stonecrandall Chapter 1140: The Plans Are Being Laying Out, Emperor Qing Is Getting Anxious!
Chapter 1140: The Plans Are Being Laying Out, Emperor Qing Is Getting Anxious!
An uncontrollable grandmaster has deliberately appeared in Kyoto, disrupting the balance of power in the world. The implications behind this are far more complex than he initially imagined.
Gao Yao is right. Fan Xian has always lived according to other people's arrangements—the arrangements of Emperor Qing, Chen Pingping, and even Ye Qingmei through letters. He has always been completing tasks and fulfilling other people's expectations, but he has never truly asked himself: What do I want?
After avenging his mother, what kind of world will he build? Will he continue to maintain the existing feudal dynasty system, or try to introduce new ideas? Will he use modern knowledge to become a regional overlord, or live a peaceful life in anonymity?
He had never seriously considered these questions.
The appearance of Gao Yao not only stirred up the political landscape but also disrupted Fan Xian's inner peace. This mysterious grandmaster seemed to have a far more profound goal, a goal so insane that Fan Xian dared not even contemplate it.
"Once you've thought it through, we might be able to work together."
Gao Yao's words echoed in his ears. What did cooperation mean? To what extent could they achieve by joining forces with a Grandmaster? To change the Qing Kingdom? To change the world? Or... to change the rules that govern this world?
The candlelight flickered inside the carved glass dome deep within the palace, casting Emperor Qing's long shadow onto the sandalwood desk.
It was late at night, but the emperor who held the highest power in the Qing Kingdom was wide awake. His fingers tapped rhythmically on the table, his eyes sharp as knives, as if trying to see through the layers of memorials and secret reports to uncover the truth hidden in the shadows of the capital.
In the flickering candlelight, Hong Sixiang appeared exceptionally respectful. This old eunuch, who had served Emperor Qing for many years and was a peak ninth-rank martial artist, was now reporting the intelligence he had gathered over the past few months. His voice was calm and clear, each word carefully considered.
"Your Majesty, the clues do indeed point towards the Princess's residence, but they have all been cut off cleanly, as if someone did it deliberately."
Hong Sixiang lowered his eyelids, seemingly respectful, but his eyes flashed with a sharpness that only Emperor Qing could understand. "I learned about Yan Xiaoyi's serious injury by chance from the Imperial Hospital. He himself never reported it."
Emperor Qing stopped tapping the table, his fingers hovering in mid-air. The name Yan Xiaoyi stirred ripples within him.
That ninth-rank archer, the commander of the Kyoto guards, was known for his ability to take lives from a hundred paces away. He was as cautious as a fox. How could he have been seriously injured in the very Kyoto he was guarding? It was like a falcon being attacked in its own nest—absurd and unsettling.
"Where is Yan Xiaoyi now?" Emperor Qing's voice was calm and even, but those who knew him well knew that this was the calm before the storm.
"He has returned to his residence to recuperate, claiming to the outside world that it was caused by a deviation in his internal energy during practice." Hong Sixiang raised his eyes slightly. "This old servant sent someone to secretly check on him. The injury is extremely serious. There is a depression in his chest, three-tenths of an inch deep, but the bones were not damaged. The force was controlled with terrifying precision. If the person who attacked him did not intentionally hold back, Commander Yan would have no chance of survival."
Emperor Qing narrowed his eyes. Precise control of force—this was a characteristic possessed only by Grandmasters. While a ninth-rank expert could also control their true energy, to severely injure an opponent without killing them was extremely difficult. What concerned him even more was that Yan Xiaoyi had chosen to conceal the truth. What secret lay hidden behind this silence?
"Have you investigated who he saw before and after his injury?" Emperor Qing rose and paced to the window. The imperial city in the night resembled a sleeping behemoth, but tonight, he sensed a creature that did not belong to it clinging to the back of this behemoth.
“I have investigated.” Hong Sixiang had served Emperor Qing for many years and was already prepared to answer. “Three days before his injury, Commander Yan secretly went to the Princess’s residence twice, staying for no more than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn each time. After leaving the residence the last time, he went directly back to the guard post, and there was nothing unusual on the way. However, he was injured that very night.”
Li Yunrui. Emperor Qing murmured this name in his heart. His own sister, the eldest princess, a woman as beautiful as a poppy and as dangerous as a venomous snake.
Emperor Qing was always aware of the secret relationship between her and Yan Xiaoyi, but never questioned it. In the emperor's eyes, it was nothing more than Li Yunrui's self-righteousness, an embellishment in the game, and as long as it did not affect the overall situation, he allowed it to exist.
But now, things are different.
"You suspect that the newly promoted Grandmaster is related to Li Yunrui?" Emperor Qing turned around and looked directly at Hong Sixiang. This was a rare direct eye contact between the emperor and his subject. Only in this deep palace conversation at night would Emperor Qing shed some of his imperial pretense.
Hong Sixiang remained silent for a moment, seemingly weighing his words: "This old servant dares not make a hasty conclusion. However, it is common knowledge that to advance to the Grandmaster level, one must pass a life-or-death test and have someone to protect them. Although the Princess is surrounded by many experts, those who can protect a Grandmaster must be at least of the ninth rank. And Yan Xiaoyi happens to be of the upper ninth rank, and he was injured at a crucial moment..."
He didn't finish speaking, but Emperor Qing already understood the implication. The timing of Yan Xiaoyi's injury was too coincidental, as if he had been cleared out for some purpose.
If someone close to Li Yunrui were to advance to the Grandmaster level, Yan Xiaoyi's presence might actually become an obstacle—after all, the commander of the guards' primary loyalty has never been to him, but to Li Yunrui.
Emperor Qing returned to his desk and sat down again. The candlelight flickered on his face, reflecting a complex expression. As a Grandmaster who had concealed his identity for many years, he knew better than anyone the difficulty and danger of the path to advancement. When he himself attempted to break through to the Grandmaster realm, he almost lost his life; if not for the royal secret techniques and his extraordinary willpower, he would have long since turned to dust.
"Hong Sixiang, you have been at the peak of the ninth rank for many years. In your opinion, what exactly is the purpose of this newly promoted Grandmaster?" For the first time, a sense of uncertainty appeared in Emperor Qing's voice.
“This person doesn’t care about being discovered at all.” Hong Sixiang lowered his voice even further. “Or rather, he deliberately promoted himself in Kyoto, deliberately letting people know that a new Grandmaster has been born.”
These words were like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, stirring up a thousand ripples in Emperor Qing's heart. Deliberate exposure? Why? Grandmasters, as strategic figures, have always been the hidden trump cards of various nations. Northern Qi had Ku He, Eastern Yi had Si Gu Jian, and Emperor Qing himself had kept this secret for decades, unknown even to his closest ministers.
A grandmaster who deliberately exposes himself is either extremely foolish or... has grand ambitions.
"Yan Xiaoyi is seriously injured, Li Yunrui is a suspect, and a new Grandmaster has appeared..." Emperor Qing's fingers tapped the table again, but the rhythm was more rapid than before. "Hong Sixiang, what do you think of these things when you put them together?"
Hong Siyang bowed deeply: "This old servant dares not speak presumptuously about the affairs of the court, but from a martial arts perspective, these matters are interconnected, like a net that is being cast. Commander Yan's injury may be the first signal that this net is closing in."