Chapter 141: Chapter 125: The Rivalry of the Second and Eighth, Prince Jin’s Hawks and Hounds, The Master’s Brilliant Follow-up

At dawn, a luxurious carriage stopped outside Prince Jin’s Mansion. A prince in an unremarkable black python robe and a youth with delicate features stepped out.

The delicate-featured youth seemed to be the Prince’s attendant. His clothes were simple and unadorned, a far cry from the exquisite, masterfully crafted python-patterned robe.

But the Prince in the python robe seemed to be terrified of the youth beside him. The delicate-featured youth let out a slow yawn as if he hadn’t quite woken up and sent a mental message,

“Lu Yunhuang, could you be any more obvious? The entrances to the major Prince Mansions are crawling with spies. The way you’re acting, you don’t have an ounce of royal dignity. Who’s the servant and who’s the Prince?”

Hearing this, Lu Yunhuang finally lifted his head a little and couldn’t help but reply, “Master, why did you want me to come to Prince Jin’s Mansion too? It doesn’t really matter. Second Brother has never thought much of me anyway.”

Xun Yu said languidly, “We took a considerable risk coming here. It wasn’t for you to go sightseeing. You’re here to help.”

“Help?”

Xun Yu yawned again. “Why do you think Prince Jin’s Mansion has been so restrained lately? The night of the struggle for the Relic, many traces of the Endless Pavilion were exposed. A considerable number of their experts have already been thrown in prison by the Bright Lamp Bureau and the Three Academy Cultivators. To be safe, Lu Guangjing activated the Heart Demon Seeds. Most of those people are now dead—no different from corpses. Prince Jin’s Mansion is safe now, but at the same time, the Endless Pavilion has severed its own limbs, losing many of its elites. Its strength is a shadow of its former self.”

“If I, the National Preceptor, don’t intervene soon, I’m afraid Lu Guangjing will be tripped up and finished off by that disciple of Li Sheng’s.”

Lu Yunhuang asked, “Master, your Heart Demon Seed kills without a trace. Aren’t you worried the Drumming Institute will find something amiss?”

“Amiss? What’s amiss?”

Xun Yu smiled, his gaze profound. “Everyone has weaknesses and desires in their heart. I merely amplified the evil that was already there. Can they really blame me for a Heart Demon Devouring Body?”

Lu Yunhuang seemed to understand. “Master, you mean that if you kill someone, you can just say it was all the knife’s fault? Blame the blade for being too sharp, and claim it has nothing to do with you.”

“Clever. As long as the outcome is good, it doesn’t matter if the methods used are evil.”

Xun Yu added, “To prevent the Eighth Prince and Seventh Prince from joining forces to take down your good Second Brother, you also need to give him some overt support. It will make them hesitant to act rashly.”

“My support… But I have nothing.”

Lu Yunhuang’s gaze was filled with confusion.

Xun Yu laughed out loud at his words.

“As long as you are the Ninth Prince, you have everything. Just because you have nothing now doesn’t mean you won’t in the future. Just because you had nothing before doesn’t mean you have nothing now.”

Hearing the double meaning in his words, Lu Yunhuang nodded thoughtfully.

The two entered Prince Jin’s Mansion and knocked on the main gate.

A moment later, a gatekeeper opened it and invited them in.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, a handsome young man strode toward them, his gaze fixed forward and his expression composed. He was flanked by numerous attendants.

None of these attendants had simple identities.

In the Great Yan, or even across the Central Plains World, each of them had once been a figure who could stir up a storm.

Even though Lu Yunhuang had seen this more than once, he was still filled with envy.

The tall man behind him was particularly conspicuous. He held two sabers, his sharp eyebrows were angled upwards, and his gaze was cold. But the momentum he exuded was clearly that of a Sword Cultivator.

This man’s name was Qin Fangding, an A-Grade Tributor and a Middle Fifth Grade expert. He was once a fierce general on the battlefields under the Great Zhou Dynasty, having slain many of Great Yan’s foremost commanders. After the previous dynasty fell, he neither became a prisoner of the Great Yan Dynasty nor surrendered to become one of its new generals. Instead, he led his remaining men to Nan Zhou to protect the young lord. However, the young lord could not endure the miasma of the Southern Border and died at the age of eight. Qin Fangding was about to leap from a cliff into the South Sea to end his own life, but he was saved by a single sentence from the Master.

Lu Yunhuang’s gaze shifted to the black-clothed armored woman on the right.

The surface of her spiked iron arm armor was covered in intricate runes. The woman had a valiant and heroic air, her high ponytail long and jet-black. Her face was veiled, revealing only a pair of cold eyes. A portion of her midriff and navel was exposed, her body slender and toned with a distinct aesthetic appeal.

Her slender, finger-guard-clad fingers rested perpetually on the hilt of her saber, her expression indifferent.

Her name was Shadow Scout, also an A-Grade Tributor and a Middle Fifth Grade expert. Her origins were a complete mystery. She came from the Fuyao Sword Palace of the Daoist Nine Heavens and Ten Lands and was said to have practiced a Forbidden Swordsmanship. During a battle against the Underworld forces of the Great Nether Sacred Country, she disregarded a heavily wounded Elder. Her bloodlust was too strong, and she insisted on slaughtering the enemy. She was imprisoned by the Sword Palace but ended up killing her way out, cutting down many of the Sword Dao’s chosen geniuses and becoming a traitor to the Taoist Sect.

Both of them were masters of the sword, yet they chose to wield sabers to conceal their identities.

These expert Cultivators, who should have been shining stars in Great Yan, had now become the Second Prince’s hounds. In reality, their true master was the National Preceptor standing before them.

“We respectfully welcome you, Master.”

Lu Guangjing didn’t look at Lu Yunhuang in the front, but first toward the delicate-featured youth behind him.

“You are desperate.”

Xun Yu smiled faintly, having seen through the other’s thoughts.

Lu Guangjing gave a faint smile. “You jest, Master. This student has indeed been too hasty and immature in many respects.”

Xun Yu casually swept his gaze over the remaining experts in Prince Jin’s Mansion, more than half of whom were gone. He shook his head. “You’ve done too many things you shouldn’t have, and too few of the things you should have. You still don’t think enough.”

“First, you shouldn’t have been distracted by provoking the Sixth Prince. Not only did it cause your own Realm to plummet, but you also failed to clean up the mess with the Third Prince. You didn’t manage to harvest his portion of Destiny, and you let him return to the Capital City. Now, making a move against him is extremely difficult. After his attempt on the throne, I thought you would handle the aftermath by goading him into dying to prove his innocence.”

“Second, although the Fourth Prince is dead, the job was sloppy. You used the Heart Demon Seed I gave you but left too many loose ends. The Eighth Prince discovered your methods and has started paying close attention to you.”

“Third, in the struggle for the Relic, you fell into the Eighth Prince’s trap. You wanted to stop the Seventh Prince from gaining the full support of the Buddhist Sect, but you failed to prepare a contingency against the other princes. As a result, someone in the shadows plotted against you, making everyone mistakenly believe the Relic was on you while the real Relic was taken by someone else.”

“This is why you are now lagging behind the Eighth Prince,” Xun Yu explained slowly.

After listening, Lu Guangjing contemplated for a long time, his gaze growing deep. He cupped his hands lightly. “This student has been taught a lesson.”

“Fortunately, there are still ways to remedy this.”

Xun Yu found a chair and sat down. Everyone present was a trusted confidant, so there was nothing that couldn’t be said.

“As your master, I took a great risk coming to the Imperial Capital this time. On one hand, I have to guard against the schemes of Li Sheng and the Military Saint, and on the other, I have to clean up your mess.”

But Lu Guangjing was full of confidence. His eyes resolute, he promised, “This student will not make similar mistakes again.”

Xun Yu made no comment on this and continued with his own point.

“I brought the Ninth Prince here to take some of the pressure off you. Later, you will assign some men to the Jiangling Royal Mansion. Have him enter Bailu Academy to attract some attention and build his prestige for a while. This will make Lu Yunqing hesitant to act rashly.”

“Otherwise, the Endless Pavilion will be turned inside out, and you will be powerless to withstand the overwhelming assault that follows.”

“Your immediate goal is to properly deal with Prince Chongwen, Lu Yunqing. His every move is entirely directed by his staff officers and Li Sheng. Naturally, they think more steps ahead than you do. Li Sheng’s doctrines, Li Xue, have not yet become widespread in Great Yan, so their influence is limited. You must use this fact to discredit Li Xue. After that, the person you should deal with most is the Military Saint’s daughter.”

“Everyone has a weakness. When Lu Yunqing was only eight years old, I could already see that he cares deeply about the people around him. He repays kindness with kindness and treasures his reputation. While this is certainly a good thing, caring too much can become a burden. You need to make more deals with people. Besides ordering your own men around, you need to observe the hearts of others more.”

“You can use this woman’s love for her husband to your advantage. Whether or not you can create a crack in Lu Yunqing’s state of mind will depend on this move.”

Lu Guangjing was stirred, bowing with his fist in his palm. “Rest assured, Master.”

Xun Yu seemed tired from speaking and waved his hand. “Two new waves of Death Warrior scouts will arrive in the capital soon. You can command them as you wish. I’ve already made the arrangements for you. Most of them are promising candidates I selected on my way here from Nan Zhou.”

As he spoke, though he had the appearance of a fresh-faced youth, he gave off the impression of a world-weary old man.

Xun Yu patted his shoulder. “I have high hopes for you, otherwise I wouldn’t have said so much. How much you can accomplish is up to you. I will intervene at critical moments. You don’t need to worry about Li Sheng. As long as his true self remains in the Confucian Temple and not the Imperial Capital, there is nothing to fear.”

After he finished speaking, Xun Yu led Lu Yunhuang out of Prince Jin’s Mansion.

Lu Yunhuang spoke with great admiration, “Master, how many more backup plans do you have? It feels like you can always think of everything.”

Xun Yu smiled faintly. “I don’t know myself. I’ve read just about every book there is to read. They’re all full of uninteresting grand principles. From now on, this is where life’s fun lies.”

“I’m going to study at Bailu Academy. Will you be coming with me, Master? As a servant again?”

Xun Yu shook his head. “I’ve appeared in this identity for too long. It’s time for a change.”

He got into the carriage, rubbed his chin for a moment, and smiled. “I have it. I can change my identity to that of a teacher—Master Xun of Bailu Academy.”

…

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