Chapter 173: Worldly Affairs
Su Wen felt a headache coming on.
The moment Yan Luoying said that she wanted to go, the house exploded. Everyone wanted to go.
Su Wen couldn"t understand why this Zhou Emperor would transfer Yan Luoying to be his a.s.sistant.
Must this mission be taken as a married couple??
The problem was that Su Wen really did not want to bring these women along. Who knew what kind of situation they would encounter? If he brought them along and they really met with big trouble where he would not be able to take care of himself, Su Wen would feel heartache for any of these women who were injured.
As they were still bickering around, someone suddenly reported that an old man had arrived outside the door.
He wanted to see Su Wen.
Su Wen was very surprised. After all, it was rare for people to come to his residence without a name card.
However, Su Wen took this opportunity to escape!
He hurriedly went to the living room. Not long after, an old man walked in.
Su Wen narrowed his eyes.
"May I know who you are…?"
"Just call me Thirteenth Master!" The old fellow sat down on the chair.
"Prepare a nicer carriage for me tomorrow, with more meat jerky for me in the carriage. I don"t need any fruit. They"re too sweet and I don"t like to eat them. Prepare some nuts and get me a few good books. That"s about it… Let me tell you first, I"m only responsible for protecting you from death. Don"t point at me to do anything!"
As the old man spoke, Su Wen"s eyes narrowed.
"Protect me from death?" he asked tentatively. "Were you sent by His Majesty?"
The old fellow nodded. "That boy asked me to protect you, so I"m going to do so…"
Such big words! Su Wen rolled his eyes as he pieced together the pieces "So you"re a Heaven Rank expert!"
"Kid, you have some foresight!" The old man smiled and said, "Not too stupid!"
Su Wen rubbed his chin. "If that"s the case… if I arrange for a young maid to serve you, can you extend your protection to my entire household if I bring them?"
"Boy, you have a good perspective for things…"
Men, who could refuse a young maid serving them?
After sending the old man off, Su Wen pulled Zhao Jin and instructed in a low voice, "Go to the Hundred Flowers Pavilion and find me someone who knows their stuff, has decent looks and is limber. She must be able to act… She should be able to make people feel comfortable around her, but at the same time not exposing her ident.i.ty as a brothel girl."
Zhao Jin looked at Su Wen and said with a troubled expression, "Young Master… There are many wives in the house. If you were to be discovered, you would be… fine, but I might be made a scapegoat!"
Su Wen was furious. "Am I such a person in your eyes?"
Zhao Jin was silent, but the look in his eyes was very obvious.
That"s right! You are such a person!
Su Wen said helplessly, "It"s not for me. There"s a Heaven Rank expert here, and everyone in our residence are all virtuous daughters. How can we ruin our reputation? Let"s arrange for him someone more unrestrained!"
Zhao Jin finally relaxed. "Is one even enough?" he asked with a smile. "A Heaven Rank elder must be quite fierce! Why don"t we hire two of them?"
Su Wen squinted his eyes and said, "Do you think my money comes from nowhere? I don"t know how long it will take for me to finish my mission. The price of hiring even one won"t be low! Just make do with one!"
Thirteenth Master probably never expected… that Su Wen would find a brothel girl to be his maid…
Before leaving the capital, Su Wen visited the Spiritual Masters Residence.
He dropped by Ni Hongxiao"s place. Her place was still eerie and terrifying, but this time, there were many more corpses present that she brought back from the mystic realm.
"Sister Ni, I"m leaving in a few days. I came to see you."
Su Wen said softly as he looked at Ni Hongxiao who was dealing with the corpses.
Trying to flirt in such an atmosphere… was really uncomfortable…
Fortunately, he had experienced this many times in the Star Martial Mystic Realm and was used to it.
Ni Hongxiao raised her head to look at Su Wen. Suddenly, she stopped all her actions, staring straight at Su Wen.
She then walked to Su Wen"s side and sniffed.
She then exclaimed in a shocked tone, "What did you use? How did your aura become so terrifying?"
Su Wen whispered, "Don"t tell anyone… Vermillion Bird"s blood essence."
Su Wen still trusted Ni Hongxiao to a certain extent.
However, he didn"t expect Ni Hongxiao"s eyes to burst out with a crazed fervor!
She could no longer suppress her excitement as she screamed, "Give me some of your blood essence! Hair! And nails!"
Su Wen smiled bitterly.
He said aggrievedly, "Am I supposed to give it away for free?"
Ni Hongxiao replied grandly, "Say what you want, anything is fine!"
"Then… Marry me?" Su Wen probed.
The excitement on Ni Hongxiao"s face disappeared, turning into coldness as she said in a low voice, "Then forget it…"
"Make it more realistic then, I"ll get to touch you a few more times!" Su Wen smiled.
He knew that Ni Hongxiao would definitely agree to this.
"Alright!"
From the lab came the sound of their conversation…
"Eh, ayo, we agreed on hair… So why are you taking off my pants?"
"Don"t you have hair there too? Maybe it"s different from the hair on your scalp? I"ve to be thorough!"
"Hey, hey, hey… then what are you doing now?"
"Blood essence, blood essence, how can there just be blood without essence? Don"t move around, it"s so annoying… why haven"t you come yet…"
...
On this note, Su Wen set off once again!
This time, it could be said that his entire household was involved!
He had brought along all the wives in the house. The servants and maids were also included. Even the chef was not spared.
The guards naturally had to follow. Zhao Jin, Chu He, and Luo Ning were all present.
Su Wen even brought the Secret Shadow Guard troops that were transferred to him for this mission.
There were a total of 500 people, along with an 8th Grade Earth Rank Wei Guo"an.
The procession of people was very majestic.
Thankfully, he could store the food he ate and used into his Spirit artifact, so his movements were still quite efficient.
Su Wen laid in the carriage against Cui Yumian"s thigh.
Ah, bliss.
On the other hand, the Thirteenth Master was also quite happy. He sat in the carriage and looked at the young maid in front of him.
Sometimes, even as an old fellow, there were certain things that… he couldn"t stay away from.
But this Su Wen had such good perception to arrange this for him… This young man had a bright future.
Meanwhile, the "maid" sat there with a blus.h.i.+ng face.
Her acting skills were so good that the old man was a little hesitant to pounce on her…
However, in his heart, he was already praising Su Wen to the skies…
Su Wen traveled straight for the Qing Prefecture without detours.
Nothing major happened along the way as well.
After all, this group of people was obviously not to be trifled with. Ordinary people would not dare to provoke them.
Within the Taihao Palace…
Xie Bingrui was in a miserable state.
Her lute bones were locked and her entire body was covered in blood.
Her arms were chained up even though she was imprisoned in the dungeon.
An old Daoist smiled at her plight as he spoke, "The news that you are about to be executed has already spread throughout the martial world. Do you think your sect master will continue to be a coward or will he come to save you?"
Xie Bingrui lowered her head in silence, her hair disheveled.
She knew very well that no one would come to save her. Even if they did, it would be in vain.
The moment she fell into the hands of the Taihao Palace, there was no possibility of her leaving again.
"Why don"t you just give out the location of your Demonic Music Sect"s headquarters and we"ll go look for it ourselves… As long as we destroy the Sect and obtain the Aeolian Zither as well as the and secret manual for Heavenly Demon"s Howl… I guarantee you won"t die…"
Xie Bingrui sneered. "Do you think my sect master is a fool? Once the news of my capture spread, I"m afraid he would have been the first to run away. Furthermore, ever since we were surrounded by you guys a few years ago, the Demonic Music Sect no longer has a headquarters and has been reduced to nothing. If we want to contact the sect master, we can only wait for his news."
This was not the first time the old Daoist had heard this.
He turned around and left, saying, "In any case, think about it carefully. If you can help us obtain any of these two items, I guarantee that you will not die! Otherwise… once the day comes… even if you change your mind, you won"t have the chance…"
At this moment, a man arrived at the foot of the mountain.
When he arrived at the entrance of the Taihao Palace and saw the disciples guarding the mountain, the man wiped his sweat and said with a smile, "Daoists, I"m here to deliver a letter to Daoist Mo Qingfeng. Do you think… you could let him know?"
The expressions of the two gatekeepers changed!
Mo Qingfeng… was currently the person with the most limelight in the sect!
His ability was initially already one of the strongest among the Star Ranks in the sect. After he went to the Star Martial Mystic Realm and survived, his strength increased tremendously. He returned to the sect and went into seclusion for a month. After he came out of seclusion, he had already reached a cultivation level of 6th Grade Earth Rank, and started to consecutively challenge all the Earth Rank masters in the sect!
There were even people who had already nominated him for the position of the next Sect Leader.
"Please wait a moment! Do you know who sent the letter?"
The messenger replied, "This letter says that it is Lord Su from the capital. He did not provide any other details!"
The gatekeeper did not dare to be negligent and quickly reported it up.
Upon hearing the sender, Mo Qingfeng immediately knew that the person who sent the letter was Su Wen.
Meanwhile in Qing Prefecture, Chang Sheng County. Su Wen was sitting inside a restaurant.
Mo Qingfeng walked in, went up to the second floor, and sat in front of Su Wen.
Su Wen smiled. "I didn"t expect to see you again so soon."
Mo Qingfeng nodded and said, "May I know why Young Master Su wants to meet me?"
"I want to save Xie Bingrui," Su Wen said calmly.
Mo Qingfeng"s eyes widened immediately. One had to know that this was not something he could decide. He could not help smiling bitterly, "Young Master Su, you think too highly of me. How can this matter be decided just by me?"
Su Wen shook his head and said, "I know that you won"t be of much help in this matter. I"m looking for you because I hope that you can tell your sect leader that Xie Bingrui is related to me and that she can"t die. I haven"t brought up this matter in public yet, so I hope we can discuss this in private for now."
Su Wen"s words made Mo Qingfeng sink into deep thought.
"Are you hoping that I can give you a recommendation?"
Su Wen smiled in response, "I hope you can also speak up for me. Even if you might not have much authority in the sect, I don"t think that"s the case right now. After leaving the Star Martial Mystic Realm, your status will naturally rise. You also need a chance to get involved in the core matters of the sect. If you take the lead, you"ll naturally be able to speak up."
Mo Qingfeng pondered for a moment and said, "I can give it a try!"
Su Wen smiled at his answer.
What a good lad. It was good having a network of connections after all.
The two of them ordered the dishes and exchanged pleasantries. After eating and drinking to their hearts" content, Mo Qingfeng left.
Perhaps many people could not understand why Mo Qingfeng so readily agreed to whatever that Su Wen brought up..
Firstly, for this matter, Mo Qingfeng was only leading and attacking from the side. No matter what, it would not cause any harm to him.
Secondly, even though Su Wen did not promise any benefits, as long as he did it, Su Wen would owe him a favor.
Sometimes, relations.h.i.+ps between people were just that complicated.
Having a favor to tap on was more important than short-term benefits.
Of course, it would be bad luck if they ran into the legendary "son of a b*tch", because to them, favors were not worth a fart in front of material benefits.
However, Mo Qingfeng felt that with Su Wen"s performance in the mystic realm, he still had a bottom line. Now that he helped Su Wen, if he asked Su Wen for help in the future, he would naturally be able to speak freely.
If he rejected him now, it would naturally not be a problem as well. That would mean that he did not want to have any more interactions with Su Wen.
This was not what Mo Qingfeng wanted. Otherwise, he would not have specially greeted Su Wen back in the palace.
It was also because Su Wen saw through this that he came to look for Mo Qingfeng.
No matter what, it would be more convenient if there was someone from the inside helping him.
This was a form of tacit understanding between the two men.
Similarly, both of them were clearly aware that even if the other party helped them, it would be limited, and it was impossible for the other party to say anything that it would harm their own interests. However, a limited amount of help was better than no help at all.
This was the way of the world.
In the Martial World, it was not just purely about killing and fighting.
One was in the royal court, while the other was in the martial world. They might be of use at any time.
Su Wen was very satisfied as he watched Mo Qingfeng leave.
After he returned to the transit station and entered Chang Sheng County, Su Wen was warmly received by the local officials.
Firstly, Su Wen"s father was Su Changqing. Secondly, Su Wen was a member of the Secret Shadow Guard!
No matter how one looked at it, they could not offend him.
Su Wencheng entered and Zhao Jin said in a low voice, "Young Master, the county governor just sent someone to deliver a food box."
Su Wen raised his eyebrows and smiled. "So what?"
"The weight is wrong."
Su Wen narrowed his eyes.
When he entered the house, he saw a bento box placed on the table. Su Wen went forward to open it and saw that there was a plate full of pearls, jade and agate.
The food box was filled to the brim with hundreds of thousands of taels of silver.
Su Wen sighed. It was difficult to be an upright and clean official.
How many people wouldn"t be tempted just by seeing this item delivered to their doorsteps?
The way he delivered it was furthermore concealed and there was no request for favors.
However, if he really accepted it, could he not care if something happened to the county governor in the future? Would it not come back to bite him?
It was always said that the officials protected each other, this was one of the reasons why.
They were all tied up through such benefits.
After some thought, Su Wen said in a deep voice, "Invite the county governor here!"
Zhao Jin nodded and left.
After about an hour, a fat man and Zhao Jin entered together.
Su Wen stood up and smiled. "Official Liu, please sit!"
Zhao Jin tactfully withdrew and gently closed the door.
Su Wen gestured towards the food box on the table and smiled. "Lord Liu, what do you mean by this?"
County Governor Liu glanced at the food container, before saying with a blank expression, "What is Lord Su saying? What do you mean?"
Su Wen opened the lunch box and the items inside were revealed. County Governor Liu immediately exclaimed, "Is this Lord Su"s? It"s good stuff. They are all high-grade and worth a lot. However, why did Lord Su show me these things?"
Look at his EQ. He had pointed out the value of the item, but at the same time, completely rejecting any claim over it.
Su Wen smiled. "Wasn"t this sent over by Official Liu?"
The county governor waved his hands frantically. "You cannot speak nonsense! I am an official, upright and honest. Where have I seen so many treasures? Lord Su, please do not trick me with the things in your house. I will not bear the consequences."
In other words, he insisted that this item was Su Wen"s.
"Hahahaha!" Su Wen laughed loudly and said, "Official Liu! Take this back!"
County Governor Liu immediately stood up and said, "Lord Su, a gentleman loves money, but only takes what is right. I have received the favor of the emperor and have been rewarded by the emperor. This is already a blessing from the heavens. How can I take something from Lord Su? Lord Su, I bid you farewell!"
With that, he turned to leave!
Su Wen grabbed him and said seriously, "County Governor Liu, if you don"t take these things away, I will write a memorial for His Majesty and report the truth!"
With that said, County Governor Liu"s face suffused a look of embarra.s.sment. He asked softly, "Lord, do you think it"s too little? I"m well aware of your name, and I can send someone to make up for it. Lord, please don"t look down on what I have to offer."
Su Wen shook his head and sighed. "I know that this is how the Great Zhou Dynasty behaves! However, His Majesty established the Secret Shadow Guards in order to purge the government. Official Liu, you better take care of yourself. This time, I will pretend that I did not see it, but if there is a next time, don"t blame me for being ruthless. Also, you have to be careful of how you earn money in the future. If you offend me, there will be no mercy!"
County Governor Liu"s expression changed immediately. Helpless, he took the food box and left.
Su Wen sighed helplessly.
The current situation of Great Zhou was really rotten to the extreme.
But at the same time, he could not kill everyone at once.
He could only take it one step at a time. If Su Wen had come to Qing Prefecture to take the appointment, he would definitely use Official Liu as a scapegoat. After all, he had already sent himself up for the slaughter.
However, if he were to touch this person now, it would affect the entire situation. He did not know how long he would be delayed here.
Not to mention, he still had to rescue Xie Bingrui. If he made everyone panic, it would be detrimental to his future plans.
Back in Taihao Palace, the Sect Master"s room.
The Taihao Palace"s Sect Master, Perfected Cui Xu, was meditating.
[TL Note: Perfected is the term that Daoists use, meaning Daoist Spiritual Master or a Perfected Person.)
There was a knock on the door.
"Disciple Mo Qingfeng requests an audience!"
Perfected Cui Xu opened his eyes, a twinkle in his eyes when he heard the name.
Ten years ago, in the Star Martial Mystic Realm, the pride of Taihao Palace had all died.
And this time, Mo Qingfeng had come back alive and reaped great rewards. He might even become a Heaven Rank expert in the future. That would be the future of the sect!
"Come in!"
After Mo Qingfeng entered and bowed, Perfected Cui Xu asked, "What is Qingfeng here for?"
Mo Qingfeng said in a deep voice, "Sect Master, it"s like this. The son of the prime minister, Su Wen, just sought me out, and hopes that we can let Xie Bingrui off!"
As Mo Qingfeng spoke, he stole a glance at Perfected Cui Xu"s reaction. Seeing that he was not displeased after listening, he then said, "I think we should let Xie Bingrui off."
Perfected Cui Xu twirled his beard before replying, "Tell me your reason."
Mo Qingfeng said, "This Su Wen"s father, Su Changqing, is the current prime minister with authority over the court. And this Xie Bingrui is Su Wen"s mother-in-law. Although she is only a concubine, Su Wen is here personally after all. If we insist on executing her… I"m afraid we will offend Su Wen. Su Changqing will also lose face."
"Furthermore, since Xie Bingrui refuses to speak at all, what benefits can we get even if we kill her?"
"Not only do you have no benefits, but you also have to offend others. This sort of action is rather unwise. If you let him go, then Su Wen will owe our Taihao Palace a favor. This disciple thinks that it would be more worth it."
After hearing this, Perfected Cui Xu didn"t say anything about his answer, but instead commanded "Then call your uncles over for a discussion!"
Mo Qingfeng went out to pa.s.s on the message. Not long after, several stewards and elders of the Taihao Palace came.
Perfected Cui Xu then glanced at Mo Qingfeng and said, "Tell the uncles what you just said again."
Mo Qingfeng immediately obeyed and repeated his words.
Unexpectedly, just as he finished speaking, one of them frowned and berated, "Nonsense! A brat is not worth discussing with! Now, our Taihao Palace has spread the news far and wide, and many experts and sect masters are coming to watch the ceremony. If we let Xie Bingrui go now, wouldn"t we be slapping our own faces?"
"Besides, even if Su Changqing is powerful, he is far away in the royal court. What does he have to do with our Taihao Palace? Not to mention Su Wen."
"As the leader of the righteous path, our Taihao Palace has to be upright and uphold justice. Not to mention Su Wen"s mother-in-law, even if that Xie Bingrui is his biological mother, she comes from Demonic Music Sect. We have to kill her!"
These people gave Mo Qingfeng a torrential scolding!