Changsheng: Peak at the Beginning

Chapter 1323 1 Inch Lovesickness Continuation 12

Zuo Qingci and Su Yunluo, who originally wanted to divert Jin Xu's attention, did not expect that Jin Xu himself would arrive in the southwest earlier than them. Before they could pretend to contact the Blood Wing Sect, which was respected by the locals as the Phoenix Gate, the Phoenix Gate was actually wiped out by the five major sects.

Su Yunluo and Zuo Qingci only had time to rescue Zhu Yan, who was familiar with Yin Changge, but they were powerless to help the other members of the Phoenix Sect.

Zuo Qingci recognized the saber Zhu Yan was holding. "This saber is called Wan Nian Hui, as the saying goes, one inch of lovesickness equals a million thoughts of ash. It refers to the famous weapons of Su Xuan and Mu Xiu, two of the nine great masters back then."

"And if I remember correctly, Mu Xiu, the elder of the Mu Mansion, already has a handful of Wan Nian ash in his hand."

Zhu Yan was still grieving over the deaths of the Phoenix Sect members, and was very disgusted by the fact that his mother mentioned before her death that his biological father was Mu Xiu. Especially since the Mu Mansion and Chaomu Pavilion had fully supported the operation to wipe out the Phoenix Sect and had always been at the forefront, he had to take revenge on the Mu Mansion and Chaomu Pavilion!

So when Zuo Qingci heard that there was a Mu Xiu in the Mu Mansion, and Mu Xiu already had a handful of Wan Nian Hui in his hand, he immediately sarcastically said, "Do you want to accuse me and the Phoenix Gate of the crime of theft?!"

Zuo Qingci did not feel that Zhu Yan's current attitude was rude to him, and continued to speak calmly as usual: "What I mean is that there must be a deep hidden story behind this."

Yin Changge also disagreed with the five major sects joining forces to wipe out the Phoenix Sect. Now as a disciple of the Zhengyang Palace, he found it even more difficult to face Zhu Yan because he recognized him as a friend.

After hearing what Zuo Qingci said, Yin Changge quickly diverted Zhu Yan's attention: "What the doctor said is absolutely right. There can't be two Mu Xiu in this world, nor can there be two Wan Nian Hui. So something unknown must have happened in the middle."

"We already know the inside story of Chaomu Pavilion's targeting of Fenghuangmen. It was for Fenghuangmen's Swallowing Light Sutra. Mu Mansion used to be able to use the excuse that there is no room for two tigers in one mountain to attack Fenghuangmen. But the appearance of Wannianhui shows that perhaps Fenghuangmen has unknowingly intervened in the internal feud of Mu Mansion, so Mu Mansion has to..."

So Zhu Yan immediately decided to go to Mu Mansion to inquire about the news, and Zuo Qingci received the news and rushed to Zhongdu to rescue people. Of course, Su Yunluo had to follow Zuo Qingci to help him.

Yin Changge originally wanted to follow Zhu Yan to the Mu Mansion and lend a helping hand to Zhu Yan, but he was forcibly taken away by Jin Xu that night and did not even have the chance to say goodbye to Zhu Yan.

Jiang Xinxin knew nothing about what had happened at the Southwest Phoenix Gate or the Mu Mansion. Her attention was focused on matters related to Emperor Ai and the ownership of the throne of this dynasty.

Zuo Qingci and Su Yunluo hurried all the way and finally arrived at Zhongdu City just when Yan Yu was escorted to the capital. He immediately went to find Shanshuidu Wen Siyuan.

Wen Siyuan didn't even have time to greet Zuo Qingci, and cut to the chase: "Marquis Weining's goal is to gain control of the Jingbei Army, and he is not obsessed with the life and death of Marquis Jing'an's Mansion, so this is your chance."

Yan Zhi, the son of Marquis Jing'an, and Zuo Qingci, the young master of Fangwai Valley, would understand the court struggle better than Wen Siyuan, so he directly put forward his request: "I want to meet Lingjun and make a deal with Lingjun and Taoist Yuanshen."

"If they can't protect the Jing'an Marquis's Mansion, then I can only contact Emperor Xiaoming as Yan Zhi."

Wen Siyuan couldn't help but sigh, "How do you know that Lingjun and Taoist Yuanxin didn't take any action?"

Zuo Qingci did not take Wen Siyuan's secret advice seriously. Anyway, he had long known that Wen Siyuan had already stood on the side of Emperor Ai. Now he brought up Emperor Xiaoming just to use Emperor Ai's identity as a threat.

Emperor Ai was not in a hurry to reveal his identity and step forward to compete with Emperor Xiaoming and Marquis Weining. Instead, he forced Emperor Xiaoming to make a deal with Zuo Qingci through Wen Siyuan.

Emperor Xiaoming was also determined to gain control of the Jingbei Army. Even if he only controlled the Jingbei Army in name, he would be able to temporarily suppress Marquis Weining.

Sure enough, the life and death of Marquis Jing'an himself had little impact on the court situation. What could really influence the court was the Jingbei Army. So Emperor Xiaoming was sure that he could win over Qin Chen, the deputy general under Marquis Jing'an, so he directly used a shady trick and let the "Marquis Jing'an" die in the prison of the Ministry of Justice. As a result, the court and the public were shocked, and the so-called letter provided by Marquis Weining that Marquis Jing'an colluded with Guz was also determined to be a forged slander in court.

Marquis Weining understood that Emperor Xiaoming might have won over the Jingbei Army, so he announced the news that Emperor Ai was still alive in front of all the court officials, and said that he was ready to welcome Emperor Ai back.

So Emperor Xiaoming and Marquis Weining took turns to attack, but in the end Marquis Weining was more cunning and had a greater chance of winning for the time being.

Emperor Xiaoming not only had the Jingbei Army under his command, he also had Marquis Jing'an himself, so with no other options left, he directly made an appointment with Wen Siyuan and Zuo Qingci through Lingxi, an undercover agent stationed in Shanshui Ferry.

Emperor Xiaoming was wearing a bright red uniform embroidered with five dragon patterns. As soon as he showed up, Zuo Qingci and Wen Siyuan knelt down and kowtowed to greet him.

Emperor Xiaoming was very anxious, but he couldn't show it too much in front of Zuo Qingci and Wen Siyuan, so he was able to exchange pleasantries and express his feelings about the situation in the court. When he felt that he had laid the groundwork for it, and Zuo Qingci took the initiative to ask what effect it had, he reluctantly said, "Marquis Weining said in court today that he wanted to bring back Emperor Ai. I am very embarrassed."

Zuo Qingci and Wen Siyuan are not fools, how could they not understand what Emperor Xiaoming meant?

What's more, Jing'an Marquis Yan Yu is still in the hands of Emperor Xiaoming. If the news is leaked at all, Weining Marquis will definitely pursue him relentlessly. By then, the entire Jing'an Marquis Mansion may not even be able to protect Yan Qing.

Emperor Xiaoming would only let Marquis Jing'an die, and was unwilling to declare his control over the Jingbei Army by appointing Yan Qing as a concubine.

Although in Zuo Qingci's opinion, it was a completely good thing that his sister Yan Qing did not have to sacrifice her happiness for the rest of her life and was imprisoned in the deep palace, Emperor Xiaoming's original suggestion to let Marquis Jing'an fake his death to escape was itself intended to weaken the influence of Marquis Jing'an's Mansion on the Jingbei Army.

In theory, there is nothing wrong with Emperor Xiaoming's behavior, but everyone also got a glimpse of his ruthless character and sophisticated political tactics.

Zuo Qingci wanted to use Emperor Ai and the imperial seal in exchange for the safety of his relatives. Not to mention that Emperor Ai was not under his control now, just the fact that the Jingbei Army was likely to fall into Emperor Ai's hands made it impossible for him to betray Emperor Ai.

It just so happened that his deal with Emperor Ai had not yet been completed, and Emperor Ai took advantage of the situation and used the power of Marquis Weining to not only stand in the spotlight, but also weakened the power of Emperor Xiaoming and Marquis Weining.

On the carriage carrying his father and sister away from Tiandu City, Zuo Qingci still did not give up the illusion that he was poisoned. After all, he was able to leave Tiandu City only thanks to the drama he staged with Emperor Ai in which he didn't know which one was the real Emperor Ai.

The jade seal was certainly real, but Emperor Ai could not have taken it out at the beginning, so his identity must have been confirmed by Emperor Xiaoming and Marquis Weining, and only after his death could the matter be settled.

But he had no intention of dying and still wanted to sit on the throne, so he had to let Emperor Xiaoming and Marquis Weining down.