Chapter 64: Chapter 64: The Grand Scheme

When Huangfu Yuxuan thought about how Gongyang Puyu had calculated Xia Wenjin’s birth chart and later wrote to advise him that gaining Xia Wenjin was more beneficial than eliminating the four people he wanted to remove, he realized that Xia Wenjin was the real priority. Everything else was just minor details!

Letting go like this, he still felt a bit unwilling in his heart.

But Gongyang Puyu made a valid point: “Those who cannot bear small instances will ruin big plans.” Causing Grandfather’s suspicion over an insignificant person would be a loss rather than a gain.

Now he must proceed with caution.

He needed to ensure that his father, the Crown Prince, would not commit the kind of foolish mistakes unacceptable to Grandfather that might jeopardize his position, while secretly eliminating those threats.

Taking action against Huangfu Jingchen again was indeed too risky.

Since the person who had diverted the destiny of the star was already dealt with, and Huangfu Jingchen was not involved from the start, it was better to avoid unnecessary complications.

His eyebrows frowned and then relaxed, finally saying calmly: “If that’s the case, let’s say he’s fortunate! Let’s put this matter aside; no need to bother with it any longer!”

The man in black said: “Yes!”

“Dismissed!”

The man in black bowed once more and turned to disappear behind a tree, quickly vanishing from sight.

Huangfu Yuxuan took a deep breath. His father has been on a disaster relief mission for almost two months and should be returning to the Capital City soon. With the merit from the disaster relief, Grandfather won’t have a reason to question his father’s position for the time being.

However, Uncle Li is too favored by Grandfather, which isn’t a good sign.

The credit for the disaster relief alone won’t last long, especially with Uncle Zhuang also watching keenly.

Not just Uncle Li and Uncle Zhuang, every uncle has their eye on this position, no?

Father, being an incompetent person, seems oblivious to the severity of the current situation, still indulging in debauchery and extravagance. Hopefully, after this disaster relief, he will show some restraint.

As for Uncle Li, who is still lingering in the Capital City, his fief is located to the west of Ningzhou. He is adept at currying favor and has gained Grandfather’s considerable affection and esteem.

Unable to deal with Uncle Li in the Capital City? Then let’s start with his fief! After all this planning, it’s time to close the net.

Huangfu Yuxuan refocused his thoughts and left the back mountain.

Wan’an County.

Already to the north of Jiazhou, it was only a few days’ journey from the boundary of Liangzhou.

The weather was perfect, and people in fine attire were out in groups of threes and fives, their faces full of smiles, creating a lively scene on the streets.

Suddenly, someone shouted loudly: “Oh no, the bandits looking for women are here again!”

The crowd on the street scattered like birds and beasts, vendors grabbed their stalls and ran, passersby rushed into doorways that shut with a bang, followed by windows being tightly closed, and people inside trembled with fear.

Recently, a group of fierce and fearsome men with angry eyes and muscular builds had suddenly appeared on the street, claiming to be bandits from Haotian Village.

These bandits were terrifying because they didn’t rob money or goods; instead, they captured people and demanded women, scaring everyone to death.

The bravest, Wang Xiao’er, had been caught by the bandits. When they asked if he had seen a woman, he was bewildered. Were they asking about a woman? She was more like a fairy, wasn’t she?

Wang Xiao’er couldn’t respond, so the bandits piled silver on him, which was so bright and shiny that it nearly buried him, terrifying him to the point of losing control, making him flee in desperation.

These bandits were cunning! How cruel their methods! And how self-conceited!

If they didn’t bury people under silver, others might believe them.

But now, they wouldn’t believe it even if beaten to death — that silver must be ingot filled with lead.

Now they were back, so wouldn’t people run away immediately?

The street was cleared immaculately as a group of burly, menacing men with fleshy faces came from the other end, looking bewildered. A scar-faced man on the left said, “Did these people see a ghost? They’ve run away without a trace. We’re only asking them to find someone, right?”

The rough man with stubble on the right gave a slap: “It’s all your fault! Your fault! You insisted on capturing them to interrogate them. Now look, we can’t even see a soul on the street, so where are we going to find the young lady now?”

The scar-faced man’s head shrank after being hit, muttering, “The young lady is too willful. Jianghu is dangerous. Without our protection, how would the young lady handle bad people alone?”

“We’ve been tracking her all the way. The young lady clearly came in this direction, so why can’t we find her?”

“You fool, the young lady must be hiding when she sees us coming. Why would she take the initiative to find us? Stop talking nonsense and search quickly!”

One man suddenly pointed to the street corner and said, “There’s someone over there!”

Everyone looked over and saw a little beggar lying lazily in the sun. His face was smudged with dirt, and a broken bowl lay in front of him with a solitary coin inside.

Encountering a living person on an otherwise deserted street was a novelty to these men. The scar-faced man took a large step forward, arriving in front of the little beggar, only to be pulled back by the bearded man.

It was hard enough to find a living soul, but what if this fool scared him to death?

The bearded man approached, trying hard to appear amiable: “Little brother, begging for food?”

“Silver or gold leaves are also acceptable; I’m not picky!” The little beggar spoke slowly, his voice low and hoarse, like a teenage boy going through a voice change, sounding quite peculiar.

The men of Haotian Village: “…”

This was the least picky beggar they had ever seen. Accepting silver or gold leaves, why didn’t he just ascend to the heavens?

The scar-faced man, losing patience, directly asked: “Have you seen our young lady? Around fifteen or sixteen, very pretty, like a fairy descending to the mortal world!”

The little beggar turned his head; his eyes were tightly shut, indicating blindness, as he listened carefully.

The men of Haotian Village: “…”

A blind person, so what were they asking him for?

As the men felt disappointed and were about to leave, they heard the little beggar slowly said: “I saw her!”

Saw her?

The men of Haotian Village were overjoyed and quickly gathered around him, eyes glinting with anticipation: “Where did you see her and when?”

The little beggar reached out and began to fumble on the ground.

The men were puzzled, their eyes fixed on him.

They saw him finally reach his broken bowl, then the lone coin at its bottom, which he picked up with two fingers, squeezing it, and sighed regretfully, murmuring: “Looks like I’ll be going hungry again today!”

The bearded man immediately understood, pulling out a piece of broken silver and placing it into the little beggar’s bowl with a wide grin, saying: “No, no, with this silver, you can get some good food. Just tell us when you saw her!”

The little beggar took the silver in hand. His slender fingers pinched it, surprisingly neatly, and he slowly said again: “Last night!”

He really saw her?

The scar-faced man exclaimed with joy: “Where?”

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