Chapter 1 The Reaction

Kuang Zong Jian Ying's reaction was within Leng Yuqiu's expectations, but his strength… was far beyond the other's estimation.

Leng Yuqiu hadn't intended to draw his sword against these two, because he didn't think it was necessary.

However, the moment Jian Shao's hand reached for the hilt, the instant his fighting spirit and sword intent burst from his eyes, Leng Yuqiu's expression… changed.

An instinct made Leng Yuqiu take a step back, and when he realized it, his own hand was already gripping his sword.

"How is this possible?" At that moment, doubt and shock flashed through Leng Yuqiu's mind.

But before he could think further, Kuang Zong Jian Ying had already attacked.

Clang—

The sword tips collided rapidly in the air.

Anyone who could clearly see this exchange would be amazed by the power and speed of both sides.

However, the sound of this strike… was neither loud nor heavy.

The sound was like two glasses gently touching, light and gentle.

After this exchange, both Jian Shao and Leng Yuqiu's expressions changed drastically, and each retreated a few more steps.

"So that's how it is…" Leng Yuqiu immediately thought, "The reason I couldn't detect his inner energy isn't because his internal skills are weak… but because his technique is unique and undetectable."

"Are you kidding me… this guy is so strong? Or is this the average level of NPCs in this game world?" Jian Shao also felt surprised and uncertain.

"May I ask your name…" Leng Yuqiu rarely took the initiative to ask someone's name, but this was clearly an exception.

"Huangfu Mingkang." Jian Shao stated his real name without missing a word; his real name sounded perfectly natural in this martial arts world.

"Good." Leng Yuqiu didn't give his own name, nor did he ask if the other party knew him. He simply said "Good," then sheathed his sword and took out a silver note from his pocket. "I'll pay for the damage."

As he spoke, he reached out and handed over the silver note.

However, Jian Shao didn't take it.

"No need," Kuang Zong Jian Ying said coldly. "We have money."

The implication was: we're talking about principle here; as long as you're willing to compensate, whether you give the money or not is irrelevant.

"But I think it's better to compensate you," Leng Yuqiu didn't retract his hand. "Just consider it helping me out."

His meaning was: for me, this matter isn't over until the money is given; otherwise, I'll feel like I owe you something.

"Alright then." Jian Shao quickly understood what the other party meant, and at the same time, he belatedly realized that… when he decided to draw his sword, he had already missed the opportunity to cooperate with this NPC. Now, he could only accept the money, end this incident, and accept the situation where the other party would continue to maintain a "neutral" relationship with him.

Thus, these two Jianghu players accepted the money, left the second floor, and immediately went to the innkeeper to change rooms.

During their interaction with the innkeeper, they learned who Leng Yuqiu was and what role he played in this incident.

But at this point, it was too late for them to lament their poor ability to deal with NPCs.

…………

On the other side, in Wang Qiong's residence.

The aroma of grains, the smell of cotton, the scent of straw and firewood, and a hint of burnt odor mixed together, wafting through the house.

Wang Qiong sat comfortably on the kang (heated platform bed), eating pastries and drinking hot tea.

Most people who saw him for the first time would probably mistake him for an ordinary farmer, never imagining that he was a living god of wealth who could rival a country.

"Manor Lord." Cheng Wei's voice came from outside the door.

He stood at the doorway, his back ramrod straight. Even though there was no one around to see him, he maintained a solemn and respectful expression as he said "Manor Lord."

"Come in," Wang Qiong casually replied, his mouth still full.

"Yes." Cheng Wei acknowledged and lifted the door curtain to enter the room.

"What did the midwife say?" Wang Qiong knew what the other party had come to report, so he asked directly.

"Reporting to the Manor Lord, she is definitely a virgin." Cheng Wei gave a straightforward answer.

"Hmm…" Wang Qiong nodded, was silent for a few seconds, then asked, "Cheng Wei, what do you think?"

Cheng Wei was taken aback. "You mean…" He really didn't know which aspect the question was specifically asking about.

"You know how much silver, time, and connections I've used for this woman," Wang Qiong continued. "Aren't you even a little curious about what I'm doing all this for?"

Cheng Wei lowered his head and replied, "Manor Lord, we servants shouldn't ask what we shouldn't…"

"Hey~" Wang Qiong waved his hand, interrupting him. "It's not you asking me now, it's me asking you." He paused for half a second. "Whatever you're thinking… just say it directly."

This was not an easy question to answer.

Although Cheng Wei had always been Wang Qiong's right-hand man, he knew very little about this woman.

"In my humble opinion…" After considering for a moment, Cheng Wei replied, "Is the Manor Lord planning to marry this woman?"

This guess might sound superficial at first, but it was actually quite plausible.

Indeed, Wang Qiong had no shortage of women, but "lovers" and "wives" were two different things.

Wang Qiong was over forty and had never officially married. He had also never put so much effort into a woman. In addition, he had specially arranged for a midwife to verify her virginity…

Based on these signs, Cheng Wei had come to this conclusion.

"Heh heh…" Wang Qiong laughed. "Reasonable…" He paused. "But wrong."

"Then…" Cheng Wei offered another hypothesis, "Is it to give her as a gift to someone else?"

Wang Qiong smiled and shook his head. "You guessed half right."

"Your subordinate is foolish, please enlighten me, Manor Lord." Cheng Wei stopped guessing. A shrewd subordinate knew when to stop asking questions, even if the master had initially told him to ask.

"I want her to help me kill someone," Wang Qiong replied.

Cheng Wei's eyes flickered slightly as he muttered, "Is her martial skill very high?"

"Not high," Wang Qiong said. "In Jianghu terms… only third-rate."

Cheng Wei said, "But the silver you've spent on her could at least hire ten first-rate experts to work for you."

Wang Qiong said, "Heh… but the person I want her to kill, even if I hired twenty first-rate experts, it would be a one-way trip."

Cheng Wei was silent.

Logically, he should ask "Who?" at this moment.

But he didn't ask. He didn't dare to ask, nor did he want to know.

But Wang Qiong wanted him to know, "Why don't you ask who it is?"

Cheng Wei said, "Your subordinate… doesn't dare."

Wang Qiong said, "Heh… that means you've already guessed a little."

Cheng Wei couldn't deny it. "Yes."

Wang Qiong said, "But I want you to know the whole truth, not just a little."

Cheng Wei said, "Thank you for your trust, Manor Lord." He had no choice but to accept.

Wang Qiong said, "The person I want to kill is the current Emperor."

Even though he had vaguely sensed that he might hear such an answer, Cheng Wei's mind still buzzed when he heard it. The immense pressure instantly made his stomach churn. "May I ask, Manor Lord… why?"

Wang Qiong said, "Because he wants to kill me."

Cheng Wei nodded. He didn't ask "How did you know?" He knew very well that Wang Qiong would have ways to know…

So, if Wang Qiong said the Emperor wanted to kill him, then the Emperor wanted to kill him.

"Why hasn't he made a move yet?" Cheng Wei asked.

This was indeed a problem… If the Emperor wanted to kill someone, why was he waiting?

Wang Qiong snorted coldly. "Hmph… he already has." He clenched his right fist, speaking with some indignation, "And… he was one step ahead of me."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Wei's expression changed. "You mean… his assassins have already been dispatched?"

Wang Qiong said, "It's more than just dispatched; they've already arrived in front of me."

"Manor Lord!" Cheng Wei's face turned pale when he heard this. He knelt on the ground with a thud. "Are you suspecting me…"

"Hey~ I'm not talking about you…" Wang Qiong showed a hint of impatience and turned his head away. "Don't be so alarmed. Get up and talk."

Cheng Wei wiped the cold sweat from his face and stood up again. After calming down a bit, he thought for a moment and continued, "Then you're referring to… that 'Zhang San'?"

"He and the assassin are indeed in cahoots, but his mission is already complete." As Wang Qiong spoke, he put another piece of pastry in his mouth.

Cheng Wei was now a bit confused. "Manor Lord… then who exactly is the assassin?"

Wang Qiong shrugged. "It's that woman, of course."

Before he said this, Cheng Wei didn't understand. After he said it, Cheng Wei was even more confused.

"Don't understand, do you?" Wang Qiong said. "I'll explain it to you, and you'll understand."

Cheng Wei clasped his hands in front of him. "Please tell me, Manor Lord."

Wang Qiong used tea to wash down the remaining pastry in his mouth, cleared his throat, and organized his thoughts before speaking. "First, let me ask you… do you know about 'Jing Hua Shui Yue' (Mirror, Flower, Water, Moon)?"

"Your subordinate does not know," Cheng Wei replied, shaking his head.

Although he had once been a Jianghu figure, after following Wang Qiong for so many years, Cheng Wei's connection with the Jianghu had long faded. He wouldn't deliberately inquire about or understand those more secretive matters unless Wang Qiong gave instructions.

"They are four assassins." After a slight pause, Wang Qiong continued, "Four assassins who are rarely known but never fail."

This was a very high evaluation.

For an assassin, "rarely known" was more terrifying than "never fail."

"Legend has it that each of these four possesses a unique skill, unparalleled in the world," Wang Qiong said. "And those four skills are… the 'Mirror's' disguise, the 'Flower's' beauty, the 'Water's' internal energy, and the 'Moon's' lightness skill."

"Disguise?" Cheng Wei reacted quickly. "Could it be that 'Zhang San' is…"

"That's right, he is the 'Mirror,'" Wang Qiong continued. "The woman he brought is the 'Flower.'"

He pursed his lips as if he were savoring the pastry he had just eaten. After a brief silence, he spoke again. "And the 'Flower' is also the only one among the four who has a chance to kill the Emperor."

Hearing this, Cheng Wei gradually followed Wang Qiong's train of thought. "Is that why the Manor Lord spared no expense to capture her?"

"Yes," Wang Qiong nodded. "To kill the Emperor, you have to find the 'Flower'… the four members of 'Jing Hua Shui Yue' are very difficult to find, but half a month ago, I accidentally grasped the 'Flower's' whereabouts due to a strange incident." He raised his eyes to look at Cheng Wei. "You should also know about that incident."

"Half a month ago…" Cheng Wei murmured. "Are you referring to… the Yu Prince's 'encounter with a fairy while hunting foxes'?"

Not many people knew about this incident because it wasn't considered a "Jianghu affair" or a "court affair." If you had to classify it, it would probably be a romantic story…

The general plot wasn't complicated. A prince with considerable power "coincidentally" met a beautiful, captivating "fairy" by a lake during a hunting trip. He then "invited" the beauty back to his mansion, treated her with respect, and honored her as a distinguished guest, hoping to win her heart one day.

Of course, there were many logical problems with this story, the main two being: First, even if the Yu Prince was infatuated, the people around him should have realized that… this woman's appearance was suspicious and her origins were unknown. How could they let him bring her back to the mansion? Second, even if everyone accepted that premise, how difficult would it be for a prince to seize a commoner? Why would he enter this beta-male-chasing-goddess-like rhythm?

In short, the illogical parts were quite prominent, which greatly reduced the story's credibility. However… in that era, communication mainly relied on shouting, word-of-mouth transmission, and exaggerated rumors, so stories that became completely distorted were common. Even more outrageous things existed, so not many people questioned this story, which already wasn't known by many.

Until… this story reached Wang Qiong's ears.

Wang Qiong's intelligence network spanned the Jianghu, the court, and the common people…

Therefore, he could know many things that others wouldn't know in their entire lives, and he could make many predictions that others would never have imagined.

Although Wang Qiong wasn't 100% certain, he was at least 50% sure that the "fairy" who was a guest at the Yu Prince's mansion was the "Flower" of Jing Hua Shui Yue, and the Yu Prince was her target.

After deducing this, Wang Qiong immediately used his connections to prepare to execute a mission to "kidnap a woman from the Yu Prince's mansion."

Wang Qiong understood that once the Yu Prince died, the woman would disappear without a trace. A killer like her would definitely vanish as soon as the mission was completed. So, he had to be fast, bringing that woman to him as quickly as possible; otherwise, he might miss this rare, and only, opportunity.

Thus, he approached the "Yuling Four Absolutes." Those four might not have been the best choice, but they were definitely the most suitable choice at that point in time.

However, starting from the departure of those four, nearly ten days had passed, and the person who ultimately brought the "Flower" to Wang Qiong wasn't the Yuling Four Absolutes, but the "Mirror."

"Your subordinate… still doesn't understand," Cheng Wei said after pondering for a moment. "According to what the Manor Lord said, both the Mirror and the Flower came to kill you?"

"Yes," Wang Qiong said.

"But the 'Flower' was someone you actively sent people to bring back," Cheng Wei said. "And… wasn't her target the Yu Prince?"

"Her target… from the very beginning, was me," Wang Qiong said, almost word for word.

Hearing this, Cheng Wei's thoughts were once again disrupted. He followed the Manor Lord's line of reasoning and re-examined the matter. Finally, after a full three minutes, he suddenly understood. "That Yu Prince's 'encounter with a fairy while hunting foxes'… was arranged by the Emperor?"

"You finally figured it out," Wang Qiong nodded. "I said, the Emperor wants to kill me; but killing me, Wang Qiong… isn't that easy. He knows very well that once I sense his murderous intent, I will immediately take action and strike first.

"Having seen through this, he set up this scheme…

"Only the Emperor could make a prince act for him.

"This play was meant for me to see, because only I could see that 'the Flower was going to assassinate the Yu Prince' from that play.

"And I… was indeed tricked."

This time, Cheng Wei closely followed Wang Qiong's train of thought and continued, "And that 'Mirror'… should be a kind of 'insurance.' If there were no accidents, he wouldn't need to act, but clearly… an accident happened."

"Hmm…" Wang Qiong responded. "Legend has it… the 'Flower' can enchant all the men in the world. As long as they look at her, men will be completely mesmerized by her, and some will even willingly be killed by her. Therefore, she has never failed, even with only third-rate martial skill…" He paused. "Although I had instructed the Yuling Four Absolutes beforehand not to have any men confirm the appearance of the 'goods,' and not to look at her along the way, I think… they probably didn't do it."

His reasoning was very accurate… When the "Flower" was kidnapped from the Prince's mansion, the leader of the Four Absolutes, "Zou Ting"… that is, the "Big Brother"… really hadn't looked at the "goods" from beginning to end. The one with the highest martial skill among the Four Absolutes, he was responsible for covering the rear, while the other three quickly took the "goods" away.

The problem arose with their third brother, who was quite lecherous on ordinary days and had often visited brothels. But it was precisely this kind of person who thought he had particularly good self-control. As if his dog-like behavior when he saw mediocre beauties would turn into a state of unyielding composure in front of a truly beautiful woman.

That's how things changed. When the third brother saw the "Flower's" appearance, the second brother Zhu Cheng, who was impersonated by the "Mirror," knew that this person couldn't be kept, otherwise, things would definitely go wrong. So, before Zou Ting could meet up with them, he killed the third brother.

The fourth sister didn't have much to say about this. The third brother was indeed asking for death.

As for what happened after Zou Ting arrived at the Mi Si Inn, it was as written in the previous text… The death of the third brother made him curious as well. The difference between Zou Ting and the third brother was that… the third brother thought he was a person with strong self-control, while Zou Ting really was a person with strong self-control.

Unfortunately, after seeing the "Flower," Zou Ting's heart was also in turmoil.

He began to think about his mission…

Wang Qiong would naturally not tell him about the heaven-defying matter of "I want to let this woman kill the Emperor." He used a simpler reason: I want to sleep with this woman.

It was simple and convincing, but after Zou Ting saw the woman, this reason, this purpose, became an extremely unstable factor.

The "Flower's" beauty was enough to make a man like Zou Ting give up a huge reward and grant her freedom… and his purpose was only to occupy even a sliver of her heart.

As this thought became clearer and more resolute, Zou Ting also lost his life.

With matters having reached this point, there was no need for the Mirror to pretend anymore… Killing the third brother was still plausible, but killing Zou Ting… the real Zhu Cheng didn't have such high martial skill.

So, he went all out, killing the Yuling Four Absolutes clean, burning these people and the innocents in the inn together, and personally bringing the "Flower" to Wang Qiong.

"Manor Lord…" Cheng Wei, after understanding the whole matter, smoothly delivered a flattery, “…your calculations are as if divinely ordained, I admire you…”

"Heh…" Wang Qiong laughed, "If they really were divinely ordained, I should have understood the matter when I was talking to the Mirror." He supported his cheek with one hand and grabbed another piece of pastry. "But in reality… I only managed to sort out my thoughts when you told me she was 'still a virgin.'"

"Uh…" Cheng Wei was a bit confused again. "That's right, this subordinate doesn't know… what the connection is between whether that woman is a virgin or not?"

Wang Qiong said, "Regarding the Jing Hua Shui Yue, there are a few other things I know, for example… the four of them are biological siblings…"

When he said this, another question in Cheng Wei's heart—"Why didn't the Mirror become infatuated with the Flower?"—was also answered.

"For example… the Flower has never allowed any man to obtain her…" Wang Qiong continued, "Another example… in addition to voice and appearance, the Mirror can also imitate other people's martial arts moves, and even their internal energy is exactly the same…" He gave a few examples at random, not saying everything, then brought the topic back. "In short, considering the Yu Prince's character… there is nothing more convincing than this regarding the 'Flower's' identity."

This reminder made Cheng Wei realize as well… that Yu Prince was famous for his lechery, known as the devil of lust and the demon of flowers. Any woman with even a little bit of beauty would basically not be spared if he saw her. For a woman kidnapped from his mansion to still be a virgin was itself very abnormal.

"Hmm…" Cheng Wei pondered. "Now… this subordinate understands everything." He paused for half a second, then continued, "Since the Manor Lord has already seen through that the other party has come to kill you, it's easy to handle… this subordinate will arrange for a batch of strong hands… of course, all of them will be women… to immediately eliminate that 'Flower'…"

"Wait," Wang Qiong interrupted him. "Who said anything about killing her?"

Cheng Wei was taken aback again. "This… you mean… lock her up first?"

Wang Qiong picked up his teacup, took a big gulp of tea, rinsed his mouth, and then casually got off the kang. "No need, I'll go have a chat with her first."

"What?" Cheng Wei almost shouted these two words out loud, but he ultimately held back.

"Manor Lord…" Cheng Wei said, "Didn't you just say… that men only need to see the 'Flower's' appearance…"

"Heh…" Wang Qiong laughed. "It wasn't me who said it, it's a 'legend.'" He put his hands behind his back. "I don't believe that kind of nonsense anyway."

"But…" Cheng Wei's face showed worry. "The Yuling Four Absolutes…"

"Hahaha…" Wang Qiong laughed loudly. "They are them, I am me. I am just certain that the legend is false, and I want to investigate and find out now."

Cheng Wei said, "What if…"

Wang Qiong shook his head with a smile, turned around, and walked towards the door as he spoke, "If it's true, then I'll just die under this legend, so what?"