(I started having a fever yesterday, and my mind is a bit foggy. I'll go back to bed later. If I feel better slowly, I might write less tomorrow.)

Haitang slipped into a courtyard beside the street, gently smoothed the hair at her temples, and looked at the ascetic who, as expected, hadn't left.

The people who lived on both sides of this main street were naturally either rich or noble. After the disturbance, the master of this house had already woken up and hid far away, not daring to light a lamp. At this time, the light from the restaurant across the street shone through the large hole in the wall, illuminating the courtyard and the ascetic's face, which looked particularly terrifying after being injured.

Haitang looked at him and asked with a hint of sorrow, "Why is this?"

The ascetic simply looked at her calmly, without replying.

Haitang wasn't in a hurry, even though the sound of iron chains rattling from the Suzhou Prefecture constables was faintly audible in the distance.

There weren't many ascetics in this world. The ascetics led by the High Priest of Qing Temple had always preached in various places. These ascetics silently recited scriptures and performed good deeds. They were never known for their martial prowess.

But in these past few decades, Qing Temple had also produced an anomaly, Master Sanshi. This man was born with divine strength, and his internal and external skills had been cultivated to the pinnacle. In addition, he was violent and hated evil like a feud. However, because of his priestly status, very few people had seen him take action, and few knew his true face and strength. Of course, this was also because the High Priest of Qing Temple in previous years had always used scriptures to advise and keep a close watch. Otherwise, this Master Sanshi would have long become the most famous person in the world.

Because Qing Temple and the Northern Qi Heavenly One Path were both places that enshrined temples, they could be considered to have a common origin, so Haitang had seen the other party once in previous years. She knew clearly in her heart that the ascetic in front of her, the Second Priest of Qing Temple, the legendary Master Sanshi, was an extremely respected figure purely in terms of status. In terms of xinxing cultivation, he wasn't a bloodthirsty person now. So, what she couldn't understand the most was why... a priest who never interfered in worldly affairs would join the struggle for the Internal Treasury, or rather, the court situation, today.

"Junshan Hui... what kind of organization is it really?" Haitang frowned slightly, speaking as if to herself.

The Second Priest looked at her indifferently and said, "Don't bother trying to think about these questions. That's right, I am now a member of Junshan Hui. Junshan Hui is originally a loose association. Perhaps this organization originally had no specific goal, but once everyone finds a certain goal, they will move forward together towards that goal."

Haitang asked softly, "Then what is your goal?"

"Kill Xia Xifei," the Second Priest said indifferently.

Haitang smiled slightly and said, "It's just some disputes between merchants, how could it lead you to take action?"

She asked calmly, "Xia Xifei has already won the bid for the Internal Treasury today. You chose to snipe him in the middle of the street. Aren't you afraid of the Nan Qing Dynasty's wrath?"

The Second Priest said expressionlessly, "Killing Xia Xifei is just to make the affairs of the Internal Treasury return to the route we want."

Haitang was slightly stunned and puzzled, "This sentence is not enough to convince me... I understand you and the High Priest. You are not a person who covets fame and fortune."

The Second Priest fell silent.

Haitang said softly again, "The Ming family is also not qualified to invite you."

The Second Priest slowly raised his head, "I said earlier that this is just a loose cooperation. It's just that my goal and the Ming family's goal happen to be unified."

"You want to deal with Fan Xian?" Haitang's eyebrows furrowed.

The Second Priest shook his head indifferently.

Haitang sighed in her heart, guessing the truth of the matter. The other party's identity was special, since it was impossible for him to be instructed by others and he had to intervene in the Internal Treasury bidding, then the source of this matter was vaguely revealed. Since the Second Priest's goal was not Fan Xian, then the source of this matter was obviously someone in Kyoto.

Haitang shook her head and said, "It's really hard to believe that a priest of Qing Temple would secretly oppose the Qing Emperor..."

The Second Priest's face had been scalded with countless fine bubbles, and black ash was mixed with blood streaks, looking extremely terrifying. The pupils in his eyes were white, and he said gloomily, "Holy Maiden is wise. The Imperial Envoy has come to rectify the Internal Treasury under a holy decree. What I want is to make this so-called holy decree impossible to execute forever."

Haitang was silent. It seemed that a dark current had begun to appear within the Nan Qing Dynasty. The direction of the dark current was naturally the man sitting on the dragon chair. And Fan Xian, as the man's most trusted powerful minister, would undoubtedly stand at the forefront and face great danger.

The reason why the Second Priest was willing to tell Haitang so many secrets in person was naturally because of Haitang's identity as a Northern Qi person, and the closeness between Qing Temple and the Heavenly One Path.

The Second Priest understood in his heart that even if Haitang was close to Fan Xian, as a Northern Qi person, knowing that someone within Nan Qing was preparing to be unfavorable to the emperor, she would definitely maintain considerable intelligent silence.

After a long silence, Haitang suddenly said, "Master, conspiring with a tiger is extremely unwise."

The loose Junshan Hui had to become tighter because of that very terrifying reason. Someone must lead such a major event. According to Haitang's analysis, the leader might be the Princess Royal, who had never shown any powerful performance, but who Fan Xian had always been careful of...

The Second Priest said indifferently, "In the eyes of a flower, an insect is a tiger. In the eyes of bamboo, fire is a tiger. In the eyes of the river, the sun is a tiger... In my eyes, His Majesty is a tiger."

Haitang frowned and asked, "What exactly happened?"

What kind of thing would make the Second Priest of Qing Temple resolutely throw himself into this chaotic and dirty human world? Turning an ascetic who had always been compassionate and cherished the world into a Shura demon who beheaded people with a knife?

A trace of sadness and recollection flashed in the Second Priest's terrifying eyes. After a moment, he said gently, "Senior Brother is gone."

Haitang was slightly stunned. The news of the Qing Temple High Priest's death had spread throughout the world a few months ago, but at that time, the Qing Dynasty court issued an official edict saying that the High Priest had been preaching in the south for many years and had been exposed to evil miasma for a long time, resulting in overwork and illness, so he died in bed not long after returning to the capital... But listening to the Second Priest say this at this time, Haitang naturally understood that the inside story was definitely not that simple. Perhaps the death of the Qing Temple High Priest was greatly related to the Qing Emperor.

She put her hands together and bowed, knowing that she could no longer ask about this matter. The other party had given enough hints and would not say anything more.

"Why didn't you stop me from revealing your identity earlier?" Haitang said silently, "You're killing people in the street this time, aren't you worried about stirring up trouble and being detected by the Qing Emperor?"

The Qing Temple Second Priest raised three fingers expressionlessly: "The mountain has three stones, one named Ming, one named Zheng, and one named Qi (弃, meaning Abandoned)."

"Sanshi was different from ordinary people since he was a child, and was driven into the wilderness by the villagers. If it weren't for Senior Brother's rescue, he would have been buried in the bellies of wild dogs long ago." The Qing Temple Second Priest's voice was as loud as a bell, and his hair and beard fluttered, not angry but majestic: "The world took my Senior Brother's life, I should mess with people's hearts in the world, kill people with Ming techniques, deceive people with Zheng sounds, and use my own body as a Qizi (弃子, Abandoned pawn), to kill a chaotic ruler and pacify the common people of the world."

Haitang understood the first two meanings of this sentence. The last meaning was still not very clear, but countless complex emotions still surged in her heart. Although there were already signs of division within the Qing Dynasty court, judging from the Qing Emperor's strong control over the seven-circuit governors and the military, the Qing Dynasty's rule itself had not had problems in its foundation.

Master Sanshi killing people on the street tonight was nothing more than using Ming techniques and Zheng sounds to announce to the world that the Qing Temple priests were no longer partners with the court – although the Second Priest was not enough to represent the entire Qing Temple and the ascetic believers in the world, this kind of statement still had extremely powerful symbolic significance.

As for the last word Qi (弃, Abandoned), Haitang finally understood that Master Sanshi also knew clearly in his heart that the mastermind behind Junshan Hui was no better than the Qing Emperor. His actions today were on the one hand to disrupt the Qing Emperor's major policies by assassinating Xia Xifei, and on the other hand... he was resolutely abandoning himself.

Perhaps the Second Priest himself did not know what he should do. After losing the High Priest's teachings and restraints, Master Sanshi had no way to kill the Emperor, and... the Qing Temple priests did not want the people of the world to suffer because of the matter of revenge.

For Master Sanshi, the people of the Jiangnan Water Camp were originally bandits covered in blood. Killing them was killing them, without the slightest pity. However, the strong desire for revenge in his heart, and the judgment of the situation, and the concern for the people of the world, made Master Sanshi fall into a kind of spiritual conflict, so he told these things to Haitang, and at the same time told her... that he was just willing to be an Abandoned pawn.

"I'm going back to Kyoto to kill people. Tell Master Ku He, what I said today."

Master Sanshi was silent, and was uncharacteristically melancholic for his magnificent figure. He turned around and left the courtyard that had been broken through with a big hole.

Haitang stood quietly in place, without any movement, thinking that the Qing Temple Second Priest had abandoned himself so easily, but Junshan Hui must have follow-up actions, but she didn't know whether it would target Fan Xian, who was far away in Jiangnan, or directly target the Qing Emperor, who was sitting in Kyoto.

It seemed that in this world, there were many people who did not want the Qing Emperor to live comfortably.

How should Da Qi respond?

————————————————

"Sanshi? Abandoned pawn?" Fan Xian looked at Haitang, smiling noncommittally, but with a dark fire flickering in his eyes, "I don't understand your people's yin and yang dialogues, I only know... If he really wanted to abandon himself, he should directly rush into the main gate of the Imperial City at this time, and fight a big battle with the Imperial Guards led by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and with Eunuch Hong in the palace, instead of running to Suzhou City to ruin my affairs! Kill my people!"

The last two sentences were raised in volume, and the tone was very stern.

"As for the word 'Abandoned'," Haitang looked at him calmly and said, "Junshan Hui definitely doesn't want the Second Priest to expose his identity so early. If I wasn't there today, probably no one would have the opportunity to say this secret."

The meaning contained in this sentence was very clear. The enemies' calculations had gone wrong. The Second Priest failed to kill people, so he simply abandoned himself and made all the problems clear in front of Haitang, using himself to attract the Qing Emperor's attention, and hiding the rest of Junshan Hui's existence.

Fan Xian sneered, "This Second Priest thinks too highly of himself... His Majesty may not have anything, but that self-confidence that he doesn't know where it comes from is stronger than everyone else. If I were you, how could I bear to let that bald man leave so safely? Just saying a few bland words without oil or salt, and you are convinced not to care, this Second Priest really has the ability to be a lobbyist."

This remark seemed ordinary, but in fact it contained a heart-wrenching discussion. Fan Xian, in addition to being angry, directly stated that there was a part of the conversation between the Second Priest and Haitang that Haitang did not directly say. After all, this was Nan Qing's internal affairs. As a Northern Qi person, no one could be sure what Haitang would do for the interests of her own country.

Haitang was not angry either, and explained softly, "Junshan Hui definitely wants to protect the Ming family, and that Old Madam has also fallen for your trick, asking people to kill Xia Xifei... Aren't these all things you expected? Why are you still so angry?"

Fan Xian choked, not expecting Haitang to reveal all of his sinister thoughts so mercilessly. He frowned and said, "That's right, I wanted to force the Ming family to take action, but I didn't expect the Ming family to be able to invite such a master... It seems that I still underestimated the so-called Junshan Hui."

Tonight, the deaths and injuries in front of Jiangnan Residence were heavy. The Jiangnan Water Camp heroes that Xia Xifei brought into Suzhou City were killed by that sharp knife by 80 to 90 percent. And the Supervisory Council also paid a very heavy price in order to protect Xia Xifei's life. One of the seven assassins from the Sixth Office died, and four others were still in a coma, not knowing if they could survive.

Since Fan Xian took over the Supervisory Council, this was the largest loss in the Supervisory Council's operation. He couldn't help but blame and anger himself. Obviously, things were all within his calculations, but unfortunately, he underestimated the opponent's strength, which led to such a situation.

What made Fan Xian the angriest was... in the plan, once the Ming family was forced to take action, he could take the opportunity to launch a large-scale attack, but all of this was ruined on the long street, in Haitang's shout.

Second Priest?

The Qing Temple Second Priest would at most deal with the Imperial Family. If Fan Xian wanted to use this matter to investigate the Ming family, there was no possibility at all. Even if he used the Supervisory Council's best sinister methods to frame them, it would be impossible to convince the court and the officials in Kyoto.

No one would believe that a wealthy Jiangnan family, the Ming family, could drive the Qing Temple Second Priest to act as an assassin.

This fact made Fan Xian feel some kind of ridiculous frustration. In the past, even if the enemies were not doing what he accused them of, he could still frame them to make them admit it. Now, it was clearly what the other party had done, and he was openly investigating, but no one would believe it!

He shook his head helplessly, waved his hand, and said, "Duoduo, go to sleep first. I was in a bad mood earlier, and my words were a bit harsh. Don't take it too seriously."

Haitang glanced at him with some surprise, frowned, and asked, "Tonight?"

Fan Xian took a deep breath, forcibly suppressed the burning feeling in his heart, and a gentle smile reappeared on his face. He said softly, "It's very late, let's talk about everything tomorrow."

Fan Xian had been preparing for a long time for tonight, but he had to suddenly give up at this time. No one knew what he was thinking in his heart.

Haitang left the study somewhat puzzled.

Fan Xian sat quietly alone at his desk, thought for a moment, and then began to write on the paper. He had to report what happened tonight to His Majesty the Emperor in Kyoto. In fact, in his heart, he didn't think that the appearance of the Second Priest was such a great thing, but as a minister, even if he was a minister with ulterior motives, he had to show some kind of fearful anxiety because of concern at the appropriate time.

After writing the secret letter, he couldn't help but pick up a letter next to him.

The handwriting on the letter was very dry and ugly. It was written by the old man named Chen Pingping.

In the letter, Chen Pingping did not say anything about the court situation or even officialdom, but only told a little story, a story about a crow drinking water, warning Fan Xian, who was not by his side, that no matter what he did, he could not be anxious. The more anxious he was, the less water he would have to drink.

Throwing stones into the bottle?

This was a game of wanting to take, must first give.

Fan Xian looked at the letter, and his eyebrows furrowed. Today, Ming Qingda left a very deep impression on him in the Internal Treasury mansion. That old gentleman of the Ming family's ability to remain calm in the face of chaos was really worth learning.

In comparison, the Old Madam of the Ming family, who was successfully provoked into sending a secret message to Junshan Hui to kill people on the street, seemed to be less of a problem.

It was just that the Ming family was still in the hands of that Old Madam, which made Fan Xian feel a little relieved.

It was the Second Priest who did it, and this matter was very involved. It was not suitable to act immediately tonight. Fan Xian thought for a while and decided to postpone the date for a few days. Xia Xifei was lucky enough not to die. The Internal Treasury bidding would continue tomorrow, life would continue, and the days would continue.

After everything calmed down, when the stone was stuffed into the bottleneck, he would start drinking water.

……

……

"Go out," he said, taking a cloak from Sisi's hand.

Sisi looked at him in surprise, thinking that it was almost midnight now, where was he going out to? But she knew that if the Young Master was in a hurry to go out at this time, it must be something important, so she didn't ask any more questions.

Fan Xian draped the crane cloak over his shoulders and hurried towards the front door of Ming Garden. As he walked, he said to his subordinates beside him, "The matter has become big. Immediately issue a level one court order to search strictly for the whereabouts of that Second Priest throughout the southeast."

The subordinate frowned and responded, "Sir, Qing Temple has always been under the management of the palace. We shouldn't intervene."

Fan Xian was slightly angry and rebuked, "They've all killed us, can't I kill him?"

The subordinate quickly shut his mouth and issued the order.

In fact, Fan Xian also had other thoughts in this sentence. Haitang had said earlier that the Second Priest looked like he was planning to go to Kyoto to emulate Jing Ke's assassination attempt, but Fan Xian asked the Supervisory Council to investigate and arrest him throughout the southeast.

The Shadow was not in Suzhou. The Supervisory Council's current manpower could not keep Master Sanshi. Fan Xian's move was nothing more than a gesture. On the one hand, he avoided his subordinates from meeting this master again and suffering heavy losses, and on the other hand, he could... let the Second Priest enter Kyoto.

The Second Priest was clearly preparing to play a game of Dragon Slaying in Kyoto, but Fan Xian was making such arrangements. He didn't know what he was thinking.

Walking outside the main gate, the Tiger Guard Gao Da lifted the car curtain for him. Fan Xian stepped on the carriage with one foot, stopped, as if thinking about something. After a moment, he turned back and said, "Call back all the manpower prepared outside tonight."

The Supervisory Council official was slightly stunned, thinking, did the plan for tonight be cancelled? According to his understanding of the Chief Supervisor, if his subordinates suffered a loss, he would definitely retaliate immediately... Did the Chief Supervisor suddenly change his temperament?

Ignoring his subordinate's astonishment, Fan Xian got into the carriage.

The carriage wheels rolled on the bluestone roads of Suzhou City, making a "da-da" sound. It was already late at night, and there were no pedestrians on the street at all, only those Suzhou Prefecture runners who had learned about the events of tonight, looking around sleepily. But they were lucky, at least easier than the brothers in front of Jiangnan Residence. It was said that the brothers there had been carrying corpses and picking up broken limbs tonight, and several of them had vomited in disgust.

Fan Xian leaned halfway against the back of the chair, gently pinching his temples with both hands, forcibly dispelling the fatigue in his brain and the strong impulse in his heart to jump out and chop and kill for a while, letting the carriage take him, walking on the quiet Suzhou night streets.

Beside the carriage were several Tiger Guards. After Xia Xifei's assassination attempt tonight, Fan Xian's security work was also strengthened a lot.

Before long, the carriage arrived at the side door of the Jiangnan Governor's Mansion. Without even having time to hand in a name card, Fan Xian directly used his face as a pass and drilled all the way into the Governor's Mansion. Surrounded by the Governor's Mansion's stewards and servants with confused faces, he directly came to the back garden flower hall used by the Governor's Mansion to entertain secret guests.

Before he had even had two sips of the tea that was brought up, Jiangnan Governor Xue Qing, whom the steward said had already gone to sleep, rushed over.

Fan Xian looked up and was stunned after seeing Xue Qing's attire, and laughed. This Governor was dressed neatly, not at all like he had just been woken up from bed. It seemed that few officials in Suzhou City could sleep well tonight.

Seeing him laugh, Xue Qing couldn't help but laugh too. He waved his hand to let everyone retreat, took a sip of tea, cleared his throat, and asked directly, "Imperial Envoy, what brings you here so late at night?"

Fan Xian's reply was even more direct, raising a finger and saying, "Tonight, someone wanted to kill my people, so I'm preparing to kill people."

The Jiangnan Governor was slightly stunned and fell into silence. He certainly knew what had happened in Suzhou City tonight, and he also expected that Fan Xian, who had always been sinister and protective, would definitely take action against the Ming family, but... he didn't expect that the other party would come to inform him in advance. This gesture made Xue Qing feel a trace of comfort.

After Xue Qing pondered for a moment, he said gently, "This official can understand the Imperial Envoy's mood at this time."

These words were the same as not saying anything. Understanding certainly didn't mean support. Fan Xian also understood this point. The Ming family was, after all, a prominent Jiangnan family with tens of thousands of descendants, and there were even more helpers in the court. The Ming family's hands and feet had already been deeply planted in the lives of the Jiangnan people. If Fan Xian wanted to use the Supervisory Council's force to conduct simple and rude oppression against the Ming family, it would definitely cause countless rebounds, and the situation in Jiangnan might form a major upheaval because of this.

Jiangnan could not be in chaos. Once it was in chaos, Xue Qing, as the Jiangnan Governor, would naturally bear the brunt of it. He could not explain it to the court and His Majesty at all, so in front of Fan Xian, he could only say he understood, but he was not willing to say anything else.

Moreover, as far as Fan Xian was concerned, the Black Knights were still in the Jiangbei area. He would never dare to mobilize troops into Suzhou at the risk of the emperor's suspicion and the uproar of the courtiers until the very last step. So at this time, the power he could use was actually not too much. To deal with a character like the Ming family, he very much needed the help of Jiangnan Governor Xue Qing, at least tacit approval. This was why he had rushed to the Governor's Mansion overnight.

Knowing what Xue Qing was worried about, Fan Xian said with a smile, "Governor, don't worry, although this official has some boldness, he will also pay attention to the rules when doing things."

Xue Qing's heart was slightly relieved. He was not from the Princess Royal's side, so he was willing to stay out of the Supervisory Council's struggle with the princes. And tonight, the Ming family actually sent people to assassinate the bidding merchant in front of Jiangnan Residence... Although everyone knew that the merchant was actually a water bandit... this fact still made this feudal official feel angry.

Merchants should have the merchants' duties and limits. The Ming family had crossed the line tonight.

What's more, the Jiangnan Residence where the killing took place was the Governor's property.

"This official will not act until all sixteen bids for the Internal Treasury are settled." Fan Xian looked into Xue Qing's eyes and said softly, "After the day after tomorrow, I will make the Ming family pay the price they deserve for this matter."

"Let them receive some lessons and it will be enough," Xue Qing sighed, like a compassionate ascetic.

Fan Xian smiled, knowing in his heart that this Governor was still unwilling to make things too big, and he had not expected to knock down a large family that had lasted for hundreds of years in a few days, so he said, "Governor, don't worry, I have my own sense of proportion."

"Evidence, the key is evidence." Xue Qing looked at the young Imperial Envoy in front of him and couldn't help but remind him that this matter was not a simple struggle between officials and merchants, but a struggle between court forces. If he couldn't get solid evidence, it would be extremely easy for Fan Xian to be caught by the tail by some people in Kyoto if he wanted to cut the Ming family's flesh.

"In life, there is never a lack of evidence." Fan Xian said quietly, "There is only a lack of eyes to discover evidence, and the Supervisory Council's eyes are very bright."

These two officials with the greatest power in Jiangnan had another secret conversation for a long time. When the two of them could no longer hide their weariness, Fan Xian took his leave. The current situation in Jiangnan was becoming increasingly muddy, like the darkness before dawn, looking out, it was dark and unknown to the bottom of the abyss.

Fan Xian leaned against the back of the chair and fell into a deep sleep, completely unaware that the sky outside the car was gradually brightening. The morning in Suzhou City had not yet been signaled by the bells and drums, but spring dawn had arrived.