Chapter 951: A Fraud Who Deceives the World and Steals a Reputation

Guan Fangyi understood his meaning. Smiling, she extended a hand and invited Hui Qingping to go with her.

Hui Qingping hesitated slightly, but in the end she followed.

In earlier years, she had looked down on Hongniang of the Qi capital, whose reputation for beauty had spread far and wide. Now neither woman had any grounds to disdain the other. They were evenly matched, and Hui Qingping herself was no better off. She had become a joke as well. There was no pride left in her, much less any qualification to look down on Guan Fangyi.

Quan Taifeng understood Niu Youdao's intention too. With a clear conscience, he had no fear of Niu Youdao examining Hui Qingping, though he still teased him. "Little Brother, you don't trust me?"

"How could that be? I have no reason not to trust Big Brother. One matter is one matter; another is another. What I'm guarding against is the State of Song. Come, please come inside!" Niu Youdao gestured invitingly, bringing Quan Taifeng and the cultivators from Song's three major sects who had accompanied him inside.

The monks of Nanshan Temple immediately busied themselves preparing fine wine and good dishes for the guests.

When the table was full, Niu Youdao and the others did not begin eating right away. They wanted to wait for Hui Qingping. But after waiting and waiting, she never appeared. Guan Fangyi eventually came over to inform them. "Master Dao, Sister Ping says she wants to rest. She told you to carry on as you please and not worry about her." After speaking, she gave Niu Youdao a slight nod, indicating that there was nothing wrong with Hui Qingping's body.

Everyone present could understand. Given Hui Qingping's state of mind, it was easy to imagine why she did not want to show herself before outsiders right now.

Niu Youdao therefore invited Quan Taifeng and the others to take their seats. Quan Taifeng, however, was in no hurry. He first pulled Niu Youdao aside and asked, "Little Brother, I've kept my promise. You're not going to go back on your word, are you?"

"How could I? Big Brother has already done everything that could be expected of you. How could I break faith and make things difficult for you?" Niu Youdao immediately turned to Guan Fangyi. "Notify Meng Shanming. Yan and Song are to turn hostility into peace. Have him withdraw to Nanzhou immediately."

"Yes!" Guan Fangyi accepted the order and left.

Quan Taifeng burst into laughter and pulled Niu Youdao to the table to drink...

When the feast ended and the guests dispersed, Quan Taifeng and the others still had to return and report back. They did not linger. After paying a visit to Gong Lince and confirming the outcome, they immediately departed.

Once the guests were gone, Niu Youdao went to see Hui Qingping, only to find the door closed to him. She seemed unwilling to see anyone. For the days that followed, she kept herself shut in her room almost constantly.

Niu Youdao did not force her, nor did he try to persuade her. He never mentioned how much effort he had spent rescuing her and forbade Guan Fangyi and the others from mentioning it either. He simply let her be.

Zijin Cave also proved true to its word. Meng Shanming withdrew from the Bozhou front, the gathered armies dispersed, and the posture of imminent attack dissolved.

Once Zijin Cave stood down, the tense military situation throughout Yan naturally eased as well.

After learning from reports on all sides that the crisis had truly passed just like that, Quan Taifeng stood beneath the eaves, lowered the message in his hand, looked up at the blue sky, and sighed softly.

He had not quite expected this result. He had spent the entire time worrying that Niu Youdao might play some trick. Even after Hui Qingping had been delivered, Song had remained uneasy.

Yet the facts now proved that Niu Youdao had harbored no other design. He had stirred up such an enormous commotion solely to save Hui Qingping.

The outcome left Quan Taifeng deeply moved. For a moment he drifted into thought. He was, after all, Niu Youdao's sworn elder brother.

In earlier years, he might still have thought Niu Youdao unqualified to swear brotherhood with him. Now the idea would never even cross his mind...

Even Zijin Cave breathed a sigh of relief when it saw that Niu Youdao really had done all this merely to rescue Hui Qingping. The moment she was safely in his hands, he stopped making trouble over going to Sacred Realm.

There is no wall beneath Heaven through which the wind cannot pass, much less when the affair was this large. Once people learned that the Yan-Song crisis had arisen because of the deposed Empress Hui Qingping, everyone was astonished. The whole thing seemed absurd, and many suspected there had to be some deeper meaning behind it.

But once Niu Youdao successfully rescued Hui Qingping and the crisis between the two states immediately dissolved, the various powers realized they had overthought it. Their surprise only deepened. It truly had been because of this!

A minor disturbance followed.

After Tiannü Sect learned what had happened, it sent people to Zijin Cave demanding Hui Qingping. They even named a price, willing to pay in order to take her back and enforce sect discipline. In short, they could not allow someone who had betrayed her sect to live freely and comfortably.

Earlier, when Hui Qingping was Empress of Song, Tiannü Sect had had no possibility of getting her back. When she fell into misfortune, they had applauded. Since she had already suffered such a fate, there had been no need to pay a price to retrieve her. The consequences of betrayal were plain for all to see.

Who could have known that Niu Youdao would actually pull this traitor out of the sea of suffering?

The same principle still applied: they could not tolerate a traitor living happily. Yet they failed again. Their offer rose all the way to thirty million gold coins, and even then they could not buy Hui Qingping back.

Zijin Cave itself did not particularly care. Even if Hui Qingping were sold and Niu Youdao took the larger share of the proceeds, that would have been acceptable. But Niu Youdao refused, which made the matter difficult.

After seeing Niu Youdao create such an enormous disturbance merely to save Hui Qingping, Zijin Cave no longer dared force him over the matter...

A carriage stopped outside a residence. Shao Pingbo emerged from within, and Shao Sansheng hurried down the steps to receive him. "Young Master."

Shao Pingbo said nothing. He entered the residence, went straight to the study, and sat down in silence.

After following him closely for so many years, Shao Sansheng could tell that beneath Shao Pingbo's calm exterior, his mood was poor. After serving him a cup of tea, he cautiously asked, "What was His Majesty's attitude?"

Shao Pingbo replied evenly, "Now that there's no need to worry about provoking Misty Pavilion into freezing the wars again, he naturally breathed a sigh of relief."

Shao Sansheng sighed. "Niu Youdao's power truly is growing greater and greater. He can actually force the State of Song to swallow such humiliation."

"A fraud who deceives the world and steals a reputation!" Shao Pingbo said disdainfully. "Sworn-sibling affection? Do you believe that?" Then he sneered. "But this also exposes one of his weaknesses. He cares about empty reputation. Sooner or later, that reputation will become a burden around his neck."

Shao Sansheng lowered his head in silence. Whether Niu Youdao would truly be burdened by empty reputation, he did not know. But he knew his Young Master's mood was poor.

After all, Shao Pingbo bore the vile reputation of having killed his mother and elder brother, while Niu Youdao had risked himself to save others at Jiao Lake and had now caused such an enormous commotion to rescue his sworn elder sister. One could imagine how people outside would compare the two...

At Tiandi Sect, the three large gilded characters on the plaque above the main hall were vigorous and forceful.

Sect Leader Linghu Qiu stood beneath that plaque, under the eaves, gazing into the distance with his hands clasped behind his back. He remained silent for a long time.

The story of Niu Youdao rescuing his sworn elder sister had already spread throughout the cultivation world. There was no way Linghu Qiu could have failed to hear of it.

Opinions of Niu Youdao generally fell into two camps. Some praised him for valuing loyalty and affection; others cursed him as a fraud who deceived the world and stole a reputation. But Linghu Qiu was not surprised in the slightest that Niu Youdao would act this way. He had personally experienced Niu Youdao repaying resentment with virtue. To him, this latest affair merely proved Niu Youdao's character all the more clearly.

"Sir." Hongxiu approached gracefully and reported, "Someone has come from the capital. They're asking you to make a trip there."

"The capital?" Linghu Qiu turned in surprise. "Who?"

Hongxiu said, "A eunuch, someone from the palace. He says someone in the palace wants to see you."

"..."

Linghu Qiu was speechless for a moment, then smiled bitterly. "People had nearly forgotten that he and I once swore brotherhood. It seems the matter has been dug back up and remembered again. I'm afraid my peaceful days are over."

Hongxiu lowered her head. As for that man, the two sisters no longer hated him, but their feelings remained complicated. The events of Fufang Garden were memories neither wished to revisit.

...

"Senior Brother?" Tang Yi, emerging from the inner courtyard, saw Wei Duo waiting outside the courtyard gate and was somewhat surprised. She tried asking, "Is something the matter?"

Wei Duo said, "I wanted to talk to you."

Tang Yi fell silent briefly, then raised a hand in invitation. The two walked side by side along a shaded path.

They wandered for a while without Wei Duo speaking. Tang Yi finally asked on her own, "What did you want to say?"

Pain appeared on Wei Duo's face. "I don't understand. If he can be so magnanimous toward someone like Hui Qingping, a so-called sworn elder sister, if he can go to such lengths for her, why has he always refused to let go of his grudge against Shangqing Sect?"

Tang Yi remained beautiful as ever, but fell silent. Naturally she knew who he meant. That man was also a knot in her own heart that could never quite be untied. They had, after all, once been husband and wife.

Only after a long while did she speak softly. "Senior Brother, it's all in the past. Even if he once owed Martial Uncle Dong Guo a debt, by allowing Shangqing Sect to establish itself here, he has already repaid it. Today he holds high rank and great authority, with enormous power behind him. Shangqing Sect is a small temple. We can no longer contain a man like him, nor are we in any position to reach that high. There is no meaning in dwelling on it. Don't mention it again. It truly is all in the past. Now that Shangqing Sect has a stable place to stand, things will improve day by day."

Wei Duo said, "But he's going to Sacred Realm!"

The Sacred Realm tempering had finally reached the point where it could no longer be avoided. Everyone involved had to face what was coming.

Niu Youdao himself appeared neither hurried nor anxious. He lay beneath a tree on a reclining chair with his eyes closed, seemingly dozing. No one knew what he was thinking.

Everyone did know, however, that when he lay there listlessly like this, he was usually thinking through some matter. No one lightly disturbed him.

Wen Mo'er arrived and came close enough to interrupt him. "Master Dao, people from Tianhuo Sect have arrived."

"Hm?" Niu Youdao opened his eyes.

Wen Mo'er said, "The Tianhuo Sect people who are going to Sacred Realm for tempering have arrived. They want you to fulfill your promise."

Niu Youdao sat up. "There are still several days left, aren't there? Why are they in such a hurry? Invite them in."

Wen Mo'er said, "They say they want to depart early so nothing unexpected delays them. They refuse to come inside. They're waiting outside the sect for you to set out together."

"What are they afraid will delay them? They're afraid I'll play some trick and leave them no time to react. Really, these people. Their names are already on the list. What are they still afraid of?" Niu Youdao lay back down and waved Wen Mo'er away, then called, "Someone."

Chen Guishuo quickly appeared and landed beside him. Bowing respectfully, he asked, "Master Dao, what is it?"

Niu Youdao said, "Ask Hongniang and Wu Zhaoxing to come over."

"Yes!" Chen Guishuo strode away.

Before long, Guan Fangyi and Wu Zhaoxing arrived. Niu Youdao gave Chen Guishuo another instruction, ordering him to keep watch around the area and allow no one to approach casually.

"What's all this secrecy about?" Wu Zhaoxing asked as he sat down nearby.

Still lying lazily on the reclining chair as though he were discussing nothing serious, Niu Youdao said, "On this trip to Sacred Realm, there are some things I'm too lazy to arrange in detail, and some things simply can't be arranged. Man's plans cannot outdo Heaven's. Who could have imagined I'd run into this kind of rotten luck? If I don't return this time, take them to the Demonic Sect. For the sake of our friendship, if you can look after them somewhat, all the better. In any case, leave them a road to survival. Contact the Demonic Sect and prepare for them to receive everyone. If outsiders become suspicious, put everything on Zhao Xiongge."

The subject weighed heavily on the room. Guan Fangyi lowered her head, dejected.

Wu Zhaoxing sighed. He understood. If this man was gone, Zijin Cave would never tolerate the people of the Maolu Annex remaining as they were. Without him, no one could hold up the situation they currently possessed. Anyone who tried to resist by force would come to grief.

Still, Wu Zhaoxing offered a word of reassurance. "It may not be as bad as you think."

Niu Youdao said, "When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter. Everyone understands the principle. Making arrangements early isn't a bad thing. We'll do it this way."

[End of Chapter 951]