Chapter 18 Dongfu Secrets
Zhao Yuan only learned about this secret after meeting the prime minister. If it weren't for an emergency, Zhao Yuan would never tell Liu Xunyi easily.

"Do you still remember the man and woman you, Qin Wei, and Qiu Han protected three days ago?" Zhao Yuan sorted out his thoughts and said, "You already know the true identity of that woman, she is the beloved daughter of 'Northern Sage King' Luo Tianjin. Then do you know who this Luo Tianjin is?"

Liu Xunyi nodded and said, "As far as I know, Luo Tianjin learned martial arts in Wudang since he was young, and then went down the mountain to venture into the martial arts world alone. After more than 30 years, he finally made a name for himself in the martial arts world. Now he is one of the twelve heroes of the Central Plains martial arts world. Because he is generous and righteous, and likes to make friends with fellow martial artists, he is respected as the 'Northern Sage King'."

"That's right." Zhao Yuan said, "The northern part of our Song Dynasty was once occupied by the Jin people. After that, we joined forces with the Mongols to destroy the Jin, and the northern mountains and rivers were occupied by the Mongols again. However, although the Song Dynasty court cannot directly govern the north, the people living and working in the north are still the people of our Song Dynasty. It has been the world of the Han people for generations. Therefore, the war did not affect the overall situation of the Central Plains martial arts. Although the Jin people and the Mongols occupied the north for many years, it still belongs to the scope of the Central Plains martial arts in the world. After the north broke away from the jurisdiction of our Song Dynasty, the people in the world there lived more freely and comfortably. Luo Tianjin's residence is in Luoyang City, the old capital of the North, so his title of "Northern Sage King" also comes from this, implying that he is the king of the northern martial arts. If the Song Dynasty court governs the north, Luo Tianjin would not dare to call himself "king" even if he had ten courage."

Liu Xunyi nodded slowly and said, "Whether it is the Mongols or the Jin people, they only know how to occupy cities and plunder the people, but they have never been able to integrate into the customs of our Han people. Now that the north is occupied by the Mongols, it has given the people there great freedom. Without the restraint of the government, they have become more unscrupulous in their actions."

Zhao Yuan said: "In the Central Plains martial arts world, there is the Xianwang Mansion in the north and the Jinjianwu in the south. Although they are not the founders of their own sects, they both have great appeal in the martial arts world and can gather heroes and even command them. It's just that Jinjianwu is in the land of our Song Dynasty after all, so the court naturally knows more about it. The Xianwang Mansion is different. Luo Tianjin has the support of the six major sects in the Central Plains, and his prestige is extraordinary. The heroes of the martial arts world are proud to be his friends. Moreover, most of the north is now a lawless place where no one is in charge. With the right time, place and people, Luo Tianjin has now become a veritable local emperor in the north. In the northern Central Plains, Luo Tianjin's connections and power are even greater than those of the Mongolian Khan. It is said that the generals sent by the Mongolian Khan to garrison in Luoyang have to take the initiative to curry favor with Luo Tianjin before they can sleep peacefully. Therefore, the strength of the Xianwang Mansion is actually far superior to that of the Jinjianwu, which is equally famous."

The more Liu Xunyi listened, the more confused he became. He didn't know when the imperial court had become interested in the martial arts world. So he asked, "The Mongolian army is now busy expanding its territory and has no time to manage local civil affairs. Therefore, it is not surprising that the martial arts world in the north is looking for an opportunity to expand."

"That's right." Zhao Yuan smiled, "The heroes of the martial arts world have always claimed to be serving the country and the people. In the eyes of the East Palace, Luo Tianjin and other martial artists are all true heroes. They will definitely stand up when the country is in trouble."

Liu Xunyi seemed to have heard a clue and nodded heavily, "Although there are bad guys in the martial arts world, most of them are chivalrous and generous people. Although they usually ignore the government and despise the law, they will never make a wrong step when it comes to major issues." Liu Xunyi had figured everything out in his heart and asked, "Could it be that the East Palace wants to... use Luo Tianjin's power to recover the northern rivers and mountains?"

Zhao Yuan nodded approvingly and said, "That's right! And the Prime Minister had been exchanging letters with Luo Tianjin several years ago, working hard just to wait for the right time. Until a month ago, the Prime Minister sent his confidant to deliver a secret letter to the Xianwang Mansion in Luoyang, hoping that he could call on the heroes of the martial arts world to fight against the Mongols together, and when the war started, they would cooperate with our Great Song army from inside and outside to retake the northern homeland in one fell swoop."

"How will Luo Tianjin respond?" Liu Xunyi asked hastily, "He is called the 'Northern Sage King' by the people of Jianghu, so he should not have got the title for nothing. I think he would be willing to do something to restore our Han people's country."

Zhao Yuan nodded and said, "Not long after, Luo Tianjin wrote back a letter to the Prime Minister, and the content of the letter was exactly this. Not only that, ten days ago he sent his confidant Xie Xuan to Lin'an City secretly to discuss this matter with the Prime Minister in person. This is also the first time that the East Palace and the Xianwang Palace have met in correspondence in many years, so the Prime Minister regards this meeting as a top priority."

"Isn't this great?" Liu Xunyi was excited when he heard the news. "I've heard of Xie Xuan, the leader of the Seven Heroes of the Xianwang Mansion. It is said that he is a lay disciple of Shaolin Temple. He has practiced Shaolin's unique martial art "Dharma Finger" to the pinnacle, and his martial arts skills are unfathomable. Luo Tianjin can send Xie Xuan to Lin'an, which shows his sincerity."

Zhao Yuan couldn't help but smile bitterly and said, "Originally everything was under the Prime Minister's control, but something went wrong halfway."

Liu Xunyi reacted very quickly, and immediately thought of the key point, and said bluntly: "Are you talking about Luo Ningyu and Lin Fangda, Lord?"

"That's right!" Zhao Yuan said, "Luo Ningyu and Lin Fangda originally came here with Xie Xuan, but they secretly ran away when they settled in Suzhou. I think it was because of their temper and willfulness. But their escape caused an irreparable disaster. As for what happened after they arrived in Lin'an, you also know it."

"If what I guessed is correct..." Liu Xunyi speculated in a low voice with a frown on his face, "The news that the Prime Minister secretly communicated with the Xianwang Mansion was known to the West Mansion, so Xie Xuan and others came all the way here, and the West Mansion also knew their itinerary very well."

Zhao Yuan couldn't help but snorted coldly, saying, "The people in the West Palace are afraid that my East Palace will monopolize this unprecedented achievement, so they have to interfere. After Luo Ningyu and Lin Fangda sneaked away in Suzhou, my East Palace sent people to inquire about their news everywhere, and the West Palace was also looking for them everywhere."

"Now I understand why the Marquis sent us to protect Luo Ningyu and Lin Fangda." Liu Xunyi nodded thoughtfully, "Xie Xuan came to Lin'an to discuss important matters with the Prime Minister, so we must take good care of Luo Ningyu and Lin Fangda and not neglect them. But... I don't understand why the West Mansion wanted to capture Luo Ningyu by any means after finding out her whereabouts? Didn't the West Mansion know that the Prime Minister and Luo Tianjin wanted to cooperate on important matters?"

"Humph!" Zhao Yuan was so angry that his face turned blue. He said angrily, "How could the West Mansion not know what the Prime Minister was thinking? They knowingly committed the crime. Their purpose was to destroy the Prime Minister's secret communication with Luo Tianjin and snatch a share of the credit."

"Hiss!" Liu Xunyi never expected that the open and secret struggles in the court would be so cunning and vicious, even at the cost of destroying major events that are beneficial to the country.

Zhao Yuan continued, "After the West Mansion learned that Luo Ningyu and Lin Fangda had secretly come to Lin'an, they regarded this as a great opportunity. So they sent people to arrest Luo Ningyu in a big way, hoping to use Luo Ningyu as a threat to force Luo Tianjin to cooperate with the West Mansion in the anti-Mongol plan." "This..." Liu Xunyi couldn't believe it, and shook his head repeatedly, "Since Luo Tianjin has already promised the Prime Minister, why should the West Mansion do this?"

"Stealing credit!" Zhao Yuan said coldly, "In order to steal credit, they are willing to destroy the Prime Minister's years of hard work."

"This is outrageous!" Liu Xunyi said indignantly, "Why doesn't the Prime Minister report this to the Emperor and let the Emperor punish the West Mansion?"

Zhao Yuan smiled bitterly and said, "Xun Yi, you are too naive. Although the West Palace is trying to steal the credit, how could they admit that they did so in front of the emperor? They would only say that Luo Tianjin and other martial artists are sweet-mouthed but treacherous, and they cannot be trusted at all. They can only use special means to imprison his daughter in the court to force Luo Tianjin to submit, and it will also be convenient to control Luo Tianjin from starting a rebellion in the future to prevent him from having other intentions. In the end, they even slandered that there was a secret between the Prime Minister and Luo Tianjin, and wrongly accused several adults in my East Palace of privately accepting bribes from Luo Tianjin. Isn't that ridiculous?"

Liu Xunyi didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and said disdainfully: "The West Mansion really judges others by their own meanness. They think Luo Tianjin is just as bad as themselves. Not only did they destroy the Prime Minister's hard work, but they even bit back."

Zhao Yuan said: "The emperor knows that the two governments are fighting openly and secretly, but in order to stabilize the overall situation of the court, he can only regard this matter as a disagreement between the two governments. Therefore, he did not punish the West Government, nor did he punish the East Government."

"In that case, Luo Ningyu and Lin Fangda should have returned to Xie Xuan. Are they..."

"Alas!" Before Liu Xunyi could finish her words, Zhao Yuan sighed helplessly and said bitterly, "Two days ago, the Prime Minister sent people to Suzhou Inn to look for Xie Xuan, intending to apologize to him, but Xie Xuan had already set off for Luoyang with his men. The Prime Minister immediately ordered his men to chase after him, and they did catch up with Xie Xuan after working day and night, but..."

"But what?" Seeing Zhao Yuan hesitate to speak, Liu Xunyi couldn't help feeling anxious.

"But not only did Xie Xuan refuse to return to Lin'an, but he also killed a police officer in a rage, and asked others to take the police officer's body back to the Prime Minister's Mansion to tell the Prime Minister that this was Luo Tianjin's revenge on the Song Dynasty court for hunting down Luo Ningyu, and to make it clear that they would no longer have any connection with the Song Dynasty court from now on!" Zhao Yuan shook his head helplessly.

“This…” Liu Xunyi couldn’t help but feel regretful, and said, “It seems that the Xianwang Mansion must have taken out their anger on the Prime Minister because of the West Mansion’s pursuit of Luo Ningyu, so they did such a thing to break off relations.”

Zhao Yuan said, "They are not only angry at the Prime Minister, but now they are angry at the entire Song Dynasty court. After this incident, Luo Tianjin will probably never trust the court again. People in the martial arts world like to act on impulse. If they are disloyal once, they will never trust them again. What's more, the court sent people to hunt down his beloved daughter. How can Luo Tianjin trust us again? If I am right, Luo Tianjin should now misunderstand that this matter was a trap set by the court for him from beginning to end, a killing trap. How can he believe the argument that the East and West Palaces are fighting openly and secretly? Once this incident happened, both the East and West Palaces would lose everything, but... this may be the outcome that the West Palace wants to see."

Liu Xunyi was speechless and didn't know how to comfort Zhao Yuan for a moment.

"Not only have the Prime Minister's years of hard work been wasted, but if we don't rely on the power of Luo Tianjin and the martial arts heroes, I'm afraid we will never be able to recover our homeland! Alas!" Zhao Yuan said regretfully, "We are no match for the Mongols if we force our troops to move. The West Mansion is also very aware of this. Therefore, after the failure of the matter, the West Mansion simply pretended to be deaf and dumb in front of the emperor, keeping silent, leaving a mess for us to clean up. Now the emperor has ordered that this matter be handed over to our East Mansion to solve, and the West Mansion will no longer interfere."

Liu Xunyi smiled bitterly and said, "Xie Xuan has returned to the Xianwang Mansion. I'm afraid it's too late to say anything now!"

"That's why I called you here." Zhao Yuan suddenly changed the subject and his tone became serious.

Liu Xunyi was stunned, a look of doubt flashed across his brows, and he asked suspiciously: "The Prime Minister can't do anything about this matter, but I don't know what the Marquis wants me to do?"

"People like Luo Tianjin are always soft-hearted and will not tolerate hardship. After this incident, he will only be more wary of the court, and may even be hostile to it. You have saved Luo Ningyu and Lin Fang's lives, and they don't know that you are from the court, so they should not vent their resentment towards the court on you. So what the Prime Minister and this Marquis mean is... I hope you can lurk beside Luo Tianjin, use the prestige of the Xianwang Mansion in the martial arts world to secretly make friends with various martial arts sects, and finally persuade Luo Tianjin to agree to cooperate with the court again."

……

(End of this chapter)