As a member of the imperial court, Nie Wushang came here mainly to announce the edict. It should be known that what Zhou Bao did in the northwest had attracted the attention of the imperial court. In addition, he seized the Pure Yang Celestial Device of Xining King's Eldest Son, Yan Fei, which indirectly damaged the imperial court's face. Naturally, the imperial court would not completely ignore it. However, these were not reflected in the imperial edict. The imperial edict mostly contained comforting words, praising Zhou Bao for doing a good job as a lord and setting a good example for all the new lords in the Great Jin. It hoped that Zhou Bao would continue to work hard and continue to contribute to the prosperity of the Great Jin. In the end, it did not forget to reward Zhou Bao with 10,000 taels of gold and a nominal title of General.
As for other things, naturally, Zhou Bao and Nie Wushang talked about them in private.
"Your Excellency Zhou, General Zhou, His Majesty and the imperial court value you very much!"
Compared with Yu Yunpeng's rich merchant style, Nie Wushang was a typical old fox in the officialdom. He put on a fake smile and was also defined by Zhou Bao as the most troublesome person.
Not difficult to deal with, but troublesome.
Zhou Bao had seen many people like this in his previous life. They were all real villains who would seek revenge for the smallest grievance. For a small matter, they could bear a grudge for 100 years. Moreover, when they retaliated, their means were insidious and inhumane. The most important and troublesome thing for Zhou Bao was that such people liked to do typical things that harmed others without benefiting themselves.
Doing things that harmed others for benefiting oneself showed that he still had scruples in his heart and was still thinking about Zhou Bao. Doing things that harmed others without benefiting oneself was completely a problem of one's temperament. There was no doubt that Nie Wushang was such a person. Although he was now smiling and speaking softly, and even the eunuchs in the palace did not speak as softly as him, Zhou Bao was extremely vigilant when he heard it.
"You're flattering me. Zhou Bao is just a village man who got a little luck by chance. How can he deserve such generous treatment from His Majesty and the imperial court?"
"Your Excellency, you're being modest. In fact, His Majesty and the ministers in the imperial court actually hope that Your Excellency can return to the imperial court to serve. After all, in today's imperial court, there are very few people as young and strong as Your Excellency!"
"Bullshit!" Zhou Bao cursed in his heart. He was afraid that it was only the emperor's idea to return to the imperial court and serve the ministers. As for the ministers in the imperial court, in the current stable situation, they would never want a person with a powerful background like Zhou Bao to suddenly intervene. They would rather Zhou Bao leave the imperial court. Even if he had to split the land and be conferred the title of king and establish his own northwest, they did not want him to return to the imperial court and compete with them for the benefits that had long been distributed.
Therefore, Zhou Bao only thought it of of of of these of nonsense. Of Zhou Bao, Wushang, Zhou of a, and of of the Dynasty. He of the imperial court, Zhou of Wushang. of of of of of a of. "Your His Wushang," of, "Your His" of, "said of, he was, of of of, of, of, of, and, Sun, Wang., Emperor, Wang, Tian., of of Zhou of the imperial court. Li of Wu of Clan, of the Family, Family, Zhou Yan Dynasty, who who who of, of of, King, Wushang.
"Your Excellency, you are too modest!" Hearing Zhou Bao belittling himself in this way, Nie Wushang's eyes flashed, and his evaluation of Zhou Bao increased a little. However, he did not care about it and just smiled indifferently. "Your Excellency's strength is known to all in the world. Not to mention this remote northwest, you are more than qualified to be a provincial governor in Great Jin!"
"Haha, Your Excellency, if you continue to praise Zhou Bao like this, Zhou Bao will not be able to eat!" Zhou Bao waved his hand and smiled, but in his heart, he was thinking, "What provincial governor? Even if you give me ten provinces, I will not go. Those provinces belong to the imperial court of Great Jin. Although this northwest is desolate, it is my own!"
"Zhou Bao, what I said is true. But there is one thing that Your Excellency has done that makes His Majesty feel a little embarrassed!" The smile on Nie Wushang's face disappeared slightly, and he showed a sigh. He weighed his tone and said, "No matter what, Yan Fei is the Eldest Prince of Xining King and a member of the royal family. His Pure Yang Celestial Device is also bestowed by the imperial court. Your Excellency, it is a little inappropriate for you to take him away so directly!"
"Haha, it turns out to be this matter!" Zhou Bao smiled slightly. "But I don't think it is inappropriate!"
Nie Wushang's expression froze. If it was someone else who spoke like this in front of him, he would have already flown into a rage. But facing Zhou Bao, he didn't dare to do so. He had also heard about Zhou Bao's ferocious reputation. Not to mention that he was just a Level Six minor official, even a millennium family like the Wang family would be humiliated by him if they provoked him. This guy wasn't like those scholars in the imperial court who could be reasoned with.
This guy was just like what he said, a villager. Apart from believing in his brute strength, he didn't believe in anything else. Moreover, his methods were extremely cruel. If he really angered him here, not to mention killing him, even if half of his body was paralyzed, it wouldn't be worth it, right?
He was just here to announce the imperial decree and test Zhou Bao's attitude towards the imperial court. There was no need to make things so stiff!
Thinking of this, the corner of his mouth twitched a little, and he said cautiously, "Oh, there is nothing inappropriate. What's your opinion, Your Excellency?"
"No opinion, I just don't think there is anything inappropriate!" Zhou Bao smiled coldly. "Yan Fei is a member of the royal family and is arrogant. He chased after Li Xiu for thousands of miles. I tried to persuade him, but he not only did not listen to me, but also used the Octupole Exquisite Pagoda to kill me. He is so domineering and behaves like this. If we don't kill his arrogance and let him continue to run amok with the Octupole Exquisite Pagoda, it will be disadvantageous to the imperial court in the future. Your Excellency, what do you think?"
"That makes sense, that makes sense!"
Nie Wushang gently wiped the cold sweat off his forehead and took a deep breath. He sighed inwardly that the young people nowadays were really better than the previous generation. They did not even blush and their hearts did not skip a beat when they were framed in public.
Why did Yan Fei want to kill Li Xiu? This matter had long been known by the whole world, but when it came to Zhou Bao, it became unreasonable. Besides, although Yan Fei was a little arrogant, he had never done anything wrong to others. As for arrogance, he was young and had a good family background. His strength was outstanding, so it was normal for him to be a little arrogant. It was very abnormal for someone like Zhou Bao to be so tactful and skillful.
But there was no other way. Since it had come to this, it was useless to say anything else.
So he just smiled awkwardly and ended the conversation between them.
After watching Nie Wushang's figure disappear, Zhou Bao turned his head and looked at Jiang Xiao. "Something is wrong!"
"Wrong?" Jiang Xiao was stunned. "Your Excellency, you mean …"
"Don't you think it's very strange? You came here for no reason just to announce a meaningless imperial edict?! " Zhou Bao turned around and walked into the room. As he walked, he said, "This imperial edict has no substantive content at all!"
"Except for the imperial edict, he didn't talk to you about anything else?"
The conversation between Zhou Bao and Nie Wushang was carried out in secret in the room. Except for the two of them, there was no third person present. So Jiang Xiao took it for granted that their conversation was the real show. Unexpectedly, it was not even foreplay.
"That's strange. Could it be that he came all the way here just to say a few words of nonsense to you and give you the title of general?
Hearing Zhou Bao's words, Jiang Xiao also felt strange. "Is there any conspiracy in it?"
"Conspiracy? What conspiracy? The strongest subordinate he brought is only at Level Five. I can crush all 200 guards with one finger. He doesn't have the confidence and qualification to play a conspiracy with me. Absolutely not! "Thinking of the group of people Nie Wushang brought, Zhou Bao shook his head and denied his speculation.
"Then why did he come here?" Jiang Xiao tilted his head and thought, "Did he come to test Your Excellency?"
"Test me? Why are you testing me?! " Zhou Bao still shook his head. "I'm not a big shot. Although I've made a name for myself in the northwest, it's nothing compared to the overall situation of the imperial court. Moreover, even if I'm really capable, it's impossible for me to become a threat to the imperial court within 30 years in this bitter and cold place. What does he mean by testing me?"
Jiang Xiao smiled bitterly. "I have a way to figure it out!"
"What way?"
"Tie him up and interrogate him!"
"Hahahahaha!" Zhou Bao patted Jiang Xiao's shoulder fiercely. "You brat, that's a good idea. But we can't do it for the time being!"
"Then —!"
"Don't worry about it. We'll deal with it when it comes. Even if they have ulterior motives, it's good for them to move around after being idle for a long time!" Zhou Bao smiled and stretched out his arm. Suddenly, he frowned and turned to the outside of the courtyard with a puzzled look.
"Your Excellency, what's wrong?"
"What's wrong with Zhu Ba? Why is he so flustered again?" Zhou Bao said discontentedly.
Not long after his voice died away, Zhu Ba slammed the door open and rushed into the courtyard.
"Your Excellency, Your Excellency, something bad has happened!"
"What's wrong?" Zhou Bao glared at Zhu Ba discontentedly and almost kicked him to death.
"Your Excellency, Your Excellency, it's really bad, Your Excellency!" Zhu Ba rushed to Zhou Bao and spoke incoherently, waving a letter in his hand. "Your Excellency, the Old Master has an emergency and is critically ill!"
"What?" Zhou Bao grabbed the letter and opened it to read.
The Old Master was his father, Old Zhou at the foot of the Misty Mountain. Since his son Zhou Bao made a fortune, Old Zhou became the Old Master, and then the Old Master.
Zhou Bao did not have a strong sense of kinship with his new family in this life. But in any case, they were the biological parents of his new body, and he still had to fulfill the necessary filial piety.
What's more, the Zhou's were really impatient with him. At least they did not let him starve to death before he was 10 years old.
Therefore, Zhou Bao had always been very kind to the Zhou's. He had arranged for his parents and several brothers very well. He even planned to bring the Zhou's over after his lair in the northwest was completely built.
Unexpectedly, he heard the bad news of the Old Master at this time.
At this time, a man ran in from outside the courtyard, panting. "Your Excellency, Your Excellency, bad news, the Old Master, the Old Master, the Old Master, the Old Master has an emergency!"
Perhaps because he was too nervous, too tired from running, and had no strength, his body could not keep up with the speed of running all the way. He fell to the ground and became unconscious.
"Your Excellency, he is here to deliver a letter. I am impatient and afraid that you will delay the matter, so I hurried to bring the letter!"
"I got it!" Zhou Bao nodded and pointed to the man on the ground. "Carry him into the room and take good care of him. I will go back to Yunzhou as soon as I get ready!"
"Your Excellency, shall we go with you?"
"You? Can you keep up with me? " Zhou Bao glanced at Jiang Xiao. From the letter, the Old Master's condition was really serious. And according to the date of the letter, it had been more than two months.
In the Zhou's, except for Zhou Bao, there was no other Level Seven expert, and there was no way to command a Level Seven expert. Therefore, he could only rely on the primitive method of rushing to deliver the letter. In fact, in this world without telegraph, telephone, and email, the communication between the northwest and the Central Plains would be delayed for three to four months. It was somewhat beyond Zhou Bao's expectation that the letter could be delivered in two months.
No wonder the guy who delivered the letter fainted as soon as he arrived. He fainted from exhaustion.
Therefore, Zhou Bao made the decision to leave immediately. If he didn't leave now, perhaps Old Zhou's body would be smelly by the time he arrived in Yunzhou.
Since Zhou Bao could think of this, Jiang Xiao and the others could also think of it. Therefore, when they saw Zhou Bao turned into a golden light and disappeared in the air, they just sighed softly.
On the other side, Nie Wushang and the others who had returned to their residence had been paying attention to Zhou Bao. Seeing a golden light rising in Zhou Bao's yard, Nie Wushang's eyes flashed with joy. She took out a small cyan wooden block from her sleeve, which looked like a wooden token. She suddenly pinched it and crushed it into a pile of ashes, disappearing in the wind.
As for Zhou Bao, he rolled up his Gang Qi and flew toward the southeast. His speed was so fast that he looked like a golden meteor streaking across the sky.
At his speed, it would take him nearly 16 hours to reach his hometown in Yunzhou by flying in a straight line, which was more than half a day. It also depended on his endurance!
Fortunately, Zhou Bao's Internal Qi was very abundant, and his Gang Qi was also superior. Therefore, he didn't feel tired at all even after flying for six to eight hours.
While flying, he suddenly felt that something was wrong. His speed seemed to have slowed down. In the blink of an eye, the whole world became gray.
"Eh?" Zhou Bao was shocked. Before he could say anything, a strand of extremely cold killing intent attacked him from behind.
"Oh no!" Subconsciously, he wanted to launch the Three Realms Division, but he was surprised to find that the surrounding space seemed to be locked by an invisible force. Even with his strength, it was difficult to move the space.
In the past, the space was like a fragile piece of paper in front of his Three Realms Division. But now, it was a thick wall. Although he might be able to shake the wall with a little more effort, he didn't have that time.
Launching the Three Realms Division only took a moment, but after all, it was delayed for a moment.
That wisp of murderous aura had actually broken through his Gang Qi, his Nine Dragons Heavenly Kylin Gang!
At this moment, the Poison Cold Shield was launched. A layer of light cyan light surrounded Zhou Bao and blocked the killing intent. Finally, Zhou Bao had a chance to react.
Since the Three Realms Division was restricted, he would give it up for the time being.
The strand of killing intent penetrated Zhou Bao's Poison Cold Shield and stabbed him. However, it was not a serious injury. It just cut a shallow wound on his waist. A numb feeling came from his wound, but it was soon replaced by the cool air of the Poison Cold Shield.
The Poison Cold Shield did not completely block the killing intent, but it was enough to completely absorb the poison contained in the killing intent.
At this time, Zhou Bao also saw the person who launched the attack on him.
It was a black-clothed masked man with a jet-black dagger!
But it was just a glimpse. After a glimpse, the black-clothed man and the black dagger suddenly disappeared, as if Zhou Bao had launched the Three Realms Division.
It was a trap!
Everything happened in a flash. From the appearance of the black-clothed man, to the launch of the Poison Cold Shield, to Zhou Bao's injury and the disappearance of the black-clothed man, it all happened in an instant. When Zhou Bao steadied himself, Gang Qi surged all over his body, and the black-clothed man had disappeared without a trace. It was a vast expanse of whiteness around him, which made Zhou Bao feel like he was trapped in the Yin and Yang Dust Formation.
Of course, this was not the Yin and Yang Dust Formation!
"Interesting. It seems that someone wants to kill me!" Zhou Bao stopped in mid-air and looked around. A cold smile flashed across his face. He moved his body and was about to land. But unexpectedly, just as he moved, a stream of powerful Sword Qi appeared out of thin air. It condensed into a sword shadow under his feet and stabbed toward him.
"Go to hell!" Zhou Bao waved his hand and the Golden-Scaled Cudgel appeared in his hand. He fiercely pounded it down.
"Boom!" With a loud sound, the Sword Qi that had already taken shape was smashed into pieces by the cudgel.
But the smashing of the Sword Qi did not mean that the trouble was over. On the contrary, it seemed that the movement of his attack was a little too big. Therefore, after the attack, countless Sword Qi was produced and firmly surrounded him from all directions. The Sword Qi stabbed toward him.
"Sweeping in Eight Directions, break!" Zhou Bao shouted in a low voice. He swung the Golden-Scaled Cudgel in his hand and used the move Sweeping in Eight Directions. The incomparably violent cudgel smashed thousands of Sword Qi around him.
This move broke countless Sword Qi, but the broken Sword Qi recombined and produced more Sword Qi out of thin air, attacking Zhou Bao directly.
The long cudgel in Zhou Bao's hand slightly froze. This time, he was not as violent as before. Instead, he used the cudgel to protect his body and completely blocked the surrounding Sword Qi.
"These Sword Qi are launched with my movements. The bigger my movements are, the fiercer the Sword Qi is!"
Zhou Bao thought to himself as he blocked all the attacking Sword Qi.
Compared to the sword strike that caught him off guard at the beginning, this sword qi that appeared out of thin air was much easier to deal with. This was because, apart from some extremely powerful sword qi, the other sword qi couldn't even break through his protective qi.
He did not need to move too much. He just needed to smash those powerful Sword Qi. He did not need to care too much!
After a round of attacks, Zhou Bao somewhat understood the operation and effect of the surrounding sword formation. He also became more cautious when he attacked.
He had fallen into a well-prepared trap. Although he had absolute confidence in himself, he still needed to be careful. Things had happened too suddenly, so he couldn't kill everyone immediately. He still needed time to observe and observe.
Sure enough, after going through rounds of almost endless Sword Qi attacks, Zhou Bao found something fishy. Among the Sword Qi that seemed to be unable to break his Gang Qi, there would occasionally be one or two extremely sharp Sword Qi. These Sword Qi were enough to break his Gang Qi, his Poison Cold Shield, and even his body. These insidious Sword Qi were by far the biggest trump card of this formation.
"Although it's very interesting, you'd better not play such boring tricks. Come out!" Zhou Bao said. The Golden-Scaled Cudgel danced rapidly, mainly attacking at his feet, directly clearing out a blank area. His body fell rapidly. Although he could not see where the ground was under his feet in this white formation, he only needed to confirm that he was indeed falling. He was originally flying at a height of only 10,000 feet. Combined with his speed, it was easy to judge when he would land on the ground.
However, the person who had set up the ambush would not let him achieve his goal so easily.
As soon as his body fell, the familiar murderous intent appeared again.
"Humph!" Zhou Bao sneered. More than a dozen golden flames fell straight down, leaving almost no space for the opponent.
"Whew!" The figure disappeared in the air. After the fireball smashed several Sword Qi, it disappeared without a trace.
"Hiding in the shadows! Who do you think you are?" Zhou Bao cursed in a low voice. The Golden-Scaled Cudgel in his hand suddenly sped up, tightly surrounding his body in the cudgel shadow, and accelerated his fall.
This time, the opponent did not seem to want to stop him. Except for the frequent appearance of Zhou Bao's Sword Qi, there was no other abnormal situation.
It was not until Zhou Bao's feet landed on the ground that another round of fierce attacks appeared. This time, it was not only the Sword Qi, but also three Flying Swords.
These three Flying Swords emitted extremely sharp Sword Qi, firmly blocking the Golden-Scaled Cudgel in Zhou Bao's hand, while the rest of the Sword Qi attacked Zhou Bao.
"Still not coming out?!"
Zhou Bao was really angry, so he could not care about anything else. With a flash of golden light behind his head, the Golden Flame Mirror was taken out. A straight golden light directly covered the three Flying Swords.
The three Flying Swords were not low-grade, but they were at most Mysterious Level celestial devices. How could they compete with a Pure Yang Celestial Device like the Golden Flame Mirror?
As soon as they were touched, they collapsed and disappeared without a trace with three shrill cries.
The Golden Flame Mirror shone with golden light, shrouding Zhou Bao in it. Three Cyan Lotuses appeared around Zhou Bao, catching the attacking Sword Qi one by one. Although the Sword Qi was sharp and numerous, none of them could hurt Zhou Bao.
At the same time, Zhou Bao pinched the incantation with his hands, and a sharp light flashed in his eyes. "It's just a sword formation. Do you really want to trap me?!"
Golden lotus-shaped flames flashed out of the Golden Flame Mirror and shot out in all directions. As the lotus-shaped flames shot out, the surrounding heaven and earth began to change color.
A sizzling sound, like meat being roasted in a raging fire, reached Zhou Bao's ears. The space in the formation was turbulent, as if it had been greatly stimulated.
"Sun Colored Glaze Flame! Damn it! How could he collect the Sun Colored Glaze Flame?!"
At the sight of the golden flames released from the Golden Flame Mirror, a low and deep voice came. Someone couldn't help screaming in amazement in his heart.
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