Chapter 742: Attracting Wind and Fire
Nothing happened that day, until the next evening.

"Let me ask you again, when you two went out, you didn't arouse Qin Ku's suspicion, right?"

In the bustling night market, a horse-drawn carriage moved slowly, and in the carriage sat the three Qin family heroes, each with different expressions and uneasy thoughts.

"Don't worry, brother. Don't you understand the relationship between us and Qin Ku? If there is no important matter, we won't meet for three to five days. He has long been annoyed that we are meddling in his affairs and interfering with his happiness, so he hopes that we stay away and never nag in his ears." Qin Er's tone was filled with dissatisfaction and helplessness.

"What was Qin Ku doing when you came out?" Qin Da still seemed worried and couldn't help asking again and again.

"What else can he do? Of course he is gambling in the backyard with a bunch of bad friends." Qin San said disdainfully, "A while ago, he was hanging out in the red-light district every night, hanging out with a bunch of prostitutes all day, having fun and forgetting everything else. Recently, he has become addicted to gambling, and he can't get enough of it in the gambling house, so he simply opened a gambling game in the mansion, and every day he dragged the disciples in the mansion and some ruffians in the city to gamble in the backyard, making the mansion a mess."

"Alas!" Qin Er sighed, "I shouldn't say this, Qin Ku's behavior is no different from a villain who gets rich overnight. In the past, he was living outside, eating, drinking, whoring and gambling, and he had all kinds of bad habits, but he was able to restrain himself because he was short of money. Now it's different. With the Qin family as his backer, he has endless gold and silver in his hands, so he spends money extravagantly and spends money without restraint. If this goes on, even if the Qin family has a mountain of gold, he will squander it all. Rather than this, I really hope that he will be bedridden and unconscious as we said when we were trying to fool outsiders..."

"Forget it! Forget it!" Qin San waved his hands impatiently, "Talking about this will only make me angry, so I'd better not say it! In short, big brother, just put your heart in your stomach. Qin Ku is having so much fun now that he doesn't care about where we are going."

At this point, Qin San's eyes rolled, the smile on his face gradually faded, and he said cautiously: "Brother, who are you taking us to meet in Yingtian Tower?"

"This……"

Qin Da's face changed slightly, and he said hesitantly: "We are brothers of blood, the closest people in the world. I will never hide anything from you. But I want to ask you one last time before I make it clear, and listen to your thoughts by the way."

"What do you want to ask us?"

"If..." Qin Da spoke slowly and solemnly, his voice very low, "I mean if! If Qin Ku... is determined to drag the Hexi Qin family into the abyss of no return, what will you do?"

"This……"

Qin Er and Qin San looked at each other, both of them were in deep thought, and no one dared to speak.

"Ask in a different way!" Qin Da saw that the two of them seemed to understand, so he made up his mind and said bluntly, "If my eldest brother can't bear to watch the Qin family fall step by step, and decides to save the collapsing building and turn the tide, and for this he doesn't hesitate to... go against the orders of the current head of the family, and even... go in the opposite direction of the current head of the family. What will you two do?"

"hiss!"

Qin Da's words were of great importance. Although they were Qin Ku's elders and had high seniority and prestige in the Qin family, they could even be called the jade pillars that support the sky and the golden beams that bridge the sea of ​​the Hexi Qin family.

However, the head of the family is the head of the family. Since Qin Gang founded the Hexi Qin family, the head of the family's transcendent status and absolute authority in the family have been unshakable. This golden rule has continued for decades, and no one has ever dared to question it.

Even when Qin Ku avenged his father and killed Qin Ming, he did so under the banner of "authentic bloodline" and "overthrowing the usurper".

This shows that the Qin family's orthodox ideas and bloodline inheritance from top to bottom have long been deeply ingrained in the bones of every Qin family member.

Therefore, today, Qin Da's remarks that ran counter to the head of the family were tantamount to blatantly breaking the Qin family's decades-long tradition, which could not but shock Qin Er and Qin San.

"You should know that my elder brother did this not out of selfishness, but for the sake of the Qin family's descendants and the future of the Qin family!" Qin Da said solemnly, "In a sense, the nomination of Qin Ku as the head of the family was the result of the three of us working hard. But the facts have proved that Qin Ku, apart from possessing the 'Xuan Shui Xia Juan', has no other extraordinary abilities to manage the overall situation of the Qin family. On the contrary, he is stubborn, mediocre and dull. If he is not corrected in time, the foundation of the Qin family will be ruined in his hands sooner or later. Therefore, the mistakes made by the three of us should also be made up by the three of us, so that we can live up to the ancestors of the Qin family."

"Brother, you don't have to say anything more!" Qin San straightened his eyes and said resolutely, "Since we are brothers, of course I believe in you. No matter what you want to do, I will do my best to help you."

"Me too!" Qin Er echoed, "No matter what happens in the future, the three of us brothers will work together and advance and retreat together."

"Brother, just tell me straight!" Qin San asked impatiently, "What important person are we going to meet tonight?"

"us……"

"Master, Second Master, Third Master, we have arrived at Yingtian Tower!"

Before Qin Da could reply, a message from the coachman suddenly came from outside the curtain.

"Second brother, third brother, just follow me in and you will know!"

After saying that, Qin Da no longer hesitated, and held hands with Qin Er and Qin San, and walked towards Yingtian Tower with big strides.

As arrangements had been made, they did not stay in the lobby but went straight to the private room upstairs.

"Master, Second Master, Third Master, you are finally here!"

In the corridor on the second floor, brothers Qin Hu and Qin Bao came forward excitedly and bowed to the three heroes of the Qin family one after another.

"Why are you here?" Qin Er and Qin San looked at each other, with a hint of surprise on their faces. "I arranged for them to wait here." Qin Da explained, "Our identities are too conspicuous in Xijing Prefecture, so many things are inconvenient for us to do in person. Qin Hu and Qin Bao are our trusted aides, so we can trust them to do things."

"It seems that big brother didn't just act on impulse, but had been planning for a long time." Qin Er suddenly realized and pretended to be unhappy, "But I didn't expect that even Qin Hu and Qin Bao knew the secret, but my third brother and I were kept in the dark and had no idea."

"If you say I have been dissatisfied with Qin Kuxin, it has been quite some time. But today's matter... my elder brother has only started planning it in the past few days, and Qin Hu and Qin Bao knew about it a few days earlier than you did." Qin Da smiled awkwardly and hurriedly explained, "I didn't tell you, not because I was on guard against my brothers, but because this matter hasn't even started yet, and I'm afraid of tormenting you in vain, so I waited until today to tell you everything."

"Oh?" Qin San asked thoughtfully, "So, what Big Brother is planning is about to be accomplished?"

"It's just that there are some clues. As for whether it can be accomplished, it depends on whether the two brothers are willing to help. Haha..."

As the three brothers chatted and laughed, they were led by Qin Hu and Qin Bao to a room at the end of the corridor on the second floor.

"Master, the friend you met is in the room right now."

"Very good!" Qin Da said, quickly suppressing his impatience, and instructed Qin Hu and Qin Bao, "You two stay outside and no one is allowed to come in and disturb us. If you find any disturbance... knock on the door and report it immediately."

"Yes!"

Qin Hu and Qin Bao straightened their eyes and obeyed the order in unison.

"Soon! Sorry! Forgive me!"

He gathered his thoughts and pushed the door open. Before the two sides met, Qin Da had already started to yell in a serious tone.

At this time, an energetic old man was sitting quietly beside the table, twisting the tea lid with his left hand and holding the teacup with his right hand. His left leg was resting on his right leg under his moon-white robe, and his toes were swaying slightly. He looked calm and composed, not surprised by any fame or disgrace.

This person is none other than the chief steward of the Jiangnan Lu Mansion, Sikong Zhu.

The young man standing behind Sikong Zhu is a disciple of the Jiangnan Lu Mansion and also Lu Tingxiang’s cousin, Lu Yao.

Upon seeing Sikong Zhu, Qin Er and Qin San were stunned, and a hint of suspicion flashed in their eyes at the same time.

It seemed that they never expected that Qin Da wanted to part ways with Qin Ku, and the old friend he met for this purpose was actually Si Kong Zhu.

"There were many people at the night market, and the carriages were moving slowly, so we were delayed a little. I made Elder Zhu wait for a long time. Qin Da would like to apologize to you!"

While speaking, Qin Da actually pretended to bow to Sikong Zhu.

"Hey! I cannot bear the responsibility of having the Qin family perform such a great ceremony in Hexi."

Sikong Zhu stood up in a hurry and played along with Qin Da with a smile on his face, while not forgetting to bow to Qin Er and Qin San.

After a few words and greetings, several people sat down one after another.

"Excuse me for being frank, but this time when I came to Hexi, the feeling was very different from the previous times."

Seeing Sikong Zhu was the first to "solve the problem", Qin Er followed up with a question: "Oh? May I ask what's the difference?"

"In the past, the Jianghu people and even the common people in the Hexi area were very respectful to the Qin family. No matter where they were, as long as they mentioned the Qin family, they would speak with admiration and respect." Sikong Zhu smiled meaningfully, "But this time when I came to Xijing Prefecture again, I accidentally heard many people complaining about the Qin family, full of grievances... Hehe, their words and deeds were not only less respectful, but even more... joking."

Although Sikong Zhu spoke in a light-hearted tone and treated the remarks as a joke, his words were full of ridicule and sarcasm, which made the three Qin family heroes feel mixed emotions and their faces turned pale.

However, what Sikong Zhu said is an indisputable fact. If you try to defend yourself, you will only make things worse.

As a result, the three Qin brothers, who were already in a bad mood, became even more depressed.

"Master Zhu is very insightful. We admire him!" Qin Sanqiang forced out a dry laugh and said bitterly, "As the saying goes, 'Each of the nine sons of a dragon is different'. The same is true for our Qin family. The style of the former head of the family, Qin Ming, is very different from that of the current head of the family. The previous head of the family was cautious and patient, and he did everything in a very strict and rule-abiding manner. The current head of the family can make decisions on major issues and does not pay attention to minor details. Most of the friends in the Hexi area are familiar with the style of the previous head of the family, so when facing the current head of the family... it is inevitable that they are a little uncomfortable."

"The current head of the family, Qin Ku, is indeed smart, but his smartness is mostly petty and not worthy of being in a high-class position. He is young and energetic, and has great martial arts skills. If it comes to fighting alone and risking his life, he is definitely a top-notch expert. But when it comes to carrying mountains and mountains, making plans and making decisions... he is inevitably a little stretched and unable to do what he wants." Having said this, Si Kongzhu seemed to have noticed the embarrassment of the three heroes of the Qin family, so he changed the subject and said, "I just heard these words from others on the way here. If there is any offense, it is definitely not my intention. I hope you three will forgive me!"

"Master Zhu, you traveled all the way from Quanzhou to Xijing, is it just to ridicule the current head of the Qin family?" Qin Da coughed twice and asked in a bad tone, "Since everyone knows why we are sitting here tonight, why should you and I be so mysterious? Just tell me! What can the Jiangnan Lu Mansion do to help our Qin family? What benefits do you want to get from us?"

……

(End of this chapter)