Chapter 49, Forty-Nine Sides of Stance

As the weather turned crisp, the crimson flowers were all budding, and standing on the cliff, one could see the green earth dotted with deep red. When the wind blew, the flowers swayed like falling petals on green water, creating a gentle, flowing effect.

What a vibrant scene! But these flowers symbolize human ambition and the taking of lives.

The scenery suddenly became eerie. Zuo Qinghou glanced at this year's flowers and said to Cui Jiu, "Wheat should be planted here in the future. When the wind blows, the wheat waves will be beautiful."

Seeing that Cui Jiu's expression was normal, Zuo Qinghou patted him on the shoulder and continued, "You're too young to have seen this before. Next time you see it, remember to eat an extra bowl of wheat rice for me. Our grain is much tastier than the rice that Wu Kingdom produces three seasons a year."

It sounded like he was making his final arrangements. Cui Jiu frowned and said, "Eat it yourself."

Zuo Qinghou sneered, punched Cui Jiu hard, and laughed and scolded, "You little ingrate, if I really eat as much as I want, you won't get a single grain of wheat."

Today, Zuo Qinghou has been summoned to the palace. There is no time to delay. We must quickly explain everything that happened after the war to the emperor.

The emperor had already made arrangements for the personnel, but then suddenly remembered something and said, "A few days ago, a riot broke out in a city in Shu. The official stationed in the city was beaten to death by a mob. Fortunately, the neighboring city provided timely assistance, and all the rioting refugees have been executed. I haven't made any arrangements for the officials here. Does the general have any other plans?"

"Was it Zhang Wanchun who died? Was it Yan Ran who was rescued?" Zuo Qinghou asked.

Seeing that she could pronounce the name correctly every time, the emperor's suspicions were confirmed, and he said, "Since it was arranged by the general, I am at ease."

"Faced with a pack of wolves and tigers, he insisted on chanting sutras and reciting Buddhist scriptures for them, resulting in the deaths of many of my men. This time, I didn't give it to anyone else; let him kill whoever he wants." Zuo Qinghou rolled his eyes.

"The general is still straightforward and always seeks revenge," the emperor chuckled. "Since this Yanran has some ability, let him be the county magistrate."

"His Majesty is a wise ruler," Zuo Qinghou suddenly said.

"I hope so," the emperor said, lowering his head to conceal the emotions in his eyes, "it is because the general taught him well."

Unexpectedly, just after leaving the imperial study, she went to check out the secret passage and heard a loud crash. The heavy door of the secret room collapsed, and flying stones and dust rushed towards her.

A person slowly emerged from the smoke and dust; who else could it be but Zhu Huantang?

This was the first time he had stepped out of the secret chamber in over a year. He had no mood to admire the moon or flowers, and he was not surprised to run into Zuo Qinghou as soon as he came out. He patted the dust off the water and snorted coldly, "Long time no see."

Zuo Qinghou released his seal from a distance, threw his sword to him, and said, "Yes, it's been too long. I left your master and so many martial arts manuals there, and it took more than a year for them to leave this door. Alright, enough nonsense. Let me see if you're qualified now. I have a drinking appointment with someone later."

Without wasting words, Zhu Huantang drew his sword, pointing the tip at Jiang Jinyi opposite him. Despite having only one sword, he nimbly maneuvered and weaved the sword light into a net, launching an impenetrable attack.

Jiang Jinyi was not at a disadvantage either. His twin swords were still at their peak, each sword infused with rich internal energy, making them sharp enough to rival any famous sword.

The moment the three swords clashed, both sides knew it was going to be a fierce battle. Zhu Huantang had been imprisoned for too long, and the anger he was holding in was too great. His attacks were fast and ruthless, showing no mercy from the start, each move aimed to kill, as if he had made a desperate gamble to finish the battle quickly and escape with the head.

Zhu Huantang's martial arts skills are now on par with Jiang Jinyi's. After exchanging 120 moves, both of them felt their internal energy surging.

Zuo Qinghou watched with amusement. If her meridians hadn't been severed, she would have wanted to step forward and spar with him. She couldn't help but ask, "Zhu Huantang, he's your master's only son. Are you willing to let him go?"

Zhu Huantang could see no emotion in Jiang Jinyi's eyes. He said coldly, "I am still one of his father's only two disciples. Would he be willing to give me up?"

In the brief pause in conversation, Zhu Huantang inadvertently revealed a weakness on his left side.

Jiang Jinyi thrust his sword forward, but unexpectedly, Zhu Huantang abandoned his left-side defense and launched his flying sword straight at Zuo Qinghou. That nameless sword, like a wisp of dark blue wind, cleaved through Zuo Qinghou's aura and penetrated her from behind!

I won!

Sure enough, Jiang Jinyi, who was chasing behind, collapsed to the ground in that instant, turning into a paper puppet.

Zhu Huantang sneered and turned the sword hilt, wanting to grind Zuo Qinghou's internal organs to pieces. "Your puppet is not bad."

Zuo Qinghou's voice came from behind him, "Your observation skills are lacking."

Zuo Qinghou, standing before him, fell like snowflakes and vanished instantly. He too was a puppet!

Zhu Huantang abruptly drew his sword, turned around, and thrust it towards the source of the sound.

The real Zuo Qinghou simply raised his hand and easily caught the sword that was powerful enough to split mountains and shatter rocks with two fingers.

Zuo Qinghou, with his sword tucked under his arm, approached step by step. "How could you tell he was a puppet?"

"I'll tell you when you're dead." Zhu Huantang gritted his teeth, drew his sword, and kicked out, taking advantage of Zuo Qinghou's dodge to retreat.

Zuo Qinghou spun around once and landed as lightly as a snowflake, laughing, "I was going easy on you, and you weren't happy about it. Now, killing me is harder than killing twenty Jiang Jinyis."

Zhu Huantang has been learning top-tier martial arts manuals in the dungeon for the past few months, and his skills have improved by leaps and bounds. He can now defeat not only Jiang Jinyi, but also Fan Qi. Sooner or later, he will make Zuo Qinghou regret her arrogance.

Zhu Huantang closed his eyes and chanted an incantation, and his body was surrounded by a light like fireflies.

Zuo Qinghou raised an eyebrow, saying with interest, "The Breaking Army Formation, that's interesting."

The firefly-like light disappeared instantly upon disappearing into the ground. Suddenly, the bluestone slab beneath Zuo Qinghou's feet was shaken open, splitting in two out of thin air. Zuo Qinghou dodged backward, and the bluestone slab on the ground seemed to have eyes, also shattering in mid-air, with fragments flying towards Zuo Qinghou like sharp arrows.

Zuo Qinghou used her magic to dodge quickly, and just as she was about to regain her footing, Zhu Huantang's sword cleaved a bluestone slab in the blink of an eye, and then pierced through the gap, aiming straight for her throat.

"Rip—" Zuo Qinghou's sleeve was cut.

Zuo Qinghou flipped over and raised his leg, aiming straight for Zhu Huantang's waist and abdomen.

Zhu Huantang hurriedly sheathed his sword to defend himself, but the force of the kick was so great that it sent him crashing into the coiled dragon pillar in the center of the open space, causing a massive crack to pierce the pillar. Zuo Qinghou's leg twisted in a strange position, then miraculously grew back to its original shape with a "crackling" sound, completely intact.

Seeing that Zhu Huantang was indeed skilled, Zuo Qinghou abandoned her usual joking and casual manner and walked over slowly with the aura of a king. She said, "You remind me of Chen Yusheng, or you might be more familiar with another name—T-Chen. I also taught him martial arts bit by bit like this, but he was just as focused as you and didn't listen to me, so he had to die."

Chen was her personal bodyguard, saving her life countless times, yet she was so heartless.

Zhu Huantang coughed up blood; two of his ribs were broken. He had to finish off Zuo Qinghou before the ribs pierced his internal organs. He coldly asked, "Are there any people around you that you don't scheme against?"

Zuo Qinghou shook his head matter-of-factly, “I was born to be schemed against and used by others, so why can’t I scheme against and use them? Their scheming is called strategic planning, but my scheming is called malicious? It’s totally worth it to protect the State of Sui with a few lives!”

Suddenly, the bluestone slabs beside Zuo Qinghou shattered into dust, turning into quicksand-like ground that dragged her down into the ground.

Zuo Qinghou slammed his palm to the ground and leaped to block Zhu Huantang's attack. The swords clashed in the air, sparking countless sparks.

Zuo Qinghou moved extremely fast, and with the added blessing of witchcraft, he had already scratched Zhu Huantang's limbs.

This strike made Zhu Huantang realize the gap between himself and Zuo Qinghou. Jiang Linzhi's strength was terrifying. He absolutely could not attack head-on; he had to outsmart him.

He quickly threw out a palm strike, using the force of his palm strike against Zuo Qinghou to retreat to the side of the stone pillar.

With a gentle flick of her finger, Zuo Qinghou restored the broken bluestone slab to its original state. She said, "The Regent is also one of my men. Whether you are his spy or a spy for Wu, we have been playing along with you from beginning to end. Fighting against the Regent is one of my moves. Only by causing chaos in Sui will Wu be foolish enough to send troops when most of its grain reserves have been converted into gold."

No wonder the Regent is so unpredictable. He thought it was just that he was moody, but it turns out he's a terrible actor.

The ground suddenly turned into waves, so soft that it made it hard to stand. Zuo Qinghou, however, walked as if on flat ground. As she walked towards Zhu Huantang, she continued, "Nan Jinping was also sent by me, but I accidentally let slip that I was going to Yiran Inn to look for people. That silly girl came running over there to try and take her away from me. Luckily, she ran into you. Without that token, I estimate I would have had to wait another three or four years."

Zuo Qinghou suddenly appeared beside Zhu Huantang and whispered in his ear, "I was the one who leaked the information about Fu Qianji. Otherwise, why would she have come to save you so conveniently? I must say, although you don't treat people sincerely, many people treat you sincerely. I'm really envious."

Being so close, Zhu Huantang saw the smugness, playfulness, and sense of entitlement in Zuo Qinghou's eyes.

Anger and shame overwhelmed Zhu Huantang. In her eyes, he was just as worthless and laughable as these spies! His emotions, his life, were also something dispensable!

Enraged, Zhu Huantang couldn't recall any moves or strategies. All he wanted to ask her was that since everyone had different stances and political views from her, they deserved to be toyed with and mocked by her.

Her position does not represent the position of others.

Her thoughts were not those of others.

There's nothing wrong with this thing, so why should she be the one to judge it?

Zhu Huantang raised his elbow and struck, exchanging twenty or thirty blows with her in close combat, until Zuo Qinghou finally kicked him, pinning his head against a stone pillar.

Blood flowed down the dragon scale relief. Zhu Huantang felt like his skull was about to shatter, but he fearlessly squeezed out two words, "Serves you right!"

"No one treats you sincerely, and that's your own fault."

"To manipulate people... and control them... only shows how skilled you are."

But Zhu Huantang never felt that he had lost.

He learned so much, from money to soldiers, and even obtained Zhu Yan's secret. As long as he gets out of here alive, he will one day make his ideas supersede Zuo Qinghou's, so that even if she doesn't admit it, she won't be able to refute it.