Chapter 176: Great Zhou Music Academy
The group set off again, turning towards the Li Prefecture this time.
Su Wen laid in the carriage with his head resting on Cui Yumian"s thigh once again. He closed his eyes and concentrated.
He knew that the true challenge would only begin when he arrived in the Li Prefecture.
"Su Wen." Suddenly, a voice came from outside the carriage.
It was Xie Bingrui.
Su Wen opened the car window and raised his head with a smile. "You"ve managed to establish contact?"
"I"ve contacted him! The Sect Master has sent news that we can meet in Jiashan County!"
"Alright, I got it! Mother-in-law, do you want to get in the carriage?" Su Wen asked with a smile.
"Hmph!" Xie Bingrui snorted and turned to leave.
Su Wen"s gaze gradually turned cold as he watched her leave. As expected, Xie Bingrui agreed to his plan.
According to Xie Bingrui, the Demonic Music Sect"s Sect Master was at the 8th Grade Earth Rank.
In that case… with Qing Xuanzi, Zhao Jin, Chu He, and himself, there shouldn"t be much of a problem.
How was this a big problem? They had two 8th Grade Earth Ranks by their side.
In addition, while Chu He, Zhao Jin, and Su Wen"s cultivation levels weren"t that high, their combat strength wasn"t weak.
However, Su Wen was just like that. Even a lion would use its full strength to hunt a rabbit, let alone a Demonic Music Sect"s Sect Master?
He didn"t want to create a situation where his ambush would fail. However, what he didn"t know was that the Sect Master had already broken through to the 9th Grade!
As for Luo Ning, he had already separated from Su Wen"s team! Su Wen decided to let him handle another matter!
The team slowly advanced towards Jiashan County.
Finally, Su Wen arrived once again at Jiashan.
Su Wen came out and stood on the carriage with mixed feelings.
Now that there were no more refugees in the Li Prefecture, everything seemed to have returned to peace.
However, under this calmness, how many vengeful spirits were there?
No one knew.
The welcoming delegation could already be seen from afar.
The county magistrate had led a group of officials to wait at the county city"s entrance.
Su Wen slowly arrived with his men.
The county magistrate was around 50 years old. When he saw Su Wen, he immediately stepped forward and bowed. "Under Jiashan County"s order, I, Song Huaigu, welcome Lord Su!"
His posture was very humble.
Su Wen glanced at him and said arrogantly, "Have you arranged the banquet?"
Song Huaigu replied honestly, "Reporting to my lord, everything has been arranged!"
Su Wenli could not be bothered with him. He directly entered the carriage and commanded, "Enter the city!"
From the beginning to the end, he didn"t even look the county magistrate in the eye.
Song Huaigu lowered his head, anger flas.h.i.+ng across his eyes.
Such contempt was too much!
However, when he raised his head, there was already a smile on his face.
He watched as Su Wen"s team entered the city.
A person beside him came over and whispered, "Lord, what do we do now?"
"Send someone to keep an eye on Su Wen"s every move! Xue Wanjun was captured by him, and the Ma Family was investigated because of this! We must not be careless around this person!"
He then sighed and followed Su Wen into the city.
In the county office, Su Wen sat down and the dishes prepared by Song Huaigu looked pretty good. Su Wen did not say anything and immediately led his subordinates to eat and drink. After he was full, he threw his chopsticks aside and stood up to leave!
Song Huaigu wanted to talk to him several times, but he found that he had no chance.
Pa!
Song Huaigu kicked over a square table and said angrily, "What the h.e.l.l!"
The rest of the servants did not care and quickly went up to clear the area.
After returning to the transit station, Zhao Jin immediately went up to Su Wen, whispering, "Young master, there are quite a few people watching this place."
Su Wen smiled and said nonchalantly, "Just let them keep an eye on us. Do you think they"ll be able to keep an eye on us? Hurry up and get Xie Bingrui to contact that Demonic Music Sect Master! Let"s kill this guy first!"
"Yes!" Zhao Qian retreated.
Su Wen stood in the courtyard and pondered for a moment before chuckling. "Song Huaigu, Ma Family, I"ll slowly play with you guys!"
Xie Bingrui quickly sent the news. Three days later, she made an appointment with Demonic Music Sect Master Fang Mushan in a small forest on the west side of the city!
Three days later…
Xie Bingrui walked out alone while Su Wen and the others trailed behind her.
Soon, they arrived at the agreed location.
But unexpectedly, even after waiting for an hour, Fang Mushan was nowhere to be seen.
Even Su Wen couldn"t help but ask, "What happened?"
Xie Bingrui shook her head. "I don"t know!"
They had no idea that Fang Mushan was so cunning, that he actually laid in wait in the vicinity of the transit station!
Because of the difference in cultivation, Zhao Jin and the others were able to discover the person Song Huaigu had sent to keep an eye on him, but they were unable to discover him.
After Xie Bingrui left, he noticed Su Wen and the others following behind her.
After watching Su Wen and the others leave, Fang Mushan"s expression darkened.
"Haha, it"s all thanks to me taking countermeasures. This woman is trying to trick me!"
He turned his gaze towards the station and sneered. "What a pity. You don"t know that my cultivation has already broken through to the 9th Grade! Want to plot against me? I heard that Su Wen"s wives and concubines are all extraordinarily beautiful. I wonder what expression he will have when he comes back and sees his wives and concubines being abducted by me?"
"Hehe! Today will be fun!"
As he pondered, he watched Su Wen and the others leave before sneaking into their lodgings.
However, as soon as he entered, he saw an old man holding a woman in his arms. They were talking about the old man"s past in the courtyard.
"Thinking back… In the capital, my Thirteenth Master"s name was extremely resounding…"
Fang Mushan sensed that the old man"s "cultivation level" was not at all high!
Fang Mushan laughed out loud. "Haha! Old fart, to think you"re still bragging. You"re quite old and shameless. Today, I"ll send you on your way…"
As he spoke, he struck out with his palm.
His Qi-infused palm shot out!
However, what shocked Fang Mushan was that his palm strike was akin to a rock sinking into the ocean.
The person before him did not react at all.
The old man hugged Ying Hua and pointed at Fang Mushan with a smile. "Do you see that? This guy is a top expert in the martial world with a 9th Grade Earth Rank. But in front of this old man, he"s nothing!"
Fang Mushan was dumbfounded!
This old fellow was not simple!
He immediately had thoughts of escape!
But just as he turned around, before he could do anything, he saw that the same old man had appeared in front of him, still carrying Ying Hua in his arms.
A finger tapped on his forehead and a burst of Qi entered his brain. The old man chuckled and said, "Brat, you"re already here and you still want to leave? If you move again, your head will explode. Wait for that little b.a.s.t.a.r.d Su Wen to come back and deal with you!"
Fang Mushan was at a loss.
He was a 9th Grade Earth Rank, but in front of this old man, he was like a powerless chicken.
The other party"s strength was obvious now!
Heaven Rank! Only a Heaven Rank expert could be so terrifying!
He squeezed out a smile that was uglier than crying. "Senior, I went into the wrong house…"
The Thirteenth Master sneered. "Little brat, didn"t you say that I, your grandfather, was bragging just now? Just stay here! I"m telling you, you"re not allowed to move. If you dare to move, the Qi force embedded in your head will explode!"
Fang Mushan thus obediently stood in the courtyard.
Finally, Su Wen and the others returned. Once they entered the courtyard, Xie Bingrui was shocked!
"Sect Master!"
Fang Mushan shouted, "Quick! Tell that senior that it"s all a misunderstanding! We"re all on the same side!"
Su Wen laughed. This fellow was really unlucky!
He turned to look at Xie Bingrui and said with a smile, "It seems that this Sect Master of yours doesn"t trust you?"
Xie Bingrui looked at Fang Mushan and asked coldly, "Why did you lie to me?"
Before Fang Mushan could say anything, Su Wen spoke out first, "What else could it be? He just didn"t trust you and wanted to play with you. However, he didn"t expect himself to run into a steel wall!"
As he spoke, Su Wen"s expression gradually turned sharp. He looked at Fang Mushan and gritted his teeth. "You b.a.s.t.a.r.d, you really make me angry! I hate it when people aim for my family!"
Fang Mushan looked at Xie Bingrui and said, "It"s a misunderstanding. It"s really a misunderstanding! Bingrui, I came here in a hurry because I was worried about you. Don"t you know what I"ve been thinking about you all these years?"
Xie Bingrui walked up to him and smiled. "Of course I know!"
"Pfft!"
Xie Bingrui suddenly struck out with her palm!
However, Fang Mushan raised his hand to stop her by instinct.
However, the next second, the Qi bomb planted in his head exploded!
Bang! His head exploded like a watermelon!
Everyone jumped up in fright.
No wonder this fellow didn"t dare to leave, instead waiting here like a fool.
The Thirteenth Master laughed. "This brat, how dare he retaliate after I told him that he will explode if he moves!"
Su Wen immediately bowed to him. "Thank you, Thirteenth Master."
If not for this person, Su Wen would not have dared to imagine the consequences.
The Thirteenth Master waved his hand before returning to his room with Ying Hua.
Ying Hua was extremely surprised. In reality, although the old man had always had a special status in the team, Ying Hua did not feel that the old man was very fierce.
After all, old fellows usually play chess or something…
She took most of his words only at face value!
But to think… he was actually so powerful!
After they entered the room, Su Wen looked at Xie Bingrui and smiled. "What do you plan to do? How are you going to deal with the remaining members of the Demonic Music Sect? This person died in your hands, how do you plan to explain it?"
Xie Bingrui laughed in response as she looked at Su Wen. "Have you forgotten what my nickname is?"
The Thousand Illusion Demoness!
Obviously, she planned to disguise herself!
Xie Bingrui said in a low voice, "I"ve known Fang Mushan for many years. I know everything about him."
"Don"t brag. He had already reached the 9th Grade, yet you still told us he"s in the 8th Grade. Do you still think you know him like the back of your hand?" Su Wen said bluntly.
Xie Bingrui stroked her hair and smiled. "It was an accident!"
Su Wen couldn"t be bothered to argue with her. He took out a banknote worth 100,000 taels of silver from his chest pocket and handed it to her. "Take this money as the initial funds. I"ll get Qing Xuanzi to go with you. You guys can do whatever you want then."
The old Daoist at the side was stunned!
Let him be Xie Bingrui"s subordinate?
Su Wen looked at Qing Xuanzi and smiled. "I"m sending you, firstly, to help take care of my dear mother-in-law. Secondly, I want you to help me keep an eye on her too. Although the Demonic Music Sect belongs to the evil faction, try not to let her do anything outrageous.
By the side, Zhao Jin was overjoyed!
This Daoist priest is finally leaving! A mountain cannot have two tigers, a master should not have two boot-licking lackeys!
Su Wen had his own considerations. Xie Bingrui had to be controlled by someone. To put it bluntly, in terms of character, Su Wen"s trust in Xie Bingrui was not as deep as Qing Xuanzi"s.
As he spoke, Su Wen smiled at Xie Bingrui and said, "I"ll give you the money, and the experts. However, these are just to help you settle the internal affairs of the Demonic Music Sect. I"ve made a new strategy for you. Firstly, we need to change the name. What Demonic Music Sect? That would be stupid. In the future, we"ll change the name to Great Zhou Music Academy, specialized in teaching music.
We"ll use this as a cover to recruit new students and recruit some good seedlings to teach martial arts! The source of income for the Sect would be through the school tuition fees, as well as concert fees! Why fight and kill? When the time comes, we"ll nurture talents. I"ll build a music college in the capital for you guys to create hype. Then, money will come in large quant.i.ties."
"Just focus on your studies. If anyone dares to have any thoughts about you, I will use the Royal Court"s power to settle it for you!"
At this point, Su Wen turned to Xie Bingrui and said, "The hundred-year plan to revitalize the Demonic Music Sect is now in your hands. What you need to do now, is to acc.u.mulate your strength. The unification of the martial world will only be a matter of time!"
Would she be able to conquer the martial world? Su Wen did not know.
Whatever the case, this mother-in-law would be busy for at least ten years.
Xie Bingrui"s jaw dropped.
The Great Zhou Music Academy?
What a strange name!
However, she fell into deep thought when she heard Su Wen"s words.
She knew very well that the most important thing for the Demonic Music Sect right now was to acc.u.mulate strength! She also knew that it was impossible for them to ascend to the heavens in a single bound.
Su Wen"s method was indeed a method to acc.u.mulate strength steadily.
The source of money and the source to search for talents had been arranged.
"Alright! We"ll do as you say!" With that, Xie Bingrui looked at Qing Xuanzi and gritted her teeth. "From today onwards, you will be the Vice Princ.i.p.al of the Great Zhou Music Academy!"
At this moment, Su Wen absolutely would not expect that after so many years, this Music Academy would become one of the most popular schools in the entire continent and nurture countless musical talents to stun the world.
Of course, that was all for later.
At this moment, he just wanted to find something for his mother-in-law to do.
You like to play around, right? Go play around with those energetic children then.
In the following period of time, Su Wen started to set up the Secret Shadow Guards" Branch.
"This door must be grand! Yes, it must be grand!"
"The dungeons and isolation chambers cannot be missing!"
"Also, the intelligence agency needs to be built. Go recruit more spies…"
He had to do these things bit by bit.
Including the people he brought, how to settle them was a problem.
It was impossible for Su Wen to let everyone stay at the transit station with him.
While he was busy, Wei Guo"an was a little anxious.
He found Su Wen and couldn"t help but ask, "Lord Su, when are we going to start investigating the officials of Li Prefecture?"
Su Wen glanced at him and smiled. "Who said we"re going to start the investigation?"
Wei Guo"an said anxiously, "His Majesty gave the order that we have to investigate these officials as soon as possible, but ever since Your Excellency arrived in the Li Prefecture, you don"t have any intention of starting the investigation at all? You only focused on building a branch, isn"t this putting the cart before the horse?"
Su Wen stroked his chin and said with a smile, "Son of a b*tch, don"t panic. You don"t have to be the scapegoat if you mess things up. Alright, quickly bring your brothers to find a house and settle down. That"s the thing we need to focus on right now."
Wei Guo"an could only helplessly leave.
After he left, Yan Luoying came over and said in a low voice, "Husband, what he said makes sense. You"ve been in the Li Prefecture for almost a month. Why haven"t you made a move yet?"
Su Wen sighed and said, "How can it be so easy? I"ve captured Xue Wanjun and brought the Ma Family into the picture. How can they not be on guard against me? Just take a look. The number of people monitoring our surroundings has not decreased at all in this duration of time. If I start investigating, once these guys are alerted, they will cause trouble again. This won"t do."
Yan Luoying asked curiously, "Then what should we do? We can"t keep doing this, right?"
Su Wen smiled and said, "Don"t worry, I"m already making a move. It"s just that you haven"t seen it yet!"
At this moment, in the government office of Jiashan, Song Huaigu and more than ten people were drinking and holding a banquet.
He laughed loudly and said, "I still thought that Su Wen was very powerful. He hasn"t even done a fart in the past month! I still have to rely on everyone"s support."
Ma Sheng was the manager of the Ma Family in Jiashan County. He stood up and said with a smile, "Right now, our Li Prefecture is an iron plate. Even His Majesty would have to think twice before making a move on us, let alone Su Wen.
It was purely a coincidence that this kid was able to pull Xue Wanjun out. In this Li Prefecture, even if he has extraordinary abilities, as long as he dares to move recklessly, we will rebel against him. At that time, His Majesty will still have to punish him in order to calm the situation!"
"Haha, Brother Ma is right. As long as we"re on the same side, why should we be afraid of Su Wen?"
Everyone drank together.
After drinking, Song Huaigu smiled and said, "All the families have reaped a bountiful harvest this year, right? We may be joking, but the food that should be handed over cannot be missing a single grain. The Royal Court"s taxes are His Majesty"s bottom line. If we don"t even pay taxes, His Majesty will probably not have so many scruples."
Everyone nodded and said, "Don"t worry, County Magistrate. We"ll definitely hand over the money and food as we counted."
Speaking up to this point, Ma Sheng sighed and said, "Although there"s a lot of money and food this year, it"s not easy to sell them. The weather is good everywhere, and the people don"t lack food on hand. The price of food isn"t high."
This was a difficult matter, or perhaps everyone was worried.
One had to know that during a famine, food would be extremely expensive, but when it came times of good harvests, it was another matter.
First of all, this new grain would never be priced the same as older grain.
If they could not sell it this year and next year too yielded a bountiful harvest, the food will be even less valuable.
Especially now in the Li Prefecture where the population was greatly reduced.
Everyone sighed and said, "Business is not easy. The people have food but no money. We have squeezed out most of last year"s earnings."
At this moment, Song Huaigu laughed and said, "Since everyone is so worried, I have a way to earn money."
"Eh?"
Everyone looked at him.
Song Huaigu said, "The situation is like this. I have a concubine who has a younger brother. He was originally a hooligan from the countryside, but I don"t know if he was suddenly blessed by his ancestors or some other fateful coincidence, but he happened to be able to help a steward of a trade caravan. This trade caravan belongs to a wealthy merchant, the Mi family. However, there is a rule in the trade caravan. Money can be used as a stake in their operations.
This younger brother begged for 1,000 taels of silver from my concubine. In less than seven days, he returned with 1,200 taels of silver! Later on, this kid hardened his heart and took 1,800 taels of silver from my concubine. With a total of 3,000 taels of silver, he disappeared and there was no news for more than 20 days. I initially thought that he got cheated, but in the end, he sent home another 4,000 taels of silver a few days ago!"
Song Huaigu smiled and said, "I have also taken 30,000 taels of silver to invest in my brother-in-law! If this returns safely this time, it will prove that he is an honest merchant. When the time comes, I can discuss it with my brother-in-law and introduce him to everyone."
He smiled until his eyes were only slits.
There was one more thing that he had yet to say. The other party had given him 50,000 taels of silver and promised that as long as he pulled more people over, he would get half of the profits from the other party"s investment!