Why do I have so many masters?-Chapter 670 - 2: Unreasonable Moves in Casual Chess (2/2)

Li Sheng was silent, although there were thousands of words he wanted to say, he ultimately just bowed and responded solemnly:

"Understood!"

The valiant man fiddled with a flower branch poking through the window, then smiled again and said:

"It seems he is aware that his identity has been exposed. He simply caused a big scene so that anyone intending to move against him might think twice. Yet, he didn't drive himself into a dead end, attracting major trouble upon himself. He handled the situation just right, much like Tiance back in the day."

"As for that Doctor from the Wen Family, he indeed did lament quite a bit."

"He claimed that people from Jianghu rode horses and attacked violently, killing his brother, and stormed out of the manor, causing severe casualties. He knelt outside the grand hall, nearly dead or alive, demanding the Emperor to seek justice for the Wen Family."

Li Sheng thought of the Doctor's behavior outside the Tai Chi Hall a few days ago, resembling a rogue from the streets, and he remained silent.

That day, the Third Rank official seemed ready to commit suicide by running into a column for his sovereign and his people.

Three days later, having not entered Heaven Capital City for over ten years, the Second Rank Pillar of the State from Great Qin entered the city again.

After the court session, right outside the Tai Chi Hall, in front of the Nine Dragons Wall and facing the civil and military officials, he beat the Wen Family's Third Rank Doctor, Wen Hongyang, with the purple gold belt bestowed by the former Emperor, severely injuring him on the spot.

With his hair and beard bristling, no one dared to stop him.

The Emperor had turned back, walking over to his desk to review the memos. Li Sheng stood respectfully by his side, merely grinding ink and brewing tea for him.

Many of the memos had been sent up from the Three Provinces and Six Ministries, having been already reviewed by the heads of the Three Provinces before being presented to the Emperor.

After reviewing them, if he found their handling quite appropriate, he would mark a circle with a cinnabar pen at the end; otherwise, they would be sent back for reprocessing.

After reviewing several memos, he casually opened a new one and after a few glances, his expression slightly cooled, and he indifferently said:

"What a talent from Jiangdong, truly extraordinary literary grace."

"A resignation memo, written with such eloquence and free-spiritedness, saying he wishes to settle down and only serve as a piano-playing musician by his father's side, still unhealed from his severe injury, yet possessing such leisurely interest—truly the spirit of a Jiangnan scholar."

"Since that is the case, I shall fulfill his wish. Let him go play the piano."

He casually circled the resignation memo and nonchalantly tossed it aside.

After reviewing two more memos, the movements of the valiant man paused slightly, his gaze landing on three bold characters in the memo. He flipped straight to the end, saw that it was abbreviated by Zhou Fengyue, then flipped back to the front.

The contents were concise, mainly mentioning one name.

Jiang Shouyi.

......

The surrounding environment was somewhat dim, and along both sides of the path, every seven steps, there stood a brass statue of a fierce warrior holding a torch, the flames burning fiercely and illuminating the path, yet the depths ahead and behind remained unseen, as if one could never reach the end, instilling fear in the heart.

At the end of the corridor hung a portrait of a tall man holding a sword, with three strands of long beard under his chin, looking scholarly and elegant. On each side of him hung a portrait.

One was of a smiling young man, hands empty. On the right, however, hung the portrait of a demure beauty with a gentle appearance and a graceful posture, a beauty mark by her mouth, her eyes captivating and entrancing.

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In front of the portrait was a table, with a seemingly agreeable young man sitting at it. Under the flickering light, the youth's features bore about ninety percent resemblance to the central portrait.

If not for one appearing middle-aged and the other merely a youthful image, they indeed looked as though carved from the same mold.

An old woman with white hair knelt at the feet of the youth, her head bowed low.

Next to her stood Shi Huaidie in plain white clothing, with the Fish Intestine Sword at her waist—her explanation to others was that the real Fish Intestine Sword had been shattered by Hong Luoyu with a flick of his finger, and this sword was a replica she had managed to find.

Since more than one person had witnessed Hong Luoyu shattering the Fish Intestine Sword and found fragments still containing a trace of spiritual charm at the scene, this explanation had not drawn too much suspicion.

The youth sat by the table, listening as the old woman explained the events. Contrary to her expectations, he didn't erupt in anger but remained exceedingly calm. Yet, it was this calmness that birthed a chill in the old woman's heart.

Subconsciously looking up, she met the youth's gaze. Her body stiffened as if stung by a venomous creature, and she immediately lowered her head, daring not to make any slight movement.

The youth withdrew his gaze and softly said:

"In this matter, there were two Grandmasters, elite Imperial Court forces, and one Great Grandmaster involved. With your capabilities, achieving such an outcome was beyond your reach—it's not your fault, but mine."

"I will explain the consequences and losses to the gentleman, and then take full responsibility; I won't implicate you all."

"Grandmother, you've been fighting hard, and you must be tired. Please go back and rest well for a few days. Huaidie, I'm very happy that you are back. I think, if Atie were still alive, he would be very happy too."

The expression on Teacher Huaidie's icy face flickered as she said:

"I'm only here for revenge."

The young man calmly said, "I know, you owed me a life, and you nearly died last time, which has settled that debt. From now on, we'll work together."

"I will avenge Atie."

Teacher Huaidie was silent, nodding her head.

Moments later, Teacher Huaidie and the white-haired old woman left. The young man in splendid attire sat beneath a portrait, his expression turning serene. An old man emerged from the shadows and spoke slowly:

"Is this really good?"

"Two experts, three swords, the cost is indeed too high..."

The young man calmly said, "Compared to the news we know, it's not too great. Minor fluctuations in the greater trend – if we couldn't know them in advance, the price to be paid would be even higher."

"The Supreme Former Emperor of Great Qin has already learned of Wang Tiance's existence; now, it depends on whether he will join Jianghu or enter the Imperial Court. Either path is difficult."

"Extremely difficult."

The old man fell silent for a moment, not delving deeper, but instead said:

"Is Teacher Huaidie trustworthy?"

"After all, she 'died' once before, and what happened afterward is unknown to anyone. If the enemy intentionally spared her life to infiltrate our ranks, it could be threatening..."

The young man solemnly said:

"She should be trustworthy."

"A person's actions and facade can be feigned, but hatred cannot be faked, and the deeds she performed today, if not for Gong Yu suddenly abandoning his opponent, and the presence of the Heavenly Mountain Sword Champion, Wang Anfeng would have already died by her sword."

The old man furrowed his brows, saying:

"What if this too is a disguise? The son of Wang Tiance, with such intelligence and tactics, it should be normal, and with three hundred Divine Martial Iron Cavalry raiding the Wen Family at night, killing Wen Hong and leaving, such boldness also supports the ploy of using himself as bait."

The young man calmly said:

"In future missions, I will have someone carefully observe her."

"Even the most perfect disguise, especially involving life and death and hatred, will have flaws, and as long as there are flaws, it won't be possible to deceive that person."

The old man hesitated, saying, "But..."

The young man closed his eyes, saying, "There's no other way, this is the time to make use of people, apart from the discarded pieces this time, the ones sent to the Western Regions also encountered trouble, five Middle Third Rank martial artists, and a Grandmaster with secret techniques, along with dozens of subordinates, all perished."

The old man was startled, saying, "What?"

"Even 'he' has died? Who did it?"

The young man exhaled, saying softly:

"The exact identity is unknown."

"All we know is it was a Scholar, one arm severed, wielding a longsword with flowing light that seems to be a Divine Weapon, trained in the martial arts of the Confucian School yet exceedingly lethal."

"While he kills with each sword strike, he doesn't silence the bystanders."

PS: Today's second update offered...

Um... When I say over half or two-thirds, I'm talking about pacing, not the standard word count, just a sense from an instinctive feeling of rhythm, that at least half the story is done.

But even if it's much more, it won't exceed three million words, I believe it should be around two hundred and eighty thousand, give or take.