Lu Qian replied, "Brother Li, you did the right thing. Nowadays, everyone cares about their own interests. There aren't many people who can take the big picture into consideration like you. In my opinion, it's best if you don't chase after her. As you said, it wasn't easy for you to make this decision, and you've also successfully forced Xue 'er away. It's not easy to achieve this result, so you should cherish it even more. If you took a step back first, or if you clearly explained the difficulties to her, based on Xueer's temperament, what would she do? You should know better than me, right? She would definitely insist on staying and share your trials and tribulations. Even if you pulled nine hundred oxen or two hundred horses, you still wouldn't be able to drag her away. Wouldn't that be even more dangerous? Would you rather let Xueer's life hang on the tip of a needle for the sake of momentary gratification, or would you bear with it for the time being and let her live the rest of her life peacefully? "
Li Yijie clenched his fist and knocked his head, saying, "This is also what vexes me the most. I can't let anything happen to Xueer, but I … I also don't want her to hate me. "
Lu Qian said, "Who told you to be the Wulin's Alliance Head? This is similar to the True Buddha: good things are shared equally with all living beings, bad things must be shouldered by you alone. You're not born to be the Alliance Head. Why don't you let me be the Alliance Head? In the future, you can live a simple life with Xueer! "
Li Yijie was slightly angry, saying, "Brother Lu …" Previously, when he listened to Lu Qian's analysis, he kept nodding slightly with a frown on his face. When Lu Qian talked about letting him be the Alliance Head, he knew that Lu Qian had never given up on this position and always wanted to sit for a while. Even if it was just to satisfy his craving, it was still good. But after interacting with him for a few days, he realized that Lu Qian was just a greedy person. He wasn't some big villain. Six years ago, he was more or less the same. On the contrary, it was Li Yijie who was too stubborn about the difference between good and evil that caused him to fall out with Lu Qian.
After staying in Jianghu for a long time, he understood that there was no one in the world who was wholeheartedly devoted to the public. Even he himself couldn't do it. Even the kindest chivalrous person would have some small selfish motives. It's just that their intentions were different. But if one must do harm, why must one be ruthless? Thus, when interacting with others, he had also trained himself to be more magnanimous. He thought to himself that Lu Qian shouldn't be a treacherous villain who didn't forget to add insult to injury at this time. Otherwise, he could only blame himself for misjudging him. There was nothing else to say.
Lu Qian knew when to stop. He laughed and said, "Haha, just kidding, just kidding. Don't worry. You're Xueer's senior martial brother. I don't want her to hate you. By the time you and Jiang Liechen cover the rear, if you're still alive, needless to say, everyone will be happy. If you're really … that, cough cough … unfortunate enough to have met with misfortune, I'll take care of Xueer for you. Even if it's as … an older brother, I'll definitely accompany her. At that time, I will honestly tell her about your difficulties. Xueer is a good and considerate girl. She will understand. "
Li Yijie said, "Then I must thank Lu Xian Xiong." He raised his head to look at the hill where Nangong Xue's back had disappeared. He sighed and said, "Tell me, after Xueer leaves, where will she go? Don't take things too hard … "Lu Qian laughed and said," You don't have to worry about that. Even if ten girls commit suicide together, not one of them will be Xueer. I know her too well. When she's wronged, she'll only think about how to clear her name, how to remedy the situation. She'll never think about committing suicide, that kind of useless thing. "
Li Yijie said, "But just now she said that I'll regret it. Lu Xian Xiong, you also saw the look in her eyes at that time. I'm worried … it's better to be safe than sorry. "Lu Qian laughed calmly and said," If you still miss her, you'd better think about how to guard against her. Maybe this time she'll be greatly provoked and go deep into the mountains or old forests to live in seclusion. When she comes back, she'll also be in some cave to break your martial art. "
Li Yijie forced a smile and said, "You're right. As long as she leaves me, she'll be just an ordinary girl. Nobody will have any reason to deal with her. Even if they recognize her as Li Yijie's Shimei, if I'm not around, they won't be able to get anything good out of her. They won't always think about making things difficult for her. "
Lu Qian smiled and nodded. Naturally he knew that Nangong Xue's danger would only increase, not decrease. But in the short term, it wouldn't be life-threatening. Right now, he would send more people to search for her. When she completely gave up on Li Yijie, he would take advantage of the situation and play the role of the hero in her heart to make her happy. Maybe her mind would be clouded by grief and she'd agree. Li Yijie often didn't have the opportunity to object to anything she agreed to.
Cheng Jiaxuan also tried to persuade Li Yijie with a few words, but most of them weren't very sincere. In her eyes, whether Li Yijie and Shimei separated or got together had nothing to do with her. But seeing that Lu Qian adored Nangong Xue, she also hoped that the two of them would become husband and wife.
Li Yijie was still unhappy, but he had more or less dispelled the idea of pursuing Nangong Xue. Now that his mood was gloomy, the joy of coming out of the cave alive had been greatly diluted. He also didn't have the mood to go hunting earlier. The three of them walked out of the barren mountain and went to a small restaurant on the side of the road to have a casual meal.
The area was still remote, and there weren't many dishes that could be served. Li Yijie was worried about Nangong Xue's safety, so he didn't eat to his heart's content. Lu Qian was thinking about when to send people and where to scout for information. Cheng Jiaxuan's appetite was very small. Therefore, the three of them were not picky.
They had been trapped in the cave for many days, so their hunger was intermittent. Unfortunately, this time it was subsiding. After a few bites, they lost their appetite, so they called the waiter to pay the bill and left. They didn't delay much on the road, they rushed back to the Capital and went straight to the Imperial Palace. Because the three of them were serving in the Imperial Palace, and their ranks were not low, not only they were not stopped when they entered the Palace gate, the soldiers guarding the gate all saluted and paid their respects. Li Yijie couldn't help but remember when he entered the Palace for the first time, Shen Shiyun's personal Imperial Bodyguard Hu Wei took him in and out of the well; he smiled wryly to himself.
After leaving the Palace for a long time, he wandered around for a while, and saw that the Palace was decorated with lanterns and colored banners; it was even more beautiful than the Forbidden City in the past. He asked the soldiers about the situation, and learned that in five days it would be Prince Fu's fiftieth birthday, and the decorations were specially made to celebrate his birthday.
The Prince Fu's surname was Shangguan, and before the Qing troops entered the Pass, he had already surrendered to the Manchus; he was a Han general. At first, because of the difference between the Manchus and the Han, he was not highly regarded in the army. It was only during a siege that he bravely defended the Emperor and rendered meritorious service that an exception was made and he was conferred the title 'Wang'. Afterwards he assisted the late Emperor by coming up with strategies and strategies, taking the lead in the troops, and was always appreciated. Finally, before Huang Taiji passed away, he was conferred the title of 'Qinwang'.
He had watched the Shunzhi Emperor Fulin grow up since he was a child, and their relationship was relatively close. This time, in order to celebrate his birthday, he specially arranged a banquet in the Palace. It just so happened that the imperial concubines and concubines were bored every day, so they were happy to celebrate. At the same time, they also put in effort to dress up, hoping to win the Emperor's favor, so that in the future they would be endlessly honored. Noble Consort Yun, Shen Shiyun, and Prince Fu did not have any friendship, but this time for some unknown reason, she appeared particularly enthusiastic.
Li Yijie did not recognize Prince Fu, so he was even less interested in the Palace banquet. He beat around the bush and asked if there were a large number of Jianghu people coming to the Imperial Palace to make trouble recently. The Imperial Bodyguards looked at him blankly, they all said no. Li Yijie was puzzled after pondering a hundred times. Last time he was ambushed by Jiang Liechen and was separated from everybody. When he escaped from the cave, he did not hear any news from them. But his fellow Taoists were poisoned by the smoke, they should not have left it unresolved. How could they not come to ask for the antidote?
Lu Qian had been thinking about the Devil Cult's secret manual for who knows how long. But Cheng Jiaxuan insisted that the secret manual was indeed hidden in the Palace, so he could not force him to ask for it. Without any other choice, every day he longed to return to the Palace as soon as possible. Now that he was finally back, he did not have much time to waste with Li Yijie. He pretended to comfort him and advised him to rest first, so that he could have enough energy to interrogate Shen Shiyun.
When Li Yijie first heard Cao Zhenyan's story, although on the surface he still tried his best to defend Cao Zhenyan, he could not help but have some doubts in his heart. These days he spent day and night with Nangong Xue, so much so that his feelings for Shen Shiyun were not as strong as before. But this time, standing in front of the Snow Song Palace again, Shen Shiyun's beautiful figure naturally appeared in his mind. Every frown and every smile of hers deeply attracted him. Even if she was really the mastermind behind this matter, he could not harden his heart to scold her.
He sighed and recalled that ever since he received his Shidi's message and returned to Mount Hua, he had led a group of people to exterminate the Devil Cult, search for the Seven Demons Treasure, fight a fierce battle between the Righteous and the Devil Cult in Shaolin Temple, and provoke the Five Poison Cult. One after another, trivial matters followed. He could not remember how long it had been since he last had a good night's sleep.
He returned to his former room. The floor was spotless, and all kinds of things were neatly arranged. Even after he left the Palace, there were still servants who came to clean his room, but they did not touch his things. A warm feeling arose in his heart. This was the feeling of a long-time wanderer who finally came home one day. Even the last time he returned to Mount Hua, he did not have this kind of feeling. Could it be that he truly regarded the Imperial Palace as his home?
Looking up, he saw the neatly arranged bed sheets. A wave of tiredness hit him and his limbs went limp. He walked to the bed in a few steps and lay down. Not long after, he began to snore loudly. This sleep was extremely deep.
— — —
After sending Li Yijie away, Lu Qian did not want to wait even a minute longer. He urged Cheng Jiaxuan to go with him to the side room of the main hall. Cheng Jiaxuan rummaged through the bookshelves. He took out one thick book after another, and then found a pile of miscellaneous small objects. Only then did he take out a book from the bottom of the chest. He carefully wiped the dust off the cover and handed it to Lu Qian, saying, "I told you, I'm a man of my word. How is it? Am I right? Take a look and see if it's this book. "
Lu Qian snatched it. He was so excited that his hands couldn't help but tremble. He carefully opened the first page and skimmed through it. Immediately he nodded his head and said, "That's right, that's right. This is it!"
Although he did not read the secret manual for a long time, the various diagrams and outlines of the manual were deeply engraved in his mind. At Tong Guan, he took a risk and stole Li Yijie's secret manual. As luck would have it, he managed to steal a fake book. At that time, he did not suspect anything. After confirming that it was a fake, the original secret manual became clearer and clearer in his mind. After painstakingly waiting for six years, there was not a day that he did not think about it. As soon as he thought about the incomparably exquisite martial art skills recorded in the manual, his mind was intoxicated.
Now that he finally had the precious manual that he had yearned for day and night in his hands, his heart was about to jump out of his chest. With a trembling voice he said, "That's right, that's great. Xiao Xuan, this time you've rendered a great service. I thank you very much. Later on I won't scold you anymore."
Cheng Jiaxuan smiled and said, "Whether I rendered a great service or not is not important. As long as you are willing to believe that I am not a vile person who goes back on his word, that's good. I despise that kind of person the most. But this secret manual … is it really that good? It was broken by other people. "
"What do you know?" Lu Qian asked. "Looking at the handwriting in the cave, it must have been written more than twenty years ago, about the same time as Jiang Liechen, An Yesun, and the others made their debut. They were able to run amuck in the Jianghu, and the Devil Cult was able to dominate the Wulin world. Why was that? It was because the last words in the cave had never been seen by anybody. If nobody knew about it, wouldn't it be the same as not having it? If you ask me, that woman was really stupid. She only wanted to keep it a secret, but she did not think about whether or not anybody would see it. Now that I've picked up a ready-made bargain, and I've also practiced the technique to break it, shouldn't I do something to make it disappear completely? "
Cheng Jiaxuan nodded his head vigorously. "Oh!" He said, "So that's how it is! You want to practice the Devil Cult's martial art on your own, so you don't want other people to know how to break it. As for Li Yijie, playing with him is like playing with three hands to pinch a snail. Wait until you've mastered the secret manual. Whenever you want to kick him out of the Meng Zhu position, you can kick him out. You can do whatever you want. "
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
