At this moment, the news of Xie Bingrui being captured had already spread throughout the martial world.
Xie Yiyi thus rushed in and begged Su Wen for help, she had no other choice.
She could only rely on Su Wen. Su Wen looked at Xie Yiyi’s anxious expression and pulled her into his embrace. He whispered into her ear, “Don’t worry, your mother will be fine with me around.”
As he spoke, his large hand began to roam around Xie Yiyi’s body.
At that moment, Ning Shuang reported from outside, “Young Master, Wu Muyu is here. She is chatting with the Madam in the living
room.”
Su Wen stopped what he was doing and looked at the coquettish Xie Yiyi before consoling her. “Don’t worry, I already know about your mother. I will definitely not let anything happen to her.” In the front hall, Wu Muyu didn’t expect Yan Luoying to meet her after she came to visit. Seeing her come in, Yan Luoying sat in the main seat and said in a strange voice, “Oh my, isn’t this my good sister Muyu? What brings you here?” Wu Muyu was an eccentric person by nature, so how could she not understand her teasing? She only curled her lips and said, “A petty person achieving success! Humph!” However, Wu Muyu really missed Su Wen. It had been more than half a year since Su Wen entered the mystic realm. During this period of time, Wu Kunhu had already let go of his control over her. He also didn’t mention finding someone to marry her again! “Where’s Brother Su?” Wu Muyu went straight to the point. “I’m here to look for Brother. It has nothing to do with you!” Yan Luoying leaned back slightly and smiled. “That’s not right. I’m the mistress of the Su residence now. Logically speaking, you should call me Madam Su! Don’t stand on ceremony, just call me!” Wu Muyu glared at her and puffed up her cheeks without saying a word. Yan Luoying smiled. “If you do, I’ll agree to let Su Wen marry you. What do you think?”
The little girl said disdainfully, “Do you think I’m stupid? He’s willing to marry me even without your consent!” “Hehe, then do you believe that I’ll beat you up every day once you enter?” “I don’t believe you. Brother will dote on me more! If you dare hit me, I’ll complain!” Seeing that she could not scare Wu Muyu, Yan Luoying felt a little bored. “Hmph! You settle your father first!” Wu Muyu didn’t know what to say upon hearing that. She really didn’t know what to do.
At this moment, Su Wen walked out with a smile. “Haha! Don’t worry, leave your father to
me!”
Su Wen came out and sat on the chair. However, he realized that Yan Luoying had no intention of leaving. She just looked at the two of them with interest.
This… was going to be a little awkward. Wu Muyu rolled her eyes and shouted, “Brother Su!”
As she spoke, she pounced straight at Su Wen and ran into his embrace. She raised her head and said with an aggrieved expression, “Brother Su, Sister Yan blocked me on my way home last time and hit my butt. It hurts so much. Brother, help me rub it!” As she spoke, she picked up Su Wen’s hand and placed it down on her bottom! She completely ignored Yan Luoying who was beside her! Yan Luoying gritted her teeth and said, “I think I slapped too lightly!” Su Wen didn’t expect this to happen. He looked at Yan Luoying as he smiled. “My wife is a little childish.”
Yan Luoying wrinkled her nose and snorted, “Who told her to be so annoying? She’s the only one who can piss me off, and I’m not allowed to hit her! Hmph, I won’t watch you two being intimate here!” Yan Luoying originally wanted to stay and watch Wu Muyu to make her feel uncomfortable, but she didn’t expect the little girl to be so thick-skinned and make her feel even worse!
She stood up and left, but Wu Muyu was still in Su Wen’s arms.
She hugged Su Wen and refused to let go! “I really missed you.” Just four simple words. However, it represented the girl’s heart that had been tormented for a long time. The two of them slowly talked about their experiences during this period of time. When Su Wen heard that Wu Muyu had embarrassed Xu Longcheng, he couldn’t help but laugh and said, “What’s even going on in that little brain of yours? You can actually ask if his skin is good because I have urinated on him. How can a little girl ask that?” Wu Muyu pouted and said, “Who asked that guy to be so thick-skinned and come to my house? He’s so annoying.” Su Wen shook his head. “Don’t worry, that guy is already dead!” Wu Muyu said worriedly, “Will they take their anger out on you?” Su Wen was stunned. “Blame me? How is that possible? I don’t even know where he died.” His words were indeed true. In reality, news of Xu Longcheng’s death had already reached the Xu family. As the Xu family wailed, they also reported the news to Xu Qiao, who was at the front line. When he received the letter, he was instantly devastated!
He immediately sent someone to investigate the cause of Xu Longcheng’s death! However, his cause of death was very clear. It was written that he had not survived the last round of heart tempering tribulation. However, Su Wen never expected that when Xu Qiao heard this news, he actually gritted her teeth and said, “It’s all Su Wen’s and Wu Lie’s fault. Before your two families entered the mystic realm, you humiliated Longcheng and destroyed his heart of martial arts! That must be why Longcheng died. I won’t let you off!” If Su Wen knew that he got framed like this even though he was innocent, he would definitely regret not finding Xu Longcheng in the mystic realm and chopping him up. The two of them spoke for more than two hours. Wu Muyu stayed at the Su Residence and ate before leaving.
Just as Su Wen was about to head to the Secret Shadow Guard, the palace announced that Emperor Zhou had summoned him.
In the imperial palace, Emperor Zhou saw Su Wen. When he saw Su Wen, he couldn’t help but widen his eyes. At this moment, the aura Su Wen revealed could already be considered terrifying. “Good boy! You’ve improved quite a bit!” Emperor Zhou praised. “How’s the Sorcerer God’s Golden Gu in your body?” Emperor Zhou asked. Su Wen smiled and said, “It’s still the same. However, this time I coincidentally obtained a pinnacle Heaven Rank fire-attributed battle technique which is compatible with my original cultivation technique. With the help of the Sorcerer God’s Golden Gu, the quality of my true qi far exceeds that of before!” His words were half-truths, concealing the transformation of the Golden Gu and the Vermillion Bird bloodline. He pushed the credit for the transformation of his True Qi onto the Sorcerer Metal Gu as well as the Great Solar Supreme Policy. Emperor Zhou smiled and said, “Oh, can you show me a few moves? Fu An! Come! Spar with Su Wen!”
Although it was a question, he had no intention of Su Wen rejecting it. Fu An was called over again. When he saw Su Wen at this moment, he couldn’t help but sigh. Things were still the same but people had changed. They were only three levels apart at this point!
Everyone went to the martial arts arena. Emperor Zhou looked at Fu An and said, “Do as you deem fit!”
Su Wen and Fu An got into their positions, and Su Wen smiled. “Commander Fu, please enlighten me!”
Fu An nodded. Just like the first time, he said, “Make your move!”
Su Wen slowly got into his stance as his gaze gradually turned sharp and fiery. The old eunuch said from beside Emperor Zhou, “What incredible control! Such fiery True Qi, yet it didn’t burn his clothes. Lord Su’s control can be considered to be at an extreme!” How would he know that after Su Wen awakened his Vermilion Bird bloodline, his control over flames had far exceeded that of an ordinary person? Suddenly, Su Wen moved!
Bang!
With a loud bang, Su Wen disappeared at a speed that ordinary eyes could never follow! Immediately after, he had already appeared beside Fu An! A single finger was pointed out. Sunburst Spirit Finger! BAM!
A huge flame exploded in the direction he pointed towards! Fu An shouted, “Good!”
He raised his True Qi to meet Su Wen’s attack! Within the huge flames, Fu An frowned. This temperature had far exceeded that of ordinary flames! One had to know that Fu An had used his True Qi to cover his body. However, it was still unable to block the temperature of the flames. In an instant, he felt a sharp pain on his skin!
Pa!
Fu An’s True Qi burst forth in retaliation.
Without holding back at all, Su Wen was naturally sent flying!
The difference of three grades of cultivation was still too great.
However, Su Wen was not injured!
He took the chance to step into a Star Position! Extreme Yang! The temperature of the flames rose again! At this moment, the deadly supportive might of Stellar Transposition was revealed. Originally, even if Su Wen stepped into the Extreme Yang Star, even if he used his True Qi to further boost the temperature, the damage would not be too high. However, Su Wen’s Holy Flames were already terrifyingly hot to begin with. Coupled with the Extreme Yang attribute…
It even sounded scary! “Sunburst Stab!”
Su Wen shot out two fingers consecutively, and a huge flame rose up in the martial arts arena. The extremely high temperature made Emperor Zhou, who was watching from the side, frown!
The old eunuch smiled in response. A wall of Qi suddenly completely isolated the temperature between the audience and the dueling pair! But Fu An was not so comfortable!
He punched out with both fists.
In an instant, Su Wen’s force was dispersed. However, his fist was now left with blood blisters that were bubbling!
His eyebrows and hair had actually curled up and smoldered!
“Enough!”
Emperor Zhou’s command rang out. He realized that while Fu An was still superior in terms of cultivation, in terms of battle prowess, it was not necessarily the case. If they were to continue fighting, either one of them would be severly injured, or Su Wen would use his various battle techniques to torture Fu An.
However, if he really wanted to defeat Fu An, it was not that easy in Emperor Zhou’s opinion. “Not a bad technique!” Emperor Zhou praised. Then, he smiled and said, “I heard that you still have a Nine Waves Return to Origin. Why don’t you try it out too!” Su Wen nodded. “Alright!” As he spoke, the saber in his hand appeared and he slashed at Fu An behind him! Nine Holy Flame Blade Qis flew out! Fu An also unsheathed his saber in response!
However, Su Wen’s nine blade Qis suddenly came together and turned into a huge blade Qi. Golden light soared into the sky and the air wave carried a searing temperature as it flew towards Fu An.
Fu An’s eyes widened as he slashed with all his might!
However, his saber had unknowingly been restricted! That’s right!
Just as he brandished his saber, the old eunuch was already standing in front of him. Without even looking at him, a hand gripped his saber.
The old eunuch then waved his free hand gently.
Su Wen’s enormous blade Qi dissipated. The old eunuch smiled then, “Commander Fu doesn’t dare to use his ultimate technique, so I’m afraid he’ll be at a disadvantage if he takes this move of yours.” Su Wen’s eyes narrowed at this scene!
This guy… Was he a Heaven Rank expert? This act of lifting something heavy as if it were light was not easily done!
The old eunuch commented, “Not a bad move. To be able to comprehend such a secret technique at such a young age with a cultivation of only Earth Rank is quite rare. It’s just that the force is a little scattered and the control is still a little lacking. It seems like your comprehension of the saber is still a little lacking. If it were in the hands of a top-notch saber expert, this move would at least reduce the consumption of True Qi by more than one fold and its power would also increase a little.” Su Wen’s eyes widened. What this old man said was similar to what he thought when he had the Blade God Mode activated!
The eunuch’s understanding of martial arts seemed to be very strong as well… Emperor Zhou looked at Su Wen and said in a deep voice, “I was originally worried that you were weaker due to your cultivation, but from the looks of it now, you don’t have to worry. I have something for you to do!” Su Wen bowed and said, “Your Majesty, please instruct me!”
Emperor Zhou laughed coldly. “This matter started because of you!” “Xue Wanjun, do you remember?”
Su Wen smiled. “I remember!”
“Initially, I thought that it was just the Ma family looking down on the Royal Court. However, after some investigation, we found out that this fellow had amassed a large number of people in the midst of the disaster and colluded with the local authorities, wealthy families, and sects to take over the land under the guise of the disaster. By now, you should have known that after they found out that they were being investigated, they joined forces with that bastard Feng Yuanchun to rebel!” Emperor Zhou gritted his teeth when he spoke to this point. “We don’t want to exterminate them by force. After all, the population of Li Prefecture has already suffered many casualties. If more people die, basically all of the population will be wiped out. This Emperor has already decided to make Feng Yuanchun the King of Li Prefecture, and pardon all their previous crimes!”
Su Wen was puzzled. “Then what does Your Majesty want me to do?”
Emperor Zhou said coldly, “This matter is over, but the Li Prefecture must return to my control. Therefore, all the officials of the Li Prefecture must die!” “I want you to go to the Li Prefecture! Take on the mantle of the commander of the Secret Shadow Guards there.” “When you arrive there, you have to completely forget about the disaster in Li Prefecture and investigate other matters. Start with the officials, kill all of the officials in Li Prefecture one by one! This will give me an excuse to quickly fill in the Li Prefecture with new blood!”
Su Wen narrowed his eyes. Just as Old Su had said, the Emperor would not take this lying down.
The Emperor continued, “The most difficult part of this matter is that you have to find a way to cut off the connections between the local aristocratic families, sects, and officials. You can’t let them form a group and incite another rebellion. Otherwise, I can only disregard the lives of the people and kill them!” Su Wen smiled bitterly. This was not a simple matter!
Emperor Zhou said coldly, “After I totally swap out all the officials, they won’t be able to organize the people and army to resist. I will let these aristocratic families and sects know how powerful I am when that day comes!” Su Wen asked curiously, “May I ask why Your Majesty chose me?” Emperor Zhou did not hide anything and explained, “Regarding the matter of the Li Prefecture, there must be people who are flexible and ruthless, especially those who cannot be roped in by Feng Yuanchun and others. Currently, among the Secret Shadow Guards, who do you think is more suitable other than you?” Emperor Zhou looked at Su Wen. It was times like this where he needed such people. However, he could not have too many of them by his side, or it would lead to problems. Moreover, this type of person had to be someone close to the Emperor himself. If he did not trust that subject, how could he set down a command telling them to kill off all the officials in Li Prefecture?
If the Su Changqing of the past was counted as one, then Su Wen was one now.
Su Wen sighed and said, “I still have some personal matters to attend to before I leave for this mission.”
“What personal matter?”
“My mother-in-law was arrested…” Su Wen said honestly. As he spoke, he revealed his relationship with Xie Yiyi’s mother.
“Eh!” When Emperor Zhou heard this, he was also speechless. What kind of rotten thing was this?
He pondered for a moment before saying, “I remember that the Taihao Palace is based in Qing Prefecture, right? I’ll issue a decree to get Qing Preferecture’s officials to cooperate with you. You should be able to rescue her like that, right?” Su Wen curiously asked, “Why didn’t Your Majesty issue a decree to the Taihao Palace directly?”
Emperor Zhou raged. “Why should I issue a decree to that bunch of bulls? What kind of behavior are they engaging in? Kidnapping and killing people! If I issue the decree, then I still have to pursue the matter later! Then I might as well just exterminate this bunch of Daoists!” “I think it seems plausible!” “Plausible my ass!”
Emperor Zhou said angrily, “Let me tell you, the martial world and the royal court of Great Zhou are not as simple as you think. Even I cannot act recklessly at times! A sect like the Taihao Palace cannot be moved lightly.”
Su Wen pursed his lips and remained silent. “Alright, hurry up and leave! If you’re late, your mother-in-law will die and your concubine won’t let you sleep with her. Won’t you die of anxiety then, you little pervert?” Emperor Zhou mocked. Su Wen bade farewell and left. Halfway through, he met the palace maid from last time!
She waved at Su Wen once again, her expression one of nervousness. Su Wen hurried over and whispered, “The princess heard that you entered the palace and wants to see you!” Su Wen nodded.
He followed her to a side hall and pushed open the door.
Zhao Wanrou was waiting inside the hall.
When the two of them saw each other, they naturally became intimate again. After they were done, Zhao Wanrou leaned on Su Wen’s shoulder and said softly, “When you go back, you have to thank Sister Yan for me!” “Eh?”
Su Wen asked curiously, “Why?” Zhao Wanrou said in a low voice, “The crown prince proposed to marry me to the Qiang Tribe. No one in the entire court spoke up for me. It was Sister Yan who came to find His Majesty and wanted to raise 100,000 troops to fight against the Qiang Tribe. That was why His Majesty rejected the crown prince.” “There was such a thing?” Su Wen was shocked. Yan Luoying did not tell him about this.
Zhao Wanrou said, “In my entire life, no one has ever stood up for me. Sister Yan is broad-minded, you have to thank her for me. Otherwise, you might not have been able to see me anymore…” As she spoke, tears fell again. Su Wen hugged her tightly, feeling a heartache. He could also understand how helpless a girl would feel when her life and fate were totally out of her own hands. “Don’t worry! I’ll thank Luoying on your behalf.”
The two of them did not spend too much time together. Their relationship was one which could not be shown to others at the moment. Su Wen left the palace and thought for a moment before asking Zhao Jin to go to the Prime Minister’s Residence.
When he saw Su Changqing, Su Wen told him everything that happened in the palace and said, “I came back this time to bid farewell to you and my mother. I also wanted to ask for your opinion. What should I do?”
Su Changqing continuously shook his head, not saying a word. “What do you mean? You’re not telling me?”
Su Changqing glanced at him out of the corner of his eye and said, “You’re not young anymore, but you only know how to come by and ask me for help when you face a problem. Don’t you know how to think of a plan yourself?” Su Wen sneered. “Alright then, keep your secrets. I won’t ask anymore. Give me a million taels!”
Su Changqing exploded. “Do you think I have a lot of money? Don’t you know that His Majesty has already raided our house?” “Hehe! I have already calculated it clearly. With the profits of our family’s business, we’ve definitely accumulated more than a million in this half a year. Quickly give it to me!” Su Changqing said angrily, “Why do you need money?”
“I want to hire assassins!” Su Wen said in all seriousness, “His Majesty gave me the order to kill all the officials in Li Prefecture, but he didn’t say how to kill them. I’ll find some assassins and silence them one by one! Easy and less worries!” Su Changqing glanced at him out of the corner of his eye and said, “Do you know the price of assassinating a Great Zhou official in the black market? One million taels, and you still want to kill all of the Li Prefecture officials? Dream
on!”
“Then give me two million!” “No!”
“I want to hire an assassin!”
“No!”
“I want to hire an assassin!”
“I just won’t give…” After two hours of coaxing and cajoling, Su Wen happily left Old Su’s house with a million taels in his pocket. When he reached home, Su Wen saw Yan Luoying playing mahjong with Xie Yiyi, Ning Shuang, and Cui Yumian. After Su Wen told them that he was going out on another trip, the girls were a little depressed. Su Wen touched Yan Luoying’s back and said with a smile, “I heard that you personally went to the palace to invite His Majesty to battle in order to prevent Wanrou from marrying out?” Yan Luoying didn’t deny it and said honestly, “That’s right. Peng[1]!”
“Why did you do that?”
Yan Luoying kept her eyes on the game as she explained, “You like Zhao Wanrou, but since you went to the mystic realm, I’ll help you to guard your interests. It’s best if I can guard it. If I can’t, at least I tried my best. His Majesty also said that he didn’t reject it on the spot for the sake of the crown prince. It has nothing to do with me! Three Bamboos!”
Su Wen smiled. “Thank you! Come, let me draw a card for you!”
As he spoke, he reached out to take one from the pile! “Haha! Game!”
Su Wen laughed out loud… only to discover that the other three women had unfriendly looks in their eyes trained towards him.
This kind of person was the most annoying!
In the palace, Emperor Zhou rubbed his chin and pondered.
“Say, do you think that Su Wen’s True Qi is so powerful because of his new battle technique and the Sorcerer God’s Golden Gu?”
The old eunuch shook his head, “It’s hard to say. That battle technique was used by Su Wen just now, I noticed that his comprehension isn’t too deep, but it is indeed a top-notch battle technique. Normal battle techniques wouldn’t have such power. As for the Sorcerer God’s Golden Gu, strengthening one’s True Qi is indeed its greatest ability. It’s hard to say if Su Wen has developed any other methods.”
Emperor Zhou said, “Fine, no matter what, I still have to pull Su Wen closer to us. Since he was able to walk out of the mystic realm alive with the title of the First, it’s worth it for me to take a gamble. Tell me… how can I marry Wanrou to Su Wen without losing face?”
The old eunuch went silent.
Who knew?
You should think about this matter yourself!
Seeing that the old eunuch didn’t say anything, Emperor Zhou felt a little depressed.
Yan Luoying was already the official wife, so it would be embarrassing if he married his daughter over as an unofficial wife.
He really cared about his reputation. If news of this got out… that the emperor’s daughter had become someone’s concubine…!
This was somewhat inappropriate.
Just thinking about it gave Emperor Zhou a headache!
“Oh right, how long do you think it will take for this brat to settle the matter when he goes to the Li Prefecture?” Emperor Zhou thought of another problem.
The old eunuch shook his head once more. “How would I know?”
Emperor Zhou sighed and said, “Yan Luoying is also a problem! Even after Su Wen married her, they rarely get together. If that’s the case, when can they have children? We have to find a way to get them together.”
After pondering for a while, Emperor Zhou said in a deep voice, “Send a secret decree to Su Wen. Yan Luoying will be exempted from her duties as the Patrol Office Commander and will serve as the deputy commander of the Secret Shadow Guards. She’ll accompany him to Li Prefecture!”
Emperor Zhou was really worried about Su Wen’s marriage and children.
He muttered, “After the two of them have children, we’ll find one of the grandchildren from the Royal Family to accompany them to study together. In this way, it will naturally pull them closer towards the Royal Family.”
“No… I still have to think of a way to marry Wanrou to Su Wen. It’s safer to have children with royal bloodline.”
“But my face… cannot be lost. What should I do? What should I do?”
“That’s right! Have Thirteenth Uncle follow Su Wen to Li Prefecture! We have to prevent Su Wen from driving those guys into a corner and provoking a Heaven Rank expert to act! Also, we have to prevent the Taihao Palace from killing Su Wen!”
“Yes!”
The old eunuch immediately issued a decree.
However, Emperor Zhou never expected that his decree would cause a commotion in Su Wen’s residence!
Xie Yiyi said, “Why is it like this? Why can Sister Yan go with my husband? I want to go too! My husband finally came out and only stayed for a few days. I want to come along too! Moreover, my mother is still in the hands of those guys. I won’t be at ease if I don’t go!”
Cui Yumian: “Husband, are you not satisfied with my service?”
Ning Shuang: “Bring me!”
That’s right, it would be fine if everyone didn’t go, but sometimes it was like this. If one went, then everyone else would be interested.
[1] In Mahjong, ‘Peng’ is shouted out when a player wants to take the discarded card of another to form a suit of 3 similar cards.
