Chapter 843: Indecision (Part )

"My Lord, we are here!"

Following Tulong's call, the carriage slowly stopped in front of the Privy Council.

"quick!"

Before the car stopped, Qin Wei jumped out, leaped onto the stairs, and walked hurriedly towards the closed door.

However, before he could anxiously knock on the door, the sound of a carriage creaking suddenly came from the end of the street.

Qin Wei became suspicious and subconsciously turned his head to look, only to see a carriage approaching slowly under the escort of dozens of armored soldiers.

"This……"

Looking at the familiar carriage, Qin Wei was stunned and said hesitantly, "It seems to be... the carriage of Lord Qian?"

After saying that, Qin Wei turned around and walked down the steps, heading towards the carriage with a suspicious look in his eyes.

"Is that the Deputy Privy Councilor Qian in the car?"

As he got closer, Qin Wei questioned loudly, as if he couldn't believe what he saw.

"Qin Wei, it's still dark, why are you here?"

Accompanied by an old man's question, Lord Qian slowly got out of the carriage with the help of Bai Jin.

"Is it really you, sir?" Qin Wei was horrified and immediately knelt on the ground, "Your humble servant greets you, sir!"

"Get up and talk."

At this time, Lord Qian seemed very tired, listless, with cloudy and lazy eyes, weak voice, and staggering steps.

"Sir, what are you doing in the middle of the night..."

"The emperor summoned me. I just came back from seeing him." Lord Qian waved his hand nonchalantly. "You came here suddenly. Is there something urgent?"

"Your Excellency is as clear as seeing through fire, I admire you!"

Qin Wei took over from Bai Jin and held Lord Qian's arm. He helped him walk towards the Privy Council while explaining the purpose of his visit.

"Oh!"

Unexpectedly, Lord Qian reacted calmly to Qin Wei's concerns. Not only was he not surprised at all, but he looked calm as if he had expected it.

"I have said it before, there is no wall that is impenetrable."

"Your Excellency is right." Qin Wei said ashamedly, "Now the situation is imminent, please teach me how to deal with it."

Hearing this, Lord Qian suddenly stopped, and looked up and down at the bewildered Qin Wei with his bright eyes, and asked with a smile: "Let me ask you, the position of 'Marquis of Tianji'... do you still want to continue to sit there?"

"Of course I do!" Qin Wei replied without hesitation, "Why do you ask, sir?"

"If you want to keep your position, you must learn to seek benefits and avoid harm." Lord Qian smiled meaningfully, "When life and death are at stake, you can do whatever it takes and sacrifice everything."

"This..." Qin Wei's heart tightened, and he felt a sense of foreboding.

"What you just said is correct. Qiu Han is a dying man, and Ding Chou is still a child. The two of them are not worth mentioning." Lord Qian continued, "But Liu Xunyi is different from them. Your current position... was originally his."

"Sir, I..."

"Don't talk about sharing weal and woe." Lord Qian interrupted Qin Wei's explanation and asked, "You clearly own a river, but now it's just a bucket of water. If it were you, would you be willing?"

"This……"

"Your relationship with Liu Xunyi is similar to this." Lord Qian said with a smile, "Although you strongly recommended him to be the vice-chairman of Tianji Pavilion, the vice-chairman is ultimately subordinate to others, not the one who makes the final decision. As you know, Liu Xunyi should have been the chief of Tianji Pavilion, not his arm."

"Brother Liu won't bother with these..."

"He may not, but what about you?" Lord Qian asked bluntly, "If you and he really have a deep brotherly relationship and firmly believe that he will not compete with you for the throne of 'Marquis of Tianji', why do you send people to monitor him day and night, or even follow him closely? In the final analysis, you have no confidence in yourself and are wary of Liu Xunyi."

Qin Wei felt so ashamed when his selfish motives were exposed by Lord Qian that he blushed and was speechless for a moment.

"Actually, you don't have to feel ashamed." Lord Qian comforted him, "Do you think Liu Xunyi is sincere to you and has no guard at all?" "What?" Qin Wei's eyes changed, and he turned pale, "What do you mean?"

"If he really believed you, why did he deliberately tell you the whereabouts of Qiu Han and Ding Chou instead of bringing them directly back to Tianji Pavilion?" Lord Qian explained calmly, "This move is clearly a test, can't you see it? I dare to bet with you that even if you rush to the City God Temple now, you will definitely not find Qiu Han and Ding Chou. On the contrary, whether you are loyal or treacherous, good or evil, will be completely exposed to Liu Xunyi with your attitude and reaction to this matter."

"This……"

"As I expected, Liu Xunyi had already settled Ding Chou and Qiu Han before he told you the news. He told you just to lure you in. Once the City God Temple encounters an accident, even if it's just an accidental fire, he will put all the blame on you." Lord Qian's words made Qin Wei fall into deep thought and couldn't extricate himself. "Your good brother has such ulterior motives, and you ran here in the middle of the night to ask me for a way to save him. It's really... both ridiculous and pathetic."

"No..." Qin Wei shook his head repeatedly in disbelief. "Why would he do this? If he wanted to bring an attack on me, he could have just confronted me. Why would he go to so much trouble to lure me in?"

"You underestimated Liu Xunyi. How could a person who could lurk beside Luo Tianjin for many years without leaking anything be as simple as you imagined? If he confronts you face to face, there will be only two results. First, you are fully prepared and he is alone, so he dies. Second, you are not prepared enough and he surprises you, so you die. Then he becomes a wanted criminal, is brought to justice by the government, and is sentenced to death. No matter which one, it is a loss for Liu Xunyi. He can neither take back everything he lost, nor avenge Zhao Yuan, and even his own life can't be saved. Liu Xunyi is so smart, how could he choose a dead end?"

"But..." Qin Wei was confused and spoke incoherently, "But he had no other choice..."

"Who said that?" Lord Qian sneered, "I have long said that this person has the ability to overturn the world. If he relies on himself alone, he may not be able to stir up any waves, but once he meets someone who is willing to lend a hand... he can turn the world upside down and change the destiny."

"This..." Qin Wei seemed to not understand what Master Qian meant, so he humbly asked for advice, "I know his ability, but I don't know who is the 'person who is willing to lend him a hand'?"

"Tianji Pavilion is the East Palace's martial arts pavilion. Those who can influence the overall situation of Tianji Pavilion are naturally the East Palace's biggest backers."

"Your Excellency is referring to...Master Jia?"

"He hopes more than anyone that the Master of Tianji Pavilion is a "member" who is loyal to the East Palace, rather than a "spy" who is colluding with the West Palace, isn't it?"

"hiss!"

As soon as Lord Qian said this, Qin Wei's face turned pale as paper.

He certainly understood what Lord Qian meant. Lord Jia's "own people" were of course Liu Xunyi, who was loyal to the East Palace. As for the "spy", it was undoubtedly himself.

Upon careful consideration, Lord Jia indeed wanted to depose Qin Wei more than anyone else, but Qin Wei was the "Marquis of Tianji" conferred by the Emperor, and even though Lord Jia was dissatisfied, he could do nothing about it.

However, being helpless does not mean sitting still and waiting for death. Once Lord Jia finds the right person and seizes the right opportunity, he will definitely take action against Qin Wei without hesitation to consolidate his position in the East Palace.

Right now, isn't Liu Xunyi the most suitable person? Isn't this the right time to expose the conspiracy between Qin Wei and Xifu?

Liu Xunyi might not be able to bear to kill Qin Wei, but Lord Jia is ruthless and will definitely not let the tiger go back to the mountain.

This section made Qin Wei, who was slow to realize it, more and more frightened and terrified the more he thought about it.

"If Liu Xunyi...really joins forces with Lord Jia, even if I have 10,000 lives, they won't be able to kill me." Qin Wei was worried and muttered to himself, "Thinking about it this way, could the mysterious person who rescued Qiu Han and Ding Chou in the woods outside the city...be the one who arranged it?"

"No." Lord Qian pondered, "First, Lord Jia has just experienced the storm of dismissal from office, and the East Palace has just experienced a reckoning. He dare not act rashly at this critical juncture, so as not to make things worse. On the contrary, he must be well-behaved and low-key now, so as not to be caught by others. Second, if he had saved Qiu Han and Ding Chou, they would not have fallen to beggars in the City God Temple. With Lord Jia's ability, it would be easy to hide the two people. Third, if Lord Jia had planned it in advance, he would not let Liu Xunyi and Ding Chou meet under Chu Mao's nose. Instead, he would find an opportunity for them to meet secretly. In this way, they can conceal their tracks and not arouse your and my attention, which is easier to accomplish."

"That's not bad..." Qin Wei let out a sigh of relief with lingering fear.

"Do you think that everything will be fine if Lord Jia doesn't join forces with Liu Xunyi?" Lord Qian reminded, "Lin'an City is only a small place, and Liu Xunyi, Ding Chou, and Qiu Han are all here. Although they are not in collusion for the time being, once Lord Jia smells a hint of wind, he will definitely disrupt the situation with thunder and help... or even force Liu Xunyi to replace you. Now, you should know why Liu Xunyi only threw stones to test the waters instead of confronting you face to face, because he wants to turn the tables and firmly grasp the initiative in his own hands. As long as he has solid evidence, he can use Lord Jia to get rid of you, not only to save his own life, but also to take back everything he lost. As for you, you will completely become a stepping stone for Liu Xunyi to ascend to the top."

"This……"

It was not until this moment that Qin Wei truly realized how dangerous his situation was. His trembling eyes were filled with urgency and fear.

"Sir, save me!"

Qin Wei fell to his knees with a thump, begging anxiously: "Everything I have today is hard-earned, I can't lose it just like that, please save me! Please save me!"

Looking at the frightened Qin Wei, Lord Qian pretended to be embarrassed and said hesitantly: "You are a young man cultivated by me. If you are implicated, I will be implicated. How can I stand by and watch you die? However, the method I proposed... You may not agree with it."

"Your Excellency, please feel free to speak your mind. I will obey you in every word!"

"As the saying goes, 'letting a tiger go back to the mountains will bring endless troubles.' Only by eradicating the root of the problem can we rest easy." Looking at the impatient Qin Wei, Lord Qian deliberately kept him in suspense, "If only one of you and Liu Xunyi can survive in the end, who do you want to die?"

"I..." Lord Qian's questioning made Qin Wei tremble with fear. He stood there for a long time without saying a word, and his lips and teeth trembled slightly uncontrollably.

After an unknown amount of silence, Qin Wei, who was full of entanglement, finally made up his mind, crying silently, and said fiercely: "If... it really comes to a life-and-death struggle, I... must be the one who survives."

……

(End of this chapter)