Martial Arts Crossover: My Wife is the Top Scholar

Chapter 137 Lord Ye Gucheng, this is a slap in your face!

Li Zhaoting was so angry that his face turned green.

Jiang Yuyan covered her mouth and chuckled softly.

It must be said that the doubts are quite valid.

Since his debut, Li Zhaoting's background has been widely known. His family was once impoverished, yet he enjoys a life of luxury. Where did all this money come from?
Li Zhaoting also had something to say about this.

Where did the money to buy the house come from?

“I helped Min Zihua once, and he gave it to me.”

Where did the money for renovating the house come from?

"He gave it to me after I helped Hua Manlou once."

Where did the money for going to Fanlou come from?

"I earned it by drawing."

"Where did the houses in Beijing come from?"

"A gift from the emperor."

Where did the gold you carried with you come from?

"The Liancheng Treasure Trove has been robbed; a bag of gold has been stolen."

Every penny has a legitimate source.

But people in the martial arts world don't know that!

The only master who is skilled in using willow branches and bamboo is Li Zhaoting, besides the Bashan Returning Wind Willow Sword.

When Li Zhaoting first started out, he didn't have any special weapons. He used willow branches and bamboo as weapons, or he would just break off a tree branch and twist it into a wooden sword.

It's perfectly normal to arouse suspicion.

It would be abnormal if no one questioned it.

"Young master, did you really go to rob someone?"

"We rescued a little girl."

"Oh? Will the little girl be in big trouble?"

"It's terrible. Every day she has to make the bed, do laundry, sweep the floor, chop firewood, fetch water, and cook!"

"Oh~~"

Jiang Yuyan gave an indifferent snort.

I've been doing these things every day since I was a child.

I've gotten used to it.

When she was with Ke Baisui, she ate the leftovers left by her masters. Now that they can eat at the same table, Jiang Yuyan eats whatever Li Zhaoting eats.

Most importantly, Li Zhaoting is handsome.

He's far more pleasing to the eye than that old Bi Deng, Ke Baisui.

Someone plotted to frame Li Zhaoting. Li Zhaoting couldn't travel slowly. Jiang Yuyan couldn't ride a horse, and the carriage was too slow, so he rode with Jiang Yuyan on horseback. Lao Jiu had excellent stamina, so the speed wasn't affected.

Jiang Yuyan weighs over ninety jin, roughly the same weight as the Overlord Spear. With the endurance of the old wine, she can easily withstand Li Zhaoting's charge with the Overlord Spear for a hundred rounds.

The journey was uneventful, and they quickly returned to the capital.

When Li Zhaoting arrived in the capital, the Four Great Constables had not yet returned. It is said that along the way, some experts tried to abduct the Ancient Sword Soul, but they were all killed and repelled by the Four Great Constables.

If it's a case handled by someone like Tie Shou or Zhui Ming, they are relatively lenient and sometimes they'll do the extra work.

Cold-bloodedly, I am not a public toilet; I do not provide convenience services. Either get out or die.

Needless to say, Wuqing's murderous aura shocked Zhuge Zheng. When handling cases, he often killed criminals on the grounds of resisting arrest. I don't know what's wrong with those people, they always want to provoke Wuqing.

Despite his physical disability, Wuqing became the eldest disciple of the Four Great Constables, earning the respect of his junior brothers. Did they really think he was a pushover? Even Guan Qi didn't dare to underestimate him!
……

"My wife, I'm back!"

Li Zhaoting called out fluently.

No one from the family came out to greet them.

Only after asking the maid did I learn that Feng Suzhen had gone to the palace to see the Empress Dowager, Lan Fenghuang and Tianxiang were shopping, Meizhu had taken the Five Rats to the Daxiangguo Temple snack street, and the house was empty except for one person who was freeloading.

A starving ghost with four eyebrows.

I'm about to empty out my wine cellar!
Li Zhaoting tossed the reins to the maid: "Go and deliver the old wine to the stable. This is Jiang Yuyan, my personal maid. Go and arrange accommodations for her."

After saying that, Li Zhaoting went straight to the living room.

Lu Xiaofeng was eating and drinking heartily in the living room, his whole body filthy as if he had rolled around in the mud eight hundred times. He held a meat-filled pancake in one hand and a wine jug in the other, his mouth stuffed full.

Upon seeing Li Zhaoting, Lu Xiaofeng was so excited that he choked on the meat-filled pancake and had to drink most of a pot of wine before finally swallowing it and letting out a satisfied burp.

"That feels good! That fucking feels good!"

Lu Xiaofeng patted his chest and complained, "You have no idea what I've been through lately! I practiced my somersault skills for half a month to compete with Sikong Zhaixing, but I didn't expect that old monkey had also practiced for half a month."

"and then?"

"I lost, I lost twice."

"You went to dig for earthworms again?"

"I searched for 1,008 earthworms in the mud for ten days and ten nights, and finally managed to collect the number. But the old monkey just threw them away in front of me."

"That was his goal all along: to make the handsome Lu Xiaofeng dig for earthworms in the mud, and then dump them in front of you when you've collected enough, making you furious."

"Sigh~ The old monkey is getting more and more wicked."

"Do you know what I've been up to lately? First, I witnessed the duel between the fairies and the witches, and then I fought two battles with the Ancient Sword Soul. My Purple Rose Soft Sword is almost worn out from all the fighting."

"The Purple Rose Soft Sword needs maintenance, so you have no weapon for the time being. You can only use green bamboo as a weapon, create dozens of blind men, and steal 800,000 taels of silver."

"Eight hundred thousand taels of silver isn't enough to spend!"

"There are also the seventy priceless scrolls of calligraphy and paintings treasured by Huayuxuan, a batch of red goods from Zhendongbao, ninety thousand taels of gold leaves from Jinsha River, and eighteen bushels of pearls from the treasuries of the eight princes. Isn't that enough to cover expenses?"

"Gold and silver jewelry are fine, but what use are antiques and calligraphy? My paintings are more valuable. I set up a stall at the entrance of Fanlou to sell my paintings, and I can earn five thousand taels in a morning."

"Your paintings only resemble the form, but lack the essence. The paintings collected by Huayuxuan are all masterpieces, including genuine works by Gu Kaizhi, Wu Daozi, and Yan Liben, as well as cursive script left by Zhang Xu and Huaisu. They are all priceless treasures. It is said that deep in the warehouse, there are genuine works by Wang Xizhi."

Lu Xiaofeng looked at Li Zhaoting mysteriously and rubbed his hands together: "To be honest, although I know nothing about calligraphy and painting, when I hear these names, I suddenly want to do business with Sikong Zhaixing."

Li Zhaoting waved his hand: "You're wrong. In the black market for selling stolen goods, calligraphy and paintings have the lowest value, are too obvious targets, and are too difficult to sell."

You can spend the gold and silver you grab directly.

Those who manage to acquire paintings and calligraphy must sell them for money.

Who to sell to?
Who doesn't know your painting was stolen?
Stolen goods will definitely be sold at a ridiculously low price.

Jewelry and jade items are sold at roughly a 50/50 split, while calligraphy and paintings are sold at either 30/70 or 80/20. If time is of the essence, the split might even be 90/10.

Unless it's some collectors who hire thieves at high prices to steal, but this isn't selling stolen goods, it's selling skills to make money, and it measures the skill of the thief.

They spent 100,000 taels of silver to hire Sikong Zhaixing to steal a famous painting. It wasn't the painting itself that was worth 100,000 taels, but rather Sikong Zhaixing's skill that was worth 100,000 taels.

After Hua Yuxuan lost these paintings and calligraphy, he would definitely report the case to the Six Doors and send a detailed list. All the large pawnshops and black markets would know which paintings and calligraphy Hua Yuxuan had lost. If someone tried to sell the paintings and calligraphy, they would definitely try to drive down the price, and at most they would only give 20% of the price.

To sell stolen paintings and calligraphy, one must delay for two years, waiting for Huayuxuan to go bankrupt and for the hype to die down. Then, through black market brokers, one can find a few collectors and sell the paintings and calligraphy to them. This method is slow, but the price is stable and the safety is relatively high.

Or they could be sent to the Western Regions or overseas to be sold as stolen goods.

Li Zhaoting's lengthy analysis left Lu Xiaofeng dizzy with disbelief. He retorted, "Have you really been a robber? How come you're so familiar with handling stolen goods?"

"My father taught me in Dali."

"Doesn't Dali care?"

"My father is now the Song Dynasty's envoy to Dali, a mascot of the Song Dynasty. Dali can't be bothered with my father."

What are your thoughts on the Bamboo Bandit?

"He's deliberately provoking me! This guy is desperate for money, has a deep grudge against me, and is trying to kill two birds with one stone."

Do you have many enemies?

"rare!"

Li Zhaoting uttered two words with unwavering certainty.

Li Zhaoting indeed had very few enemies.

They usually settle scores on the same day they have a grudge.

Revenge doesn't need to be separated by chapters or pages! What enemies does Li Zhaoting have?
All the open enemies are long dead.

Who the hell knows what happens in private?

Just like Gu Jianhun and Ou Feng, Gu Jianhun would never have imagined that the reason he was plotted against to his death was because he casually bullied a medical apprentice.

Li Zhaoting found it really strange. Jin Jiuling didn't hate the superiors who didn't promote him, nor did he hate the Four Great Constables whose promotions were happening at lightning speed. Why did he hate me?

I only stole your thunder twice!

Jin Jiuling has been in the public service for thirty years, how come his self-cultivation is so poor? Is he going through menopause?

Li Zhaoting sighed, "Lu Xiaofeng, do you know what the most dangerous thing is right now? It's not that the Green Bamboo Bandit continues his crimes, but that something will happen..."

"Imitation of a crime!"

Lu Xiaofeng clenched her fist tightly.

He recalled the brilliant reasoning Li Zhaoting had given when he analyzed the Iron-Shoe Bandit back in Peach Blossom Fortress.

Twin trickery, copycat crimes...

The harm of copycat crimes lies not only in creating more victims, but also in disrupting the situation. The more people copy the crimes, the more chaotic the situation becomes. The original master thief of the Green Bamboo Cottage managed to deceive everyone and perfectly conceal his tracks.

Lu Xiaofeng had no doubt that if the murderer was caught in two or three months, there would be at least twenty or thirty copycat crimes during that period, all of which were committed by the real culprit!
The Green Bamboo Bandit is so easy to imitate.

A bright red cotton-padded jacket, a big beard, and green bamboo...

Everyone, regardless of age or gender, can imitate this.

This equipment is designed to facilitate imitation; the more people imitate the crime, the easier it is to muddy the waters.

Lu Xiaofeng scratched his head anxiously.

Li Zhaoting asked curiously, "Lu Xiaofeng, didn't you go dig for earthworms? The case of the Green Bamboo Bandit has only been a few days. How do you know so much about it?"

"I... well... hehe..."

"Tell the truth! Or get a beating! I just learned the Tathagata Palm technique, want to try it?"

"Don't you dislike fistfights?"

"I transformed the nine palm techniques into sword techniques, creating the nine Tathagata Divine Lights. Really, I can't wait to see if the Spirit Rhinoceros Finger can catch the Finger Flick Sword Qi."

"I don't want to try!"

Lu Xiaofeng's face turned both blue and purple.

"Who told you about the case?"

Li Zhaoting made a flicking motion on the forehead.

"it's me!"

A voice came from outside the door.

Jin Jiuling stood elegantly outside the door, holding a folding fan in his hand—a priceless masterpiece, only slightly inferior to Li Zhaoting's fan.

Can three-pointers really be considered "slightly inferior"?
There is no way!

Li Zhaoting's fan came from the Southern Tang Dynasty's treasury and was a prized possession of the imperial palace. From the fan ribs to the fan surface and the calligraphy and paintings on it, every part was worth a fortune.

Even if Jin Jiuling wanted to buy it, he couldn't!
There are simply no similar works on the market.

Even if Jin Jiuling spent a lot of money to find Zhu Ting or Yue Qing to make a replica, he would find that he could not gather all the materials.

Judging solely from the folding fan itself, Jin Jiuling's fan was absolutely top-notch, a very useful weapon for acupressure, striking pressure points, and capturing bandits.

"So it's Officer Jin. Please have a seat."

"Young Master Li, you've really given me a headache. Rumors in the martial arts world say you're the prime suspect, and you're trying to get me to arrest you. I really don't want to be your enemy."

"I was in Emei when the crime happened. Unless I could be in two places at once, how could I have had the time to commit the crime?"

"Of course, we'll follow the Iron Shoes Thief's method and ask Lu Xiaofeng to help us commit the crime. You two have similar builds, and Lu Xiaofeng's Spirit Rhinoceros Finger is perfect for attacking the eyes. He's good friends with Sikong Zhaixing and Hua Manlou, and he's found all the ways to steal or sell stolen goods. If the two of you work together, who can catch you two?"

Jin Jiuling looked at the two of them with a worried expression.

Li Zhaoting said seriously, "Lu Xiaofeng wouldn't do that, especially not create a blind person."

"why?"

"Because Hua Manlou is blind, friends should learn to empathize with each other. Lu Xiaofeng knows Hua Manlou's pain well, so how could he do such a thing?"

Li Zhaoting patted Lu Xiaofeng on the shoulder.

The two exchanged a knowing smile.

Jin Jiuling laughed loudly, "What loyalty! No wonder you are the famous Lu Xiaofeng! I admire you!"

After a pause, Jin Jiuling asked, "Young Master Li, do you know this kind of trick? Don't misunderstand, the Green Bamboo Bandit uses green bamboo; I'm just doing my job."

Li Zhaoting uttered a single word: "Yes!"

"Aren't you and Hua Manlou friends?"

“Of course we are friends. Lu Xiaofeng empathizes with pain, while I empathize with hatred. I believe in an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. If I were to encounter the Green Bamboo Bandit, I would definitely blind him!”

"Young Master Li is a man of great righteousness."

Jin Jiuling poured Li Zhaoting a glass of wine.

Li Zhaoting thought to himself, "What nonsense!"

His eyes darted around, and he asked, "I just heard Lu Xiaofeng recount the case. One of the victims was the Eighth Prince? Given the Eighth Prince's personality, who would dare to provoke him?"

The Eighth Prince was named Zhao Yuanyan, the eighth son of Zhao Guangyi. Zhao Guangyi doted on him and began bestowing titles upon him from a young age, calling him the "Twenty-Eight Protectors".

During the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of Song, Zhao Yuanyan served successively as military governor of various circuits, chancellor, and was later promoted to Grand Tutor, concurrently serving as Chancellor and Grand Governor of Shanzhou, and was enfeoffed as Prince of Jing.

When Emperor Renzong of Song ascended the throne, he was promoted to Grand Pillar of State, Grand Tutor, Governor of Yangzhou, and Grand Master of the Three Departments, and was enfeoffed as Prince of Jing.

Zhao Yuanran is a true imperial uncle, on par with the Eighth Prince. There are always some disagreements between imperial uncles and nephews, so one needs to be careful on a daily basis.

Emperor Zhao Zhen was kind-hearted and bestowed many honors upon Zhao Yuanyan. Zhao Yuanyan had no shortage of money and recruited a large number of skilled warriors to form a guard in the palace.

He often had martial artists practice on weekdays.

Although most of these people were a motley crew, at best third-rate, there were a few martial arts masters among them.

Even if Zhao Yuanyan's household didn't have a single expert, who would dare to rob the Prince's mansion?

Those who robbed Huayuxuan and hijacked the caravan were bandits.

Those who robbed the Eighth Prince and raided the Prince's Mansion were traitors.

The former does not necessarily require solving the case.

The latter must solve the case within a specified time.

In addition, there is a highly skilled martial artist in the Prince's mansion.

Six months ago, Ye Gucheng, the lord of Baiyun City, was hired by the Eighth Prince to become the young prince's swordsmanship teacher.

Li Zhaoting asked with a smile, "Captain Jin, I'm very curious about something. How did the Green Bamboo Bandit manage to blind Jiang Chongwei, the captain of the Prince's guards, right under Ye Gucheng's nose, and then steal his jewelry and jade?"

Lu Xiaofeng looked at Jin Jiuling with a puzzled expression.

A few days ago, in order to get Lu Xiaofeng involved in the case, Jin Jiuling asked his senior brother, Master Bitter Gourd, to lure Lu Xiaofeng with vegetarian food and use reverse psychology to provoke him. Lu Xiaofeng subconsciously agreed and read the complete case file.

This part is not recorded in the file.

Bypassing the guards of the Prince's Palace was not difficult.

To bypass Ye Gucheng is pure nonsense.

Ye Gucheng's ultimate move, "Flying Immortal from Beyond the Heavens," is the essence of both swordsmanship and lightness skill. The fact that it is named after a flying immortal speaks volumes about the level of his lightness skill.

Ye Gucheng disliked managing mundane affairs, but if someone robbed the Prince's mansion right in front of him and didn't do anything, wouldn't Ye Gucheng have no shame? What would people in the martial arts world say about him?

Jin Jiuling explained with a wry smile, "Ye Gucheng wasn't at the palace at the time; someone asked him to appraise the sword."

"Who can persuade Ye Gucheng to come?"

"I!"

Jin Jiuling gritted his teeth.

Upon hearing this, he became the prime suspect.

Jin Jiuling did not want to do that.

However, he had no choice.

(End of this chapter)