1149 - Finally Admitting Defeat?
Chapter 1149 Finally Admitting Defeat?
The King of Zhenyuan's estate had always been famous for being overbearing in the Royal City of the Guardians. Even though the King currently was indeed a figure of core importance and held great power, he had offended many people over the years. Ordinarily, his enemies were afraid to speak out, but all of them felt incredibly at ease when they heard that such an incident had happened to one of his people.
Naturally, his nemeses were more than happy to spread the news around.
Wei Heng was one of the people who was in charge of managing external affairs of the King's estate. It was said that he was one of the most handy and trusted managers of the King's favorite daughter, and no one could restrain his arrogance and pushiness in the Royal City. He had been beaten up by a mysterious man so badly that only his head was left, and rumor had it that he needed the help of a female official from the King of Zhenyuan's estate to regenerate his body. This incident was a huge blow and challenge to the fame and reputation of the King of Zhenyuan's estate. There was a saying in Mandarin that warned one to be wary of a dog's master when one wanted to beat it. Wei Heng behaved like a rabid dog of the King's estate everyday, and no one dared to offend him on account of the influential King of Zhenyuan. He had finally received the retribution he deserved.
The incident was the most interesting subject matter for conversations during this edition of the Wanyi Bazaar Festival to many nobles in the city.
"I don't care who he is. He has to pay the price of beating a manager of my estate. If he knows what's good for him, he'll come forth to surrender himself quickly. Perhaps I would let his family and close ones off then..."
The lord of the estate released his statement in the night.
The iron-clad guards of the King had also began searching the entire city, each of them holding onto a jade scroll containing a portrait of the murderer. It looked as though they would soon start digging the ground to uncover the hiding place of the man, and the situation was extremely tense. Armoured cavalry charged along every street, and many people could hear commotions outside throughout the entire night.
Even so, they had no findings when day broke again.
After all, the Royal City of the Guardians was too large. If someone—a true expert—wanted to conceal himself, trying to find him would be like searching for water in the ocean. Most importantly, no one knew about the man's background, and there weren't much leads for the guards to follow.
It placed the estate of the King of Zhenyuan on the defensive.
Ye Qingyu stretched lazily and carefree at dawn. He stood before the window of the resting station and surveyed the streets.
Central City gradually became more vibrant as the sun rose.
Even though the Wanyi Bazaar Festival was already over, the after effects were still evident. The Dark Ones, who possessed a low social status, had already retreated from Central City, while the nobles that came from other parts still remained behind. Everyone had their own agenda, and all kinds of scenes and emotions could be witnessed.
After teaching a lesson to the triangular-faced evil slave the day before, Ye Qingyu had returned to the relay station. He shut himself in his room and did not leave it.
He did not hide because he was afraid of the King of Zhenyuan. Rather, it was because he was spending time arranging the trinkets he had purchased during the Wanyi Bazaar Festival around his room. He wanted to relax completely; when one reached his level of cultivation, one could no longer rely on hard training to improve. One could only wait for the right opportunity to strike.
Furthermore, his interest in the Earth's civilization had never diminished. As such, he drew out the neutron hard risk to view some information.
All this while, Ye Qingyu felt that the scope of Earth's civilization would be greatly beneficial as he progressed on the path of martial arts. How they could make use of the knowledge, however, was another question.
When he met with something he could not understand, he would take the initiative to contact [The Beginning] from the communications ark. It had given Ye Qingyu a communication device before they parted ways, so that they could keep in contact. The device was amazing. Even though Ye Qingyu could not figure out the core function of the trinket, he felt that the effects it brought about were very good. He could see who he was communicating with, as if he were staring in a reflection pool. It did not give off any energy waves, and as such, it could never be discovered by experts in formation magic or martial arts.
In reality, the relationship between Ye Qingyu and [The Beginning] was never broken.
"The makeover of Luoshen Ridge is already progressing smoothly. The universe-level optical brain of [The Beginning] is really powerful. It can be classified as a peerless genius in terms of project planning."
Ye Qingyu was deeply moved.
During breakfast, Linghu Buxiu arrived at the relay station with a strange expression on his face.
The fellow dragged Ye Qingyu into the room mysteriously before shutting the doors and windows, then setting up a barrier. He took measure of Ye Qingyu with a strange gaze and said, "Brother Zhang Longcheng, was the ferocious stranger who beat Wei Heng up savagely yesterday..."
Ye Qingyu nodded and replied, "Yes, it was me."
"Ah? It really was you?" Linghu Buxiu was merely guessing, but upon hearing Ye Qingyu admitting readily, he could not help but draw in a cold breath of air. "Brother Zhang Longcheng, you're really... really fearsome. I'm convinced."
Ye Qingyu smiled gently and replied, "Indeed, I was too rash when I handled the matter. The situation was really infuriating though. How could there have been such an arrogant and impudent vile slave in the Royal City? He was really asking for it..."
At first, Ye Qingyu had acted like a brash and bold but unastute character in front of Nie Tiankong, especially during the Battle of the Demon Stone Forest. He believed that he had left a strong impression on Nie Tiankong, and that the lattter would not have suspected anything upon hearing this.
Linghu Buxiu was a little speechless but also somewhat emotional at the same time. He patted Ye Qingyu on his shoulder. "Brother Zhang Longcheng, you're really full of passion. I'm no match for you. The current state of the Royal City... sigh, let's not go there. When I first came here, I was as passionate and fearless as you. Now... sigh, if it wasn't for Lord Nie Tiankong taking me in, I would have long turned to dust."
Ye Qingyu purposely replied, "Right, this incident would not cause too much trouble for Lord Nie Tiankong, would it? Why not do it like this: I'll be the sole person responsible for the entire incident. I wouldn't want to implicate Lord Nie Tiankong and you in this matter, brother."
Linghu Buxiu began to laugh as he heard Ye Qingyu. He suddenly became extremely heroic again and replied, "Haha, don't worry, Brother Zhang Longcheng. Who do you think Lord Nie Tiankong is? Why would he be afraid of the King of Zhenyuan? To be honest, Lord Nie Tiankong and the King of Zhenyuan are at loggerheads now. Your appointment hasn't been conferred onto you yet because the King and his people are playing tricks behind your back. I've come here today because Lord Nie Tiankong has already seen the portrait of the man wanted for beating up the King's slave and knew it was you. He wanted me to tell you not to worry and that he'll take care of the matter."
Ye Qingyu smiled upon hearing that. "Help me thank Lord Nie Tiankong," he replied.
"Lord Nie Tiankong thinks pretty highly of you, haha," Linghu Buxiu said as he looked at Ye Qingyu somewhat enviously.
Over the past few days, he had heard Nie Tiankong mention Ye Qingyu more than once, and his tone was one of admiration and praise each time. This was evidently the beginning of Ye Qingyu being accepted as a new noble of the Royal City. Nie Tiankong was hot property now and had enough power to be on par with the other old kings. Once Ye Qingyu gained an important position, his future would be bright and limitless.
Take yesterday's incident for example. After deducing that Ye Qingyu was the person who struck the slave, Nie Tiankong did not speak much about the incident in public, but in reality he was secretly overjoyed. He kept praising the Lord of Loushen Ridge as an aide that brought him luck. Recently, Nie Tiankong was in a slump because of the King of Zhenyuan and his people. Unexpectedly, Ye Qingyu had suddenly slapped the entire estate of the King and helped him vent out his frustration.
After placating Ye Qingyu, Linghu Buxiu took his leave.
Before leaving, he told Ye Qingyu not to worry about the estate of the King of Zhenyuan seeking revenge.
That noon, a piece of news spread among the upper-class nobles of Central City.
"What? The fearsome man that beat Wei Heng up so badly was one of Nie Tiankong's men?"
"Haha, this will be interesting. Even though Nie Tiankong has yet to be bestowed with the title of King, he has already become one of the commanders in the army and holds great authority. He has enough power to take on the kings. Is he really having designs on the King of Zhenyuan's estate?"
"It'll only be a matter of time before Nie Tiankong is crowned as a new king."
"This is a classic case of a new power rising to take on an established one. No wonder that violent person dared to attack Wei Heng. I believe it was all planned by Nie Tiankong."
"There's something you guys don't know about. It was said that Commander Nie Tiankong had already sent word to the estate of the King of Zhenyuan, explaining that this was a misunderstanding. He said that even though the person who whacked Wei Heng was indeed one of his men, the slave was wrong in the first place, so he would not pursue the matter, and hoped that the incident tided over. He expressed his wish that the King's people would not cause trouble again and wanted the King to revoke the warrant for the man's arrest. It was worded strongly."
"Haha, this is interesting. Right, does anyone know about the background of that violent stranger? I had my servants tell me about what happened that day and nearly died laughing. That person is truly amazing. He nearly tortured Wei Heng to death."
"It was said that he's a trusted lieutenant being promoted recently by Nie Tiankong. He's Zhang Longcheng of Luoshen Ridge."
"A small noble. How could he have such skill? Don't tell me Nie Tiankong is taking all the blame for this person?"
All sorts of information was spreading like wildfire among the upper-class nobles of Royal City.
Many people were observing the situation quietly.
The iron-clad guards from the estate of the King of Zhenyuan had been completely recalled from the streets, however.
Looks like the King of Zhenyuan had admitted defeat?
As the news of their recall spread, everyone in the Royal City of the Guardians were shocked.
Many people began to take notice of Nie Tiankong, the rising force. They did not expect that he would have won this round.
Even Linghu Buxiu came to visit Ye Qingyu again in the evening. He told Ye Qingyu very happily that the storm had abated, and there was nothing left to worry about. He explained that the situation in the city looked very good.
...
In the estate of the King of Zhenyuan.
A beautiful woman in her twenties with a gloomy face stood in the Square of Heavenly Fragrance. She was smiling coldly as she looked at the ten experts clad in Demonic Armor of Blacksteel standing in the hall. Her mouth arched into a cruel and vicious sneer, and she looked like a cold-blooded and ruthless she-wolf.
It was the Mistress of Deathly Flowers from the King of Zhenyuan's estate.
"Haha, Nie Tiankong is really immature. To think that he wants to get one over us after rising up for only a few days. This time, we have to teach him a lesson that he'll remember for the rest of his life... Wei Heng, have you checked the accuracy of our information?"
The Mistress of Deathly Flowers glanced at the triangular-faced vile slave beside her, who had just regenerated his body.
"Mistress, I've already checked it. The herb-selling youth who started all of this is living in the residence of Marquis Ting Tao with his mother at the moment. The Marquis is really courting his own death by taking them in. He's obviously trying to go against us. As for that damned Zhang Longcheng, he's carelessly living in the relay station. He's acting impudently, drinking, eating and walking around as he wishes. He really thinks that you've been suppressed by Nie Tiankong, mistress, and dare not make a move on him..."
Wei Heng said through gritted teeth.
"Right, I'll get the female official to slay that foolhardy Zhang Longcheng and embalm his head well before sending it to the residence of Commander Nie Tiankong. After that, we'll go to the estate of Marquis Ting Tao to get our delinquents. We won't let any of them off... we have to let these people who've overestimated their own capabilities know that they cannot offend the authority of our office," the Mistress of Deathly Flowers said chillingly.
Her beautiful face was looking incredibly malevolent and ice-cold right then.