After the others left, Jing Zhe went over and closed the door.
Wang Yingqiu murmured from behind, "Of the five powerful ministers in the court today, four have already invited you. If others knew, they would be incredibly envious of you!"
Jing Zhe chuckled: "I've really offended Grand Tutor Bai, otherwise he probably would have sent someone too, haha..."
"broken!"
"My soup!"
Wang Yingqiu suddenly shouted and ran to the kitchen.
"..."
A short while later, on the second floor.
"So tender!"
"So soft!"
"Those legs are so white!"
"Wow, as expected of the owner, there's so much water in this chicken soup!"
"..."
As Jing Zhe sipped the tender chicken soup that Wang Yingqiu had personally prepared, he frequently offered heartfelt praise.
Wang Yingqiu rolled her eyes at him. "Can't you be serious? How come even drinking soup can't shut you up?"
"Hehe, it's so delicious!"
After watching Jing Zhe finish his drink, Wang Yingqiu got up to clear the dishes and then sat on his lap to listen to him recount what had happened that day.
Hearing about the thrilling parts, I couldn't help but feel worried for Jing Zhe. After learning that Jing Zhe had blown up Qi Gulong, I was even more astonished.
"I've also heard of Qi Gulong. It seems that he has a very bad reputation among the four major sects. Tongtianque even threatened that if he dares to step into Jinxi, they will not let him live past dawn."
He glanced at Jing Zhe as he spoke, "I bet nobody would have guessed that you would blow him up."
At the same time, still somewhat shaken, he said, "Don't take such risks in the future. What would we do if something really happened to you?"
At this moment, Wang Yingqiu no longer possessed the demeanor of the outer disciple of Wuxian Pavilion and the head of Wuxian Garden; she was undoubtedly a timid woman.
Jing Zhe nodded with a smile, then said with a hint of anger, "What's going on with Yu Haixing? You have to explain this to me properly, or I won't stand for it!"
Wang Yingqiu chuckled, lightly touched the tip of his nose, and then began to tell her story.
Yu Haixing was the nephew of Yu Sheng, the Duke of Huguo. His father was Yu Li, the governor of Ruzhou, and Wuxian Pavilion happened to be located in Ruzhou.
In fact, major sects not only recruit disciples with exceptional talent, but also recruit people with illustrious backgrounds as their outer disciples. After all, even the orthodox sects need to make a living, and it's good to have someone powerful to rely on.
As the governor of Ruzhou, Yu Li held absolute power in Ruzhou. His son, Yu Haixing, was neither good at literature nor martial arts, so he hit it off with Wuxian Pavilion and became its outer disciple.
Jing Zhe nodded in agreement. No wonder he was such a weakling.
When Wang Yingqiu first entered Wuxian Pavilion, she was too old, so she was made an outer disciple. However, she was very intelligent and made rapid progress. Just when it seemed that she was about to be promoted to the inner sect, Yu Haixing entered the pavilion.
Yu Haixing pursued Wang Yingqiu relentlessly from the moment he saw her. However, because his father was the governor of Ruzhou and Wang Yingqiu's master was not the head of the pavilion, he couldn't afford to offend her. Fortunately, Wuxian Garden was opening soon, and after consulting with Wang Yingqiu herself, he allowed her to come here.
Later, Yu Haixing would often use the pretext of visiting Duke Yu to continue harassing her in Jingzhou. Fortunately, he didn't stay long, and Wang Yingqiu had already gotten used to it.
"That bastard deserves to be taught a lesson!"
Jing Zhe spat, then chuckled, "It seems I owe it all to him, otherwise I probably would never have seen the owner of the garden in my entire life!"
After listening, Wang Yingqiu and Jing Zhe exchanged a glance and smiled knowingly.
"Then, what is the reason for this trip to Jinxi?"
"In fact, the four major sects hold a martial arts competition every year. Although it is called a competition, it is actually to explore each other's strengths and weaknesses. Not only the four major sects, but also all the smaller sects with slightly stronger strength will participate, and the imperial court will also send people to participate."
"This is clearly a private gathering of various sects, so why did the imperial court send people there?"
Jing Zhe asked curiously.
"Among all the countries, Anguo has the most and strongest sects. However, the sects have rules that prohibit them from interfering in the affairs of the court, and the court has no right to interfere with the sects. In fact, court officials are not allowed to enter the major sects. Even if Anguo is attacked and destroyed by other countries, the sects will not take action."
After a pause, Wang Yingqiu continued, "However, His Majesty Emperor An has his eye on the strength of the sects and has repeatedly tried to make them submit to the court. After all, with the help of many experts in the sects, they can be as strong as a thousand troops."
"Court officials cannot enter the sects, cannot meet the sect leaders, and have no one to talk to. When there is a martial arts competition, the sect leaders will be present. Therefore, the court will send officials to the scene every time, firstly to maintain order, and secondly to make private contact with the sect leaders."
Upon hearing this, Jing Zhe said thoughtfully, "Just now, Chief Secretary Yang said that the Duke of Wei went to Jinxi. Could it be because of this?"
"Yes."
Wang Yingqiu nodded. "In the previous martial arts tournaments, Emperor An sent civil officials to contact the major sects, but the results were not good. Some sects couldn't even get into their camps. This year, he probably wants to switch to the Duke of Wei, a military general, to see how it goes."
Hearing this, Jing Zhe felt a pang of pity for Emperor An.
As an emperor, he faced a powerful court where ministers held considerable authority, each forming their own factions and harboring different intentions; he dared not offend any of them.
The various non-governmental organizations and sects ignored him, so he had to send people to keep in touch, but with little success.
There's probably no other emperor who has reached this level.
Fortunately, no one rebelled, otherwise, given his weakness, he would probably have become the ruler of a fallen kingdom.
Why not help him out of respect for him being Su Mochen's father?
Jing Zhe thought to himself.
At the same time, she asked curiously, "Since the sect wants to recruit disciples from outside the sect and rely on local officials for support, why can't they be found when the imperial court seeks them out? Aren't they afraid that these officials won't help them?"
Wang Yingqiu shook her head: "Finding local officials is not a core matter. It is usually handled by the person in charge of the sect. The sect leader will not get involved. The sect can tolerate the court not helping them. They can just go to another country. Other countries will definitely be vying for them. But the court cannot bear such consequences, which is why this situation has arisen."
Jing Zhe then began to understand something.
"By the way, you've been at Wuxian Garden for so many years, and you're an outer disciple, so why would we let you go to the martial arts tournament?"
Wang Yingqiu shook her head. "I'm puzzled too. I haven't participated since I came to Jingzhou. The letter that Yu Haixing brought was indeed written by my master. I think something must have happened, or perhaps it was ordered by the Pavilion Master himself."
"So, does that mean we absolutely have to go?"
Wang Yingqiu nodded, looked at Jing Zhe, and said with a smile, "What, you don't want me to go?"
"think."
Hearing this, Wang Yingqiu suddenly felt a little disappointed.
Then I heard him say, "I want you to come with me, not with that guy who's clearly incompetent but claims he's capable!"
"..."
————
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