Chapter 546: Takes the Stage

Xia Lingpei came out of the room and looked back at Old Third Zhang, who followed closely behind him, never more than a step away.

Then he looked at Old Eighth Zhu watching from not far off and frowned.

Previously, the woman called Hongniang had watched him.

Now she had been replaced by two other men.

He felt as though he were being guarded like a prisoner.

When he reached the front courtyard, he spotted Niu Youdao and Guan Fangyi standing together and talking.

Xia Lingpei's eyes lit up.

He quickened his pace, went straight to Niu Youdao, and bowed with complete respect.

“Teacher!”

Fanatical admiration and worship shone in his eyes.

This teacher had not actually taught him much.

Niu Youdao had simply written several dozen poems and ci verses, thrown them to him, and told him to study them on his own.

At first, Xia Lingpei had not thought much of it.

Niu Youdao was not that much older than he was.

But after reading what had been written, Xia Lingpei immediately regarded him as a man sent down from Heaven.

Only then did he understand why his uncle had said this man's poetry and verse were of peerless beauty and that he was worthy to serve as a teacher.

Xia Lingpei had submitted completely.

He had been kept under close watch for years and spent almost all his time at home.

Most of what he knew about the outside world came from books, and he inevitably carried all the habits of a scholar.

A single fine poem could make him slap the table in delight and set his blood racing.

A single fine ci could leave him melancholy over the ages, tossing and turning through an entire night with sighs.

Those dozens of poems and ci verses had become sacred texts in his eyes.

He read them over and over.

That was also precisely what Niu Youdao intended.

Niu Youdao had no leisure to teach him right now.

So he told the boy to keep studying them until he understood them thoroughly and could recite them backward and forward before they discussed anything else.

In truth, he had merely brushed the boy off however was convenient.

Niu Youdao gave a quiet sound of acknowledgment.

Standing there with both hands on his sword, he asked coldly, “Why are you wandering around instead of studying?”

His manner carried a convincing air of a stern teacher.

Xia Lingpei was left tongue-tied.

Embarrassed, he answered, “This student will return at once.”

He kept his hands cupped, backed away several steps, then turned and left.

Guan Fangyi watched him go and burst out laughing.

“He's nothing but a bookworm. I truly don't understand why Yucang and the others treat him like some treasure.”

“What's wrong with being a bookworm?” Niu Youdao watched the retreating figure. “At least he can live inside a world of his own.”

“Master Dao!”

Yuan Gang came walking quickly and handed him a secret letter.

Guan Fangyi could not resist looking at Yuan Gang's arms yet again, her expression as though she were examining some strange monster.

She had lost count of how many times she had looked at him that way.

Uncle Chen and the others had suffered severe injuries.

Even after taking Heavenly Succor Pills, they could not possibly recover in the short term.

All had already been sent back to the hidden base to recuperate.

Old Second Wu, Old Third Zhang, and Old Eighth Zhu had been brought in to replace them.

But the man standing before her had refused even a spiritual pill after being injured that badly.

Both arms had been broken into horrifying shapes.

Yet after only a few days, when she saw him again, they were already healed.

Now that their people had arrived, they had also reestablished communication channels in every direction.

Niu Youdao scanned the secret letter and raised his brows slightly.

It was news from Dachan Mountain.

Their negotiations with Yan's three great sects had been concluded.

The plan had already entered execution.

Dachan Mountain was asking this side to cooperate.

Niu Youdao handed the letter back to Yuan Gang and instructed, “Contact the Prince. Tell him to prepare and cooperate with the handover.”

Yuan Gang turned and left.

Guan Fangyi said, “The matter with Tianyu Sect can finally be brought to an end. Yet you don't seem happy at all.”

“It was within expectations. What's there to be happy about?” Niu Youdao sighed. “Shao Pingbo is far more troublesome than Tianyu Sect.”

It was at that moment that a rare visitor arrived.

Bu Xun had come.

Niu Youdao personally went to the entrance to receive the honored guest.

As they walked back inside, he glanced up at the mid-afternoon sun.

At this hour?

When both men sat down inside the pavilion, Niu Youdao smiled.

“Chief Steward has suddenly honored me with a visit. This junior is truly overwhelmed with trepidation!”

“You? Trepidation?” Bu Xun laughed. “Heh.”

He looked around.

“Wasn't that student of yours supposed to attend on you for three days? How many days has it been now?”

Niu Youdao said, “Chief Steward can't have come to evict us, surely? We don't spend much in a single day. Can Chief Steward really begrudge us that little money?”

Bu Xun did not waste time bantering with him.

He knew that whatever secretive business Niu Youdao and Yucang were conducting would not be easily revealed, and pointless sparring would get him nowhere.

Instead, he reminded him, “That enemy of yours, Shao Pingbo, has gone to Jin.”

Niu Youdao slowly nodded, expressionless. “I heard. Draped in the Emperor's own robe, glorious beyond measure.”

Bu Xun sighed. “When we investigated afterward, we actually discovered signs of it.”

“On the day he fled, he met not only Wei's envoy but Jin's envoy as well.”

“We overlooked it.”

Those words irritated Niu Youdao enough that he could not resist mocking him.

“Is there any point saying that now? What were you doing earlier?”

Mockery aside, he himself had to admit that Shao Pingbo's methods had truly been brilliant.

Who could have imagined Wei would cooperate with Shao Pingbo in putting on an act, and do it without revealing the slightest flaw?

Wei had been acting while Shao Pingbo escaped.

Even after he was gone, they kept acting.

According to what Niu Youdao had heard, Wei's envoy had even gone to the imperial palace the next day and demanded an explanation from Hao Yuntu.

Until the news arrived that Shao Pingbo had appeared in Jin, even Niu Youdao had remained convinced he had gone to Wei.

He had never seriously considered another possibility.

Never mind Bu Xun's people overlooking Shao Pingbo's meeting with Jin's envoy.

Even if Niu Youdao had known about it at the time, he probably would have overlooked it too and continued watching Wei.

Given Shao Pingbo's identity and background, what was strange about him meeting several foreign envoys in the Qi capital?

The key point was that Wei's moves had plainly shown an intention to send Shao Pingbo to Wei.

Why would Wei help Jin spirit the man away?

Shao Pingbo's maneuver had simply revealed no flaw whatsoever.

Even Niu Youdao, an old opponent who knew him well, had failed to see through it.

There was hardly anything strange about everyone else being fooled.

Bu Xun turned his head and looked beyond the pavilion, sounding deeply reflective.

“We were all fooled by his smokescreen.”

“Wei could not possibly have helped Jin take him away. Nine chances out of ten, Wei was used too.”

“This Shao Pingbo truly is no simple man.”

Then he turned back to Niu Youdao.

“You chased him from Myriad Beasts Sect to Beizhou, then pursued him from Beizhou all the way to the Qi capital.”

“Are you really planning to let him go now?”

“You drove him into this state.”

“If he gains power in Jin, he will not let you off.”

That was the reason Bu Xun had come.

Shao Pingbo's arrival in Jin had not only put Xuan Wei on guard.

It had likewise alarmed Hao Yuntu.

More precisely, Taishu Xiong's extraordinary treatment of Shao Pingbo had made Hao Yuntu uneasy.

And not only Wei and Qi were watching.

Taishu Xiong's treatment had drawn the close attention of every state.

In one stroke, Shao Pingbo's value in everyone's eyes had risen sharply.

The son of a regional lord had finally stepped out from beneath his father's shadow and formally taken the stage among the contending powers of the Seven States.

Wei and Qi, however, were unlike the other four states.

That dangerous neighbor stood directly beside them.

If Jin made any move, they would be the first to bear the consequences.

And the man sitting before Bu Xun happened to be Shao Pingbo's mortal enemy.

The other states might not know the details, but Bu Xun did.

This was not the first time Shao Pingbo had suffered at Niu Youdao's hands.

Tens of thousands of warhorses had once been seized from him by this man.

This time, Niu Youdao had forced him into becoming a homeless dog and pursued him relentlessly, missing his chance to kill him by only one step.

The person who understood an enemy best was seldom the enemy's friend.

It was the enemy's enemy.

A man capable of repeatedly restraining someone like Shao Pingbo could not possibly have failed to study him deeply.

And Niu Youdao wanted Shao Pingbo dead.

That was why Bu Xun had come carrying a measure of hope.

Put plainly, Qi wanted to borrow Niu Youdao's hand to eliminate Shao Pingbo.

Niu Youdao asked in return, “It's not that I want to let him go. But Taishu Xiong protects him now. What can I possibly do to him?”

“Why doesn't Chief Steward teach me?”

Bu Xun said, “You may act freely.”

“It is no secret that the Office of Investigation has people in Jin.”

“If there is anything you need, so long as it is within my ability, I will cooperate fully.”

“And not only my side.”

“I believe Wei will hold the same attitude.”

“With two states supporting you from behind, and given your understanding of him, you should be able to think of some method.”

Niu Youdao almost laughed.

This was plainly an attempt to use him as a blade.

If he could eliminate Shao Pingbo, Niu Youdao would gladly become that blade.

The problem was that Shao Pingbo now had Jin's protection.

How could killing him possibly be easy?

Running blindly into Jin's territory without understanding the situation and trying to kill a newly favored man in the Emperor of Jin's eyes would be little different from courting death.

Even so, Niu Youdao finally said, “There is one method.”

Bu Xun gave an interested sound and immediately asked, “I'd like to hear the details.”

Niu Youdao answered with a perfectly serious expression.

“Qi can dispatch its armies and crush Jin.”

“Once Jin falls, Shao Pingbo will become duckweed without roots.”

“Leave the rest to me.”

“I will certainly take his head and present it to Chief Steward. I will not break my word.”

“...”

Bu Xun was thoroughly choked by the answer.

If Qi truly possessed that ability, would it need Niu Youdao to remind them?

They would have flattened Jin long ago.

“I'm joking. Chief Steward needn't take it seriously.” Niu Youdao smiled and smoothed the matter over.

“This affair cannot be moved against recklessly.”

“I still need time to think it through.”

“Once I've settled on a course and need Chief Steward's help, I'll inevitably come begging.”

He had not rejected the idea completely.

With that, Bu Xun could only change the subject.

“Given your understanding of Shao Pingbo, what do you think he will do after going to Jin?”

Niu Youdao asked, “How does Chief Steward view Jin?”

Bu Xun answered with eight blunt characters' worth of judgment.

“It exhausts itself in war and is vicious to the extreme!”

Niu Youdao sighed.

“Then Chief Steward already has the answer.”

“It's obvious enough. What more is there to think about?”

“For Taishu Xiong to honor him this greatly, Shao Pingbo must have catered precisely to what Taishu Xiong desires and satisfied his appetite.”

“I think Qi should prepare early.”

“Prepare for war with Jin.”

“Truly, rather than sit and wait for trouble, it may be better to strike first.”

“Qi could consider joining hands with Wei and invading Jin in one stroke, catching them completely unprepared!”

Bu Xun fell into thought.

Then he abruptly woke up to what was happening.

Something was wrong.

He had come here intending to use Niu Youdao as a blade.

How had Niu Youdao nearly turned around and used Qi as his blade instead?

A faint chill went through Bu Xun.

The fellow opposite him was truly formidable.

His line of thinking had nearly been guided along without him noticing.

If Niu Youdao genuinely bewitched him into returning to the palace and urging Hao Yuntu to do the same, who knew what consequences might follow?

That said, the answer Niu Youdao had given was still reasonable.

Bu Xun possessed enough analytical ability to see that much.

He left while still pondering Niu Youdao's judgment.

At least the visit had given him a direction to consider, so the trip had not been wasted.

At the entrance, Niu Youdao and Guan Fangyi watched Bu Xun's carriage depart.

Then they turned and walked back inside.

Guan Fangyi asked, “Aren't you afraid Shao Pingbo will borrow Jin's strength and move against you?”

“He will absolutely borrow Jin's strength to deal with me. Is there any need to doubt that?” Niu Youdao replied.

“But not now.”

“His ambitions are not limited to this either.”

“His first priority is to produce results and win Taishu Xiong's trust.”

“He won't be in a hurry to display selfish motives.”

“He has only just arrived and hasn't even planted his feet firmly. Do you think he can immediately start ordering Jin's power around?”

“For now, Shao Pingbo himself does not worry me too much.”

“What concerns me more is Taishu Xiong.”

“That emperor went all the way.”

“He put his own imperial robe on Shao Pingbo and even led him by the hand.”

“If Taishu Xiong takes the initiative to stand up for Shao Pingbo, then we'll have real trouble.”

[End of Chapter 546]