Chapter 380: Surprising Person
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“Since he wishes to court death, we’ll grant him his wis.h.!.+”
Colorful decorative lanterns lit up the place. In the Grand Chancellor’s room, after hearing Gu Chunyi’s words, Lin Qingtian’s face appeared to be expressionless. He took a sip of tea and then put down the teacup, speaking calmly as if he was discussing something insignificant.
“I hadn’t expected for Yan Liqiang to not know what’s good for him. You’d already given him a way out and yet he still insists on seeking death…” The eyes of the Minister of Justice Gu Chunyi 一 whom Yan Liqiang had met once at the joint trial 一 gleamed coldly. That cold gaze made his aquiline nose appear even more sinister and cold. “Yan Liqiang is an unimportant person and his death is of no value. It’s just that with this, he has spoiled Lord’s plans. I read The Great Han Times back when it first came out and thought that it was merely an amus.e.m.e.nt amongst the citizens. If it wasn’t because of the Lord’s sharp eyes, I’d never have thought that just a set of newspapers would be so useful in the future…”
“Although the newspaper is something that’s small, it’s not a small matter anymore when many people are reading it. Instead, it’ll concern the people’s sentiments and opinions!” A profound smile appeared on Lin Qingtian’s face and his eyes glimmered, “Since we can’t take over the ready-made one, we’ll just make one ourselves. There’s no reason that other people can’t do this when a young man with a group of people with mediocre talent did it. We can just copy them, and it’ll just be a matter of spending some money! Other than the Imperial Capital, we can do the same for the other provinces and prefectures that are further away from the Imperial Capital. We’ll slowly build up the newspapers and get them to back each other’s opinions, and then slowly build our reputation…”
“Lord really has good foresight. You don’t have your eyes set on the Imperial Capital only!” Gu Chunyi put up a flattering smile, “I’ll instruct Manager Gu to handle this matter. Those wordsmiths from the publis.h.i.+ng company were merely unpresentable characters in the Imperial Capital to begin with. The ones gathering news for their newspaper are also just a few ruffians. People like these can be found everywhere. In another few days’ time, our newspaper will be complete. I beseech for the Lord to give a name to the newspaper…”
“We’ll just call it the ‘Imperial Capital Times’…” Lin Qingtian gave a name without a second thought. He then turned to look at the other person who was seated next to Gu Chunyi, “On the 15th, everything will depend on you. Don’t drag things out. Your father wrote to me the other time and told me that you’ve made achievements in your learning. He wants me to recommend you to a good post to train you up. If you can handle this matter well, with the t.i.tle as the Crown Prince’s archery teacher, you’ll be able to advance rapidly!”
The person seated next to Gu Chunyi was quite young, seemingly in his twenties. He wore white robes, had muscular arms, and a slim waist. His figure was upright and his appearance seemed to be quite decent. His eyes were narrow and long, with more white than black, appearing fierce and savage like a tiger or a wolf. He gave others a slightly uncomfortable feeling and there was a hint of evilness in them. This person was Anbei General s.h.i.+ Tao’s son, s.h.i.+ Minzhang. He had some reputation in the Imperial Capital archery circle.
Hearing Lin Qingtian’s words, the corners of s.h.i.+ Minzhang’s lips curled up into a slightly brutal but determined smile. “That Yan Liqiang is merely at the Fourth Heavenly Layer in his archery cultivation and isn’t worth mentioning. After I advanced to the Fifth Heavenly Layer in archery, I’ve been diligently practicing the great Sonic Arrow technique. On the 15th, I’ll definitely take that person’s life within five arrows. I’ll let him realize the consequences of going up against the Lord!”
“Mmm!” Lin Qingtian nodded, then shook his head and sighed apologetically, “It’s a pity, it’s a pity. I’ve heard strange things about Yan Liqiang. Have you guys heard of the ‘Journey to the West’ that became popular in the Imperial Capital recently? That boy wrote the story…”
“I’ve yet to read the book ‘Journey to the West’, but that kid is an opinionated fool and his death is nothing to feel pitiful about. The Imperial Capital does not lack strange people. Even if one died, there are still ten or one hundred others…”
Lin Qingtian said indifferently, “Go read it if you have time. Although you’re a subject of the imperial court, you mustn’t distance yourself too much from the secular world. That capable stone monkey in ‘Journey to the West’ is quite interesting. Yan Liqiang does have some resemblance to that stone monkey. If you kill him and then read the book he wrote, you’ll have a different experience…”
“Since Lord says that it’s good, I’ll go get one to read the moment I head back!” Gu Chunyi lowered his head and replied docilely.
…
When the three men in the Grand Chancellor’s manor were casually mentioning Yan Liqiang’s life or death, Yan Liqiang was under the tree in his courtyard, holding the few rare beast core crystals he had obtained previously. He was scratching his head while studying them repeatedly. “d.a.m.n it. Other than channeling vital Qi, how else can I differentiate if this thing is good or bad…”
After settling a huge matter in the morning and finding a big backing for the publis.h.i.+ng company, Yan Liqiang felt that he had a lot less pressure on him.
After handing the publis.h.i.+ng company to the Emperor and then having the people from the publis.h.i.+ng company making some adjustments, the arrangements for most of the people had been settled, especially for Fang Beidou. After Yan Liqiang spoke to Fang Beidou about the details, Fang Beidou was a.s.signed the important task of continuing to stay in the publis.h.i.+ng company to manage everything in the company together with the two a.s.sistants that Eunuch Liu sent over.
Fang Beidou didn’t want to stay in the publis.h.i.+ng company, but Yan Liqiang hinted that if he wished to save people’s lives in another few years, he had to stay. Having the publis.h.i.+ng company in his hands would be extremely useful in the future. Just this reason alone allowed Fang Beidou to willingly stay behind and work under a bunch of eunuchs.
If it had been the Fang Beidou in the past who thought highly of himself and liked to put up a front, he would definitely not be able to accept such treatment. However, to a person who could run around the Imperial Capital naked, this was not something that was hard to accept.
After finding the newspaper company a strong backing so that he wouldn’t have to worry about it in the future, Yan Liqiang now felt very relaxed. After returning to Deer Villa, he was fully focused on preparing for the blindfolded contest.
The blindfolded contest was very important, but the trial on the sixth floor of the Sword Cavern’s crystal paG.o.da was equally as important as well.
After the tough training in the day and going through the Muscle Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing a few times, the small golden vortex in his consciousness grew a little bigger. Therefore, at night, Yan Liqiang decided to just start studying rare beast core crystals in his room.
Yan Liqiang still remembered what Fang Beidou told him about a talisman master’s spiritual sense. Therefore, he kept on trying for the entire night to see if the rare beast core crystals would show any reactions. Unfortunately, despite the fact that Yan Liqiang thought through all kinds of methods, that lump of energy in his consciousness still did not budge. Yan Liqiang had no idea how to mobilize that energy.
Just as Yan Liqiang was focused on studying the rare beast core crystals in his hands, a sudden feeling that someone was spying on him in the darkness rose in his heart…
Yan Liqiang was stunned by this feeling. He even doubted if his senses were wrong. It was because ever since he came to Deer Villa, other than the time Eunuch Liu was testing him out, no one had spied on him before. This place was very safe.
Yan Liqiang did not move, but he just carefully sensed it. He discovered that his senses were not wrong. That spying feeling came from the top of a tall camphor tree that was over 100 meters away west of his courtyard.
That spying gaze kept moving about on the back of Yan Liqiang’s neck, heart, and other critical positions, causing him to feel as if there was something sharp piercing his back like a poisonous wasp flying around him. In just an instant, Yan Liqiang was able to ascertain that the person spying on him was an archery expert. That faintly discernible killing intent also felt familiar to Yan Liqiang…
A face suddenly appeared in Yan Liqiang’s mind…
It was him. The person next to Lin Qingtian’s nephew, Lin Qingtian…
What was wrong? Didn’t Lin Zhe leave the Imperial Capital after the joint trial, sent back home by Lin Qingtian to Hai Province? This person worked for Lin Zhe. Why would he come to Deer Villa to spy on him?
Could it be that… Lin Zhe told him to come, wanting to exact revenge or have him killed?
However, the blindfolded contest was nearing. With Lin Qingtian’s great confidence in winning, how could they possibly complicate matters and send a.s.sa.s.sins?
Yan Liqiang mind moved quickly…
Unless… Unless Lin Zhe was unaware of the blindfolded contest and did not tell Lin Qingtian that he was going to deal with Yan Liqiang. He was doing this behind Lin Qingtian’s back…