Chapter 859: Conflicting Interests
Noon, Gufengxuan.

In the private room on the second floor, Qingfeng with an expressionless face and Guxing and Guyue with solemn expressions sat upright, not saying a word, and seemed to be in a bad mood.

The pot of "Hongzhou Shuangjing" on the table was brought by the waiter an hour ago and had already become lukewarm.

"squeak!"

There was a slight sound, the door opened, and a waiter with a fawning smile on his face came in angrily.

After identifying the person, Qingfeng and the other two couldn't help but feel a hint of disappointment in their eyes.

"Three Taoists, I will change a new pot of tea for you."

"We've said long ago that we're not here to drink tea." Gu Yue said in a deep voice, "Have you found the person you were asked to look for?"

"Yes! Of course I did!" the waiter replied, "It's just that Mr. Bai is very busy, so he can't be there whenever you call..."

"boom!"

Before he finished speaking, Gu Xing slammed his palm on the table, which immediately shook the teapot and teacups on the table and frightened the waiter so much that his face changed.

"It was Bai Jin who told us to come here to find him if we have any problems, so why is he making excuses and avoiding us now?" Gu Xing asked angrily, "Is he the only one who is busy with all kinds of things, and we have nothing to do?"

"Master Dao, please calm down! Master Dao, please calm down!" The waiter knew that they were distinguished guests of the West Palace, so he did not dare to offend them and quickly admitted his mistake, "It's my fault that I'm not good at speaking. Master Dao, please don't bear grudges against me. Please don't hold grudges against me..."

"It's so lively!"

Just as the waiter was in a state of panic and Gu Xing and Gu Yue were unwilling to give in, a loud laugh suddenly rang out from the corridor. Then, Bai Jin, who walked like a dragon and a tiger, walked into the room with two guards.

"Master Bai, you are finally here..."

"Get out!" Before the waiter could come forward to compliment him, Bai Jin suddenly glared at him and shouted, "You can't even serve others, you are such a useless piece of trash!"

After saying that, Bai Jin winked at the guards on his left and right, indicating that they should guard outside the door.

"Greetings, three of you. What are you so anxious to see me about?"

Bai Jin didn't seem to notice that Qingfeng and the other two looked unhappy. He exchanged a few words nonchalantly, then sat down on a chair and poured tea and water. He wanted to drink it all in one gulp, but the tea was boiling hot. He cried out in anger, "Damn it! You almost scalded me to death!"

"Why are you in such a hurry, Lord Bai? Bring us a pot of tea. We have been waiting for an hour." Gu Xing's words had hidden meaning, implying a mockery of Bai Jin's late arrival.

"Please don't blame me! I have been busy since yesterday afternoon. I haven't had a chance to eat or sleep, or even drink a sip of water." Bai Jin sighed and complained, "Who knows where Liu Xunyi is hiding? Our people have searched all the places in Lin'an, but we still haven't found any trace of him."

"A place that can be found?" Gu Yue asked with interest, "Is there a place in Lin'an City that you Xifu can't find?"

"Your Excellency, you don't know that Lin'an City is the capital of the country, and there are countless dignitaries. Especially in the deep mansions in the north of the city, everyone is either rich or noble, and any one of them is a powerful figure. We dare to offend one, but we dare not offend a group. Therefore, whether it is the mansion of the royal family or the official residence of the court officials, we cannot trespass without permission, so as not to make enemies for ourselves." Bai Jin looked embarrassed and explained with a wry smile, "But you three can rest assured that these bigwigs will never take in the court's criminals, especially those who are ordered to be killed by the emperor. Who dares to have anything to do with him at this juncture? Unless you are tired of living. Haha..."

"That's not necessarily true!" Gu Xing sneered, "After all, Liu Xunyi has been in Lin'an for many years. He is a man of great character and has many friends. How could he not have a few close friends? Although he is in trouble now, no one can guarantee that there will be no one to help him out of righteousness and take risks for him. After all, Liu Xunyi has escaped death more than once or twice, so he has a few friends who have risked his life for him."

"Master, you are worrying too much!" Bai Jin said with a confident smile, "Do you think this is the martial arts world or the Jianghu? In Lin'an, no one talks about brotherhood with him, and no one will take risks for a wanted criminal. To put it another way, even if Liu Xunyi has some friends in Lin'an, do you know who his best friend is?"

"who is it?"

"Marquis Tianji, Qin Wei." Bai Jin said contemptuously, "Qin Wei and Liu Xunyi have known each other since childhood. They begged on the streets together, entered Tianji Pavilion together, were promoted to Golden Sword Captain together, and were ranked as Shaobao of Tianji Pavilion together. They have been through ups and downs for more than 20 years. They can be considered as life-long friends. But what can be done? Qin Wei and Liu Xunyi are not the same kind of people in their bones. He had abandoned the dark and joined the light when Liu Xunyi sneaked into the martial arts world, and was willing to become the vanguard of Lord Qian and the West Mansion. To this day, he even regards Lord Qian as a noble man in his life and a reborn father and mother. As for Liu Xunyi... He has long become a stepping stone for him to rise to the top, and now he is eager for him to die early to eliminate his future troubles. Brotherhood? Stab in the ribs? Only you martial arts people will believe these nonsense. When it comes to life and death, in the face of the choice between wealth and glory, brothers are used to sell out, and friendship is used to betray. All the vows of loyalty until death have become worthless and worse than shit. Haha..."

"This……"

Bai Jin's words were rough but true, leaving Qingfeng and the other two speechless. Although they were unwilling to admit Bai Jin's thoughts, they could not deny that there was some truth in his words.

"It's a pity that Lord Qian promised Qin Wei not to interfere in Liu Xunyi's affairs, otherwise I wouldn't have to take on so many duties and be so busy."

"I know that Lord Bai has been working hard. If he had not been feeling depressed today, we would not have bothered you." Having said this, Qingfeng looked at Bai Jin meaningfully and said, "Since we haven't found Liu Xunyi's whereabouts, why does Lord Bai look... not in a hurry?"

"Although we haven't found him yet, he will appear sooner or later." Bai Jin said proudly, "Speaking of which, we have to thank Taoist Qingfeng for his guidance yesterday, so that we can catch the Pan family's people early."

After saying that, Bai Jin raised his eyebrows and asked curiously, "Master, you said 'it's hard to relieve depression'... I wonder what that means?"

"Lord Bai has just told me about my frustration." Qingfeng's tone was as calm as water, and one could not tell whether he was happy or angry.

"This..." Bai Jin was stunned, "Master, are you talking about... Liu Xunyi?" "No! It's the Pan family." Qingfeng said seriously, "I only asked you to use Pan Yuyin as bait, why did the government arrest all four members of the Pan family? Not only that, you also fabricated and framed them, and hastily sentenced them to death. What's going on?"

"What's going on?" Bai Jin looked at Qing Feng, who was serious, with a confused look on his face, and laughed dryly, "What's the difference between arresting one and arresting four? Besides, arresting more people will pose a greater threat to Liu Xunyi and will make it easier to lure him out. As for sentencing them to death... the government needs a legitimate reason to arrest people. If they don't accuse them of a crime, the Lin'an government will have a hard time explaining to their superiors and subordinates."

"That can't kill anyone."

"If he doesn't sentence her to death, but only to some insignificant crimes, how can Liu Xunyi risk his life to save others?" Bai Jin curled his lips and said, "These are the unwritten rules of the government. They have been passed down for thousands of years and have long been commonplace. Taoist priest, don't worry..."

"What rules?" Gu Xing said angrily, "The head of the sect only asked you to use Pan Yuyin as bait to lure out Liu Xunyi, and repeatedly warned you not to harm innocent people, but not only did you not listen to the advice, but you went even further, not only arresting the four members of the Pan family, but also sentencing them to death. It's simply outrageous."

"This..." Facing the righteous words of Gu Xing and Gu Yue, Bai Jin was completely confused. "It's just a small matter. Why are you three so angry?"

"You may think that taking human life is a trivial matter, but we think that human life is a matter of great importance." Qingfeng said quietly, "I dealt with Liu Xunyi to avenge my son-in-law and to rid the martial arts world of harm, not to be cruel and inhumane and kill innocent people. I don't know much about the rules of the government, but I would rather die than violate the morality of the martial arts world. I made friends with you for the sake of the martial arts world and the people of the world, not to seek personal desires, let alone forget righteousness for the sake of profit."

Looking at the righteous Qingfeng and the indignant Guxing and Guyue, Bai Jin could not help but frown. After thinking for a moment, he suddenly realized something and smiled, "In the end, Taoist Qingfeng is just afraid that this matter will be publicized in the future, which will damage your reputation and Wudang's reputation, and destroy your prestige and status in the martial arts world. Haha, you martial arts people always lose sight of the main thing and regard these false reputations as so important..."

"Bastard!"

Before Bai Jin finished speaking, Qing Feng's eyes suddenly turned cold, his face became extremely gloomy, and he said in a cold voice: "Who are you? How dare you speak nonsense in front of me? Even your Lord Qian doesn't dare to talk to me like this!"

Seeing that the situation was not good, Bai Jin could not help but feel flustered and hurriedly explained: "Master, please calm down. I didn't mean that... I just... just..."

"Enough!" Qingfeng waved his hand impatiently to interrupt, "No matter what your purpose is, you must not harm the lives of the four members of the Pan family. Wait for Liu Xunyi to show up and let them go immediately. Otherwise, I, Wudang, and even the Central Plains martial arts world will never be accomplices to the evil and help the evil!"

"This……"

"Bang, bang, bang!"

Just when Bai Jin was feeling extremely upset, there was a low knock on the door, which made his uneasy heart even more irritated.

"Who?"

"Sir, the Lin'an government sent someone to pass on a message."

"Stop talking nonsense!" Bai Jin cursed, "If you have something to say, just say it. If you have to fart, just fart!"

"Yes..." The voice outside the door became timid. "Our people in Lin'an Prefecture sent back a message that this morning, someone from the East Mansion came to the cell with Lord Jia's handwritten letter and took away all the people from the Pan family..."

"what?"

When these words were spoken, not only Bai Jin turned pale with fear, but Qingfeng and the other two also looked surprised.

"why?"

"It seems that someone in the community has spoken up for the Pan family, and this matter has reached Lord Jia's ears, so..."

"Even if there is an injustice, it is not the turn of a person like Lord Jia to personally investigate such a small case!" Bai Jin frowned and muttered to himself, "No! Lord Jia must be taking advantage of this incident and deliberately destroying our West Mansion behind our backs."

At this point, Bai Jin's eyes suddenly turned fierce, and he questioned, "This is obviously against the rules, why didn't the Lin'an government stop it?"

"This... the local government offices have always been under the jurisdiction of the East Palace. Lord Jia is the Prime Minister of the East Palace and holds the life and death of a group of officials in his hands. If he wants to recruit someone... who dares to stop him?"

"A bunch of useless things!"

With a scolding, Bai Jin suddenly stood up, bowed to Qingfeng and the other two, who had complicated expressions on their faces, and said in a gloomy tone: "You three just heard it, there is no need for you to stand up for the Pan family, there are people in the court who will stand up for them. Right now, we have lost our greatest support, and it will be even more difficult to lure Liu Xunyi out."

"What do you think, Lord Bai?"

"I am stupid and confused at the moment." Bai Jin said hastily, "This matter is serious. I must report it to Lord Qian as soon as possible and let him make the decision. Please take your seats. I will take my leave first!"

After saying this, without waiting for Qingfeng and the other two to respond, Bai Jin rushed out of the room impatiently and led his men to leave Gufengxuan in a hurry.

……

(End of this chapter)