A moment later.
“…Lord Wei.”
Li Huai stood up silently, his face no longer bearing the smile from earlier.
He took a deep breath, staring fixedly at Wei Changtian, and said, “I hope you can keep your promise.”
“This is natural; I’m a man of my word…”
Wei Changtian stood up as well, pausing for a moment before adding, “As long as you don’t speak nonsense in front of the Emperor.”
“Hmph!”
Li Huai let out a cold snort, as if unwilling to say another word to Wei Changtian.
However, after taking two steps towards the door, he suddenly turned back.
“Lord Wei, I’ll ask you one last time… how did you find out about my cultivation disease?”
“If you’re willing to tell me, I’ll let you know about the Liu family’s secret plot against the Wei family.”
“I’ve already told you, Lord Li.”
Wei Changtian shook his head, “Heaven’s secrets cannot be revealed, but…”
“But what?”
“But I have a way to help you make up for the deficiencies in your yin-yang cultivation, at least more reliable than sitting on the dragon throne.”
“Hmm?”
Li Huai’s eyes narrowed, “What method?! If it’s really effective, I’ll tell you about the Liu family’s affairs too!”
“You’re getting it backwards, Lord Li.”
Wei Changtian smiled, “Your yin-yang cultivation disease won’t take your life for now, but the Liu family could take mine at any moment.”
“Why don’t we do this, Lord Li? You tell me about the Liu family’s plot first, and after I verify it, I’ll tell you the method to make up for your yin-yang cultivation. How about that?”
“Hehe…”
Li Huai sneered, “Don’t you think I’m getting old and muddle-headed, Lord Wei?”
“I don’t know if you’re muddle-headed or not, but I’m definitely not stupid.”
Wei Changtian didn’t back down at all, “You might as well go back and think it over, Lord Li.”
“…Fine! Lord Wei is indeed quick-witted and eloquent!”
Li Huai was furious, finally deciding not to argue with Wei Changtian anymore. He tossed out a sentence and turned to leave the room.
“I’ll take my leave, Lord Wei. We’ll meet again later.”
“Hahaha, I won’t see you off, Lord Li!”
Wei Changtian laughed loudly, watching Li Huai walk out of the courtyard until he disappeared from sight. He then sat back down in his chair, taking a few deep breaths.
Sweat had already soaked through his back, and a gentle breeze blew by, feeling cool and refreshing.
Although he had been acting calm and collected just now, his nerves had been on high alert the entire time.
He needed to intimidate Li Huai without completely infuriating him to the point of reckless abandon.
He needed to firmly propose his conditions while repeatedly probing Li Huai’s bottom line.
One misstep would have unbearable consequences.
This feeling, like defusing a time bomb, suddenly reminded Wei Changtian of a negotiation expert from his past life.
Compared to the negotiation expert, he had more chips to play, but the “bandit” he faced was also more dangerous.
He wouldn’t want to go through this again in his life.
Picking up the teapot, Wei Changtian wanted to calm down with a cup of tea, only to discover that there was no tea left in the pot.
“Ying’er, change the tea!”
He yelled out the door, and Ying’er quickly came in carrying a large ceramic teapot.
As she brewed a new pot of tea, she quietly asked:
“Master, was the person who came earlier an eunuch?”
“Yes, he’s the current Grand Inner Servant.”
“Grand Inner Servant? That’s a very high-ranking official, isn’t it?”
Ying’er poured a new cup of tea and placed it beside Wei Changtian, her face full of curiosity.
“The official position is high, but what’s the point… *sigh*”
Wei Changtian took a sip of tea, muttering with a hint of resentment: “He’s still a eunuch after all.”
Ying’er, although not as perceptive as Qiu Yun, could sense Wei Changtian’s frustration and couldn’t help but cover her mouth and laugh: “What’s wrong, Master? Did that official offend you?”
“Don’t ask about things you shouldn’t know.”
Wei Changtian rolled his eyes and whispered another instruction: “Remember, don’t mention Princess Ruo’an’s affair to anyone.”
“I know, Master. You can rest assured.”
Ying’er nodded, originally wanting to clean up Li Huizhong’s teacup, but turned to find the table empty.
“Huh? Master, where’s the eunuch’s teacup?”
“……”
Wei Changtian recalled the scene where the cup and water instantly vanished, and let out a helpless sigh: “He thought the teacup was nice, so I gave it to him.”
“Ah? Who would like something like that……”
Ying’er shook her head in confusion, eventually leaving the room with the teapot.
From noble mtl dot come
Meanwhile, Wei Changtian was sipping his new tea, thinking about what to do next.
His relationship with Li Huizhong was currently based on mutual exploitation, and was extremely unstable.
Although Li Huizhong didn’t know that Ning Yuqiao was currently with him, who knew what would happen in the future?
Wei Changtian didn’t want to tie his life to a eunuch, but for now, he couldn’t think of a better solution.
Wait a minute…… why did he need to think about it himself?
Didn’t he have Chu Xianping to rely on?!
Half an hour later.
In the underground secret room, Chu Xianping, as the fourth person aware of the situation, excluding Zhang San and Ying’er, saw the already notorious Ning Yuqiao, and also listened to Wei Changtian’s selective account of the events.
It would be fake to say he wasn’t surprised, but after the surprise, Chu Xianping only took a brief moment to think before giving his first suggestion.
“Master, what we need to do first is to give the imperial court and the Emperor an explanation.”
“An explanation?”
Wei Changtian was taken aback: “How do we explain it?”
“Very simple, give them the princess, and if not…… then a fake one.”
“A fake one?”
Wei Changtian was puzzled: “Isn’t that too easy to expose?”
Chu Xianping’s expression remained unchanged as he explained in a soft voice:
“Master, living people can’t be deceived, but what about a dead person who can’t speak?”
“……”
……
Chengdu City, South.
As Wei Changtian was secretly discussing with Chu Xianping about how to deal with the aftermath, Li HuaiZhong was sitting in a spacious study room, writing a letter.
He didn’t come to Shu State just for Wei Changtian, so it wasn’t time to return to the capital yet.
However, the report still needed to be submitted.
The letter wasn’t long, only about a hundred words, summarizing the “investigation results” about Wei Changtian.
In the end, Li HuaiZhong concluded:
“Lord Wei indeed knew about Prince Shun’s intention to rebel, but he had no intention of participating in the rebellion and didn’t know about Princess Rou’an’s whereabouts.”
He put down his pen, sealed the letter in a special envelope, and finished.
Li HuaiZhong got up and walked to the window, his expression uncertain, as if he was hesitating about something.
He was clear in his heart that once this letter was sent, it would mean he had no chance to change his words about the Ning Yuke incident.
After a while, a sudden whistle sounded.
“Whoosh~”
The golden eagle flew down to the windowsill, flapped its wings, and quickly flew away, heading north.
It was just noon, with the sun shining brightly and warmly.
However, when Li HuaiZhong saw the golden dot disappear into the horizon, he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.
“Lord Wei, you’re hiding something really deep…”