Chapter 499 Wei Shaoqi's Three Things
"Miss Qin, could...could you rest for a bit?"
Are you sure you can handle it?
"Sure, of course it'll work! Why wouldn't it?"
Outside Xunyang City, in a dense forest, a group of knights swiftly passed through the woods like arrows.
Leading the way was a slightly plump woman. Today, she wasn't wearing her blue Taoist robe, but rather a Hu-style outfit and high boots, looking very dashing.
Behind her, Wei Shaoqi was lying prone on a Akhal-Teke horse, reducing wind resistance while talking loudly to the woman chasing the wind ahead.
Qin Ying said without turning her head:
"Young Master Wei, if you can't handle it, just get off the horse. You don't need to follow me anymore. Go and stay in the carriage. Don't force yourself."
Wei Shaoqi was sweating profusely, but he maintained a bright smile and waved his hand dismissively, seemingly unconcerned.
"Haha, Miss Qin is joking. Of course I can do it. There's nothing I can't do. I'm just a little worried about you. You're a woman. You've been riding a horse for so long, and you're still drawing a bow and shooting arrows on horseback. Don't tire yourself out."
He then asked with concern:
"By the way, is Miss Qin hungry? I had my men bring some delicacies from Xunyang Tower. Shall we go over and have a bite to fill our stomachs?"
"Didn't we have breakfast before leaving the city? Why are you hungry again? If you're hungry, go eat. I'm not hungry. I haven't had enough fun running yet."
"This young master didn't have enough fun either, haha, let's go together."
"Yeah?"
Qin Ying glanced at her sideways: "Why does your voice sound trembling?"
Wei Shaoqi immediately said, "It's cold, it's cold. This little breeze is quite refreshing, haha."
Qin Ying shook her head:
“If you really can’t go on, take a break. There’s nothing to be ashamed of. You haven’t ridden a horse in a long time. You’ve been riding with me for so long and so fast today. You’ll be exhausted when you get back tonight. Your butt will definitely be sore tomorrow. You won’t be able to get out of bed for at least half a month.”
Wei Shaoqi's eyelids twitched, and he couldn't help but ask:
"Is...is it that serious?"
Qin Ying pouted:
"There are precedents to learn from."
I don't know who they're talking about.
Wei Shaoqi immediately understood, and suddenly felt a sense of sympathy for the young man surnamed Li who had stolen his cousin's boyfriend.
Serving such a master is truly a tough job.
"Hey, there's a wild rabbit! Where are you going?!"
Wei Shaoqi heard a delighted cry from the dashing female knight in Hu clothing ahead. She immediately reined in her horse, stopped abruptly, and drew her bow to shoot an arrow.
Ten breaths later, a wild rabbit with an arrow shaft stuck in its body was thrown into his arms.
"Take it."
"Okay, okay."
Qin Ying tossed it casually, and Wei Shaoqi quickly caught it.
The accompanying guards had long been left far behind by the two, whether due to poor riding skills or exceptional eyesight, no one knew.
Wei Shaoqi mentally gave them a thumbs up, feeling that all the rewards he had given them in the past had not been in vain.
Qin Ying paid no attention to these details. He rode on his horse, looking around, searching for prey and direction again.
Wei Shaoqi praised without showing any emotion:
"Ah, this young master is indeed no match for Miss Qin. Miss Qin is truly a heroine among women, worthy of her military family background, and an archer who can hit a target from a hundred paces away."
"Haha, it seems I don't need to lift a finger. I can just follow behind Miss Qin and pick up the spoils."
Qin Ying didn't look at the refined and gentle smile on the young man's face behind her, and waved her hand:
"I'm nothing compared to what you've seen. You haven't witnessed Sister Xie's riding and archery skills. She's far superior to me."
Wei Shaoqi raised an eyebrow and asked, "Does Miss Qin and that eldest daughter of the Xie family of Chen County get along very well?"
Qin Ying didn't answer. She looked around, her eyes lit up, and she spotted a new prey. She shook the reins and with a "giggle," she shot off like an arrow.
Wei Shaoqi had no choice but to shift his position to make himself more comfortable, and obediently followed.
He followed behind Qin Ying, assisting her in her extravagant spending.
Wei Shaoqi breathed a sigh of relief, secretly pleased that he didn't have to shoot arrows and could just follow behind and slack off, occasionally raising his hand to catch the carcasses of the prey she threw at him. Haha, he could do it with his eyes closed.
He thought to himself.
Until a carefree, slightly chubby female knight casually tossed a hedgehog to them.
"ah--!"
"..." Qin Ying.
...
Outside the city, on the banks of the Xunyang River, lies a maple forest hunting ground renowned for its diverse range of game.
An extremely luxurious carriage stopped.
The carriage was surrounded by Xianbei guards with swords at their sides, who patrolled with serious expressions.
Inside the carriage guarded in the very center, gasps of astonishment could be heard from time to time.
"You fucking go easy on me!"
"Yes, yes, Third Young Master."
There were two people in the car. Wang Lengran was nodding hurriedly as she bandaged the bleeding wound on Wei Shaoqi's palm, who was sitting opposite her.
At this moment, Wei Shaoqi sat in a chair with a gloomy look in his eyes, his expression shifting between light and dark.
Wang Lengran asked cautiously:
"Is the Third Young Master no longer going to keep Miss Qin company?"
"Why don't you go and keep your mother company? Let whoever wants to serve her do it! What bad luck!"
Wei Shaoqi cursed and swore, his chest heaving for a while.
Wang Lengran shrank back.
After a short while, his heaving chest calmed down a bit. Wei Shaoqi frowned and waved his hand:
"Forget it, let's wait for her outside and not go in."
"Hey." He sighed after saying that.
Wang Lengran discreetly observed Wei Shaoqi's expression.
The fact that this man could be rendered speechless and forced to curse him shows that this young lady Qin is no ordinary woman.
He lowered his voice and advised:
"Third Young Master, the bigger picture is more important."
"Of course I know the bigger picture is important! Do you need to teach me?"
"Third Young Master, slow down, be careful of the wound...be careful of the wound..."
After a flurry of activity, the carriage finally quieted down, and Wei Shaoqi's hand wound was bandaged.
He squinted at what was directly in front of him, seemingly lost in thought.
Wei Shaoqi suddenly spoke:
"Forget it, the Qin family is currently very powerful. Her grandfather, Qin Jingzhen, is the most powerful general in the Great Zhou Dynasty. Moreover, the military merits from the Li Zhengyan Rebellion in the Southwest will most likely fall into Qin Jingzhen's hands. Sigh, what a cruel twist of fate."
His tone grew increasingly displeased, and he turned to the king, coldly rebuking him:
"Why didn't you keep a close eye on Zhu Lingxu and his son back then, letting them make a foolish mistake? Do you know how much of a backlash this has put my father and the Wei family in the court? If it weren't for your hard work, my father would have already skinned you alive."
Wang Lengran said with a bitter face:
"Third Young Master, who knew the enemy would be so cunning and impossible to guard against? This humble servant still hasn't figured out the cause and effect..."
"This time, we must overturn the verdict!"
Wei Shaoqi suddenly said decisively:
"Even if we can't openly overturn the entire case, we must at least find evidence that Zhu Lingxu and his son had no intention of rebelling. Only in this way can we eliminate His Majesty's lingering resentment."
"In short, His Majesty cannot allow the Wei family to bear this blame any longer. Back then, the rebellion in Yingzhou almost cut off my father's path to the throne."
"We finally got two great opportunities to gain tremendous merit, namely the Great Zhou Songde Tian Shu and Li Zhengyan's rebellion, but they both fell through."
"Without the sixth brother's cauldron sword, even if the Great Zhou Songde Tian Shu is completed, it will be greatly diminished when presented to His Majesty. Nothing has a greater symbolic meaning than the cauldron sword... His Majesty is already tired of seeing ordinary auspicious omens."
Wang Lengran dared not utter a sound, and listened silently with his head down.
Wei Shaoqi narrowed his eyes and said in a resentful tone:
"The matter of the Grand General of the Jiangzhou Road Army is also true. My father was implicated by Zhu Lingxu and his son, which not only left His Majesty with a bad impression of being unable to judge people, but also resulted in the real loss of a tremendous military achievement, which benefited the Qin family for nothing."
"Hey, if it weren't for that, why would I have to lower myself to serve this fat woman?"
"Tell me, why has our Wei family been doing so much to provide dowries for others these past two years? What went wrong? Is someone secretly sabotaging our Wei family's fortune?"
Hearing Wei Shaoqi's complaints and the way he addressed him, Wang Lengran pretended not to hear and lowered his head even further.
"Now, Father can only try to find a compromise. He wants me to bring Seventh Sister to Xunyang City to try and arrange a marriage alliance with the Qin family. In addition, I will assist Rong Zhen and Lin Cheng in investigating the case and clearing up the misunderstanding between Zhu Lingxu and his son..."
Wei Shaoqi turned his head, stared at Wang Lengran, and said, word by word:
"Therefore, the reason why Father has entrusted me with the full authority to come to Jiangzhou is for these three matters!"
"Overturning the verdict and arranging a marriage are the most important things on this trip. Any manpower and resources needed can be reported and mobilized. But if we fail to accomplish them, not only will I be in trouble, but Wang Lengran, you will also be in deep trouble."
"Yes, Third Young Master, I understand."
Wang Lengran nodded vigorously. After a moment, he realized what was happening, frowned, lowered his head, and counted on two fingers.
"Wait, Third Young Master, you said three things? Aren't there two? Your marriage alliance with the Qin family, and the overturning of the case against Zhu Lingxu and his son for rebelling—aren't those two things? Have I overlooked something?"
He asked curiously.
Wei Shaoqi's lips twitched slightly, but he kept his eyes straight ahead.
Seeing that the Third Young Master Wei in front of him showed no intention of speaking, Wang Lengran did not press further.
Then, as if remembering something, he asked in a low voice:
"Third Young Master, regarding the matter of overturning the case, that Rong Zhen seems to have a good relationship with Ouyang Lianghan. We even brought him along to the last meeting, which was unnecessary. Isn't it a bit risky to entrust the heavy responsibility of overturning the case to her? Oh, and what about that Lin Cheng…"
Wei Shaoqi glanced at Wang Lengran:
“In the past, we might have been worried, but now…”
"It's clear that Rongzhen now hates that fake sixth brother, the master of the Butterfly Love Flower, to the core. Moreover, he caused the Imperial Observatory to suffer heavy losses. Ha, both for the public and for private reasons, Rongzhen and Lin Cheng probably want to catch this thief even more than we do."
"Don't worry, and I know Rongzhen's personality better than you do. We don't need to worry about the investigation; they will definitely do their best."
"Besides..."
Wei Shaoqi glanced at Wang Lengran, his tone somewhat meaningful:
"This time, Father is in charge of building the Four Great Buddhas. The one in Guizhou has been shelved, so we won't count it for now. Now, there are only three places left in Jiangzhou, Yangzhou, and Taiyuan, which are like three peaches."
"Wang Lengran, do you think that with Rong Zhen's sour temper, she was specially sent to Jiangzhou, stationed there, and given full authority to oversee the construction of the Donglin Buddha... and was able to take one of the three rewards without any controversy..."
"This humble servant is unaware. Please enlighten me, Third Young Master."
Wei Shaoqi said with some emotion, "Do you know that even Lin Cheng, who is the Xia Guan Lingtai Lang, is envious and green with envy of such a good opportunity and job as the supervisor of the Buddha in Jiangzhou?"
"It is true that His Majesty favors Rongzhen and sent her to Jiangzhou a long time ago, but Miaozhen arrived even earlier. Now, isn't Miaozhen obediently making way for Rongzhen to go to the front line to supervise the battle? He left the position to Rongzhen."
"This is not luck. If it weren't for my father, who was the chief supervisor of the construction of the Tian Shu, Rong Zhen wouldn't have been able to stay in Jiangzhou for long and seize this good opportunity of the Donglin Buddha. After all, there are countless Qi cultivators inside and outside the palace eyeing these three Buddhas that are about to be completed... Once the Buddhas are completed, the Yin Yang School Qi cultivators who are in charge of the construction... Ha."
Wang Lengran's eyes widened slightly:
"I see. So, this lady actually owes the prince a favor..."
Wei Shaoqi gave a meaningful look and asked in return:
"Owe? Heh, with her personality, she definitely won't appreciate it... But... there are some things in this world that you can't control when you're in the situation. Just like my father, even though he knows she won't appreciate it, he still has to nod in agreement."
At this point, Wei Shaoqi shook his head and said no more.
Wang Lengran looked curious, but didn't feel comfortable asking any more questions.
Wei Shaoqi looked down at his hand, which still had a small patch of blood seeping out after being bandaged, and his expression calmed down.
Wang Lengran was silent for a moment, then asked again in a low voice:
"Third Young Master, I am still curious, what exactly happened on the mountain that night when Li Li led his men to Dagushan? No one came back."
Wei Shaoqi lowered his eyes;
"Actually, it's not that none of them came back; one of them did."
"Are there any survivors? Who are they?"
"It's that monk from the Hanging Temple. Our people only found out afterward. But it's no different from him being dead. Now he's imprisoned in the Hanging Temple, practicing some bullshit Buddhism. He's become mute and deaf."
"Our royal palace went to find him, but the Hanging Temple refused to hand him over, saying that any monk practicing silent meditation would be protected by the Ancestral Hall to remain undisturbed for life. My father sent someone to the temple to see him, but that bald monk knew nothing about it... Those bald monks deserve to die!"
Wang Lengran asked in surprise, "Why is that? What happened to him?"
Wei Shaoqi shook his head, then his expression turned somewhat serious as he said:
"That Butterfly Love Flower Master is definitely not simple. It's not just about having the Cauldron Sword and the Daoist lineage of the Swordholder. He might also have other methods to bewitch people and drive them mad..."
Wang Lengran nodded slowly, digested the information for a moment, then frowned and asked:
"Third Young Master, last time at Yunshui Pavilion, the Prince of Xunyang's son was disrespectful to Princess Anhui. Are we just going to let it go like that? Shouldn't we teach him a lesson..."
"Shut up, don't mention it again!" Wei Shaoqi snapped.
"Yes, yes!"
Wei Shaoqi was silent for a while, then said unhappily;
"Father promised Uncle Liang that he would not interfere with the Xunyang Prince's Mansion for the time being, and would discuss it later. So let's not do anything to them for now and let them live for a while."
"Young Master, why is His Highness Prince Liang speaking on behalf of the Prince of Xunyang's residence?"
Wang Lengran stopped talking halfway through his sentence.
After a short while, he asked cautiously:
"Third Young Master, is the rumor true? That His Highness Prince Wei and His Highness Prince Liang have a disagreement..."
Wei Shaoqi looked down at him with disdain: "This is none of your business. Just do what you're supposed to do."
Wang Lengran lowered his head and agreed.
Rumors have it that His Highness the Prince of Wei and His Highness the Prince of Liang have recently had a disagreement over the conflict between Wei and Li, and the Wei clan is now subtly divided into two factions. Although the disagreement is not serious, it has still caused many centrists in the Wei clan to adopt a wait-and-see attitude...
Wei Shaoqi reiterated:
"Don't worry about the Prince of Xunyang's residence for now. Don't waste your energy on a dead end like last time."
"Yes, young master."
Wang responded coldly.
Wei Shaoqi glanced at Wang Lengran, who was honest and didn't ask any questions.
He frowned slightly.
Unexpectedly, one day, the Wei family would show leniency towards the Xunyang Prince's lineage and even protect them.
This was actually the idea of His Highness Prince Liang, Uncle Wang.
Currently, there is not a consensus within the Wei clan. Father is determined to become the heir apparent, while Prince Liang may understand His Majesty's thoughts better.
Moreover, in the struggle between Wei and Li, the Wei clan emerged victorious, and the elder brother, the King of Wei, would undoubtedly become the Crown Prince of the Great Zhou.
Therefore, the King of Liang was more conservative and would plan ahead for any possible contingency plans should he fail...
Thinking of this, Wei Shaoqi clenched his fist, and the cloth used to bandage the wound on his palm seeped out even more blood.
He felt inexplicably irritable.
It's all because of Wei Shaoxuan and the loss of the Dingjian sword, as well as the wrongful case of Zhu Lingxu and his son! Not only did it ruin the Wei Prince's plans, but it also damaged the prestige of the father, making it difficult to control the people below. Even the uncle, the Liang Prince, began to have some conservative thoughts.
After a short while, Wei Shaoqi looked up and said:
"Remember, while we can't touch them, we can't just sit idly by and watch this family grow stronger, especially that Ouyang Lianghan. You have to find a way to keep him in check."
“A Xunyang Prince’s Mansion that is neither strong nor weak and is locked up in Jiangzhou is in our best interest.”
Wang Lengran suddenly realized: "Yes, young master is wise!"
Wei Shaoqi squinted and remained silent.
During his trip to Jiangzhou, he personally came to see for himself. Although it was not prominent in Luoyang, the influence of the Xunyang Prince's Mansion in Jiangnan Road was too great.
It was only revived at the end of last year, and in just one year, it has grown rapidly to this size, based in Xunyang City.
In particular, Ouyang Lianghan, who was standing in front of the stage, was considered the spokesperson for the Xunyang Prince's Mansion, radiating influence.
He not only took full charge of the construction of the Donglin Buddha, but also gained the favor of Qin Jingzhen, and became close to Rong Zhen. The newly arrived imperial envoy, Hu Fu, also seemed to be subtly speaking up for him, exchanging flirtatious glances...
Even Wang Lengran, his immediate superior, couldn't control him anymore.
Wei Shaoqi suddenly sighed:
"When the tiger is away, the monkeys reign supreme."
(End of this chapter)
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