The Emperor Reigns Them All

A courier station was 120 miles east of Huangli County.

It was not big. There were about seven rooms and two or three horses and some of the courtyard walls had collapsed.

Dim lights radiated from the westernmost room. A figure was reflected on the window paper, twisted.

In the room, Li Keyong stood. His hands clasped behind his back and he looked up at a landscape painting on the wall, not moving and talking, as if he was meditating.

The landscape had its own way. And what Li Keyong was meditating wasn't the rule of landscape, but the rule of the Imperial Court and the whole world.

This was not easy, so he frowned all the time.

After a while, somebody knocked at the door and a slightly rushing voice came from outside the door, "General, there's an urgent report from Huangli County."

Li Keyong widened his eyes slightly and still looked at the painting. "Come in."

The door opened and a man in gray came in. He saluted Li Keyong in the room and said, "Li Ye was fighting with someone by the Wei River. And the situation is unknown."

Li Keyong turned his head and showed happiness on his face. "So, I seem to be divine-help?"

The man hesitated for a moment and then said, "Li Ye left Chang'an because there were river bandits made trouble in Huangli County, and this is a business. But, General, you followed him and left Chang'an to revenge, this is a private affair. If you appear and attack him at this time, you may get into trouble."

Li Keyong waved his hands and was a little intolerant. "Since I was born, I've never failed when I was in a battle or fought with people in Jianghu. How could I be defeated by Li Ye? This is not my private affair. It's related to Zhenwu's reputation!"

But the man in gray insisted on persuading. "You came to Chang'an to make an alliance with Duke Wei. If you attack Prince An, will you risk big things for the sake of small ones?"

Li Keyong sneered. "I allied with Duke Wei because of Duchess of Li. But the day before yesterday, Li Ye won me in public, which made me faceless. And he also publicly claimed that he has long admired Duchess of Li. If I didn't kill Li Ye, how could I marry Duchess of Li?"

When the man realized that the persuasion was invalid, he asked, "Need we tell this to Duke Wei first?"

"Don't make an unnecessary move!" Li Keyong swung his sleeves. "I have already been looked down on because of the failure of the day before yesterday. And I have lost my advantages when I allied with Duke Wei. I can't demand more from this alliance. So I have to kill Li Ye to regain my imposing power and show the strength of Zhenwu and shock Duke Wei. How could we mention this to Duke Wei before things aren't done?"

The man in gray didn't say a word.

As long as they did things secretly and left no traces, killing a Grand Prince was really not a big deal in for Zhenwu.

If not for that, people wouldn't have thought that Zhenwu was unruly and Zhenwu wouldn't have had the confidence to disobey the orders from the court.

...

The light in the stove became dim.

Liu Dazheng was stiff and he couldn't even move his fingers. Time was particularly long at this moment, because Liu Dazheng was very difficult to breathe.

He now finally realized that there was a big gap between him and the gray-haired man in front of him.

The boy didn't appear. This showed that when the man in a green robe fought with Liu Dazheng, he could make no noise so that the boy could sleep peacefully, just like the boy hadn't been aware of people who were talking outside the court before.

The man in green took back his hand.

The pressure on Liu Dazheng disappeared immediately. He gasped and glanced at the kitchen knife that almost disappeared. He couldn't help but look at the man again, asking with doubts, "Who the hell are you?"

The man's look was insipid. "As you see, I'm a cultivator of Spiritual Master Realm."

Although Liu Dazheng had already confirmed the realm of other side's cultivation, at the moment when he heard his admission, he still was frightening. "After Celestial Master Yuan, there have been no cultivators of Spiritual Master Realm in Jianghu!"

It seemed that the man in green didn't mind talking to Liu Dazheng, although his tone was still indifferent. "There have been, but no one has seen."

Liu Dazheng resolutely shook his head. "This is impossible!"

The man in green smiled. Although his appearance was ordinary, he was very attractive when he smiled. He looked like an ordinary weed, which was beautiful when it produced a beautiful flower. "Five years ago, you had reached the same cultivation realm. Haven't you thought about improving yourself over the years?"

"After Level 7 Qi-refining, it's extremely difficult to improve. It's my fortune that I could reach the cultivation realm of today. It's not easy to go further." Liu Dazheng bitterly said, then he suddenly realized something, widening his eyes. "You...you know me?"

"Is it very surprising that I know the First Knife in the Central Plains?" The smile of the man in green became gentler.

This was true. Liu Dazheng could not refute that.

The extremely strong man suddenly thought of something and said with sadness, "In the world of Tang Empire, if there's someone who reaches the Spiritual Master Realm and people are not surprised, it must be..."

He suddenly stopped before finishing.

Because the man in green in front of him had disappeared.

His leave was unexpected, just like his coming.

Liu Dazheng stunned in the same place.

After a long time, he shook his head and sighed and went back to the yard.

He walked into the yard, not planning to step out of the yard today.

Even if there was not the gray-haired man, he still would not go out.

And he was very clear that his Junior Brother, the Taoist, couldn't defeat Nangong Diyi.

Therefore, the task given to him by Zhongnan Mountain Sect was over in a failed way.

This was what he owed the Zhongnan Mountain Sect. Now he had paid off. He didn't want to have a connection with them anymore, so he came here to live in seclusion. Then in the future, he could really draw a clear line with Zhongnan Mountain Sect.

...

Several cargo ships were berthed west of Huangli County.

Wei Jiangnan was sitting in the cabin, holding a collection of poems in one hand, and looking at the dim oil lamp. At his hand, there was a wine gourd. Whenever he read a wonderful part, he would stop, drank wine and then quietly enjoyed it.

Wei Jiangnan believed that reading would help him learn so much about Jianghu and Taoism.

It was hard to go further since he had reached such a cultivation realm. The reason why it was difficult was that it demanded an extremely profound understanding of the Taoism. As a scholar, Wei Jiangnan loved reading poetry. As a cultivator in the high-level Qi-refining, Wei Jiangnan thought reading poetry was also a way of enlightenment.

There was a fierce battle by the Wei River at the moment.

But Wei Jiangnan didn't pay attention to it.

In his view, it was easy for Chen Jianghe, a Level 7 Qi-refining cultivator, and many middle-level Qi-refining masters to besiege and kill Level 4 or 5 Qi-refining Li Ye on Wei River. There was no reason for them to lose.

Even though Li Ye had defeated Li Keyong the day before yesterday.

"Li Keyong..." Thinking of this person, Wei Jiangnan sneered. In people's view, Li Keyong was a genius and was expected to step into the Spiritual Master Realm before forty. But in Wei Jiangnan's opinion, Li Keyong was just so so.

He always turned his nose up at Li Keyong.

"He's just a Shatuo." Wei Jiangnan thought, "Since ancient times, only the Han people can achieve Spiritual Master Realm... Li Keyong is nobody!"

As a cultivator whose cultivation was a lever higher than ordinary high-level Qi-refining cultivators, Wei Jiangnan was very clear that how difficult it was to break through the high-level Qi-refining.

Wei Jiangnan stopped thinking, continuing to read poetry.

He quietly read poetry, waiting for the good news.

After catching Li Ye, the task Wei Baoheng gave to Wei Jiangnan would be completed.

After Li Ye defeated Li Keyong that he admired the Duchess of Li was spread in Chang'an City. Therefore, the people of the whole Chang'an City knew that the young Prince An would propose marriage to Duchess of Li.

Wei Baoheng couldn't allow that to happen.

Wei Baoheng wouldn't kill the Grand Prince in person. And as the Prime Minister, would he be to blame if a Grand Prince was killed in the area that Chang'an Office was in charge of? Of course, he would be to blame. And it was possible for him to be demoted!

Suppressing Li Ye was Wei Baoheng's means.

Wei Baoheng asked people to pretend to be river bandits to catch Li Ye when he was on business in Huangli County. After disappearing for a long time, Li Ye came back like a drowned mouse. Then this young Prince An would lose face. Wei Baoheng could easily make Li Ye become a laughingstock. At that time, it would be a problem for Li Ye to work in the Imperial Court. And it would be impossible for him to marry Duchess of Li.

Wei Baoheng could also use this to suppress Xu Shaomu and change the Magistrate of Chang'an Office. In this way, he would greatly destroy Lu Yan's power. He would kill two birds with one stone.

"The wine of Lanling is full of the fragrance of tulips; the wine in the jade bowl reflects the color of amber... It's a piece of good poetry... Alas, catching Li Ye is a small thing. Chen Jianghe can do it by himself. But brother asked me to come in person. He's too cautious. Alas, it delays my enjoyment of poetry."

Wei Jiangnan sighed. He remembered the scene that he enjoyed and wrote poetry and sang while drinking with the literati in Chang'an City. Then he felt that the Wei River was too cold and the cargo ship was too vulgar. He couldn't wait to go back.

Just then, someone boarded the ship and brought a letter.

"Duke Wei, they lost!" The comer knelt upon one knee on the bow. His expression was worried and his voice was full of flurry.

"You're in a flurry, how impolite you are!" Wei Jiangnan reproached him, feeling that this man would never know what polite demeanor was.

But the next moment, Wei Jiangnan would not think so.

"The ambush failed and Master was killed!" The comer hurriedly said.

The collection of poems slipped from Wei Jiangnan's hands, knocking over the wine gourd. The wine was sprinkled out at once, fragrance overflowing, and splashed into Wei Jiangnan's clothes.

"What do you say?! You repeat it?!" Wei Jiangnan stood up and his head hit the cabin. He directly broke the cabin and his hair was completely messed up.

"I saw Master Chen was beheaded!" The comer hurriedly said, "And...and many of our people have been caught..."

"Fuck! How can this be! Is Chen Jianghe a good-for-nothing? With so many people, he failed to catch Li Ye but was killed?! It's unbelievable!" Wei Jiangnan was angry and half of his head was stuck when he hit the cabin. Now he was embarrassed and ridiculous. He knew that he had lost his demeanor and lifted the cabin with great anger. Although he was not injured by wood chips, his whole face had flushed because of anger.

"Was Li Ye helped by someone?" Wei Jiangnan asked. This was the only possibility he could think of.

"No...no!"

"You're good-for-nothing!" Wei Jiangnan was so angry that he couldn't help but talk billingsgate. His attitude of a refined scholar disappeared instantly. Not only that, but he also kicked the comer into the river. He almost went on the rampage on the ship.

"A group of good-for-nothing! In the end, I have to do that by myself. What's the use of you!" Wei Jiangnan got mad for a while; then his anger was slightly reduced. He realized that he had got out of control and it was not in conformity with his literati image. So he swung his sleeves on the bow and tidied her clothes, sneering, "Wait for me and see how I catch Li Ye!"

At this moment, Wei Jiangnan suddenly felt that a group of soldiers failed and he was going to kill the other side's general alone to save the lost battle. He couldn't help but think of a piece of poem. "One not only can read thousands of books, but also can fight in the war..."

His verse had not been finished yet. Suddenly, there was a shadow flashed in the darkness, and then someone fell on the river.

Seeing that person, Wei Jiangnan could no longer remember the next verse. He was shocked badly.

The man was opposite to him with his hands clasped behind his back. He was in the river, but at the same height as Wei Jiangnan who stood at the bow.

His feet were not touched with water.

He was floating on the river!