Chapter 183: Chapter 161: Noble Li Fu
Ling Xiao’s words made even Uncle Fu pause for a moment. His wise eyes narrowed, and he cleared his throat before speaking. "Young Master, are you suggesting... the Southern King? I had the same suspicion, but how can you be so certain that the Sword Sect expert isn’t one of the Crown Prince’s men? Although the two Sword Sect masters in the Imperial Palace wouldn’t take orders from the Crown Prince... Young Master, don’t forget the recent assassination attempt."
Ling Xiao nodded. "I know. I have my reasons for being sure that person doesn’t work for the Crown Prince. Ye Zi and I have met that Sword Sect expert before."
"What?"
Uncle Fu, Ling Wu, Mo Qing, and Meng Li all stood there, stunned. Their eyes filled with disbelief. That was a master of the Sword Sect! To be honest, it would probably be easier to get an audience with His Majesty the King!
"Ye Zi and I once accidentally witnessed this Sword Sect expert steal the Tier Five Magical Beast that the Crown Prince had won at the Huangpu Auction House. We were likely the only outsiders who saw it happen, and we can confirm that the Sword Sect expert from then and the one now are the same person! That’s why I dare to say with certainty that he wasn’t hired by the Crown Prince!"
After Ling Xiao finished, Uncle Fu let out a long sigh. "If that’s the case, then it seems... it could only be him. But this is truly astonishing news. To think he has someone of the Sword Sect under his command... Young Master, if you don’t mind, this matter should be reported to the Old Marshal."
Ling Xiao knew that the "Old Marshal" Uncle Fu mentioned wasn’t his own father, but Marshal Qiu. He nodded. "Uncle Fu, you can handle it as you see fit. I expect clown should be back by now. We can just have it make another trip!"
Ling Xiao had sent clown to the Imperial Capital to deliver a letter to his parents. Though his soul had changed, his heart hadn’t; Ling Xiao still cared deeply for his parents and siblings. Since he couldn’t return to the Imperial Capital for the carnival, Ling Xiao had clown bring his parents some local Penzes specialties—various seafood products. There was also a letter describing his life here, which basically reassured his family that he was doing very well.
Uncle Fu nodded. He was not an ordinary person. Having served alongside the Old Marshal, Qiu Chen, in the past, he had a very clear understanding of the affairs among the Empire’s upper echelons. He was also keenly aware of the struggle for the throne between the Crown Prince and the Second Prince. The old King even seemed to be intentionally indulging this conflict.
Uncle Fu still remembered a time when he was with Qiu Chen at the Imperial Palace. He had personally heard the King say, "My sons must be like the Blast Flame Lion King that dominates the savanna! Only the most outstanding one can be king!"
Those words perfectly explained His Majesty the King’s indulgence of the Crown Prince and the Southern King over the years, and why he turned a blind eye to them recruiting their own forces. It wasn’t until he was with Ling Xiao that Uncle Fu learned the old King’s words back then had been born of unspeakable difficulties—a helpless last resort.
Mo Qing spoke up at this moment. "Right now, the ones in the most trouble are probably those three great noble families. Heh, their losses last night were disastrous. Almost all of their supplies were completely plundered. At this moment, the Patriarchs of those three families are probably either trying to get a certificate from the administration office to request an audience with the King, or they’re at home weeping their eyes out."
Ling Xiao gave a faint smile and glanced at Ling Wu. After Ling Wu had seized all that treasure last night, he hadn’t moved it out at all! It was all right here, inside the Viscount’s Mansion!
The Viscount’s Mansion had a sprawling, crisscrossing network of cellars that Ling Xiao only fully discovered long after he took over. The Li Houlin family had controlled Penzes City for over a thousand years; their accumulated resources were truly substantial!
In the process of exploring these cellars, they had even found a great deal of astonishingly valuable treasure. Otherwise, with the enormous expenses of late, the few hundred thousand gold coins Ling Xiao originally had would have been depleted long ago!
After the goods were seized last night, they were moved directly into the depths of the cellars. As for the large amounts of grain and other things they couldn’t carry away, Ling Wu simply burned it all to the ground.
In short, after last night, the four great noble families of Penzes City were now history. From this day forward, there would be only one great noble family—the Mo Family! Of course, that was without including Ling Xiao, the Lord himself.
...
On the edge of Penzes Swamp, inside the Southern King’s base, sounds of laughter and merriment echoed from the barracks of the several-hundred-thousand-strong army. For these soldiers, this carnival was no different from any other. For the past few days, they had been feasting without restraint—eating large chunks of meat, downing big bowls of wine, and receiving generous rewards! If the Second Prince was in a good mood, he might even procure a group of girls from who-knows-where for their entertainment.
But this year, it seemed the Second Prince wasn’t in a very good mood, because there were no girls.
Li Wutong paced back and forth in his room, his expression extremely agitated. Lying on the bed, Elder Peng had his eyes closed, seemingly annoyed by the sound of Li Wutong’s footsteps. Elder Peng coughed lightly and said calmly, "Your Highness, this old man isn’t dead yet. A few months of rest, and I should make a full recovery. Your Highness need not worry."
Seeing Elder Peng finally speak, Li Wutong let out a long sigh of relief. Last night, Elder Peng had returned gravely injured, which had nearly scared the soul out of Li Wutong. This old man was his greatest pillar of support and his final trump card in the fight for the throne!
Other things like prestige and armies... those weren’t truly important. As long as you sat on that throne and gave a command, who would dare to disobey? Whoever had the strongest fist held the power! This was what Li Wutong had always believed.
