People in the Qin Dynasty sought good fortune and avoided misfortune.

Chapter 273, Using One Tiger to Devour Another (Seeking Monthly Tickets!!)
Xinzheng, Zilanxuan.

Xu Qing leaned back in his seat, with Zi Nu sitting beside him. Her slender hands were peeling the skin off a red fruit and feeding the tender flesh into Xu Qing's mouth.

Beneath the window, Nongyu's fingers plucked the strings of her zither, and the elegant, melodious music echoed in the room.

Nongyu plays the zither, Zinu feeds them, all that's missing is Yanlingji, that little girl, to dance.

Xu Qing thought to himself, but he only dared to think about it now. Yan Lingji was still one of South Korea's most wanted criminals. If he could bring her to Zilanxuan...

Regardless of how Ji Wuye, Han Yu, and others would exploit the situation after finding out, Zi Nu herself would not let him off easily.

Just as Xu Qing was enjoying the service of Zi Nu and Nong Yu, a sound of footsteps interrupted the music. Xu Qing couldn't help but open his eyes and glance at Han Fei, who had pushed open the door, with disdain.

Han Fei looked at Xu Qing, who was enjoying himself like an emperor inside the room, his eyes filled with envy, and slowly spoke.

"Brother Xu, your life is truly enviable."

"Judging from your miserable look, I know you got scolded again, didn't you?"

Xu Qing glanced at Han Fei, who had disturbed her peace, her words full of disdain.

"Alas, nothing can be hidden from Brother Xu. After you sent Honglian back to the palace last night, my father summoned me and gave me a severe scolding."

Han Fei didn't care about Xu Qing's disdain at all. He walked over and sat down opposite Xu Qing, nodding slightly to Zi Nu and Nong Yu.

"Has the King woken up? Although he was scolded, at least the Ninth Prince saw the King, didn't he?" Zi Nu said with a light laugh, covering her mouth.

"If that's the case, I'd rather not enter the palace."

Looking at Zi Nu who was teasing him, Han Fei's face was full of helplessness, and he sighed softly.

"Judging from Ninth Prince's appearance, the King must be urging you to capture Tianze and rescue the Crown Prince as soon as possible, right?" Nongyu got up from behind the zither table, walked to Xu Qing's other side and sat down, saying with a smile.

“Miss Nongyu is clever, and Brother Xu has rescued Honglian. This makes me, the one in charge of rescuing the Crown Prince, seem incompetent. My father has given me a strict order: I must rescue the Crown Prince within three days,” Han Fei said.

Last night, Xu Qing brought Honglian back to the palace. Han Wang An, who had just woken up, summoned the two of them. He was overjoyed to see that Honglian had returned safely.

Xu Qing was lavishly rewarded, given a large amount of money and jewelry, and even given the status of a junior doctor.

As for Xu Qing's martial arts skills, Honglian kept it a secret. The main force that defeated Tianze became the Farmer's School and the Mohist School. Han Wang'an didn't think much of this, as he knew that Xu Qing had been in contact with a complex group of people.

As long as Honglian can return safely, Han Wang'an doesn't care who defeated Tianze.

"It seems your father's opinion of you hasn't changed," Xu Qing said, glancing at Han Fei with pity.

Everyone believed he supported Han Fei, and his actions were also in support of Han Fei. He rescued Hong Lian, and even if the credit couldn't be attributed to Han Fei, King Han An shouldn't have punished Han Fei.

But King An of Han did exactly that, even giving Han Fei a death order, which shows just how much King An of Han disliked Han Fei.

"It doesn't matter, my father has always treated me this way."

Han Fei, on the other hand, took it all in stride and wasn't affected by the incident at all, or perhaps he had simply gotten used to it after experiencing so much.

"I haven't even thanked you yet. Thank you so much, Brother Xu, for rescuing Honglian and saving her from harm," Han Fei said, cupping his hands in thanks to Xu Qing.

“Why are we talking about this? I already promised you. But now that Honglian has been rescued, the Crown Prince is still in Tianze’s hands. Do you have a way to rescue the Crown Prince?” Xu Qing sat up straight and looked at Han Fei.

When the topic turned to serious matters, Han Fei also put away his helpless expression.

"I came to see Brother Xu today for this matter. After you defeated Tianze last night, do you know where they escaped to?" Han Fei asked.

"I don't know. After I defeated Tianze last night, he fled with the Corpse-Driving Demon and the Hundred Poison King. We were in the wilderness with dense forests, so I can't be sure where they went," Xu Qing said, shaking his head.

Tianze and he still have a deal. He can't let Han Fei capture Tianze now, otherwise who will kill Han Yu?

Xu Qing's answer was exactly what Han Fei had expected, so he turned to ask...

"Do you still have the bottle I gave you back then? I need it to deal with Tianze now."

Upon seeing Han Fei mention the medicine bottle, Xu Qing pondered for a moment and then understood what Han Fei wanted to do, and spoke up.

"A medicine bottle? Are you planning to use one enemy to devour another?"

“Brother Xu understands me best. Tianze was released by Nightfall, and the poison in his body was planted by Nightfall. If the people of Nightfall find out that Tianze is making a deal with me and trying to break free from Nightfall's control, I think Ji Wuye and the others will definitely not sit still.”

"To prevent Tianze from escaping control, and also to rescue the Crown Prince, Nightfall will definitely take action."

As Han Fei finished speaking, a hint of helplessness flashed in his eyes. If he hadn't been forced to, he wouldn't have wanted to come to this point.

King Han asked Han Yu and Ji Wuye to help him capture Tianze, but the two of them were only going through the motions and had no intention of helping him at all.

In order to rescue the Crown Prince as soon as possible, he had no choice but to force Ji Wuye to take action. Otherwise, relying solely on himself, Wei Zhuang, and Zhang Liang, they wouldn't even be able to find Tianze's whereabouts, let alone rescue the Crown Prince.
“I returned the bottle to Tianze before we fought last night.”

Xu Qing shrugged helplessly. He wasn't lying; he had indeed handed the bottle back to Tianze. He hadn't expected Han Fei to need the bottle again, otherwise he wouldn't have given it to Tianze.

Upon hearing this, Zi Nu glanced at Xu Qing, a smile flashing in her purple eyes. She placed her small hand on Xu Qing's shoulder and leaned against him, saying...
"How did you learn this trick too?"

"You become like those you associate with. Spending too much time with certain people will pick up these bad habits," Xu Qing said with a shrug.

After spending a lot of time with these pretentious people like Wei Zhuang, Bai Yifei, and Han Fei, he unconsciously developed a more pretentious air about him in his every move.

Although it's not a good habit, it really feels great.

Winning or losing is a small matter, but showing off is a lifelong pursuit.

Zi Nu, Nong Yu, and Han Fei all chuckled upon hearing this, naturally understanding that the "someone" Xu Qing was referring to was Wei Zhuang.

"If Mr. Wei Zhuang knew you said that about him, he'd probably challenge you to a sword duel," Nongyu teased softly as she moved closer to Xu Qing.

"The person I'm talking about isn't him," Xu Qing said calmly.

Even if Wei Zhuang were to challenge him to a sword duel, he would no longer be afraid. His exchange with Tian Ze last night had given him a clear understanding of his own strength.

Although his internal strength is still among the top-tier experts, he can easily defeat ordinary Celestial Realm cultivators. If he and Wei Zhuang don't fight to the death, they won't be able to determine a winner within a hundred moves.

Han Fei looked at the intimacy between Xu Qing and Nongyu, and then at Zi Nu who was standing still. His eyes were full of surprise, and he secretly gave Xu Qing a thumbs up.

If it weren't for the inappropriate occasion, he would have wanted to ask Xu Qing how he managed to win over Nongyu right under Zi Nu's nose and get Zi Nu to accept it willingly.

"Since Brother Xu doesn't have any bottles here, I won't stay any longer. Brother Zifang and Brother Weizhuang are waiting for me." After saying this, Han Fei got up to leave. He had no interest in watching Xu Qing with women on both sides.

"Go ahead, I won't see you off," Xu Qing said.

Han Fei rose, gave a slight bow, and turned to walk outside. As he reached the door, he turned back to Xu Qing and said...
"Brother Xu, don't forget Father's decree. I'm entrusting Honglian to you."

After saying that, Han Fei left without looking back.

Zi Nu and Nong Yu were taken aback when they heard Han Fei's words, and then looked at Xu Qing with a puzzled expression.

"What does Han Fei mean by that? What decree has the King issued to you?" Zi Nu's alluring, mature voice was full of doubt.

Xu Qing glanced at Nongyu and Zinu, picked up the juice on the table, drank it, and said...
"It's nothing. Last night, after I sent Honglian back to the palace, before I could leave, the king ordered me to teach Honglian pharmacology. I don't know what happened."

"I was going to refuse, but the king persuaded me repeatedly, so I had no choice but to agree in the end."

Although he said he didn't know what was going on, Xu Qing knew that it must have been Honglian who was behind it all.

It's unlikely that Honglian wants to learn his medical skills; she probably wants to learn his swordsmanship. The medical and pharmacological knowledge is just a pretext.

Because Honglian helped him deceive Han Wang'an and intercepted the Crimson King Serpent, Xu Qing finally agreed.

"So that's it."

After hearing Xu Qing's explanation, Zi Nu and Nong Yu were no longer worried. They had assumed that Xu Qing's martial arts skills had been exposed.
"Judging by the time, it's about time I went to teach Honglian a lesson," Xu Qing said, glancing at the hourglass.

"In that case, you can go ahead and get busy."

"it is good."

Xu Qing stood up and beckoned to the red-banded king snake coiled on the soft cushion beside him. The red-banded king snake then crawled towards Xu Qing, climbed up his arms along his pants, and hid in the wide sleeves of his clothes.

Under the watchful eyes of Zi Nu and Nong Yu, Xu Qing walked out of Zi Lan Xuan.

However, Xu Qing did not go directly to the palace. Instead, he took another route out of Xinzheng and headed to Qianlong Hall outside the city.

Han Fei wanted to use one tiger to devour another to deal with Tianze. In order to ensure the success of his plan, he needed to remind Tianze so that he could prepare in advance.

Before long, Xu Qing arrived at the backyard of Qianlong Hall.

At this moment, Yan Lingji was wearing a fiery red dress and holding a bamboo scroll, sitting on the edge of the pond.

The fiery red skirt was piled up on the blue stone bank, and her smooth, fair legs shimmered in the sunlight. Her delicate, white feet were placed in the clear pool water, gently swaying.

Her fair little feet swayed up and down, creating ripples and splashing water.

Her rosy, grape-like toes were slightly raised, water droplets sliding between them, reflecting the bright sunlight like shining pearls.

A faint smile graced Yan Lingji's exquisitely beautiful face. Noticing Xu Qing's gaze, she turned her head slightly to look at him.

"Is everything done?" Yan Lingji tilted her head slightly, her icy blue eyes fixed on Xu Qing.

Xu Qing walked slowly to Yan Lingji's side, looked down at her, and said...
“I fought Tianze last night and he lost. I have already rescued Princess Honglian.”

(End of this chapter)