Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 425 Jiang Duxu

"Oh, right." Before leaving, Lu Xingzhou remembered something: "When you went to Danxia Secret Realm before, did I talk to you about the alchemy furnace? I don't remember very clearly."

"I didn't say. At the time, we were mainly discussing methods to change the Qi channels." Ye Tinglan hesitated for a moment, too embarrassed to say that Lu Xingzhou wanted to learn the Qi channel methods, and she thought it was for Shen Tang's sake. But he said that one day it might be for his teacher.

As it turned out, his words came true in the Heavenly Frost Kingdom, and he himself was subjected to various forms of abuse.

It still feels a little sweet when I think about it.

She didn't know that the demon race had used it this time; otherwise, the sweetness might have been gone.

"However, I can tell that the pit in the middle of the dragon and tiger bones was originally where a pill furnace was placed, and the dragon and tiger bones were used for alchemy and absorption." Ye Tinglan said, "What do you mean by bringing this up?"

“That alchemy furnace is the root of the feud between the Huo family and me.” Lu Xingzhou briefly summarized the feud between the Huo family and himself, and then said, “When I went to the Huo family to investigate that day, I could basically conclude that the alchemy furnace is now under the Huo family ancestral hall. The emperor needs such a treasure to heal his injuries, but the Huo family has kept it hidden and watched the emperor’s injuries not heal for ten years… As long as we find an opportunity to expose it, the emperor will be furious and will no longer trust the Huo family, and may even turn against them directly.”

Ye Tinglan's lips twitched: "You harbor such deep hatred, but you didn't tell me before because you didn't trust me, right?"

"Uh, no, it wasn't the right time before. What's the point of just complaining? Even now, I still haven't made up my mind. If I directly expose the matter of the alchemy furnace, I can certainly avenge the Huo family, but the alchemy furnace will also fall into Gu Zhanting's hands... There is no perfect solution for the time being."

“What if I break into the Huo family and steal the alchemy furnace? Then I'll not only have it in my hands, but I'll also let the emperor know that the Huo family is hiding an alchemy furnace.”

“That would cause Gu Zhanting to break ties with you over the alchemy furnace… and the Huo family has a very powerful Grand Elder, who is said to be of the first rank, but I’m not entirely sure. At least we should know about him first.” Lu Xingzhou straightened her clothes and smiled, “It’s alright, I’ll think about it slowly. If I really mess things up, sir, save me.”

"Get lost!" Ye Tinglan angrily kicked him out the door. "I'm afraid if you go back now, you'll be so happy with those two little vixens on either side that you won't even know what the world is like. What ideas will you be able to come up with then?"

Just as he was about to close the door, he poked his head out again and said, "The way the Huo family treated you... I won't let them get away with it."

"Bang!" The door slammed shut.

Lu Xingzhou left the temple in a disheveled state, slipping away amidst the Taoist priests' envious gazes.

If you wanted to have women on both sides, you've missed your chance today.

It's already night by the time we get back. Unless Pei Qingyan and Sheng Qingfeng completely disregard their pride, they'll do whatever it takes to keep those two lovesick idiots at home. Otherwise, are they just going to watch them go and give themselves away for nothing?

Pei Chuyun, who had gone everywhere to look for her husband, had long been captured by Pei Yu and his men, while Sheng Yuanyao was locked in a dark room and didn't even get to eat.

When Lu Xingzhou returned home, he saw Jiang Yuan waiting at the door with a livid face.

"Lu Xingzhou, you're quite the ladies' man, aren't you?" Jiang Yuan gritted her teeth. "You used me, and now you're just going to pretend nothing happened?"

Lu Xingzhou opened the door: "Why don't you go inside and wait? It's cold outside."

"What would I go in there for? To see that fat kid and that pig? I'm afraid I'll roast it!" Jiang Yuan followed him in angrily. "Don't change the subject. Is this what you promised me for our cooperation?"

Once inside, Fatty and the pigs had no idea where they were. The mansion was quite large; heaven knows which pigsty they were in.

When the servants and guards saw Lu Xingzhou bring Jiang Yuan in, they all bowed with smiles: "Congratulations, Your Excellency. Your romantic exploits will probably spread throughout the land soon."

Not only that, he had just arranged four engagements during the day, and then brought another beauty home that very night... Everyone was at a loss for words when it came to describing this man; perhaps "inhuman" would be the most appropriate word, but unfortunately, no one dared to say it.

"Alright, go do what you need to do. You don't need to wait on me." Lu Xingzhou led Jiang Yuan into the living room and boiled water to make tea for himself.

Jiang Yuan sat there with a stern face and watched him boil water.

Seeing her expression, Lu Xingzhou couldn't help but laugh: "Girl, if things go exactly as we plan, it means you'll be engaged to me. Are you in such a hurry?"

"Who's in such a hurry?" Jiang Yuan slammed her hand on the table. "Can't you call off the engagement by then?"

"After you step down, won't you have to discuss this with Huo Xingyuan again? The key issue is that your grandfather insists on marrying you off to the Huo family. What's the point if the root of the problem isn't resolved? Unless you really give up and marry me directly." Lu Xingzhou laughed, "You wouldn't actually be thinking about it, would you?"

"Tch." Jiang Yuan scoffed, "I'd rather marry a pig or a dog than a lecherous glutton who's arranging marriages with four women in one day."

“In that case, it would be good for you to marry Huo Xingyuan. At least he looks like a human being, so you don’t need to marry a pig or a dog… although in my opinion he is not as good as a pig or a dog.”

"You!" Jiang Yuan said angrily, "Don't you want to cooperate anymore? Don't you want to know about the affairs of the Ancient Realm?"

Lu Xingzhou sighed and poured her a cup of tea: "This time, it was the emperor who refused to grant the marriage, not that I didn't do my job. I admit that I had the intention of using you, but I did publicly tell Huo Xingyuan that I was interested in you, didn't I? Huo Xingyuan did go to the emperor because of that. What the emperor does is not something I can control."

Jiang Yuan was well aware of this principle, but she always felt something was off. How could he be arranging marriages for her, only to turn around and marry four other women, and it had nothing to do with her?

A feeling of being sold out welled up inside her: "If you can marry so many women in court, why don't you add me to the list?"

“Young lady, the men I’ve proposed to are all deeply devoted and loyal. Having the opportunity to formally propose is like walking on thin ice; I don’t want any unforeseen circumstances. The more I take on, the more unforeseen problems arise… Our relationship is merely a partnership, and frankly, in my heart, there’s room for future proposals.” Lu Xingzhou spoke very frankly: “But this is indeed something I haven’t fully fulfilled my promise to. I will continue to try.” Even though he made her “future proposals” sound so righteous, Jiang Yuan didn’t feel any aversion to it. Instead, she felt a rare sense of sincerity: “How do you intend to continue trying? Propose again now?”

Lu Xingzhou said, "I told you, the root of this matter is that your grandfather insists on marrying you off to the Huo family... So why don't you let me talk to your grandfather? Maybe that can change his mind?"

Jiang Yuan hesitated for a moment: "He's stubborn."

"That's not necessarily true. Just because you can't persuade me doesn't mean I can't." Lu Xingzhou smiled. "Actually... ever since you came to talk about maritime trade, the person I wanted to talk to has always been your grandfather, not you. If it weren't for some past connection between us, I wouldn't know what we could talk about."

Jiang Yuan's face flushed red: "Don't look down on me. If it weren't for the pressure..."

He stopped halfway through his sentence, and said angrily, "In the past, you wouldn't even have been qualified to see me!"

Suppressing one's level? Suppressing one's bloodline? Or something else?
Lu Xingzhou looked her over with amusement and laughed, "You may have had a lot of status before... but a fallen phoenix is ​​no better than a chicken. At least here now, you're just a helpless pawn that Grandpa will use to arrange a marriage."

Seeing that Jiang Yuan was about to say something, Lu Xingzhou waved his hand and said, "Alright, Mr. Jiang, if you've heard enough, why don't you come down and have a cup of hot tea?"

Jiang Yuan's expression changed slightly, and Jiang Duxu's sigh came from the air: "A true strategist."

As the words were spoken, Jiang Duxu floated in. His white beard and eyebrows, reminiscent of Feng Xu riding the wind, suddenly gave him the aura of a grandmaster, quite different from his previous somewhat mercenary "sea merchant" persona.

"Grandpa," Jiang Yuan stood up from her seat, bowing her head, and said, "I..."

Jiang Duxu waved his hand and sat down: "How did Physician Lu know I was here? Logically speaking, there's no way he could have sensed my presence."

Lu Xingzhou poured him a cup of tea: "I didn't know the situation before, so it was fine to let Jiang Yuan and me be alone. Now that the wedding is about to break up, would the old gentleman still let her come to me alone at night? It's impossible. Only a stupid girl like that can't understand.

Jiang Yuan: "..."

Jiang Duxu laughed heartily: "So many of the things you said just now were actually meant for me."

"Yes." Lu Xingzhou said, "Let's not waste time with small talk and get straight to the point—Gu Zhanting has a strong desire for control and a poor reputation. He is not a good partner. You can tell from the relationship between Tianyao Holy Land and Daqian. They used to be very close, but now they are drifting apart. Why? You must have personally witnessed Gu Zhanting's suppression of Tianyao Holy Land behind the scenes. Tianyao Holy Land can withstand it, but can the Jiang family withstand it? At least the Demon Clan Holy Mountain couldn't withstand it and was killed by him."

Jiang Duxu remained calm: "Anything else?"

"Does the old gentleman think that before Gu Zhanting gets what he wants, he can first consolidate his power? Once he has a firm foothold, he won't be afraid of the emperor... Perhaps. Maybe you have a special method to quickly cultivate talent and rapidly expand your power." Lu Xingzhou sighed, "Is it that at a certain point, you won't be afraid of being arrested by the authorities?"

Jiang Duxu's expression finally changed slightly.

“I know much more than Mr. Jiang imagines,” Lu Xingzhou smiled. “I’ve even seen the remains of the hunt for illegal immigrants.”

Jiang Duxu took a deep breath: "What you're talking about... could you elaborate?"

“I misjudged things before… Although I knew they were smuggling themselves in, I thought they were coming to the mortal realm to cause trouble, and that the pursuers were maintaining order. Now, seeing how you all are, I’m afraid you’re just escaping from the tiger’s den. Since you’re already out of the tiger’s den, why bother trying to get yourselves out of it?”

Even Jiang Duxu, who maintained his air of a grandmaster, could hardly contain himself: "You... are you really from the lower realm?"

"Me? I might come from the real immortal realm, who knows?"

"..."

Lu Xingzhou smiled and said, "Mr. Jiang may have seen that Tianyao Holy Land is ruthless in arresting people from the ancient realm and think that cooperation is not possible. In fact, there is some misunderstanding... Of course, we do not welcome those who think they are guests from the upper realm and cause trouble, but we may not be unwelcoming to those who want to live properly here."

Jiang Duxu said calmly, "Why don't you think that once we've established a firm foothold, we'll become the ones stirring up trouble?"

Lu Xingzhou smiled slightly: "Because Miss Jiang still possesses a clear-eyed folly, I believe that the group she belongs to, at least in terms of its principles and education, is not malicious."

Jiang Yuan: "..."

Jiang Duxu said, "You want to cooperate with us."

"It's obvious."

"Representing the Tianyao Holy Land?"

“Yes.” Lu Xingzhou sighed, “Even if I wanted to represent only myself, it seems I’m not qualified.”

"So...why do you want to cooperate with us? What do you want in return?"

Lu Xingzhou swirled the teacup in his hand, then downed it in one gulp: "If I said that my first thought was to help the foolish and naive Miss Jiang escape her misery, would you believe me, sir?"

(End of this chapter)