Chapter 874: The more you try to hide, the more obvious it becomes (I)

The imperial court's wanted criminal took a risk, the deputy envoy of the Privy Council was assassinated, and a mysterious master rescued him late at night...

The Lin'an Incident was of great significance, and Liu Xunyi's shocking behavior was even more appalling.

As the saying goes, "Good news doesn't travel far, but bad news travels a thousand miles." Almost overnight, Lin'an, the Deputy Privy Envoy, Liu Xunyi, the mysterious man... all became the subject of everyone's talk, and all kinds of rumors spread like wildfire, becoming a hot topic in the martial arts world and known to everyone.

Especially Liu Xunyi, his past "victories in hundreds of battles" are ultimately no match for his current "fleeing for fear of crime."

In just a few days, with the support of the imperial court and the martial arts world, the public opinion changed dramatically. Gradually, no one mentioned Liu Xunyi's contributions in Mobei, and no one praised the painful price he paid to keep the territory of the Song Dynasty.

Now, people "prefer" to regard him as a treacherous lackey who colluded with foreign countries, a greedy and despicable villain, and a cruel and vicious lunatic. The people in the martial arts world hate him for being a traitor and plotting to murder the leader of the martial arts world, Luo Tianjin. The people of Xingdou resent him for being an accomplice to the evil, which led to the robbery of the granaries of the three prefectures in Xingyuan.

Coupled with the Lin'an Incident that shocked the world, Liu Xunyi's assassination of the Deputy Privy Councilor was not only a contempt of the royal law, but was also regarded as a blatant confrontation with the court. Even the Emperor of the Song Dynasty could not help but be filled with righteous indignation, and personally wrote the eight characters "The crimes are heinous and cannot be described in words" on the wanted order.

Until now, Liu Xunyi has offended the imperial court, the martial arts world, and the people. He is notorious, hated by both humans and gods, and has fallen into the embarrassing situation of "everyone in the world can kill him".

However, despite the raging storms, thunder and lightning in the outside world, Liu Xunyi, who was at the center of the vortex, seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth. Since the failure of his assassination attempt on the Deputy Envoy of the Privy Council, there has been no news of him since then.

Ten days later, Lin'an City, Privy Council.

"Your Excellency, the Deputy Privy Councilor's injury has not healed yet and he still needs to stay in bed to recuperate. Therefore, he can only meet guests in the inner room. I hope you will forgive me!"

On a sunny morning, Lord Jia, the acting prime minister of the East Palace, unexpectedly came to the Privy Council to visit his "old rival" Lord Qian.

Interestingly, the person traveling with Lord Jia today is also a “regular visitor” of the Privy Council, Qin Wei, Marquis of Tianji.

Qin Wei had no prior knowledge of Lord Jia's arrangements and was called by him early this morning. Therefore, he had no idea of ​​his real intentions and could not help but feel puzzled.

As the "military commander" of the East Palace and a "loyal supporter" of Lord Qian, Qin Wei was used to meeting Lord Qian or Lord Jia alone and could handle it with ease. But meeting two lords at the same time like today was the first time in history.

From the moment Qin Wei stepped into the Privy Council, his thoughts, expressions, eyes, words and actions were all awkward and slow. He was sandwiched between two powerful military ministers. If Lord Jia and Lord Qian had a disagreement and started a quarrel, who should he speak for?

However, compared to the anxious Qin Wei, Lord Jia appeared calm and composed.

Under the guidance of the two guards, Lord Jia and Qin Wei walked through the hall and courtyard and went straight to Lord Qian's bedroom.

Today, Mr. Qian's external injuries have almost recovered. His face still looks a little pale, but his overall spirit has improved greatly compared to the past few days.

"I am extremely grateful to Lord Jia and Lord Qin for taking the time out of their busy schedules to come here. I hope you will forgive me for not coming to greet you!"

Upon seeing the two, Lord Qian, who was leaning against the bed and being fed medicine by two maids, couldn't help but change his expression. He tried to stand up, but was rejected by Lord Jia who walked up quickly: "There are no outsiders here, Lord Qian, you don't have to be polite! You are in poor health, you should take good care of yourself, hehe..."

"How dare I, an old man, trouble Lord Jia to worry about me?" Lord Qian did not refuse. He leaned back on the bed and instructed the two maids, "You go down first. No one is allowed to come in and disturb us."

"Yes."

After giving the order, the two maids tiptoed out of the inner room carrying the medicine. After a while, only Lord Jia, Lord Qian, and Qin Wei were left in the room. The three of them looked at each other, with different thoughts in their minds, and the atmosphere gradually became a little subtle.

"Lord Jia is busy with all kinds of affairs and never comes to see you unless it's necessary. Since there are no outsiders here, please speak frankly." After a long silence, Lord Qian, the host, took the lead in breaking the deadlock.

"Since Lord Qian is straightforward, I will not play tricks any more and will just speak frankly." Lord Jia said seriously, "In fact, I came here today for two reasons. One is to visit Lord Qian on behalf of the emperor. He cares about you very much and will ask about you every time he goes to court."

"Your Majesty's grace is such that I would never be able to repay it even if I die!" Lord Qian bowed his hands to the sky, his eyes revealing a deep sense of emotion.

"The second is about Liu Xunyi."

"hiss!"

Lord Jia suddenly changed the subject, which caught Lord Qian and Qin Wei off guard and made them feel nervous.

"Liu Xunyi?"

Lord Qian frowned and thought quickly. At this moment, he was more curious about Lord Jia's hidden meaning than Liu Xunyi. After all, Lord Jia was cunning and treacherous, and he would do anything to gain something, so he would never do it without a purpose.

He came uninvited today and suddenly mentioned Liu Xunyi. He must have another purpose. Thinking of this, Mr. Qian pretended to be confused and asked, "What's the matter with Liu Xunyi?"

"Right now, Liu Xunyi is not only Mr. Qian's mortal enemy, but also a source of worry for the Emperor..."

"Master Jia, you are too serious!" Master Qian corrected him seriously, "I and Liu Xunyi only have national hatred, not personal hatred. Therefore, he should not be my mortal enemy, but the mortal enemy of the court, the Song Dynasty, and even the mortal enemy of the people of the world."

"Mr. Qian is right. I was wrong." Mr. Jia looked at Mr. Qian with a dark light in his eyes, and then said, "At this point, I think the court crisis has outweighed the political disagreements between the East and West Governments, so I came here to meet with Mr. Qian... to seek common ground while reserving differences and to tide over the difficulties together. As the saying goes, 'gentlemen are harmonious but different, while villains are the same but not harmonious.' I think the Privy Councilor, Mr. Qian, and even the colleagues in the West Government are all loyal and righteous gentlemen, and they will never fight against each other when the country is in danger. After all, the ancient sages have taught that 'those who want to resist foreign aggression must first stabilize the country.'"

"This……"

Looking at Lord Jia's sincere words, Lord Qian was stunned. He then turned his hesitant gaze to Qin Wei, who was in shock. He hesitated for a long time but didn't know how to respond.

Seeing this, Qin Wei, who was self-aware, hurriedly bowed to Lord Jia and Lord Qian, and said awkwardly: "Since the two lords have something to discuss, then I will take my leave first..."

"No need!" Lord Jia interrupted with a righteous wave of his hand, "I just said that there are no outsiders here. Therefore, today... no! From now on, you don't have to avoid conversations between me and Lord Qian."

"This..." Qin Wei didn't know what Lord Jia was up to. He was confused and didn't dare to ask or refuse. He could only bow and thank Lord Qian under his suspicious gaze. "Thank you for your trust, Your Majesty. I am flattered."

"Young people are brave and daring, and they will surely achieve great things in the future." Lord Jia said with a smile, "In the past, there were some small misunderstandings between you and me. It happens that Lord Qian is here today, so why not be a witness for us. You and I are both officials of the East Palace, and we will inevitably deal with each other in the future. If we keep harboring estrangement, it will only be detrimental to the country. I think that we should let bygones be bygones, and you and I will work together in the future to share your worries. I wonder...what do you think?"

"That's great. I couldn't ask for more..."

Having said this, the ecstatic Qin Wei suddenly noticed that Lord Qian's face seemed a little gloomy. The passion in his heart seemed to be extinguished in an instant as if by a basin of cold water, and his excited voice subconsciously stopped.

Seeing this, Lord Jia raised his eyebrows, cast a meaningful look at Lord Qian who seemed to be thinking about something, and asked calmly, "What do you think, Lord Qian?"

"Haha..." Lord Qian was like two completely different people when facing Lord Jia and Qin Wei. He was not displeased at all. Instead, he smiled and celebrated. "I was able to save my life thanks to Lord Qin's timely rescue. In a nutshell, he is my lifesaver. Now, Lord Jia is willing to give him a chance to make amends for his past mistakes. I am sincerely happy for him. To be honest, I also think that this boy is brave, resourceful, loyal, and will become a great man in the future."

"Qin Wei, did you hear that?" Lord Jia took over and urged the confused Qin Wei, "It's rare that Lord Qian is so kind to you, why don't you thank him quickly?"

"Oh! Thank you, Mr. Qian, for your praise!"

"No need to be so polite!" Lord Qian waved his hand nonchalantly, and then asked Lord Jia, who was pretending to be polite, "Lord, you just mentioned Liu Xunyi, I wonder..."

"In fact, I know that the West Mansion has always maintained a close relationship with some martial artists. Even when Liu Xunyi sneaked into the Xianwang Mansion and the emperor issued an order to forbid the West Mansion from interfering in the Central Plains martial arts world... you have never really cut off your contact with the martial artists."

"Master Jia, this matter..."

"Hey!" Before the frightened Lord Qian could explain, Lord Jia smiled nonchalantly and said, "Don't worry! I am not here today to call for punishment, let alone to threaten you. Moreover, I don't have any evidence in my hand, so how dare I threaten you with it? Haha... I mentioned all this because it is still related to Liu Xunyi."

"I'd like to hear the details!" Lord Qian's heart was in turmoil, but he appeared calm on the surface.

"I don't want to delve into the relationship between the West Mansion and the martial arts world. After all, the East Mansion's plan to recruit people has failed, and the emperor no longer trusts us. Since ancient times, 'the capable are promoted and the mediocre are demoted'. Since our East Mansion is incapable of controlling the Central Plains martial arts world, we should abdicate and let your West Mansion take over. In the end, no matter which of the two mansions succeeds, it will gather strength for the court and benefit the people of the Song Dynasty."

"Lord Jia has the overall situation in mind and hits the nail on the head. I admire you!"

"In this case, I should not keep any information I get secret, especially from my colleagues in the West Palace."

"News?" Lord Qian was secretly surprised and said in disbelief, "Could it be that Lord Jia has news about Liu Xunyi?"

"To be precise, it's the news about the mysterious people who rescued Liu Xunyi. However, those people are elusive and very good at hiding. It may not be enough to find them just by relying on the wanted list issued by the court and the government. Therefore, I need the help of the martial artists that Xifu has made friends with."

"Who are they?" Faced with Lord Jia's repeated mention of "martial arts people", Lord Qian neither admitted nor denied it. Instead, he tried to find an opportunity to test him indirectly, "How did Lord Jia know about this?"

"It doesn't matter who they are. What matters is that the power behind them is not insignificant. As for how I know this... I'm ashamed to say that those people have held me hostage before, and Qin Wei also knows about this. Ever since I was kidnapped, I have been secretly collecting information about them, until Liu Xunyi inadvertently mentioned a mysterious person during his sneaking into the Xianwang Mansion, which made me suddenly enlightened. Then I followed the clues bit by bit and finally found the mastermind behind the scenes. This person had colluded with Luo Tianjin and conspired to rebel. His ambition, power, and means should not be underestimated. Now that he sent someone to rescue Liu Xunyi, it is definitely not meddling in other people's business, and he must have other intentions. At this critical moment, if the East and West Palaces cannot resolve their past grievances, if the court and the martial arts world cannot unite against the enemy, once this person uses Liu Xunyi to make a fortune in the Central Plains, it will surely endanger the world and cause endless troubles."

"What the Prime Minister said is..." Qin Wei frowned and recalled carefully, "Xunzhen?"

"Xunzhen is only his 'incarnation' in the Central Plains. The real mastermind behind this is the descendant of the Western Liao royal family, 'Young Qin Prince' Yelu Tai!"

……

(End of this chapter)