Traversing Water Palace. Two streaks of light descended as Zhao Fei and Sikong Wuwei led Miao Yi into the palace. The guards didn't even bother stopping them. Sikong Wuwei even led the two of them straight to the back palace. Miao Yi couldn't help but smile. 'As expected of someone who has a good relationship with the Palace Lord.'
Standing in front of the vermillion railing, Tao Qingli had a worried look on her face as she heard the commotion. Sikong Wuwei strode forward and said, "Qingli, Miao Yi is here."
"Milord!" Tao Qingli's two handmaidens greeted Sikong Wuwei.
A hint of mockery flashed across Miao Yi's eyes. How could he have forgotten that Tao Qingli still had two maids accompanying her? He then secretly transmitted his voice to Zhao Fei, "Sikong just picked up three of them at once!"
Zhao Fei's face twitched violently. He tilted his head, only to see Miao Yi cupping his fists and greeting, "Your humble servant greets the Palace Lord!"
Tao Qingli stepped forward to help him up, saying, "There's no need to be so polite, Hall Master Miao. It's been a long time since we last met. Now that we meet again, you look just as graceful as ever."
You weren't this polite when you spoke to me back then! Miao Yi muttered to himself, then politely said, "I didn't expect the Old Palace Lord to have passed away so soon after we parted. Your humble servant has received the Old Palace Lord's great kindness, yet I was unable to send you off in time. I am truly ashamed!" Even if he was here, he wouldn't have the right to send him off.
The room instantly fell silent. Be it Tao Qingli, Zhao Fei, or Sikong Wuwei, all of them felt a little uneasy after hearing Granny Tao's words. Granny Tao had sent Miao Yi to Flowing Clouds Dune Sea. This wasn't kindness at all. It was clearly … so what now? You've tried your best to flatter Mu Fanjun, but she doesn't seem to like you … Your words are full of thorns!
Tao Qingli glanced at Sikong Wuwei. The latter coughed and said, "Brother, let bygones be bygones. Why are you still mentioning him?"
Miao Yi asked curiously, "Did I say something wrong?"
Tao Qingli raised her hand to stop Sikong Wuwei, who was about to continue speaking. She smiled and said, "Hall Master Miao is carrying an important mission out there. It can't be helped that he can't accompany the Old Palace Lord on his final journey. However, Hall Lord Miao's contributions in Flowing Clouds Dune Sea are undeniable. The Old Palace Lord's final wish was to promote you to Hall Lord upon your return. Today, I've fulfilled my promise on behalf of the Old Palace Lord. Now that Traversing Water Palace is facing a crisis, the old Palace Lord praised Hall Master Miao for his outstanding abilities. I wonder if Hall Master Miao has a way to resolve this crisis? "
"Danger?" Miao Yi asked curiously, "I am here to thank you for your kindness. May I know what kind of danger there is?"
Zhao Fei and Sikong Wuwei were speechless. Wasn't he just pretending to be ignorant? Things had already come to this, so why was this fellow still making a fuss?
Tao Qingli gritted her teeth. If the Old Palace Master was still around. How dare this bastard be so impudent!
It wasn't that she didn't have the ability to deal with Miao Yi, but she still had to give Sikong Wuwei face. She couldn't help but secretly transmit her voice over to Sikong Wuwei, "Sikong, he really doesn't know. Or are you pretending not to know? "
Sikong Wuwei sighed inwardly and said, "Of course he knows. When the edict was first issued, he refused to accept it. He didn't want to be the Hall Master at all. He asked around on the way here, so how could he not know? "
Zhao Fei frowned and said, "Little Brother, you're going too far if you keep messing around. There are no outsiders here, just say what you want to say!"
Miao Yi looked at them, then shook his head and said, "There's no hope! I haven't even done anything to the Palace Master. It's not even a humiliation. You guys can't take it anymore. What else is there to say? " With a flip of his hand, he took out the decree of appointment and handed it back with both hands. "Your humble servant's abilities are limited. I am unable to fulfill the role of Suppressing First Hall Master. I ask that the Palace Master choose someone else."
The three of them exchanged glances. Tao Qingli bit her lip and didn't accept the decree. Instead, she cupped her fists and bowed, saying, "Please appoint me, Hall Master Miao!"
She wasn't ashamed to ask for help.
Seeing that she was willing to bow her head, Miao Yi held the jade archive in his hand. He stared at her pretty face and said in a deep voice, "It's not that there's no way. I would like to ask the Palace Master a few questions first!"
"Serve tea!" Tao Qingli turned around and stood up. She extended her hand and said, "Hall Master Miao, please have a seat!"
"There's no need!" Miao Yi waved his hand and refused. He then asked, "Why is the Palace Master unwilling to go to the Realm Beyond Heaven? Why do you continue to stay in Traversing Water Palace and bring trouble upon yourself? "
Sikong Wuwei had already answered this question back in Raincloud Manor. Tao Qingli answered honestly, "I am the master in Traversing Water Palace, but I will be the slave in the Realm Beyond Heaven. The difference in cultivation resources and status is like night and day. Besides, ever since Traversing Water Palace was established in the Celestial Nation, it has always been under my grandmother's watch. Now that it's in my hands, how am I supposed to face my grandmother's spirit in heaven? "
Miao Yi asked, "Does the Palace Master not know that a wise man submits to circumstances? This place is no longer a place that you can control."
Tao Qingli gritted her teeth and said, "There's nothing I can do. I will never give up easily!"
"You won't give up easily?!" Miao Yi pressed on, "If I can protect Traversing Water Palace and humiliate the Palace Master a little, will the Palace Master be willing to accept it?"
Sikong Wuwei immediately glared at him and asked, "What humiliation?"
Miao Yi rolled his eyes. He knew what Sikong Wuwei was worried about. When it came to women being humiliated, it was easy for people to think of other things. Miao Yi snapped, "I know you're sleeping on the same bed as the Palace Master. Don't worry! I'm not asking someone else to sleep with your woman! "
"Uhh …" Sikong Wuwei was speechless. Zhao Fei looked up at the sky and pretended he hadn't heard anything.
Tao Qingli didn't expect Miao Yi to be so impulsive either, and her face flushed red.
Her two handmaidens were also speechless as they looked at Miao Yi. At the same time, they stole a glance at Sikong Wuwei. The two of them would inevitably have to serve as his concubines in the future.
"If I can protect Traversing Water Palace by suffering some humiliation, then it's nothing." Tao Qingli's face was still red.
Miao Yi cut to the chase and asked, "I heard that both Traversing Sun Palace and Wood Palace are eyeing Traversing Water Palace. They're currently negotiating how to divide up the Traversing Water Palace. Let's put this aside for now. If everything goes back to how it was before, may I ask which of the two palaces the Palace Master would prefer?"
"This …" Tao Qingli pondered for a moment, then said, "When Grandmother was still alive, she usually interacted with both palaces. It's hard to tell which one is superior to the other. However, Traversing Wood Palace Master Cheng Aofang is probably a woman as well, so she interacted with Grandmother more often. In the past, she was kind to me as well. However, in the face of the conflict of interests, I'm afraid those friendships might not be of much use. As for the Traversing Sun Palace, there's an Advisor named Zhu Yaoxian. He used to be the Advisor of Traversing Water Palace, but Grandmother later pushed him out. Because he was on good terms with the Traversing Sun Palace Master Shi Xiaotian, he was taken in by Shi Xiaotian and kept his original position. However, Zhu Yaoxian hates Grandmother to the core. If I have to decide who's superior between the two palaces, I'd personally prefer the Traversing Wood Palace. "
Miao Yi fell silent for a moment, then asked, "How do the two palaces compare in strength?"
Tao Qingli replied, "They should be about the same. Otherwise, they wouldn't be negotiating with each other out of fear."
Miao Yi nodded. This was more or less what he had expected. He then asked, "If I were to ask Palace Master to submit to Cheng Aofang, would you be willing?"
Tao Qingli was taken aback. "Submit to her?"
Miao Yi nodded. "It's not enough to just submit to her in name. Traversing Water Palace also has to give her half of our profits every year. Would Palace Master be willing to suffer such humiliation?"
Sikong Wuwei immediately lost his cool. "Even if Cheng Aofang is willing to accept it, we'll only be able to deal with the Traversing Wood Palace. What about the Traversing Sun Palace? They can't possibly give the other half of their profits to the Traversing Sun Palace, can they? If that's the case, what's the point of us holding on here? "
Miao Yi replied decisively, "Of course we'll fight them! We'll strike first! We won't have to wait for them to attack us. We'll attack them first! "
"Fight?" Sikong Wuwei exclaimed, "Little Brother, you're not joking, are you? If we could win, why would we even bother with this?"
Tao Qingli rolled her eyes at him. "What's the rush? Let Hall Master Miao finish first!"
Miao Yi's gaze darkened as he said, "Aren't they negotiating for the sake of the Traversing Water Palace's profits? No matter how much they talk about it, they're just getting half of it. Now that we don't even have to waste a single soldier from the Traversing Water Palace, we'll just hand over half of the Traversing Water Palace's profits. How could Cheng Aofang not be happy about this? Not only do we have to hand over half of the Traversing Water Palace's profits to her, we'll even help her take over the Sun Palace's profits. I'm sure she'll be even happier! "
"Help her take over the Sun Palace's profits?" Zhao Fei pondered. "How? Are you saying that we should work together with her? "
"That's right!" Miao Yi nodded. "We'll give her half of the profits, then swear allegiance to Cheng Aofang and form an alliance with her. Then, we'll gather all of Traversing Water Palace's forces and attack the Sun Palace first. We definitely won't be able to win, but we should be able to hold back a portion of the Sun Palace's forces, right? Even if the Traversing Water Palace is a bunch of pigs, with so many of them charging out, they should be able to throw them into disarray, right? Cheng Aofang can take advantage of the moment when their forces are scattered to launch another all-out attack. You can imagine what will happen to the Sun Palace. How can Cheng Aofang not be tempted?! "
Zhao Fei slowly said, "If that's the case, I'm afraid our Traversing Water Palace's forces will suffer heavy losses as well. Most of our forces here won't even be able to withstand a single blow."
Miao Yi shook his head. "If we don't let Traversing Wood Palace see the massive profits, they won't have to fight against the Sun Palace for our sake. Once we've reached an agreement with the Sun Palace, we can still take half of the Traversing Water Palace's profits by paying a small price. There's no need for them to take such a risk. Only when Cheng Aofang sees the massive profits will she form an alliance with us. We have no choice but to make sacrifices. Otherwise, we won't even have the right to negotiate with her. Traversing Water Palace will bow down to us, give us half of the profits, and then help us hand over the Sun Palace's profits. Only with enough profits will Cheng Aofang agree to let us retain the autonomy of the Traversing Water Palace. Only then will the Palace Lord be able to continue controlling the Traversing Water Palace. "
Zhao Fei looked at Tao Qingli and nodded. "We'll only lose half of the profits. At the very least, we'll be able to protect the Traversing Water Palace. If we endure it for now, there's still a chance for us to make a comeback. It's better than being swallowed whole."
Now that the situation was clear, Sikong Wuwei nodded and said, "Qingli, this is the only thing we can do for now. Otherwise, we'll have no choice but to resign ourselves to our fate."
"Alright then!" Tao Qingli sighed. She looked at the other three and asked, "Who should we send to negotiate with Cheng Aofang?"
Zhao Fei and Sikong Wuwei instinctively turned to look at Miao Yi. Tao Qingli's gaze followed suit as well. The most suitable candidate was probably the Great Hall Master Miao. It was just that the three of them didn't feel comfortable saying it out loud.
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