because I have not been able to achieve enlightenment. Learning that the nine-colored lotus seeds can open the mind to enlightenment, that’s why I sent someone to fetch it.”

After he finished, he saw Luo Yu Heng nodding, accepting his explanation. Suddenly, he laughed with a cloudy tone, as if he was chatting idly:

“I heard that Xu Qi’an burned the talisman and summoned the State Master. Hehe, I actually appreciate him, talented, ambitious, and righteous. It’s just that he’s too young to understand the bigger picture.

“There are still a few more years of sharpening ah, this time he will be relegated to the common people, just to polish his temperament. But I didn’t expect that he and the State Master would have this kind of friendship.”

Luo Yu Heng frowned and said in a cold tone, “A mere piker, what friendship is there to speak of with this seat.”

Emperor Yuan Jing’s eyes flashed with brilliance as he hurriedly pursued, “If that’s the case, why was he able to summon the State Master?”

…………

PS: This chapter was a bit tiring to write, mostly because the fine outline for the second half of Volume 2 took a long time to do. Well, shaking my ass and begging for monthly votes, big guys. I love you guys.