Who among the gangsters wants to fall in love?

Chapter 126: Encirclement and Suppression of the Dead Eunuchs

"They have all made it onto the Jianghu Heroes List?" Empress Canghua was lying on the couch, propping up her face with her bare hands. She was slightly stunned when she heard the words, "This thing is really valuable."

"The List of Jianghu Heroes" is a list created by the Jade Palace, one of the six major sects in the Jianghu. Among the three major sects and six major sects, the Jade Palace is a neutral sect, and its usual business is mostly information reselling... However, the Palace Master of the Jade Palace is also a martial arts master. The list he created is all his own, and no one else is allowed to interfere. The ranking on the list is related to his prestige, so naturally it has good gold content, and most people in the Jianghu recognize him.

The key to the Heroes List lies in the word "heroes" rather than the "combat power list".

The reason why Zhao Wumian ranks in the top 20 doesn't mean that the Lord of the Jade Palace thinks his martial arts rank among the top 20 in the world, but simply because he thinks that what he has done in the past half month is worthy of the word "hero".

However, Lady Canghua did not like the Master of the Jade Palace very much, because he was not a decent person. In addition to the "List of Heroes in the Jianghu", he also set up the "List of Beauties in the Jingzheng Period", which, as the name suggests, was responsible for recording the beauties in the world during the Jingzheng period.

Both Empress Shen and Empress Canghua are on the list and rank high.

Whenever Empress Canghua appeared in public, she wore a mask and had never met the Lord of the Jade Palace. However, it was rumored in the martial arts world that the Lord of the Sword Sect was secretly in love with her, so even though Empress Canghua had never shown up, she was always ranked ahead of the Lord of the Jade Palace.

Being known for one's stunning beauty is not actually a good thing for a woman. In the beginning, Empress Shen entered the palace partly because Shen Xiangge escaped from marriage, and another major reason was that Empress Shen was originally ranked second on the "Jingzheng Beauty List"... As for the first, that was Taixuan Palace Master Xiao Yuanmu, and Emperor Jingzheng would certainly not recruit a traitor into the palace to be his empress.

"Where is the list of villains?" Lady Canghua asked again.

Qi He took out a wanted order from a pile of documents and handed it to Lady Cang Hua.

"Zhao Wumian's incident caused too much trouble, so even though he is not at the top of the martial arts rankings, he is ranked very high. Currently, he is only second to Wudamu, the national teacher of the Rong tribe, Xiao Yuanmu, the palace master of Taixuan Palace, and Shentu Buzui, the leader of our sect and the leader of the Western Region Holy Church. He ranks fifth on the list of villains. Whoever can capture him will be rewarded with the title of marquis."

'The leader of this sect' refers to the leader of Huanzhen Pavilion, who is also the direct superior of Lady Canghua.

Empress Canghua took the wanted order, raised her eyebrows slightly, and a smile appeared on her face... It cannot be said that this portrait has nothing to do with Zhao Wumian. After all, there is a bit of similarity, but only a little bit.

That's true. Before Zhao Wumian entered the palace, Empress Canghua disguised him. Plus, the person who fought with Eunuch Lin that night was obviously Chief Constable Su... Chief Constable Su couldn't remove Zhao Wumian from the list of villains, but he could still do it with this little trick.

Qi He flipped through the documents in his hand again, frowned, and continued:
"That night, besides the Empress, there was another person who entered the palace with bad intentions, but was discovered in time by Eunuch Lin. After a fierce battle, he forced the thief to retreat...

However, as the chief eunuch of the palace, such a thing happened right under his nose. It was obvious that he was not doing his job well. Eunuch Lin's power came from the emperor. Now the throne was vacant, and no one except the queen could punish him. However, the queen was frightened last night and was bedridden. She has not come out yet. Eunuch Lin took the blame and left the palace, determined to capture Zhao Wumian.
At the same time, there was also Chief Constable Su. As the Chief Constable of the Detective Department, he also disappeared that night, and was obviously charged with "negligence in duty". However, after all, it was only one night, so it would be better to catch the thief first rather than punish him... Now the two of them should still be searching for Zhao Wumian in various places in the capital."

This is what outsiders know about last night’s events. Only one night has passed and many things have not yet fermented, so the current focus is on arresting Zhao Wumian first... and what exactly happened in the palace that night, no one knows except Zhao Wumian.

Empress Canghua was a little restless. After all, what was the meaning of "the queen is bedridden"? No matter what, it was a fact that Zhao Wumian held the queen hostage and put her in danger when facing thousands of swords and soldiers...

Whether there is inside information or not, this matter needs to be clarified.

Therefore, Lady Canghua hurried to her boudoir. Little nun Guan Yunshu was still looking up at the sky with a look of doubt on her face. When she saw Lady Canghua, she just glanced at her and asked calmly, "What's the matter?"

Lady Canghua put her hands behind her back and listened inside the house...she heard nothing, so she asked, "Is it done?"

"Wouldn't it be clear if you just go in and take a look yourself?"

Empress Canghua pushed the door open without hesitation and walked in. Guan Yunshu's eyes showed a bit of surprise, and then after a little hesitation, she followed her in.

There was nothing disgusting to the nun in the room. There was only Zhao Wumian in white standing in front of the basin, wiping his face with a towel. Through the screen, Su Qingqi could be vaguely seen sitting on the couch, combing her long hair behind her waist with her hands. Even without seeing her, one could tell that she looked virtuous and elegant from her slender figure.

Zhao Wumian saw the two women pushing the door aggressively and put down the towel in his hand, smiling, "Good morning..."

According to Lady Canghua's estimation, Zhao Wumian would need two days to get out of bed, and fifteen days to be strong enough to wield a sword...but now, only one night has passed, and he looks in good spirits. It is obvious that Su Qingqi has made a great contribution.

But the two women's moods were worse than each other.

"I'm not good." Guan Yunshu said coldly.

Lady Canghua also narrowed her beautiful eyes and said calmly:

"I let you into the palace only to let you protect my aunt. As for whether to investigate Dongyan or not, that's your business... and you held the queen hostage, putting my aunt in danger. Last night you rushed out of the encirclement of the imperial guards, looking so impressive, but have you ever thought about what would happen if someone accidentally injured my aunt... can you take the responsibility?"

"Oh?" Hearing this, Guan Yunshu glanced at Zhao Wumian, and then thought about it, and said to Empress Canghua: "Although he is extremely lecherous, it is undeniable that he has a good brain. He must have other intentions in holding the queen hostage, rather than simply taking hostages to escape from the palace."

Zhao Wumian was somewhat touched. Although the little nun was sharp-tongued and cold-hearted, she actually spoke for him at this moment. It was worthy of his sincere consideration of the nun as a friend.

Then the nun continued, "Although people in the martial arts world are not particular about trivial matters, he held the queen hostage and touched her skin. He is such a pervert. Rather than worrying about whether the queen was injured, you should be more concerned about whether he took advantage of your aunt."

Guan Yunshu's words made sense, and Queen Canghua's eyes suddenly became dangerous.

"Excuse me, have I offended you in any way?" Zhao Wumian looked at Guan Yunshu in disbelief.

Guan Yunshu's face turned slightly cold, "I guarded the door for you all night."

Zhao Wumian looked at Guan Yunshu's slightly haggard face and asked, "So you've been eavesdropping all night?"

Guan Yunshu's face flushed instantly, and then she suddenly smiled coldly, intending to have a good talk with Zhao Wumian, but she heard Madam Canghua slightly raised her hand and smiled coldly at Zhao Wumian, "Master Zhao, explain?"

"The Queen and I have discussed this. Only by doing this can we convey the illusion that the Queen was assassinated by me. When she returns to Kunning Palace and pretends to be sick, the danger to the Shen family can be easily resolved."

Empress Canghua was stunned. After thinking about it carefully, it was just as Zhao Wumian said... She asked Zhao Wumian to enter the palace because she was worried about her aunt. She never thought that Zhao Wumian could solve the crisis of the Shen family in just one night. But it was easy to say, but this was the result of Zhao Wumian rushing out of the palace with the queen in his arms. This was the closest he had ever been to death. He didn't suffer such a serious injury when he robbed the Qianlima in Taiyuan.

While Zhao Wumian was speaking, Su Qingqi had already walked out from behind the screen, fully dressed. She was wearing a blue and white inner garment, and her hair was tied into a neat and clean low ponytail.

Zhao Wumian handed her the towel he had just used. Su Qingqi was slightly stunned, but then took the towel with a bit of embarrassment on her face. But when she saw Guan Yunshu and Empress Canghua, she frowned, put on a serious look, and washed silently.

Zhao Wumian briefly summarized what happened last night.

Su Qingqi paused for a moment while washing her face, incredulous, "The leader of Dongyan is Eunuch Lin?"

"That may not be the case." Zhao Wumian shook his head slightly, "But I can guess Dong Yan's next plan...to alienate Dong Yulou and King Jin and lure the Rong people into the pass."

"Estrangement... may not be the case." Guan Yunshu pondered for a moment, then shook his head lightly and analyzed:

"Prince Jin cannot capture the legitimate princess, and is almost at the end of his rope. When the legitimate princess ascends the throne, in order to stabilize the country, even if it is impossible to settle accounts with him immediately, but this thorn in her heart will make her take action sooner or later. Therefore, it is better to collude with the Rong tribe, even if it means bearing eternal infamy, it is better than being defeated forever."

Zhao Wumian raised his hand slightly, "Let's not talk about the matter of Prince Jin for now, and let's not talk about why Dongyan wants to capture Prince Jin's son... and even if Eunuch Lin is not the leader of Dongyan, he is the second in command. If he can be killed, Dongyan's plan will fail 70%..."

Zhao Wumian then looked at Lady Canghua and asked, "How many martial arts masters do you need to surround and kill a martial arts champion?"

Lady Canghua raised her eyebrows slightly, and Zhao Wumian asked her specifically, is it because he realized that she was the one who saved him last night?

It shouldn't be the case. Lady Canghua has never shown her strength in front of Zhao Wumian. She asked calmly:
"Grandmaster is easy to kill?"

Zhao Wumian shook his head, "The only Grandmasters I have killed so far are Jiang Bai, Taoist Lingxu, Ye Wancang, and Bi Ziding. Among them, Jiang Bai had to use an extremely precious poison that specifically targeted his external skills to kill him.

Ye Wancang was severely injured after being besieged by me, Miss Guan and Miss Su, and fled in a hurry, with no intention of fighting me;

Taoist Lingxu is too old, and his true strength is not even that of a master, so if you think about it carefully, only Bi Ziding was killed by me with my real sword and gun, but even so, when I killed Bi Ziding, I also had the advantage of 'the secret guards were about to arrive, and he was relaxed' and 'Wan Yuexian was too sharp, and he saw it for the first time, so he was not prepared'. "

Lady Canghua nodded slightly, praising him in her heart. She thought to herself that although Zhao Wumian's strength had already ranked among the top masters, and his actions were even more arrogant and presumptuous, he was not arrogant in his heart. On the contrary, he had a very clear understanding of his own strength. It's just...

"You can also play the Yuexian?" Lady Canghua reacted and was shocked. "This is the unique martial art of that woman Xiao Yuanmu. How can you do it?"

Zhao Wumian spread his hands slightly, "This is not important, let's continue to discuss how to kill Eunuch Lin."

Seeing that Zhao Wumian was unwilling to speak, Lady Canghua temporarily put aside her doubts and said unhappily, "It's so hard to kill a Grandmaster, let alone a martial arts champion? The masters of my Shen family and Chief Constable Su alone cannot kill him."

Zhao Wumian frowned, "Where's the poison?"

"When you reach the level of Wu Kui, no poison will work unless it's something like Han Yu Gu... Cartilage Incense and Qi-Dispersing Pills are just gadgets that only Wu Kui can use."

Guan Yunshu nodded slightly. "Since the establishment of the Ten Martial Champions during the Jingzheng period, there have been cases of defeating the Martial Champions and taking away their plaques. However, during the seventeenth year of the Jingzheng period, there was only one Martial Champion who was beheaded. In the winter of the twelfth year of the Jingzheng period, the old spear champion Chen Congxin was beheaded by Xiao Yuanmu at Poyang Lake. That was also the battle that made Xiao Yuanmu famous."

Su Qingqi then added, "Before Jing Zheng, the masters who communicated with the bridge between heaven and earth were all honored as the 'Five Mountains'. According to the young master, Eunuch Lin was Xia Chengsong, one of the Five Mountains, but the other four are still alive today, and two of them are even the current Wu Kuang. The martial arts world is in turmoil, and the Wu Kuang often fight each other, but as Miss Guan said, the only one who was killed was the old spear master."

"Want to kill Eunuch Lin." Lady Canghua opened her palm and smiled coldly.
"We need at least five martial masters to join forces to encircle and suppress him, but we only have the Shen family, Chief Constable Su, Xu Ran, Dong Xuan... at most we can send out four. Even with five people, there is still the risk that Eunuch Lin will escape. After all, martial masters have different skills. When some people are present, some are destined not to use their full strength. What's worse, some people just don't like each other. Before they get together, they have already started fighting, just like the Palace Master of the Jade Palace and the Master of the Canghua Tower."

Zhao Wumian pondered for a moment, "Xu Ran is in northern Jin, being monitored by the King of Jin. Even if Master Dongxuan can bring him from Xiaoxitian to the capital, it will not be easy for the three martial arts masters to kill Eunuch Lin..."

Madam Canghua had no expression on her face, and silently put down another finger. "However, the masters of our Shen family do not have any deep hatred with Chief Constable Su, Xu Ran, and Dong Xuan. If they cooperate, as long as they do not affect each other, they can actually fight against Eunuch Lin. The probability of killing him is 40%..."

A 40% probability is actually very high.

Zhao Wumian frowned, and Su Qingqi suggested, "How about telling the world about Dong Yan's matter?"

"Not yet. We have to wait until the Chu navy is stationed in Langfa. By then, even if the crown prince is dead and the eldest grandson of the emperor takes the throne, as long as Chaoyan leads the troops into the capital, the throne will still be hers. And Eunuch Lin must die." Zhao Wumian said coldly:
"If we announce it to the world right now, firstly, he will kill the crown prince in secret, and the court officials will immediately support the emperor's eldest grandson to ascend the throne. Secondly, if he escapes from the capital, there will be endless troubles. It is not good to be constantly targeted by a martial arts master... Now that he is in the East Palace and cannot leave the capital, it becomes a restriction for him, giving us the time and opportunity to summon the martial arts masters to encircle and suppress him."

Su Qingqi pondered for a moment and also felt so. Zhao Wumian had already offended the spear master, and now Eunuch Lin was keeping an eye on him... It was impossible for Zhao Wumian to be protected by a martial arts master all the time. Even if Zhao Wumian had the strength of a martial arts master, could he still protect the people around him all the time?

Now that we have the opportunity to kill Wu Kui, we must seize it and not let Eunuch Lin escape from the capital!

Madam Canghua nodded with satisfaction, "I thought you would be blinded by anger and fear... No wonder you were the one who escorted the legitimate princess back to the capital."

After that, Lady Canghua stood up calmly, "We currently have one and only one goal... to find a way to kill Eunuch Lin. To do this, we need the help of other martial masters. Master Dongxuan only needs a letter, but Xu Ran is in northern Shanxi and it is difficult for him to escape. In addition, you said before that Dong Yulou might collude with the Rong tribe to enter the pass, so I'm afraid you still have to go to northern Shanxi."

Zhao Wumian had exactly this in mind... Northern Jin, the beginning of everything. The nine bells he took out from the palace were most likely somewhere in Northern Jin. Mu Lier and Luo Xiangzhu were also in Northern Jin, so they needed to go to the grassland to kill Wu Ming and take back Su Qingqi's Qingming Sword.

"But before that." Lady Canghua paused for a moment, stood up with her hands behind her back, looked up and down at Su Qingqi's beautiful figure, and then said lightly:

"You should heal your wounds first. The capital is under blockade. If you want to leave, you have to wait until you are fully recovered. This is a good opportunity to plan the killing of Eunuch Lin. You should also have a good rest. When you were unconscious last night, the female detective wanted you to continue sleeping so that you wouldn't have to work so hard as before. I just wanted you to recover as soon as possible, but she almost scolded me."

After saying this, Lady Canghua left indifferently, leaving behind Su Qingqi with a blushing face and Guan Yunshu with an increasingly cold expression.

(End of this chapter)