New and dark light years

Chapter 436 Success and Failure Both Stemmed by Pills

Li Lin knows a thing or two about acting.

Besides, he really didn't know why Prefect Gu was coming to cause him trouble.

It turns out it was because of the Li family of Jin County.

That makes sense.

Although Li Lin was not a descendant of the Li family of Jin County, he understood that he had indeed enjoyed many benefits because of this title, so it was only natural that he would pay some price and get into some trouble.

There is no such thing as taking advantage without giving anything in this world.

Seeing Li Lin's 'wronged' appearance, Gu Shuwen was naturally furious.

He was in his early thirties, and to have climbed to the position of Prefect of Liangcheng at that age, only a step away from the position of being second only to the emperor, was already quite remarkable.

This was thanks to the help of the Gu family and their allies, but his own ambition also played a significant role.

By this time, he had calmed down and looked at Li Lin with a snort: "Commander Li, if you don't want people to know, then don't do it in the first place. I will find out about your mistake sooner or later."

Li Lin also laughed: "Is Prefect Gu referring to himself?"

Gu Shuwen snorted, indicating his disdain.

Zhao Pingzhang said, "Both of you will give me face. You can argue and quarrel as you please in the future, but during my term of office, please do not cause trouble, okay?"

Li Lin clasped his hands in a fist and smiled, "Your humble servant obeys your orders."

Gu Shuwen snorted and clasped his hands in a fist and said, "I have always admired the Chancellor. In this matter, I will follow the elder's decision."

"Alright, that's settled then." Zhao Pingzhang said with a smile, "Someone, serve tea."

While waiting for tea to be served, Zhao Pingzhang looked at Li Lin and said, "I would also like to recommend you for the position of Military Governor of Cangwu Road..."

At this moment, Gu Shuwen interrupted him.

"My lord, this thief is still a suspect. How can such a person be appointed as the military governor of Cangwu Road?"

Li Lin said, "It's alright. If Prefect Ruogu wants to lead troops to guard the border, I'm willing to recommend you."

“You…” Gu Shuwen looked at Li Lin and said, “You think you’re irreplaceable? If you don’t do it, there are plenty of people who are willing to.”

After saying this, he looked at Zhao Pingzhang and said, "I would like to recommend Gu Weijing as the military governor of Cangwu Road."

Someone surnamed Gu?
Upon hearing this, Li Lin smiled.

Zhao Pingzhang frowned further: "As far as I know, Gu Weijing is a captain of the Imperial Guards, and he is only nineteen years old."

"Yes," Gu Shuwen said.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Pingzhang felt a headache coming on: "Prefect Gu, are you talking nonsense?"

"Gu Weijing was last year's martial arts champion. His courage is unmatched in the world, and he also has experience in training the Imperial Guards. There is no problem in appointing him as the military governor of Cangwu Road."

Zhao Pingzhang sighed and said, "Let's not discuss this matter any further. I know a little about Gu Weijing; his martial arts skills certainly qualify him as a seventh-rank martial artist, but..."

A seventh-rank martial artist?
Martial Arts Champion?
Li Lin felt somewhat confused when he heard these two words.

Are martial arts champions really that worthless?

Gu Shuwen laughed and said, "He can be a seventh-rank martial artist at the age of nineteen. In another three or four years, he will be a fifth-rank or even a fourth-rank martial artist. Most importantly, he has experience in training troops, which is enough for him to serve as a military governor."

"Enough!" Zhao Pingzhang looked intently at Gu Shuwen and said, "Prefect Gu, you've had it too easy. Some things can't be done too outrageously."

Seeing that Zhao Pingzhang seemed genuinely angry, Gu Shuwen nodded slightly and said, "This humble official understands."

Li Lin immediately felt strange; Gu Shuwen had 'retreated' too quickly.

It seems that he wasn't very determined about this matter, and it was more like he was just saying it for the sake of saying it.

Li Lin stood up and said, "Since there's nothing more to it, Lord Zhao, I'll take my leave."

"Have a cup of tea before you go."

"No need, I have some things to take care of."

At this moment, Gu Shuwen also stood up and said, "My lord, I shall also take my leave now."

Zhao Pingzhang's gaze swept between the two of them, and after a moment he smiled and said, "Alright, you two stop arguing."

Then he waved gently.

The two left one after the other.

Li Lin came out first, but as soon as he reached the door, he noticed something was wrong ahead.

At least three hundred armored imperial guards were lined up in front.

Just then, footsteps sounded from behind.

Li Lin turned around and saw Gu Shuwen inside the Zhongshu Menxia (Secretariat School), smiling at him.

He was laughing happily and proudly.

The gates of the Secretariat were quickly closed.

With a loud bang, it sounded like a death knell.

Li Lin's gaze returned to the front, where the three hundred Imperial Guards in the front row had already squatted down, revealing the one hundred archers behind them.

Standing behind the three hundred imperial guards were two other men. Both were young, riding tall horses, and exuding confidence and high spirits.

Li Lin knew one of them.

That black robe was so easy to recognize.

He is the Crown Prince.

Li Lin sighed softly and exclaimed, "Your Highness, what do you mean by this!"

"The suspect, Li Lin, brutally murdered more than twenty innocent people yesterday in Luoshui Township, Jiafang. After investigation by Prefect Gu, it has been confirmed that he was the perpetrator..." At this point, the Crown Prince smiled and said to Li Lin, "Are you satisfied now, you traitor Li?"

Li Lin understood. The Zhongshumen ruling was all an act, a ploy to lure him here so they could easily mobilize troops to surround him.

They were afraid of resisting, since it would be difficult to catch a powerful Spirit Hunter if he wanted to escape.

Li Lin laughed, reached out, took out five paper figures, and threw them on the ground.

Five tree fairy goddesses surrounded it.

Seeing Li Lin's move, the Crown Prince was slightly surprised, then laughed and said, "These paper figures are quite beautiful. Which True Lord is this? But how long can these five paper figures hold out?"

Li Lin ignored his provocation, put the Fiend Bone Wine in his hand, and with a hand seal, five bolts of purple lightning fell down.

A deafening roar.

But at that moment, the young man next to the prince suddenly opened a paper umbrella.

The paper umbrella was very large, much larger than a regular umbrella. When opened, it sheltered the two people under the umbrella.

Five bolts of lightning struck down, all hitting the umbrella. The lightning was blinding, and the thunder rumbled between the light and shadow.

The two of them were completely unharmed, and the paper umbrella was also completely undamaged.

The Crown Prince laughed: "Magic... is ultimately just a heretical and crooked path. The Great Qi has been established for a hundred years, and what kind of amazing talents haven't we seen? Have you ever seen a martial artist or singer who is also a magician and can rival the imperial court!"

His words were full of sarcasm.

The young man holding the umbrella next to him laughed and said, "People from small towns learn a little magic and think they're the best in the world, hahaha."

The crown prince laughed and said, "Li Lin, you should have died. But I've changed my mind..."

At this moment, the crown prince searched his pockets for a while, took out a red pill, and then threw it forcefully.

The meatball was about the size of the man's thumb. It landed on the ground and quickly rolled to Li Lin's feet.

"Eat it, and then use it to refine elixirs for me." The prince laughed, "From now on, you can no longer be surnamed Li, nor can you have a given name. I'll call you Dannu, how about that!"

Li Lin looked at the meatballs on the ground, his eyes narrowing slightly, because the meatballs smelled terrible.

It smelled strongly of insects.

"Your Highness, are you already a Gu person?" Li Lin asked, looking up.

The prince's expression changed, and he said, "Archers, listen to my command, shoot arrows and kill him."

One hundred imperial archers were already prepared, and Wen Fang immediately nocked an arrow and drew the bowstring.

沣！
A shower of black arrows shot towards Li Lin.

At that moment, the five paper goddesses intertwined their tails, transforming into a half-sphere that enveloped Li Lin.

The arrows struck the hemisphere formed by its tail incessantly, then bounced off to the side with a clatter.

Not a single scrap of paper was scratched off.

Upon seeing this, the prince snorted: "Fire arrows. They're just five paper figures. Burn them."

Meanwhile, inside the Secretariat, Zhao Pingzhang took a sip of tea, looked at Gu Shuwen in front of him, and asked, "Why did the Crown Prince suddenly decide to take action against Li Lin? This is too hasty. Without His Majesty's permission and without following the procedures of the Secretariat, killing someone in the street will cause him to lose face and trust among the officials."

Gu Shuwen sighed, "There's nothing we can do. His Majesty woke up yesterday morning."

Zhao Pingzhang was quite surprised: "I didn't even know about this, how could you..."

"The Crown Prince told me," Gu Shuwen said calmly after taking a sip of tea. "The Crown Prince had no choice."

"So, those thunderclaps yesterday were indeed Li Lin killing people, but he was killing the assassins you sent out."

Gu Shuwen laughed and said, "As expected, you can't hide anything from the old man."

"I still don't understand. Now that His Majesty has woken up, why is the Crown Prince in such a hurry to kill Li Lin?"

Gu Shuwen explained, "Yesterday morning, Li Lin met with Consort Yourong and gave her some body-strengthening pills."

"I have also tried the Strengthening Pill, and it is indeed a good medicine."

“But the problem lies with this Strengthening Pill.” Gu Shuxiao sneered, “Now that the Empress is also unconscious, the Consort is in charge of the harem. She actually… bypassed the imperial physician and fed the Strengthening Pill to the Emperor, who had already woken up.”

After thinking for a while, Zhao Pingzhang understood: "His Majesty approves of Li Lin and his elixirs!"

"Not only that, but he even highly praised it, because after taking the medicine, the emperor immediately favored six of his concubines. It is said that Consort Rong even played the zither to entertain them."

Zhao Pingzhang frowned deeply: "Absurd! How could His Majesty be so careless about his health?"

"But the Emperor was only slightly tired. He took a strengthening pill afterward and then had several virgin maids as his concubines. Afterward, he openly declared it a miraculous medicine, saying that those so-called Taoist priests were nothing but rubbish. He plans to appoint Li Lin as his alchemy apprentice at court the next day. You tell me, the Crown Prince finally found a reason to kill all the Taoist priests who practiced alchemy, and now there's an even more powerful Li Lin, a descendant of the Li family of Jin County. Can he be at ease? What if he really concocts some kind of longevity-promoting medicine? If there's an eighty-year-old emperor in the world, then there will have to be a sixty-year-old crown prince."

"No wonder the Crown Prince is in such a hurry." Zhao Pingzhang sighed softly: "Those who serve as officials through unorthodox means will inevitably suffer a backlash. Li Lin's success and failure both stem from elixirs."

(End of this chapter)