The eunuch's face darkened. If it were not for the fact that the other party's background was not to be underestimated, he would have joined the fray himself.
Zhao Qian's expression changed slightly, and he laughed heartily. "I misjudged Young Hero Su's strength. The sea is immeasurable."
His attitude was sincere, and his words were humble. He was not angered by Mengqi's mockery.
"He does have the temperament of a Buddhist practitioner …" Mengqi was taken aback. He put away his smugness and said with a smile, "Your Highness, fate has brought us together, and fate has separated us. Since we have competed, please forgive us for taking our leave."
Zhao Qian nodded with a smile. He was not frustrated by his failure. "Go ahead."
Mengqi did not hesitate to cross the pavilion with Jiang Zhiwei. Zhao Qian was a man of his word, so he did not send anyone to stop them.
After walking for a while, Mengqi looked back. Zhao Qian was still standing in the pavilion with his hands behind his back, gazing at the clouds. For some reason, he seemed to be in a trance.
"Why did King Liang reveal his ambition so openly? Isn't he afraid of attracting endless trouble? "Mengqi frowned and asked subconsciously.
Whether he believed in Buddhism or Taoism, as long as he did not cross the line, it was not a big deal for the crown prince. However, if he wanted to establish a Buddhist nation on earth, eliminate injustice, and redeem the world, it would be equivalent to cutting himself off from other sects and most aristocratic families. If this was exposed, he would have more enemies than friends, and it would be almost impossible for him to inherit the throne.
Even if he had such ambitions, he should be cautious and keep a low profile. He should not reveal his true intentions, and only fight against one faction. When the general trend was established, he could act like a tiger.
What Zhao Qian had said should have been a secret among secrets, but he had said it so calmly, as if he did not care about the two of them leaking it.
Jiang Zhiwei muttered, "Perhaps this secret has been exposed long ago, and everyone in Luoyang knows about it. Otherwise, why would he come all the way to Ying City …"
"Or maybe he has nothing to fear …" Mengqi said casually.
The two of them did not dwell on this issue. In any case, with their strength, it was best not to get involved in the internal strife of the royal family. It was best to stay as far away as possible.
They continued to climb higher until they reached the Heart-calming Temple. However, Mengqi and Jiang Zhiwei did not stop and continued to climb. They planned to reach the top of the mountain and take a look at Ying City before going down to visit the Heart-calming Temple.
Misty Rain Mountain was not high. Compared to Huan Province, which was full of barren mountains and precipitous ridges, it could only be considered a relatively high hill. However, the scenery was beautiful. Even in winter, the mountain was not lonely. Withered yellow was dotted with green, and a shallow stream flowed slowly. When one reached the peak and looked down, Ying City was like an unfolding painting scroll. There were three vertical lines and four horizontal lines, densely packed waterways, and the shadows of sails were like dots. The stone bridges were like lines, and the mountain range extended into a dragon.
For some reason, looking at this layout, Mengqi suddenly thought of four words: "Crouching Tiger and Coiling Dragon."
Jiang Zhiwei seemed to have the same feeling. She exhaled lightly and said, "As expected of the former emperor's residence."
"The former emperor's residence?" Mengqi looked at Jiang Zhiwei blankly.
Jiang Zhiwei chuckled and said, "Don't you know that Ying City is the former capital of the former dynasty?"
"Ah …" Mengqi blushed slightly. He really wanted to express that he had failed in the history of this world.
He only searched and asked about the relevant history when he needed to. He had never studied it systematically, but his understanding of the ancient times was better than that of the previous dynasties.
Jiang Zhiwei knew that Mengqi had not stayed in Shaolin for long. At most, he had learned Sanskrit, but he was not at the stage where he had a rough understanding of history. She said with a smile, "The human race thrived in River East. The Dragon Platform where the Human Emperor forged his sword was in River East. In order to inherit this fate, several dynasties had set their capital in River East."
"The former dynasty's name was' Kang 'and it set its capital in Ying City. There were several generations of Dharmakayas and they suppressed the Wang family of River East to bide their time. However, there is a cycle of fate. When there is victory, there will be decline. In the last years, two generations of emperors of the Han family went against the trend and offended most of the aristocratic families."
"At that time, the Zhao family in Shen Du had a strong foundation and many masters. After several undercurrents, someone finally achieved Dharmakaya and stood out from the aristocratic families. He became the leader of the Kang Alliance. Later, they were unwilling to leave their hometown, so they set their capital in Shen Du and destroyed most of the arrangements in Ying City."
"I see …" Mengqi finally understood what was going on. Looking at Ying City again, he felt a sense of heavy vicissitudes.
After enjoying the scenery, they went down the peak in the afternoon and went to the quiet Heart-calming Taoist Temple.
This Taoist temple was not big, with only three entrances. The Taoist priest at the door leaned against the wall and basked in the sun. He ignored Mengqi and Jiang Zhiwei's approach and watched them walk into the temple.
"This group of Taoist priests is really lazy." Along the way, because of the warm winter sun, people inside and outside the Taoist temple were either sitting or lying down. They were all lazy, and some were even sleeping. Mengqi could not help laughing and scolding them. There was not even a receptionist!
Suddenly, the sound of zither came from the side yard. It was clear and heart-stirring like high mountains and flowing water.
Mengqi found it familiar, but he was sure it was not a little foodie. It was impossible for her to be so bad …
He and Jiang Zhiwei looked at each other. Maybe they were infected by the lazy Taoist priests, they had a leisurely and inquisitive mind. They turned to the side yard and saw a young man in white through the half-opened door.
He was as beautiful as a woman, pure and elegant. He sat on a stone bench and played the zither with both hands, showing his elegance. A maid stood behind him. When she saw Mengqi, she glared at him and mouthed a warning, "Don't make the young master cough again!"
This man was Master Wang, the Ledgerkeeper of Lives.
The sound of the zither lingered in the air. Wang Siyuan stopped his hands and coughed softly. Compared to last time, his body didn't seem to be as weak. However, the feeling of being one with the world had disappeared without a trace. He sat there quietly as if forgotten by the world.
The Escaped One!
"It is said that Master Wang will arrive in two days. I didn't expect him to have already entered the Heart-calming Temple. His behavior is indeed unexpected." Mengqi did not have a single elegant bone in his body. He sat opposite Wang Siyuan, not treating himself as a guest at all.
Jiang Zhiwei shook her head with a smile, but also sat down.
Wang Siyuan smiled faintly. "It is a different feeling to stay in the Heart-calming Temple and look down at the turbulent undercurrent in Ying City."
He did not answer the question.
"Where does the undercurrent come from?" Mengqi asked casually, thinking that the other side was a blind man who told his fortune.
To be honest, Mengqi wanted to beat up people like this who seemed to have everything under their control.
"Didn't you meet each other?" Wang Siyuan asked.
Jiang Zhiwei did not talk to him in a roundabout way. She said directly, "Zhao Qian and Zhao Yi came to Ying City not just to recruit people and watch the Party of Happycloud."
"But they had to pretend to be courteous and to recruit people. Su Meng, others might not know your background, but if the dignitaries in Luoyang wanted to, it would not be difficult for them to find out. So they had to make a gesture to win over the Su family and express their goodwill to Mengqi." Wang Siyuan looked at Mengqi with a faint smile.
The Su family? It was the first time that Jiang Zhiwei knew about Mengqi's background. But she was only a little surprised and soon calmed down. Her friendship with the little monk had nothing to do with anything else.
"Then what do they want?" The corner of Mengqi's mouth twitched a few times. But he did not think that his background could be hidden from Wang Siyuan and the others. After all, his Master was too big a target and was known by many people. And the aristocratic families must have heard about the Su family. So he did not answer and wanted to see if he could get more information from Grand Wang Trickster.
Wang Siyuan cleared his throat and said with a smile, "If I knew, why would I just stand by and watch?"
"What they want is nothing more than to fight for power and profit and covet the throne. Follow this clue and think about it. Combined with the hundreds of years of rumors in Ying City, we can still find a direction. Phew, the smell of stone-ground tofu pudding. Would you two like to have lunch together?"
At this moment, he was not alone. He had inherited all the characteristics of a demigod. He spoke vaguely to arouse people's curiosity, but he did not continue.
Mengqi and Jiang Zhiwei looked at each other. They really did not know about the rumors in Ying City.
After drinking the iron flower tea and eating the stone-ground tofu pudding from the Heart-calming Temple, Wang Siyuan's cough became worse. The maid sent them off with a straight face.
"The rumors in Ying City … The Mi family must know about them. It's still early. Why don't we go to the Mi family to look for Brother Wang?" Mengqi said to Jiang Zhiwei after they went down the mountain.
Jiang Zhiwei shook her head and said using Secret Voice-sending, "The Martial Uncle in charge of River East may come later. I have to go back to the Sword Garret and wait."
Mengqi was delighted. Another strong backup had come. He nodded and said, "In that case, I'll go to the Mi family myself."
After crossing Tianxiu River, the two went their separate ways. As soon as Mengqi arrived at the Mi family's house, he saw Mi Zijing, Bai Wenyuan, and Wang Zai coming out together.
Wang Zai looked a little bitter and stiff. He was a little reluctant, but Mi Zijing and Bai Wenyuan were happy and eager to try.
"Brothers, where are you going?" Meng Qi asked, amused by the situation.
Mi Zijing no longer looked calm and collected. He raised his eyebrows and deliberately lowered his voice instead of using Secret Voice-sending. "Moon Embroidery Pavilion."
"Moon Embroidery Pavilion?" Mengqi looked confused.
"Haha, I didn't expect 'Killing Blade' Su Meng to be such a young man. You don't even know about Moon Embroidery Pavilion." Bai Wenyuan's rough face was full of an ambiguous smile.
"Damn, a brothel …" Even though Mengqi had never eaten pork, he had seen pigs walk. He immediately understood when he saw their expressions.
Mi Zijing chuckled. "It's all thanks to Brother Wang Zai's integrity that my father agreed to let us go. Master Su, do you want to join us? Moon Embroidery Pavilion is the best place on Tianxiu River. The girls there are well-versed in zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting. I guarantee you'll be enchanted at first sight. "
"It's not like I haven't seen stunning beauties before." Mengqi secretly despised him. Although he disliked brothels, he thought of asking about the rumors in Ying City, so he nodded and agreed. He was ready to feign a story. Who would be interested in women in brothels?
"Alas, Brother Su, I really don't care about your feelings. If word of this gets out, I'll lose all face." Wang Zai used Secret Voice-sending and sighed.
"It's also a beautiful story to say that one can enter a bush of flowers without being tainted," Mengqi comforted him.
Mi Zijing and Bai Wenyuan were in high spirits. They walked quickly and soon arrived at Tianxiu River. They boarded the junk ship of Moon Embroidery Pavilion.
Seeing the arrival of Madam Mi and Master Bai, the brothel keeper smiled so widely that her face was full of wrinkles. She looked like a chrysanthemum. "Oh, it's rare that you two come here. Quick, call Nianfeng, Nianxue, and the other sisters down."
As she spoke, she led Mengqi and the others to a private room on the third floor of the junk ship.
"May I know your names?" the brothel keeper asked when she saw that Mengqi and Wang Zai had an extraordinary temperament.
Wang Zai was tongue-tied and flushed. Leaving his name in a place like this made him angry and ashamed.
Mi Zijing laughed and waved his sleeve to help Wang Zai out. "Quick, call the girls over. Why are you asking so many questions?"
Since Master Mi had spoken, the brothel keeper didn't dare to ask any more questions. She hurried out to urge the girls.
"The most famous courtesan of Moon Embroidery Pavilion is Nianxue. Although she's not the prettiest, she's gentle and cultured. She's good at playing the zither and drawing. She's like an outstanding young lady from an aristocratic family. Ordinary people won't be able to enter her eyes." Before the beauty arrived, Bai Wenyuan's expression was already enchanted.
Being in a brothel, Mengqi was also uncomfortable. However, seeing that Wang Zai was even more uncomfortable than him, he immediately gloated and forgot about the awkwardness.
After chatting for a while, before Mengqi could ask any questions, four prostitutes arrived together. One was as beautiful as a painting, one was beautiful and elegant, one was elegant and refined, and one had willowy eyebrows and phoenix eyes.
Mi Zijing smiled. "If we were to pick, it would be easy to snatch and ruin our friendship. Ladies, please make your own choice."
As soon as he finished speaking, the gentle and elegant Nianxue walked out and went straight to Mengqi's side. "Please take pity on me, young master."
"Oh, you're really charming!" Bai Wenyuan winked at Mengqi. They seemed to have become closer because they went to the brothel together.
Mengqi was quite pleased with himself. This was normal pride. He watched as Nianxue sat down and chuckled. "Why did you choose me, Miss Nianxue?"
Nianxue smiled without saying a word. She leaned over. Mengqi's body tensed up in case she tried to trick him.
When she got close to Mengqi's ear, Nianxue's voice was soft and sweet.
"Father!"
Mengqi's expression was lifeless. He didn't know what year it was.
Nianxue chuckled. "Just now, a lady asked me to call you that. Then, I'll tell you everything she asked."
That damned Gu Xiaosang! Fortunately, I didn't get lustful. Otherwise, being called that might leave me with a lifelong scar!
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