Chapter 54

Wen Yao acted so quickly, without even blinking, he raised his hand and slashed with the knife without hesitation.

The man opposite him naturally didn't expect Wen Yao to act so decisively. He watched Song Mingde fall down with a muffled groan, then froze in his place.

"Okay, he's fainted." Wen Yao held up Song Mingde, looked at the man opposite, and said, "Let's take him in with us?"

The man looked at Wen Yao, hesitated for a moment, took out a bottle of medicine from his arms and threw it towards him.

Wen Yao caught it and raised an eyebrow: "What?"

"Drugs." The man said concisely: "Song Mingde doesn't need drugs. He will wake up soon."

Wen Yao shook the medicine bottle and looked up at the man.

The man said calmly, "It is indeed a drug, but it won't harm your body."

Wen Yao opened the medicine bottle, opened it, and gently shook it under Song Mingde's nose. Light powder drifted over Song Mingde's nose, and his eyes, which had been struggling and trembling, suddenly calmed down and fell into a deep sleep. The weight on Wen Yao suddenly sank.

Hongge’s stronghold in Bianliang City was indeed in Tangshan, but it was not a villa in the mountains.

Wen Yao carried Song Mingde and followed the man in front and the black-clad assassin who was almost killed earlier. The four of them came to a steep stone wall.

The rough and uneven rock surface is steep, with long weeds hanging down, looking no different from an ordinary cliff.

The man stepped forward and pressed something. A door, about the height of a man, opened from the crack in the previously intact stone wall. Inside was a strange and dark place, with a pale blue light flickering.

The Hongge old nest is actually in the mountains of Tangshan.

Wen Yao, a little amazed, followed the two inside. The further in, the larger the space became. The original passageway gave way to numerous winding tunnels on either side. There was a sound of metal rubbing overhead, and Wen Yao paused and looked up. He saw that the mountaintop had been hollowed out, with countless iron chains hanging in all directions. Figures walked lightly across them, as if they were walking on flat ground.

Hollowing out a mountaintop, such a massive undertaking went unnoticed. The structures within the mountain are so ingenious it's no exaggeration to say they're breathtaking. The Red Pavilion's profound heritage is well-deserved.

They met more and more people along the way, all wearing black scarves. They ignored Wen Yao and Song Mingde who were following the man, and passed by the four of them like ghosts. When they reached a fork in the road, three people in front of them stopped in front of Wen Yao.

The man turned to look at Wen Yao and said, "Leave Song Mingde to them. Miss Wen, please follow me."

Wen Yao handed Song Mingde to one of them, leaned over and gently fastened the golden knife at his waist, and said, "You'd better leave someone to watch him. When he wakes up, give him some drugs. But he can't die."

She looked up at the man. "I told you, you know that, huh?"

The man was surprised by Wen Yao's regard for Song Mingde. Like everyone else, he assumed Wen Yao was a member of the Prince of Yan's faction. With the Prince of Yan and Song Mingde locked in a fierce rivalry, and the Three Departments and the Factory Supervisor vying for power, it was only natural that Wen Yao and Song Mingde should be on opposite sides.

At this time, one of the three people who had just come over said, "Don't worry, Miss Wen, Governor Song will be fine. I'll be waiting on the side."

"He has a bad temper." Wen Yao straightened up and looked at Song Mingde, whose eyes were tightly closed. His gaze could not help but fall on the back of his neck. He touched his nose and said, "I was a little harsh before. If you have any medicine, rub it on his neck and put it on your Pavilion Master's account."

When Song Mingde woke up, she saw a bruise on the back of her neck. She didn't dare to imagine what Governor Song's expression would be.

The man nodded and carried Song Mingde away. The man led Wen Yao through many twists and turns, crossing many stairs. The mountain below them became steeper, and each step was almost straight.

Wen Yao realized that the man was leading her all the way up.

After passing through a narrow gate, the white light suddenly spread out. Wen Yao saw a valley with dark green mountains, mixed grass and trees, and the air was filled with the smell of fireworks.

A gray, half-man-high earthen kiln stands in the center of this elegant scenery, which is extremely unsightly.

A pile of bricks and stones covered the earthen kiln in a mess, and a raging fire raged beneath. Jiang Qiaosheng, wearing a blue shirt, his hair tied back and his sleeves tied with strips of cloth, squatted on the ground, stuffing dry firewood into the firebox in an ungainly manner.

...No wonder there is a smell of smoke amidst the fragrance of grass and trees, and the trees next to it are also bare.

"You're here. Have you eaten yet?" Jiang Qiaosheng didn't look up. His hands moved quickly, and his mumbling voice reached Wen Yao's ears: "It's faster than I thought. The kiln chicken is not cooked yet. There are cakes on the table. Go eat first."

Wen Yao stood still, and two seconds later he took a big step forward and picked up Jiang Qiaosheng, who was holding the fire tongs, from in front of the earthen kiln.

Jiang Qiaosheng thought to herself that this was not good. She was too familiar with this series of movements, and subconsciously closed her eyes and retracted her neck.

Wen Yao raised his hand and slapped her hard on the back of the head.

The slap was very heavy. Jiang Qiaosheng groaned, bared his teeth, and stared at Wen Yao with his cat-like eyes wide open: "You, you..."

Wen Yao said coldly: "How am I?"

Jiang Qiaosheng suddenly lost his temper and felt guilty: "Hey, please don't be angry."

She was shorter than Wen Yao, with a clear, sweet voice, a delicate, coquettish air, and a naive, innocent air. Anyone who saw such a girl would never have guessed she was the legendary leader of the Red Pavilion, the ruthless killer who had twice assassinated the emperor.

"What do you think? He assassinated the emperor, didn't tell me why, and even helped Lou Chengyi. Oh, you two are on good terms now, teaming up to fool me?" Wen Yao sneered and said sarcastically, "Yes, he's not Lou Chengyi, he's Yelu Duhan. And you, aren't you also called Jiang Qiaosheng? What's your name?"

"Don't worry, who's as bad as that mad dog! I, Jiang Qiaosheng, will never change my name or surname." Jiang Qiaosheng took Wen Yao's hand, and slung his whole body over her shoulder, resting his chin on her shoulder and said coquettishly: "I miss you so much, I have always missed you. If you didn't come to see me, I would be afraid of causing trouble for you, and I didn't dare to go to Liuye City to look for you. You came to Bianliang to be with Prince Yan, so I couldn't see you... But when I killed the emperor, you were by his side."

Wen Yao closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then, with Jiang Qiaosheng dangling from his shoulder, he walked slowly toward the octagonal pavilion. The pavilion was filled with pastries, not typical of Bianliang City, but more reminiscent of northern styles. Wen Yao glanced around briefly, stopping on a plate of golden fried dough balls.

This was a snack unique to the town where she and Jiang Qiaosheng lived in Lou Chengyi. It was a fried fish ball covered in flour.

"I made all of this." Jiang Qiaosheng helped Wen Yao sit down, and then he sat next to Wen Yao, propping up his chin with his brows curved, and said with a smile: "Hurry up and eat."

The man on the side retreated silently. Only Wen Yao and Jiang Qiaosheng were left in the valley that looked like a fairyland.

Wen Yao picked up the chopsticks on the side and pierced through a fried fish ball quickly and accurately, which made Jiang Qiaosheng feel creepy again.

"Tell me." Wen Yao said in a cold tone, glancing at Jiang Qiaosheng, "What's going on?"

"Lou Chengyi paid me a large sum of money to kill Yelu Huishi for him. He promised me a large reward when he returned to Northern Liao and became emperor. I thought about it and decided that I would be going into the palace to kill someone anyway, so killing one more person would earn me more money and wouldn't be a big hassle, so I agreed."

The topic suddenly reached a critical point.

"Why did Hongge want to kill the emperor?" Wen Yao asked directly.

In the past, the Red Pavilion had nothing to do with the imperial court, but now it is doing something big and assassinating the head of the feudal imperial power, right?

"How could the Red Pavilion not be involved in court affairs, Yaoyao? The Red Pavilion simply didn't want to attract attention and alert the enemy." Jiang Qiaosheng smiled lightly and said, "From the very beginning, the Red Pavilion's goal was to kill the Emperor of Tianshui."

Wen Yao frowned and said, "What do you mean?"

Jiang Qiaosheng looked at her: "Yaoyao, you really don't care about these things at all... Jiang is the surname of the previous dynasty."

These words were like a bolt of thunder in broad daylight.

Wen Yao realized the meaning of these words and suddenly increased the strength in her hands. The tender fish meat ball broke into two pieces between her chopsticks and fell onto the table.

She was stunned for a rare moment, looking at Jiang Qiaosheng with suspicion, and asked again: "What?"

Jiang Qiaosheng laughed and pointed at himself: "According to what is said in the Red Pavilion, I am the princess of a fallen country. You can't tell!"

"Wait a moment." Wen Yao calmed down and quickly sorted out his thoughts from the news: "The previous dynasty, the previous dynasty has been gone for almost two hundred years, you——"

Jiang Qiaosheng rested his chin on his hand, his lips slightly curved. "Yeah, I think that's ridiculous too. It's been almost two hundred years since our ancestors' death, so why are there still people who are still obsessed with restoring their country?"

Unfortunately, the Red Pavilion is controlled by a group of lunatics who indulge in wishful thinking and force others to play along.

Jiang Qiaosheng was extremely annoyed.

"Hurry up and eat." She smiled again, not knowing what she was thinking about. "Since I brought you in, you'll be able to see those people soon."

She rested her hands on the stone bench, her knees straightened forward, her boots dangling against Wen Yao's calves. Her appearance and demeanor were exactly the same as those of the girl who had surrounded Wen Yao many years ago.

Wen Yao found Jiang Qiaosheng shortly after he found Lou Chengyi.

In the small town of Bianbei, there were no canals in front of the houses, so people went to the river to wash clothes and vegetables. That day, Wen Yao was carrying clothes to the riverside bridge and unexpectedly found a person lying on his back in the muddy shallows in front of his feet.

Lying in the mud, his face, ears, and body were covered in blood and scratches. The blood was lingering in the water, staining the shallows red. Wen Yao was not sure if this person was dead or alive until he got closer.

Wen Yao stood by the river for a while, hesitated briefly, put down the wooden barrel, walked forward, and turned the man over.

It turned out to be a little girl with pale lips and a young face. Although her pulse was weak, she was indeed breathing.

She was in a dilemma and squatted on the ground, wondering whether to take the little girl back.

The Jianghu is a dangerous place, not only for the pleasure of revenge, but also for vendettas and bloodshed. Looking at the wounds on the little girl's body, it is clear that she is definitely not an ordinary person. Who knows, she might pick up the person and her enemies will catch up with her.

It would be fine if Wen Yao was the only one there, but there is a child at home now.

Wen Yao finally took Jiang Qiaosheng back.

Wen Yao was still young at the time, so she casually wrapped Jiang Qiaosheng in her clothes and carried her on her back back to the house where they lived at the time.

Lou Chengyi finished work and was sitting in the yard killing fish. When he saw Wen Yao carrying a bloody man in, he immediately slammed his kitchen knife.

"What are you doing?" The green-eyed child's face was gloomy, and his aura was mature like an adult. He looked at the person lying on Wen Yao, his face full of hostility: "Don't just pick up things and bring them back."

He spoke Tianshui dialect incoherently, with a strange tone that made it difficult to understand.

Wen Yao ignored him and his opposition was directly suppressed by Wen Yao.

"I picked you up too." Wen Yao put Jiang Qiaosheng on the bed and turned on the hot water to stir the towel inside. "Besides, you have a salary now. If you don't want to stay with me, you can rent a place next door. I won't cause any trouble for you."

Lou Chengyi gritted his teeth, turned around and ran out angrily, slamming the door shut with a loud noise.

Rebellious little kid.

Wen Yao ignored him, lowered his head, and met a pair of black eyes.

Jiang Qiaosheng actually woke up.

Wen Yao was particularly surprised.

She had treated Jiang Qiaosheng's wounds, and no one knew better than she how badly they were hurt. An arm was nearly broken, and all the wounds on her body were fatal. It was hard to imagine who would do such a cruel thing to such a young girl. She was surprised that Jiang Qiaosheng regained consciousness so quickly.

Unlike the cold and stubborn Lou Chengyi, Jiang Qiaosheng smiled sweetly upon seeing Wen Yao and whispered, "Sister, did you save me?"

Wen Yao ripped open her clothes, flicked his wrist, and poured a large amount of medicine on her wound. The sharp pain suddenly made the child's fake sweet smile disappear, and it became a little distorted with pain.

This is much more realistic.

"Don't talk." Wen Yao said softly, "Turn over, you still have injuries on your back."

From then on, Jiang Qiaosheng naturally stayed at Wen Yao's house. Fortunately, no enemies came after him.

Jiang Qiaosheng is a sweet talker who hangs around Wen Yao every day, calling her "Sister Yaoyao". To Wen Yao's surprise, Jiang Qiaosheng is a talented cook, and his dishes are full of color, fragrance and flavor.

Wen Yao’s cooking skills are not very good, she can only make some stir-fried dishes, and the taste is not very good.

Once, Wen Yao took Jiang Qiaosheng and Lou Chengyi to the market in town and bought a dish of oven-baked chicken from a restaurant at the town entrance. Jiang Qiaosheng couldn't forget the taste, so he went home and built a clay oven, cooking incredibly delicious oven-baked chicken the first time. He even earned some extra income from this skill. If he hadn't returned to Bianliang, perhaps a well-known oven-baked chicken restaurant would have risen in Tianshui.

Shortly after Lou Chengyi left, Jiang Qiaosheng also told Wen Yao that she had family matters and had to rush back to Bianliang. Wen Yao didn't ask any questions, but gave Jiang Qiaosheng enough money to board the ship. After the two children left, Wen Yao soon joined the caravan and headed to Mobei.

A few years later, Jiang Qiaosheng wrote a letter to Wen Yao and confessed his identity to her.

Jiang Qiaosheng's letter was filled with joy: "Yaoyao, I just killed my brother, and now I am the leader of the Red Pavilion."

The ferocious, multi-armed leader of the Red Pavilion, as rumored in the martial arts world, hardly reconciled with the girl in the pink dress and sweet smile in Wen Yao's memory. After her surprise, she hadn't felt anything real. Until this time, when she came to Bianliang and saw Jiang Qiaosheng boldly go and assassinate the emperor.

Wen Yao began to eat in silence, quickly devouring the cakes and fish balls on the table. The man who had just left the valley reappeared, bowed to Jiang Qiaosheng, and said, "Pavilion Master, the old Pavilion Master is here."

Old Pavilion Master?

When Wen Yao heard these three words, he spat out the chicken bone in his mouth: "Who?"

"My dad." Jiang Qiaosheng made all the dishes on the table himself, and he had been busy since morning. Seeing Wen Yao finish eating, Jiang Qiaosheng was extremely satisfied, and he held his chin and looked at Wen Yao intently.

Hearing this, she curled her lips and said, "An old madman who dreams every day. He has sired 30 or 40 children with 30 or 40 women, and he still forces us to call him father."

Wen Yao looked up and saw a group of people appearing at the gap in the valley. Her expression suddenly became very strange, because the first thing that appeared was a sedan chair.

Wen Yaoke had just come up from that direction and knew how steep the ramp was. This sedan chair had been forcibly carried up there, and the person sitting inside must have been sitting crookedly.

The most important thing is that Wen Yao felt that this sedan chair looked very familiar.

She had been to the palace three times and had seen the emperor's sedan chair. The sedan chair before her looked very similar to the emperor's dragon sedan chair, but it was a little smaller.

The sedan chair came out of the stone gate tremblingly, followed by twelve people in total, one in front and one behind, and several women were holding ceremonial objects and incense burners in their hands.

...dipping.

Jiang Qiaosheng grabbed the chopsticks on the table and threw them forward. His movements were light, but the chopsticks flew through the air like sharp arrows, piercing through those people and nailing into the sedan chair.

"Get out." Jiang Qiaosheng still had a smile on his face. "If you dare to step on this place, I will chop it off."

After a moment of silence, the sedan chair did not land.

Two beautifully dressed women beside the sedan chair lowered their heads and stepped forward to lift the curtains hanging from the sedan chair. Inside the sedan sat a tall man dressed in bright yellow. He looked young, with black hair and an equally dark complexion.

As expected, he didn't come down. He looked at Wen Yao with sharp eyes: "What's going on? Who allowed you to bring outsiders in?"

"Shut up." Jiang Qiaosheng picked up another pair of chopsticks and gently tapped the man, his lips curled up: "If you keep arguing, I'll kill you."