Chapter 389: Really a Loser (Two in One)
The pavilion in the center of the lake in Taiping Villa.
Emperor Qing, wearing a loose white robe, stood by the fence, holding his belt with both hands, listening with his ear tilted, while looking thoughtfully at the lake in front of him, with a faint smile on his lips.
After Chen Pingping, who was sitting in a wheelchair behind him, reported the details of Shang Shanhu's serious injury, Emperor Qing chuckled twice.
"It can make a ninth-rank master freeze in place at the critical moment of a fight, waiting to be killed. The medicine Fan Xian used... was developed by Fei Jie for him, right?"
As he spoke, Emperor Qing glanced at Chen Pingping.
Chen Pingping smiled slightly, nodded and spoke softly.
"Yes, when Fei Jie rushed back to Kyoto from Northern Qi, he accidentally found two rare medicinal herbs that he had never seen before on a barren mountain in Northern Qi. After testing the efficacy of the medicine, he found that the hallucinogenic effect was excellent, so he searched the mountain and even searched several neighboring mountains in detail, but he couldn't find even one more. This made him deeply regretful. When he came back and heard that Fan Xian was going to Northern Qi as an envoy, he used the only remaining plant to develop a drug for Fan Xian. Originally, he wanted this kid to use it to save his life at a critical moment, but he didn't expect that he would use the life-saving method at the beginning..."
As soon as he heard Emperor Qing's words, he knew that Emperor Qing was interested in the medicine, so he immediately told Fei Jie the whole story of how he developed the medicine. It was both an answer and a reminder that there was only one such drug of this level in the world, so he should not even think about it.
Upon hearing this, Emperor Qing curled his lips and was speechless. He was indeed interested in this medicine, because the effect of this medicine was so miraculous. However, as soon as he came up with the idea, Chen Pingping blocked it with words. This made him a little depressed, but when he thought about it, it was normal. There should be few such miraculous medicines. If they could be found everywhere, he really didn't know whether to be happy or worried.
Emperor Qing quickly adjusted his mindset, glanced at Chen Pingping who had spoiled his mood, cursed him inwardly as an old fox, and turned his attention from the medicine back to Fan Xian. After thinking for a moment, he snorted.
"I said Fan Xian lacks experience, but you guys are still trying to protect him. Look how reckless you are."
Chen Pingping uttered an "ah".
"Your Majesty, you told them not to take me with them. My Black Knights will withdraw without any concessions."
"..."
Emperor Qing glanced at him and had nothing to say.
Chen Pingping chuckled.
"He was a bit reckless, but Fan Xian's courage in facing the enemy even though he knew he was no match for him is enough to show that he is a very courageous boy. He used the life-saving medicine at the bottom of his box as soon as he was told to, which also shows that he is able to judge the situation and act decisively. If he hadn't made this desperate and unexpected move, he wouldn't have been able to seriously injure Shangshanhu."
Emperor Qing hissed and looked at him sideways.
"According to what you said, he acted so rashly and recklessly without leaving himself any room for maneuver. Should I praise him instead?"
Chen Pingping nodded slightly and acted cunningly with a smile.
"I didn't say that."
Emperor Qing raised his finger and pointed at him with a smile on his face, rolled his eyes at him unhappily, and was too lazy to dwell on this issue any further.
"Let's not talk about Fan Xian. How did Mei Cheng'an manage to immobilize Shangshan Hu with just a silver needle? And from your description of the process, I always felt that his words and actions at that time were full of weirdness."
The decisive factors in causing Uesugi Tora to be seriously injured were, firstly, Fan Xian's drug and, secondly, Mei Cheng'an's immobilization with silver needles.
Chen Pingping stopped smiling when he heard this.
"I asked Yingzi, and he said he had never seen this move in his previous competition with Mei Chengan."
After a pause, Chen Pingping continued.
"But he does have some guesses that may help Your Majesty resolve his doubts."
"Oh?"
Emperor Qing's eyes lit up and he became interested.
"What's your guess? Tell me about it."
Chen Pingping replied immediately.
"In addition to cultural relics, Mei Cheng'an has also made great achievements in medicine. This move of his may be a combination of the silver needle acupuncture in medicine. Your Majesty also knows that medicine is broad and profound. Now less than one tenth of it has been studied. Mei Cheng'an reads a lot of books and likes to study and ponder when he has nothing to do. Maybe he has studied some magical effects from the acupuncture points in medicine."
Emperor Qing thought about it and nodded. This was very likely the origin of the silver needle immobilization technique.
"But I still feel it's a little weird, but I can't really put my finger on why right now."
Chen Pingping knew what he was talking about, because when he first received the news, he also felt that something was wrong. It took him a long time to figure out what was wrong.
"Your Majesty, the reason why you find it strange is probably because the effect of his acupuncture is too amazing. It is too bizarre that a dignified ninth-rank master could be immobilized without warning. The second reason is that he has already immobilized Uesugi Tora, but why didn't he take action for so long? Instead, he hesitated and asked for weapons before taking action, and his words were vague and he was unwilling to speak directly."
Emperor Qing raised his hand and tapped into the air.
"Yes, yes, yes, those are the things you mentioned that are strange. His various strange behaviors always make me feel that he is a little...guilty. What's going on?"
Chen Pingping said with a smile.
"Your Majesty has a keen eye. I have thought about it for a long time before I came up with a possibility. That is, he is indeed guilty. I think the silver needle acupuncture may be somewhat magical, but not as magical as we imagined. Shangshan Hu may have been intimidated by him."
Seeing that he had an idea, Emperor Qing was too lazy to think about it anymore.
"make it clear."
"Yes."
Chen Pingping nodded in agreement and spoke thoughtfully.
"I was thinking... maybe his silver needle can really immobilize people, but it's not that difficult to solve. Shangshan Hu forced the silver needle out of his body at the last critical moment and was able to move... This means that the person who was immobilized can force the silver needle out by himself... Maybe Shangshan Hu had never seen this trick before, so he was frightened and didn't know how to deal with it for a while. If he had mobilized his whole body's true energy to force the silver needle out at the first time..."
As Emperor Qing listened, his eyes lit up and he took over the conversation directly.
"Then Mei Chengan's trick is useless."
Chen Pingping smiled and nodded.
"Exactly."
Emperor Qing smiled after figuring it out.
"Looking at Mei Cheng'an's guilty conscience in stalling for time, it should not be difficult to force out the silver needle and restore freedom of movement. At least it should not be difficult for Uesugi Tiger.
This also explains why he didn't attack Uesugi Tora right away, but instead delayed time to ask for a weapon. It is estimated that as long as he took action, Uesugi Tora would definitely respond, and once responded, he would mobilize all the true energy in his body, so that the silver needle would be forced out of the body immediately!
Ha, so that’s what’s going on, this Shangshanhu…”
Emperor Qing clicked his tongue twice, then smiled and shook his head.
"He ran into two young men who didn't follow common sense. He deserved to be defeated. All I can say is..."
"Woe to him!"
Chen Pingping responded suddenly.
After looking at each other, the king and his minister both laughed.
……
Xinyang Imperial Palace.
The eldest princess was sitting in front of a table in the corridor, making sachets. Opposite her, the counsellor Gong Tuotuo was sitting, supporting her cheek with one hand and weakly pounding flower petals with the other. There was a look of deep thought in her eyes as to what she was thinking about.
After tying up the sachet in her hand and placing it in the box, the eldest princess glanced at Gong Tuotuo, who was working very slowly, and slightly opened her red lips.
"What are you thinking about?"
Gong Tuotuo, who was awakened, paused what she was doing, looked at the eldest princess blankly, and opened her mouth slightly.
"what?"
The eldest princess rolled her eyes and pointed at the clay stove.
"You insist on doing it even when I don't allow you to, and you get distracted and don't do it properly when I allow you to. What's going on? Can you do it faster? If not, just tell me as soon as possible and don't delay me from making the sachets, okay?"
Gong Tuotuo looked down at the progress of pounding the petals and smiled embarrassedly.
"Yes, yes, it will be ready soon, Your Highness, don't worry."
As she spoke, she sat up straight, held the flower mud stove with the hand that had previously supported her chin, and used the other hand to speed up the pounding of the petals.
The eldest princess shook her head speechlessly, raised her hand to pick up the teapot and poured herself a cup of tea, then took a sip and asked casually.
"What were you thinking about just now?"
Hearing this, Gong Tuotuo paused and shook his head.
"Nothing, maybe I had a nightmare last night and didn't sleep well, so I'm a little tired."
"Nightmare?"
The eldest princess was stunned for a moment.
"This is the first time I've heard you have a nightmare."
Gong Tuotuo smiled bitterly.
"Who said it wasn't? I don't know what happened last night."
The eldest princess asked curiously.
"What was the nightmare about? It actually scared you."
Gong Tuotuo let out a cry of pain.
"I don't remember it clearly, I just vaguely remember that it seemed to be related to Uesugi Tora."
Hearing this, the princess thought for a moment and suddenly smiled.
"You are just lonely and missing a man, later..."
When Gong Tuotuo heard this, her pretty face turned red, and she exclaimed, interrupting the eldest princess's fierce words that were about to come out.
Ever since the princess was provoked by her two days ago and blurted out that she wanted to share a man with her, she no longer hesitated to say those obscene words that she would never say normally, and teased her from time to time, making her feel overwhelmed. "Your Highness, please stop talking nonsense, okay? I had a nightmare, not a wet dream, okay? Why am I lonely... Oh, that's annoying. I should have known not to tell you."
The eldest princess smiled happily.
"Okay, okay, I won't tease you anymore. Look at you."
The princess took a sip of tea with a smile and put down the cup.
"Speaking of Uesugi Tora, is there any news from the delegation?"
Talking about business, Gong Tuotuo quickly concealed the embarrassment and anger on her face and shook her head gently.
"No news, Your Highness..."
After hesitating for a while, Gong Tuotuo finally said it.
"I can't tell why. Maybe it's the sudden nightmare that has affected me. I always have a bad feeling that something is going to go wrong with the delegation."
The eldest princess's face became more serious when she heard this. Her intuition had been verified countless times and had always been very accurate and effective, so she didn't think Gong Tuotuo was exaggerating.
But after thinking about it, she shook her head.
"What could go wrong? The worst result is that the chess pieces planted in the Supervisory Council are lost in vain, Sean fails to escape successfully, and Uesugi Tiger returns empty-handed. We already have mental plans for these and have prepared backup plans.
As for Yan Xiaoyi's attempt to assassinate my good son-in-law, to be honest, maybe because I had failed so many times against Fan Xian, I didn't expect him to succeed. If my good son-in-law was so easy to deal with, it would have become boring."
Gong Tuotuo thought about it and realized that even if something went wrong, that would be the worst that could happen. It seemed that her worries were unnecessary.
Thinking of this, she suddenly frowned, because she found that the faint uneasiness lingering in her heart had never subsided.
What's happening here?
The eldest princess was a little puzzled when she saw that she was still frowning.
"What's wrong? Did you think of something else?"
Gong Tuotuo thought for a moment, shook his head, opened his mouth and was about to say something, but suddenly turned his head to look to the side of the corridor. The eldest princess subconsciously turned her head to look, and saw the maid Lanxiang suddenly walking towards them hurriedly from the side, holding a letter in her hand.
After a while, Lanxiang stopped in front of the eldest princess, bowed and handed the letter in her hand to the eldest princess.
"Your Highness, Commander Yan's message has arrived."
The eldest princess took a look at the letter, then looked at Gong Tuotuo who was staring at the letter in a daze, and she began to feel a little uneasy. The letter itself indicated that something was wrong.
Because success or failure should only be a matter of one sentence. Even if it fails and you want to explain it in more details, it doesn't need to be too long and you don't need to write a special letter. What kind of situation is this that cannot be explained in a few words?
After a pause, she reached out to take the letter, tore open the envelope, took out the letter, glanced at it, and raised her eyebrows.
Both pages of letter paper are filled with writing, it seems that there is a lot of information.
After commenting secretly, the princess suppressed the growing sense of uneasiness in her heart, focused her mind and started reading from the beginning.
Well, I failed. Okay, wait, Begonia Duoduo?
When the princess saw Yan Xiaoyi say that he was seriously injured by Haitang Duoduo's sneak attack, which led to the failure of the mission, she was stunned.
Gong Tuotuo on the opposite side came to her senses and had been observing the eldest princess' expression as she read the letter. Seeing this, she couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.
"What's wrong, Your Highness?"
The eldest princess glanced at her and raised the letter in her hand.
"Yan Xiaoyi failed in his mission. Not only were all his men killed, but he himself was also injured by Haitang Duoduo's sneak attack."
Gong Tuotuo was stunned when he heard this.
"Haitang Duoduo? Northern Qi Saintess? How could she show up... Oh, I remember now. Rumor has it that her teacher Ku He has always been at odds with Xiao En. She was probably sent by her teacher to stop Xiao En from returning to Northern Qi. Hiss~ That doesn't make sense. Regardless of whether she went to kill Xiao En or save him, it doesn't conflict with Commander Yan. Isn't Commander Yan's goal to kill Fan Xian? Why did she attack Commander Yan?"
The eldest princess was too lazy to think about it. She shook her head, put the letter away and continued to read. As she read, her brows couldn't help but frown again.
Haitang Duoduo is fine, but when did a young and mysterious master who is skilled in using ninth-grade silver needles appear in the Supervisory Council?
Li Feiyu...
Zhu Ge, the former head of the Supervisory Council, was her confidant. It was certainly not that she knew everything about the Supervisory Council, but it was no exaggeration to say that she knew it like the back of her hand. There was no such person in the Supervisory Council; the eldest princess was very sure of this!
Yan Xiaoyi's ability to do things aside, his loyalty to me is definitely beyond doubt. He would not lie to me. It was the person who called himself Li Feiyu who lied to him...
Her eyes flashed, and the eldest princess's brows relaxed. Thinking of the little man, a hint of amusement and speechlessness appeared in her eyes.
In fact, when she saw Yan Xiaoyi's description, her first reaction was Mei Chengan. Young, a ninth-rank master, mysterious. All these descriptions fit Mei Chengan, but she just didn't know the name...
Haha~ Li Feiyu, you are really amazing!
Gong Tuotuo held her cheek and looked at the eldest princess opposite her, whose lips unconsciously curled up to reveal a smile, and blinked.
Even though he felt completely defeated in his heart, His Highness was still able to find joy and laugh amidst the misery. He is so strong inside!
However, just as she finished speaking, the eldest princess opposite her, who had a faint smile on her face, suddenly changed her expression, her pupils shrank, and she stood up, looking at the letter in disbelief.
Gong Tuotuo was a little confused by the eldest princess's sudden action. It took her a moment to react. Her heart skipped a beat and she stood up hurriedly and asked anxiously.
"Has something happened, Your Highness?"
The eldest princess seemed not to have heard her question. She read the rest of the letter without saying a word and expressionlessly. Then she closed the letter with a gloomy face and handed it to her.
"See for yourself."
Gong Tuotuo was confused when she heard this. She paused for a moment, then reached out to take the letter and started reading. She did not change the letter and start reading from the beginning, but went straight to the second page. The eldest princess's face suddenly changed when she saw a certain part of the content on this page.
As the plot was incoherent, she did not read smoothly. The letter should describe the scene after Yan Xiaoyi reunited with his men and rushed to the battlefield again. The whole story revolved around a strange character named Li Feiyu. She frowned as she read it, and resisted the urge to turn to the first page to see the origin of Li Feiyu, and she gritted her teeth and read on.
Soon she saw the sentence that made the eldest princess change her expression, a sentence that described Li Feiyu's unfathomable strength, because she was also shocked when she saw this sentence.
Her pupils shrank, and she suddenly raised her head to look at the eldest princess, her eyes full of shock as she subconsciously exclaimed.
"Shang, Shangshan Hu is seriously injured and dying? How is this possible? Commander Yan, is it possible that he has seen it wrong?"
The princess said coldly.
"It should be correct. Look back. Only one Northern Qi cavalryman escaped with Uesugi Tora, whose life or death is unknown. All the others stayed behind to cover their retreat. The details are so realistic. What he said should be true. Uesugi Tora is probably telling the truth..."
The princess gritted her teeth and couldn't go on.
Gong Tuotuo hurriedly raised the letter in her hand and read another paragraph. When she saw what the eldest princess said, her heart instantly sank.
"This... Commander Yan said in the letter that Shangshan Hu was injured by this person named Li Feiyu. Who exactly is this Li Feiyu?"
The eldest princess' eyes flashed. She didn't think that Mei Cheng'an had the ability to do so. In fact, when Yan Xiaoyi arrived, Shangshan Hu was already seriously injured and unconscious. He didn't see exactly how he was injured. Since Mei Cheng'an could bluff him once, it wouldn't be surprising if he could bluff him again.
The most important thing right now is not to figure out how Uesugi Tora was injured, but to find out whether Uesugi Tora is dead or not, and whether the agreement between them is still necessary to proceed.
The eldest princess was very clear-headed and she waved her hand.
"Those are not important. The most important thing right now is to quickly confirm the safety of Uesugi Tiger!"
Isn't that important?
Gong Tuotuo was stunned for a moment, feeling a little confused. She always felt that the eldest princess's reaction was strange, as if she was deliberately avoiding something.
Confirming Uesugi Tora's safety was important. After all, she knew how much effort and price the princess and herself had put into this cooperation, and she could not afford to make any mistakes. But when a mysterious master suddenly appeared, who was strong enough to seriously injure a ninth-rank master and still remained unscathed, the princess actually said it was not important? This was not in line with her character.
This Li Feiyu...could it be that the princess knows him? An old acquaintance?
Try to ask again later. If they answer, then forget it. If they still avoid the question, then there must be something fishy!
Gong Tuotuo half closed his eyes and thought silently.
The eldest princess naturally had no idea what she was thinking. If she had known that she would have to strip off the only cloth on her body and whip her severely, she would not have had the mind to study these things at this time.
She was asking Lanxiang questions at this time.
"Is there no news from Uesugi Tora yet?"
Lanxiang shook her head.
"No news since our last communication."
The eldest princess frowned.
"Continue to send messages to ask about Uesugi Tora's condition. Use the usual reply time as the interval. If you don't receive a reply, keep sending."
"Yes!"
Lanxiang went away as requested.
After thinking about the gossip, Gong Tuotuo did not forget the business.
"Your Highness, can't I go to Northern Qi again?"
The eldest princess thought about it and shook her head.
"No need. Wait for the reply. If he is fine, you can go there then. If he is...dead, there is no point in going there."
Upon hearing this, Gong Tuotuo was silent for a moment and sighed.
"What kind of thing is this? We never expected that he, the war god of Northern Qi, would seriously injure himself while saving someone. This is too... unbelievable."
She was very curious about how Uesugi Tora got injured, and even more curious about who Li Feiyu was.
When the eldest princess heard this, a fierce look flashed in her eyes and she said hatefully.
"Uesugi Tora is such a loser!"
"?"
Gong Tuotuo scratched her head, not blaming the person who seriously injured Uesugi Tiger and ruined their plan, but blaming...
Well, he is a loser.
……
(End of this chapter)
