Chapter 619: Jianghu and the Court

After hearing what Zhan Zhao said, Chai Xin couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and asked sharply, "Brother Zhan, are you talking about your business or the business of the world's number one village?"

Zhan Zhao paused when he heard this, then smiled bitterly: "Brother Chai is really very wise, he saw through the essence at a glance. This matter is about the No. 1 village in the world, but in fact... it is also deeply related to me."

"I owe Brother Zhan a favor. If I can help you, I won't refuse."

Chai Xin didn't say too much, but he didn't refuse directly either.

"Brother Chai, why do you say that? Although I wanted to help you before, I really couldn't do anything. How can it be considered a favor?"

Zhan Zhao waved his hands repeatedly, with an embarrassed look on his face.

"I came here only as a personal person, and would like to ask Brother Chai for a favor."

"Why don't you tell me about it first?" Chai Xin smiled, picked up the teacup and took a sip.

"The day before yesterday, two uninvited guests suddenly sneaked into the palace and disturbed the emperor. So the emperor issued an order, ordering the prince to conduct a thorough investigation and find these two people."

Zhan Zhao did not hesitate and told the whole story.

"The prince handed the matter over to the owner of Shangguan Manor, who then asked Zhang Jinjiu to investigate the case. Mr. Zhang asked me to assist him. I didn't do my job well before, and although I didn't want to get involved in the affairs of the palace, I couldn't resist, so I agreed."

"In this case, it's actually the matter of Hulong Villa and No. 1 Villa in the World. It doesn't seem to have much to do with Brother Zhan himself, right?"

Chai Xin asked slowly.

"I didn't think this matter had anything to do with me until I found a jade pendant during the investigation."

As Zhan Zhao spoke, he took out a sky-blue jade pendant and handed it to Chai Xin.

Chai Xin took the jade pendant and examined it carefully. He found that neither the color nor the carving of the jade pendant could be considered top-grade. It could only be said to be a common item with nothing special about it.

However, on one side of the jade pendant, there are two seal characters "Yu Tang" engraved.

After returning the jade pendant to Zhan Zhao, Chai Xin was thoughtful and had some vague guesses, but he remained calm and said with a smile: "Forgive me for my poor eyesight. I can't see what's so special about this jade pendant."

"It's not that my eyesight is poor, but this jade pendant is nothing special. It's not valuable, and it doesn't have any historical background. However, this jade pendant belongs to an old friend of mine."

Zhan Zhao pointed at the jade pendant, a look of reminiscence on his face.

"After my master passed away, I also left the Zen temple and wandered around the world. At that time, I met a smart and handsome boy of the same age, and we had a conflict. The boy's name was Bai Yutang."

After hearing this, Chai Xin narrowed his eyes slightly, thinking to himself, "As expected, the famous Jinmaoshu Bai Yutang is the owner of this jade pendant? Brother Zhan, do you think he is one of the uninvited guests who sneaked into the palace?"

Of course, he had heard of Bai Yuting's name.

In the previous life's classical novel "Seven Heroes and Five Gallants", many stories about this person were described in great detail.

The so-called "Five Righteous Men" are actually the "Five Rats" of Xiankong Island. Bai Yuting is the youngest of the Five Rats, nicknamed the Golden-Haired Rat.

The reason why he got such a nickname is because of his beautiful appearance and handsome face. He is a real handsome guy.

Of course, if Bai Yutang was just handsome, he wouldn't be so famous.

In fact, although he is the youngest among the Five Rats of Xiankong Island, he has the highest martial arts skills. He also often does justice in the world and has a great reputation.

If he has any shortcomings, it is probably that he is arrogant.

Actually, this is no wonder. If he is not arrogant and proud, it would be strange if he has made such a big name at such a young age.

After all, young people like Zhan Zhao are not common in the world.

Moreover, the reason why Zhan Zhao could maintain such a peaceful and humble character despite having achieved so much at such a young age was not entirely natural.

After all, he had been a disciple of an old monk from Longquan Zen Temple since he was young, and had been eating vegetarian food and chanting scriptures for many years. In addition, he was humble by nature, which enabled him to have such a temperament.

On the other hand, Bai Yuting has been alone since childhood, and he became sworn brothers with the man from Xiankong Island at an early age. He has lived a life of revenge and never thought about improving his character.

His situation is actually somewhat similar to that of Yang Guo in the original novel.

However, Yang Guo had been influenced by Guo Jing and Huang Rong, as well as the Quanzhen Taoist school, and later joined the Ancient Tomb Sect, which was founded on the principle of "tranquility". He knew the rules and etiquette to some extent.

Even so, Yang Guo did not change his nature. He often acted impulsively and arbitrarily, and finally earned the title of "Western Madman".

If Yang Guo's experience in the original novel was the same as Bai Yuting's, I'm afraid his temperament would be a hundred times more rebellious than the latter.

"Although I haven't seen him, I think it's pretty close. After all, this jade pendant is a relic of his mother, and he always keeps it with him. It's impossible for him to give it away easily."

Zhan Zhao nodded, and a look of worry gradually appeared on his handsome face.

"Bai Yutang and I have known each other for a long time, and we have developed a certain friendship. But I don't want him to become a wanted criminal by the court. Therefore, I hope Brother Chai can help me."

At this time, Zhan Zhao obviously had not yet met Justice Bao, and his concept of brotherhood still came first.

If Zhan Zhao had been influenced by Bao Zheng's behavior in the future and gradually realized the importance of laws and regulations, he would definitely not have made such remarks.

After all, if it was indeed Bai Yuting who broke into the palace, then regardless of whether he had done anything evil, he had violated the laws of the court and should be punished.

Even if Zhan Zhao had a past relationship with him, he would definitely not plead for him.

"With your martial arts skills, aren't you still a match for Bai Yutang? What's more, you have the Juque Sword passed down from your family, so I think your chances of winning are pretty good. With Zhang Jinjiu's cooperation, it shouldn't be difficult to capture the Golden-Haired Rat. Why do you need my help?"

Chai Xin asked in surprise.

Zhan Zhao couldn't help but smile bitterly again when he heard this, and shook his head, "I'm not worried about not being able to take down Bai Yu Tang, but I'm worried about taking down Bai Yu Tang."

"I see."

Chai Xin was so smart that the moment he heard this, he immediately understood the key point.

After a moment's silence, he continued, "If Bai Yutang committed a heinous crime, would Brother Zhan also help him escape?"

Zhan Zhao shook his head firmly upon hearing this and said, "I know Brother Bai very well. Although he is arrogant and sometimes acts in an extreme way, he would never do anything rebellious. I think he sneaked into the palace on a whim..."

"Of course, no matter what, what he did was wrong. But breaking into the Forbidden Palace at night is a fatal disaster after all. As a friend, I really can't bear to see him end up like this."

Zhan Zhao spoke with genuine emotion, obviously speaking from the bottom of his heart.

"He is indeed a martial arts expert, but he is far from being invincible. He did such a reckless thing and ignored the imperial palace guards, but he didn't know that there are many top masters in the deep palace who can easily kill him!" "Brother Zhan, do you trust Bai Yutang so much? From your tone, it seems that you haven't seen him for many years? How do you know that he hasn't changed over the years?"

Chai Xin smiled and took another sip of tea, then asked curiously.

Zhan Zhao hesitated for a moment before saying seriously, "I know him well, he wouldn't do that. However, if he really did something that was against the will of heaven and earth and shameful to his country and the people, I would personally put an end to him. It can be considered as... completing this fate."

Then, he continued, "He has been in the martial arts world for a long time and doesn't know how dangerous the court is, let alone how many masters there are in the court. If he is caught by the Hulong Villa, the East Factory, or the Jinyiwei, I'm afraid that even if he has superb martial arts skills, he will not be able to escape death."

"No matter what, please help me, Brother Chai, give him a chance and get to the bottom of this matter!"

Having said that, Zhan Zhao suddenly stood up, clasped his fists and bowed deeply to Chai Xin.

Chai Xin looked at the young man in blue who bowed and saluted, his eyes revealing deep admiration.

Such a person is loyal to his friends, devoted to his country, and most importantly, extremely honest. He is truly rare no matter where he is in the world.

He put down the teacup in his hand, stood up and walked to Zhan Zhao, helped him up, and said with a smile: "If someone else asked me to do this, I would definitely not be able to do it. But brother Zhan, you have said so much, if I still remain indifferent, wouldn't it be too inhumane?"

Zhan Zhao was overjoyed when he heard this. His eyes and eyebrows were all smiling. He clasped his fists and said, "Thank you, Brother Chai! From now on, if you have any orders, I will go through fire and water without hesitation!"

"Since you call me brother, there is no need to say all this. When do you think we should set off?"

Chai Xin withdrew his hands and asked with a smile.

Zhan Zhao blurted out, "Of course the sooner the better! I also asked Mr. Zhang to help me, and I think he has found Bai Yutang's whereabouts."

"Then we must act quickly. Since this matter has alarmed the emperor, it is impossible for only one party to be investigating. Let alone Hu Long Villa, we must not let the East Factory and the Embroidered Uniform Guards take the lead."

Chai Xin thought about it for a moment and made a decision.

"Let me take care of some household matters, and then I'll go with you to rescue the people."

"Brother, please."

Zhan Zhao naturally didn't say much.

Chai Xin called Yang Guo to introduce himself to Zhan Zhao, then gave him a few more instructions before leaving the mansion with the latter.

"How did you convince Zhang Jinjiu to agree to help you save Bai Yutang instead of following the orders of the head of Shangguan Manor?"

On the way, Chai Xin asked a question.

"In fact, this order was given by the prince himself, not by the owner of Shangguan Manor. Originally, Mr. Zhang and I were both under the command of the No. 1 Manor in the World, and the prince would not normally bypass the owner of Shangguan Manor and give us orders directly."

Zhan Zhao concealed nothing about this and told us every detail.

"However, this time, both Manor Master Shangguan and Brother Duan were sent out, so the recent affairs of the World's Number One Manor will be handled by the prince himself. However, brother must also know that the people in the World's Number One Manor are all from the martial arts world, and they naturally feel alienated from the imperial court."

"Brother, what you mean is that even if that person is the prince, the foster father of Shangguan Manor Master, the one who really attracted the heroes to join him is actually Shangguan Manor Master?"

Chai Xin naturally understood the implied meaning of Zhan Zhao's words.

Zhan Zhao nodded and said, "That's right."

"Neither Mr. Zhang nor I want to interfere directly in the affairs of the imperial court. As people of the martial arts world, we are here to help the owner of the manor solve some martial arts matters that are inconvenient for the imperial court to handle."

Speaking of this, even Zhan Zhao, who was an insightful man, couldn't help but show some hesitation on his face.

"But this time, the prince's order is to take the life of a famous martial arts hero... For Mr. Zhang and I, who are both martial arts heroes, it would be a lie to say that I have no resistance in my heart."

"The most important thing is, who in the martial arts world doesn't know the reputation of Jinmaoshu Bai Yutang? If the two of us kill such a hero without knowing right or wrong, how will our fellow martial artists view us in the future?"

Zhan Zhao sighed, as if he had no control over his own affairs, perhaps because he felt that he was too deeply involved in the affairs of the court.

"By then, regardless of whether I complete the three things I promised to Master Shangguan, I will be seen as a complete lackey of the imperial court in the eyes of others."

This is the biggest difference between the underworld and the court.

Except for some evil sects that have gone astray, all other sects, whether they are famous and upright or unconventional, all emphasize the word "righteousness".

At the very least, the word "righteousness" will be emphasized on the surface.

If someone is regarded as a person who does not value the moral code of the underworld by most of his peers, then he will have no chance of survival.

But the court is different.

In the court, the most important things are "legal principles" and "legal system".

What is the ultimate goal of legal principles and legal system?
It is to maintain the rule of the court and the authority of the emperor! People in the court value stability, order, and authority the most.

In the eyes of the imperial court, where is the Jianghu?
All the land in the world is the land of the king; the shores of the land are all the ministers of the king.

The so-called Jianghu is the cancer that the imperial court wants to eradicate the most!
Unfortunately, this cancer has never been completely eradicated.

Therefore, the Song Dynasty had the Hulong Villa, the Jin and Qing Dynasties had the Yipintang, and the Mongolian Liao Dynasty had the Vajra Sect.

The imperial courts of various countries also tried their best to balance the power of the underworld.

Therefore, most people in the underworld are not willing to join these official organizations - the two sides are naturally hostile to each other.

After Zhao Wusi founded the Hulong Villa, he noticed the resistance of the people in the martial arts world to him, so he played a trick and ordered Shangguan Haitang to establish the number one villa in the world.

With the title of "the best in the world" and Shangguan Haitang's personal charm, he has attracted many martial arts masters.

But even so, in the eyes of many people in the martial arts world, those who are willing to submit to the world's number one manor are also considered half-minions of the court.

However, over the years, No. 1 Village in the World did not directly interfere in the affairs of the martial arts world. It only targeted some evil people in the martial arts world who had done too much evil, or notorious evil sects. Therefore, the conflicts with various factions in the martial arts world were not that sharp.

In other words, the No. 1 Village in the World has won the respect of many people in the world through his actions.

Therefore, only chivalrous people like Zhang Jinjiu and Zhan Zhao would want to get close to the world's number one manor.

But this time, Zhao Wusi directly ordered the two of them to investigate the culprit who broke into the palace at night, and threatened to kill anyone who came...

This has clearly touched their bottom line as people in the underworld.

(End of this chapter)