Chapter 1001: Little Fool and Big Cunning
"Wudang, Kunlun, Emei, Qingcheng, Hexi Qin Clan, Shuzhong Tang Clan, Jiangnan Lu Mansion..."

At night, in a guest room of the Sixi Inn in the south of Luoyang City, a handsome young man with delicate features sat at the table, stretching out his slender jade fingers and gently stroking the table, as if he was carefully thinking about something.

"Miss, what are you counting?"

Sitting opposite was a middle-aged man with a fierce face, broad shoulders and a strong waist. He was also a regular customer of major teahouses, wine shops, brothels and gambling houses in Luoyang City in recent times. He was a "like-minded" friend that Xie Xuanxin, the master of the Xianwang Mansion, had made acquaintance with, and the head of the Qingzhou Lei Mansion, one of the "Four Mansions in Shangjing", Lei Zhen.

As for the "young lady" mentioned by Lei Zhen, it was the "handsome young man" sitting opposite him, Xunzhen, who was dressed as a man. He was also the "young man in white" who appeared in the corridor on the second floor of the Donghai Tea House this afternoon.

"I'm counting the spies from the sects and families that showed up at the East Sea Teahouse this afternoon." Xunzhen replied, "The East Sea Teahouse is a place where good and bad people mix together and rumors fly everywhere. Qin Ku and Yan Shun sang the same tune, not only successfully angering the court's lackeys, but also dragging Gu Yue from the Wudang sect into the water, and they just short of revealing Qin Wei's identity in public. Although Luoyang City has gathered many heroes, it is inevitable that there will be large and small fights, but in the past, it was some inferior green forest gangs that had fun, and very few famous and upright sects came out to fight. Today's muddy water involves the three major forces of Wudang, Qin's family, and Xianwang Mansion, and the impact is not insignificant. It is bound to spread from one to ten, and from ten to a hundred, and set off an uproar in Luoyang City."

"Will the situation in Luoyang City become even more chaotic?" Lei Zhen was shocked. "Although Qin Ku did not reveal Qin Wei's identity in public, the factions in the Central Plains are not fools. It is hard to guarantee that they will not have wild imaginations and suspicions."

"What I want is the word 'chaos'." Xunzhen stared at the flickering candlelight and said meaningfully, "Qingfeng secretly colluded with the court. This matter is not a big deal, but it is not a small matter either. I want to see how he explains it to the Xianwang Mansion and the heroes of the world."

"Qingfeng is cunning and will definitely find an excuse to cover up his mistakes. With all due respect, this move by the young lady... I'm afraid it won't pose a fatal threat to Qingfeng."

"I never thought of killing him with one strike, and I know that this is not a problem for him." Xunzhen smiled indifferently, "I just want to use Qin Wei to cause some trouble to Qingfeng, so that he will be too busy to take care of other things before the 'Eradication of Traitors Conference'."

"Considering other things?" Lei Zhen asked, as if he understood, "But this matter... doesn't seem to be in our original plan..."

"Hong Si wrote to say that his nephew Hong Yang has been missing in the south for several months. He sent people to look for him everywhere, but they couldn't find him alive or dead." Xunzhen said quietly, "Hong Yang knows too many of our secrets. Now his whereabouts are unknown... It's hard to guarantee that there won't be any changes. Just in case, I have to make more plans in case of emergency."

"Make more plans?" Lei Zhen seemed to be thinking. "Miss, what you mean is... In addition to using Qin Wei to create trouble for Qingfeng, do you have any other plans?"

"Yes……"

"Bang, bang, bang!"

Before Xunzhen could explain, someone suddenly knocked on the tightly closed door. Then, Abaolu's deep voice came from outside the door: "Xunzhen, Qin Ku and Yan Shun are here."

"Come in."

"squeak!"

Before he finished speaking, the door opened and Abaolu led the carefree Qin Ku and the serious Yan Shun into the room.

"How is it? Is today's show exciting enough?"

As soon as he entered the room, before Xunzhen stood up to greet him, Qin Ku had already sat down at the table, picked up Lei Zhen's tea without any hesitation, and drank it all in one gulp.

After drinking, Qin Ku seemed to sense Lei Zhen's displeasure, smiled awkwardly, and quickly handed the empty teacup to his mouth, and asked seriously: "Brother, I just drank your cup of tea, not killing your whole family, why do you look at me like that? Otherwise... I will spit it out and give it back to you?"

Looking at the shameless Qin Ku, Lei Zhen had a blank expression on his face and asked coldly, "Do you f*cking think you're very popular?"

"puff!"

As soon as he said this, Xunzhen almost choked on the tea he had just drunk. Abaolu and Yan Shun tried hard to suppress their smiles, their tense cheeks trembling slightly.

Qin Ku's face was thicker than a city wall. He was not angry at Lei Zhen's mockery. Instead, he clapped his hands and laughed, praising him repeatedly: "Excellent! Excellent! I will remember your good advice and scold others next time. Haha..."

"you……"

"Let me introduce you to each other!" Lei Zhen has a hot temper, and Qin Ku is unrestrained. If they were allowed to bicker, they would definitely fight, so Yan Shun quickly stepped forward to smooth things over. "This is Lei Zhen, the head of the Lei Mansion in Qingzhou. This is Qin Ku, the head of the Qin family in Hexi."

Abaolu took the opportunity to echo: "We are all family, there is no need to be restrained..."

"Hey!" Qin Ku waved his hand to correct him, "I helped you deal with Qin Wei today because of Liu Xunyi's favor, and I really hate despicable people like Qin Wei. Liu Xunyi is my friend, and it is my duty to help him vent his anger. But being 'one of your people'... Qin is not worthy of it."

"This..." Qin Ku's "ungratefulness" made Abaolu and Yan Shun extremely embarrassed.

"If I'm not mistaken, Master Yan is your spy...deliberately planted in Hexi. As for the purpose...it's probably related to me." Qin Ku pointed at Xunzhen who smiled but didn't say anything, and said with a curled lip, "We are 'old lovers'. If there is anything, we can solve it face to face. Why go through so much trouble?"

Hearing this, Yan Shun couldn't help but blush, and his smile became more unnatural. "For the sake of our past friendship, let's forget about it this time." Qin Ku played with the teacup and said nonchalantly, "It's better not to happen next time, because I don't like being led by the nose."

After saying that, Qin Ku rolled his eyes and asked with a sly smile, "Why did someone from the Xianwang Mansion suddenly appear at the Donghai Teahouse this afternoon? Did you send someone to tip them off?"

"What do you think?" Xunzhen asked instead of answering, "Not many people in the martial arts world know Qin Wei. If I don't find a few 'discerning people' to see through his identity, today's play will be meaningless."

"Who said that?" Qin Ku glared, complaining unwillingly, "You know him, and I can also say that I know him. How difficult can it be to expose him with just one sentence? If you hadn't told me in advance not to expose him, I would have taught him a lesson today. I feel uncomfortable all over when I see that kid's pretentious appearance, and I feel even more unhappy when I think of how badly he hurt Liu Xunyi. Alas! Even if you don't let me kill him, at least let me slap him a few times to vent my anger. It's better than accompanying him to make fun of me with a playful smile."

"Today you called him a 'turtle bastard' by name, and Qin Wei could only endure it silently without saying a word. In the end, he was so angry that his face turned green. Isn't it satisfying?" Xunzhen recalled the dramatic scene that happened in the East China Sea Tea House this afternoon and couldn't help but burst out laughing. "I see you are enjoying scolding him very much. Isn't it more satisfying than slapping him a few times?"

"Women's opinions!" Qin Ku kept nagging like a grouchy woman. "Compared to being a 'talker', I prefer being a 'craftsman'. No matter how harshly I scold you, it's not as satisfying as a slap in the face."

"I'm not protecting Qin Wei, I'm just letting him play a bigger role." Xunzhen gradually stopped teasing and explained slowly, "If we kill him, it will help Qingfeng solve a big problem, and this deal is not worth it. Therefore, letting the people in the Xianwang Mansion expose Qin Wei is far more valuable than a cold corpse."

“I don’t understand!” Qin Ku threw the empty teacup in his hand on the table, slowly stood up, stretched his waist lazily, and said absentmindedly, “I know you must be plotting some ulterior motives, but I am dull and have no ambition, so I neither want to know nor am interested in knowing. I help you provoke Qin Wei and vent Liu Xunyi’s anger, so we don’t owe each other anything. I’m leaving... By the way! Don’t let Master Yan follow me anymore, I’m not used to men staring at my butt with lustful eyes. Hehe..."

After saying this, Qin Ku strode towards the door without paying any attention to Yan Shun and Abaolu who were looking at each other in confusion.

"Wait a moment!"

Before Qin Ku could open the door, Xunzhen's voice sounded again, still calm and unhurried: "You are wrong, we do not owe each other anything."

"What?" Qin Ku raised his eyebrows and asked without turning his head, "Are you planning to charge me interest?"

"Don't get me wrong! It's not that you owe us, it's that we owe you."

"You owe me?" Qin Ku was stunned. "What do you owe me?"

"Not long after Luo Tianjin was killed, our identities were revealed to the Mongols by Qingfeng and his daughter. They set up many obstacles at the pass to the west. If it weren't for the help of Palace Master Qin, how could we have successfully passed through the pass?" Xunzhen smiled, "We were able to return to the Western Regions safely, all thanks to Palace Master Qin's kindness. How dare we not repay the life-saving grace?"

"Yeah!"

After Xunzhen's reminder, Qin Ku's eyes lit up. He suddenly turned around, walked back to the table with a smile on his face, and recalled carefully: "I remember... not only did I send you out of the customs, but I also treated you to a meal, which cost me a lot of money."

"That's right!" Xunzhen readily admitted, "After this incident, Prince Ning still remembers the kindness of Palace Master Qin."

"Hey! We have known each other for a while, don't take it to heart. I have never thought of repaying you for helping you. It's just that..." At this point, Qin Ku pretended to be embarrassed, scratching his head and cheeks, and his words became hesitant, "I know that you are all heroes who will repay a favor. If you don't repay a favor, you will feel uncomfortable. I don't want you to always feel guilty. Otherwise... just send me a few carts of gold, silver and jewelry, or... send me a hundred or so beauties from the Western Regions as a token of your appreciation? Don't mobilize a large number of troops to erect a monument for me, build a temple and burn incense for me... it's too polite!"

"I have lived for most of my life and have never seen someone as foolish and shameless as you!"

"My dear brother, you are so eloquent. I will write this down and scold others later." Qin Ku reacted very quickly. Before Lei Zhen finished speaking, he had already answered fluently. Lei Zhen was so angry that he was fuming, but he could do nothing.

"The things you want are just some vulgar things. Even mountains of gold and silver will eventually run out, and even beautiful women will eventually grow old and lose their beauty." Xunzhen's beautiful eyes turned, and then she smiled slyly, "I want to give you a rare gift... Its value is far beyond the comparison of those vulgar things."

"What gift?" Qin Ku frowned, as if he was doubtful.

"What do you care about most right now?" Xunzhen said seriously, "Just tell me! The protagonist of the 'Anti-Traitor Conference' is your good friend. He is in great trouble now. Do you want to save him? Or... do you dare to save him? Or... your friendship is limited to scolding Qin Wei for him?"

"What do you want to say?" Qin Ku narrowed his eyes slightly, no longer showing any playfulness on his face, and asked word by word, "Can you save him? Just with... you guys?"

"It's not new that I saved him, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to escape Lin'an alive." Xunzhen said confidently, "But I can tell you clearly that there are more people who want to save him than just us. There are many big shots you wouldn't expect, who are capable of competing with the leader of the martial arts world. This matter is not just about the moral principles of the martial arts world or the loyalty of friends, but also about the life and death, honor and disgrace, survival and prosperity of each of us."

"how do I say this?"

"As long as we work together, we can not only rescue Liu Xunyi, but also achieve our own success and even completely change... the current situation of the Central Plains martial arts world. By then, you will have everything you want. Not only will you have endless gold, silver and jewelry to squander and beautiful women to enjoy, but you will also be able to lead the Hexi Qin family to the top of the Central Plains martial arts world, and prosper for thousands of years without any worries."

……

(End of this chapter)