Chapter Sixteen: Trouble Arises from the Reed Wall

  These two are not ordinary people. The Four Heroes of the Eastern Sea are the most famous four great men of this generation, with martial arts skills that are rarely matched in the world. What's even more admirable is that these four men all have a heart that sympathizes with heaven and pities the common people, seeing the suffering of the masses, they rush to Jiangzhou to assassinate the tyrannical Emperor Yang Guang in a fit of rage.

  Unexpectedly, the matter was exposed before it was accomplished. After these four people killed their way out of Jiangzhou, they wandered the rivers and lakes, specializing in killing corrupt officials and cruel clerks, causing all the cruel clerks under heaven to fear them like tigers. Later, the four men felt that they were alone and powerless, unable to accomplish great things, and also found that the King of Qin was a rare excellent ruler, so they went to surrender to his camp.

  The two here are Big Brother and Second Brother. The third brother is known as the General of Thieves, his name is Hou Junji, and the fourth brother is called Jiu Tou Long Jiang Li Yunpeng, who is also the martial arts instructor of the Xuan Jia Camp that I have never seen but deeply admire.

  After kneeling down, I kowtowed and hastily said: "Greetings to both of you, esteemed seniors. I don't know your identities, please forgive my offense earlier."

  That fat old man laughed and ran over to me, circling around me several times, saying: "Good kid, as soon as I saw you, I thought you were a promising young talent. Unfortunately, you're already an adult, our affinity is too shallow, it's hard for you to reach the pinnacle of martial arts in this lifetime. Otherwise, I would have taken you under my wing and passed on all the skills I possess." As he spoke, he pulled out a book from his bosom and stuffed it into my hand, saying: "Consider this a meeting gift from your senior uncle."

  I took a look and saw that there were only three words written on the book. Before I could even react, the thin old man tossed over a scroll and said: "This is my share, which I obtained from a tomb raider in the past. I don't like to use swords, so I'll give it to you instead. Now you can only practice to strengthen your body, you must work hard at this."

  I took it over and looked at it. It was a knife spectrum, called "Biography of the Knife". I couldn't help but exclaim with great joy: "Thank you, both Master Uncles!"

  Li Shimin stepped forward and said: "I'll also join in the fun. This isn't a reward or anything, just consider it a gift from friends."

  He said, taking a short knife from his waist and handing it over: "This knife is made of heavenly iron, called Devouring Moon, extremely sharp, be careful when using it."

  Just as I was about to speak, the man in his 30s patted himself all over and then said with a red face: "I'm Qin Qiong, I really don't have anything on me right now, let me make it up to you later."

  I was shocked and hastily said: "General Qin is too polite, you are a great general, I am just a small soldier, how dare I take the general's things"

  Qin Qiong looked at me with a smile and said: "Younger brother, you are too modest. At this moment, let's just talk as friends, how dare I use my title to pressure you?"

  At this time, Li Shimin pointed at the girl and said: "This young lady is called Xu Yujuan."

  I hastily made a bow and said: "Greetings, Miss Xu."

  Xu Yu Chan looked me up and down a few times before saying: "I'll give you the gift tonight, go rest for now."

  Li Shimin hastily said: "Right, go take a rest now, we'll talk more tonight."

  I've been expecting this for a long time. After rushing to catch up on the road for days, I'm almost too tired to stand. Upon hearing this, I hastily said: "Thank you, Your Majesty Qin Wang."

  Then Hsu Yueh-chien beckoned me to follow him to a side room. Before I had gone very far, the fat old man behind us shouted: "You silly boy, don't go to sleep yet! Take a look at the book I gave you; it's more useful than sleeping!"

  I hastily said: "Thank you so much for your concern, sir."

  As soon as I entered the side room, I saw a large bathtub inside, filled to the brim with water. On the table beside it were several dishes and a big bowl of rice. I couldn't help but bow deeply to Xu Yuexian and say: "Thank you, miss."

  Xu Yu Chan smiled and said: "You eat something first, I'll go get the clothes you changed into." After finishing speaking, she went out.

  I rushed to the table and started devouring, just as I was concentrating on a big hoof, Xu Yuanchan came in, put down the clothes in her hand on the bed and smiled: "After eating, take a bath and rest, call me if you need anything."

  I mumbled with a big mouthful of meat: "Th...thank you, miss". Xue Yujuan saw me like this and smiled as she went out.

  After eating everything clean, I took off my clothes and dove into the bathtub. The beauty was beyond words. After washing comfortably, I put on the cotton underwear that had been placed on the side of the bed, lay down on the bed, and let out a comfortable hum. My heart thought to myself, this is probably what it's like to live as an immortal. I think even immortals can't compare to me.

  Just as I was about to fall asleep, I suddenly remembered my master's words. I took out the scripture book, sat cross-legged on the bed, and began to study. The contents of the book weren't difficult to understand - it was a qigong practice for inhaling and exhaling, with small human figures drawn inside.

  After studying for a while, I started practicing according to the book. After practicing for a while, the scenery in front of me slowly faded away, and after a while, I became completely absorbed in the scripture, unaware of anything else.

  After I came to my senses, I felt extremely exhausted, it was even better than sleeping for a long time. When I lifted my head, I saw Xu Yuexian smiling and looking at me from the doorway. I smiled humbly and looked outside, the sky had already darkened. We had been practicing for about two hours. After seeing that I woke up, Xu Yuexian walked over and handed me a set of clothes, saying: "Try it on, this is my gift to you."

  I took it and looked at it, and to my surprise, it was a silk gown. I couldn't help but exclaim: "This must be very expensive! A soldier like me can't afford to wear such clothes!"

  Xu Yu Chan lightly smiled and said: "I've already had the materials ready, this is what I made earlier according to your measurements, try it on and see, wearing that old military uniform all the time won't do, it's not convenient for you to come and go here."

  I thought it made sense, so I said thank you and put it on. After putting it on, I found a copper mirror to take a look, and in my heart, I said: "This time, see who still covers their nose and lets me run away, now I'm also mixed with people and dogs."

  Following Xu Yuqian to the main room, I saw that several people in the house were all silent and sitting there. Knowing that this was a difficult situation, after making a polite gesture, I found a corner and sat down.

  Li Shimin said slowly to me at this time: "Jiulang, when you came, did General Shangguan explain to you who those Fusang ninjas were sent by?"

  I thought for a moment and said: "No, sir just asked me to come quickly and deliver the message."

  At this time, Qin Qiong said: "Second master, this time we secretly came to Yangzhou and very few people knew about it. However, soon after our arrival, the matter was leaked out. Is there a problem on your side?"

  Li Shimin smiled slightly and said: "Jiulang is not an outsider, so it's okay to say."

  Qin Qiong said to me: "This time the second master came down to Yangzhou in secret to meet with the new Silla envoy and discuss a joint attack on Goguryeo. Could there be some problem from the side of Silla?"

  Li Shimin looked at Qin Qiong with his dark and profound eyes and said: "It shouldn't be me, our reply to Silla didn't mention that I would come personally, it should be someone else."

  Qin Qiong said: "I know that only a few people came with you in person, could it be them?" He finished speaking and looked at Li Shimin with horror.

  Li Shimin sighed and leaned his head against the back of the chair, no longer moving. Qin Qiong said harshly at this time: "It must be these two bastards who did it. When leading troops to fight battles and capture cities, they were all sons of bitches, but when it came to internal strife, they could do things like borrowing a knife to kill someone without leaving any evidence, truly despicable. They wouldn't even spare their own brothers."

  Li Shimin said coldly: "Don't talk nonsense."

  After hearing this, I understood and thought to myself: "I would rather not be born in the imperial family for generations to come." After thinking about this sentence repeatedly in my heart, I said: "Your Highness, looking at the current situation, it's not suitable to stay here for long. Your Highness can temporarily avoid for a while, and wait until the people from my Xuanjia camp arrive, then we can negotiate with that Silla envoy."

  Li Shimin shook his head and said: "I have already agreed with Silla to meet at noon the day after tomorrow. The location is the Drunken Moon Building in the north of the city. If I leave now, I fear that it would be unreasonable. Firstly, this is a matter arranged by the Emperor himself, if I don't go, it would be considered disobedience. Secondly, this matter involves great importance, if there's any mistake, it would lead to countless deaths. Moreover, I suspect those Japanese people will try to assassinate the Silla envoy if they fail to kill me. If the Silla envoy is killed here, it might lead to war between our two countries."

  After listening to him, I couldn't help but be secretly shocked. At this time, Master Bo Qi said: "Can it be like this? You send me to find that new Luo messenger to explain the matter, and we can change the time and place, shouldn't we?"

  Qin Qiong sighed: "It's too late, the new Silla envoy should be arriving soon. Since it was a secret meeting, we won't be able to find him until after noon tomorrow."

  At this time, Li Shimin said: "Since we can't escape, let's do our best and leave it to fate."

  Xu Yu Chan said: "Now the enemy is in the dark and we are in the light, we're at a disadvantage." After finishing speaking, she turned her head to shout at me: "Hey, that brave and cunning one, do you have any ideas? Come up with one!"

  I bowed my head and thought for a moment before saying: "As for methods, there are three ways to go about it. Firstly, we can wipe out the Fu Sang ninjas by noon in two days' time. Secondly, Your Highness can temporarily avoid them, and I will lead the others to escort the new Luo ambassador to meet with you at the Drunken Moon Tower. Thirdly, we can notify the local officials to deploy troops and impose martial law, allowing only entry but not exit, so that regardless of whether they are from Xinluo or Fu Sang, anyone who enters Yangzhou will be detained first before being released."