Chapter 1072: Knowing the Inside by Looking at the Outside
As they were talking, Xunzhen and his party had already entered the heart of Danfeng Garden and were strolling northward along Ningcui Lake.

The scenes inside and outside Danfeng Garden are completely different.

Just across the wall, outside the garden, there were crowds of people and the noise was deafening. Inside the garden, however, it was spacious and quiet. Except for the occasional teams of black-clad guards patrolling the palaces, there were almost no other figures.

"Does the 'family' that the young lady mentioned include us?"

After a short silence, the hot-tempered Lei Zhen could no longer suppress his inner anxiety. As soon as he said this, Abaolu, Hong Si and others immediately cast their curious eyes towards Xunzhen who was deep in thought.

"Perhaps in Xie Xuan's heart... except for the 'old ministers' of the Xianwang Mansion, the others are not truly 'his own people'. This can be seen from the fact that the black-clothed guards dared to offend Teng Sanshi and Xiao Zhirou." Xunzhen thought, "In this way, people like us... are of course also on Xie Xuan's guard."

Xiao Yang asked, not quite understanding, "Since Xie Xuan doesn't trust Teng Sanshi, why did he nominate Teng Sanshi to temporarily take over as the leader of the Central Plains Wulin? Isn't he afraid that Teng Sanshi will take the opportunity to suppress the Xianwang Mansion?"

"As the saying goes, 'good things should be kept within the family'. For Xie Xuan, this is the only solution." Xunzhen shook his head slowly, keeping a low profile. "First, the time has not come yet to recommend Liu Xunyi. If we force him, it may be too much. Second, since Luo Tianjin's death, the Xianwang Mansion has been going from bad to worse. Now Xie Xuan is not qualified to compete for the power of the martial arts world, let alone other people in the mansion. For these two reasons, Xie Xuan had to recommend a qualified and relatively close person to temporarily replace the leader. "Teng Sanshi is the 'vice leader', and he is just 'occupying' the throne of the leader for Liu Xunyi to prevent others from getting involved. As the 'vice leader', Teng Sanshi has seniority, qualifications, and prestige... Most importantly, he is related to Liu Xunyi by blood, and will never do anything to Liu Xunyi's disadvantage. If Xie Xuan does not recommend Teng Sanshi, will he recommend Jin Fuyu? As long as Xie Xuan keeps Liu Xunyi firmly 'tied' to his side, Teng Sanshi will not dare to harm the Xianwang Mansion. In the future, the power of the martial arts world will still fall into the hands of the Xianwang Mansion."

"I understand!" Lei Zhen suddenly realized, "Xie Xuan has put up such a big battle, the real purpose is only one... to keep the deputy patriarch in the Xianwang Mansion and make him the young master of the Xianwang Mansion. As for the relationship between the deputy patriarch and the Xiangxi Teng Clan and Jueqing Valley... and even his identity as the Xilu Wuzong, Xie Xuan hopes that he will not recognize it at all."

"We can't just generalize. Xie Xuan doesn't want Liu Xunyi to sever ties with people outside of the Xianwang Mansion. First, that's impossible. Second, if Liu Xunyi wants to make further progress, he can't just rely on the power of the Xianwang Mansion. The strong support of the Xiangxi Teng Clan, Jueqing Valley, and even the rest of us... is indispensable. Therefore, rather than saying 'not recognizing', it's better to say... Xie Xuan wants to help Liu Xunyi distinguish between close and distant relatives, and priorities."

"Yes, yes, yes! Recalling what Xie Xuan said and did today, this is exactly what he meant." Abaolu suddenly understood after Xunzhen's "instructions". The more he thought about it, the more frightened he became, and the more he spoke, the more emotional he became. "Xie Xuan took advantage of the situation when the situation was not stable and everyone was in chaos, and took Liu Xunyi back to the Xianwang Mansion without thinking twice, and then made a big fuss, announcing to the world that Liu Xunyi was the young master of the Xianwang Mansion. In this way, even if Liu Xunyi did not want to accept the identity of the 'young master of the Xianwang Mansion', he would probably not be able to explain himself and would not be able to get rid of it. As for other identities, such as the grandson of Teng Sanshi, the son of Xiao Zhirou, and the deputy leader of Xilu Wuzong... all were regarded as his 'vassals' rather than his 'true roots'. Tsk tsk tsk tsk! Xie Xuan is indeed Luo Tianjin's confidant, and he is really cunning. This 'kill first and report later' trick is really clever."

"Xie Xuan endured humiliation and lived under the watchful eyes of Qingfeng and his daughter. He took great pains to secretly help Liu Xunyi survive one disaster after another. Why? Of course, it was to let Liu Xunyi return to his ancestral home, inherit Luo Tianjin's legacy, and expand the family business of the Xianwang Mansion." Xunzhen smiled slightly with no objection, and then his eyes fixed and changed the subject, "If Xie Xuan only wanted to find Luo Tianjin's loved ones who were stranded outside and retain the 'successor' for the Xianwang Mansion, it would be human nature for him to do everything possible to eliminate dissidents. But if..."

"If what?" Abaolu asked impatiently.

"If Xie Xuan is not as simple as we thought, he will find Liu Xunyi at all costs, not only to fulfill Luo Tianjin's last wish, but also for..."

At this point, Xunzhen's eyes suddenly showed an indescribable gloom. A terrifying thought seemed to surge in her heart, causing her face to change from gloomy to bright, and her words to stammer, unable to continue.

"What the young lady means is..."

"Hold the emperor hostage... to control the princes."

"hiss!"

When Xunzhen spoke out his thoughts word by word, Abaolu, Xiao Yang, Hong Si and others were all shocked and suddenly felt their scalps tingling and their backs chilled.

"This... can't be?" Abaolu swallowed hard and said intermittently, "Today, Xie Xuan was willing to die for Liu Xunyi in public, how could he..."

"I believe Xie Xuan, thinking of Luo Tianjin's kindness, has high hopes for Liu Xunyi and promised to be loyal to him. Everything he has done for Liu Xunyi during this period is not false. But... this is a different time. Different situations, different timings, different identities, different situations, it is hard to guarantee that people will not change their minds and have other ideas. There is a saying that 'it is easy to share adversity, but difficult to share wealth'. Just now, Liu Xunyi insisted on letting Ling Xiaoxiao and the Wudang disciples go despite Xie Xuan's strong opposition, and stopped Xie Xuan from sending people into the Xianwang Mansion to monitor them. His repeated stubbornness made Xie Xuan very angry. Xuan was furious and even dissatisfied. He suddenly discovered that the real Liu Xunyi and the "young master" he had been thinking about were very different in terms of their behavior and words and deeds. People are like this. When they can't get it, everything is perfect. Once they get it, the gap between reality and ideal often makes people feel lost. More importantly, there are many ways to repay Luo Tianjin. If Liu Xunyi is really a "helpless Adou", who dares to predict that Xie Xuan will not do something "unexpected" to protect the "kingdom" that Luo Tianjin has worked so hard to build? "

"What action..."

"Forget it!" Before the anxious Abaolu and others could ask further questions, Xunzhen waved his hand impatiently, "Maybe I am judging others by my own standards. Remember! Those words just came out of my mouth and entered your ears. Heaven and earth know, you know, I know, and we know, and we must never let anyone else know. If anyone can't control his mouth and dares to gossip in front of outsiders... especially in front of Liu Xunyi and the people in the Xianwang Mansion. What will be the consequences? You know it in your hearts!" "I will follow the orders of the eldest lady!"

Xunzhen seemed unwilling to dwell on the previous topic, so he asked casually: "Now... who is guarding Liu Xunyi?"

"Although the inner court is heavily guarded, there are still many people waiting outside the deputy master's room for news. Miss Pan and those doctors are not to be mentioned. There are also Xie Xuan, Murong Bai, Deng Quan, Xiao Zhirou, Yun Jianping, Teng Sanshi, Yun Zhuiyue, Qin Ku, Xue Huzi, Su He... all waiting in the inner court." Hong Si recalled carefully while counting on his fingers, "In addition to them, the heads and patriarchs of Shaolin, Kunlun, Kongtong, Tang Sect, Qingcheng, Emei, and Lu Mansion were also invited by Xie Xuan to spend the night in Danfeng Garden. These people would send people to the inner court every once in a stick of incense to inquire about the deputy master's news."

Hearing this, Xiao Yang couldn't help but look surprised, and couldn't help but tease: "Shaolin, Kunlun, Kongtong, and Tang Sect had already 'abandoned the dark and joined the light' during the 'Eradication of Traitors Conference', so it's not surprising that they appeared in Danfeng Garden. But Qingcheng, Emei, and Jiangnan Lu Mansion are obviously the cronies of Jinjianwu, and are clearly separated from the Xianwang Mansion. Aren't Zuo Hongxuan, Miao'an, and Lu Tingxiang afraid that Xie Xuan will 'lure them into a trap' and lure them into Danfeng Garden and catch them all in one fell swoop?"

"The more dangerous a place looks, the safer it is." Xunzhen smiled indifferently, "Liu Xunyi has just cleared his bad name and urgently needs to establish a good reputation in the martial arts world. Now is the critical time to make friends with all the major sects. Even if Xie Xuan and Lu Tingxiang have a blood feud, they would not choose to take action at this critical juncture, otherwise they would only cause controversy and cut off their own retreat. What's more, the Lu Mansion in Qingcheng, Emei, and Jiangnan are only close to Jinjianwu. Although they have some discord with the Xianwang Mansion, it is far from being irreconcilable. In addition, Lu Tingxiang repeatedly helped Xie Xuan and Liu Xunyi out of trouble at the "Eradication of Traitors Conference", and Zuo Hongxuan took the initiative to propose to re-promote the leader of the martial arts world. Regardless of their intentions, at least on the surface... their intention to show goodwill to Liu Xunyi is obvious, and this is witnessed by all heroes in the world. As the saying goes, "Don't hit a smiling person." Xie Xuan has experienced many storms and he knows what he can and cannot do better than anyone else. Zuo Hongxuan, Lu Tingxiang, and Miao An also know this clearly, otherwise how dare they take the risk alone? "

"The young lady has understood their thoughts very well. I admire her!"

"It seems... Liu Xunyi is really different now." Xunzhen ignored the compliments of Abaolu and others, her beautiful eyes sparkling, and her words became more and more meaningful. "In just one day, the 'rat crossing the street' who was wanted by everyone and had to hide from place to place has transformed into an important 'number one figure' in the Central Plains martial arts world. At the beginning, his life was hanging by a thread and no one cared about him. Now he has only suffered some 'skin injuries', and he is so anxious that he can alarm half of the martial arts world and make so many big names unable to sleep and eat. Interesting! Really interesting!"

"I don't believe that if Liu Xunyi leaves us, the Central Plains martial arts world will collapse?" Abaolu said contemptuously, "After all, how can these people give him face? They are clearly afraid of the power behind him."

"Who says Luo Tianjin is unworthy of being a father? If Liu Xunyi was not his own flesh and blood, how could he have such a chance to ascend to heaven today? There are tens of thousands of relatives in the world, but only one in ten thousand can leave a great cause for their descendants."

"It's getting late now, and Miss has been tired all day. Should we go to the guest house to rest..."

"No!" Xunzhen interrupted Hong Si's concern without hesitation, "Take me to visit Liu Xunyi."

"But……"

"I've just said that Liu Xunyi is no longer the same as he was before. He is now a great figure who can shake the Central Plains martial arts world with just one stomp of his feet. Not to mention that he is unconscious, even if he is just bitten by a mosquito... I must go to visit him. Moreover, how to deal with the traitor Yuan Xiao... still needs to be decided by him, the 'Deputy Sect Leader' himself."

"This..." When Yuan Xiao was mentioned, Hong Si, Yan Shun and Lei Zhen all looked embarrassed.

“Miss, let alone the deputy sect leader who is still in a coma. Even if he wakes up, there will be countless people who want to see him. I’m afraid it won’t be our turn for a while…”

"Do you really think that I went to 'visit' just to see him?" Xunzhen raised his eyebrows, with a hint of playfulness in his tone.

"This……"

"Liu Xunyi may not wake up, but I cannot not go. I go to 'visit' not to see him, but to let other people who 'visit' him... see me."

……

(End of this chapter)