Unparalleled Evildoer

Chapter 250 Visiting in the Rain
It was a very peaceful night. It started to drizzle in the early morning. Wuzhan and the others had just finished eating the meal cooked by Yunchu. Then He Qian brought the third son, Lu Zhe, to the inn in the rain.

Lu Zhe was about fifteen years old, with a handsome face, a thin figure, and a brocade robe. He had a very elegant demeanor. After being introduced by He Qian and exchanging greetings and politeness, he sat in the living room on the second floor.

He Qian said: "I already know what happened last night. I know that the special envoy was safe last night, so I only sent an additional team to guard outside the guesthouse. I did not come to greet the special envoy late at night. Please forgive me!"

Wuzhan said: "You are too polite, sir. What is supposed to come will eventually come."

"General Shi disobeyed the king's orders and attacked the special envoy at night. He then went to the palace to ask the king for punishment. The king refused to see him. He waited in the back hall all night and left this morning. Now the entire court is waiting to see how the king will handle this matter. This is related to the current decision-making of Nanyue, forcing the king to make a choice, alliance or resistance against Qin."

Wuzhan asked, "How do you think the King of the South will handle this?"

"Disobeying the king's orders and acting on one's own should be punishable by death according to the law, but General Shi commands nearly half of Nanyue's military forces, has military merits, and his family is prominent. If the punishment is too severe, the Shi clan will surely be dissatisfied, and most people oppose surrendering to Qin, which will cause turmoil in the king's power. But if the punishment is too light, others will surely follow suit in the future, which will help increase the power of the Shi clan. Where is the king's power, and this will undoubtedly offend Qin. The reason why the king did not see him is actually because he is in a dilemma. It is really hard to say at the moment."

Lu Zhe said, "Zhe thought that not seeing him was a choice. The special envoy had forced General Shi to take poison. Just imagine, if my father did not see General Shi for three days, what would the result be?"

He Qian said: "I will try every possible means to see the king and ask for the antidote!"

Lu Zhe asked, "How can father see him?"

He Qian thought for a moment and then sighed, "The only option is to hand over the military power!"

Lu Zhe smiled and said, "So, father, you don't have to deal with this matter. General Shi dealt with it himself. This is because the special envoy used a pill to take back General Shi's military power as a gift to father. I thought about it all night before I figured it out. This shows that the special envoy is very wise and I admire him very much!"

Wuzhan said: "Third Young Master, you are overpraising me. This is just an dishonorable method that has not yet been realized. Moreover, even if he surrenders his military power, his prestige still exists. If he wants to cause trouble, it will still be easy."

Lu Zhe said: "General Shi is arrogant and has no regard for the law. This is a good opportunity to calm his arrogance and warn the officials."

Wuzhan said: "I am afraid he may not restrain himself, and make the wolves stop eating meat and eat grass instead. The wolves will become frantic and abandon the land to look for meat."

Lu Zhe was surprised and asked, "Does the special envoy mean that General Shi will rebel?"

Wuzhan said: "It's not necessarily a rebellion, but perhaps they will force the King of the South to abdicate."

Lu Zhe said: "Yes, General Shi and my brother are cousins. If my brother succeeds to the throne, the military power will naturally return to his hands."

Wuzhan said: "Not only that, there must be 'Zang Ding' involved. Forgive me for being blunt, but the reason why the eldest son resisted Qin was that he was worried that the throne he was about to sit on would be revoked by Qin. And 'Zang Ding' also saw this relationship and made plans behind the scenes to try to control Nanyue."

Lü Zhe said, "If my brother does such a thing, it would be a great rebellion and short-sightedness. Wen Lang often invades and regards our Nanyue as his possession. The alliance will only weaken Nanyue's military strength and eventually be annexed by it. Qin is determined to pacify the southern border. Forcible resistance will only lead to the destruction of the people. The ancestral temples will not exist. The people are the country. Without the people, where is the country? Qin is thousands of miles away from Nanyue. If it takes Nanyue, it will be out of reach. Therefore, the special envoy's strategy of "ruling Yue with Yue" is to seek stability. Submitting to Qin will not only not destroy the country, but will establish a stable order, and the people will live and work in peace. Even if taxes are collected, it is better than suffering from war."

Wuzhan said: "Third Young Master has such a broad mind and insight at such a young age. He will definitely become a wise leader in the future."

He Qian sighed and said, "If the eldest son had half the talent and knowledge of the third son, then Nanyue would have hope. Unfortunately, deposing the eldest son and enthroning the youngest son is a taboo since ancient times. The ministers will certainly oppose this, and the third son's talent will be buried."

Wuzhan said: "If you have admitted it just like that, you would not have brought the Third Young Master to see me in the rain."

Lu Zhe said, "I am willing to surrender to Qin for the sake of my country and my people. Please give me some advice, sir!" He suddenly knelt in front of Wuzhan and called him "sir".

Wuzhan helped Lu Zhe up and said, "Please stand up, Third Young Master. Let's sit down and talk." After Lu Zhe sat down, Wuzhan continued, "How could the Southern King not know the Third Young Master's talent? It's just that the time has not come yet. The Southern King will not easily reveal his attitude. But if the eldest young master is instigated by others and does something unclear, then it is time to depose him. Once the eldest young master is deposed, the third young master will be the future King of Nanyue."

He Qian asked, "If General Shi rebels and unites with the ministers to force the king to abdicate, how should we respond?"

Wuzhan did not answer, but asked: "If General Shi hands over the military token, who will be the safest person to hold it?"

He Qian said: "Of course it is safer to hold it in the hands of the king."

Wuzhan said: "If it is in the hands of the Southern King, without a trusted replacement for the deputy general, the military token will only become a virtual object. If General Shi wants to mobilize the army, it is still feasible without it."

He Qian asked: "Then who should we give it to? Should we give it to the special envoy?"

Wuzhan said: "How can you hand it over to an outsider like me? I will recommend someone. What do you think of Xu Hu?"

He Qian said: "Xu Hu is brave but not wise. If it weren't for the power of the Xu family, he would never have been able to take the position of general. Moreover, he is against surrendering to Qin. Giving him the position will only backfire. How can the special envoy recommend him?"

"It's different now. A great general is loyal, not scheming. Imagine if you were him and he gave you the military power, what would you do?"

He Qian said: "I am flattered, but I am afraid that I will be disloyal and ashamed of my king."

Lu Zhe said, "General Xu has always been marginalized by General Shi in the court. If my brother succeeds to the throne, his life will be even more difficult. If he gets the military power, he will definitely replace the deputy general to consolidate the military power, suppress the power of the Shi clan and make the military power real. In this way, most of the troops will be in his hands, plus the elite troops in my father's hands, even if the Shi clan and the Fang clan join forces, their strength will be less than a quarter of my father's. Sir, this plan is brilliant. It has opened my eyes and made me suddenly enlightened. Please accept my bow again." After saying this, he knelt down again to thank Wuzhan.

He Qian said with a smile: "The special envoy really makes me admire him. After just staying in the guesthouse, he knows Panyu very well and makes the opponent flustered."

Wuzhan said: "If we don't make adequate preparations, how can we leave Panyu alive?"

Lu Zhe said, "To be honest, my uncle is Wuzhu, the King of Min. After seeing your policy of 'ruling Yue with Yue', he has sent a secret envoy to Panyu to meet with my father and discuss countermeasures. He is now staying in my palace. You can see that my uncle has long intended to surrender to Qin, but he is restrained by Xizhen and Wenlang and cannot act on his own. When the time is right, Minyue will definitely turn against them and catch them off guard." Wuzhan said, "That couldn't be better!"

He Qian asked, "I would also like to know, if the alliance knew that Nanyue had surrendered to Qin and attacked Panyu, how would you deal with the internal and external troubles?"

Wuzhan said: "It's not that I don't trust you, sir, it's just that the time has not come yet. The fewer people who know about it, the better. You just need to know that the day the alliance attacks Panyu will be the day they will be destroyed."

He Qian smiled and said, "The special envoy is so confident, so I can only wait for that day."

After several people continued to discuss the specific details, the rain had not stopped yet, so He Qian and Lu Zhe left the guesthouse and went to the palace.

……

The rain was getting heavier and heavier, and water curtains hung on the eaves, accompanied by the sound of water, which made people feel heavy. Wuzhan had eaten the food made by Yunchu, and it tasted delicious. Every time he ate delicious food, he would always think of the steamed buns stolen by Wanjiao. He was thinking about that steamed bun again.

Ever since he came out of the mountains, Wuzhan has been trying to find out about Wanjiao and searching for the trace of the Three-legged Golden Crow. He has searched almost all over the Central Plains, but found nothing. When searching becomes a habit, it is a long-lasting longing.

Sometimes Wuzhan thought that if Wanjiao were alive, she would think he was dead. If she could forget about him and live happily, that would be the best thing. Wuzhan only hoped that she could live happily.

"Princess, Mr. Li, we meet again. I didn't expect that you could practice the 'breath-holding technique'. Even Sisi was fooled!" The sound of rain was interrupted by her sweet laughter. A woman was seen sitting on the windowsill. Her clothes were soaked and stuck to her body, revealing her exquisite figure. It was Yu Sisi again.

Wuzhan knew something had changed when he saw her showing up, and said in a deep voice, "You are so loyal to Ji Jie that you are still running around for him in such heavy rain."

Yu Sisi said: "As long as it is something he wants to do, I will do it even if it means going through fire and water."

"Do you know why I let you go last time?"

"Why?"

"One of the reasons is that because of your rare affection, if you give up Fu Zhou, you may live a good life."

"Even if we recover, we will still be alive and well."

"Indeed, it is a blessing to have a beautiful woman by your side to do anything. Unfortunately, Fu Zhou is a dead end, and happiness will go with it."

Yu Sisi smiled and said, "If you want a beautiful woman, would you give up your official career?"

"will not."

"Since you think so, sir, why do you come to persuade us?"

"This is different. I have a long way to go and what I have to do is difficult. I don't want to be bound by anything."

Yu Sisi smiled and said, "I'm afraid that you may say so but you don't really think so in your heart. Look what this is?" As she spoke, she threw a slender sword towards Wuzhan, which stabbed into the ground with a 'thump' sound, making a buzzing sound. The sword was red and had a lotus carved on the hilt. It was exactly the Emei Lotus Sword.

Yu Sisi continued: "I think you should know whose sword this is!"

Wuzhan glanced at the sword, looked at Yu Sisi and said, "Whose sword is it? What does it have to do with me?"

"Sir, you saved her. Have you forgotten?"

"It was just a coincidence that we met and I took action."

Yu Sisi said: "I'm afraid it's not that simple. Although I can't guess the relationship between you two, I can see that Mr. has an inseparable feeling for him."

"It's amazing that you can see this. Even I didn't know that."

Yu Sisi said leisurely, "It doesn't matter whether you know or not. You just need to know that she has fallen into our hands. If you don't save her, I'm afraid no one in this world can save her, and she will be tortured to the point of wanting to live but not being able to, and wanting to die but not being able to."

Wuzhan said in a deep voice: "What do you want?"

Yu Sisi giggled and said, "I told you, saving a person will become a habit. Sir will definitely not let her go. If you want to save her, come with me alone. With one more person, you will only see her corpse!" After saying that, she jumped into the water curtain.

Wuzhan jumped out without hesitation. In the heavy rain, Zhulang was standing on the roof holding a long sword, blocking Yu Sisi's way. Wuzhan said, "Let her go, you stay here!"

Yu Sisi chuckled, used her lightness skills to pass by Zhu Lang, and ran quickly along a series of roof ridges.

……

(End of this chapter)