Daqian Night Emperor

Chapter 348 Lu Huaishen must be killed!

"Ta Tata..."

Footsteps were heard in the deep and narrow corridor.

Xu Huawen walked at the front, holding a torch.

Lin Wenxu followed behind him, trying hard to remember the way to the future.

However, the corridors in this underground palace are complicated, with branches connected to each other. Without a detailed map, it is difficult to remember the route completely with the human brain alone.

Xu Huawen glanced at Lin Wenxu and said with a smile: "Brother Yunwen, don't bother to remember it. This palace has been abandoned. I have many places like this in Jingzhou."

Lin Wenxu sighed softly. He finally understood why the imperial envoys had brought such a large force to Jingzhou to wipe out the Salvation Sect, but had yet to completely eradicate it from Jingzhou.

He couldn't help but smile bitterly: "Brother Muye, you are a hermit who lives aloof and far-reaching life. Why do you want to get involved with this salvation religion? Do you have any unspeakable secrets?"

"Unspeakable secret?"

Xu Huawen sneered: "Brother Yunwen, why would I say that I have a secret? I did everything willingly."

"Why?" Lin Wenxu finally asked the doubts that had troubled him for a long time. "You must know that the Salvation Church is a serious threat in the eyes of the court. Why are you risking your life? If you want fame and fortune, you can come to Kyoto to seek refuge with me. Given our relationship, I will definitely introduce you to a teacher, and you will have a bright future..."

Xu Huawen said expressionlessly: "Brother Yunwen, don't you think it's ridiculous for you to say this?"

"You...what do you mean?"

"Without the elixir I prepared for you, how could you have knocked on the door of the Left Prime Minister? And how could you have served under the Left Prime Minister?"

Xu Huawen paused for a moment and sighed: "You think I'm a noble hermit? But I'm not. Not only am I not, I crave fame and fortune more than anyone else."

He pointed at his chest and said to Lin Wenxu, "But what can I do? I have a lot of talent, but I was born a slave. If my master hadn't taken pity on my talent and adopted me as his son, I wouldn't even be able to read, let alone take the imperial examination."

"But when it came to the imperial examination, trouble came knocking on my door. The Xuzhou Wu family found out my background and wanted me to take the exam for their son. The Wu family was backed by the Left Prime Minister Wu Yong, and my master didn't dare to offend them, so he agreed... But who asked me what I thought?"

Lin Wenxu was dumbfounded: "This..."

He knew Xu Huawen since childhood, but he didn't know the secret of Xu Huawen's life.
Xu Huawen smiled sadly: "Since then, I have known that the laws and justice in this world are all for the nobles, the children of noble families, and even for the common people... but not for me!"

"But what can I do? I can only suppress my resentment and pretend to be noble, saying 'fame, wealth and honor are like floating clouds to me'. In the final analysis, it is just to save face for myself."

Lin Wenxu held his breath for a long time before finally saying, "That's not why you joined the Salvation Church!"

"Then why do you think I joined the Salvation Church?"

"How would I know..."

Xu Huawen didn't even think about getting an answer from Lin Wenxu. He just kept muttering to himself, "To 'destroy the world and save yourself'? To go to the 'Pure Land'? For those high and mighty gods?"

"It's all bullshit! Those teachings are believed by fools, how can I believe them?"

He turned his head suddenly, looked at Lin Wenxu, and said word by word: "It's because... profit!"

Xu Huawen slowly raised his hand, palm facing up, and spread his palm flat.

The next moment, under Lin Wenxu's shocked gaze, a ball of blue flame slowly ignited in Xu Huawen's palm.

The Salvation Church believers around them all knelt down and looked at the blue flame in Xu Huawen's hand with fanaticism in their eyes.

Xu Huawen brought his hand close to his eyes, with a hint of obsession in his eyes, and said, "Brother Yunwen, I have never been good at martial arts since I was young, but who would have thought that practicing the skills of the Salvation Sect would allow me to quickly master this supernatural power?"

"What the Salvation Church has given me is a position that can decide the life and death of others!"

"It's a mysterious magic trick!"

"It's a magic pill for longevity!"

"They made me... a god!"

When Lin Wenxu saw the madness in Xu Huawen's eyes, he knew that Xu Huawen was already stuck in the mud.

He is beyond help!

What I need to do is not to rescue him, but to not be dragged into this quagmire by him.

Lin Wenxu had given up completely and stopped trying to dissuade him. He cupped his hands and said, "Brother Muye, we are on different sides now. I know I can't persuade you any more, but I hope that for the sake of our past friendship, you can... show some mercy to me and my teacher."

Xu Huawen gradually calmed down, looked down at Lin Wenxu who was bowing in front of him, and said with a wry smile: "Brother Yunwen, why do you have to say that? I wrote to you for help before, and maybe I was anxious for a while, so my tone in the letter was a little anxious, but I never thought of threatening you."

He helped Lin Wenxu up and said sincerely: "You are my only best friend in this life. Otherwise, why would I give you the longevity elixir all these years? Do you know how much this longevity elixir is worth? I have no choice but to write to you for help now. But even if you refuse to help, I will let you go safely. You can just pretend that you know nothing and go back to Kyoto."

After hearing these words, Lin Wenxu was a little skeptical, but his frown relaxed a little.

He didn't know whether he should believe Xu Huawen, but as Xu Huawen said in the letter, he had told him everything without reservation after they met.

"only……"

When Xu Huawen finished speaking, his expression became hesitant.

Lin Wenxu's heart suddenly started to lift again: "Just what?"

Seeing him asking, Xu Huawen sighed helplessly and said, "I swear not to mention the matter of the longevity pill to outsiders. But the problem is... this matter is not only known by you and me, but also by Dongyang County Magistrate Lu Huaishen."

"Lu Huaishen?"

"Yes, it is this person!"

Xu Huawen gnashed his teeth and said, "When the officials of Jingzhou were dividing the profits among themselves, Lu Huaishen got every penny. But in order to protect himself, he jumped out to be a witness. He even recorded all the matters that the officials of Jingzhou had in cooperation with our sect over the years, and your teacher's name was among them!"

Lin Wenxu was shocked when he heard this: "How did he know that the teacher had taken the longevity pill?"

Logically speaking, this matter should not be known by a small county magistrate far away in Jingzhou.

Xu Huawen shook his head and said, "He doesn't know, but at least half of the Wu Party have accepted gifts from Jingzhou. As the leader of the Wu Party, how can the Left Prime Minister deny all responsibility?"

Lin Wenxu couldn't help but widen his eyes: "Teacher...Teacher never mentioned this to me?"

"The Salvation Church has been developing in Jingzhou for so many years. If there weren't people in Beijing who secretly helped them, how could they have kept the news secret for so long?" Xu Huawen directly tore his last hope apart and said bluntly, "Perhaps the officials in Beijing only thought it was a small matter like corruption, and they took the generous gifts and solved it. But if the list in Lu Huaishen's hand is handed over, the fire in Jingzhou will also spread to Kyoto!"

"When that happens, how many people in the capital will lose their heads? Will the left prime minister be able to escape unscathed?"

Beads of sweat were already rolling down Lin Wenxu's forehead. He thought that after arriving in Jingzhou, he just had to shut Xu Huawen's mouth.

But now it seems that Xu Huawen is not important at all, what is important is Lu Huaishen!
He was at a loss for a moment: "What should I do?"

Xu Huawen gave him a direct answer: "It's very simple, kill Lu Huaishen!"

Lin Wenxu gritted his teeth and said, "What's the point of killing him? Lu Huaishen has been in the hands of General Ling for so long. The list in his hand might have been brought to Kyoto through the channels of the Patrol Observatory..." "No." Xu Huawen shook his head and explained, "Although Lu Huaishen has made meritorious reports, what is the difference between him and other corrupt officials in Jingzhou? Do you really think he is untainted by mud? If he were a real honest official, he would have died long ago because he couldn't survive in Jingzhou! He didn't miss any of the benefits that others have taken over the years. Even if he had a daughter who became a concubine or a grandson who became a prince, he would definitely be killed!"

"That's why he hid the list in his hand very well and didn't reveal a single bit to anyone. After all, he could only rely on this list as a bargaining chip to talk to the court and the emperor, but not to a warrior like Ling Fang!"

“So, the names on that roster haven’t gotten out yet, and this is our opportunity.”

Xu Huawen walked up to Lin Wenxu, patted him on the shoulder, and said in a voice full of temptation: "Kill him before Lu Huaishen enters the capital, and everything will be fine!"

Lin Wenxu fell into deep thought.

Xu Huawen looked at Lin Wenxu's reaction and deliberately sighed: "Just wanting to kill Lu Huaishen is not easy. Now he is in the Tianyuan County Governor's Mansion, and he is protected by the Tiantianjian. Although I have some people I can call upon, it is impossible for me to rush into Tianyuan County and kill Lu Huaishen under the eyes of the imperial envoys..."

"this matter……"

Lin Wenxu suddenly spoke, interrupting Xu Huawen's words, and looked up and said, "Maybe I can think of a way."

Xu Huawen was not surprised, as if this was the purpose of his saying so much, and bowed to Lin Wenxu: "In this case, I will wait for your good news."

……

Lin Wenxu was personally escorted out of the underground palace by Xu Huawen.

When he came out, he was inside a cave.

Lin Wenxu stood at the entrance of the cave, looked back at the deep and dark cave, and couldn't help but sigh.

But he quickly cheered up and walked towards the foot of the mountain.

At the foot of the mountain, someone soon came to greet us.

"Mr. Kobayashi."

These people were all elites selected from the aristocratic families under the Wu Party. Some of them were children of aristocratic families, while others were family servants. They were all warriors with impressive strength, but their numbers were not large, only about one or two hundred.

Soon someone brought a set of government soldier uniforms to Lin Wenxu.

While Lin Wenxu was changing his clothes, he asked, "Has any team from Tianyuan County left the city to look for me these days?"

"Master Xiaolin, no, the Astronomical Observatory seems to be unaware that you have left Tianyuan County."

The answer from his subordinates made Lin Wenxu feel more and more that General Ling Fang of the Astronomical Observatory looked down on them, the civil servants who came to help Jingzhou.

Logically speaking, as a disciple of the Left Prime Minister, even if he was taken prisoner by Ling Fang, he should have ordered people to keep a close watch on him, right?

But Ling Fang didn't take him seriously at all.

What is more infuriating than hostility is the utter disregard!

But while Lin Wenxu was angry, he was also somewhat relieved.

It’s better to ignore it, because ignoring it will allow him to do things without being discovered.

……

Outside the Tianyuan County Magistrate's Mansion, a sedan chair stopped at the gate.

Lin Dongcheng got out of the sedan chair and was about to return to the county magistrate's mansion when a figure suddenly came running towards him from the opposite side of the mansion gate.

"who?!"

Two sturdy guards immediately stepped forward with knives in hand, protecting Lin Dongcheng behind them and shouted at the newcomer.

But when Lin Dongcheng saw the person coming, he was startled and said quickly: "Slow down!"

He walked quickly towards the man, and without waiting for him to speak, he grabbed his wrist and said to his men beside him: "I recognize this man, don't make a sound, and retreat."

"Yes, my lord."

After the guards had all left, Lin Dongcheng pulled him to the corner of the courtyard wall and asked anxiously in a low voice, "Master Xiaolin, why did you come back just now?"

The person he was talking to was Lin Wenxu, who had left Tianyuan County a few days ago.

Lin Wenxu came back with the patrol team. He was still wearing the uniform of a government soldier. No one knew how long he had been waiting outside the county magistrate's mansion before Lin Dongcheng came back.

Lin Wenxu quickly bowed and said, "Please let your uncle worry about me. I will be back as soon as the matter is settled."

Lin Dongcheng couldn't help but ask, "Master Xiaolin has been gone for so many days, I wonder what he has been doing?"

"Uncle really wants to know?"

"This...if it concerns the secrets of the Left Prime Minister, you don't have to tell me."

"It is indeed about the teacher..."

Lin Wenxu stretched out his voice, seeming to be hesitant.

Lin Dongcheng immediately waved his hand and said, "Then there is no need to speak. I am just curious."

Lin Wenxu shook his head and said, "But at this point, if it weren't for my uncle, I'm afraid this matter wouldn't be accomplished."

Lin Dongcheng was stunned.

Before he could ask in detail, he saw Lin Wenxu in front of him bowing solemnly and said in a deep voice: "I have a lot of wealth and I want to share it with my uncle!"

Lin Dongcheng was not surprised, but instead felt a little more confused and alert: "What does this mean?"

"Uncle, do you know that the teacher is in big trouble?"

"Left Prime Minister? How could that be? What kind of person is the Left Prime Minister? He is truly second only to the emperor and above all others. Who could cause trouble for the Left Prime Minister?"

Lin Wenxu's face was serious, and he slowly said a name: "Lu Huaishen."

Lin Dongcheng was stunned for a long time, then his expression changed: "You mean... that the left prime minister is colluding with the officials of Jingzhou?"

After all, he is a shrewd man who has served in the officialdom for many years. He is able to sit in the position of Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, and he is also a man of great intelligence.

It was for this reason that when Lin Wenxu just mentioned the name "Lu Huaishen", Lin Dongcheng immediately thought of this point.

Lin Wenxu nodded, and then dropped a bombshell: "Uncle, do you know who I went to meet when I was out of town these few days?"

Lin Dongcheng was startled and asked hurriedly, "Who?"

"The Salvation Church, Xu Huawen!"

(End of this chapter)