Great Li Martial God

”Thank you, Master Youshan.”

Ji Song cupped his hands gently and lowered his drooping eyelids, ”This old man has devoted most of his life wholeheartedly to Great Li and has rarely done things for personal gain.”

Speaking thus, he raised his eyes to slowly look at the middle-aged man and Li Que. His clouded eyes flashed with a sharp gleam, and his hunched body faintly emanated the dignity belonging to the Great Li Chancellor, standing above all officials as he said, ”However, now this old man is willing to be selfish once for those pitiful daughters, even if it means gambling this old man’s lifelong reputation and this Right Minister position.”

Hearing this, the middle-aged man gazed at the old man before him, his expression suddenly becoming solemn, ”I have understood Mister Ji’s determination. Even if it costs me my life, I will certainly fulfill Mister Ji’s request.”

Li Que’s thoughts stirred. Then, he cupped his hands quite solemnly and said in a deep voice, ”Right Minister, rest assured. In this matter I will certainly spare no effort and mobilize all the power at my disposal without reservation to apprehend the murderer.”

Ji Song nodded slightly, his entire aged body almost curled up in the armchair as he said, ”With the Second Prince’s status and this old man’s meager reputation, in the Great Li court there’s no need to worry about which faction won’t cooperate. As for matters in the martial world, I’ll have to trouble Master Youshan.”

However, just as his words fell, footsteps sounded outside the study. Soon a servant came to report, ”Reporting to both Your Highnesses and the Right Minister, the Tianjin Guards have refused the order to apprehend the murderer.”

As soon as these words came out, the three people in the study, Ji Song and the others, were all stunned.

After reacting, the Third Prince Li Zhu was immediately furious. He directly struck out with a palm, blasting open the study door from a distance, his face dark as he shouted, ”That Fu Qiwen has such audacity!”

Ji Song and Li Que’s expressions both changed. Li Que looked toward the messenger outside the door and asked coldly, ”Why did the Tianjin Guards refuse to apprehend the murderer? This matter is within the scope of their duties.”The servant outside the study had already prostrated himself on the ground and replied in a trembling voice, terrified, ”It was the Eighth Prince who said the Tianjin Guards need to search for the Fire Qilin for him, so... they don’t have time to help apprehend the murderer.”

”What!”

Li Zhu’s tiger eyes widened. His clenched fist heavily smashed onto the rosewood chair beside him, shattering it to pieces with wood fragments flying, ”He’s a prince who only just recovered his status a few days ago and hasn’t even had his name entered into our imperial Li family genealogy, yet he dares to act so wantonly and recklessly, not putting us in his eyes. Who exactly gave him such audacity?”

The Second Prince Li Que’s eyes flickered as he also shook his head in rebuke, saying, ”This Eighth Brother is truly too ignorant and lacking in propriety. How can searching for some Fire Qilin be more important than investigating the murderer? I really can’t understand why Father Emperor let the Tianjin Guards get mixed up with him.”

Hearing this, Ji Song said nothing. His wrinkled eyelids narrowed as he slowly looked toward the servant kneeling outside the door and asked, ”Besides that Eighth Prince, did Fu Qiwen have any response?”

”Commander Fu never appeared from beginning to end and had no response whatsoever.”

The servant answered without daring to hide anything. Ji Song was silent for a moment, then waved his hand, ordering him to withdraw.

After a while, he finally spoke, ”This matter shouldn’t just be that Eighth Prince’s idea. Fu Qiwen probably tacitly approved as well.”

Hearing this, the Third Prince Li Zhu’s face immediately darkened to the point of dripping. He hurriedly made to go outside, ”This won’t do. This matter can’t just end like this. I must personally go to the Tianjin Guards and get to the bottom of this.”

Seeing this, Li Que wanted to speak up to stop him, but Ji Song shook his head, his voice obscure as he said, ”Let him make a fuss and vent a bit. Regardless of what reasons Fu Qiwen has, he shouldn’t disregard us like this. Those in the wrong are ultimately them.”

Hearing this, Li Que hesitated for a moment but ultimately nodded gently, saying, ”The Right Minister speaks reasonably.”

Then, he withdrew his gaze from Li Zhu’s departing back and turned his eyes toward the middle-aged man who had not yet left, cupping his hands in inquiry, ”May I ask this senior’s esteemed name?”

Ji Song raised his eyes to glance at Li Que and took the initiative to introduce, ”Master Youshan is the Pavilion Master of Tianji Pavilion within Great Li’s borders, with a status second only to that Old Man Tianji within Tianji Pavilion.”

”If the Second Prince is interested, in the future he can associate more with Master Youshan.”

Hearing this, the middle-aged man’s expression remained unchanged. He showed neither the slightest flattery nor impatience toward Li Que, merely nodding calmly.

...

At the same time, after the carriage carrying Li Musheng and Cang Yinyue had shuttled through Shangyang City for nearly over an hour, they arrived at Dragon Lock Well Ward.

Dragon Lock Well Ward was located at the junction of Black Tortoise Avenue and White Tiger Avenue, near the central area of the entire Great Li capital, and happened to be adjacent to the city’s first lake, Dragon Abyss Lake.

”It seems those Great Qi remnants still haven’t given up on that sword.”

Li Musheng reached out to pull open the carriage curtain, his gaze looking outside.

After entering Dragon Lock Well Ward, one could clearly feel that the wind blowing from the northwest direction was permeated with a layer of misty water vapor.

The humidity in the air here was also noticeably higher than in other parts of the city.

”The Imperial Dragon Divine Sword was once a divine artifact that suppressed the Great Qi dynasty’s national fate. These Great Qi remnants have probably coveted this item for many years.”

”This time, Imperial Consort Ji’s death has attracted the attention of various forces in the capital. Although the city’s imperial guard patrols are even more stringent than usual, for them it’s still an extremely rare opportunity.”

Cang Yinyue said softly, directing the coachman to stop the carriage in a secluded alley.

Then, after briefly determining the direction of the path, she led Li Musheng toward a hexagonal flying-eaved tall building in the ward.

Dragon Lock Well Ward centered on a thousand-year-old ancient well, with four tall buildings constructed in the four directions of east, south, west, and north. From the foundations of the tall buildings, cold iron chains connected to all four sides of the ancient well, supposedly to lock down the heaven and earth dragon veins within the well.

The tall building Cang Yinyue and the other arrived at was an elegant residence where scholars and literati gathered. This building was quiet and refined, without any of the clamor and noise of a wine house.

”Distinguished guests, please go upstairs.”

A servant boy greeted them with a smiling face, leading the two upward to a private room to drink tea.

Cang Yinyue quietly transmitted her voice to Li Musheng using True Qi condensed into a thread, ”A Six Doors agent has already infiltrated and embedded himself here. We need to find that person to confirm the situation here, then decide what to do next.”

Li Musheng nodded gently, indicating that Cang Yinyue should proceed according to her own plan.

After the servant brought up a pot of good tea along with some fruits and sweet treats, Li Musheng leisurely drank his tea.

At this moment, Cang Yinyue pretended to accidentally knock over a teacup, appearing extremely angry as she scolded and berated a few times, then deliberately pushed over a stool in the room, positioning it at a special angle directly facing the open door.

”This is our secret signal for making contact. If the agent staying in this building sees it, he’ll actively come find us.”

Cang Yinyue explained.

Before long, a servant in charge of cleaning furtively observed the surroundings, then directly flashed into the room where Li Musheng and the other were located.