Martial Arts Crossover: My Wife is the Top Scholar

Chapter 145 "The Song of the Yi River"

"My life is not easy!"
Every time I go out to investigate a case, all I hear are compliments and cheers, and all I see is contempt. Almost none of those gangsters respect me.

They fawn over me to my face, but curse me behind my back as a lackey. Especially in recent years, I have neither obtained an official position nor a title, nor have I gained any empty fame.

Fewer and fewer people compliment me, while more and more people despise me. To preserve what little dignity I have left, I spend money lavishly to maintain a semblance of respectability.

You would never understand this feeling.

I hate you because in the last six months, the two closest I've had to show my face have both been ruined by you and Lu Xiaofeng. You didn't even look at me properly!

Back in Peach Blossom Fortress, at Hua Ruling's birthday banquet, you exposed the Iron Shoe Thief with just three sentences, and you were in the limelight!

Do you know how I feel?

I felt ashamed as if I had been stripped naked and made to spin around in front of countless heroes. Perhaps I'm being too sensitive, but I felt that everyone at the birthday banquet was mocking my incompetence, which I couldn't tolerate!
You shouldn't have revealed Iron Shoes' modus operandi.

This gave me the idea to commit the crime.

I shouldn't have listened to your nonsense.

This made me a suspect from the very beginning.

At this point, nothing we say will make a difference.

Right and wrong, gratitude and resentment, are all resolved within a single sword strike.

Li Zhaoting, draw your sword!
Let me see the Purple Rose Soft Sword!

I've heard that the Purple Star Soft Sword is a sword for upholding righteousness and protecting the Way. I've committed many evils, so I must meet the requirements of the sword's heart.

Li Zhaoting, please!

Jin Jiuling held a sword in his hand, his face fierce.

This sword is called "Jing Ni". Jin Jiuling presented the Eighth Prince with a replica. Anyway, the Eighth Prince only likes to collect divine weapons. No matter what kind of divine weapon it is, it is just displayed on the shelf. He doesn't care whether it is real or fake.

Ye Gucheng could authenticate the sword, but given his temperament, he would rather the Eight Kings' treasury contain a fake than see the sword gathering dust.

"You are a Shaolin disciple, your internal energy cultivation method is the Arhat Divine Skill, your main martial art is the Great Vajra Pestle, and you learned swordsmanship after becoming a constable. Are you sure you want to use a sword?"

I will defeat you with my sword!

"In that case, take this!"

Li Zhaoting lightly flicked his right hand at his waist, and the Purple Rose Soft Sword sprang from its sheath. A purple light streaked through the air, and the crescent-shaped sword energy shot towards Jin Jiuling's vital chest and abdomen.

Jin Jiuling channeled his inner energy, flicked out his sword, and swept it across the air like a long dragon, blocking Li Zhaoting's sword energy before returning to Jin Jiuling's hand.

"Good swordsmanship!"

"Li Zhaoting, I will kill you!"

The two rushed towards each other at the same time.

Jin Jiuling knew he was in dire straits. If he could not defeat Li Zhaoting, not only would his life be in danger, but his lifelong reputation would also be ruined. His remaining dignity would be stripped away by Li Zhaoting without hesitation and trampled underfoot, ensuring he would never be able to rise again.

Rumor has it that Li Zhaoting was born with a sword-wielding talent, possessing unparalleled swordsmanship. Within two years at most, he will challenge Lang Fanyun to explore the pinnacle of martial arts.

It would be very unwise to challenge Li Zhaoting to a sword fight.

However, Jin Jiuling had to do it.

Swordsmanship is Jin Jiuling's greatest trump card.

The treasures stolen from the royal treasury include a golden plum vase that makes one's kidneys indestructible, and a jade unicorn containing the sword manual left behind by Jing Ke before his assassination attempt on the King of Qin.

It is said that before Jing Ke's assassination attempt on the King of Qin, Prince Dan of Yan hired skilled swordsmen at a high price to study swordsmanship together. They compiled the essence of the martial arts of dozens of skilled swordsmen of the time into a peerless sword manual called "Song of the Yi River".

The Song of the Yi River is hidden inside the jade unicorn.

Martial arts have developed over thousands of years. Sword techniques from a thousand years ago certainly cannot compare to those of today in terms of completeness, but the ancient and profound spirit they embody is most likely to inspire wisdom.

Long Sky, Broken Sword, Flying Snow, Zhao State Spear Technique, Twin Swords Combined, Mo Family Sword Technique—this manual records more than a dozen sword techniques, as well as Jing Ke's ultimate assassination move… Kill in five steps!

After obtaining the "Song of the Yi River," Jin Jiuling studied the sword manual day and night, improving his swordsmanship by 50%.

The Jingni sword was wielded with tremendous force, sometimes as light as a feather, sometimes as nimble as an embroidery needle, sometimes as heavy as a mountain, and sometimes its sword energy was like a thousand-foot waterfall.

A glint flashed in Li Zhaoting's eyes as his Purple Rose Soft Sword swirled and circled, entangled with Jing Ni. The tangible sword energy extended and softened, flowing like water and clouds, continuous and unbroken, locking Jing Ni's sword in place, while the purple sword light rose upwards.

"laugh!"

The sword's edge pierced towards Jin Jiuling's armpit.

Jin Jiuling calmly swung his sword in defense.

Mo Family Sword Techniques.

The most defensive sword technique in the world.

Prince Dan of Yan served as the master of the Mohist school for several years. When he composed the Song of the Yi River, he recorded the complete Mohist sword techniques in a secret manual. However, as time passed and the world changed, the Mohist sword techniques were lost with the passage of time.

If the "Song of Yi River" had not reappeared in the world, where would Li Zhaoting have found the opportunity to appreciate this peerless divine sword?

Turn the tide, stick to the old ways!

Connecting strokes: Two inks linked together!

Thrust Technique: Blood Ink Surges!
Qi Technique: Sword Qi in the Jianghu!

Jin Jiuling used four ingenious moves in succession to block Li Zhaoting's sword energy. Then, his skin turned red as he activated the desperate technique of "Residual Yuan Rushing to Death," squeezing out his potential and increasing his strength several times over. Jing Ni's attack was like a mountain collapsing.

Fierce and mighty, invincible, and unstoppable.

Excessive rigidity leads to breakage, and excess cannot last.

Such a move won't last long.

Jin Jiuling understood this principle, of course. He did not want to defeat Li Zhaoting with a frenzied attack, but rather to create distance and gain some time to build up his strength.

"Whoosh!"

Jin Jiuling abruptly stopped his forward momentum, turning from a charge into a retreat, quickly widening the distance by ten steps.

Before Li Zhaoting could launch an attack, blood spilled from the corner of Jin Jiuling's mouth, his face turned as pale as paper, and all his energy and spirit were channeled into his sword. A sinister, terrifying, and soul-stealing sword light flashed across the blade, locking onto Li Zhaoting's aura, and every hair on his body stood on end.

"Li Zhaoting, prepare to die!"

Jin Jiuling swung his sword and stabbed at Li Zhaoting.

The two were ten paces apart. When Jin Jiuling thrust out his sword, he was only five paces away. Five paces was the distance. He arrived in an instant. The sword light flashed and the blade reached Li Zhaoting's chest. Only then did Li Zhaoting raise his sword.

A look of surprise flashed in Jin Jiuling's eyes.

He couldn't wait to see Jing Ni pierce Li Zhaoting's chest and destroy his internal organs.

This scene is so beautiful!
Even the crimson before my eyes seemed to glow.

It was as radiant as a blooming peony.

In front of you?

Blood red?
Why is everything in front of me blood red?
Where does the blood come from?

Of course, it came from Jin Jiuling himself!
Li Zhaoting's figure vanished in an instant, and Jin Jiuling only struck an afterimage. At the same time, Li Zhaoting appeared to Jin Jiuling's left, their bodies intersecting, and the Purple Star Soft Sword was held horizontally in front of him, slicing past Jin Jiuling's eyes.

Do unto others, do not impose on others.

Hua Manlou was Li Zhaoting's friend, so Li Zhaoting was unwilling to use the Silent Palm, Silent Step, or the light-footed movement technique that left no trace on the snow but made a sound when landing. He would also not use moves like Double Dragons Snatching a Pearl to attack the enemy's eyes.

There was one exception!

The exception is Jin Jiuling.

Li Zhaoting didn't use the Tathagata Divine Light for a strong attack, nor did he use the Hundred Steps Flying Sword for a surprise attack, nor did he use the Six Meridian Divine Sword for a targeted strike. Instead, he countered Jin Jiuling's moves one by one, all for this moment.

A bloody line burst before Jin Jiuling's eyes, and he collapsed to the ground, blood and tears seeping from the corners of his eyes.

Li Zhaoting said coldly, "Jin Jiuling, I told you before that I believe in an eye for an eye and that I will blind the Green Bamboo Bandit. You should be prepared!"

"Screw your awareness! What gives you the right to be so high and mighty! God is unfair!"

Jin Jiuling went all out and unleashed a torrent of angry curses.

“Jin Jiuling, you are still deceiving yourself with lies. You are not getting promoted or respected by your colleagues in the Six Doors, not because you lack a background, but because you are too greedy and too unrestrained.”

"I did nothing wrong! I did nothing wrong! Li Zhaoting, you'll never know what happened! You think there's only one master thief in the world? You think a penniless nobody like you can run rampant in the capital? You're fucking dreaming!" "Are you talking about the Azure Dragon Society?"

"You...how do you know..."

"The constable who accompanied you in the crime was taken away by the Green Dragon Society before you killed him to silence him. Coincidentally, Lu Xiaofeng went out to eat and happened to run into them."

These people don't know the Green Dragon Society and mistakenly believe that you killed them to cover it up, so they betrayed you as quickly as possible!
How did I find this place?
It's all thanks to your disciples and their descendants!
You should know these rules better than I do.

Praising the powerful and belittling the weak, severing ties with justice!
Those disciples and followers who gave you gifts back then will expose all the dirty deeds you've done and sever ties with you to avoid jeopardizing their own future.

Jin Jiuling, are you ready?

Li Zhaoting rummaged through Jin Jiuling's body and pulled out a small booklet, which was the "Song of the Yi River." It was full of swordplay illustrations and fine seal script characters, all of which were large seal script. Feng Suzhen needed to translate it.

Qin Shi Huang's standardization of weights and measures and the unification of writing were truly a monumental achievement. Without such achievements, even if such unparalleled skills were right in front of us, we would still be blind to them.

Li Zhaoting studied seal script, specifically the small seal script.

However, Small Seal script was only promoted after Qin Shi Huang unified the six kingdoms. During the time of Jing Ke's assassination attempt on Qin Shi Huang, the script was relatively scattered, with each script having its own unique form. Fortunately, Yan Dan was the master of the Mohist school and could write in Large Seal script.

"Prepare? Prepare for what?"

"Of course, he's the scapegoat. The Green Bamboo Bandit, and the mess in the prison over the past few decades, you should know more about it than I do. That's how Black Street came to be."

Li Zhaoting sneered: "Lu Xiaofeng always thought the Snake King was a friend, but he didn't know that the Snake King was your man. Without your protection, the Snake King would have been wiped out long ago."

"The winner takes all, whatever you say is right!"

Where is the Golden Plum Vase?

"They were taken away by the Azure Dragon Society."

"Who is the Azure Dragon Hall Master who recruited you?"

"Ke Baisui of the Funiu Sect faked his death to escape. He is not the hall master, but the steward of the big boss."

What is the identity of the leader of the Azure Dragon Society?

"I don't know. All I know is that the ultimate goal of the Azure Dragon Society is to rebel, and the leader might be a prince."

Which prince?

"Any of the three princes could be involved!"

"Thank you for your cooperation!"

"Can't you just give me a quick death?"

"Don't worry, you won't be targeted by the guards or tortured while you're in the prison. You'll stay in a luxurious single room every night until you're executed."

"Thank you!"

Jin Jiuling was aware of his current situation.

—A diamond-level scapegoat!
All the blame and unresolved issues could be shifted to Jin Jiuling.

Jin Jiuling cannot die.

He absolutely cannot die before he has taken the blame.

In return, they will not suffer before they die.

Better to die than live.

I'll live as many days as I can.

Not long after, the Six Doors constables arrived and took Jin Jiuling to the Heavenly Prison, completely ignoring Li Zhaoting. No one cared about the Jingni Sword or anything like that.

……

The Eight Princes' Mansions.

Zhao Yuanyan opened a drawer in his study and pulled out an account book with detailed annotations. Every income and expenditure was recorded in its entirety.

The record clearly states that the Prince's Palace did not lose the eighteen pearl vases; Jin Jiuling's targets were the golden plum vase and the jade unicorn, and the pearls were taken incidentally.

If you look at the accounts from even earlier periods, you'll find that Baiyutang was also used as a scapegoat.

Pearl Jade White Jade Soup, nicknamed the Saint of Thieves, is a disciple of the Sunflower School. His lightness skill is unparalleled, his movements are extremely fast, and he is skilled in theft. He also has a hook in the Six Doors!

Bai Yutang is kind-hearted and timid by nature. He has not committed many crimes. In most cases, he steals something fun, plays with it, and then puts it back.

He was revered as the "Saint of Thieves" because he competed with the Four Great Thieves of Jiangnan and easily stole everything from them. After the competition, the Four Great Thieves announced that they were retiring from the criminal world and would retire from the underworld. Bai Yutang became famous and became a super scapegoat. No matter where something was lost, he could be blamed.

The cases involving Bai Yutang recorded in the Six Doors files are mostly cases of him taking the blame. According to him, the biggest case he ever committed was stealing one hundred taels of silver, donating eighty taels on the spot, and keeping twenty taels for drinking. The victim in this case was Guo Furong, the daughter of Guo Bujing, the Six Doors' chief constable.

Of course, framing someone and stealing is nothing compared to what's really happening.

Which master thief hasn't been framed?
The most famous rumor about Bai Yutang recorded in the Six Doors files is that Bai Yutang likes to eat human hearts raw, and before each crime, he would leave a note to provoke his opponent.

The Six Doors still preserves the notice letters.

I want to steal your heart!
—The White Jade Soup Remains!
Zhao Yuanyan slowly flipped through the ledgers, his eyes sweeping over each name. Under the tireless scapegoating of these master thieves, he had transferred a large amount of treasure.

These treasures are kept in the Peerless Tower.

It is specifically designed to recruit martial arts masters.

Upon seeing the last name, Zhao Yuanyan couldn't help but spit twice: "Jin Jiuling, you are truly a piece of trash! I trusted you so much, yet you are so utterly useless! What kind of damned detective are you? Your cases are full of loopholes!"

"Your Highness is mistaken. It's not that Jin Jiuling is not capable enough, but that Li Zhaoting is too formidable."

A masked man dressed in a purple robe, with a white cloth circle patch on his arm bearing the word "blood," entered and delivered a piece of intelligence.

Through the interrogation of the two men, who worked tirelessly, it was learned that the Green Dragon Society was involved in the matter, and that all the gold and silver jewelry that Jin Jiuling had robbed had been taken away by the Green Dragon Society, leaving nothing behind.

Zhao Yuanyan frowned: "What exactly does the Azure Dragon Society want to do? Do they want to rebel?"

The man in purple robes said in a deep voice, "Your Highness, I suggest that this matter be handed over to Li Zhaoting and Lu Xiaofeng. They may not be able to accomplish anything, but they can definitely cause trouble!"

"Have you discovered the secret of the Ancient Sword Soul?"

"Your subordinate is incompetent, please forgive me, Your Highness."

"Li Zhaoting's mission to capture Gu Jianhun at Emei was clearly a task given to him by the Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager is extremely busy with state affairs, how could she have the leisure to pay attention to a demon like Gu Jianhun?"

"Could it be related to the Tathagata Palm technique?"

"I don't need guesses or deductions. I need accurate information. Don't make wild assumptions. Assumptions are the mother of failure and will make you suffer a terrible death!"

"Your subordinate has learned a great deal."

……

"Did your wife beat up Gongsun Lan?"

"What? Is my lord feeling sorry for her? My lord is truly impressive, actually managing to defeat the leader of the Demonic Sect and win back a delicate and beautiful woman. Her flowing robes and graceful sword dance are so captivating that even I am moved."

"Who knows if Yu Luosha has lost her mind or is mentally unstable, insisting on making a bet with me, with the stake being a stunning beauty. I thought it was Li Shengnan!"

"My lord has so many beautiful sisters outside, why not bring them all back so I can vet them?"

"My wife isn't angry?"

"How could I possibly be jealous for no reason?"

Feng Suzhen took out a stainless steel washboard.

Li Zhaoting:o(╥﹏╥)o
"Officials are required to compose a poem in seven steps."

What is the question?

"Cheer me."

"A simple hairpin cannot conceal the orchid-like beauty of a virtuous woman."

When raising a tray, always cherish the tranquility and peace.

If you ask what a family can rely on to manage its affairs...
The screen records the date of the deer cart's arrival.

"As the ancients said, 'A couple should be of one mind and respect for each other.' Cooking is Phoenix Sister's job. My husband, please draw my eyebrows!"

"What's so difficult about that? Behold my masterful brush!"

(End of this chapter)