192 Confrontation

The delicate maid in a colorful dress gently entered the courtyard and called out softly, "Scribe Chu Li, the King wants to see you."

Chu Li calmed his anger before he nodded and smiled. "Thank you for the effort."

He followed the maid out of the courtyard and saw Chief Zhu right as he exited the arch.

Chief Zhu lazily waved his hand. "Follow me."

Chu Li fist saluted but said nothing.

He sighed to himself. The Second Lady was going to marry King An, a cold-hearted person who only cares about the power and the position of an Emperor. It was as if a small rabbit walked itself into the gaping mouth of a large grey wolf.

He forced a smile. For this matter, he could only blame the Second Lady's silliness and her unfortunate fate. Who knew that King An was such a figure even though he had a clean reputation? This was truly an ill-fated marriage.

It was just like meeting a swindler in the modern world, or encountering someone who drives drunk. It is such bad luck, but what could be done about that!?

Chu Li felt a mix of anger, fury, and sympathy. All he wanted to do now was to scold the Second Lady for being so innocent.

Chief Zhu slowly uttered, "I'll remind you of the King's rules so you don't offend him and then have him blame it on your Public House."

Chu Li replied, "I'll need Chief Zhu to give me a few pointers."

"Hmph!" Chief Zhu gently cleared his throat. "Our King likes peace and quiet. He doesn't like loud noises, especially from someone who's disturbing him. It interrupts his reading."

"Okay." Chu Li nodded. No wonder there was no one outside his study room. It seemed like he was very sensitive to noises.

This showed that he was always in a state of impatience, unsettled and short-tempered, with a restrained anger within him that could not be released. People like this were easily enraged.

Chief Zhu continued, "The King is very amicable and approachable. However, he really hates lies, just like the people in the Imperial Residence. Whenever a mistake is made, the punishment wouldn't be too serious if they admit to it honestly. If they were to lie, they'd be chased out of the Imperial Residence and never to be employed again!"

Chu Li nodded.

He understood what Chief Zhu was trying to say. Chief Zhu wanted him to be honest and not to conceal anything.

"The Envoys of the Imperial Residence were killed. Was your Public House responsible for it?" Chief Zhu still sounded lazy but his eyes were sharp.

Chu Li sighed. "This is our responsibility. We were too careless and thought no one dared to attack people from the Imperial Residence which was why we didn't send many Masters to protect them. My Public House is now searching for the assailants. We'll definitely punish them harshly and assist in avenging the Imperial Residence's Envoys!"

"Hmph!" Chief Zhu coldly laughed. "They're dead now, what's the point of avenging them!?"

Chu Li explained, "The perpetrators were quite daring. If they were willing to kill people of the Imperial Residence today, they'd surely do it tomorrow."

Chief Zhu furrowed his brows. "Isn't the Chong Ming Path very safe and peaceful? How did this even happen in the first place? You're presenting a false picture of peace and prosperity!"

Chu Li sighed. "We didn't think the Envoys of the Imperial Residence would be attacked exactly because it was peaceful and prosperous."

"At least your reasons make sense!" Chief Zhu coldly remarked.

Chu Li smiled and stopped talking.

Chief Zhu's scheme was quite sinister. If he kept labeling and blaming the Yi Public House, Chu Li would have been forced into reacting to his statements only.

Both of them entered the wide and quiet courtyard which was the study room of King An.

"King, I've brought the man over," Chief Zhu lowered his voice.

Before Chu Li stepped into the courtyard, he felt goosebumps down his neck and his hair stood up. He immediately went into a state of wilting, giving the impression that his wounds had not recovered yet. He was too overwhelmed by the vigor from the hidden Grandmasters as if they were warning him in secret.

"Come in," King An's voice came through.

Chief Zhu stepped on the stairs and gently pushed the door open. The wooden door quietly rotated as it slowly opened.

He bowed respectfully, completely different from the neglectful attitude he had before.

Chu Li entered the hall and gave a fist salute.

King An, donned in his yellow robe, was comfortably sat on his armchair. Even though his face was yellow, withered, and sickly, he still had a luxurious aura.

He was holding a green porcelain teacup in his hand as he observed Chu Li. His piercing gaze felt as if he could see right through Chu Li's organs.

Chu Li drooped his eyes as he quietly stood still, while he kept the Omniscient Mirror active.

King An put down the teacup. "I heard that the Second Lady's health is getting better. Is that true?"

Chu Li answered, "Yes, the Second Lady's body is doing much better now. She's already back to normal."

King An continued to stare at him. His gaze was threatening. "She's been sick since she was young, how did she recover so quickly all of a sudden?"

Chu Li replied, "We found the Longevity Grass in the Public House."

"Ah… The Longevity Grass…" King An slowly nodded as his eyes flashed.

However, Chu Li's heart sank.

He had finally found the answer to his suspicion. King An was the one who cast the Vitality Sealing Finger!

When King An was in his twenties, he took advantage of the Second Lady's birthday celebration by visiting the Yi Public House. There and then, he secretly cast the Vitality Sealing Finger on her! Everyone would be disappointed if they knew of how vicious he really was.

King An calmly continued, "I heard that she was struck by the Vitality Sealing Finger. Your Young High Duke and I are good friends. He stayed over at my Imperial Residence for quite some time when he was young. Tieying went to look for the Emperor's help, but he was Isolated Cultivation. So we went to the Empress for help instead, but she sent the Imperial House's High Official. Has the Vitality Sealing Finger been undone?"

Chu Li sighed to himself. No wonder the Second Lady was so silly; King An and Master Xiao Tieying were close friends!

He knew that Master Xiao Tieying disliked King An. Chu Li believed that this was simply a natural reaction to the brother-in-law, so he did not dwell on it for too long. However, now that he really thought about it, Master Xiao Tieying may have clued in on how despicable King An was.

Unfortunately, as the elder brother, he was unable to cure his sister, like parents who were unable to cure their children.

Chu Li said, "The Second Lady is a great person, so God will naturally bless her. It has already been lifted. Has Prince met the Third Lady before?"

"Young Xiao Qi? She's quite an eccentric and anti-social girl. Always liked to be alone, even when she was young. I've never really taken a good look at her before. Well then, it's still a good thing worth celebrating." King An stroked his beard as he smiled. "Then I can rest assure."

"Thank you, King An," Chu Li said. "The Envoys were murdered this time due to an oversight in my Public House. We should've sent a few more Grandmasters to protect them."

However, Chu Li really meant to say was that King An should have sent more Grandmasters to protect them.

He sighed to himself regarding the ill destiny of the Second Lady, because King An did not have the chance to see the true colors of Xiao Qi.

King An waved his hand. "I can't pin the blame of this on you. The Public House wouldn't resort to killing the Imperial Residence's Envoys. If you aren't willing to, just tell me! I won't force you."

Chu Li smiled. "King An has a good reputation with the public. Having a marriage with King An is a celebration itself in the Public House. Who wouldn't be willing to!?"

King An had ulterior motives. By making the incident more heartrending than it was, he made it sound as if it was the Yi Public House that was unwilling to have the marriage. Hence, they killed the Envoys of the Imperial Residence to stop it. Though, of course, he would not admit to his deeds or his motives.

King An stroked his beard. "Then I can rest be assured. My way of doing things is to never force people into doing things they don't want to. The Second Lady is a world-class beauty. I'd be overjoyed if she joined the Imperial Residence."

"Thank you, King An." Chu Li fist saluted.

"The letter Tieying wrote said that the ones who murdered the Envoys were the Ren Public House?" King An calmly asked.

Chu Li replied, "Yes, they supposedly intended to frame the Huay Public House. But coincidentally, one of our Public House's Protector recognized one of the murderers. It was one of the High Officials of the Ren Public House."

"That's really quite the coincidence." King An smiled.

Chu Li nodded. "The prediction of man will never catch up to what God throws at us. If Huay Public House takes the fall for it, their vigor may take a huge hit."

"Isn't the Ren Public House about to have an engagement with the Huay Public House? Why go so far as to do something like this?"

"There's always a need to see which tiger is the strongest if there are two in one mountain."

"Hmm… With that in mind, it's no wonder there are always people from the martial arts world who would try to mess things up." King An stroked his beard as he shook his head and sighed. "They've already forgotten the reason why Public Houses were established!"

"We can't blame the Public House for the things people from the martial arts world mess up on." Chu Li shook his head and said, "These Mayors took advantage of their power and preyed on the common folk. They ran amok because the Imperial Court didn't enforce the rules to control them. The more lawless they become, and the more resentful the people become. God would truly be angry. Any human who has any shred of righteousness would not have tolerated this."

King An furrowed his brows. "I believe what you said was a little too much?"

Chu Li replied, "This time, the Mayors of the Desolate Town were assassinated. I'm guessing the Imperial Court already knows that it was the doing of Huay Public House's High Official."

"The Wang Brothers," King An calmly answered.

Chu Li said, "They're the High Officials of the Public Houses. They knew how serious the problem was, so they couldn't kill the Mayors. They were aware of the dangers and consequences, but why did they still go through with it? This is unbearable! With them acting like that, what will the martial arts world think?"

King An stroked his beard and smiled. "After everything you've said, it seems like you're siding the martial arts world?"

Chu Li replied with a serious face, "Just the opposite. I'm worried about the Imperial Court. If this continues, the assets of the Great Ji Dynasty will be unstable. King An, as a King, you should understand that if water can help a boat float, then it can certainly swallow a ship as well. The people are boiling with resentment! How will the world not fall into chaos?"

"Then what do you have in mind?" King An stroked his beard and smiled in disapproval.

Such as the saying, 'the law is like the furnace, and the people are like iron.' A single individual would be no match for the merciless law. If those ant-like citizens tried to cause a commotion, it would not be large enough to trigger anything.

Chu Li suggested, "Equalize the powers. The powers of the Mayor is far too much. What's the point of a Governor if it's just a decoration? Normally, bad guys would collaborate with bad guys so they can fool everyone. If more power was added to the Governors, the Mayors would have less power to abuse. Then it wouldn't be that easy for them to consolidate their power. This would benefit the Imperial Court's control so much more."

"Hmm…" King An was deep in thought.

Chi Li still had an ace up his sleeve, but he did not want to say it. He wanted to add one more to divide the power.

If he proposed his suggestion, the official posts would automatically increase. Then, officers would be thankful to the person who gave the suggestion, and he did not want King An to have that credit.

"Of course, this is merely a suggestion from an unprofessional Scribe. Try not to laugh at me if it doesn't convince you, King An," Chu Li replied.

King An stroked his beard and waved his hand. "You really do deserve the position of a rank 2 Scribe. Your level of knowledge is beyond ordinary."

It was normal for the senior officials of the Imperial Court to view society with an arrogant outlook based on their social position. However, Chu Li was but a scribe; having such knowledge was truly extraordinary. It was a rare and commendable spirit.

This recent world and the previous world's Dynasties were alike. In these few thousands of years, the politics were stable. Chu Li came from the modern world where dynasties changed far more frequently and triumphed over the previous world. With that came the accumulation of wisdom throughout history, and Chu Li got them naturally. Yet even though he felt that all these things were common, ordinary knowledge, him being here made him look like a knowledgeable person beyond the likes of the common folk.

"We sent some people over this time because they wanted to teach the Second Lady the rules of the Imperial so she wouldn't be a joke when she joins the Imperial Residence." King An stroked his beard and smiled again. "Other than that, it's because we needed to choose the wedding date. The Empress has already found a suitable Imperial Astronomer to calculate the perfect date for a wedding, and it seems like March next year is a good date."

"March of next year?" Chu Li muttered.

It was only September. March was still a full six months away. It was hard to believe that a six-month delay would go by without much trouble.

It turned out that the Empress was actually quite satisfied with Xiao Shi, and King An had no way out of marrying her. So, he had no choice but to secretly play his tricks.

Chu Li raised his head and looked at King An as anger welled up inside him. He had to hold back the urge to slap King An's head clean off very badly.

It took constant vigilance to stave off evil, and evil always kept justice down. The human heart was just as vicious. Though no matter how neglectful and cold Xiao Shi may be, her heart lost no trace of innocence. If she really joined the Imperial Residence, it would really be sending a goat to the gaping mouth of a tiger.

In comparison with King An, Xiao Shi intended to sacrifice herself to give the Public House some breathing space. How naive and ridiculous! Though it was also stupid and sad.

When his thoughts crossed that point, Chu Li's anger grew.

Under the effect of Omniscient Mirror, his mind stayed calm and controlled no matter how angry he was.

"Is King An not feeling well?" Chu Li revealed a concerned look. His tone was sincere, "King An's complexion isn't good."

King An's face was dark yellow; he looked sick. Moreover, he was a Grandmaster. Chu Li could see that two forces were battling within his body by using his Omniscient Mirror.

Although King An continuously cultivated the heart technique to defeat the inner energy, he was never able to remove it.

King An waved his hand. "It's just a minor injury, nothing too bad. How does Tieying intend to solve the recent problem?"

Chu Li smiled. "I've just been ordered to send the letter over. I don't know anything else."

King An said, "I'll send a reply to Tieying along with a few more people. You may leave now."

Chu Li said, "Very well, I'll take my leave!"

King An stroked his beard as he smiled and gave a nod. Then, he picked up the green porcelain teacup.

Chu Li fist saluted before he left.

He turned around and returned to the previous courtyard he was in, but he was not in a hurry. This was the perfect opportunity to pry more on the Imperial Residence's true nature. Besides, finding a way to kill King An was also a priority.

If King An does not die, Xiao Shi would have a hard time getting away. This leaves Chu Li with no choice.

The Imperial Residence may be huge, but King An spent most of his time in the study room reading books, meditating, and repressing the odd force within his body. Through the Omniscient mirror, Chu Li saw King An's heart technique circulating within him.

The heart technique that the Royal Household cultivated was top secret and was never passed on to the public. Hence, Chu Li tried to cultivate King An's heart technique to find its weakness.