Chapter 114 – Heavenly Dawn is not moved by bells and drums
Haitang swept into the courtyard next to the street, gently stroked the hair on his temples, and looked at the ascetic monk who really did not leave.
Can live in this street on both sides of the people, naturally is not rich is expensive, after some intrusion, this home’s owner has long woken up, hiding far away, do not dare to light the lamp. At this time, the lights of the restaurant across the street, along the wall of the big hole reflected over, shining in the courtyard, also shines on this person after the injury looks particularly horrible face.
Haitang looked at him and asked with slight sorrow, “Why is this?”
The bitter monk just looked at her calmly and did not reply.
Haitang was not in a hurry, although the sound of Suzhou Prefecture officials moving their chains loudly was already faintly heard in the distance.
There weren’t many ascetics in this world, and the ascetics led by the Grand Priest of the Temple of Celebration had consistently preached everywhere, and these ascetics silently extolled the wonderful meaning of the scriptures and physically performed good deeds, and had never been a force known for its force.
But these decades, the temple also out of a different kind, is the three stone masters, this person was born with the power of God, a body inside and outside the kung fu are cultivated to the top, coupled with violent temperament, cynicism, however, due to the identity of the sacrifice, so very few people have seen him out of the hand, there are not a few people know his true face and strength, of course, this is also because of the previous years before the temple of the temple of the Qing dynasty great priest has been to the scriptures to exhort the tightly guarded reason, or else! This three stone master, I’m afraid has long become the most famous person in the world.
Because the Qing Temple and the Northern Qi Heavenly Road after all is dedicated to the temple of the place, can be considered a lineage, so Haitang in previous years has also seen each other one side, she knows in her heart. In front of this ascetic monk, this Qing Temple’s second sacrifice, this legendary three stone master, purely in terms of identity, is an extremely honorable figure, in terms of heart cultivation, today is not a blood devourer, so she is most puzzled as to why …… has always stayed out of the world’s affairs of the sacrifice, today will also join the inner treasury or the dynastic bureau of the struggle.
“What kind of organization is the Junshan Society …… really?” Haitang said with a slight frown, as if talking to herself.
The Second Priest looked at her indifferently and said, “Don’t bother thinking about these questions, it’s not bad, I’m a member of the Junshan Society nowadays, the Junshan Society, was originally a loose association, perhaps this organization didn’t have a specific goal in the first place, and once everyone found some kind of goal, they would move forward together towards that goal.”
Haitang asked softly, “Then what is your goal?”
“Kill Xia Xufei.” The Second Priest said indifferently.
Haitang smiled faintly and said, “It’s just a dispute between some merchants, how could it cause you to take action?”
She calmly asked, “Xia Qufei has already captured the bid in the inner library today, you chose to snipe in the middle of the street, aren’t you afraid of the wrath of the Southern Qing court?”
The Second Priestess said expressionlessly, “Killing Xia Qufei was only to return things in the Inner Vault to the course we wanted.”
Haitang was slightly stunned and greatly perplexed, “This sentence is not enough to convince me …… I know you as well as the Great Priest, you are not a person who covets fame and wealth.”
The Second Priest fell silent.
Haitang said softly again, “The Ming family is also not qualified to be able to invite you.”
The Second Priest slowly raised his head, “As I said earlier, this is just a loose cooperation, except that my goals and the Ming Family’s goals happen to be unified.”
“You want to deal with Fan Xian?” Haitang’s eyebrows furrowed.
The Second Priestess shook her head indifferently.
Haitang sighed inwardly, guessing the truth of the matter. The other party’s identity was special, and since it was impossible to be instructed by someone and to intervene in the matter of bidding for the inner treasury, it was naturally because of the problems in Kyoto, and since the Second Priest’s target was not Fan Xian, the source of the matter was implicitly called out.
Haitang shook his head and said, “It’s really hard to believe that a sacrifice of the Qing Temple would actually secretly fight against the Qing Emperor ……”
The second priest’s face has been scalded out countless fine blisters, black and grey with blood, looking horrible, the pupils in the curtains of the eyes whitened, and said quietly: “The Holy Maiden is clever, the Lord of the Qin Dynasty has received the holy order to come to fix the inner treasury, and what I want is to make this so-called holy order never be able to be carried out.”
Haitang was silent, it seemed that an undercurrent had begun to appear within the Southern Qing court, and where the undercurrent was headed was naturally the man sitting on top of the dragon chair, and Fan Xian, as that man’s most favored power official nowadays, would, unsurprisingly, be standing on top of the front line, facing great peril.
The reason why the Second Priest was willing to tell so many secrets in front of Haitang was naturally because of Haitang’s status as a Northern Qi person and the closeness between the Qing Temple and the Heavenly Dao.
The Second Priest understood in his heart that even if Haitang was even closer to Fan Xian, as a Northern Qi person, knowing that there were people within the Southern Qing who were preparing to turn against the Emperor, he would definitely keep a rather smart silence.
After being silent for a long time, Haitang suddenly spoke, “Master, it is unwise to seek skin with a tiger.”
The loose Junshan Society, because of that very horrible reason to go a little tighter, such a big event, there will definitely be someone to lead, with Haitang’s analysis, the person who leads may be the eldest princess who has not been showing anything powerful, but let Fan Xian has been careful to watch out for ……
The second priest said indifferently, “In the eyes of the flower, the insect is a tiger, in the eyes of the bamboo, the fire is a tiger, in the eyes of the river, the sun is a tiger …… In my eyes, His Majesty is a tiger.”
Haitang frowned and asked, “What exactly happened?”
What kind of thing would make this Second Sacrifice of the Temple of Celebration resolutely plunge into this muddy and dirty human world? To make the ascetic monk who had always been compassionate and merciful to the world turn into a Shura devil who cut off people’s heads with his sword?
The Second Sacrifice’s terrifying eyes flashed with a hint of gloom and remembrance, and after a moment, he said gently, “Elder brother has gone.”
Haitang was slightly stunned, the news of the death of the Great Sacrifice of the Temple of Qing had already spread throughout the world a few months ago, but at that time, the express decree issued by the court of the State of Qing said that the Great Sacrifice had been preaching in the south for many years, and had long been in the evil miasma, and had become sick with fatigue, and so had died of sickness in his bed soon after returning to the capital……. And at this time, after hearing the Second Sacrifice say so, Haitang naturally understood that the inside story was definitely not this Simple, perhaps the death of the Qing Temple Great Sacrifice had a great deal to do with the Qing Emperor.
She folded her hands and made a bow, knowing that this could not be asked any further, the other party had already given enough hints and would not say anything more.
“Why did you not stop me from pointing out your identity earlier?” Haitang said in silence, “This time when the street kills people, aren’t you worried about spooking the snakes and being detected by the Emperor of the Qing Kingdom with some hints?”
The Second Priest of the Temple of Qing expressionlessly raised three fingers, “There are three stones in the mountain, one Ming, one Zheng, and one Abandon.”
“The three stones were different from the norm since they were young, and were expelled from the wilderness by the village people. If it weren’t for the reason of senior brother, he would have been buried in the belly of a wild dog long ago.” The Second Sacrifice of the Temple of Celebration’s voice was like a bell, his beard and hair were all floating, not angry, but powerful: “The world took my senior brother’s life, I shall mess up the world’s heart, kill people with bright skills, deceive people with a righteous voice, use my own body as an outcast, and kill a chaotic ruler to pacify the world’s ten thousand people.”
Haitang heard and understood the first two meanings of this sentence, the last meaning was still not quite clear, but countless complex emotions still welled up in her heart. Although there were already signs of division within the Qing court, but looking at the Qing Emperor’s strong control over the seven governors as well as the military, it was clear that the rule of Qing itself, did not have any root and bone problems.
Three stone master tonight on the street to kill, is nothing more than a clear technique is the voice, to the world, the Qing temple sacrifice, and the court, is no longer on the way partner – although the second sacrifice is not enough to represent the entire Qing temple and the world of believers in the bitter monks, but this kind of statement, still has a very powerful symbolic significance.
As for that last word of abandonment, Haitang also finally figured out, three stone master heart is also clear, the mastermind behind the Junshan Association, than the Emperor of Qing is no better than the Emperor of Qing, acting today, on the one hand, is to borrow the sniping Xia Qufei, to destroy the Emperor of Qing’s administration of the big move, the second is also …… resolute abandonment of their own.
Perhaps this second priest himself is not clear about what he should do, after losing the teachings and constraints of the great priest, three stone masters and there is no way to kill the emperor, and …… the Qing temple priest simply do not want to let the people of the world suffer because of the matter of revenge.
For Master San Shi, the Jiangnan Water Village crowd, itself is full of blood stained thugs, kill then kill, without the slightest pity, but the strong desire for revenge inside, and the judgment of the situation, and the concern for the people of the world, so that this Master San Shi is caught up in a kind of spiritual conflict, which is why he will tell these things to Haitang, and at the same time, tell her… …that he himself was only willing to be an outcast.
“I’ll go back to Kyoto and kill someone, and convey to Master Bitter Lotus what I said today.”
Master Mishi was silent, melancholic in a way that was extremely incongruous with his magnificent stature, and turned to leave the compound that had broken open a large hole.
Haitang quietly stood in place without any movement, thinking in her heart that the Second Priest of the Temple of Qing had so easily abandoned himself, yet the Junshan Society must still have subsequent actions, yet she did not know whether they were directed at Fan Xian, who was far away in the south of the Yangtze River, or whether they were directly directed at the Emperor of Qing, who was sitting comfortably in Kyoto.
It seemed that there were many people under the sky who did not want the Qing Emperor to be comfortable.
How should Da Qi respond?
“Three stones? Outcast?” Fan Xian looked at Haitang, seemingly smiling, but his eyes were leaping with sinister fire, “I can’t understand the yin and yang conversations of you people, all I know …… is that if he really wanted to abandon himself, at this time he should have directly killed the main gate of the imperial city, with the forbidden army led by the Grand Emperor, and with Eunuch Hong in the palace, and had a big kill a fight, instead of running to Suzhou city to spoil my business! Kill my people!”
The voice of the last two sentences was raised, and the tone was very stern.
“As for the word abandonment.” Haitang looked at him and said calmly, “The Junshan Society surely doesn’t want the Second Sacrifice to reveal its identity so early on, and if I hadn’t been there today, probably no one would have had the chance to reveal this secret.”
The meaning contained in these words was very clear, the enemies had made a mistake in their estimation, and the Second Sacrifice had failed to kill anyone, so they simply gave up on it, and made all the problems clear in front of Haitang, using themselves to attract the Emperor of Qing’s attention, while concealing the rest of the Junshan Society’s existence.
Fan Xian laughed coldly, ”This Second Priest has not yet seen himself as too important …… His Majesty this person may not have anything, it is that self-confidence that does not know where it comes from, but it is a little stronger than everyone else. If I were you, how could I allow that bald head to go away so peacefully? To convince you to ignore and not ask questions just by saying a few light words without adding salt and oil, this Second Priest seems to really have the ability to be a lobbyist.”
These words seemed unusual, but they actually contained the intention to kill, and Fan Xian, in his anger, made it very clear very directly that there was a part of the conversation between the Second Priest and Haitang that Haitang had not said directly. After all, this is the internal affairs of Qing, Haitang as a Northern Qi people, for the interests of their own country to do something, who can not say.
Haitang was not angry, and softly explained, “The Junshan Association is definitely going to protect the Ming family, and that old Taijun also fell for your plan of provocation, and invited someone to kill Xia Qufei …… This is not all what you expected? Why are you still so angry?”
Fan Xian choked, not realizing that Haitang had so unflinchingly revealed all of his sinister thoughts, frowned, and said, “Not bad, I wanted to force the Ming family’s hand, but I didn’t think that the Ming family would actually be able to invite such an expert ……It seems that I’ve still underestimated the so-called Junshan Society. ”
Tonight Jiangnan residence before the death of heavy casualties, Xia Qufei brought into Suzhou city Jiangnan water fortress of good men, by that a severe knife killed eighty-nine percent, and the Supervisory Yuan in order to keep Xia Qufei’s life, but also paid an extremely heavy price, six seven assassins died one person, at this time there are still four people fell into a coma, do not know whether they can survive.
Since Fan Xian took over the Supervisory Yuan, this is the Supervisory Yuan’s biggest loss of action, no wonder he does not blame himself and angry up, obviously are their own calculations of things, but unfortunately in the end due to underestimation of the other party’s strength, and led to such a situation.
And what makes Fan Xian the most angry is …… in the plan, once forced the Ming family to make a move, he can take the opportunity to strike in a big way, but all of this is ruined in the long street above, Haitang’s shout.
The second sacrifice?
Qing temple second sacrifice, at most will deal with the royal family, Fan Xian if you want to borrow this matter to check on the Ming family, there is no that possibility, even if the most skillful of the Supervisory Committee of the obscene means of planting, but also impossible to persuade the imperial court as well as the court officials in Kyoto.
No one believed that a single Ming family, a rich family in Jiangnan, could drive the Second Priest of the Qing Temple to act as an assassin.
This fact gave Fan Xian a certain absurd sense of frustration. In the past, when he faced enemies, even if it wasn’t something the other party did, he could plant evidence to make the other party admit it, but now that it was obvious that the other party had done it, and he was pursuing it squarely, no one would believe it!
He shook his head helplessly, waved his hand and said, “Duo Duo you go to sleep first, earlier I was in a bad mood and spoke impulsively, you don’t have to care too much.”
Haitang glanced at him with some surprise and asked with a frown, “Tonight?”
Fan Xian took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the burning sensation in his heart, a gentle smile reappearing on his face as he said softly, “It’s very late, let’s talk about everything tomorrow.”
For this evening, Fan Xian had already prepared for a long time, but at this point in time, he wanted to suddenly give up, no one knew what was in his heart.
Haitang left the study in some bewilderment.
Fan Xian sat alone quietly in front of his desk, and after a little thought, he began to put pen to paper, he had to make a report to His Majesty the Emperor in Kyoto of what had happened this evening, in fact, in his heart, he did not think that the appearance of the Second Sacrifice was such a marvelous thing, but as a courtier, even if it was the same courtier who was not harboring any ill-will, it was necessary to show some sort of trepidation because of concern at the appropriate time anxiety.
After writing the secret letter, he couldn’t help but pick up another letter next to him.
The handwriting on the letter was very dry and hard to read, and it was the handwriting of the old man called Chen Pingping.
In the letter, Chen Pingping didn’t say any advice about the dynasty or even the officialdom, but only told a small story, a story about a crow drinking water, warning Fan Xian, who was not with him, that no matter what it was, you couldn’t be in a hurry to do it, and the more you were in a hurry, the less water you had to drink sometimes.
Throwing stones into a bottle?
It was a game of wanting to take, but first giving.
Fan Xian looked at the letter, his brows wrinkled, today in the Inner Treasury mansion, Ming Qingda left him an extremely deep impression, that old master of the Ming family’s ability to deal with chaos is really worth learning.
In comparison, the Ming Old Taijun who had been successfully ruffled by his own emotions and then secretly informed Junshan that he would kill people on the street, seemed to be somewhat inadequate.
It was just the fact that the Ming family was still that old Taijun in power nowadays that eased Fan Xian’s heart a little.
The one who made the move was the Second Priest, this matter involved a great deal, this night is not suitable to make a move right away, Fan Xian thought about it and decided to postpone the day for a few days, Xia Qufei’s life is great and he didn’t die, tomorrow’s bidding for the inner treasury will still go on, and life will continue, and the day will continue as well.
After everything calmed down, when the stone was stuffed to the bottleneck, one could start drinking water again.
“Out the door.” He said as he took a cloak from Si Si.
Si Si looked at him twice in surprise, thinking to herself that it was almost midnight at this time, going out to where? But in his heart, he knew that the young master must be in a hurry to go out at this time, so he didn’t ask again.
Fan Xian put on his crane cloak and hurriedly walked towards the front gate of Ming Garden, all the way to the subordinate beside him, saying, “Things have gotten too big, immediately send out a first level court order to rigorously search for the whereabouts of that Second Priest all the way to the southeast.”
The subordinate frowned and responded, “My lord, the Temple of Celebration has always been under the management of the palace, so we are not in a position to intervene.”
Fan Xian was slightly enraged and rebuked, “I can’t kill him even though he’s killed us?”
The subordinate hurriedly shut up and gave the order.
In fact, Fan Xian’s words also stored other thoughts, Haitang said earlier, that the second priest looks like it is ready to go to Kyoto to serve Jing Ke a stab, but Fan Xian is letting the Supervisory Yuan in the southeast all the way to investigate and arrest.
Shadow is not in Suzhou, the current manpower of the Supervisory Yuan is simply not possible to leave the three stone master, Fan Xian this move, is nothing more than a gesture, one to avoid their own men and this master again met by the big loss, and can …… put the two priests into the capital.
Obviously, the second sacrifice into the capital is ready to play dragon slayer, Fan Xian but do this kind of arrangement, don’t know what he is thinking.
Walking outside the main gate, Tiger Guard Gouda lifted the curtain for him, Fan Xian stepped on the carriage with one foot and stopped, seeming to be thinking about something, and then turned back a moment later and said, “Call back all of the manpower that is prepared outside this evening.”
The inspection official was slightly stunned, thinking, “Could it be that tonight’s plan is canceled? To his understanding of the Lord Tisch, if his subordinates suffered a loss, he will definitely immediately retaliate back …… Could it be that the Lord Tisch has suddenly changed his temper?
Ignoring his subordinate’s astonishment, Fan Xian got into the carriage.
The wagon wheels crushed on the green stone road of Suzhou City, making a sound. At this time, the night has long been late, there are no pedestrians on the street, only those Suzhou government officials who have learned of this night’s events, glancing around with sleepy eyes, but they are not bad, at least easier than the brothers in front of the street of Jiangnan residence, I heard that the brothers there this evening to carry the dead body, picking up the severed limbs, and there have been a number of nausea vomiting out.
Fan Xian half leaned on the back of the chair, his hands gently flicked on his eyebrows, forcibly driving away the fatigue in his head and the strong urge in his heart that was always ready to jump out and slash for a while, and letting the carriage take him on a quiet walk through the night streets of Suzhou.
Beside the carriage were a few tiger guards, today Xia Qufei was assassinated, Fan Xian’s traveling security has been strengthened a lot.
Not long after, the carriage came to the Jiangnan Governor’s residence in front of the side door, also too late to hand what the name sticker, Fan Xian is very direct with his face as a pass, all the way to the Governor’s residence drilling in the Governor’s residence in the Governor’s residence housekeeper subordinates full of puzzlement under the guard, directly to the Governor’s residence to be used for the secret guests of the back garden hall.
The tea was served before he could take two sips, and Xue Qing, the governor of Jiangnan, who the butler said had long since gone to bed, rushed over.
Fan Xian looked up, looked at Xue Qing’s dress, after a stunned smile, the governor of the Lord dressed neatly, which looks like just from the bed by their own appearance, it seems that tonight, not many officials in Suzhou city can sleep well.
Xue Qing saw him laugh and couldn’t help but laugh as well, waving his hand for all the people to retreat, sipping a mouthful of tea, moistening his throat, and asking very directly, “What is the purpose of the Lord Governor coming all night?”
Fan Xian replied even more directly, putting up a finger and saying, “Tonight, someone wants to kill my people, so I’m preparing to kill.”
Jiangnan Governor was slightly stunned and fell into silence, he was of course clear about what had happened in Suzhou city this evening, and also expected that Fan Xian, who had always been vicious and protective, would definitely lay his hands on the Ming family, but …… did not expect that the other party would come to inform himself beforehand, and this kind of gesture made Xue Qing feel a hint of comfort.
After Xue Qing pondered for a moment, he said in a harmonious voice: “This official can understand the mood of Lord Qinzhi at this time.”
Saying this was the same as not saying it, and understanding certainly did not mean support. Fan Xian also understands this point, after all, the Ming family is the great family of Jiangnan, tens of thousands of sons and daughters in the family, in the dynasty and the field of help is unknown, the Ming family’s feet and hands have long been deeply implanted in the middle of the people’s lives in Jiangnan, if Fan Xian wants to use the force of the Supervisory Yuan, the Ming family for the simple and brutal suppression, that will certainly cause countless backlash, Jiangnan’s situation may be the formation of a big upheaval.
Jiangnan could not be in chaos, once it was in chaos, Xue Qing, who was the Governor of Jiangnan, would naturally bear the brunt of it, and he would not be able to answer to the court and His Majesty at all, so in front of Fan Xian, he could only say that he understood, and refused to say anything else.
Moreover, for Fan Xian, the Black Riders are still in the northern part of Jiangbei, and until the last step, he would never dare to risk the Emperor’s suspicion and the ministers’ outcry by deploying troops into Suzhou. So at this time, he actually did not have too much power at hand that he could utilize, and in order to deal with a character like the Ming family, he very much needed Jiangnan Governor Xue Qing’s help, or at least acquiescence, which was why he had to rush to the Governor’s Mansion all night long.
Knowing what Xue Qing was worried about, Fan Xian smiled and said, “Don’t worry, Lord Governor, even though this official is a bit of a brash man, he will be disciplined in what he does.”
Xue Qing’s heart was a little more at ease, he was not on the side of the Princess, so he was willing to stay out of the fight between the Supervisory Court and the Prince, and this night the Ming family even sent someone to assassinate the businessman who pressed the bidding before the Jiangnan Residence …… Although everyone knew that the businessman was in fact a water bandit …… but this fact, still let this feudal official feel angry.
Business, then there should be the business of this and boundaries, the Ming family tonight, has crossed the line.
What’s more, the Jiangnan residence where the murder was committed, but the Governor General’s property.
“Before the sixteen bids for the Inner Treasury are all finalized, this official will not make a move.” Fan Xian looked into Xue Qing’s eyes and said in a harmonious voice, “After the day after tomorrow, I will make the Ming family pay the price they deserve for this.”
“Just let them suffer some lessons.” Xue Qing sighed, like a compassionate ascetic.
Fan Xian smiled, understanding in his heart that this governor-general was still unwilling to let things get too big, and that he himself had never had the luxury of knocking the rain out of a great clan that had stretched out for a hundred years within a few days, and said, “Don’t worry, Your Excellency, I’ve got my own measure.”
“Evidence, the key is evidence.” Xue Qing looked at the young Chinaman Lord in front of him and couldn’t help but open his mouth to remind him that this matter wasn’t a simple official-business fight, but rather a fight between imperial forces, and if he couldn’t get solid evidence and tried to chip away at the Ming family’s flesh and blood, it would be extremely easy for certain people within Kyoto to seize Fan Xian’s handles.
“In life, there is never a lack of evidence.” Fan Xian said quietly, “It’s just that there is a lack of eyes to discover evidence, and the eyes of the Supervisory Court are very bright.”
These two Jiangnan’s most powerful officials, and talk for a long time, the two tiredness is hard to hide when, Fan Xian said goodbye and left. Today’s Jiangnan situation more and more muddy up, like this pre-dawn darkness in general, a glance, dark do not know the bottom of the abyss.
Fan Xian leaned on the back of the car seat and fell into a deep sleep, not realizing that the sky outside the car had gradually brightened up, and the morning in Suzhou City had not yet bells and drums ringing, and the spring dawn had arrived.