Chapter 162 Green Vines: Heart Palpating with Excitement
While Feng Luodi was feeling disappointed with herself, Situ spoke out, as curt and to the point as always. He also expressed their wish to aid the Demonic Sect in breaking away from their predicament.
Shangguan Yan's attitude was even more firm and even nastier to Situ than she was towards Feng Luodi.
Feng Luodi glanced to the side slightly. When she noticed Situ's eyebrows trembling and his gaze on Shangguan Yan carrying a faint killing intention, she hastily went forward and tugged on his arm while giving a meaningful look to Lu Buping who was grieving over the loss of his charming looks. Lu Buping finally understood and immediately began talking about the pros and cons of the plan. He was planning to sway her with emotions and reason.
Unfortunately, Shangguan Yan did not buy it at all. She did not even listen to his explanation and continued to beat into Lu Buping.
Feng Luodi tried repeatedly, wanting to let Shangguan Yan sit down to listen to their explication properly. After all, this matter would only benefit the Demonic Sect and they would not lose anything at all. Normally, no matter how much they did not like the people in the court, as the Supremo of a sect, she should at least cordially sit down to discuss such proposals before she rejects it, right?
Situ's fury and killing intent increased. All the Covert Guards in the dark were petrified and Lu Buping had also felt that. He was inwardly very bewildered about Shangguan Yan's behaviour today. Although their supremo usually had a short fuse and did not regard anyone highly due to her proficient martial arts prowess, she was definitely someone who understood reason. Otherwise, the Demonic Sect also would not be feared by the Righteous White Path people to such an extent.
Shangguan Yan pretended that she did not feel that killing intention and even found a few sect disciples to exchange blows with Lu Buping. Situ finally turned to leave, flinging his sleeves in distaste. Feng Luodi had no choice but to follow him.
Only after the courtyard became peaceful did Shangguan Yan's expression vanish. She was sincere and natural. On top of that, with her beautiful looks, she was an entirely different person from her unreasonable appearance just now.
Lu Buping sighed helplessly. "Supremo, what exactly are you planning?"
Shangguan Yan ruffled her long hair. It was a simple action, but when she did it, it was alluring. Lu Buping felt helpless. Qi'er followed by the Supremo's side. Please don't let her pick up these habits.
"You dare to display such a repugnant expression?" Shangguan Yan's arched eyebrows were knitted slightly as if she was going to flip out again.
Lu Buping hastily escaped into the room but was called by Shangguan Yan. "Buping, is the yamen fun?"
Lu Buping turned his head around. When he saw the sly look in Shangguan Yan's eyes, he instantly had a sense of foreboding in his heart.
Feng Luodi followed Situ and they returned to the main streets of Dingtao City. They were surrounded by passers-by and it was bad for Feng Luodi to speak in an overly blunt manner. She glanced at Situ's expression and suddenly giggled.
Situ gritted his teeth and said a few words, "Feigning madness and playing the fool."
Feng Luodi furrowed her eyebrows slightly. She had also seen through that.
"This is the first time seeing someone not buying what you say to such an extent." Feng Luodi chuckled as she shook her head and walked with Situ in the direction of the yamen.Situ pulled a long face again. Only after quite a while did he faintly say, "You are the first one."
Feng Luodi's smile at the corner of her lips immediately stiffened. She raised her hand to fiddle with her sleeves, attempting to gloss over this matter. "What are you going to do next?"
Situ would not let Feng Luodi off so easily. In front of all the commoners around them, he hugged Feng Luodi, jumped onto the rooftop and returned to the yamen from the sky.
The feeling of lounging on a human deck chair was naturally better than that of a roller coaster. As Feng Luodi enjoyed the feeling of not needing to walk, she also did not forget to thump Situ playfully.
"If you do this again next time, I'll make sure you stay far away from me."
Situ lowered his head to look at her. His face which had relaxed was much more gentle. "You sure?"
Feng Luodi glared at him but her face blushed extremely red.
Only after they arrived at the yamen, landed on the ground and stood steadily did Feng Luodi mention about the matter just now. "The good thing is that the imperial decree does not have a fixed deadline. It's better for us to think of other methods."
"We don't have much time," Situ suddenly said. He turned towards the main entrance of the yamen and listened with rapt attention.
Feng Luodi also faintly heard the noise coming from outside the main entrance and felt puzzled. Didn't the commoners promise a month as the deadline? Why did they come to the yamen again to make a scene?
At this moment, the First Prince hastily walked in from the main hall and did not even pause when he passed by the two. He was muttering to himself and his tone sounded quite impatient. "This bunch of people from the jianghu are simply unreasonable!"
Feng Luodi immediately thought of the Righteous White Path sects such as Qing Cheng Sect, Kun Lun Sect, E Mei Sect, which were rushing towards Ding Tao Province while that episode with the First Prince's fervent speech about how there would be no jianghu if there was no kingdom remained fresh in her memory.
Feng Luodi suddenly wanted to experience the scene of the First Prince's verbal battle and persuasive speech. She had only taken two steps when she was brought back by Situ. He grasped her hand as they walked towards their courtyard. "You don't need to worry. His Highness will be fine."Eh? Feng Luodi wanted to cry but had no tears. She was not worried about the First Prince's safety.
Despite her desire, Feng Luodi followed Situ to return to the courtyard. The two of them sat beside the stone table and it was unknown if they were expressing their love or talking about the case.[1]
After a while, Situ suddenly remarked, "Luodi, you haven't played the zither in a long while."
Feng Luodi's hand which was holding the teapot paused but a helpless expression slid across her lips. "I can't calm my heart."
Green Vines, Resonance and Sonorous. She was only short of three before she could go home. She intentionally did not seek out news regarding these three Guqins as she wanted to accompany Situ at his side when he was facing hardships and perils. At the same time, she also wanted to see how fate was like. If she did not deliberately do anything but still obtains the Guqin, then that would mean that it was fate for them to be apart, despite their deep feelings.
Situ did not know about the complex thoughts in Feng Luodi's mind. Once the zither was mentioned, he became interested and quickly went into the room to bring out a zither and placed it in front of Feng Luodi.
A few plum blossoms landed on the zither with the wind and added charm to the svene.
Feng Luodi smiled in relief and dispelled the mundane thoughts from her mind. With her fair hands, she played the zither in harmony to the falling of the plum blossoms.
Situ was at the side drinking tea, his thoughts wandering. This was the scene Covert Guard Two saw when he brought a masked person dressed in black and appeared in the courtyard.
The two stopped a few dozen metres away and waited for Situ to notice their presence. Hence, the two of them waited all the way until Feng Luodi finished playing a piece. They were only discovered when they inadvertently gazed over.
"Two?" Feng Luodi looked at the person beside him in surprise. "Master Xue?"
Only when Situ heard a familiar name did he put the teacup down and turned around. Actually, with his hearing ability and keen senses, if the breath of a new person appeared within a radius of 5000 metres, he could immediately detect it.
Covert Guard and Xue Yiqi understood this point, but they did not dare to make a sound and interrupt. This was the dignified bearing of a general and an eldest brother.
"Eldest Brother." Xue Yiqi removed his hat and walked forward.
"You came later than expected," Situ stated indifferently. He caused Feng Luodi to be completely bewildered again. This man forever considers ten steps ahead whenever he takes one step. I totally can't catch up with him.
Xue Yiqi nodded and he appeared a little ashamed. "The Eighth Prince's power is more formidable than I imagined. It took a few more days to disguise myself and exit the city."
Situ nodded. "When the imperial decree arrived, I had already thought of this day. How many of the people he has planted beside His Majesty have you removed?"
"Fifty percent." Xue Yiqi had a complicated expression. In the past, he was ignorant and created trouble everywhere with his righteous indignation and was simply a hot-headed fellow. Only until he became the Imperial Army's commander did Situ and Gan Qingjia informed him about many things that he found out about how perilous the path they were going to take was.
"Third Brother had to use seventy percent of his power before he could eliminate this fifty percent of people. Now, these seventy percent of people have to go covert."
Situ narrowed his eyes slightly. His tone was extremely cold, "The Eighth Prince has long been prepared. It looks like the Seventh Prince and the Second Prince were all his stepping stones."
Xue Yiqi nodded in consent. "This time, as soon as the imperial decree was issued, I had left Chang'an so His Majesty doesn't know about the situation here. It was all the Eighth Prince who instigated the matter regarding His Majesty's imperial decree by relying on the fact that he is supervising the nation."
"His Majesty has the intention to make things difficult for His Highness. Otherwise, with his experience and astuteness, how would he have been easily deceived by the Eighth Prince? Once His Majesty issues another imperial decree, the situation in Chang'an will be far from good."
Although Situ was far away from Chang'an, he fully grasped the situation at Chang'an by relying on his multifarious communication channels, and had long left stratagems to deal with it.
Xue Yi had suspicions regarding another matter instead. "Although it is the Eighth Prince supervising the nation in Chang'an, His Majesty is not satisfied and has promoted a few officials under the Eleventh Prince. Right now, not only does the Eighth Prince have to contend with His Highness, the First Prince, he also has to guard against the Eleventh Prince."
"This is very good." Situ smiled icily. "Just let the Eleventh Prince attract the Eighth Prince's attention for us."
Only after Situ and Xue Yiqi chatted about the various matters that had recently transpired in Chang'an did Xue Yiqi have the time to ask about the progress in Dingtao Province. Feng Luodi took over from Situ and clearly narrated all the matters in full detail. After Xue Yi finished listening, his simple and honest face had an additional look of worry.
"This matter is indeed not one that is easy to handle. If you happen to be just a little careless and the imperial decree regarding the crime of deceiving the ruler is issued, then that would really be letting the Eighth Prince's wish come true."
Feng Luodi also felt the same way. "It's just that for the Demonic Sect Supremo, we can't convince her in a short time. We're preparing to think of other methods again."
"Listening to your description, the Demonic Sect Supremo is merely a young lady who has just reached twenty. Perhaps she's not the one who makes the decision regarding the matters of the sect. It's also possible that she doesn't contemplate all the aspects."
Xue Yiqi had not met Shangguan Yan so based on Feng Luodi's description, he imagined Shangguan Yan as a sect leader who acts wantonly in the Jianghu and followed in her own bigoted ways.
The few people were talking when a light voice descended from the sky. "Why do I hear people badmouthing me as soon as I come?"
Xue Yiqi who was caught in the act was too honest so his head instantly turned red and he turned around to apologise. "My apologies Miss, I only…" Xue Yiqi swallowed the second half of the sentence back into his stomach.
It was only because the person who had come was a woman who was young, beautiful and alluring but wore slightly revealing clothes.
The pure Xue Yiqi who had never seen a woman dress in such ways and immediately turned red in the face, stuttering, "Miss Shangguan, you…you…" He did not know why he just could not finish speaking this sentence.
Feng Luodi suddenly felt that Situ's previous reaction was too abnormal. She turned around and cast a sidelong glance at the calm and collected Situ in doubt.
"What are you thinking about?" Situ gazed straight forward expressionlessly but knew that Feng Luodi was looking at him.
Feng Luodi nodded while looking pensive. What has Situ exactly learned from Gan Qingjia? After she returned to Chang'an, she'd definitely have to interrogate him. On the other hand, when Shangguan Yan noticed that the one bad-mouthing her was a handsome, righteous young man with an awe-inspiring gaze, Shangguan Yan's eyes lit up immediately and her line of vision wandered around Xue Yiqi's flushed face.
Lu Buping who had followed her here inwardly cried 'oh no' and just as he wanted to move forward to stop his supremo, Shangguan Yan had already uttered it out. Her slender and beautiful hand pointed at Xue Yiqi and what she said was astonishing.
"I want to marry you!"
1. Probably a pun with the novel's title and a play on the word which means something like expressing affection and dating. Part of the novel's title is 'tanqin shuoan', playing the zither and talking about cases which rhymes exactly with 'tanqin' here and 'shuoan' is the same. The whole phrase 'tanqin shuoan' sounds very similar to 'tanqing shuoai' which the aforementioned, expressing affection and dating.