Chapter 590 - 334: Reigning Supreme
Chapter 590: Chapter 334: Reigning Supreme
Coincidentally, Xiaodie hurried over, saying that the Eldest Miss had already prepared the meal.
Chen Yi nodded, signaling her to go ahead. He withdrew his gaze and looked at Ma Guan and the others sitting in front of him, saying with a smile,
"I truly know nothing about Mr. Lingchuan’s situation."
Ma Guan hesitated, wanting to ask further, but he heard Chen Yi say, "However, there’s no need for you all to worry.
"Perhaps by the time you return to the academy, Mr. Yue Ming and Mr. Zhuo Ying will have already brought back some news."
Beside Ma Guan, Tang Ye asked, "Sir, do you think the Government Office might have wrongfully arrested Mr. Lingchuan?"
Chen Yi couldn’t help but laugh. Shaking his head, he said, "I’ve been busy preparing for the Annual Examination lately. Where would I find the time to overthink this?"
Seeing Ma Guan, Tang Ye, and the others hesitate to speak, he stood up and said, "You cannot judge some people just by their surface appearances, just as you cannot judge some matters merely by right or wrong.
"I won’t comment on what kind of person Mr. Lingchuan is, nor whether he broke the law, but I believe the Shu State Government Office wouldn’t act without grounds.
"Especially against a tutor of our Guiyun Academy."
Ma Guan opened his mouth. "Sir, are you saying Lingchuan..."
Chen Yi glared at him, interrupting his words, and said in an exasperated tone, "Perhaps the people from the Government Office merely invited Mr. Lingchuan over to ask a few questions."
This was already a highly perfunctory response.
He truly had no good impression of Zhu Lingchuan—what was there to say about someone who associated with Liu Hong?
But since Ma Guan, Tang Ye, and the others had come with earnest hearts, it wasn’t appropriate for him to reveal the harsh truth and make these students see Zhu Lingchuan’s true colors.
Offering a single phrase distinguishing between surface and reality, right and wrong, was his limit.
Chen Yi said no more, waving his hand to signal Ma Guan, Tang Ye, and the others to follow him out of the wooden building.
"The Annual Examination is approaching. Don’t let these matters affect your grades. If you miss the upcoming Prefecture Examination because of this, I believe even Mr. Lingchuan would regret it upon finding out."
Ma Guan, Tang Ye, and the others exchanged glances before bowing in respect. "Sorry for disturbing you, sir. We will take our leave now."
Chen Yi hummed in acknowledgment, quietly watching them walk away. His gaze then crossed a distance of hundreds of feet, landing inside the Qingjing Residence.
There, Liu Hong and Li Huai’gu had already been led into the Qingjing Residence by Lu Guan and arrived in the main hall.
The rain PATTERED incessantly, SPLASHING water onto the bluestone slabs of the courtyard.
The accumulated rainwater carried scattered fallen leaves and petals, flowing toward the lower stone troughs before merging into the pond.
The crisp and chaotic sound disturbed the surrounding quietude.
Chen Yi calculated the hour. It was three quarters past Noon, so he slightly lifted the restrictions of his Black Tortoise Concealment Technique.
Wisps of True Essence leveraged Heaven and Earth’s Spiritual Mechanism, gathering it to his ears.
Elder Master Xiao’s voice could be heard clearly.
"Liu Gongmo, coming to find me right before your death, do you have something to say?"
The corners of Chen Yi’s mouth curled up slightly. The elder ultimately couldn’t suppress his anger.
Such aggressiveness truly didn’t resemble a victor who had gained the upper hand. Instead, it made him seem like someone whose lingering fury hadn’t dissipated—a person who had swallowed a bitter loss and remained resentful.
As for Liu Hong...
He seemed to have long anticipated that the elder would know about this matter. Without waiting for an invitation, he sat down on the Grandmaster’s Chair beside the elder.
Then, waving his hand to gesture for the somewhat stunned and surprised Li Huai’gu to sit, he nodded and said, "I have some words that I must get off my chest. I hope Marquis Xiao can forgive me."
Elder Master Xiao remained noncommittal. Resting his hands on the back of his chair, with the cane he had leaned on for five years placed by his feet, he glanced at Li Huai’gu and snorted, "I thought that with your great capabilities, Liu Gongmo, and having done such massive deeds, you had completely disregarded my Xiao Family."
Seeing the two prominent figures of Shu State looking over, Li Huai’gu’s forehead instantly broke out in sweat. He quickly suppressed his shock and carefully sat in a seat near the hall’s entrance.
He couldn’t help but be shocked.
Liu Hong was about to die?
How could the life of a Second-Grade Officer of the current dynasty just vanish like that?
Li Huai’gu recalled Liu Hong’s earlier actions of roaming the streets and alleys, as well as the words he had spoken. A faint realization dawned in his heart.
What Marquis Xiao said must be true. Liu Hong, Governor Liu, was truly going to die.
The reason... perhaps it had something to do with what Liu Hong had said earlier...
Did he want to be a capable minister in chaotic times, one who could save the nation from collapse and rescue the people from disaster?
No.
He probably wanted to be a ruthless overlord of troubled times.
If that were the case, how could Liu Hong not die?
After a moment of silence, Elder Master Xiao glanced at the sky outside the door and sneered, "Liu Gongmo, you don’t have much time left."
Xiao Jinghong had come to tell him last night that Feng Erbao would arrive at the Prefecture City today with the Holy Emperor’s decree.
Calculating the hour, they should be arriving at the Prefecture City any moment now.
Although Liu Hong didn’t know when the people from the Capital Prefecture would arrive, it wasn’t hard for him to deduce some outcomes from the arrest of Zhu Lingchuan and the others last night.
Either today or tomorrow, when the Holy Emperor’s decree arrived, he would be taken to the Capital Prefecture.
Moreover, he also knew that it was absolutely impossible for him to return to the Capital Prefecture safely.
Those people would not let him live.
The smile on Liu Hong’s face remained. Glancing at the cane from the corner of his eye, he smiled and said, "Congratulations, Marquis Xiao."
"Congratulations?"
"Marquis Xiao’s robust health is a blessing for Shu State and a fortune for the Great Wei. How could I not offer you my congratulations?"
Elder Master Xiao turned his head to look at him. "Spit it out."
He truly didn’t want to waste words with a dying man, much less bother pretending.
But seeing Liu Hong’s hair, which seemed to have turned white overnight, and his greatly aged face, he held back his impending outburst of temper.
Liu Hong chuckled and said, "Marquis Xiao has misunderstood.
"It’s true that I came this time with some things to say, but don’t you have anything you want to ask me, Marquis Xiao?"
Elder Master Xiao frowned and glared at him, clenching his thick fists. His anger was clearly surging.
"Do you really think I don’t know about the things you’ve done?
"Colluding with the Barbarian Race, conspiring with the Ji State Trading Company to smuggle ironware, and instructing the Five Poison Sect to poison the disaster refugees with the intent to harm the entire region..."