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墨書 Inktalez
Divine Consciousness suddenly extended outward, enveloping the trembling Demon Sect member in front of him. Li Hong focused intently on his reaction, trying to discern what was going through the man's mind.
This was the first time Li Hong had used his powerful Divine Consciousness in such a manner. Previously, he had only dealt with spirit beasts. This was his first encounter with a human. To be honest, Li Hong was not very confident about it.
At first, the man did not understand what Li Hong was staring at him for, but gradually he began to feel a strange pressure. This pressure did not come from Li Hong, but from within himself. A strong sense of oppression and fear left his mind blank; he desperately wanted to explain and clarify, but strangely, he could not utter a single word, no matter how hard he tried. Sweat beads dripped from his forehead.
Just then, he suddenly heard a commanding voice in his mind: “Who sent you to infiltrate Li Xiaolou's team?”
This voice struck at his heart, and images began to flash through his mind uncontrollably.
A man in his thirties dressed in an Azure Robe slowly approached him… He opened his mouth to say something, and a Black Light enveloped him… He collapsed… When he woke up, it seemed he had forgotten everything; the stunning Face of Li Xiaolou appeared… Back at his residence, he lit a mysterious talisman that he didn’t even know how it had ended up there… He muttered a few words, and the talisman vanished into blue smoke, seemingly leaving everything unchanged…
He did not know how long it had been when he finally awoke from this strange dreamlike state. Looking around, he realized he was still in the dungeon, completely alone; the terrifying Celestial Master had vanished without a trace.
Li Hong slowly walked into the interrogation room and pondered. So that was how it was.
Initially, this spy was indeed one of Li Xiaolou's subordinates. However, one day a mysterious Azure Robed Man appeared and seemed to have cast some spell on him, causing him to involuntarily act as a spy and report back to that man.
The whole affair was not particularly surprising, but the identity of this Azure Robed Man was intriguing. His Demonic Arts were quite advanced; the spell cast on the spy resembled a Soul Spell. From then on, whenever this man saw Li Xiaolou appear in Lin'an, he would automatically report back. However, during this reporting process, he would be in a state of Separation Syndrome, waking up with little memory of what he had done.
The spell was remarkably sophisticated, and he even mastered the exclusive Talismans of the Immortal Sect! Li Hong sensed that this person was quite formidable but also felt a sense of pride.
The improved Beast Taming Technique proved equally effective on ordinary people. At that time, due to the spell's influence, the man could not articulate anything verbally; however, Li Hong used his Divine Consciousness to extract those images from his mind as if replaying a scene. It was as if Li Hong were an observer watching everything unfold clearly from start to finish.
It was truly impressive; who would have thought that Divine Consciousness could be used like this? Li Hong felt greatly encouraged and couldn't help but smile at the thought. This method might not be honorable and would certainly not be used on one's own people, but if they captured someone from the Demon Sect, it could prove useful. In the future, interrogation might even become unnecessary—how convenient would that be?
With his hands clasped behind his back, Li Hong slowly ascended the steps leading out of the dungeon. The appearance of the Azure Robed Man was deeply etched in his mind. He would definitely encounter this person again in the future.
Three days later, except for four individuals, all the outer members of the Demon Sect were executed.
These four were Autumn Maiden, Mei Niang, Fang Niang, and Autumn Maiden's little maid, Xiaocui. Li Hong had a feeling that the three from Autumn Maiden seemed to be important figures under Li Xiaolou and should be spared for now, as they might be useful in the future. Xiaocui, on the other hand, was not guilty of a death sentence. Li Hong ordered that the four be locked in the dungeon, provided with food, and summoned the imperial physician to treat Autumn Maiden's leg.
Over the years, Li Xiaolou had become well-acquainted with the Song Dynasty, thanks to Qin Xiang. Autumn Maiden and Qin Xiang had been in contact for no less than five years. During these five years, the critical confidential information relayed by Autumn Maiden and her companions allowed the Jin Kingdom to gain a firm grip on the Song Dynasty, even knowing Zhao Gou's urgent desire to bring back his mother and wife. Because of this, the Jin Kingdom offered an exorbitant price to exchange a half-aged woman who was of no use to them for Yue Fei's head.
In a sense, Qin Xiang deserved worse than Qin Hui, but whether that was truly the case was something only Qin Hui knew in his heart. He had also been captured by the Jin people before; how he escaped and concocted lies that convinced everyone in court and led to his reuse by Zhao Gou was a secret known only to him.
At this point, there was no need to further investigate Qin Xiang's case; moreover, he spent most of his time in a daze, occasionally waking up only to cry out Autumn Maiden's name. Nothing could be extracted from him.
Zhao Ding submitted the conclusion of the case report, suggesting at the end that Qin Xiang be secretly executed. He was quite worried that subjects across the land might glean something from Qin Xiang's case and turn their attention toward Zhao Gou.
After reading it silently, Zhao Gou marked "Approved" in vermilion ink.
Thus, Qin Xiang's fate was sealed.
That night, a cup of poison brewed by experts from the Imperial Medical Bureau was delivered to the Dali Temple prison. Several jailers held down Qin Xiang's arms and legs and force-fed him the poison. Moments later, he stretched out his legs and passed away.
Qin Xiang's body was returned to Qin Hui for burial, with orders that Qin Hui must not disclose a word about it outside; he could only say that Qin Xiang died from an outbreak of sores in prison and coughed up blood. With the main suspect dead, Qin Hui was spared from further investigation but forbidden from leaving his residence while awaiting imperial decree.
"Forbidden from leaving the residence while awaiting imperial decree" hung over everyone in Qin Manor like a heavy stone or a sharp blade around their necks, causing anxiety throughout.
Not long after Qin Xiang's funeral was conducted with extreme discretion, many servants began to flee. In just a few days, nearly everyone who could sweep or clean had escaped from the vast Qin Manor. Weeds grew in the courtyard; desolation reigned everywhere with hardly any lights on at night. Also missing were vast amounts of gold and silver treasures along with Qin Hui's secret stash of private wealth.
Qin Xiang's wife was soon taken away by her family. Wang Shi had no choice but to bring two maids to cook for Qin Hui herself. Reflecting on her past glory as a "First-Rank Lady," she remained as fierce as ever; she would curse and cry while causing disturbances several times each day. If Qin Hui did not persuade her to calm down, she would not relent and nearly drove him mad.
At a critical moment, the Chief Steward Qin Fu did not take advantage of the situation and remained by Qin Hui's side. One night, after a long conversation with Qin Hui, he mysteriously disappeared. Soon, the Qin Family's shops and properties in Lin'an were sold off at low prices. After a while, this Qin Fu suddenly reappeared in Lingnan, and anyone with discernment knew he was paving the way for Qin Hui's demotion.
However, one day, this Qin Fu suddenly vanished again, along with a large amount of gold and silver treasures he carried. He disappeared without a trace, leaving no sign of life or death.
Rumors spread wildly in the martial world, claiming that as soon as this Chief Steward left Lin'an, he was targeted by bandits. It was said that the treasures he took were stolen, and he himself was thrown into the deep mountains to feed wolves and leopards.
Before long, many charitable granaries and soup kitchens appeared around Lin'an, where impoverished people could receive rice and porridge. Countless lives were saved.
Some couldn't help but connect these two phenomena, whispering among themselves: "It must be Grandpa Yue showing his divine power. He took the gold and silver from that great villain to help us poor people."
The rumors grew more bizarre by the day, with tales of Grandpa Yue becoming a saint or immortal. It was said that Qin Hui would soon face retribution for his misdeeds against the Grand Master.
Li Hong laughed off these rumors. Qin Fu was indeed sent by him along with Chuming and Chu Liang to "cut off" the treasures. Not only that, but even the secret stash accumulated over many years in the Qin Manor was quietly cleared out. A significant portion of this wealth was given to Yue Fei's three sons in Lingnan and many loyal subjects wronged by Qin Hui to help them settle down. The rest was used to establish granaries and soup kitchens, benefiting the people. It goes without saying that Zhao Ding was the only one involved in this operation.
Now, Qin Hui spent his days enduring the incessant shouting of his fierce wife at home.
Outside, a battalion of imperial guards was stationed, keeping Qin Hui under house arrest. His servants had all fled, and he had to plead with the soldiers at the gate to buy rice and vegetables. The price for a stone of rice often exceeded ten times its market value. Qin Hui lost all of Lady Wang's valuable jewelry and began trading priceless antiques he had previously looted for meager amounts of firewood and rice. He even sold off the few remaining maidservants he had left, gradually becoming destitute—so poor that he had to part with his Grand Master robe just to get food.
Lady Wang would not quiet down; she often rushed out half-clothed, shouting about how despicable and deceitful the emperor was. Just as she reached the door, Qin Hui would drag her back forcefully. After a brief respite and a meal that gave her some strength, she would start shouting again, continuing day and night.
Qin Hui quickly grew thin from stress; he often went sleepless nights and would jump at any sound or movement outside. His cheeks frequently flushed abnormally red—a sign of liver disease brought on by anger.
Yet he still clung to life. Even at this point, he refused to take his own life and continued to ponder ways to turn his situation around.
At first, Li Hong was still interested in the situation and often conferred with Sun Holder and Heavenly Martial about their military operations. Eventually, he handed everything over to them completely. The four commanders quickly became wealthy; every soldier who had guarded Qin Hui's door made some small fortune, turning guard duty at the Qin Manor into an unspoken lucrative job among the four armies.
When this news reached Zhao Gou's ears, he felt pained by it; had he known it would turn out like this, he would have simply raided Qin Hui's estate instead—moving those treasures into the imperial treasury would have been much better.
Li Hong smiled lightly and said, "I have already hinted that this is precisely your intention, Your Majesty. Compared to those small amounts of money, the loyalty of the army must be more important to you."
Such a favor sold to Zhao Gou was understood by him. It was merely a hint, without any explicit command. This way, the four guards of Lin'an, the most important troops, were firmly in his grasp; it was both a favor and a significant leverage. Why would he worry about their loyalty?
Zhao Gou chuckled and from then on did not question anything further.
Initially, Wei Ming had suggested that the emperor confiscate Qin Hui's assets, but Li Hong thought about it and realized that such an action would create too much noise. Moreover, returning the confiscated wealth to Zhao Gou's private treasury was hardly appropriate. Therefore, he devised a plan to cut off the source of power while ensuring that Zhao Gou would not harbor any dissatisfaction.
It was a win-win situation for everyone involved. Li Hong felt quite pleased with this scheme.
********
With Lin'an thoroughly cleaned up, Li Xiaolou still did not appear, which made Li Hong feel somewhat bored. However, as long as he did not have official business in the palace, Green Lotus would definitely visit under various pretexts. Her affectionate gaze made Li Hong's scalp tingle, so he had no choice but to come up with excuses to go out and avoid staying in the palace.
He either went to Zhao Ding's residence for meals or helped out at the porridge stall. Sometimes he would invite those four commanders for drinks or vent his frustrations on the former loyal dogs of Qin Hui when he felt bored. Although life was carefree, it was indeed quite dull.
At this moment, Shui Qingzi and Shui Miaozi returned from searching for Yue Ting in Lingnan.
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