The Legend of the Condor Heroes: From Being Expelled from Peach Blossom Island

Chapter 331 Getting to the bottom of things
Wu Chengyu was delighted to see Chen He. This clerk had been disdainful of him at the recruitment office, yet had also been quite considerate. Now that he saw that Wu Chengyu was a true martial arts master who had become a Class B fighter with Class A treatment, he immediately came to apologize.

Looking at the other person's somewhat cunning smile, his bowing and scraping, and his eyebrows twitching as he spoke, one couldn't really feel any ill will towards him; he was quite a clever person.

"Brother Chen, why do you have to do this? You've done nothing wrong by following the rules."

Upon hearing Wu Chengyu's words, Chen He's expression immediately became even more obsequious. Without waiting for Wu Chengyu to invite him in, he quickly shrank down and sat down next to Wu Chengyu, placing the snacks in his hand in front of Wu Chengyu.

"This is just a small gift, nothing special. It's the most famous old-brand pastry in Xingqing Prefecture. I usually don't even buy it for my own children."

As soon as he finished speaking, Chen He looked at the dinner in front of Wu Chengyu and noticed that Wu Chengyu only ate the vegetarian goose and the vegetarian dish, while barely touching the roast chicken and mutton. His eyes lit up, and while he was still saying flattering words, his eyes were fixed on the two meat dishes.

Wu Chengyu beckoned to the maid to bring a pair of chopsticks. Chen He didn't stand on ceremony, picked up the chopsticks, immediately grabbed a chicken leg and put it in his mouth. In just a few bites, he ate it until only the bones were left. After finishing, he licked his lips and let out a long sigh.

"Please don't be offended, my friend. It's just that I haven't eaten meat for too long, and my cravings have made me forget everything else."

Speaking of which, you mentioned you came from Dasanguan, which is Song territory. I wonder how you ended up in our Xia Kingdom? In terms of resources, Xia Kingdom is far inferior to Song Kingdom.”

As he spoke, the man picked up a piece of half-fat, half-lean mutton, dipped it in the sauce, and ate it with great satisfaction.

Wu Chengyu was now somewhat interested in this person; it seemed he had underestimated the little clerk who was dozing off at the entrance of the recruitment office.

Logically speaking, a clerk's status should be much higher than that of a servant or maid in this guild hall. They are employed, after all, being able to read and write is something that, in ancient times, especially in the Western Xia, such a person could not possibly be at the lowest level.

But before, this guy acted like he was familiar with Wu Chengyu and was thinking of him. He also kept complaining about being poor and expressing his envy of the martial arts masters in the guild who had such good treatment.

Unbeknownst to him, Wu Chengyu had underestimated him, thinking he was just a nobody who ran errands. But now that he thought about it, this guy's identity must be quite extraordinary.

Putting everything else aside, the fact that he was verbally apologizing while sitting next to me eating heartily and without any restraint shows that he doesn't care much about so-called martial arts masters, and it's obvious that he came to test Wu Chengyu's abilities.

The world of martial arts is very different from the real ancient world, and it is impossible to delve too deeply into it. In the real world, ordinary people would definitely need a travel permit to cross states or counties, otherwise they would be unable to move an inch.

For martial arts masters, none of this applies; they all wander around like street urchins, euphemistically calling it "wandering the world."

But since this guild hall was run by Princess Yuzhu, it already had intricate connections with the government. So how could the guild hall not investigate when a highly skilled martial artist suddenly appeared, someone they had never heard of before and had no background?

The reason we didn't take it seriously at first was entirely due to the negative effect of Lei Datou's face. Now that Wu Chengyu has displayed such high martial arts skills, we can no longer take him lightly.

"I have only offended some people and had no choice but to flee westward in a hurry to find a place to settle down in Xingqing Prefecture."

"You flatter me, hero. With your martial arts skills, who could possibly defeat you? I've heard that you killed Tu Wan in just a few moves. You truly are the God of Wind."

"I am just a nobody. There are many people in the world I can't afford to offend, so Brother Chen, you don't need to flatter me anymore."

"Haha, it's not that I, Chen, like to pry, but the martial arts masters who come to my Yangwu Hall all have some reputation before. On the contrary, the background of this great hero is completely unknown. As the person in charge of registration, I also have to take some responsibility."

"You don't need to tell me everything, sir. I just need to know your past identity and what you've done."

Wu Chengyu squinted, staring intently at Chen He, who was chewing on mutton but didn't look away.

He didn't care about status at all; that's how he'd always lived. But now, with his capable wife, Hong Niangzi, she's actually given him a real identity, and not just one.

"Alright, since you want to make a living in Xia Country, you should go along with the host's wishes."

I was once a member of the anti-Jin resistance army within the territory of the Jin Kingdom. Later, I offended one of the leaders of the resistance army and was not tolerated by the resistance army, so I escaped.

Moreover, I have killed many Jin people, so they will not let me go. Therefore, I cannot stay in Jin.

I originally wanted to go to the Song state, but those rebel armies there also wielded considerable power. After much consideration, I decided that since there weren't many rebel armies in the Xia state, I had no choice but to come here to make a living.

After listening, Chen He's eyes lit up: "If that's the case, then it makes sense. Don't worry, hero. That rebel army has never had anything to do with my Xia Kingdom. With Princess Yuzhu protecting them, no one can cause trouble in Xia Kingdom. You can rest easy from now on."

That was all Wu Chengyu could say; he wanted to give the other party some information, leaving the rest for them to investigate and confirm themselves. Otherwise, no matter how much or how detailed Wu Chengyu's explanations were, the other party wouldn't believe them. That was all Chen He wanted—just a direction. Surprisingly, Chen He still refused to leave, as the meal wasn't finished, and he was reluctant to part with it. Wu Chengyu, naturally, didn't want him to leave now either.

"I heard from Brother Chen that the situation has been somewhat tense recently. I have just arrived in Xingqing Prefecture and am completely at a loss. I dare not make any more mistakes. I would appreciate it if Brother Chen could enlighten me."

"Yes, Brother Nie is right. You came at the wrong time, but also at the right time." After a few drinks, Chen He stopped addressing Wu Chengyu as "Hero Wu."

"It's not that I'm hiding anything from you, Brother Nie. You'll find out about these things if you stay a few more days. There's no harm in telling you in advance."

After saying that, he took a bite of meat, drank some wine, and leisurely explained.

"The martial arts practitioners in Xia Kingdom are generally affiliated with the forces under the government. In our Xingqing Prefecture, apart from the masters directly under the government, the three strongest forces are the three major academies."

One is our Yangwu Guild Hall, and there are two others, one called Ronghua Guild Hall and the other called Tieyi Guild Hall.

"To be comparable to Princess Yuzhu's clubhouse, the owners of these two clubhouses must be quite extraordinary."

“Brother Nie is right. Our Princess Yuzhu is the current emperor’s favorite little princess. In addition, the owner of Ronghua Club is the current eldest prince. However, the eldest prince does not concern himself with the affairs of the martial world. The club is managed by his cousin, who is also the current maternal relative.”

At this point, Chen He deliberately lowered his voice and said, "You may not know this, but the current Third Prince and Princess Yuzhu are siblings from the same mother, so Princess Yuzhu has always helped the Third Prince fight against the First Prince."

In addition, there is the Iron Wing Club, whose owner is Wei Ming Tie Yu, the eldest son of the Wei Ming family, who is now the number one expert among the younger generation in our Xia Kingdom.

The Wei Ming family is the most powerful military family in our Xia Kingdom. The formidable Iron Falcon is controlled by the Wei Ming family, and they support the Second Prince, since his mother is from the Wei Ming family.

Upon hearing this, Wu Chengyu immediately understood. It was the same old cliché: three princes vying for the throne, with their subordinates forming their own factions to support the princes. And the club he had entered happened to be within the third prince's sphere of influence. Nothing new, not new at all.

According to the information he had previously obtained, the current emperor was Emperor Xiangzong of Xia, who was not too old. His three sons were not yet powerful enough, but conflicts between them had already begun. Wu Chengyu was unfamiliar with the history of Western Xia.

I only know that after the rise of the Mongols, there seemed to be a coup in Western Xia, which led to the current emperor's abdication. I just don't know if the new emperor who came to power in the coup was one of these three princes.

What attracted Wu Chengyu's attention most was the Weiming Iron Feathers. The Iron Falcons of Western Xia were no ordinary troops; they were renowned throughout the world.

Of course, to put it bluntly, it was three thousand heavily armored cavalry. However, maintaining such heavily armored cavalry was extremely expensive, especially since they were the elite of the elite. In the 189-year history of the Western Xia Dynasty, even with the full resources of the entire nation, they had not been able to expand their force to more than five thousand.

But these three thousand iron hawks made great contributions in the wars between Western Xia and Liao and Northern Song. Without the iron hawks, it would have been uncertain whether Western Xia could have established a state.

Wu Chengyu silently recited the three words "Iron Falcon" in his heart, lost in thought, but his thoughts were quickly interrupted by Chen He.

"As for why the situation has been so tense recently, we have to start with Yipintang."

I suppose Brother Nie doesn't know much about Yipintang. A hundred years ago, especially when my Xia Kingdom was founded, Yipintang was a force to be reckoned with. I heard that it was full of top-notch masters.

Later, for reasons unknown, Yipintang declined and was controlled by His Majesty the Emperor. It is said that it contains many martial arts manuals and many secrets unknown to outsiders.

A few days ago, His Majesty the Emperor issued an edict to revitalize Yipintang and to select one of his three princes to be the future head of Yipintang.

You tell me, this is outrageous! Whoever controls Yipintang is essentially controlling a part of Xia Kingdom's secret spy network. In short, the three princes are not giving way to anyone right now.

Finally, it was suggested by someone that the three guilds send their best fighters to compete in a contest, with each side sending three fighters. The prince representing the winner would then take over Yipintang.

Therefore, the situation in Xingqing Prefecture suddenly became tense. Originally, our guild was fine. Although Wei Ming Tieyu was known as the number one expert of the younger generation, our Princess Yuzhu was no weaker than him, and the other experts also had the advantage.

Who would have thought that those two guilds would be so shameless as to use some unknown means to poach the two strongest Class A experts from us? Now our guild is in dire need of reinforcements.

Our princess is amazing; she quickly found a master from elsewhere, and now she's preparing to find another top-tier master to fill the gap.

So, brother, you've come at the perfect time. If you can stand out from these masters and ultimately win the arena, you'll surely gain the princess's favor and have a bright future ahead of you.

(End of this chapter)