Xueting was no fool, he also predicted that on the eighth day of the fourth month, Puliuru Jian's faction might take advantage of his absence from the palace to make their move, so on one hand he had someone take on his appearance and go to Qingliangsi, for himself he made slight adjustments to his face, but remained by Yuwen Yun.
His theory proved to be correct, whether Puliuru Jian wanted to revolt or rescue his children, as long as he guarded Yuwen Yun, like a steel wall, idle persons could not approach Yuwen Yun, and as long as Yuwen Yun was still alive, Zhou would persist, everything else was secondary.
When Bian Yanmei moved, Xueting's reaction was very fast, his attention had long lingered on this person, as a maidservant they were a bit too tall, when the other reached towards Yuwen Yun, he also reached out a hand, but as soon as he moved, he realized he had neglected a person.
Not Shen Qiao.
The group entering the palace had four maidservants, two of them were Shen Qiao and Bian Yanmei in disguise, one was selected by Puliuru Jian, a real maideservant clever enough to carry herself in big scenes, but what about the last person?
The remaining person, her face was extremely ordinary, entering the palace she had said nothing, holding the parcel in both hands, when Bian Yanmei was speaking with the empress, she was half-shadow, her sense of presence was meagre at best.
Even the emperor's spies stationed outside of Sui-guogong manor had been tricked.
The one attacking Xueting was "her"!
Xueting and "her" were longtime rivals, as soon as they exchanged moves, how could they not know who each other were, he had slammed a palm towards Bian Yanmei, but when had to move against that extremely ordinary maidservant, he exclaimed: "Yan Wushi!"
He didn't realize that the terror of Yan Wushi's name was so entrenched in other's minds, the people beside him as they heard those three words, all startled, even their movements slowed.
That maidservant laughed, it really was Yan Wushi's voice: "Old bald donkey, this outfit of yours is quite refreshing, were you overstretching your neck waiting for this venerable one, when you're this eager, this venerable one can only act as you wish, and meet up with you here!"
Along with these words, there was the abrasive sound ka ka, the limbs of "the maidservant" in the interim had lengthened, the maidservant outfit was suddenly a little tight.
Clearly, when Yan Wushi said earlier he didn't know a bone retraction technique, that was a complete lie, not only did he know, he was well-versed in its practice, someone who was arrogant like him, even if practicing some side-branch technique, he would have to attain a level of proficiency where others simply could not compare.
As for his face, he did not resort to plucking his eyebrows, putting on powders, etc. like Shen Qiao and Bian Yanmei, but used an actual human face mask. That human skin was from the incident where after Shen Qiao had killed Huo Xijing, Yan Wushi with his "must take advantage where available" logic, had purloined it off the body, he had originally intended Shen Qiao to use it, but Shen Qiao had adamantly refused, so with great regret he wore it on his own face, that and the addition of bone retraction technique, he had become another person entirely, not a single person had recognized him.
With Yan Wushi blocking Xueting's path, Bian Yanmei made for Yuwen Yun, but the others beside him were quick to respond, Xueting's two disciples, Liansheng Lianmie came into the foray, someone realized that Shen Qiao's group intended to rescue, and so made a grab for the empress and her brothers, wanting to hold them hostage, and then threaten Shen Qiao's group into submission.
These people all thought Shen Qiao was a soft persimmon, Shen Qiao would naturally reteach them how to be a person, even if he hadn't brought shanhetongbei into the palace, it was no impediment, he fought back five at once, blocking the sole path into the inner hall, no one should dare approach.
But these were five martial masters, among them were people from Hehuan Sect, and some were Xueting's underlings, their wugong would be considered first class in the jianghu, they would not be easily dealt with, they had spent a long time by the emperor's side, and had learned many underhanded tricks, they had no qualms about using poison, hidden weapons, although despicable, Shen Qiao wouldn't succumb to these tactics, but he was delayed, for the moment it was impossible to beat them all down at once.
No wonder Xueting was a seasoned grandmaster, even if Yuan Zixiao ranked him behind Yan Wushi, he still had deep reserves of strength, for someone who had attained his level of wugong, their cultivation has long since been integrated, Yan Wushi wanting to subdue him in one move was highly unlikely, both of them could only look for openings while they exchanged moves.
Seeing Bian Yanmei's intention to capture Yuwen Yun thwarted by Liansheng and Lianmie, both sides were disciples of grandmasters, as well Liansheng Lianmie could work together, Bian Yanmei momentarily was stuck with them, Shen Qiao considered the circumstances and made a decision.
He did not stand guard in front of the inner hall, but shot towards Yuwen Yun who was just about to sneak away.
By now the commotion had drawn the guards outside, these people burst in with their weapons, but was leveled by Bian Yanmei's palm gust, a fair number exited this way.
Yuwen Yun was preposterous in his dealings, but he still cherished his life, seeing the fighting erupt, and Xueting unable to stand guard at his side, he ran-fell towards the exit, he didn't expect Shen Qiao to catch up from behind, one step and he was in the air, lunging towards him.
His shadow was already directly above him, with Shen Qiao's skill, Yuwen Yun only had time to make a half-startled gasp, before he was firmly in Shen Qiao's hands.
Shen Qiao blandly said one sentence to Yuwen Yun: "Your majesty, tell them to stop."
Yuwen Yun howled: "Stop, stop all of you!"
The five masters that had originally cornered Shen Qiao, seeing Shen Qiao leave them behind for the emperor, fell into two factions, three of them lunged towards Shen Qiao, the other two burst into the inner hall to grab the empress and her brothers.
The three that lunged towards Shen Qiao were too slow, no matter how fast their steps were, they could not be discussed in the same conversation as Xuandushan's "tiankuohongying", they could only watch as the emperor was taken hostage.
On Bian Yanmei's side, things came to a standstill with Liansheng and Liangmie.
Yan Wushi and Xueting were engrossed in their fight, they'd taken their fight from the inside to the outside, under threat of two grandmasters, the roof was all but destroyed, this fight wouldn't stop so easily. Back then Xueting had joined the conspiracy with four martial masters outside Tuyuhun's capital to ambush Yan Wushi, and beat him until his skull broke open and he was inches from death, with Yan Wushi's propensity towards revenge, he would not so forget so easily.
Last time he had used Dou Yanshan and Yun Fuyi's conflict to draw out a power struggle within Liuhebang, resulting in Dou Yanshan being poisoned to death, Yun Fuyi did become the leader afterwards, but within half a month, several section leaders received evidence of her conspiring with Tujue, they formed an alliance and forced her to rescind her position, Liuhebang split into factions, its holdings split among the section leaders, the resulting breakdown of Liuhebang, separate from what happened at shijiandahui, caused a huge uproar in the jianghu.
Those section leaders wanted to use Huanyue Sect's influence in the northern markets to increase their holdings, Huanyue Sect also needed Liuhebang's experience with security and transport to expand their business, at the moment they worked together like fish in water, the name of Huanyue Sect never came up during the whole ordeal, but how much Huanyue Sect gained from the splitting of Liuhebang, only Yan Wushi himself knew.
Of those five involved in ambushing Yan Wushi that day, Guang Lingsan seeing the wind direction steered accordingly, given a chance sucked up to Yan Wushi, and helped him, like peeling away a layer of flesh he suffered some losses, only then did Yan Wushi let up on him momentarily: no need to mention Duan Wenyang, lucky he had a good shifu, Yan Wushi had no plans for him yet; as for Yu Ai, Yan Wushi was going to let Shen Qiao deal with him, so also hadn't planned anything, the ones who were left Dou Yanshan and Xueting, the former had in the process of Yan Wushi's retaliation directly lost his life, now facing the latter today, as the saying goes, enemies walk a narrow path.
Xueting embroiled with Yan Wushi could not go save the emperor, seeing Yuwen Yun in Shen Qiao's hands, sighed internally, redirected his attention to the fight at hand with Yan Wushi.
For people like Duan Wenyang, Yu Ai, their wugong was strong, but they had too many attachments, if they saw this scene unfolding, they would surely be unable to concentrate and lose the fight, Xueting was a prominent Buddhist practitioner of his generation, if he was able to walk out of Tiantai Sect, not relying on support from anyone to establish his own sect, if he could be named guoshi, surely he was not a easy person to deal with, so when he saw that he was unable to reach Yuwen Yun, he let the matter go entirely, this degree of equanimity, even Yan Wushi had to say it was quite admirable.
"Old bald donkey, Yuwen Yun is unfit to lead, this venerable one doesn't believe you don't see it, yet you stayed to assist him all this time, in truth this went against the heavens, don't you Buddhists talk about cause and effect, you abetting evil like this, aren't you afraid of the consequences on your person?"
While fighting, Yan Wushi didn't miss the chance to taunt him.
Xueting ignored him, several more moves were exchanged, both sides extended their sleeves in mid-air, zhengqi expanding, their match was more spectacular than anything, even while the guards were watching their emperor be apprehended, they couldn't resist sneaking looks over at Xueting's side of things.
Shen Qiao had the emperor in his hands, no one dared make a haphazard move, even the palace guards that had entered so menacingly before had lost their pompousness.
Shen Qiao made to retreat with the emperor out of Qingningdian, he had the maidservant bring out the empress and her brothers.
As long as he could bring everyone out safely, their intentions in coming here would be accomplished.
Who knew that when the empress emerged, she had only one brother with her.
Shen Qiao's heart sank.
Without him having to ask, the empress hurriedly explained: "There was a man that entered through the window, and grabbed Er-lang!"
If the purpose of the hostage-taking was to force Shen Qiao to relinquish the emperor, they would have had no need to take the boy away, the culprit must have another motive, in any case they weren't interested in the emperor.
The circumstances did not permit Shen Qiao to think further, he didn't ask for more details, just told the empress and her brother to stick close to him.
Yuwen Yun cherished his life, and so had to compromise for the time being, but as soon as he saw the empress, his eyes bulged out in rage: "You bitch, I knew you were no good, if I had known you were such a bloodsucker earlier, I would've annulled your position, then had ten strongmen rape you…"
This string of invective fell from the emperor's mouth, Shen Qiao was irritated listening to it, put more force into his grip and said: "Whether your majesty lives or not today is uncertain, and you still have time to curse others, save it!"
Yuwen Yun went red in the face: "You, you're a person with such strong wugong, why must you help Puliuru Jian that kind of scoundrel, if you're willing to come to me, I'll name you as guoshi, how about it?'
Seeing Shen Qiao give no reaction, he added to the incentive: "I'll give you a lordship, unparalleled riches and wealth!"
Shen Qiao: "Does your majesty want me to use more force?"
Yuwen Yun's eyes rolled back in the chokehold, and he made no more noise.
With the emperor, their exit was clear with no obstructions, at the main gates Puliuru Jian's people were waiting, the sister and brother seeing their father were overwhelmed to tears, as they jumped into their father's arms, they started wailing.
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She was born in to an esteemed family, back when Yuwen Yong was selecting a partner for his son, he had valued her warmth and kindness, so she was chosen to undertake this important role, Puliuru-shi also didn't let them down, since she became the crown prince's wife, she took her duties seriously, she had put in every effort managing his household, who knew what debt she owed in her past life to get this kind of husband, when he was crown prince he appeared honest and naive, when he became emperor his true nature was revealed, he did whatever was preposterous, not only were political affairs managed to disaster, even five empresses were named to the back court, over any small thing he would curse and humiliate Puliuru-shi, Puliuru-shi had endured it for so long, no one would have been able to any further.
Puliuru Jian's troops were long lined up at the main gates, they had fought a brief skirmish with the palace guards, but when Yuwen Yun was presented, both sides stopped their fighting, the victor had been decided.
But on Shen Qiao's face was no sign of cheer, he said to Puliuru Jian: "Back there I had a moment of distraction, and allowed your son to be kidnapped by another, I will get him back on Sui-guogong's behalf."
Puliuru Jian consoled him instead: "Life and death is determined by fate, daozhang has done his best, even if there was a what if, that is my son's fate, it cannot be blamed on others, if I did not have daozhang, Yan-zongzhu, and Bian-dafu's assistance, I would not be able to see my other children today."
On the other side of things Yan Wushi and Xueting were still engrossed in their fight, and were completely in their own world, they were blind to everything else, the roof tiles on Qingningdian were drawn to their zhengqi, and intermittently exploded, their fragments flying off in all directions, around the two of them a whirlpool of sorts had formed, as for the palace martial masters, when faced with this scene of two grandmasters fighting, all they could do was watch from a distance.
Puliuru Jian, with his troops and the emperor's decree, quickly settled the chaos within the palace, Shen Qiao and Bian Yanmei combed through the palace looking for Puliuru Jian's second son.
In the palace, because of the turnover in power everyone was on edge, it would be difficult to track down the person that had taken advantage of the muddled waters, they each started in a different corner of the palace, after a while they had found nothing, which was a little strange.
Bian Yanmei frowned: "They apprehended Puliuru Jian's second son, but what was the purpose?"
Puliuru Jian was not yet the emperor, never mind one of his sons, even with him in hand it was not as effective as having the emperor, as well they were able to under great stealth break into Qingningdian, first they must have the martial skills, second they they must be familiar with the layout of the palace, as well they must have some sort of position that they're able to come and go as they please, third since they captured Puliuru Jian's son, perhaps they intended to discuss conditions with Puliuru Jian.
Shen Qiao wasn't born yesterday, he had wandered the world for a while now, perhaps every detail had settled at the bottom, he had more insight into how the world worked, the next moment he had a realization, and said to Bian Yanmei: "We don't need to search anymore, they will surely come to us."
Bian Yanmei seemed to also realize this point, he nodded his head, and went to tell Puliuru Jian of their findings.
They arrived faster than anyone had guessed.
Yan Wushi and Xueting's match had yet to finish, Murong Qin had arrived at their door.
He brought Chen Gong's message, saying he had Puliuru Jian's second son.
And he wanted only Shen Qiao and Puliuru Jian to go discuss conditions.
Puliuru Jian had just initiated a power turnover, naturally he had to stay in the palace in the interim to settle things, the soldiers and officials that had turned to him needed a figurehead to steady their resolve, he wouldn't be able to leave easily, he was concerned about his son's safety, but still chose to stay, he said to Shen Qiao: "If they demand gold, silver, it's no matter, anything to preserve my son's life, any amount of money is worth it."
Shen Qiao agreed to undertake the task.
Bian Yanmei wanted to accompany him, but Murong Qin interrupted coldly: "With Shen-daozhang's wugong, if he can't make a full exit, what's the point of you going, don't force our hand, hens flying and broken eggs, don't expect anyone to come out ahead."
Bian Yanmei laughed coldly: "Fine."
Secretly he gave Shen Qiao a look.
Murong Qin brought Shen Qiao out of the palace, within the city they took several turns and circuitous routes, before finally arriving at a very nondescript manor.
Chen Gong was sitting with Puliuru Jian's son in the main hall, he seemed to be in no rush, and even smiled at Shen Qiao: "Long time no see."
When Shen Qiao first met Chen Gong, they were both in miserable circumstances, one was blind, with wugong nearly extinguished, the other was impoverished, one meal didn't guarantee the next, the two of them journeying together, inevitably there had been many trials, who would have guessed that in the ever changing world with its turns, they would meet again.
As if in the unknown, everything had already been decided.
Shen Qiao felt somehow, between him and Chen Gong, they should have this meeting.
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The author would like to say:
Did some of you already guess? I will go scroll through the comments ~
Qiao and Chen Gong, they should have a resolution, the two of them have a lot of fate between them, although it is of a bad kind~
Shen Qiao: Director, I want to make a report, someone was unwilling to be left by himself, added his own part into the script.
Lao Yan: We've slept on the same bed, yet you didn't recognize this venerable one?
Shen Qiao (embarrassed-enraged): What same bed, clearly that was when you wanted to save money and refused to get an additional room, and I sat meditating through the night!
Bian Yanmei: Oh —