Qian Jiaoniang still changed into light, plain clothes. Together with Ah Da, Chunwu, and Qin Shaoyuan, she slipped out of the city through a side gate. The four rode at full speed toward Wuzhou, scarcely stopping along the way. After two nights of braving wind and dew, they encountered Li Qingquan in a ruined temple. It turned out that Xing Muzheng had instructed Li Qingquan to wait in hiding. When the incident broke out, Xing Muzheng had given him a signal to leave, which was why he had not been seized along with him.
Ah Da hurriedly asked for the full story. After drinking some water, Li Qingquan explained everything to Qian Jiaoniang and the others.
It turned out Xing Muzheng had gone seeking the Black Chrysanthemum Sect’s leader, mainly for the martial arts manual. Li Qingquan himself only learned this on the trip. He heard from Xing Muzheng that the manual could not only dominate the martial world, but also prolong life. Xing Muzheng intended to obtain the manual and present it to the imperial family, while at the same time investigating the assassination attempt on him years ago by the Black Chrysanthemum Sect.
Qian Jiaoniang felt something about it was strange. Xing Muzheng, just to find a longevity formula for the emperor?
“The Lord is loyal to the imperial house. Back then, to obtain the fang of the hundred-year serpent, he was injured and poisoned,” Li Qingquan said.
Qian Jiaoniang remembered the serpent fang that had always hung on Xing Muzheng’s neck, which had suddenly disappeared one day. She had later asked him, and at the time, Xing Muzheng only said it had been lost, without further explanation.
If that fang was something Xing Muzheng had risked death to obtain and then offered to Emperor Taikang, Qian Jiaoniang realized she had underestimated his devotion to the emperor. Yet the timing was uncanny—it was exactly when he begged Emperor Taikang to retract the edict. Now thinking back, it seemed as though Xing Muzheng had somehow coaxed the emperor into yielding, and at the same time, the serpent fang had vanished.
Could it be that, back then, for her sake… he had traded it away with Emperor Taikang?
Qian Jiaoniang’s eyes grew shadowed. If that truly were the case, then this time, his pursuit of the sect leader and the manual—was it also still because of her?
Her heart grew unsettled. She told Li Qingquan to continue.
At this point Li Qingquan’s face already showed indignation, and with anger he recounted what had happened.
The Black Chrysanthemum Sect’s leader was elusive, so Xing Muzheng sought out one of the sect’s helmsmen, said to be the one closest to the leader, the only man who knew his whereabouts. This man was named Li Zize, a native of Wuzhou. His ancestors had held hundreds of acres of land, and he was known for his charitable nature—renowned in Wuzhou as “Great Philanthropist Li.” Li Zize was always broad in making friends across the land, and upon meeting Xing Muzheng at a tavern, they immediately became close. Under the guise of a merchant, Xing Muzheng would often stay half a month or more in Wuzhou, gaining more of Li Zize’s trust. This time, hearing that the sect leader was lingering in Wuzhou due to internal matters, Xing Muzheng seized the chance to ask Li Zize for an introduction. Li Zize readily agreed, setting an appointment for July 13th at Fulou Pavilion, Room A1. Xing Muzheng went as agreed. Yet afterward, another man in a bamboo hat entered the room. Before he even sat down, a group of disguised soldiers stormed in, surrounding them heavily. Later, Li Qingquan learned that the man who had entered was a wanted criminal of the court, one of the ringleaders of the former dynasty’s rebels. Wuzhou commander Xu Hongzu immediately accused Xing Muzheng of conspiring rebellion with him, and had him thrown into prison.
“Absurd! Did the Lord not reveal his identity, explain the truth?” Ah Da ground his teeth.
Li Qingquan glared at him. “If they had not recognized his identity, would you all still be here?”
Ah Da was struck speechless.
Li Qingquan said: “Xu Hongzu knew the Lord was Dingxi Marquis the very moment he stepped into Room A1!”
The matter seemed all the more suspicious. Xing Muzheng was a marquis of the highest rank, once a famed Grand Marshal. Even without the Tiger Tally, his presence alone was enough to make officials wary. Xu Hongzu was but a minor commander of Wuzhou—how would he dare seize him so brazenly, unless… he had been waiting all along?
Qian Jiaoniang pondered for a while, and concluded Xing Muzheng had indeed fallen into a trap.
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