Minglong

Chapter 142 Like Death
Dusk and sunset.

Li Gongpu dressed as an ordinary Confucian scholar, and after making sure no one was paying attention, he got off the carriage in a dark alley behind the Sifangguan and followed He Man, the Crown Prince's tutor, into the back gate, with Du Mushan following behind.

The Sifang Pavilion was quite large, and the interior was filled with foreign envoys. The banquet had not yet begun, and the Crown Prince was resting in the Cuiyun Pavilion behind the banquet hall. As the heir apparent, he was under very tight security.

Li Gongpu followed the winding path and soon arrived at the Cuiyun Pavilion. He entered the hall alone and saw the Crown Prince, dressed in a bright yellow robe, studying a chess game on a chessboard. He quickly stepped forward to pay his respects, and despite holding a second-rank official position, he was as humble as a servant.
"Your humble servant Li Gongpu greets Your Highness the Crown Prince."

Zhao Jinghuan studied the chessboard and raised his hand to signal to the opponent:
"No need for formalities, Vice Minister Li, please have a seat. You can stay with me until the end of this game of chess."

Li Gongpu sat to the side opposite, his buttocks barely touching the board, glancing at it briefly...

What the hell was that terrible chess player who set up this game?!
What's the point of dropping a hammer then...?

However, Li Gongpu didn't say anything, and slowly put down the white piece:
"To be honest, I've watched Your Highness come of age, and this is the first time I've actually spoken to you."

Zhao Jinghuan held a significant advantage, and naturally made his moves with lightning speed:

"It's not that bad. When I was six, I fell down, and Minister Li rushed ahead of the servants to pick me up and comforted me. But the Emperor didn't like it, so you kept your distance."

Upon hearing this, Li Gongpu felt tears welling up in his eyes:
"So Your Highness still remembers. Alas... I am just an old servant. I am content as long as I can serve His Majesty, Empress and Your Highness well. I do not command troops or wield power, and I have no ambition."

"It is only right that His Majesty occasionally offers a few words of admonition. As long as it makes His Majesty feel at ease, I would be happy even if I were flogged every day..."

The first sentence emphasizes that he has no ambition, while the second sentence emphasizes that he is willing to take the blame.

Zhao Jinghuan, knowing Li Gongpu's position, responded:
"Father only respects Mother and is diligent in his duties. It is only natural that he needs an old man like you to serve him. I have no interest in what Father likes. I only want to do my best to be an enlightened ruler."

"It is truly a great blessing for the Emperor that the Crown Prince has such ambitions. However, in addition to being diligent in his duties, he must also balance work and rest..."

……

In just a few words, the two made seven or eight moves, and the game became deadlocked.

Zhao Jinghuan frowned, a hint of surprise in his eyes. He pondered the game for a moment before making his move again.

Li Gongpu had been talking, but eventually he too became focused, his eyes fixed on the chessboard. The two battled fiercely for nearly half an hour before the endgame ended with the prince narrowly winning. Hmm…

A thrilling and exciting showdown!

Zhao Jinghuan didn't realize that Li Gongpu was letting him win. After the game, even the anger he felt from Zhao De dissipated. He looked up at the old minister opposite him:

"No wonder Minister Li has been able to serve the Emperor for so many years; his chess skills are truly remarkable."

Li Gongpu said somewhat unwillingly, “Alas, this endgame is too difficult to solve, and I cannot perform to my full potential. My chess skills are not limited to this. How about I play another game with Your Highness?”

Zhao Jinghuan felt that if he played another game, he would either win by a narrow margin or lose with honor.

But it doesn't seem like they're letting the water out; it's just really enjoyable. I shook my head and smiled.
"Calligraphy, painting, music, and chess are ultimately things for leisure time. There are quite a few people in the court whose chess skills surpass those of Lord Li."

"Hehe~ That's natural."

Just then, two voices came from outside the hall:
"Chiji~"

The melodious chirping was faint yet clearly audible.

Crown Prince Zhao Jinghuan's reaction was like a motorcyclist hearing the exhaust sound or Xie Jinhuan hearing a beautiful woman moaning; he almost instinctively turned his head to look at the source.

"Oh, right……"

Li Gongpu seemed to have just remembered something. He stood up, took small steps to the door, took the birdcage from Du Mushan, and placed it on the chessboard.
"I recently acquired a bird for ornamental purposes, but I don't know how to raise it. I brought it over for Your Highness today. I wonder if Your Highness will like it?"

Zhao Jinghuan frowned slightly, hesitated for a moment, and then lifted the black cloth covering the birdcage.

As a result, a small bird, entirely purple-blue in color, appeared before us. Upon seeing strangers, it spread its wings, its feathers gleaming with a metallic sheen, and then:
zizi~
Tiny purple electric sparks, as thin as a hair, emerge from the tips of feathers and strike the edge of the birdcage. Although their power is limited to killing insects and ants, the scene is indeed magnificent and mysterious.

The Purple Thunderbird is a sacred bird of the mountains and marshes, and it also symbolizes the arrival of auspicious purple energy from the east. Once found, it is usually presented as an auspicious beast as tribute, making it extremely rare.

Zhao Jinghuan looked surprised at first glance:
"Is this Li Chimo's?"

Seeing the subtle change in the Crown Prince's expression, Li Gongpu knew that the matter was almost certain to succeed, and said with a smile:

"Your Highness has a good eye. There are fewer than two hands' worth of Purple Thunder Sparrows left in the Great Qian Dynasty, and this one is of the best quality."

Zhao Jinghuan examined the caged bird and even poked at it with his finger:
"My father doesn't like me being involved in these things. Does Lord Li not know that?"

"know."

Li Gongpu said in a low voice, "But you are the only crown prince in the Great Qian Dynasty. No matter what, the burden of the thirty-two prefectures of the Great Qian Dynasty will fall on Your Highness's shoulders. This item was sent over without anyone else knowing. The crown prince can keep it in his spare time without any problems."

"Ah……"

Zhao Jinghuan teased the little sparrow for a while before looking up at the obsequious Li Gongpu. After a moment's consideration, he suddenly asked:
"Does Minister Li believe that the Emperor's time is near?"

Li Gongpu was stunned for a moment, then quickly bowed:

"Your Majesty, I dare not. This item is simply intended as a tribute to Your Highness the Crown Prince..."

"Father Emperor is well protected by the elixir presented by his father-in-law, and his health is fine."

Zhao Jinghuan covered the black cloth with his hands: "But given your cautious nature, you would never take such a risky step without being absolutely certain, so you must have fallen into their trap."

"Ok?"

Li Gongpu looked a little confused.

But at that very moment, the sound of rapid hoofbeats came from the street outside:
stomping on...

Then hurried footsteps arrived at the door, and He Man respectfully reported:
"Your Highness, a large number of people from the Imperial Observatory, the Red Scale Guard, and the county government have arrived. They say that the Sifang Pavilion may be hiding evil spirits and are asking if the Crown Prince may enter to inspect it."

"what?"

Li Gongpu's expression changed drastically, and he immediately stood up:

"Uh...then may I temporarily withdraw?"

Zhao Jinghuan pondered for a moment, then looked out the window:
"Xie Jinhuan is leading the team?"

"Correct."

Zhao Jinghuan nodded and looked at Li Gongpu:
"This is like 'catching a turtle in a jar,' you should leave now and not disturb the envoy's peace."

"Your Highness!"

Li Gongpu was startled and immediately slid to his knees, hesitant to speak.

Zhao Jinghuan handed over the birdcage:
"Life is like a game of chess; one wrong move and you're doomed. You set a trap to kill Xie Jinhuan, but Zhou Ming'an died, and you failed to catch him. Now someone is setting a trap for you to seek your own death, and you've actually come."

"They surrounded the Sifang Pavilion under the pretext of 'the evil spirits are hiding,' and screened the people inside. It was perfectly legitimate. If I didn't let anyone in, the Imperial Observatory would ask my father for permission."

"Father Emperor takes the Underworld Cult's rebellion seriously and also appreciates Xie Jinhuan's abilities, so I can't stop them; they're after you, and they won't leave until they find you today. You're a smart man, so it's more dignified for you to go out on your own."

"..."

Li Gongpu felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar, speechless, and finally even forgot his manners, hastily getting up, picking up the birdcage, and running outside...
-
Rumbling sounds filled the air as night fell. Outside the Sifang Pavilion, the thunderous hooves of horses thundered. Large contingents of the Crimson Guards and even astronomers from the Imperial Observatory, carrying various magical implements, raced through the streets, searching the surrounding houses. Hundreds of yamen runners also stood guard on the streets.

Cao Huai'an, the garrison commander of the Red Scale Guard, stood outside the grand archway of the Sifang Pavilion, riding a black steed, his expression slightly hesitant.

“If His Highness the Crown Prince hosts a banquet for foreign envoys there, and this disturbs the peace and quiet, and nothing is found out, it will be difficult to explain.”

Xie Jinhuan, with two weapons at his waist, rode his horse beside him, gesturing towards the black eagle in the sky:

“My falcon has excellent eyesight. In the past, it was often the first to spot demons and bandits. Now that it says there are evil spirits here, I dare not be negligent. I originally intended to investigate myself. However, His Highness the Crown Prince is among them, and I dare not disturb him. That is why I asked you gentlemen to come and assist in the investigation.”

Monk Jingkong, turning his prayer beads, interjected:

"Being cautious is a good thing. It's better to make a wasted trip than for evil spirits to harm the envoy and bring shame to the Great Qian Dynasty."

Cao Huai'an was genuinely startled when he suddenly heard that there might be evil spirits hiding in Sifang Pavilion. If it had been someone else who delivered the message, he might not have dared to make such a commotion, but the person who delivered the message was Xie Jinhuan!
Since Xie Jinhuan appeared, he has slain countless demons without ever missing a single one. Even if the source of the information is outrageous, he dares not disbelieve it.

After all, they came up empty-handed; Xie Jinhuan's intelligence was wrong.

If he doesn't bring anyone with him, and something really goes wrong, he'll be the one to take the blame!
Evil spirits that disturb the Crown Prince or foreign envoys are punished leniently by being exiled to Lingnan.

The Imperial Observatory and the county government officials rushed over, clearly sharing the same thought: they weren't afraid of nothing happening, but rather of something happening and not being there when they weren't present.

Because the Crown Prince was hosting a banquet for foreign envoys at the Sifang Pavilion, the three major violent agencies certainly wouldn't dare to break in rashly. At present, they are only sealing off the surrounding area and strictly prohibiting anyone, even birds and beasts, from entering or leaving.

If someone knew the art of observing qi, they could look down from the sky and observe the various residual energies of the demonic aura, which, intertwined and overlapped, were already nearly turning the entire Sifang Pavilion into boiling water.

With this kind of setup, not to mention Li Gongpu, even if Wei Yunya came, he would have nowhere to hide and would only be caught.

After waiting for a while, instead of receiving permission from the Crown Prince to search, two figures strode towards the gate. The one in the lead questioned them from afar:

"Cao Huai'an, the Crown Prince is hosting a banquet for foreign guests at the Sifang Pavilion. What is your intention in leading the troops to surround the Sifang Pavilion?"

Upon hearing the voice, the many officials present were slightly taken aback.

Cao Huai'an, mounted on his horse, looked at Eunuch Li, who should never have been there, with surprise in his eyes:
"Minister Li is not home tonight... Madam, what is the purpose of your visit to the Sifang Pavilion?"

Walking behind Li Gongpu was the envoy from the Western Rong tribe, a burly man with a braided hairstyle, who quickly interjected:
"Lord Li has come here to discuss the matter of presenting imperial horses as tribute. Our tribe has recently acquired a fine steed, which our king cherishes dearly. However, Lord Li wishes to purchase it and present it to His Majesty."

"Oh……"

As the leader of the Red Robe Plague God, Cao Huai'an wasn't stupid. He turned to look at Xie Jinhuan:
"The evil spirit that Young Master Xie came to capture, could it be Master Li?"

"Lord Cao is joking."

Xie Jinhuan, mounted on his horse, sized up Li Gongpu, who was trying to remain calm:

"My falcon doesn't see people as evil spirits. I'll go in and search once the Crown Prince gives me permission. It shouldn't be difficult to find it."

Li Gongpu then looked at the envoy and said, "Since things have gone wrong, the matter of the imperial horses will be discussed at my residence tomorrow. I will take my leave now."

"Eh!"

Xie Jinhuan spurred his horse forward two steps, blocking the way, and said earnestly:
"Ghost cultivators can 'borrow a body to return to life,' so to prevent evil spirits from escaping, all personnel in the academy must be thoroughly screened. However, given Lord Li's esteemed status, we must first request permission from His Majesty before we can conduct a body search. Until his identity is verified, we hope Lord Li will wait inside the academy."

?

Upon hearing this, Li Gongpu's eyes twitched, and he opened his arms:

“I, Li Gongpu, act with integrity and uprightness. Why would I be afraid of a search by the authorities? You can come and investigate yourself. Is it proper to disturb His Majesty so late at night?”

Xie Jinhuan quickly said, "I am not a lawless fool. How could I dare to search the emperor's close ministers? To prevent evil spirits from escaping, I hope Lord Li will remain calm and wait for the emperor's decree."

"you……"

As the two were talking, footsteps sounded inside the hall, and He Man, the Crown Prince's tutor, came out carrying a birdcage.
"Li Gong looked very troubled, as if he had left something in the banquet hall."

When Li Gongpu realized that the Crown Prince had saved face for him, his expression stiffened, and he turned to look at the Western Rong envoy:

"You didn't keep the things that were offered to your ministry?"

The Western Rong envoy slapped his forehead and hurriedly went to receive him:
"Oh dear, I completely forgot..."

Call ~
Before he could finish speaking, a white shadow flew overhead and landed in front of He Man, taking the birdcage.

The Western Rong envoy paused, and everyone turned their gaze to the birdcage covered by the black cloth, where faint purple and white lightning flashed and a hissing sound could be heard.

Xie Jinhuan, as if facing a formidable enemy, carefully lifted the black cloth, revealing the tiny, throbbing penis inside, his gaze slightly narrowed:
"This is a demonic beast! No wonder the falcon has its sights on it; is this one of Lord Li's possessions?"

? ?
The officials from various government offices fell silent for a moment upon seeing this 'pointing a spirit as a demon'.

But demonic beasts and spirit birds are essentially the same thing, distinguished only by whether they harm people or not. Xie Jinhuan's insistence that the falcon mistook the Purple Thunder Sparrow for a juvenile demonic beast isn't entirely wrong.

Li Gongpu's face turned ashen, and he gritted his teeth:

"This is a gift from this official to the Western Rong! Young Master Xie, are you perhaps trying to frame me for harboring evil spirits?"

"Oh, you flatter me, Mr. Li."

Xie Jinhuan carefully carried the crackling, electrifying 'great demon' and handed it to Monk Jingkong:
“Ghost cultivators can hide their souls in the bodies of birds and beasts, which is difficult for ordinary people to detect. I hope Master Jingkong will present this item to the Imperial Censor for personal examination. If no abnormalities are found, and there is any offense to Lord Li and the envoy caused by today’s mobilization, I will invite Princess to the palace to personally explain the situation to His Majesty in detail.”

Monk Jingkong understood what Xie Jinhuan was doing, and after examining the birdcage for a moment, he thought it over:

"This humble monk doesn't feel anything amiss. Perhaps Young Master Xie could explain the situation directly to His Majesty?"

?

Xie Jinhuan thought the monk was a bit cheeky and said earnestly:
"When government offices handle affairs, they must follow procedures and cannot make decisions based on personal feelings."

Monk Jingkong nodded, said nothing more, picked up the birdcage, and rode away.

As Cao Fo'er's adopted son, Cao Huai'an knew the story of the "Purple Thunder Sparrow".

A purple pheasant was once presented as tribute to the Southern Frontier. The four-year-old crown prince cried for a long time. The empress wanted to reward him, but the emperor was afraid that the pheasant would distract him from his studies and did not give it to him. In order to prevent the crown prince from thinking about it all the time, the emperor eventually gave the purple pheasant to the foreign land as a reward.

Seeing Li Gongpu appear before the Crown Prince with this item, Cao Huai'an knew that although the man seemed alive, his soul was already waiting in line in the underworld. He immediately turned his horse around.
"Now that the source of the anomaly has been found, let's call it a day and not disturb the Crown Prince and the envoy."

Fiji, who had been watching the show from behind, also waved his hand, and the officials from the government office withdrew, with the Imperial Observatory leaving one after another.

Xie Jinhuan, mounted on his horse, glanced at Li Gongpu, who stood alone at the gate, but said nothing, gently tugging at his horse's flanks.

"drive--"

Hoof-tapping hoof-tapping...

Li Gongpu's face turned from ashen to pale. He clenched his fists tightly, watching the white-clad figure speed away, filled with resentment yet helpless.

Just like Xie Jinhuan knew he was setting a trap, but couldn't do anything about it...
-
Ask for monthly ticket or2~
　I recommend a new book; if you're interested in big projects, you might want to check it out!
　　

(End of this chapter)