Soundlessly, a thread of innate gold element energy emerged at Wu Qi's fingertip, and he was about to strike with it. But suddenly, he heard some noises coming from outside Hidden Sword Pavilion. He pondered for a brief moment, then decided to hold back the action.
On the other side, Lao Ai was seen grinning from ear to ear, eyes kindled with joy as he clapped and said, "That's a nice name, an excellent name! Madman Xue? Hehe, how interesting!"
He stretched his hand forward and performed a grabbing gesture. Immediately, Madman Xue was pulled up into the air and placed right next to him. After that, Lao Ai ran his hands up and down on Madman Xue's body, and while doing that, he kept nodding his head and said, "Not bad, not bad! Not only do you have an extraordinary innate talent, you have a very good potential in cultivation as well. That's very nice! You will officially acknowledge me as your Master today. I can guarantee you a very promising future, and a lot of good fortune in love affairs!"
Laughing wildly, Lao Ai dragged Madman Xue into the room so to give him some lectures. Su Mei'er remained standing on the corridor with a charming smile on her face, casting amorous glances at the people around, and sending forth a peerless enchanting air like a warm tidal wave that flooded the entire tower. In that very moment, countless patrons suddenly bent their bodies forward, brought their hands down, and covered their crotch, their faces blushed. Without hesitation, they spun and pulled the beautiful serving ladies beside them into the room. All the rooms in Hidden Sword Pavilion had a parlor at the front, which was used as a dining hall, while there was a luxuriously decorated large soft bed placed behind the parlor. With just a single amorous glance cast by Su Mei'er, the entire Hidden Sword Pavilion immediately turned into a battlefield of naked bodies, and the sounds of body slamming were being heard coming from everywhere.
Wu Qi narrowed his eyes and smiled, and he too pulled the serving lady beside her into his room. The serving lady blushed immediately, as she thought Wu Qi was going to do the same thing to her. But unexpectedly, Wu Qi only brought her back to the dining table, and continued to enjoy the delicious food and drinking wine. He did not bring her to the large bed at the back.
The serving lady gave Wu Qi a gaze; she felt rejoiced and yet disappointed at the same time. She rejoiced as she could keep her virginity for a few more days, and she felt disappointed as to why this rich and handsome Young Master did not take a fancy to her.
Music was being played again in the courtyard. A large group of female dancers clad in exposing dresses stepped up the platform, and began to dance merrily along with the music, pushing the lustful atmosphere in Hidden Sword Pavilion to a greater height. Right at this moment, sounds of footstep could be heard echoing out from the stairway, as an old man, his face pale and his body slightly fat, walked slowly up to the sixth floor with an escort of a few guards.
Wherever the old man passed, the guards of the other three Princes immediately stopped their little tricks of pushing one another, then bowed their heads to offer their greetings.
Wu Qi sent out his divine will and listened to the whispering in different rooms. The old man was the Eldest Prince of Gu Tai Dynasty, born after the old emperor got drunk and spent a night with a palace maid when young.
Although the Eldest Prince's mother had a humble background, he was supported by some old conservative ministers of the dynasty. He was over 170 years older than the Second Prince, and had been working hard to build his foundation in the imperial court for over two hundred years. Among all the eight Princes, he had the strongest latent influence.
There was a middle-aged man walking right beside the Eldest Prince. He looked like a glistering jade, shining brilliantly and overshadowing the glow of the Eldest Prince. He was a skinny man with a fair facial complexion, carrying an imposing bearing, a pair of mustaches, and a pair of deep eyes. The impression he gave forth to anyone who looked at him was as if he were a crab, with explosive strength filling his entire body and bones, growing to the outside of his flesh. However, when one gave him another careful observation, this middle-aged man looked just like a normal human being, yet he just sent forth an impression that all his bones and tendons were growing outside his skin and flesh, his body filled with vigorous strength.
He was clad in a white outfit, with a longsword girted on his side in a pitch-black and narrow scabbard, which made it look like a stiffened venomous snake, that could dart out at any time to hurt someone. From the corner of his eyes Wu Qi gazed at the man, and he knew who he was. He was Tian Dan, the Chief General of Great Qi, and yet he was following beside the Eldest Prince.
Wu Qi sighed silently. The four Princes that appeared here had already represented the influence of four dynasties he knew. It seemed those Immortals and disciples of two great immortal sects were too easy to deal with. According to Wu Qi's opinion, the people of six dynasties should be refrained from leaving Myriad Immortals Planet, preventing them from wreaking havoc at the outside world. But why did the two great immortal sects let them leave Myriad Immortals Planet and roamed freely at here? Even if they were immortal sects that walked on the righteous path, they should at least keep a closer watch on this group of people, shouldn't they?
For the sake of their own safety, the emperors and ministers of six dynasties would never reveal to anyone about the existence of Myriad Immortals Planet. But even so, if they were allowed to freely do anything as they wished, they were capable of causing great disturbances in many planets occupied by the immortal sects, let alone just this White Cloud Planet. They were people with mighty abilities. Each and every single one of them was a hero and heroine of the generation. In other words, if they were the territories, they would be the best territories that ever existed in the history!
Frowning his brows, Wu Qi shook his head silently. If he did not do something to interrupt them, this Gu Tai Dynasty was going to disappear completely! Putting aside who else was standing behind the other four Princes, just the powers standing behind these four Princes here were more than enough to throw the people of Gu Tai Dynasty into great misery, completely wiping out all the living beings in an area of ten thousand miles. Evidently, the people of six dynasties could never settle for peace, as they were actually poking their fingers into the replacing of the new throne in a dynasty that was ruled by the White Cloud Immortal Sect!
With a slow pace, the Eldest Prince came to the sixth floor, then slowly walked into a room and sat down comfortably. One after another, the three Princes went into his room and offered their greetings. After spending some time exchanging greetings, they returned to their own rooms, and none of them exchanged a glance with one and another. The atmosphere was cold and stiff to the extreme.
Finally, the female dancers concluded their performance and left the platform. Once again, Lady Qing stepped up the platform while twisting her slender waist. She gave all the patrons a bow while smiling and said, "My distinguished guests, you are very lucky to come here today, as we have an exciting event tonight! As all of you know, every month, the Hidden Sword Pavilion will have an auction for the rights of taking away the virginity of the most popular courtesan. But today is different. We are not going to auction that, but instead, we are going to auction the rights of taking away the virginity of Miss Zi Qianyan, the beloved and only daughter of Gu Tai Dynasty's previous Minister of Rites!"
"Zi Qianyan..." Murmured Wu Qi under his breath, "That's a very good name!"
Lady Qing laughed and said, "Miss Zi comes from a noble clan, and Zi clan is a very influential clan in Gu Tai Dynasty. On top of that, she is an expert in the art of zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Even rarer is the fact that she is also very skillful in the art of warfare and formation, and she is the most extraordinary Grandmaster in the Art of War among all the younger generation of Gu Tai Dynasty!"
None of the patrons made a sound as they kept staring at Lady Qing.
Through his divine will, Wu Qi discovered that all of these several thousand patrons were having their heartbeat hastened, and the flowing speed of their blood was increased by at least three times. Also, from a few private rooms on the fifth and sixth floor, he heard some rather dirty and nasty talks. Right above Wu Qi's room, a few men with unknown background were laughing licentiously, discussing how they were going to work together and purchase Zi Qianyan's virginity, then take turns to enjoy her.
"What crime has the Zi clan committed that makes this Zi Qianyan be sent here for the auction?" Wu Qi turned to look at the serving lady beside him, then casually threw a deep-water pearl the size of a toddler's fist to her.
The serving lady took over the pearl. Carefully, she gave the surroundings a glance, lowered her voice, and said, "Plotting a rebellion! Her entire clan was slaughtered, with Zi Qianyan as the sole survivor, and she was sold to the Imperial Courtesan Square, and finally here at Hidden Sword Pavilion."
Plotting a rebellion? Wu Qi raised his brows. That was a very classic accusation. There was still a possibility of some minister of military plotting a rebellion, but what was the purpose of a Minister of Rites, who was in charge of the rites in the imperial court, trying to plot a rebellion? And how was he going to rebel? Bringing with him a group of scholars, with each holding a kitchen knife to overthrow Gu Tai Dynasty?
Twitching his lips and shaking his head, Wu Qi breathed out a long sigh and said, "Another unlucky fellow. Hmm, which of the Prince accused Zi clan of plotting a rebellion?" Wu Qi's question was very straight to the point, and he did not even try to conceal the question. All the serving ladies in the room had their faces turned ghastly pale, and none of them dared to speak a word, bowing their heads and not daring to look at Wu Qi.
Wu Qi shook his head and did not force these serving ladies, who were also a group of pitiful people. Touching his chin, he murmured, "Let's wait and see. If she is really an extraordinary beauty, and she indeed possesses real talents, rather than letting this group of b*stards enjoy her, I might as well take her away, and give her to those bachelors who followed me!"
He reckoned with his fingers that it seemed Lu Chengfeng had not found a partner yet, while Meng Xiaobai and the other people were all bachelors as well. Since there were so many bachelors around him, Wu did not mind to find a few beautiful ladies back and help his brothers get married, as that was what a brother should do. At the thought of this, Wu Qi could not help but smile foolishly. He would rescue Zi Qianyan, and despite her or Lu Chengfeng's willingness, he would make her marry to Lu Chengfeng. With that, Great Yan Dynasty would have the logical reason to interfere with Gu Tai Dynasty's matters - to seek revenge for Zi Qianyan's clan! This was a perfect excuse, as the daughter and the daughter-in-law were seeking revenge for their father and father-in-law, and even Patriarch Jiang Yun could not pick any flaws in it.
While pondering for the plan, streams of music accompanied by drumbeats were heard coming from the courtyard. Very soon, tens of burly and tall women were seen escorting a young girl up to the platform. The young girl was tall and slender, looking gentle and delicate, and was sending forth a scholarly air. She had a rather calm expression, and a pair of eyes as clear as water. When faced with the glances that were filled with a plain evil intention that came from all directions, she did not put out any response. Instead, she just remained standing with her back straight on the platform, face cold and calm.
When Zi Qianyan, clad in a pale green long dress, came to stand on the platform, it was as if the entire platform was left for her alone. Lady Qing and the rest of the women were overshadowed by her elegant bearing, and they looked like some goat sh*ts placed right next to a fine pearl; none of them could attract any eyeballs.
Lady Qing's voice had also lowered down. With a slightly frustrated look in her eyes, she gazed at Zi Qianyan, then said with a low voice, "Everyone can call their bids at will. As long as your price is the highest, Miss Zi will be his tonight. If any wealthy guest has taken a fancy to her, and wish to buy her out, that is something we can always discuss. But bear in mind, the price will be really high!"
Suddenly, from the Eighth Prince's room, Xiang Yu's calm as ice voice echoed out, and there was vaguely an unspeakable passion in it, "She is such a beauty. It will be a reckless waste of heaven's good gift for letting her suffer in this place. I want her as a whole! Name your price. How much is Zi Qianyan worth as a whole?
Standing on the platform, Zi Qianyan tilted her head high up, yet there were two drops of tears slowly rolling off her delicate face.
She was a proud and arrogant beauty, and yet she ended up in an auction where she would be sold off like a product. What else could she do besides from weeping?
Wu Qi cleared his throat, ‘Xiang Yu, you are the one who forced me to call my price!’
He slapped on the table and cried out on top of his voice, "I'll bid one whole gold mountain for this beautiful girl!"
Wu Qi had changed his voice, making it sharp and shrill like the voice of a eunuch. When his voice echoed out, a great commotion immediately broke out in the entire Hidden Sword Pavilion. One gold mountain? There were less than ten people in this Hidden Sword Pavilion who could call out such a price, and that included Xiang Yu, Lao Ai, and some others which were from the six dynasties. By using a gold mountain to purchase a girl, even if she were the beloved and only daughter of previous Minister of Rites, that would be something only a wastrel could do!
Right after Wu Qi's voice echoed out, a sharp sword cry rang out in the courtyard suddenly, followed by some miserable howls. Immediately after that, dozens of green-clothed pimps rolled and scrambled into the courtyard with their bodies bathed in blood. They cried and howled painfully, rolling and crawling on the floor, and a few of them had their legs kicking a few times in the air before they stopped breathing and died.
A youth clad in a white cloth, who looked in his early thirties, dashed into the Hidden Sword Pavilion with a sword in his hand. He dashed into the courtyard and to the platform. Upon his arrival, he shouted at the top of his voice, "Fear not, Qianyan! Yifeng is here to your rescue! Whoever dares to stop me today, don't blame I, Li Yifeng, for not showing any mercy with my sword!"
A few guards of Hidden Sword Pavilion greeted upon him immediately. Li Yifeng laughed wildly, then swung the sword and thrust it forward like a stream of light. The few guards howled as they were cut into two parts at their waists, having their internal organs splashed and scattered across the floor.
Everyone was shocked by the sword strike! How did this Li Yifeng dare to cause trouble in the brothel operated by the Eldest Prince?!
Most importantly, four of the Gu Tai Dynasty's Princes were presented here today!
Zi Qianyan's body trembled, and suddenly she snapped sternly, "Li Yifeng, are you crazy or fool? Get out from here, scram!"
Li Yifeng did not answer her, but instead, he stepped over the blood and gores on the floor and strode up to the platform.