Who is spreading rumors that my filial piety towards them has changed?

This was a life-saving measure he had prepared for himself. The large tooth was a mechanism; when it fell down, it would send out a life-saving signal, notifying his guards to come immediately.

"I am truly sorry for not welcoming you properly. Your Highness has actually come all this way on your own. If you wish to visit, please just say so, and I will certainly deliver an invitation in person." Liu Zhonglie still had a smile on his face, but the heroic spirit from before was gone.

Chu Mingkong scoffed. He surveyed the guests at the fish and meat feast. A small portion were natives of the Crescent Moon Kingdom, while the rest included officers from the Heavenly Pole Empire and a merchant group following Liu Zhonglie.

Ma Meng was among them. This guy really had his talent for running away maxed out. Just now he was trying to get close to Liu Zhonglie, and now, without anyone noticing, he had quietly arrived at the door and found the best spot to escape.

"Judging from what Mr. Liu just said, are you working for the Emperor of Tianji or for yourself?"

“Both are true. I am working for the Emperor, and I am also working for myself. There is no conflict between them.” Liu Zhonglie quickly analyzed the interests in his mind, trying to find a point of entry that aligned with Chu Mingkong’s interests and could keep this uninvited guest in check!

The Crown Prince of Xiling is no longer an unknown figure, nor has his fame been earned through status or identity. Looking back on his experiences and deeds, Liu Zhonglie believes his greatest pleasure was stealing other men's wives. In the eyes of the world, this is quite shameless—he stole every woman he could find. But in Liu Zhonglie's view, it's no big deal. Using women as bait? That might not work. He practically abducted all the most beautiful wives in the Tianji Empire, along with their daughters.

While you can never have too many beautiful women, if the gift is of low quality, it's hard to impress anyone. Besides, Liu Zhonglie can't find a woman of that caliber to give as a gift for the time being.

Is it something else?

"Your Highness, I believe that only interests are eternal in this world. All ideals, slogans, and reputations ultimately come down to profit. The Crescent Moon Kingdom must have something Your Highness desires, right? I now have some influence here. Whether Xiling lacks manpower or land, I can offer some insignificant assistance!"

"There shouldn't be any conflict between me and His Highness the Crown Prince."

Chu Mingkong smiled instead, but it wasn't a smile of being moved:

"You're quite the smooth talker. You know perfectly well what my relationship with the emperor is. I've been helping him, and now you're helping me?"

"Your Highness is joking. Money is gold and silver. Although different official seals are affixed with each new emperor, gold and silver are still valuable even without these seals. What difference does it make who we help? Even if we help Your Highness, the emperor won't know, right?"

These words were spoken in front of those Heavenly Army officers, but they remained unmoved. They showed no anger or rebuke for Liu Zhonglie's anti-emperor remarks, and did not even bother to make a show of cursing him.

It seems that Liu Zhonglie has already brought these officers into his own camp.

"I'm not going to play games with you anymore! You know perfectly well what score I'm going to settle with you. You're really plotting against me, don't you think I can't find your way back to you?" Chu Mingkong's gaze shifted to the window.

That was the direction he had just come from. Several villagers who had taken shelter from the wind and snow on the mountain had frozen to death. Those were probably the original inhabitants of this tribal land.

Those who sold themselves to Liu Zhonglie because their families lacked strong men to provide labor were driven out of the village and froze to death on the mountain.

Chu Mingkong wasn't a particularly kind-hearted person; he only cared about his own little world. However, he would feel saddened by certain scenes. Seeing people holding lavish banquets with fish, meat, and fine wine next to the frozen bones of the dead made him feel very uneasy.

"Now is the perfect time. While settling personal scores, let's also help the original tribespeople here settle some public scores. You're using your position for personal gain, and I'm using my position for personal venting. Let's see who has the stronger fist!"

Chu Mingkong flicked a spark into the wine, and the flames containing extreme Yang power exploded, instantly engulfing the entire mansion in a sea of ​​fire.

The imperial officers around Liu Zhonglie knew how formidable Chu Mingkong was, but now they had no choice but to go.

They swarmed towards Chu Mingkong, their bodies shrouded in the protective aura of bears or wolves—power forged from various tribes. The totem protection transformed into a layer of armor, shielding them from the intense heat of the extreme yang flames.

Unfortunately, these people were still too low-level compared to Chu Mingkong. If they had been in the palace back then, they wouldn't have been able to force out the Prince of Jin's Extreme Abyss Transformation, let alone pose the slightest threat to Chu Mingkong now.

"Don't get in my way. If you want to commit suicide, why don't you jump into the fire yourself? Why do you have to come here?"

Chu Mingkong's gaze remained fixed on Liu Zhonglie. The officers who rushed forward were frozen by an extremely cold aura, unable to even reach him. He gently blew a breath, and the men shattered into ice dust.

Outside, the tribespeople he had enslaved tried to rush in to rescue him, but the layer of extreme yang flames was the strongest barrier, and they couldn't break through at all. Coupled with their hatred for this Celestial Merchant, they quickly gave up and watched everything unfold.

"Looks like Boss Liu's been busy making money lately? I think you should at least invite a few sect elders or something to oversee things, right?"

Liu Zhonglie said in a cold voice:

"The main merchant groups in the Crescent Kingdom are now my people. If I die, you can forget about getting any benefit for Xiling here. All Xiling people here will be wanted with high bounties! You want to be a hero and seek justice for these Crescent rebels now, but then they will hunt you Xiling people for my bounty, and you too will be hunted down by even more powerful people!"

You believe in your abilities, but I believe in the all-pervasive power of money!

To prove his point, he spat out a jade tooth, which he used to transmit important messages.

In a sense, this is indeed a very useful threat. Money can't buy those big shots, and Liu Zhonglie has no chance to get in touch with people at that level. But if he spends all his wealth on issuing warrants for their arrest, attracting countless flies to harass him, as long as even one fly succeeds, Liu Zhonglie will have made a profit.

"No problem, I'll search your soul and empty your secret stash. Let's see how you'll make money then!"

"You can't search my soul!" Liu Zhonglie gritted his teeth, biting open the poison sac hidden in his teeth, intending to destroy his soul and commit suicide. "Let's see how you deal with the harassment from the wanted henchmen and the Emperor's attack soon."

Liu Zhonglie suddenly dazed for a moment. He felt that he had not lost his mind, but a sharp pain immediately came from his cheek and teeth.

The world spun before his eyes. He didn't know when Chu Mingkong had punched him in the face, breaking all his teeth. The cold air that had condensed in his mouth sealed his throat, freezing the poison.

Chu Mingkong kicked him in the groin, causing the yolk and yolk to burst out. Liu Zhonglie's eyes bulged in pain, and he spat out a mouthful of broken teeth.

"Some merchants are passable, but some merchants deserve to die childless. If you threaten me, you can die a quick death, but you threaten my family?" Chu Mingkong used a pill to keep him alive, but the medicine was too effective and even healed the injury to his testicles. Chu Mingkong kicked him again.

After trying it a few times, Chu Mingkong was just getting a little tired of it when Liu Zhonglie passed out from the pain.

Chu Mingkong took out the Soul-Binding Talisman he had obtained from Yun Nongyu and used it on Liu Zhonglie. The soul that was bound still retained strong emotions from his previous life.

"Egg...it hurts...it hurts so much...kill me."

Chu Mingkong said coldly, "He's already dead. No need to thank me. I have a question for you: Was the Poisonous Scheme of Yongzhen your idea, or was it someone else? Was it the Moon Worship Cult or the Moon Destroyer Cult?"

Liu Zhonglie's remnant soul cried out in pain for a while before replying:

"His Majesty ordered me to do this... He doesn't trust the efficiency of the Moonlit Royal Family... He wants me to personally sweep through the Crescent Moon Kingdom and take it over as quickly as possible..."

--------

Ma Meng was a master of escape; in the instant the conflict erupted, he slipped out of Liu Zhonglie's manor.

He hesitated a bit before running away this time. What if Liu Zhonglie stopped cooperating with him in the future if he ran away this time? But he couldn't worry about that now. He would just say that he was going to get reinforcements.

He got into his own carriage and ordered the driver to hurry up and get to the place where the Tianji army was stationed.

Watching the manor turn into a sea of ​​fire, Mamon was glad he had run away quickly, but he couldn't help feeling regret.

Liu Zhonglie was truly the most business-savvy person he had ever met. He saw business opportunities everywhere and had even devised a set of rules for merchants, so that all the major merchants on both Tianji and Xinyue would have to listen to him.

It's such a pity, it's gone just like that.

Why do all the places I join turn to me?

Who should they turn to next? The two princes of the Moonlit Royal Family are no good; they don't even dare to breathe loudly in the face of the Heavenly Army.

Coming to his senses, Ma Meng realized that his carriage had unknowingly entered the territory of the Yueqi royal family and was getting closer and closer to Yueqi City!

He angrily rebuked the coachman, "What's wrong with you? I told you to go to the towns where the Celestial Army is stationed, not to come to the Moonlit Territory! Are you trying to take my money for nothing?!"

The coachman removed the hood from his winter cloak, revealing a weathered face filled with bitterness and resentment. The one-eyed Zahaq turned to look at Mamun.

A cold wind, carrying ice and snow, blew into the carriage, chilling Ma Meng to the bone.

In Moonlit City, the square where wealthy young ladies often gather is unusually crowded today.

A man shouting in the freezing cold was hung upside down.

Next, a one-eyed man distributes slingshots and sharp stones to the children.

“Come on, child, shoot at his sparrow, hit it hard, and you’ll get candy if you hit it accurately.”

Amidst screams of agony, the One-Eyed Sword Saint looked up at the Bakugan Boy in the sky and sighed deeply.

"In this endless chaos, restoring the once powerful and glorious Moonlit Empire is our hope for persevering. The eldest prince may not have the dazzling qualities of a hero in an epic, but he is indeed the best choice we can find. We are just a little bit away from restoring that peace and tranquility."

Just when it felt like they were one step away, everything started all over again: ice and snow, the merchants' disaster, the reshuffling of power, and the invasion of foreign enemies. Chaos maintained its unshakable legitimacy.

Zahak thought that perhaps it was time to leave his hometown, where there was no hope left.

Chapter 227 Cannibalism

The One-Eyed Sword Saint's movements were somewhat alarming. While Mamon was being riddled with arrows from a slingshot, the Second Prince feared that the One-Eyed Sword Saint had come seeking revenge.

Zahak is not the strongest in the Crescent Kingdom; there may be even stronger forces hidden among the complex and hidden powers, but there are only a handful who can deal with him.

Without prior preparation and ambush, the second prince would find it difficult to deal with the one-eyed swordsman's revenge for the eldest prince.

"Hurry up, open the palace's protective barrier! If the barrier is activated, even the strongest sword saint won't be able to do anything! This is the legacy left behind by the Moon River Goddess! Without my royal bloodline, even if he wanted to cause trouble, he would be trapped here and die!"

The second prince shouted orders at his personal guards, his hands trembling. He could not relax until he saw the crescent moon rise within the barrier.

His personal guards, who were constantly monitoring the situation below, said:

"Your Highness, the remnant of the eldest prince, Zahak, has already left. After humiliating and killing that traitor Mamun, he left Moonlit City and did not approach Moon Wheel Palace..."

The second prince kicked it, sending its shoe flying.

"Just go drive it, stop talking so much nonsense. If he's just bluffing, can you stop him?"

Not long after, as the eerie and mysterious crescent moon rose over the Moon Palace, the second prince finally felt at ease.

He regretted not being able to get the One-Eyed Sword Saint as a henchman. If he had a Sword Saint as a bodyguard, how impressive and powerful it would be. He could go to any brothel in any territory and all the girls there would have to obediently kiss him.

If Zahak doesn't side with me, who else can he side with?

Surely we wouldn't turn to that third brother who likes to be whipped by women, would we?

"Your Highness, there is a matter concerning the Tianji army's occupation of my Yueqi territory that requires your review..." The minister approached, holding a memorial.

The second prince waved impatiently, signaling him to go away quickly, and said with disdain:

"I won't listen! This snowstorm is the protection of the Moon River Goddess. Didn't you see that the Heavenly Army is frozen to death? I don't even need to worry about arranging any troops. Heaven is protecting this prince!"

Right now, all he wants to do is enjoy the sense of security brought by the palace's protective barrier and savor the fine wines and spirits.

After a sip of fine wine, the barrier in the Moon Palace dissipated once more.

The second prince spat out the mouthful of wine he had just taken a sip of:

"What's going on? Who's messing with the barrier of my Moonlit Palace? Are they looking for death?!"

......

Ryu Chung-yeol (X)

Chu Mingkong crossed out Liu Zhonglie's name with an "X" in his notebook, indicating that a payment had been collected.

Then there's Mamon and the second prince.

"This Mamon should be dead, right? Zahak should be able to catch him. Let's cross him out for now, and put him back if necessary."

Ma Meng (×)

Now it's time to find the Second Prince. This guy has also provided some assistance to the scheming Yongzhen, so he can't escape either.

Thinking about the relationships involved, it really is a series of outsourcing processes. The dog emperor wanted to poison Yongzhen and create an excuse to send troops over, so the task was assigned to the corrupt merchant Liu Zhonglie, who then found Ma Meng, who in turn climbed up to the second prince. If we break it down further, the craftsman who made the dress decorations and the maid who delivered the clothes could also be middlemen.

Without the information from Feng Ying and Qing Se, Chu Mingkong might not have been able to find out who did it, and would have been left with nothing but confusion.

He took out a piece of totem jade that was whiter and smoother, and examined it, saying, "Liu Zhonglie actually managed to get his hands on this thing in private, but why does it feel a bit smoother than the one I pulled out of the shit?"