Chapter 84 A guy who takes advantage of a little kindness from Prince Gong…
"Let them in."
A slightly aged voice came from inside. After a short while, a white-haired eunuch with a whisk in his hand opened the door from the inside and respectfully invited the two of them in.
"Please, both of you."
Bai Yuheng and Cen Ying followed closely behind the eunuch, exchanging glances.
A rather burly, blurry figure could be vaguely seen through the layers of gauze curtains. The eunuch shouted in a shrill voice, "Why haven't you all paid your respects to the Prince yet!"
"Do not be rude."
An aged voice stopped them from bowing.
The man behind the tent said, "Are you disciples of the Heavenly Evolution Sect?"
"Exactly."
"Since you are a disciple of the Immortal Sect, there is no need to be bound by worldly formalities. Please take a seat."
He spoke slowly and deliberately, and anyone who was impatient could get sick from his rapid speech.
"Thank you, Your Highness."
The gauze curtain was lifted by the serving maid, and finally Prince Gong's true face could be seen.
The two sat close together. After the maids served the tea, they filed out, leaving only four people in the room.
She and Cen Ying, Prince Gong and that old eunuch.
"May I ask why Your Highness has summoned us here?"
Bai Yuheng looked up and stared directly at Prince Gong without any attempt to look away.
You can see that Prince Gong, who was originally tall and strong, now looks weak, with pale lips and weak breath. He is leaning against the round chair, barely moving but breathing rapidly, as if he has run many miles.
Cen Ying was also sizing him up, her heart filled with suspicion, but she didn't show it on her face. "You must not look directly at His Majesty!" The old eunuch glared with a pair of triangular, drooping eyes, his voice short and crisp. As expected of someone from the palace, he had a rather intimidating presence. Bai Yuheng and Cen Ying lowered their eyes upon hearing this.
"Hey, Fuhai is not an option."
The old eunuch named Fuhai glared at them fiercely and bowed respectfully.
"Yes, Your Majesty, I have been rude."
"Please forgive me, gentlemen. This old eunuch is used to using his power to intimidate people." Prince Gong glanced at him. "Go back and accept your punishment."
"Here you go."
Prince Gong turned to them and smiled, "I have some things to tell you."
Bai Yuheng raised an eyebrow.
"Please speak, Your Highness."
"I'm sure you've already seen it."
Prince Gong had sharp phoenix eyes that resembled Li Tiankuo's by five or six points, but he did not have Li Tiankuo's upright and awe-inspiring aura. Instead, he was cunning and shrewd, and had already scanned them over and over again while he was speaking.
"I wonder which one Your Highness is referring to?" Bai Yuheng didn't want to get involved in royal affairs, so she could only give a vague answer.
"..." Prince Gong didn't expect her to be so tactless. The words were already on the tip of her tongue, and she already knew the truth. To try to evade the issue now would be too disrespectful to his authority. The smile that was originally four or five points now only had two or three points.
"I'll be frank with you. You can't touch anything in that artificial hill. I know what you're investigating, but this is my bottom line. The person behind it will reward you for your service, and you can deal with the Nightmare Beast, but that's all."
"After noon, all the people surrounding the Yihong Courtyard will be removed."
Those eyes, which had seen too much scheming and deceit, sharply examined them.
"Is what Your Highness said true?"
Prince Gong paused for a moment, then nodded and said, "It is true. The person you are looking for is already imprisoned in jail. Just ask He Si."
Bai Yuheng nodded, readily agreeing: "Then Your Highness just needs us to keep it a secret and not go in?"
Prince Gong: "...Yes."
Bai Yuheng replied knowingly, "Alright, we agree. Does Your Highness have any further instructions? If not, we'll take our leave now."
Prince Gong: "..."
His original plan to use a combination of kindness and threats, along with some probing questions, completely stalled. He hadn't expected her to be so sensible and agree so quickly.
Prince Gong breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It's good that you can keep your promise. Otherwise, I will make sure you don't leave Jiangzhou."
"Your Highness, rest assured, we will keep our mouths shut."
Prince Gong grunted in acknowledgment, waved his hand, and the old eunuch coldly dismissed them.
After leaving the private room, the two of them both breathed a sigh of relief.
The strong medicinal smell emanating from Prince Gong was simply too overpowering!
They almost vomited inside; if they did, it would surely displease him, and they probably wouldn't be able to get out so easily.
After walking a distance, Cen Ying asked worriedly, "Did Prince Gong only seek us out to keep it a secret?"
A wave of panic washed over her; she had a feeling something wasn't going to be simple: "I'm so nervous, I have a feeling something's about to happen..."
Bai Yuheng was also unsure. Just now, he seemed to be at his limit. If the higher-ups found out about this, it would indeed be detrimental to him. She heard that he only had two children, a son and a daughter. Apart from his daughter, who stayed with him, his son was sent to the capital after he was weaned.
If a vassal king of this dynasty wanted to return to his fiefdom, he had to send his children to the capital for education. This was called education, but in reality, they were hostages. Every child born was sent there to intimidate the vassal king.
If he was worried that what was happening at the brothel would be known to those above and harm his child, that would be understandable.
Although the two comforted themselves, they still felt that something was wrong, but they couldn't quite put their finger on it. They looked at each other and decided to discuss it with Li Tiankuo. In any case, they were absolutely not allowed to interfere in anything in the mortal world except for exorcising demons and monsters. This was the rule of the sect, especially since it involved the royal family, which was a major taboo!
*
"You're all here?"
As soon as Fang returned to the Cui residence, he ran into Li Tiankuo and Cui Mingcan, who had returned together, at the main gate.
"How is it? Have they been rescued from Hualien?"
Cen Ying asked impatiently.
Li Tiankuo nodded: "Yes, she's already back at the Hua family workshop. There are some things she's still unwilling to talk about, so He Si has people keeping watch over her. As for the others, only a few were caught; some escaped."
Cen Ying sighed deeply: "He really does have three burrows!"
"And you?" Cui Mingcan asked, "What did you find in the underground palace?"
Bai Yuheng and Cen Ying exchanged glances, and the former said, "Let's talk about it when we get back."
The four of them entered the mansion together.
"Oh right, where's Uncle Pei?" Cen Ying glanced at Bai Yuheng, then looked back. "Didn't he come back with you?"
Cui Mingcan was taken aback: "I thought he was with you guys..."
Li Tiankuo subconsciously looked at Bai Yuheng, who seemed lost in thought and absent-minded.
"Perhaps something's wrong..." Li Tiankuo subtly withdrew his gaze and said calmly.
Bai Yuheng remained silent on this matter.
Inside the flower hall, the maids served them tea and then filed out.
The four of them sipped their tea, and their bodies, exhausted from a long night's work, felt a moment of relaxation.
Cui Mingcan sighed, "Sigh."
Cen Ying turned her head and smiled: "Why are you sighing?"
"Let Brother Kuo speak!" Cui Mingcan said, sounding annoyed.
All eyes turned to Li Tiankuo, who took a sip and said leisurely, "I suppose my royal uncle has already contacted you..."
Cen Ying was surprised: "He contacted you too?"
Cui Mingcan couldn't hold back any longer and blurted out, "That's right! The reason we couldn't catch those big fish is because of them! Sending troops was slow and dragging their feet, and when they got there, they made excuses and wouldn't listen to orders... They even said that even if Brother Tian is a prince, there's nothing they can do. This is Prince Gong's fiefdom, which is basically a local tyrant! He's still an elder, and we can't overstep our bounds and cause trouble here! Ugh! It's making me so angry!"
Cui Mingcan took a big gulp of tea to cool down.
He kept calling him "Brother Tian" and "Brother Kuo," constantly defending Li Tiankuo: "What do elders matter! This involves lives! You didn't see it! How many corpses were in that underground palace! How many abused people!"
Li Tiankuo poured him a cup of tea and accepted his resentment with equanimity: "Although I didn't see how many civilians were killed, I have a good idea of the number. But my royal uncle is no ordinary person. You'd better not get involved. I'll talk to my father when I return to the palace..."
Li Tiankuo paused, recalling the day he went to see his uncle, and those words he had spoken. His eyelashes trembled slightly, and he was not as composed as he appeared: "We still don't know for whom that underground palace was built..."
Before he could finish speaking, Cui Mingcan exclaimed excitedly, "Who else could it be but him?! Are you overstepping your bounds?"
"Cough! Cough!"
That's a very sensitive statement. Whose authority are we overstepping? Whose role are we taking over? Bai Yuheng coughed twice and changed the subject, saying, "If you don't want to participate, you don't have to. He came to us to talk about this, so you should know what's going on."
Bai Yuheng wanted to say something more, but since it seemed strange no matter what she said, she could only say, "The Tianyan Sect's rules state that we are not allowed to get involved in worldly affairs, especially royal matters. Since the person behind the scenes has been caught, let the government handle it."
Cui Mingcan and Cen Ying were indignant, but there was nothing they could do. Since even a member of the royal family like Li Tiankuo hadn't said anything, they naturally had no say.
But the horrific images of those people, their eyes wide open in death and their flesh mangled beyond recognition, remained vivid in their minds and hearts, refusing to fade away, like a heavy mountain pressing down on them, making it hard to breathe.
The four of them drank most of the pot of tea with mixed feelings.
"By the way, Xiaoying and Xiaocan, do you have any information about the Four Directions Mirror?" I've been busy all night and completely forgot about that.
"Yes, we have a clue. There's some unusual activity on Qingyun Mountain, hundreds of miles outside Jiangzhou City."
"Qingyun Mountain?"
Cui Mingcan nodded: "But that's the deployment area of the Jiangzhou military camp; ordinary people aren't allowed to approach. We haven't gone to investigate yet."
After saying that, the three of them turned their attention to Li Tiankuo.
the latter:"……"
After a moment of silence, Li Tiankuo's lips moved, and he sighed deeply: "Although I am a prince, I cannot enter the military camp without orders."
There's really no other way.
Cui Mingcan and Cen Ying sighed, saying with concern, "What are we going to do?"
Bai Yuheng took two sips of tea, raised her eyebrows slightly, and said slowly, "Then let's not go in openly."
"?"
"What's the meaning?"
Cen Ying understood immediately, chuckled, and scolded him for being a pig-brain: "Oh! Of course it's nighttime raiding!"
Bai Yuheng laughed and said, "Since we can't get in through normal channels, we might as well sneak in. We're not stealing military secrets, we're just taking something and leaving without leaving our names. It's nothing serious."
Li Tiankuo: "..."
Bai Yuheng turned to look at Li Tiankuo and said with a smile, "So, what do you think of this idea, Xiao Kuo?"
Li Tiankuo paused for a moment: "...Well, it would be good if there was a way to get in and out without anyone noticing..."
Cui Mingcan was filled with anxiety: "How...how do I sneak in?"
Bai Yuheng winked at him: "I heard you've mastered a Heart Sutra technique, so your cultivation must have improved considerably..."
Cui Mingcan felt a chill run down his spine, and his eyelids twitched: "Who, who told you that!?"
Cui Mingcan glared fiercely at Cen Ying, who was looking around and pretending to be lost in thought, and suddenly felt short of breath.
"Who cares who told me? Are you even qualified?"
How could a man not be able to do it!
Cui Mingcan exclaimed excitedly, "Sure! How could it not be possible!"
Bai Yuheng clapped her hands in admiration: "I knew you'd have a way! I heard you used the Golden Cicada Shedding Its Shell technique when you escaped from the City of Bones! Master Cui! We all have to rely on you this time!"
Choi Myung-chan, who was inexplicably flattered: "..."
"Alright! I'll use the formation I just learned to help you out!"
"Master Cui! You truly live up to your reputation!"
"I knew you'd have a way!"
Cen Ying and Bai Yuheng exchanged a smile, their palms clapping red, and quickly poured him tea and massaged his shoulders, flattering him.
Cui Mingcan was quite pleased and hummed contentedly, "Of course! Don't you know who I am? The closed-door disciple of the sect leader of the Tianyan Sect! If I can't do it, who can!"
He spoke with such cadence and passion that his fox tail was practically wagging in the air.
Bai Yuheng and Cen Ying: "..."
What a guy who'll take advantage of any opportunity to do something drastic!
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