Chapter 838: The Death of Huang Lie (Part 2) [Requesting Monthly Tickets]
Qi Shan paused for a moment upon seeing the template of the second letter.
He calculated the time with his fingers, then murmured as he gently rubbed his temples, "So it's this time already. Time really flies."
Qi Shan did not rush to open the two letters.
He rubbed the bruise on his waist and waited a while, making sure his lord wouldn't suddenly give him another big surprise, before Qi Shan sat down, grimacing. He picked up the heavy, sealed scroll, took a carving knife, and cut open the dried clay. After confirming that the rope beneath the clay hadn't been touched, he continued to untie it. The heavy scroll unfolded in his hands.
What came into view was the poor quality of their lord's handwriting.
From the handwriting and strokes, Qi Shan could also discern the writer's state of mind—excitement, anger, disarray, haste, and even gritted teeth. Qi Shan picked up a piece of pastry and put it in her mouth, her eyes darting from top to bottom and from right to left, reading ten lines at a glance.
He felt relieved after seeing half of it.
The fact that his lord had time to ramble on like this showed that the front lines were stable. Qi Shan slowed his reading pace, patiently sifting through the pile of nonsense to extract a useful sentence or two. He wanted to sigh as he read, while the clerks inside held their breath in tension…
I'm so curious, so incredibly curious.
"Meow~~~"
A beautiful cat, plump, with fluffy, glossy fur, expertly crossed the threshold and gracefully walked to Qi Shan's side. It flicked its tail against his right arm, and Qi Shan, without even glancing at it, raised his hand, causing the sleeves of his robe, piled on his thigh, to unfold, revealing a small opening. The cat leaped lightly onto his lap and settled into a comfortable position.
Qi Shan's arm fell, and her right hand precisely stroked the cat.
The cat cooperated by rolling over.
"The weather is getting hotter, and I'm shedding more fur."
Qi Shan's voice carried a hint of disdain.
Su Shang seemed to understand and responded with a meow.
Qi Shan: "Sigh, I'm not blaming you. But where did you come from, running around like a wild animal, and you kept rubbing against me?"
I grabbed a small snack that Su Shang likes to eat.
He said earnestly, "Don't you know your own situation? From the beginning of the year to the end, you really can't support yourself and your bunch of grandchildren without some savings. Tsk, you're already upset?"
Su Shang held his fingers and tried to put them in her mouth.
A tyrant among the outside cats, any local cat that dares to provoke it will be scratched until it bleeds. It bites down and leaves two bloody holes. But now it is carefully holding Qi Shan's finger in its mouth, occasionally licking it with its rough tongue to smell its scent.
Qi Shan could only turn the pages of the book with one hand.
Finally, the letter of nonsense was about to be rolled up to the last few bamboo strips.
A few lines of scribbled words unexpectedly entered his field of vision, successfully bringing Qi Shan the shock of boiling water at 100 degrees Celsius.
The first shock—
[Yuanliang, Qin Dali is coming.]
The second shock—
[Hehe, Qin Gongsu, also known as Dali. Did you know that Gongsu's approach to scholarship was truly like a mother ox opening the door for her calf—it was incredibly effective! Slurp, smells delicious!]
Qi Shan's expression went blank for a moment.
The lord's rambling continued, but it didn't faze him at all: "Yuanliang, you're such a bad person. How could you encourage a minor to smoke? You know what? Look at Gongsu's expression, he seems to really want to smoke you right now..."
Qi Shan rolled her eyes so hard they almost reached the top of her head.
He wanted to refute his lord. Although he had taught Qin Li to smoke, Qin Gongsu at that time was far from being a minor. Qin Gongsu had already undergone his coming-of-age ceremony several years prior. In his lord's words, it would seem as if he had misled the young man.
This realization made Qi Shan extremely unhappy.
If Qin Gongsu's addition only made Qi Shan feel annoyed—after all, Qin Li was indeed a talented person, and he had long coveted the other's scholarly ways, and the benefits of the lord accepting Qin Li outweighed the drawbacks, even if Qin Li had a bad temper, he could still be trained—but the last question made Qi Shan furious!
Su Shang, who was lying on his lap, also screamed shrilly.
【My dear Yuanliang, I have a question for you. Do you know a middle-aged scholar named Cui Xiao, courtesy name Shanxiao?】
Cui Shanxiao, Cui Xiao.
Two of the three characters are familiar.
Qi Shan's brows furrowed and relaxed at times.
This reveals the immense inner turmoil the owner is experiencing at this moment.
In Qi Shan's vast "circle of friends," there are many people with the surname "Cui"; there are more than one people with the given name "Xiao"; and there are also many people with the courtesy name "Shan Xiao." There are even people with the same surname, given name, and courtesy name. After all, there are only so many characters with good meanings, and contraception methods are backward. A couple can only have five or six children in their lifetime. When naming their descendants, they have to avoid the names of their ancestors or living elders, and some even have to avoid famous people.
With more restrictions, the font library becomes even more insufficient.
It's normal to bump into something accidentally.
It's not scary to bump into someone; what's scary is not being able to out-bump them.
but--
Only one person meets all three criteria: "Cui, Shan, Xiao".
Of course, that Choi Sun-hyo's name wasn't Choi Hyo.
But this doesn't stop Qi Shan from associating the two of them together.
“Cui Shanxio?” Qi Shan was overwhelmed with worry. She closed her eyes and murmured, “My lord has confirmed his literary signature, so the surname and given name are definitely real. Only the given name can be faked… Could it really be the same person? If so…”
Qi Shan added, seeing the last sentence.
Oh, Seonhyo likes to carry a sword fan.
Shen Tang did want to reveal the other party's scholarly ways to Qi Shan, but these ways were everyone's secrets. Unless Gu Chi or Luan Xin knew the answer directly, it would be unfair for her, as the lord, to reveal subordinate A's secret to subordinate B, suggesting a possible personal feud between the two. No secrets stay hidden forever; it wouldn't be good if Cui Xiao found out.
Considering all this, she could only start with her personal characteristics.
That feature alone is enough.
With a loud slap, Qi Shan covered her face with her hand, gritting her teeth as she squeezed out Shen Tang's name: "Shen! You! Li!"
This is truly a good lord he has found!
His enemies were scattered all over the country, and she managed to gather them up to a considerable extent, even bringing in Choi Sun-hyo.
Qi Shan felt all the blood rushing to her head.
He stared blankly for a long time at the "bad news" brought by his lord.
He kept telling himself, "Tan Lezheng, Tan Lezheng, Tan Lezheng, remember this is the lord you chose most, and she will be your last. She's still young, and a bit mischievous. It's normal for her to do things that drive you crazy. You should learn to be tolerant and not be harsh on a child a decade younger than you. Be patient and teach her slowly; she will definitely grow into a true chosen one. You can't let anger cloud your judgment. Remember, 'If you raise a child without teaching him, it's the father's fault; if you teach him without strictness, it's the teacher's laziness.' As her half-teacher, you bear half the responsibility for her behavior..."
Well, the other half of the responsibility lies with Chu Wuhui!
Qi Shan, with one hand supporting her forehead, suddenly opened her eyes.
He slammed his hand on the table and exclaimed, "That's right, and Chu Wuhui too!"
Qi Shan seemed to have found the crux of the problem, her fingers digging into the table: "Before the lord went to war, she hadn't recruited any strange people for a long time, but in the past six months, she's recruited two. Didn't Chu Wu Hui vet her? How could she just randomly recruit a viper like Cui Shanxiao and put him by the lord's side? Chu Wu Hui... you old man bear a huge responsibility!"
There's nothing wrong with Choi Sun-hyo's abilities.
The problem lies with Choi Seon-hyo's way of being a scholar.
In terms of the ability to kill one's lord, Choi Sun-hyo was far superior to him.
Qi Shan's scholarly path has prerequisites, simultaneously binding both the ruler and his subject—if the ruler harbors suspicion, he will kill the ruler; if both the ruler and he trust each other, then he is merely the ruler's puppet! Qi Shan's life is actually in Shen Tang's hands, a rule whose binding force is second only to Chu Yao and Ning Yan. Cui Shanxiao, however, is different; if he so desires, he can become the ruler silently.
After completing the task, you won't have to bear any backlash.
No one could even tell that he was the one who did it.
Qi Shan's heart pounded, and she couldn't help but worry about Shen Tang.
He worried that Cui Shanxiao's approach to the lord might be part of a scheme, and that if things came to light, Cui Shanxiao would implicate the unsuspecting lord. In this matter, Cui Shanxiao was different from Liao Jia, Qin Li, Jiang Sheng, Xun Zhen, and even Gu Chi. The latter were either decisive and easygoing, or they prioritized the greater good, clearly distinguishing between personal grudges and official duties. In contrast, Cui Shanxiao was vindictive, petty, and ruthless…
Qi Shan rested his chin on one hand in distress, while lightly tapping the table with the other, the disordered rhythm of the tapping mirroring his current state of mind.
"Tsk, we still need to think of a way..."
He had three options in mind.
The best course of action is for him to strike first!
Qi Shan used the alias "Qu Tan" back then, and his appearance was fake. At that time, he was not yet an adult, so even if the two of them were face to face now, they might not recognize him as the "Qu Tan" from back then. Taking advantage of the fact that Cui Shanxio did not know his true identity, he quietly killed him, destroyed the body, and eliminated any future trouble.
The middle option is to conceal one's identity for life.
Anyway, Qi Shan had no intention of bringing "Tan Qu" back to life. Not many people knew his secret, and the few who did were close to him. But secrets don't stay hidden forever. Kang Jishou, his cousin, would call him by his real name when he was in a bad mood. What if he revealed it to Cui Shanxiao one day? Wouldn't that be the end of him?
As for the worst option...
He silenced Choi Sun-hyo before his disguise was exposed!
Yeah, not the mouth, the hand!
By making Cui Shanxiao owe him a huge favor as "Qi Yuanliang," and if his identity were accidentally exposed, wouldn't the old man have nothing to say? Even if they couldn't completely forgive and forget, they could at least treat him like air. They could simply never speak to each other again!
Qi Shan's thoughts kept turning over and over in his mind.
After hesitating for a long time, so long that Su Shang lost patience and left him, Qi Shan sighed helplessly and shifted his thoughts from the best strategy to the middle strategy, and finally settled on the worst strategy.
He muttered reluctantly, "I'm doing this to sacrifice for the greater cause of our lord. If Cui Shanxiao sets a bad precedent by killing to cover up wrongdoing, it will inevitably make Jiang Sheng and the others panic, and it will also affect our lord's future recruitment of talented people... It's not worth doing this for Cui Shanxiao. Yes, that's it..."
Qi Shan sighed and prepared to clean up the mess for her lord.
It's also about cleaning up the mess left by your younger self.
Before meeting Shen Tang, Qi Shan never believed in karma or retribution, but now she has no choice but to believe it; she is "good fortune"!
Qi Shan wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, which was stained with cat hair, barely managing to convince himself. He had just picked up the second letter on the table and opened it when Liao Jia's voice came from outside the hall: "Yuanliang, I just heard that the battle report from the front has arrived, is that...?"
Liao Jia's words came to an abrupt end.
His gaze fell on the letter with yellow lettering on a black background.
Qi Shan looked up at him, realizing what she was holding, and hurriedly tried to put the letter away, but Liao Jia strode forward and snatched it away. Liao Jia looked at the letter and then at Qi Shan: "Qi Yuanliang, when...did you get involved with this?"
Qi Shan simply admitted it was true: "It has always been there."
He then pulled the letter back.
Liao Jia lowered his voice and asked, "Does the lord know?"
Qi Shan asked, bewildered, "Why does my lord need to know?"
Liao Jia was rendered speechless by his matter-of-fact question, and breathed into his ear: "Ordinary people don't know the true nature of the Gods... I don't believe you, Qi Yuanliang, don't know! Are you an inside man?"
If that's the case, then it makes sense.
From an angle unseen by Qi Shan, Liao Jia harbored murderous intent.
Qi Shan shoved him away: "What nonsense are you talking about?"
Liao Jia said, "You dare say you aren't?"
Qi Shan turned her head away: "Of course not."
Liao Jia angrily poked at the pattern in the lower right corner of the letter—the letters from the Pantheon had several levels. Ordinary recruitment letters only had the three words "Pantheon" on the surface; those for members had patterns in the lower right corner, ranging from simple to complex.
The lowest level is a pattern resembling the character "大" (dà), with a horizontal line curving upwards into a semicircle. The next level up is two "大" characters, one with a left-falling stroke and the other with a right-falling stroke, forming an open circle (○). The next level up is three "大" characters, forming three open circles. The highest level is this structure, with a black circle drawn on the outermost layer.
"Qi Yuanliang, do you think I'm blind?"
Qi Yuanliang's letter is missing just one last circle!
what does that mean?
This means that this guy's status in the Pantheon is second only to the head of the Northwest Continent, and he is one of the few deputies!
He felt like strangling Qi Shan.
Qi Shan followed his finger and looked at it, then asked, "So what? Just based on this pattern and this letter, you dare to be so sure that I am a member of the Gods' Society, here to control the Lord and turn him into a puppet? Liao Shaomei, be clear-headed. When I followed the Lord, she was all alone. What could I possibly want from her? That she would gather all my enemies together and torment me every day?"
Even if he's mentally ill, it can't be like this.
Liao Jia: "..."
Qi Shan opened the envelope in front of him: "The Pantheon holds a regional conference every few years. Here, this is to inform me of the time and place of the next one. Nothing else..."
He unfolded the letter and showed it to Liao Jia.
Liao Jia slapped it down, stared into Qi Shan's eyes, and said, word by word, "Qi Yuanliang, you must know—our lord's ambitions are far more than just the Northwest. The Southwest, the Central Plains, the Southeast, the Northeast… she wants them all!"
Qi Shan nodded: "I know."
He was very pleased that his lord had such ambition.
Focus on the world rather than your own small plot of land.
Liao Jia said, "The Council of Gods cannot sit idly by."
They will definitely plant people when they let their guard down.
But Liao Jia never expected that this person would be Qi Yuanliang. This was the person the lord favored the most and was least wary of, besides Chu Yao!
Qi Shan replied matter-of-factly, "I've been keeping an eye on things, haven't I? I've risen to the rank of deputy all these years! Outsiders have given me the reputation of 'scheming,' so I have to be prepared for the worst. As for the matter of the Council of Gods, I'd like to find an opportunity to discuss it with you when you return, my lord."
When it comes to papers, no one can be more meticulous than him!
Qi Shan was well aware of the secretive activities of the Pantheon over the years, stirring up wars everywhere. Therefore, he knew very well that if he wanted to achieve unification, the Pantheon had to keep a close eye on him.
Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win every battle!
Liao Jia: "..."
(_)
Feeling blue and sad.
The new perks offered by the female contestants have nothing to do with the book "Retreat the Emperor" by Shiitake Mushroom. This was the case last year, and it will be the same this year.
Just thinking about how other new authors are starting new books and getting all sorts of perks, and how they're easily making a fortune in royalties...
*Sobbing*
P.S.: Only three days left until the end of the month, do I still have any monthly passes?
PPS: Hehe, here's a no-prize guessing game: guess who Yuanliang's many aliases are?
(End of this chapter)
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