Chapter 106: Changed His Mind

Fang Jie missed the Emperor’s grand speech, and the Emperor also didn’t notice this young man who fainted and was carried to Zhuo Buyi’s horse-drawn carriage.

Seeing the Emperor chatting and having a good time with the border soldiers, even Hou Wenji temporarily forgot the young man who made his eyes shine. However, others didn’t know Hou Wenji threw out the plan that he had in his mind after seeing the Emperor drinking with these border soldiers; it was necessary.

Since the Emperor came to Guest-Prosper Dwell abruptly, he knew that he couldn’t hide some things.

…

The horse-drawn carriage moved on the wide street that was paved with green stone tiles, and the ride was slow and steady.

The young man lying down in the compartment seemed to be asleep, but the furrowed brows showed how much pain he was in.

Zhuo Buyi looked down at Fang Jie and couldn’t understand what was happening to this young man.

When he first met Fang Jie, this young man only had two out of 128 qi-points open. When he just took Fang Jie’s pulse, he found that this young man now had seven qi-points!

Although having seven qi-points was nothing special even for ordinary people, it was unbelievable when these qi-points appeared in Fang Jie’s body.

Zhuo Buyi pondered while frowning, but he couldn’t figure it out.

He thought that Fang Jie had the same physique as Great General Luo Yao of Left Advance Guard, not needing a sea of qi to cultivate. Now, he realized that he was wrong.

Luo Yao’s sea of qi was shattered by someone, but he didn’t die and became a top-tier level 9 master instead. This was something that people couldn’t understand. Even Principal Zhou of the Martial Arts Academy and Spiritual Master Xiao of Pure Joy Mountain couldn’t understand why.

Fang Jie’s physique seemed stranger than that of Luo Yao.

Principal Zhou had once estimated that Luo Yao didn’t only temper his body. Before his sea of qi was shattered, he was already a top-tier level 8 master with strong internal forces. After his sea of qi got shattered, the internal forces didn’t disappear. Instead, they infused into his body. It could be that Luo Yao obtained a unique technique and was able to use internal forces that were infused into his muscles and bones.

In theory, people stored their internal forces in their seas of qi. When they used the internal forces, they would circulate throughout the body. In a sense, the sea of qi could be interpreted as an engine. Without the engine, a car wouldn’t run. Luo Yao’s cultivation method was probably something that no one had ever seen before. Principal Zhou estimated that after his sea of qi shattered, Luo Yao somehow turned his entire body into a bigger sea of qi. This way, his internal forces would be able to continue to circulate in his body.

Since his body was his sea of qi, he was stronger than others.

Of course, all this was Principal Zhou’s estimate. Even he said that everything was hypothetical. If someone could turn themselves into a sea of qi, they would be invincible.

The difference between Fang Jie and Luo Yao was that Fang Jie didn’t have a sea of qi to begin with.

Although Fang Jie now had seven out of the 128 qi-points open, he had no sea of qi to store internal forces. In simple terms, the sea of qi could be seen as a sea, and the 128 qi points were the rivers that were connected to it. When needed, the internal forces would rush into the qi-points from the sea of qi. If someone had no qi-points, then they couldn’t unleash their strength. However, if someone didn’t have a sea of qi… they couldn’t have strength at all, not even the strength to drink and eat.

This was the biggest difference between Fang Jie and Luo Yao’s physiques.

It seemed like qi-points were useless for Fang Jie.

The more Zhuo Buyi thought about this, the messier his thoughts became. Fang Jie’s physique had many contradictions. How could there be qi-points if there wasn’t a sea of qi? Also, what were the uses of qi-points if they weren’t connected to a sea of qi? However, Fang Jie was as strong as a leopard.

Clearly, in the last half a year since he left Fangu, Fang Jie’s strength had been increasing.

In Fangu, Fang Jie even self-mocked and said that he couldn’t defeat Li Gandang who was only a low-tier level 2 master. However, on the way to the Capital, he killed a royal guard who was a level 4 master. Although he got lucky, he needed strength to do so.

Looking at Fang Jie, Zhuo Buyi shook his head and sighed, “Could it be that just like what Principal Zhou estimated, Luo Yao doesn’t only temper his body, but you do?”

Although Zhuo Buyi wasn’t sure about the situation, he was sure that Fang Jie also didn’t understand his own physique and didn’t know any cultivation techniques. Otherwise, he wouldn’t lose control of himself and faint.

In Guest-Prosper Dwell, this young man broke free from Zhuo Buyi’s technique by force. If Zhuo Buyi didn’t relax his control after sensing the strong resistance coming from Fang Jie, Fang Jie’s meridians would have shattered under the backlash.

Even though that was the case, Fang Jie still surprised people.

If Fang Jie learned that he only broke free from Zhuo Buyi’s technique because the latter went easy on him, he would be more surprised. Controlling everyone inside Guest-Prosper Dwell was hard enough, yet Zhuo Buyi had an insane amount of mental strength to control people individually.

It showed the terrifying power of innate talents.

Sometimes, regardless of how hard someone worked, they couldn’t surpass the limitation of their talents.

While Zhuo Buyi was blanking out, the horse-drawn carriage passed by a small booth selling street food. The crippled old man looked at the horse-drawn carriage and smiled. He thought to himself, “Zhuo Buyi, others say that you are unworldly, but it seems like no one is more worldly than you. You ditched the Emperor and are escorting an insignificant figure home. Out of everyone in the political circle, only you can do something like this.”

While thinking, he put a piece of stewed meat into his mouth and chugged a mouthful of northwest liquor, feeling great.

When Fang Jie woke up, it was already dark. His vision was blurry, but he was able to recognize the people around him.

Chen Qingshan, Mu Xiaoyao, Da Quan, and Qi Lin; all four of them were here.

Standing beside them, there was also someone who looked at Fang Jie with care. Fang Jie spent some time and finally realized that it was Cui Lueshang who he hadn’t seen in a while.

“He woke up!” Da Quan couldn’t help but laugh after seeing Fang Jie opening his eyes. However, that pulled the muscles in his body and tore the wounds a little, making Da Quan inhale due to pain. However, the joy in his eyes was still intense.

Mu Xiaoyao sat down next to Fang Jie, helped him sit up, and fed him some water.

“How come you fainted again?” she asked.

Fang Jie shook his head with a smile and replied, “Something happened in Guest-Prosper Dwell. Perhaps I used too much force since I was unwilling to give up. There were many cultivation masters in the building, yet only I was able to get onto the second floor like a boss.”

Fang Jie wasn’t feeling much pain in the beginning, but his movements caused intense pain and made sweat appear on his forehead. The feeling of something grinding his flesh in his abdomen disappeared, but all his muscles and even internal organs were hurting.

It felt like someone who had never exercised in their life ran for ten kilometers and did dozens of push-ups.

“Fang Jie, are you ok?” Cui Lueshang got close and asked caringly. Then, he said apologetically, “After I got to the Capital, I visited the people on the name list that my father gave me. I wanted to find you afterward but didn’t know where you went. In the end, I asked around in Beckon of the Red Sleeve and learned that you rented this place.”

“No worries,” Fang Jie said with a smile, “It is more important for you to visit your father’s acquaintances. You don’t have to worry about this.”

“The entrance exam is the day after tomorrow. You…” Cui Lueshang asked Fang Jie worryingly, “Can you still go?”

“Of course!” Fang Jie replied, “I finally got to the Capital through all those trials and tribulations; how can I miss the entrance exam because of such little injuries? I have recovered now. Even if I didn’t, I would crawl to the Martial Arts Academy for the entrance exam.”

Cui Lueshang nodded and said after a moment of hesitation, “I’m here for this.”

He took out a thin stack of paper and handed them to Fang Jie. He said, “When I visited an acquaintance of my father, I heard that some of the questions in the subjects such as math, literature, and music got leaked. These questions came from a big figure who is responsible for creating the questions. It is hard to get these questions without connections. Even though I have the connection, I still had to pay 1,000 silver taels!”

Cui Lueshang added, “I bought a copy, and I made another copy overnight to give it to you.”

Fang Jie was touched, but he shook his head and said, “Brother Cui, I’m afraid that you got fooled. Why would such a big figure leak questions for only 1,000 silver taels? If this gets exposed, he will be killed! What I say might be a little rude, but since you can get a copy, how many other people also got a copy? If this big figure wants to get rich by selling many copies, isn’t he afraid of being exposed? It would be more dangerous for him if more people know about it.”

“Huh?” Cui Lueshang froze for a second and murmured while looking at the sheets of paper in his hand, “Is this fake?”

Fang Jie shook his head and said, “It is hard to tell, but my advice to you would be to treat it as if you wasted 1,000 silver taels. Don’t mention this to others, and don’t use these questions as well. If the questions are fake, it would be meaningless. If the questions are real… I’m afraid that something big will happen.”

Cui Lueshang froze for a moment; he didn’t know if he should believe Fang Jie or not.

“But it wouldn’t hurt to see them, right? What if they are real?”

“Like I said, even if they are real, you don’t know if this is a good thing or a bad thing.”

…

-Smooth Spring Garden-

Emperor Yang Yi glanced at Hou Wenji coldly. He didn’t speak, and he held a bowl and drank the golden jujube and lotus seed soup that was meticulously made. While flipping through the memorials to the throne, he glanced at Hou Wenji. It seemed unintentional yet meaningful.

“Master…” Hou Wenji knelt on the ground and pressed his forehead onto the floor. “I’m guilty.”

The Emperor put down the bowl, wiped his lips with a handkerchief, and said lightly, “Out of all the officials, only you call me Master, and I always think of you as my most trusted servant. You say that you are guilty, then tell me what you did wrong.”

“I met with Luo Wen in secret.”

“I don’t prohibit officials from having friendships. It is normal to meet up in private and drink.”

“I… have a confession document.” Hou Wenji took out Luo Two’s confession document from his sleeve and raised it above his head with both hands.

Su Buwei looked at the Emperor before quickly walking over and getting the document.

The Emperor didn’t look at it; he put it on the side instead before asking, “Tell me what it is.”

“The criminal who tried to kill Fang Jie confessed. I thought that he was trying to shift the blame since it involves Great General Luo Yao of Left Advance Guard. Therefore, I arranged a meeting with Luo Wen to congratulate him on becoming the no.1 student in the Martial Arts Academy and also probe him to see if there are any hidden secrets. This is my first mistake. Second, I was in Guest-Prosper Dwell, yet I didn’t stop the conflict between that arrogant kid of Yangtze-South Wang Family and the border soldiers.”

“Huh?” The Emperor leaned forward on the heatable brick bed and stared at Hou Wenji while saying, “The first one isn’t really anything, but you should be executed for the second one!”

Hou Wenji shivered after hearing that.

“Don’t think that I don’t know your mind.” With his hands behind his back, the Emperor got off the heatable brick bed and walked around Hou Wenji who was kneeling on the ground. “You wish there are medium-sized troubles so that the Royal Guard wouldn’t be idle, right? If it is too peaceful in Great Sui, especially in Chang’an, the Royal Guard and the Intelligence Department would have nothing to do and wouldn’t have a reason to exist, right? You want me to praise you regularly, right?”

“I… know my mistakes, and I’m guilty.”

The Emperor snorted and said, “Do you know why I’m this angry? It isn’t because you hid a confession document, nor because you allowed that kid of Yangtze-South Wang Family to bully others. It seems like you and Luo Weiran aren’t trusting of each other! Do you think I handed the Royal Guard and the Intelligence Department to you two to see you guys fight in secret?”

This question was as loud as thunder, and Hou Wenji knelt on all four and didn’t even dare to raise his head.