Chapter 38 Things Turn for the Better (3)
Song Yuanqiao didn’t believe that Li Ye would kill him.
The rebels returned to attack the village at night, and the youths of the Imperial Clan were caught in a fight. The situation was extremely unfavourable. Li Ye’s status was noble. Song Yuanqiao came to help them. All these were logical and there was no flaw.
Song Yuanqiao believed that he could kill Li Ye.
He was going to talk with Li Ye first to make him relaxed, then kill him in a surprise attack. If he failed, the master who was pretending to be an officer of Hu County would help him. Li Ye couldn’t run away.
However, the truth was completely contrary to the expectations of Song Yuanqiao.
The Luke Sword penetrated his abdomen so that Song Yuanqiao completely lost his fighting capacity and his Spiritual Qi and strength had already dissipated. The fear of death flooded him, making his legs tremble.
But Song Yuanqiao was still alive. After all, he was a cultivator of Qi-refining. If there was a panacea to help him in time, he might have a chance to live. He turned back and stretched out his hand to the officer in black. “Help... help me...”
The officer in black was a middle-aged man with ordinary facial features and an ordinary stature, which made it suitable for him to hide his true identity. At this time, he was very angry. “Your Highness, why did you kill someone for no reason?”
Li Ye shook his head, “I killed him for no reason? No, it is you who want to kill me first.”
“We are here to save you.” The officer in black said angrily. “When did we want to kill you?”
Li Ye sneered and said, “When we arrived at Luoping Village, you have been trying to kill me, but you have not succeeded.”
The officer in black was furious. “Why does Prince An sling mud at us? What’s your purpose in doing so?!”
Li Ye praised him. “I didn’t think that you could act so well. You are not an officer of Hu County, but work for Li Guanshu, am I right?”
The officer in black was slightly stunned. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
Li Ye sneered and said, “Before I came here, I had investigated the situation in Hu County. With the help of Wang Duo, I could find everything that I wanted to know. Most officials in Hu County are closely related to Li Guanshu, and Song Yuanqiao is the relative of Li Guanshu. As for you, did Li Guanshu send you? You pretended to be an official, aren’t you going to kill me?”
The officer’s eyes twinkled for a moment, but he quickly concealed it. “I don’t understand Prince An’s words!”
“Well, I’ll say something you can understand. Why don’t you start yet?” Li Ye looked at him.
“Because you can’t run!” The officer in black said.
Li Ye supported Song Yuanqiao and let him stand in front of him. He looked at the man in black and said, “You’re very confident.”
The man in black snorted and threw off his long sleeves, throwing a palm at the old locust tree outside the courtyard at will.
The old locust tree had been growing for many years. One couldn’t hug its thick trunk. The branches and leaves were flourishing and were even larger than the house. But under the attack of the official, it burst like tofu.
Leaves and debris flew like clouds, fell to the ground and carpeted the ground.
Attracted by the loud sound, many of the attackers who were fighting against the youths rushed over.
The man in black looked contemptuously at Li Ye. It was the look of someone superior to the weak. “I’m in Level 5 of Qi-refining, shouldn’t I be confident?”
Li Ye nodded. “So, you really do work for Duke Xing. It’s impossible for there to be a master of Level 5 in Hu County.”
“So what if I am?” The look of the man became gloomy.
“The two groups of attackers that appeared today, are they both sent by Duke Xing?” Li Ye’s words were astonishing.
The man in black was stunned. “What did you say?”
Li Ye sneered. “If my guess is right, there is no so-called rebels in Niushou Mountain. The rebels we saw are just being role-played by some other people.”
The hands of the man in black trembled, and he almost started the fight. He said in a low voice, “Your Highness, are you kidding?”
Li Ye became calmer. He slowly said, “Don’t you want to know how I knew that you and Song Yuanqiao wanted to kill me?”
The man in black was silent. The answer to this question was the direct reason why they failed and were subject to Li Ye. He was very curious.
He soon noticed that the attackers had come to this farmyard and were closing in from all sides, which made him calm. He looked at Song Yuanqiao who was trembling, his blood constantly flowing and accumulating in front of his feet. If he weren’t a cultivator of Qi-refining, he would have already died.
Worry flashed in the man’s eyes. Although Song Yuanqiao was only the head of a county and his cultivation was in Level 1 of Qi-refining, he came from a big family. If Song Yuanqiao died in front of him, the man in black would get in trouble.
The man in black looked at Li Ye and said, “Song Yuanqiao and I really don’t want to hurt you.”
Li Ye laughed and said, “You are a master. Even though you pretended to be an official, you can’t hide your temperament. You really think that I’m so young that I can’t find out? During the fierce fighting today, although the attackers attacked all of us, I suffered more attacks. Duchess of Li and I had killed five attackers...”
“You knew I won against Li Yao, so you are afraid of my strength. Therefore, you have chosen close combat this time. This fellow with the golden hammers was good at assassination. Today, if not for the timely support of Duchess of Li, if not for my good skills in close combat, he would have killed me. And this is also true tonight. If I had not prepared earlier, I would not have been able to react to his attack.”
Speaking of this, Li Ye sneered. “I know that Li Guanshu will not stop. This examination was an opportunity for him.”
The man in black stared at Li Ye. “What does the attacker’s behavior have to do with us?”
Li Ye sneered and said, “I said, there are no rebels in this mountain. The so-called rebels are just being played by you guys. Everything in Luoping Village is just a play.”
“Why did so many attackers appear in Luoping village? Because they knew we would come here. So they laid an ambush by the river. Why did the attackers attack us? If they were rebels, why did they attack us when they didn’t know who we were? And if they know our identities, they should understand what trouble they would get into if they attacked the youths of the Imperial Clan, Grand Prince, and Duchess, and they should know how severely the Imperial Court would retaliate. Even if they were ready to rebel, they shouldn’t have made such a decision.”
“The rebels rebel for fame and wealth, not death. The wounded attackers by the riverside committed suicide together after the launch of the Transfer Formation, which is an act of the slain. Needless to say, the existence of the Transfer Formation in the weeds was unreasonable. And the launch of the Transfer Formation was too fast. If they hadn’t already made up their minds to escape, there would not be such an arrangement.”
Li Ye shook his head. “There are too many suspicious points.”
The face of the man in black was pale, but he still forced himself to calm down. “These are just your speculations. Even if the rebels act abnormally, it cannot be said that they are fake. We know little about the rebels, who knows what their plans are!”
Li Ye smiled lightly and said, “You’re right. If that’s all, it’s really too arbitrary of me to think that the attackers were your men. However, the old farmer that Song Yuanqiao found in the village was your flaw. When he asked the old farmer, I asked Shangguan Qingcheng to pick some oranges. She trampled on the crops, but the old farmer turned a blind eye to it. Have you ever planted any corps? Maybe not.”
“If you have, you should know how much farmers value their crops. Even if we are noble, even if Shangguan Qingcheng trampled on just a few wheat plants, the farmer still would have been heartbroken. Would you dare to find the old farmer and let me ask him?”
The hands of the official moved slightly. He almost could not help killing Li Ye. He looked at Song Yuanqiao and restrained himself. He continued to argue, “Prince An’s imagination is very rich, but you neglected one thing. Why did we do this?”
Li Ye looked at the officer. “Of course you have your purpose. This purpose is not difficult to find. Are you doing this for the Taoist temple in the mountain?”
The official widened his eyes suddenly, his face full of disbelief.
Li Ye sighed. “I don’t know what happened between Li Guanshu and the Taoist temple in the mountain. I know that Li Guanshu wants to get rid of this Taoist temple, but he does not have the ability.”
“Because he doesn’t have the ability, Li Guanshu framed that the Taoist temple was going to rebel. He wanted to destroy the Taoist temple with the help of the Imperial Court. So, from the beginning to the end, there were no rebels who have harmed the villages. That’s just your framing of the Taoist temple.”
“After framing them, someone has to convict the Taoist temple. Li Guanshu has a great influence in the Imperial Court, so he arranged for us to investigate this case. This was really a wonderful arrangement. Because these youths are somewhat naive and seldom go out of Chang’an, so we haven’t experienced too many things, and we are quite simple both in mind and intelligence.”
“When we were ambushed in Luoping village, we would be indignant and hate the rebels. After exploring the village, we would know the attacker’s identity, and we wouldn’t doubt anything. We would only think about revenge and performing well to pass the assessment, so we wouldn’t think too much about it. In the end, the Taoist priests in the Taoist temple in Niushou Mountain would be believed to be the rebels.”
The official’s face twitched. He took a deep breath and looked at Li Ye, his eyes full of wonder. “But Duchess of Li and Childe Li have gone to the Taoist temple. If this is true, they will find out.”
Li Ye smiled. “So you have arranged the attack tonight. If my guess is right, you have contacted Duchess of Li and Childe Li through the Messaging Jade Note and told them to come back to help us, right? So they won’t reach the Taoist temple at all.”
“And after tonight’s attack, we are bound to be more frightened of the rebels and won’t dare to go to the Taoist temple anymore. Moreover, a Grand Prince would have died here... so the youths of the Imperial Clan will hurry away so as not to fall into a deeper crisis. When Duchess of Li sees that I have died, she would not want to go to the Taoist temple. If Duchess of Li doesn’t go with him, Li Jing’an would also not go alone.”
The officer was stunned. He looked at Li Ye as if he were looking at a monster. “You... you even thought of all of this?”
“Well, you’re confessing now?” Li Ye laughed. “That was very fast.”
The officer in black drew out his long sword. “It doesn’t matter even if I confess. As long as you are killed, nobody will know the truth. It would have been better if the seven people killed you before. Since they failed, we’ll do it again. Just a few more people would die.”
“Now Song Yuanqiao is in my hands. I observed just now. You are quite concerned about him, so you have not started. If my guess is right, your status is low and you don’t dare to let Song Yuanqiao die in front of you. You want to start now?” Li Ye looked at him with alertness.
The officer in black sneered. “Now your life is more important than his.”
“So, in a word, you have two tasks this time. One is framing the Taoist temple in Niushou mountain; the other is killing me.” Li Ye looked at the officer and said earnestly, “But I will run. You can’t kill me.”
The officer said contemptuously, “The reason why I have waited so long is that I am afraid of your strength. You have defeated Childe Yao, so you should have some secret technique. But now, the people outside the courtyard have surrounded the whole place, so you can’t escape.”
“Good!” Li Ye said with praise. “But how do you know that I’m not procrastinating when I talk to you so much?”
“How will you...” The official had intended to say ‘how will you fucking procrastinate’. But when he had only said it halfway, his face suddenly changed. “You...”
“It seems that you have figured it out. Obviously, what I have said to you just now is something that I had already thought of. So this afternoon, I also told Duchess of Li it through the Messaging Jade Note. So why would they still go to the Taoist temple when they have my information?” Li Ye’s gaze was full of playfulness.
“They have come back?” The officer in black stepped back and looked around, wondering.
“Not only did they come back, but my Messaging Jade Note is on all the time.” Li Ye’s smile became larger. “They also heard the conversation between you and me, and this is your evidence of guilt. So, from now on, both you and Li Guanshu will be finished!”