Chapter 59 Hard Times for Mother Li

Chief Historian's Manor, Hanhua Thatched Cottage.

Li Yan sat beside the desk, frowning as he looked at a confidential letter he had just written, wondering in his heart who would be the best person to deliver it.

"Taptap!"

A series of footsteps rang out, and the old steward of the manor hurried in, looking flustered. "My lord, this is terrible, something major has happened...!"

Li Yan swept a calm gaze over him. "What is it?"

The old steward stepped closer, his voice trembling slightly as he leaned to Li Yan's ear. "Luo... Liu Jishan has escaped from the dungeon."

"What?!"

Li Yan stared at him in astonishment. "He escaped? How did he manage that, and where is he now?"

"He was knocking at the old spot, and a servant reported it to me. I've settled him in the side courtyard for now," the steward said in a rushed tone. "As for... how he escaped, this subordinate has no idea either."

"..."

Li Yan felt a profound sense of surprise inwardly. "This old fellow actually has some tricks up his sleeve."

"He wants to see you."

"Hmm, go bring him over," Li Yan pondered for a moment. "Make sure not to attract the attention of others."

"Yes." The old steward hurried away.

"Did he break out on his own, or did someone help him?" Li Yan muttered with his hands behind his back, walking back to the desk to pick up the confidential letter he had written himself.

The contents of this letter were related to rescuing Liu Jishan, but now that the man had broken free and found him, there was no need to send it out anymore.

"Snap!"

Li Yan used a flint to ignite the confidential letter, and once it was nearly reduced to ashes, he tossed it into the spittoon.

Moments later, footsteps sounded once again. The old steward stood at the door and said to Liu Jishan, who was exuding a foul stench, "The master is inside, Lord Liu, please."

"Hmph!"

Liu Jishan let out a disgruntled snort, stepped across the threshold, and walked into the thatched cottage.

Beside the desk, the old fox Li Yan was stunned for a moment, and then his face blossomed with an expression resembling that of a man watching his "own father" successfully break out of prison. With a voice on the verge of tears of joy, he shouted, "Lord Liu! I've been yearning for you day and night, and finally you've returned! Do you know...?!"

At the entrance, Liu Jishan blinked his bloodshot eyes and articulated each word with fierce emphasis: "Li Yan, what the hell is wrong with your ancestral lineage, go hire four bricklayers to pave your grave!"

In this Star Gate, everyone was a lyricist, everyone rhymed.

Li Yan was taken aback by the curse, his expression aggrieved. "Lord Liu, why resort to such harsh words?"

"I'm resorting to them, what are you going to do about it?!" Liu Jishan clenched his fists, transforming into a supreme verbal warrior. "You motherfucker are definitely going to die tonight, I swear to #@...!"

Li Yan awkwardly raised his hands. "Lord Liu, if you harbor grievances in your heart, we can sit down and talk through the night. There's no need to bring up my late mother; she never offended you..."

"You said you'd carry me to victory, and I believed you; you asked me to lead the palace coup, and I did it... Let me ask you, when Prince Huai was about to chop my head off, why did you stuff your head between your legs? Are you an origami person?!" Liu Jishan channeled all his grievances into the sharpest possible language. "Ten days! I lay in the dungeon like a maggot, eating and shitting in the same spot. It's one thing that you didn't rescue me, but couldn't you even send a single message?! Are you a beast?!"

"Lord Liu, calm yourself for a moment, and let me explain what happened these past few days..."

"Stop trying to use fancy words, are you taking a civil service exam?" Liu Jishan slanted his eyes at him. "It's not like I don't know you're a player."

Li Yan swallowed hard. "It was like this..."

"I suspect you're a mole," Liu Jishan interrupted angrily. "You set me up!"

Li Yan gave him a helpless look. "If I were a mole, you wouldn't be standing in this room right now, but rather back in the dungeon continuing to be a maggot."

As his voice trailed off, the two exchanged glances, and Liu Jishan gritted his teeth. "I want food and wine, braised pork knuckles, and chicken...!"

"Alright, I'll have someone arrange it." Li Yan paused, asking with his hands behind his back, "How did you manage to escape?"

Liu Jishan plopped down onto a rattan chair without revealing the real truth. "A hermit has his own ingenious methods!"

"Heh, fine."

Li Yan nodded. "I'll go have someone prepare the food for you, just wait a bit."

"Remember this, if I don't survive, you're the first one I'm dragging down with me." Liu Jishan collapsed weakly onto the rattan chair.

"We're brothers," Li Yan dropped that remark and strode out of the thatched cottage.

On the rattan chair, Liu Jishan lay flat on his back, his mind racing with active thoughts.

The reason he came to find Li Yan was partly out of absolute desperation. After escaping the dungeon, he had become a wanted fugitive and certainly dared not return to his residence, leaving him nowhere else to hide.

Secondly, the person who had saved him earlier belonged to the fence-sitter faction, and the two sides had already agreed upon a secret code to rendezvous inside the Princess's Tomb.

In other words, he had already secured a reliable teammate. If he could re-establish cooperation with Li Yan, it meant he would have sources of information in both the Imperial Court faction and the fence-sitter faction.

The victory condition for the fence-sitter faction could be a solo win, or they could choose to join the Imperial Court faction after entering the Princess's Tomb—this was explicitly stated in the Star Gate rules. Therefore, having connections in both factions meant having two choices, allowing him to advance or retreat with ease.

Despite being covered in metaphorical daggers, Liu Jishan was not foolish at all.

The man was quite smart...

...

Outside the thatched cottage.

Li Yan stood in the corridor with his hands behind his back, his brow furrowed as he instructed the old steward, "Hurry up and make preparations. After the You hour, I'm going to host a banquet in the manor, and on a grand scale."

The old steward looked utterly bewildered. "My lord, why the sudden banquet? And who are we supposed to invite?"

"No invitations needed. Anyone within the manor, including servants, can come and attend the banquet of their own accord." Li Yan turned to look at him. "Even Prince Huai's people are welcome."

"...Then the number of guests will be impossible to estimate."

"I told you, do your utmost to prepare and make the scale grand."

"Very well, then under what pretext shall we host this banquet?" the old steward asked, bowing slightly.

Li Yan pondered for a moment. "This morning when I passed by the livestock pen in the manor, I saw an old sow give birth to a litter of piglets. Let's use that as the pretext for the banquet."

"???"

The old steward looked blank. "A... A sow's banquet? Isn't... isn't this a bit too absurd?!"

"Heh, tonight is an absurd night." Li Yan sneered. "After the banquet begins, I will stay in the thatched cottage. You can tell the guests that anyone wishing to speak with me privately may be brought to me."

"Understood!" The old steward cupped his fists, and seeing that Li Yan had no further instructions, hurried away.

In the corridor, Li Yan pulled a token from his belt—this was the exclusive communication tool for the Imperial Court faction players, the Imperial Order Token.

...

Prince Huai's Manor, the Consort's Bedchamber.

The maid Xue'er smiled lightly and said to Ren Ye, "Your Highness, please!"

Ren Ye was wearing a crimson robe, nodded slightly to Xue'er, and pushed open the door into Xu Qingzhao's boudoir.

In the side hall, Tang Feng, who was waiting for Ren Ye, gazed at Er Leng with eyes full of spring, looking quite charming.

Er Leng felt his skin crawl under that gaze. "You music girl, why are you staring at me like that?"

Tang Feng tried her utmost to restrain herself, but could not resist reaching out her palm, asking with a lingering, soft voice, "Does Imperial Guard Hong, who accompanies Prince Huai year round, ever feel a bit lonely in the dead of night...?"

"Slap!"

Without warning, Er Leng struck out with a backhand blow, landing it squarely on the stunning music girl's face.

The slap came so abruptly that it made Tang Feng see stars.

"I have sworn an oath never to be seduced by women again! I don't know why the Prince sent you here, but as a mere maid, you lack all sense of hierarchy and dare to flirt with me?" Er Leng cursed with massive lingering trauma, "Get out of here!"

Bewildered, perplexed...

Tang Feng recovered after a long while, her face flushed purple as she stood up and uttered a rare curse, "Pure retard!"

...

Inside the boudoir.

Xu Qingzhao wore a Daoist robe embroidered with a Taiji diagram, lying sideways on the couch while reading an ancient text.

Her long hair was secured with a Daoist crown, and her figure was slender and graceful. At this moment, she looked like an intoxicated fairy, exuding a sense of indolence and comfort.

"Rustle."

The faint sound of footsteps rang out. Xu Qingzhao's eyes, fixed on the ancient text, paused, but she remained silent.

A wretched figure crept stealthily toward the bed, grinning as he raised a hand to grab Xu Qingzhao's slightly curled toes.

"Slap!"

Just as his hands were about to touch her feet, a book heavily smashed against the figure's head. "...Do you want to die?"

"I just wanted to give my beloved consort a foot massage," Ren Ye chuckled, appearing in the Consort's vision with the eagerness of a devoted sycophant.

"Swish!"

The Consort sat up cross-legged, casually placing the book beside her, and asked with an indifferent expression, "Have you bathed and changed clothes?"

"Changed, changed." Ren Ye feigned the demeanor of an old lecher, his eyes sweeping over Xu Qingzhao's crossed jade legs before suddenly blurting out, "Those legs... it's truly a pity not to wear Balenciaga."

As soon as those words left his mouth, Ren Ye used his peripheral vision to observe the Consort's expression, but her pretty face remained completely unchanged. She merely looked into his eyes... and faintly revealed a murderous intent.

This woman was driven to the verge of exasperation by his teasing, but why didn't her expression change at all when she heard his probing remark?

Was she a born Oscar winner?

"...This Consort doesn't need your cooperation to absorb your Heaven-Atoning Qi." Xu Qingzhao looked at Ren Ye with cold eyes, appearing ready to slap this scoundrel to death at any moment.

"I know, I know."

"Slap, slap, slap...!"

Xu Qingzhao raised her delicate hands and rapidly patted the couch.

"It seems that while I've been away these past few days... my beloved consort was truly starved." Ren Ye stole a glance at her stunning profile, expertly stripping off his clothes, shoes, and socks, and crawling onto the bed.

"Swish!"

Xu Qingzhao raised her arm and waved it, causing the bed curtains to fall on their own.

Such a familiar routine. Ren Ye looked up to see Xu Qingzhao with her eyes slightly closed, preparing to activate the formation. "Beloved consort, wait a moment!"

As his voice fell, Ren Ye suddenly grabbed her left hand, feeling a smooth, tender, and slightly cool sensation...

White, tender, smooth, the back of her hand fleshy and soft... But before he could savor it, the sensation vanished.

Xu Qingzhao withdrew her small hand as if struck by lightning, and her previously calm cheeks suddenly flushed red, rarely revealing a trace of a maiden's shyness.

Her eyes widened in uncontainable anger. "You promiscuous and dissolute prodigal... This Consort...!"

"Wait a minute," Ren Ye locked onto her expression, "Beloved consort, don't be hasty!"

"Whoosh!"

As his cry drifted away, two slender fingers stopped right at Ren Ye's throat.

Having been teased repeatedly, Xu Qingzhao was truly at her wit's end.

"Don't move, don't be rash, beloved consort!" Sweat beaded on Ren Ye's forehead. "Fine, I'll lay my cards on the table."

"?! "

A flash of perplexity crossed Xu Qingzhao's eyes.

"I couldn't probe it out, so I'll just ask directly. Tonight after midnight, are you going to enter that tomb or not?" Ren Ye no longer dared to fool around and asked straight to the point.

Xu Qingzhao wore a look that seemed to say "so that's it," but out of stubbornness, she didn't reply.

"I'll grant you two hours of my cooperation in exchange for one truthful sentence from you." Ren Ye placed his bet.

Xu Qingzhao pondered for a moment. "You and I take what we need, owing each other nothing. This Consort is not one of those maids waiting for you to summon them... If you dare to tease me with your words again, I will kill you."

"Beloved consort, are you going to enter that tomb or not?" Ren Ye pressed.

"I will enter," Xu Qingzhao hesitated no longer and replied faintly.

"Whew!"

Ren Ye let out a long breath, his posture instantly relaxing. "If you're a player, why do you always speak to me in such a flowery, archaic tone? Are you too deep into character?!"

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