Chapter 90: King of Jin (Part )

In the Wei family villa, in the secluded bamboo courtyard, Xu Shanshan was lying on a bamboo mat. The sunlight filtered through the gaps between the dark green leaves, sprinkling on her body. The pomegranate flowers in front of her were in full bloom.

A green-feathered parrot came out from the pomegranate flowers, screaming excitedly and flapping its wings happily around Xu Shanshan.

"Shan~Shan~Mao is back, Maomao is back~"

Xu Shanshan stretched out her arm, and it folded its wings and landed on her wrist. She gently stroked the soft fur on its head that was messed up by the wind: "Thank you for your hard work."

"Mao was not afraid of hardship for the sake of the mountains."

It rubbed its head against her face and spoke sweet words to her as if they were free.

Xu Shanshan was amused by it.

This smile is different from all the previous smiles. It is not a superficial smile, nor is it a casual smile. It is a very real and intimate smile.

Wei Canghao, the Xu siblings and Mo Han, who arrived at the gate of the courtyard, looked at Xu Shanshan being intimate with her pet in a daze.

They found themselves jealous of a bird!

They were curious about the parrot raised by Xu Shanshan, but it was too mysterious and she remained silent about its existence.

They only know that its name is Maomao, and it is a parrot that can speak human language and is smarter than humans.

It sometimes appears and sometimes disappears, but Xu Shanshan never worries about its safety and whereabouts. They didn't understand why before, but now it seems that this is a tacit understanding between them as master and servant.

"Have you found out?" Xu Shanshan asked it.

Maomao folded one of his wings in a humane way and whispered to her, "Yes, Maomao found out."

"Check it out?"

"Of course, apart from the time when Maomao was on the road, he spent the rest of his time monitoring and tracking. Maomao not only knew everything about the situation inside and outside the Prince Jin's mansion, but also knew exactly how many times the Prince Jin went to the toilet every day and which room he stayed in at night."

Xu Shanshan pinched its little mouth and teased, "Try to be naughty again?"

Maomao was afraid that she would pull out her flexible tongue, so she immediately corrected her attitude: "No, I dare not, Maomao has already found out everything in the Prince Jin's Mansion."

"Well, you have been working hard for quite some time. Take a rest first. I will summon you when the time comes."

Maomao tilted his head, then wearily crawled into her wide sleeves, arched his back, and then disappeared without a trace.

Xu Shanshan then looked up at Wei Canghao who had been waiting at the gate for a long time. His tall and handsome figure was clearly visible in the sunlight. She saw a different look on his face, with red and purple light.

It seems the time has come.

"Master Wei, do you dare to kill a dragon?"

Wei Canghao's eyes narrowed as he repeated her words: "Slay the dragon?"

She stood up from the bamboo mat leisurely, brushed the wrinkled hem of her skirt, and said with a faint smile: "If you dare, then come with me."

-

The next morning, Chi Jiangdong, who was hiding in the dark, saw Wei Canghao and Xu Shanshan going out together. They looked quite serious, as if they were going to do something big.

He followed all the way, and with his martial arts skills it was not difficult for him to avoid being discovered.

He just didn't expect that they would be going on a long journey this time, and they would travel by boat after traveling by land. He thought that Wei Canghao was very alert, and Xu Shanshan was even more unfathomable. The space on the boat was relatively small. If he continued to pursue them without changing his attire, he would be easily exposed.

So he followed them for a while over land, watched them get on the boat, then asked others about the whereabouts of the cargo ship, and then took the next boat to catch up with it.

"What are they going to do?"

Chi Jiangdong discovered that they had arrived by boat at Longqiu, the largest town on the Huai River, which was also the location of the Jin King's territory and government.

Before he ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, the King of Jin was equivalent to a large landlord in eastern Long. He had no shortage of money, but no freedom. He did not have the power to leave his fiefdom freely, nor did he have the power to interfere in local government affairs.

But after he proclaimed himself emperor, he completely became the leader of the rebels.

The number of his personal soldiers increased to tens of thousands, and he also took over most of the military and political affairs in Longdong. He arbitrarily commanded the local garrison to separate from the central government and manipulated and managed the economy. He even had a civil minister and a military minister under him.

The civil minister was in charge of the local area, and the military minister was in charge of the army. They infiltrated step by step, intending to completely enclose the east and build their own country.

Therefore, Longqiu today is very different from the past. It is not only the ruling area of ​​King Jin, but also his iron-clad fortress.

Anyone who wants to murder or assassinate him here is undoubtedly seeking his own death.

-

淮江
Ever since Gu Yue Jiarong heard Wei Canghao mention the "Xu family" that day, she secretly memorized this key word and planned to inquire about it later.

In fact, the Xu family case caused quite a sensation in Huaijiang. First, a great good man turned into a great sinner, and the "title" was eye-catching enough. Second, the case was closed with the Xu couple committing suicide to apologize, which left many doubts and caused many people to speculate privately.

In addition, there has been a recent wave of speculation about the return of the Xu family's adopted daughter and her touching filial piety. It is said that in order to let her adoptive parents rest in peace that day, she spent all her money and even exposed her identity to hold a grand funeral for them, and they were successfully buried.

After hearing these true and false news, Gu Yue Jiarong finally understood why Xu Shanshan returned to Longdong and why she and Wei Canghao got together.

She brought the Xu siblings back from the "Black Island" to seek revenge, to avenge the Xu couple.

No wonder she was so determined to follow Wei Canghao away that day.

Although they had not been together for a long time, Gu Yue Jiarong had already realized that she was a person who could not tolerate any grain of sand in her eyes.

If the Xu family was really wronged and the Xu couple were forced to death, according to her personality, she would never let go of all the culprits behind this incident.

Gu Yue Jiarong used some of the Gu Yue family's connections to obtain a copied copy of the Xu family's case file from the county government. After looking through it, he suddenly realized something.

Lei Family...

The Lei family appears here too often.

To be on the safe side, Gu Yue Jiarong searched in many places and found out that the Lei family not only reported the Xu family, but also some merchants in Huaijiang. These merchants were called loyal and patriotic by the people not long ago.

He thought for a moment, and decided to go to the Lei family on the pretext of Lei Feng's matter. When he arrived at the Lei Mansion, he found that the Lei family seemed to be planning to relocate the whole family. There were several trucks lined up outside the door, and servants were going in and out to move the equipment in the mansion.

When he stopped to observe, he unexpectedly met Gongsun Ji.

Gongsun Ji was wearing an embroidered shirt and had a handsome face, with a little boy following behind him. He seemed to have just finished visiting the Lei family and was about to leave when he happened to meet Gu Yue Jiarong who was also preparing to visit.

Gu Yue Jiarong didn't know Gongsun Ji, but Gongsun Ji recognized Gu Yue Jiarong at first sight.

Gongsun Ji had an idol when he was in school. He hung the idol's portrait on the wall to remind himself to study hard and attend classes every day. The idol was none other than Gu Yuejun.

He took a deep breath, looked at Gu Yue Jiarong in disbelief, and walked forward quickly with joy.

"But Gu Yue, Mr. Gu Yue?"

Mr. Gu Yue in front of me is much more real than in the painting. He is like a god. Not only does he have a face as white as jade, but also his pure, flawless, quiet and leisurely appearance.

He couldn't help but approach and start a conversation, first introducing himself, then expressing his admiration for him when he was a student. Gu Yue Jiarong then realized that the person in front of him was Gongsun Ji from Yingtian Academy.

He has now become the aide of King Jin and works for him.

Gu Yuejiarong was dressed in an elegant green shirt, her eyes were as clear as water, and she did not reveal any unnecessary emotions.

After exchanging a few polite words with Gongsun Ji, he possessed natural intelligence and was able to easily charm this little fanboy Gongsun Ji into a trance and get the information he wanted to know.

Gongsun Ji came to the Lei family not for personal matters, but to handle official business.

The Lei family was indeed planning to move to Longqiu, and the new house had been basically cleaned up, waiting for the subsequent move-in.

Longqiu is the main city of King Jin. The Lei family must have made some great contributions to receive such a "gift"...

Thinking of this, Gu Yue Jiarong seemed to understand everything.

Until Gongsun Ji could no longer reveal any more secrets, Gu Yue Jiarong politely but unyieldingly ended the conversation with Gongsun Ji.

He claimed that he had something important to discuss with the Lei family, which was related to Lei Feng's "sudden death" in Yingtian Academy.

Sure enough, when the person "Lei Feng" was mentioned, Gongsun Ji recalled his past grievances in the academy, with a complicated expression. He didn't want to continue the conversation, and of course he didn't care how Lei Feng "died suddenly".

He said goodbye to Gu Yue Jiarong respectfully and left with the child.

At this point, Gu Yue Jiarong has already determined that it was actually Prince Jin who was eliminating dissidents behind this, and the Lei family was the "knife" that he used to control the economic lifeline of Longdong.

At this moment, a team of soldiers in black robes trotted over from the other end of the street. They quickly surrounded the gate of the Lei family. This action frightened the servants passing by, and they hurriedly dropped their things and ran away.

Not long after, the officers and soldiers "invited" all the members of the Lei family out of the Lei Mansion.

Is this someone from the government?

Gu Yuejiarong stood aside, his temperament was elegant and noble, different from ordinary people, like a hermit. Although the officers and soldiers saw him, they did not step forward to drive him away or question him.

He dropped his eyelids.

These are all people from the government office. Does this mean that Wei Canghao and his men have already started to take action? The first thing they will do is to get rid of the Lei family, the "henchmen" of Prince Jin.

Then what comes next is...

His calm and thoughtful expression changed slightly. Are they...really planning to poke a hole in the "sky" of Longdong?

His heart was pounding, and as soon as he turned around, he saw Master Jiashan standing under the locust tree. He was wearing a white monk's robe, as thin as a cicada's wing, and his otherworldly temperament made his handsome face even more holy.

He looked at Shanggu Yuejia Rong's slightly stunned eyes, put his palms together, and said calmly: "Amitabha."

"Master Jiashan, why are you here?"

Whatever Gu Yue Jiarong could find out, Jiashan could naturally find out as well. He was just a step slower than Gu Yue Jiarong, but he did not miss the scene of the Lei family being captured by government officials.

She has already started to act. She was not satisfied with the death of Prince Chen, and now she plans to send Prince Jin away as well.

"Donor Gu Yue, I heard that you taught Donor Xu for a period of time. I wonder how her wisdom is?"

Jiashan asked a question that was beyond Gu Yuejiarong's expectations.

He thought for a moment and said, "Xu Shanshan studied under the divine fortune teller. She was not taught poetry, literature, rituals and music since she was a child. Her growth environment is completely different from ours, so her thoughts and ideas are also different. We cannot look at her with the eyes of ordinary people."

His words were somewhat of an accusation that Jiashan viewed Xu Shanshan as "evil", which was somewhat arbitrary and subjective.

He thought that an adopted daughter of the Xu family could do so much for the Xu couple and take care of her non-blood-related siblings. She didn't look like a person with an extremely evil nature.

When Gu Yuejiayue heard Master Jiashan say that he wanted to persuade Xu Shanshan to be a good person, she guessed that Jiashan's Buddhist heart must be contrary to Xu Shanshan's "willful behavior".

He wanted her to follow the rules and not violate any taboos, but Xu Shanshan disregarded all rules and acted according to her own will.

"Donor Gu Yue, her abilities are far beyond our imagination. That is why I have never viewed her with the eyes of an ordinary person. But once she loses control, it will be too late."

Jiashan's eyes were full of wisdom and mystery. His recent insights and understandings had become deeper, so he saw more clearly how dangerous "Xu Shanshan" was.

Gu Yuejiayue knew that he could not convince a man who was determined in his heart. He thought of what he was worried about just now, and said, "Master Jiashan, I guess Canghao and Xu Shanshan might go to Longqiu. Can you go with me?"

Now that he knew about this, he couldn't just stand by and watch. He knew Xu Shanshan wanted to avenge the Xu family, but he couldn't be so reckless and risky.

Now that the King of Jin has just proclaimed himself emperor, he is in the limelight. Even with Wei Canghao's help, it would be a pipe dream to defeat him by confronting his forces on land.

Jiashan nodded: "Okay."

They both have the same path but different intentions.

One who was trying to stop his registered disciple from dying.

One was trying to stop a bloody storm from unfolding.

In short, they all have their own way of being busy.

-

"It's been so long, and you still haven't found out the real cause of King Chen's death?" King Jin had a stern face on his throne.

The people below said with a bitter face: "Master, maybe it was really done by that woman named Xu Shanshan?"

They all believed it, except the King of Jin.

He had a natural contempt and hatred for women, and was unwilling to believe that King Chen was killed by a woman.

"Xu Shanshan? Why does this name sound familiar..." Gongsun Ji thought for a moment, and suddenly remembered something. He said, "My Lord..."

He was just about to report when a voice rushed in from outside.

"Your Majesty, a letter from you was shot in from outside by an arrow——"

"Letter?" King Jin was surprised. He stood up and said, "Bring it here!"

The man handed over the letter tremblingly. King Jin saw that the letter had been opened. This was a normal procedure. After all, who knew if the letter was poisoned?
But he didn't understand why the deputy guard had a frightened expression, he opened his eyes and his eyes widened, and finally he looked fiercely at the deputy guard who was kneeling on the ground.

"You've seen it, haven't you?"

Prince Jin's voice was filled with cold murderous intent.

“…Yes.” The deputy guard had a look of death on his face, but he calmly accepted his fate: “Your Majesty, please do not vent your anger on my family.”

After saying this, he drew his sword without another word, cut his throat and fell to the ground.

"Someone, drag the body out!"

A deputy guard died in the hall under unclear circumstances. Gongsun Ji and the others were all frightened. They glanced fearfully at the letter in Prince Jin's hand, guessing in their hearts that the letter might be the cause of death.