Flower Stealing Master

Chapter 87: Kangxis scheme

Everyone on the side of Mount Tai Sect slowly understood what was going on, looking at everything in front of them incredulously, no one could say a word, the scene could be described as dead silence.

”How could the Golden Serpent King die?”

”Leader, he is clearly superb…”

The subordinates accompanying Yuan Chengzhi were even more pale, and felt that the sky had fallen around them.

Seeing Dongfang Bubai turning around and about to walk down the mountain, everyone in Mount Tai Sect was frightened and angry, but when they thought of his unpredictable martial arts, no one dared to stop him.

In the end, Abbot Fang Zheng asked, ”Who are you?”

Dongfang Bubai paused, without comment, the red shadow flashed, and the figure gradually disappeared into the distance like a red smoke, accompanied by a long laugh,

”The world has passed my generation,

And when I enter the world,

Those years will remind you;

When Emperors fight for the world,

I talked and laughed, and was drunk in myself.”

(Goblin: A poem by Li Bai, who was a famous poet from the Tang Dynasty. Had fun translating this too!)

Seeing the faces of everyone from the Mount Tai Sect turn like a bereaved new widow, Song Qingshu quickly stepped forward and said, ”According to our previous agreement, we won three matches. So. this time you lose. According to the agreement, the Mount Tai Sect will accept the imperial edict.”

The leader of Mount Tai Sect, Taoist Tianmen, looked dazed, and subconsciously murmured to himself, ”Even the Golden Serpent King is dead. Could it be that the Mount Tai Sect is really going to be destroyed in the hands of this Tianmen?”

Song Qingshu knew that the crowd on the mountain was excited now, and he didnʼt dare to continue to over-stimulate them. In case he was attacked by this group of opponents, Song Qingshu would have to escape. Although the opponent would not be able to catch him, it would damage his heroic image.

”Tomorrow we will send an envoy to the mountain to announce the edict, and today we will say goodbye first.” After Song Qingshu finished speaking, he greeted Jiumozhii and Duo Long and went straight down the mountain.

*****

”What! That ruffian Yuan is dead?” Hearing the situation on the mountain, Wei Xiaobao stood up with surprise, and he paced back and forth while thinking in his heart, ‘Now that Yuan Chengzhi is dead, the Golden Serpent Camp has no leader and would be easy to defeat. If I, Wei Xiaobao, made such a remarkable achievement. What will Xiao Xuanzi reward me? The title of earl must be guaranteed, and itʼs not impossible to be awarded…” (Goblin: Remember, Wei Xiaobao and Kangxi used these names to call each other.)

After making up his mind, Wei Xiaobao stood up immediately, ”Notify the brothers of Qing Camp to prepare and set off immediately, and the target is the forces of that rebel stationed at the Golden Serpent Camp thirty miles away.”

With a strange expression on his face, Duo Long suddenly stood up and said, ”The emperor has a verbal order, and Wei Xiaobao please accept it.”

”The fu*k, what tricks did Xiao Xuanzi play now?” Wei Xiaobao couldnʼt help being surprised, and quickly knelt down to take the edict.

”Listen, Xiao Guizi, once Dongfang Bubai appears, you will immediately roll back to me with the QIng camp soldiers and officials. No other ideas are allowed. If you are greedy for meritorious service, I will have you guard the Ninggu Pagoda.” As he spoke Emperor Kangxi’s secret oral statement, Duo Long couldnʼt help but twitch.

Wei Xiaobao disagreed in his heart. He felt that it would be a shame not to take advantage of this kind of god-given opportunity, and he said, ”That plan is merely a plan. But this is reality…pity, we…”

Song Qingshu stopped him and said, ”Brother Wei, after listening to the Emperorʼs edict, he seems to have anticipated todayʼs situation a long time ago, and the wording in the edict is so harsh, Brother Wei should not take personal risks.”

Wei Xiaobao was shocked, thinking that Xiao Xuanzi has always been unpredictable, smarter than Zhuge Liang, and his belly was really black. Fortunately he realized that early.

”Thank you Brother Song for the reminder.” Wei Xiaobao was just in a momentary haze, and soon woke up, ”Notify the brothers from Camp, we will leave for the Capital immediately.”

*****

Three days later, in the Imperial Study Room in the Forbidden City of Yanjing.

”Emperor, this time this official did not fail in his duties, and completely suppressed the wulin in the Qing Dynasty, and all the sects are now subservient to the court.” When Wei Xiaobao saw Emperor Kangxi, he quickly tried to show off his merits.

”Okay, okay, We know you have worked hard.” Emperor Kangxi replied lightly, and continued to look at his memorial.

Wei Xiaobao was startled, thinking that in situations like these, Xiao Xuanzi should have praised me. He probably didnʼt say it clearly enough, and he hurriedly salivated and said, ”Honored Emperor, this time we also killed that ruffian Yuan Chengzhi.”

”Oh?” Emperor Kangxiʼs expression moved, and finally put down the memorial, looked up at Wei Xiaobao, and said with a smile but not a smile, ”It is clear that We sent Master Dongfang to hide in the shadows and killed Yuan Chengzhi. How are you taking credit for it?”

”Oh how horrible! I took the credit belonging to Xiao Xuanzi.” Wei Xiaobao’s heart shook. Fortunately, he had always been clever and flexible. He immediately gave a thumbs up, ”The Emperor is really enigmatic. So it was all in your plan to send Master Dongfang to help secretly.”

”Xiaobao, did you really think We wanted to suppress the wulin?” Emperor Kangxiʼs tone could not hide his smugness.

”Could it be…” Wei Xiaobao looked confused, Song Qingshu was also thinking in his heart, and looked at Emperor Kangxi in surprise.

”Yes, how can we put mere ruffians from wulin in my eyes? Our goal has always been Yuan Chengzhi and his Golden Serpent Camp. The reason why We dared to risk antagonizing the wulin and sent you out with a lot of fanfare to suppress them was all part of the plan. If we make any advances to the territory of Shandong, all sects in Shandong will definitely ask Yuan Chengzhi for help.” A strange light flashed in Emperor Kangxiʼs eyes, and he continued, ”We sent Master Dongfang to hide in the dark. Once Yuan Chengzhi is drawn out of his base camp, he would look for opportunities to attack. Only by killing him can We get rid of a big trouble in Our heart.”

”This time this officialʼs admiration for the Emperor is really like a surging river, uninterrupted, and like the Yellow River flooding everything in its path,” Wei Xiaobaoʼs exaggerated expression of surprise made Emperor Kangxi feel very good. ”So that mission in several other provinces is purely to confuse that stupid Yuan?”

”Yes,” Emperor Kangxi nodded, ”If We sent you directly to Shandong, it would definitely arouse Yuan Chengzhiʼs suspicion. He might not be so easily fooled. However, when he sees you purging other provinces and sects, he would really think that We want to suppress the wulin, hahahaha…”

”May know why the Emperor specially ordered us to not pursue the victory momentum and destroy the Golden Serpent Camp?” Song Qingshu asked a question that had been puzzling him. Although he was more willing to see this situation, this move from Emperor Kangxi must have a deep meaning. It was better to be prepared.

”According to the spyʼs report, the leaders of the Golden Serpent Camp have been ill-intentioned in the past year. Had it not been suppressed by Yuan Chengzhiʼs prestige, We are afraid they would have fallen into infighting. Now that Yuan Chengzhi is dead, they will have a bloody battle in order to be the next leader. If we attack them at this time, it may force them to hug each other and put down their prejudices. That would be a mistake.” Emperor Kangxi glanced at Song Qingshu and smiled faintly.

”The Emperor is really clever, so we will wait until they bite each other like dogs and suffer heavy casualties, and then be the fisherman…” Wei Xiaobaoʼs oily words again came to his ears, but Song Qingshu felt that a layer of cold sweat was oozing down his back.

“I used to think I was familiar with the plot of the story, but when I traveled through the world, I naturally regarded the characters in this world as a kind of intelligent NPC. Now I know that there are actually many talented people in this world. I will pay the price if I’m careless.”

Goblin: Sorry for the delay. I was busy with some real life matters.

For this novel and the author, this chapter is a turning point and also an indication of his talent as a storyteller. What kind of novel is this? You should be able to guess from the intelligence the Emperor showed in this chapter. There will be a lot of similar antagonists, opponents, side characters in the novel in the future. So, look forward to an enjoyable read!

And, as always, a Trillion thanks to all who are supporting me! I really appreciate it!