Chapter 1246: Lord Shao, You'd Better Watch Yourself!

The sudden revelation that Shao Pingbo actually had forces within the Misty Pavilion supporting him sent a genuine chill through Niu Youdao.

With Shao Pingbo's ability combined with the power of the Misty Pavilion, the consequences were frightening to contemplate.

He had known nothing about it before. If not for staging his own death, he might well have charged headfirst into one of Shao Pingbo's nets.

Yun Ji said, "They were approached by the Misty Pavilion, yes, but that is only Tongueless Jia's personal judgment. It may not be true."

Niu Youdao stared at the report and slowly shook his head. "Jia Wuqun's ability is beyond doubt. He would not reach a conclusion without reason. Judging from the information he sent, the possibility is very high."

Yun Ji asked, "What kind of man is that Yuan Cong? He actually dared use lethal force directly against Misty Pavilion personnel!"

Niu Youdao did not answer. "Come. We're going to see Jia Wuqun and the others."

"We're not going to Myriad Beasts Sect?"

"The Misty Pavilion sent people after them, and those people were killed. This is no small matter. Even Jia Wuqun has been frightened into hiding. I need to step in personally and confirm exactly what happened. I want to interrogate the man they captured myself."

"You and I will split up. You make a trip to the State of Song."

Before leaving, Niu Youdao urgently sent word to Yuan Gang, instructing him to arrange for Yun Ji to see Zi Pingxiu as quickly as possible. If anything appeared abnormal, she was to kill Zi Pingxiu immediately.

He was using Yun Ji because he wanted absolute certainty.

There was no helping it. The Misty Pavilion's people had gone looking for Jia Wuqun. Now Jia Wuqun had disappeared. They would certainly go looking for Zi Pingxiu next.

If Zi Pingxiu could not withstand the pressure and revealed Nanzhou, then every bit of power Niu Youdao had spent years building there would be destroyed.

Killing Misty Pavilion personnel was a grave offense. Once the Misty Pavilion discovered it, punishment would be merciless. The Misty Pavilion had never shown leniency in such matters.

At the same time, Niu Youdao had Yuan Gang send word to Sha Rulai, asking him to monitor developments within the Misty Pavilion as closely as possible and report any abnormality immediately.

Niu Youdao went on alone, separating from Yun Ji.

Of the flying mounts the two had brought, Niu Youdao took the first one. Nanzhou would send another flying mount to meet Yun Ji along the way.

In truth, Yun Ji could have managed without one, but for caution's sake they did not want to expose anything unnecessary.

...

"Huan'er..."

Noble Consort Lan pushed open the door carrying a tray. She looked around and saw Taishu Huan'er sitting barefoot, curled into one corner of the couch with a desolate expression. The sight made her mother's heart ache.

She set the tray on the table, walked around to the side of the couch, and rested both hands on her daughter's shoulders. "Huan'er, eat something."

Taishu Huan'er said quietly, "Why did Imperial Father break his word?"

Noble Consort Lan forced a smile. "You've asked that several times already. Your Imperial Father had no choice either!"

Tears immediately spilled down Taishu Huan'er's face.

She had never imagined this would happen.

She had thought that once the matter was settled in court, there could be no further change. Yet something this bizarre truly had occurred. The entire court had used the excuse of an enemy-state conspiracy to overturn the very marriage that the entire court had previously supported.

It was not that she desperately wanted to marry Shao Pingbo. There was nothing of the sort.

More than anything, she had wanted revenge.

But by now she knew what had happened.

The moment Shao Pingbo returned to the capital, he mobilized Blackwater Terrace to arrest people. He had even personally killed Lord Zhao's son. In the span of a single night, he completely reversed the entire situation.

The speed was almost unbelievable.

Yet Shao Pingbo had done it.

She could not help remembering the day they had met at that farmhouse.

Shao Pingbo had told her with perfect clarity:

You cannot threaten me!

His attitude had been so contemptuous.

He had never taken her seriously at all.

And in truth, Shao Pingbo truly had never taken her seriously.

Princess or not, among the countless matters occupying Shao Pingbo's mind, her joys and sorrows simply did not exist.

By now, Shao Pingbo had already left the Jin capital.

After striking like thunder and swiftly resolving the crisis, he immediately departed and returned to the battlefield to continue observing the course of the war.

He had no choice but to leave.

He knew how many people he had offended. If he remained in the capital, who knew what kind of counterattack might come next?

Previously, he had been able to borrow Blackwater Terrace's power to strike back once.

But he could not repeatedly use Blackwater Terrace as a weapon in his struggle against the court officials.

That was not Blackwater Terrace's purpose, and the Emperor would never permit it.

Shao Pingbo had no real foundation in the capital.

Taken as a whole, he simply did not yet possess the power to confront those court officials head-on.

So he could only hide.

Hide somewhere they did not know.

Hide what he was doing.

Only after he achieved great merit, had that merit formally recognized, and truly obtained the corresponding authority would he possess the capital needed to contend with them.

That was why this war was so important to him.

Beside a river, Shao Pingbo sat on a large rock in his cloak, silently watching the water surge past. No one knew what he was thinking.

Shao Sansheng approached, bent close, and whispered, "Eldest Young Master, the shopkeeper is here."

Shao Pingbo immediately came back to himself. "Why has he come without being summoned?"

"I don't know."

"Something's wrong!" Shao Pingbo slowly rose, the wind lifting the cloak behind him. "Jia Wuqun has probably escaped."

Shao Sansheng looked surprised. "How can you tell?"

"So long as Jia Wuqun had not gone into hiding, how could the Misty Pavilion possibly fail to find him? We've asked the shopkeeper repeatedly these past few days and received no answer. His attitude has always been arrogant. Now he suddenly comes without invitation."

"He certainly didn't come personally just to tell us the good news that he found Jia Wuqun. I'm afraid it isn't good news at all. Come."

The two turned and walked away.

They had not gone far when they saw a man dressed unmistakably like a cultivator, a sword on his back, being stopped by the guards.

Shao Pingbo noticed that every time this man appeared, he wore a different face.

He walked over and waved the guards away.

After that, the two men strolled beside the river.

The moment they had moved out of earshot of the others, the shopkeeper said, "Something happened."

Shao Pingbo's heart sank.

For this man to come in person and say something had happened, it was unlikely to be trivial. "What happened?"

"Jia Wuqun disappeared."

Shao Pingbo tested him carefully. "That only proves the man is unusually cunning."

"I'm not talking about that. The two men I sent after them disappeared as well. I've waited several days. No trace, no message. Something must have happened to them."

Shao Pingbo was startled. "How is that possible? Did they approach Jia Wuqun using the Misty Pavilion's identity?"

The shopkeeper gritted his teeth. "That is exactly why this is serious. I regret listening to you. I should never have let them use the Misty Pavilion's identity."

"If they had not done that, this mess would never have arisen."

"What worries me now is that they may already have fallen into the other side's hands. If they say something they should not, the consequences will be unimaginable!"

Shao Pingbo had his own bitterness but could not voice it.

In his judgment, Jia Wuqun was not someone who could easily be taken. Had the shopkeeper used some lesser method, it might truly have failed.

But Shao Pingbo hardly dared say that now.

His heart pounding, he asked, "They had enough nerve to move against Misty Pavilion personnel? Are you certain the men you sent actually met Jia Wuqun's group?"

"Nonsense! My people personally watched the carriage take them out of the Qi capital before they relaxed. What is there to doubt?"

Shao Pingbo immediately understood the severity of the situation. "Did the two men you sent know the order came from Sir personally? If they were dispatched through a lower subordinate, their point of contact should be silenced immediately!"

"Do I need you to teach me that? You think I would dare leave him alive? He's already been silenced!"

"Good." Shao Pingbo exhaled in relief, then frowned. "Sir sent only two men to seize them?"

"Nonsense! Could something like this be allowed to involve too many people? Once they revealed the Misty Pavilion's identity, forget two men—even one would be enough to take away the Sect Leader of any major sect without resistance."

"I came this time to warn you."

"You had better keep your mouth shut. Otherwise, I guarantee you will die miserably!"

If Shao Pingbo did not hold leverage over him, the shopkeeper would already have felt the urge to silence Shao Pingbo on the spot.

Shao Pingbo's expression grew grave.

He understood the meaning behind the warning.

If the two men sent out had truly fallen into the other side's hands, then his connection with the Misty Pavilion might be exposed.

If the other side followed that trail backward, the shopkeeper naturally had reason to fear.

Shao Pingbo immediately tried to reassure him. "Sir is worrying too much. If the other side truly made the move, then the people they attacked were Misty Pavilion personnel. Regardless of why those men went there, the other side would not dare publicize the matter."

"I don't need you to teach me. In any case, you and I should contact each other as little as possible from now on."

"Yes." Shao Pingbo accepted the rebuke humbly, then asked with some puzzlement, "If they dared attack Misty Pavilion personnel, they must have possessed some confidence. How many people were at Jia Wuqun's side? Who had the nerve to strike?"

The shopkeeper seemed puzzled by that as well. "Only two."

Shao Pingbo looked surprised. "What two people? Who was bold enough?"

"One is called Wei Duo. You're hardly unfamiliar with Shangqing Sect. He's one of their disciples."

"The other calls himself Yuan Cong. That should not be his real identity. According to our investigation, he should be Jian Shanyue, the expert ranked eighth on the Golden Core Ranking who lives in seclusion on Xiaoyuan Mountain in the State of Song."

"Wei Duo should not have been a match for the men I sent. If anyone acted, it was probably Jian Shanyue..."

He broke off and stared at Shao Pingbo, who had suddenly stopped walking and was looking at him blankly. "What's wrong with you?"

Shao Pingbo stepped closer, his voice sinking. "Wei Duo of Shangqing Sect? That stutterer? Sir, are you certain the Wuliang Fruits in Wuliang Garden were not stolen?"

The shopkeeper answered irritably, "What are you imagining now? So many people keep watch over the Wuliang Fruits. They hang right there on the tree and are inspected many times every day. Do you think no one would know if they were stolen?"

"Do I need you to remind me?"

"Are you still obsessing over Niu Youdao? I'll tell you again: the corpse was verified beyond any doubt. He is dead. He could not be any more dead!"

Shao Pingbo said, "Then why would Wei Duo be with Jia Wuqun?"

His suspicion was not baseless.

He had neither grievance nor enmity with Jia Wuqun.

Yet the strike against him had come suddenly and strangely, aimed directly at ruining his reputation and standing.

That style felt faintly familiar.

Almost instinctively, his thoughts turned toward Niu Youdao.

The shopkeeper said, "When you first fixed your attention on Jia Wuqun, I already investigated the backgrounds of the people around him."

"Jia Wuqun visited the Wei army camp. While looking around the camp, he encountered Wei Duo on guard duty. Wei Duo asked Jia Wuqun to state his name. Jia Wuqun couldn't speak, and Wei Duo called him a mute."

"That offended Jia Wuqun. Jia retaliated by forcibly demanding Wei Duo be handed over so he could torment him."

"Wei was weak. From Xuan Wei above to Shangqing Sect below, they had no choice but to swallow their anger in the face of Jia Wuqun's pressure."

"Do you really think Wei Duo follows Jia Wuqun willingly?"

"And your information is already outdated. Wei Duo stopped stuttering long ago."

"Is that so?" Shao Pingbo still looked somewhat doubtful.

The shopkeeper said, "Stop worrying about Wei Duo. You should worry about that younger sister of yours instead."

Liuer?

What had happened to Liuer?

Shao Pingbo froze. "Sir, what do you mean by that?"

"The men I sent would never have moved recklessly. Before acting, they watched Jia Wuqun's movements."

"At the time, Jia Wuqun was in the Qi capital, living not far from the residence of the Ghost Doctor's disciple. They also discovered that he had wandered around near that residence."

"Other people may not pay much attention to your sister, but I pay very close attention to her."

"Your sister occasionally visits the Ghost Doctor's disciple now. When it comes to that household, she seems to carry more face than anyone else in the entire Qi capital."

"Jia Wuqun moved against you and then appeared near the Ghost Doctor's disciple. That caught my attention."

"Lord Shao, you'd better watch yourself."

He raised a hand, patted Shao Pingbo on the shoulder, then turned and walked away.

Shao Pingbo stared coldly at the retreating figure.

He had heard the heavy threat hidden in those words:

I pay very close attention to your sister.

[End of Chapter 1246]