Chapter 527: Peace and Tranquility (I)

September 14th, Qingyuan Prefecture.

After the defeat in the martial arts conference, Yuwen Xiu did not stay in Huashan for long. He led the disciples of Peach Blossom Sword Island and galloped eastward without stopping that day, hoping to leave the place of trouble before the "Central Plains Martial Arts World" and "Western Mansion" came to call for punishment.

There is no need to mention the past grievances between Peach Blossom Sword Island and the Central Plains Wulin today. Just the various "coercion and inducement" that Yuwen Xiu used to prevent the various sects from competing with him for the position of Wulin leader was enough to cause public outrage.

The six major sects and four great families of the past were all holding a grudge, waiting to settle scores with Yuwen Xiu.

As for the Western Mansion, this was not the first time that Yuwen Xiu had dealt with it, so he was well aware of the Western Mansion's style of doing things.

Last time, Ding Qinghong was ordered to capture Luo Ningyu, but the masked Liu Xunyi ruined his plan and he failed to complete the mission of the West Mansion. Later, Luo Tianjin sent people to hunt Ding Qinghong down, but the West Mansion ignored him and ignored his life and death. If Ding Qinghong had not escaped by chance, he would have been a pile of dry bones in a grave today.

Capturing Luo Ningyu is just a trivial matter. The West Mansion is so ruthless, let alone the martial arts conference?
Yuwen Xiu "took money from others" but failed to "eliminate disasters for others". How could the Western Mansion look upon him with a good face?
Due to various reasons, Yuwen Xiu has now offended both the government and the underworld.

Knowing that he was surrounded by enemies on all sides, it was not appropriate for him to stay in the Central Plains any longer. In order to avoid attracting attention and exposing his whereabouts, Yuwen Xiu ordered his disciples to disguise themselves and escape separately, and everything would be discussed after they returned to Peach Blossom Sword Island.

Fortunately, although Yuwen Xiu was in a very embarrassing situation when he "fled" from Huashan, he left in time and was not intercepted and killed by the Mongolian army. He luckily escaped a catastrophe, which was a blessing in disguise.

After several days of travel, when Yuwen Xiu, Ding Qinghong and two other disciples arrived at Sanjiangkou, it was almost dusk and there was no sign of a single boat on the beach.

With no other options, they had to stay in the only inn in Sanjiangkou tonight and wait to find a boat to go out to sea tomorrow morning.

At night, Ding Qinghong personally brought a basin of hot water to Yuwen Xiu's room to soak his feet and relieve his fatigue.

"Island Master, are we really going back to Peach Blossom Sword Island?"

The flickering candlelight cast a dim light on the room.

At this moment, Ding Qinghong knelt beside the bed, put a pair of hands whiter than a woman's into the basin, and gently massaged Yu Wenxiu's feet.

Yu Wenxiu, in his pajamas, leaned lazily on the quilt with his eyes slightly closed, as if he was dozing off, and seemed to be enjoying Ding Qinghong's service.

Hearing the slight hesitation in Ding Qinghong's tone, Yu Wenxiu couldn't help but snorted coldly and asked, "Why? You don't want to go back?"

"Since it is the island master's order, how dare Qinghong disobey?" Ding Qinghong said shyly, "I'm just... a little worried about the other brothers. I don't know if they can go out to sea smoothly."

"Are you worried? Or are you unwilling to accept it?"

Yuwen Xiu slowly opened his eyes, and two sharp rays of light immediately shot into Ding Qinghong's heart, causing him to tremble and he dared not look at Yuwen Xiu again.

At this moment, Ding Qinghong himself couldn't explain his own thoughts, and hesitantly said: "We went through untold hardships and finally returned to the Central Plains. We took great pains to reach an agreement with the West Mansion. Seniors Ji Hou and Fu Yin were injured outside and have not been heard from since... We paid so much, but in the end, we got nothing. Thinking about it today, it's really aggrieved..."

"Victory and defeat are common in the military, so don't feel bad." Yu Wenxiu taught, "As the saying goes, 'Fortunes change over time.' As long as we can return to Peach Blossom Sword Island safely, we will have a chance to turn things around in the future. We have been trembling with fear all the way, but now we have finally arrived at Sanjiangkou. I can finally feel at ease. As long as we can go out to sea smoothly tomorrow, we will have escaped a disaster."

"Forgive Qinghong for being stupid. The island master always says the situation is critical, but he doesn't know... where does the crisis come from?"

"Our crisis comes mostly from Luo Tianjin and the Central Plains martial arts community," Yuwen Xiu explained. "We have offended all the major sects before, but thanks to the imperial court's protection, no one dared to cause trouble. Now we have returned in defeat, and we are no longer of any use to the imperial court. Without the imperial court's backing, we simply cannot gain a foothold in the Central Plains, at least not now. How can we not be in danger?"

"Island Master's intention... Luo Tianjin will send people to hunt us down?"

"Who is Luo Tianjin?" Yu Wenxiu sighed, "He killed all his allies, let alone his enemies?"

The 'allies' that Yuwen Xiu mentioned were Ren Wuya and Tianshan Yulong Palace, who were abandoned by Luo Tianjin.

Since the ninth day of September, news about the martial arts conference has spread like wildfire, and now it has become known to the world.

"Yes! Luo Tianjin is now in his heyday, and the major sects are at odds with us. He just took this opportunity to win people's hearts and establish his own authority." Ding Qinghong nodded thoughtfully, "But I don't know where the other two or three tenths... come from?"

Hearing this, Yu Wenxiu's eyelids trembled slightly. After a moment's hesitation, he said helplessly, "The other two or three tenths come from..."

"Bang, bang, bang!"

Before he could finish his words, someone suddenly knocked on the tightly closed door, interrupting Yuwen Xiu and Ding Qinghong's thoughts.

"Who?"

"Island Master, I'm Xiao Shunzi." A timid answer came from outside the door.

Xiao Shunzi was one of the two disciples who followed Yuwen Xiu and Ding Qinghong on their journey.

"What's the matter?"

"Something seems to be wrong downstairs." Xiao Shunzi's voice sounded a little trembling. Yu Wenxiu frowned, nodded slightly, and signaled Ding Qinghong to go out and investigate.

However, just as Ding Qinghong opened the door, six or seven burly men wearing armor and holding steel knives rushed into the room.

Their tough attitude and arrogant behavior almost knocked Ding Qinghong to the ground when he was caught off guard.

"Who are you?"

Ding Qinghong flew back quickly, and the Peach Blossom Sword was unsheathed. In an instant, cold light flashed in all directions, and the sword pointed directly at the group of uninvited guests.

Yuwen Xiu was shocked, but pretended to be calm on the surface. He asked in a bad tone, "Where did you come from, you bastard? How dare you act so rashly in front of me!"

"Wulin Hou, you have such great authority!"

With a teasing sneer, a burly middle-aged man slowly walked into the room.

At this time, he held a knife in his left hand and pushed a trembling thin man with his right hand. That man was Xiao Shunzi who had just "tricked" the door open.

Upon seeing Yuwen Xiu, Xiao Shunzi's legs softened and he fell to his knees with a plop. He burst into tears and kowtowed repeatedly to apologize: "Island Master, I was forced by them..."

"Who are you?" Yuwen Xiu ignored Xiao Shunzi, who was shouting and screaming. He stared at the middle-aged man with a pair of sinister eyes and said quietly, "Judging from your clothes, you seem to be government officials?"

"I am the Vice Minister of the Privy Council, Bai Jin!" The middle-aged man held his head high and chest puffed out, with a proud look on his face.

"Privy Council?" Yu Wenxiu asked in surprise, "Are you from the West Palace?"

"That's right." Bai Jin said in a deep voice, "Master Qian has been waiting for news from you in Lin'an, but you never came back. What made him most angry was that after you messed up the job, you neither apologized nor made any explanation. I wonder what you are up to? Since you don't come to us, we have no choice but to come to you."

"You already know the result of the martial arts conference, why are you still looking for me?" Yu Wenxiu said unhappily, "Since we have failed, we should just part ways. Are you still crying and holding your head in your arms?"

"Mr. Qian's original words were, 'Yuwen Xiu is all show and no substance, he deceived me with his sweet words and flattery, and now he has left a mess behind, who is waiting to clean it up?'" After saying that, Bai Jin's eyes turned fierce and he scolded, "Yuwen Xiu, you have made such a big fuss that it cannot be resolved, and now you have left a mess behind. If you don't clean it up yourself, who do you want to clean it up for you? You want to just walk away, but I'm afraid it won't be that easy!"

"How dare you!" Ding Qinghong scolded, "After all, my island master was also conferred the title of 'Marquis of Wulin' by the imperial court. In terms of official rank, he is higher than you. As a subordinate, how dare you offend your superior and speak rudely?"

"Marquis of Wulin?" Bai Jin sneered, "If you can't take over the title of Wulin leader, the three words 'Marquis of Wulin' are worthless. Besides, Lord Qian has already written to the Privy Councilor, deciding to deprive you of your position."

"You don't need to deprive me of my power. I don't want to be a lackey of the imperial court." Yuwen Xiu said in a deep voice, "You have mobilized a large army tonight. Is it just to say this nonsense? Or do you want to...capture me and take me back to vent your anger?"

"Just a bunch of you useless guys?" Ding Qinghong said disdainfully, "Are you worthy enough to be our enemy?"

"Catch you back?" Bai Jin shook his head and said, "Your performance has disappointed Lord Qian terribly. Catching you back will only make him furious. It will do no other good."

"That you……"

"Tonight, I am only following orders. There is someone else who is looking for you."

"Who?"

Faced with Yuwen Xiu's questioning, Bai Jin ignored him and turned to walk out the door.

At this moment, his arrogant attitude suddenly changed, his face was full of humble smile, he bowed slightly, and respectfully clasped his hands and said: "Eunuch Wan, the person in the room is Yuwen Xiu, please come in!"

Under the curious gazes of Yuwen Xiu and Ding Qinghong, a figure of medium build slowly appeared outside the room.

He was about sixty years old, with a feminine appearance, plump and graceful, with gray hair and no beard, and a kind face. He was wearing a deep blue brocade robe and was dressed very elegantly.

When he entered the room, his two plump white hands were twirling their fingers together and gently brushing off the dust on his body.

Following closely behind him was a young man with a cold expression and eyes as sharp as swords.

Bai Jin's attitude towards young people is far from as polite as his attitude towards "Eunuch Wan".

The two passed each other, and there was even a hint of tit-for-tat hostility in their eyes as they looked at each other.

This young man was none other than Liu Xunyi’s good brother who had shared the joys and sorrows with him, Qin Wei, the Junior Guardian of the Tianji Pavilion in the East Palace.

Tonight, people from the East and West Palaces unexpectedly appeared in Yuwen Xiu's room at the same time. The deep meaning behind this is intriguing.

……

(End of this chapter)