Hearing the two words "White Lotus", Song QingShu, who was on the roof, was shocked. The White Lotus Society was extremely daring. They actually dared to publicly assassinate a high-ranking official of the Southern Song Dynasty. He did not know if Zhou Zhiruo participated in this mission. It would be troublesome if she was injured by Linghu Chong.
However, Song Qingshu quickly put down his worries. Although Linghu Chong's swordsmanship was high, he was too biased towards other subjects. He had only learned the Absorbing Stars Great Technique, but he was still a half-finished expert. Zhou Zhiruo, on the other hand, was an expert who had won first place in the Lion Slaying Gathering. In addition, she would occasionally dual cultivate with him for the past two years, so her inner force foundation had long been abnormally stable. The hidden dangers of rapid progress in martial arts had also been eliminated. She had now cultivated the Nine Yin Manual to an extremely high level. Even if she encountered an expert of the Five Uniques, she would be more than enough to protect herself, let alone Linghu Chong.
However, what puzzled Song Qingshu the most was why Linghu Chong would stay by Han Xingzhou's side to protect him.
Linghu Chong had always been carefree and open-minded, and he hated all kinds of restrictions. It was indeed surprising that he had become a minion of the imperial court.
Unfortunately, Song Qingshu could not guess that the main reason why Linghu Chong followed Han Xingzhou was because of him. It turned out that in order to help Ren Woxing and his daughter deal with the difficult situation at Blackwood Cliff, Linghu Chong promised Ren Woxing to go to Fujian to investigate the whereabouts of the Evil Warding Sword Manual. He also wanted to see if there was a chance to meet his junior martial sister.
Unfortunately, halfway through the journey, news of a marriage alliance between Blackwood Cliff and Golden Snake Camp spread. Linghu Chong felt as if he had been struck by a violent blow. He wanted to return to Blackwood Cliff and ask about it, but he felt sorry for himself when he thought that no matter in appearance or martial arts, he could not compare to Song Qingshu. Moreover, Song Qingshu was an overlord with tens of thousands of elite troops under his command. He controlled a territory of a thousand miles, while he was a lone orphan. Even if he went to Blackwood Cliff, what could he change? Why would Ren Woxing choose him as his son-in-law?
Just like that, he arrived in Fujian muddleheaded and happened to run into the group from Mount Hua. Seeing Lin Pingzhi and Yue Lingshan showing off their affection all day long, he was even more disheartened.
In order to avoid being recognized by his acquaintances, he changed his name to Wu Tiande and wandered around aimlessly, drowning his sorrows in alcohol all day long. By chance, he saved Han Xingzhou and his companions and learned that they were actually Deputy Prime Ministers of the Southern Song Dynasty.
Han Chuan Zhou saw that Ling Huchong's swordsmanship was breathtaking and his martial arts was strong, so he wanted to recruit him. Ling Huchong was about to reject him, but he suddenly thought of the reason why Ren Woxing went back on his word and betrothed Yingying to Song Qingshu. Wasn't it because Song Qingshu's influence was stronger than Ren Woxing? Wouldn't a marriage alliance with him help the Sun Moon Sect? If he could make a name for himself and stand out, wouldn't he be able to snatch Yingying back fair and square?
Han Xingzhou was a high-ranking official of the Southern Song Dynasty. Wouldn't it be a shortcut to follow him?
After thinking this through, Linghu Chong accepted Han Xingzhou's invitation without hesitation. Han Xingzhou didn't mistreat him. He promised him an identity as a Guard of Imperial Equipment.
Although the words "Guard of Imperial Equipment" seemed ordinary, it had a great background. The guards of the Southern Song Emperor were generally composed of four forces: the Guards of the Front Hall, the Imperial City Guards, the Three Guards, and the Imperial Equipment.
The Guards of the Front Hall were the bravest soldiers selected from the army, and there were about three to four thousand of them.
The various gates of the palace were guarded by the Imperial City Department. There were usually five security lines around the Emperor, and they were distributed by the Imperial City Department and the guards in front of the palace. This allowed the Imperial City Department and the guards in front of the palace to restrict each other and prevent any unusual movements.
The Three Guards were the Meritorious Guards, the Imperial Guards, and the Imperial Guards. However, compared to the Guards of the Front Hall and the Guards of the Imperial City Guards, they were much weaker in terms of martial strength. Because they were the sons and daughters of officials, they were mostly responsible for ceremonial tasks. However, because they were close to the Emperor, the selection was very strict. For example, the Imperial Guards who stood on both sides of the hall during the court session were required to be the sons of imperial concubines or the Observer or Hanlin Scholars.
Compared to these three forces, the Guards of the Imperial Armament were the most mysterious. They could be considered the real imperial bodyguards with sabers. There were not many people with this kind of official position. Most of the time, there were only three or four of them. In the nearly three hundred years of the Song Dynasty, there were no more than six of them at most.
With such a small number of people, the selection criteria were naturally very strict. Usually, they were the Emperor's most trusted and extremely brave men. In the Legend of the Condor Heroes, Huang Yaoshi's disciple, Qu Lingfeng, was expelled from the Peach Blossom Island. In order to please Huang Yaoshi and return to the sect, he risked his life to steal a painting from the Imperial Palace and wanted to present it to his master. In the end, he died together with the palace masters in the Ox Village.
The military officer had a waist token that read, "Zhongzhou Defense Envoy, Kung Fu Doctor, Imperial Equipment Shi Yanming."
The Song Dynasty's official system was very complicated. The Zhongzhou Defense Envoy and Kung Fu Doctor were just titles. The most important thing was the Imperial Equipment.
In the original work, when Huang Yaoshi learned of this, he sighed. If Qu Lingfeng hadn't had his legs broken, he wouldn't have died in the hands of Shi Yanming. In fact, the truth was the opposite. Shi Yanming was an Imperial Equipment and was extremely skilled in martial arts. Qu Lingfeng was no match for him. If he hadn't seen that Qu Lingfeng's legs were disabled, he wouldn't have fallen into the trap set by Shi Yanming on the Peach Blossom Island and ended up dying together with him.
Han Xingzhou gave Linghu Chong the Imperial Equipment as soon as he arrived. For a Jianghu person like Linghu Chong, such a reward could be regarded as a meteoric rise. After all, the Imperial Equipment usually stayed by the Emperor's side. It was easy to win the Emperor's favor and from then on, his career would soar.
Originally, an important position like the Imperial Equipment wasn't something a minister could decide. However, Han Xingzhou's family was powerful, and a certain favored concubine in the harem was on the same side as him. Thus, it wasn't difficult to arrange an Imperial Equipment.
Song Qingshu didn't know that Linghu Chong had such a fortuitous encounter. He only focused on what the two sides were talking about.
Han Xingzhou clearly didn't want to continue discussing the White Lotus Society with Li Kexiu. He said, "Lord Li, it's been so many days. Have you considered the matter we talked about last time?"
Li Kexiu smiled bitterly and said, "Prime Minister Han, you know that my entire family is still being held hostage in Yan Jing City. If I follow your request and openly change my allegiance to the Song Empire, won't I be asking for their lives?"
"You don't have to worry about this. We will naturally arrange for people to rescue Lord Li's family," Han Xingzhou answered.
Li Kexiu frowned. "It's not that I don't believe Minister Han, but in the current situation, the ownership of the Jianghuai generation has already attracted the attention of all parties. I'm also in the eye of the storm. The Imperial Court will definitely be very strict with my family. How can it be so easy to rescue them?"
Li Kexiu wasn't an idiot. He had already sent people to the capital several times in an attempt to rescue his family. Unfortunately, the Imperial Court was very strict with his family, so the people he sent couldn't do anything.
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