Unparalleled Double Harmony

Chapter 643 A Chat in the Courtyard (Part 2)
“I understand…” After a few seconds of silence, Sun Yixie continued Yun Shili’s words, “Brother Yun, the main reason you made this trip is to deal with that illegitimate son, right?”

"Not bad." Seeing that Sun Yixie had finally gotten down to business, Yun Shili stopped joking around and said seriously, "The secret letter that Brother Feng sent back this time has almost clearly indicated the young master's unusual movements. His Majesty can no longer remain indifferent to this."

"Isn't that already a victory?" Huang Donglai immediately interjected upon hearing this. "Since it's the Emperor who wants to do this now, all he has to do is write an imperial edict, issue a royal proclamation... and mobilize all the government offices, garrison troops, and your Jinyiwei forces throughout Daying. Do you think your lord and his gang can hold out for half a month?"

However, before he could finish speaking...

“Heh…” Yun Shili was already laughing. “If only it were that simple~” He paused. “Do you know how many people in the imperial court and the martial arts world are the henchmen of the commoner? And how many people still owe him ‘favors’ for various reasons? Can this matter be handled in such a grand manner?”

The moment he uttered the word "human favor," several people in the room changed their expressions.

"Not to mention anything else, just the two of you... weren't you also burdened with 'favors' by him in the past?" Anyway, everyone in this room is one of their own now, so Yun Shili didn't play games and made that clear to Shuang Xie in his next sentence.

"You know that?" Huang Donglai was genuinely surprised. After all, when they dealt with the young master back then, they had only recently entered the martial arts world and hadn't even been given the nickname "Eastern Harmony, Western Poison" yet.

Yun Shili simply shrugged and said in a matter-of-fact tone, "Why don't you think about it the other way around? If I don't even know or am unsure about this little thing... then am I qualified to do this job?"

Yun Shili's words were also a reminder to Shuangxie once again—don't forget that just because I'm familiar with you, I, Brother Yun, am one of the top secret agents in this vast Ming Empire.

If someone like Yun Shili didn't already know everything about the people in this room, this meeting would never have happened in the first place.

"Since you even know this, Brother Yun...aren't you afraid that we are actually Master Shu's people too?" Although Sun Yixie had already vaguely guessed the answer to this question, some things are better left unsaid, so he still had to say them.

"Heh...Aren't you asking a question you already know the answer to?" Yun Shili remained noncommittal upon hearing this.

At this moment, Jiang Muchan spoke up: "Sigh, even I can figure this out... If Brother Sun and Brother Huang are the young master's men, then why would the other party leave a message on Shaoshi Mountain to frame them?"

“Yes, that can be considered one of the bases,” Yun Shili nodded and continued, “but you’ve believed in them from the beginning, which is why you can consider things this way… others might not.”

"Oh? Then how did Lord Yun rule them out as suspects?" Jiang Muchan asked curiously.

“I believe another piece of evidence more…” Yun Shili took a leisurely sip of tea and continued, “That is… during the time when the two of them were making a scene in the capital the year before last, I can say with certainty that… no one from the concubine’s faction contacted them at that time.”

His words may not seem like much now, but if you think about them later, they contain a lot of information.

From this perspective, after the "killing the prince consort in the latrine" incident, was Yun Shili able to find Shuang Xie and others, "help" them, and even help them sneak into the palace to meet the emperor, perhaps with another mission in mind?

Furthermore, the two swindlers, who had the authority to "act as they pleased" at the time, could enter and leave the Forbidden City as easily as taking a stroll. So it was obvious that during that period, the two of them were at their "most useful" to the young master. There was no better opportunity than that to make them repay the favor, but the young master did not do so.

Judging from Yun Shili's attitude at this moment, he was aware of all these things, and if anything had really happened back then, it would have been completely under his surveillance.

"Huh? From what I'm hearing... we've become 'bad debts' in Master Shu's hands?" Huang Donglai realized what was going on.

“That’s for sure,” Yun Shili replied, drawing out the words. “He’s already gone so far as to leave a note at Shaoshi Mountain to settle accounts.”

“That doesn’t make sense…” At this moment, Ling Sheng’er, who was also a victim burdened with the “favors” of the illegitimate master, spoke up with some confusion, “Didn’t the illegitimate master think of any way to blackmail them?”

Yun Shili smiled and said, "Of course I've thought about that, but unfortunately... even he can't foresee many things years in advance."

“I understand.” Sun Yixie now “understood” again, and he continued rather smugly, “It’s because the speed at which we became famous exceeded his expectations, right?”

“Exactly.” Yun Shili responded, and then explained, “As far as I know, he initially thought it would take you two about five years to truly become famous, so he wasn’t in a hurry to find ‘bargaining chips’ to blackmail you. After all, he had too many ‘debts’ like yours in his hands.”

"But I never expected... that in just two years, the two of you have become infamous throughout the martial arts world, the outlaw world, the imperial court, and even overseas; and he has also realized... given your character, let alone obediently repaying his debt of gratitude, there's a good chance you'll turn around and kill him to avoid paying it back..."

Faced with Brother Yun's sharp words, Sun Huang's face flashed with a hint of wanting to interrupt and argue, but after thinking about their actions in the underworld over the past few years, the two of them ultimately swallowed their words.

"Of course, there is another very important point..." After a few sentences, Yun Shili finally mentioned another situation that Sun Huang was unaware of: "By the time he realized what was happening, 'we' had already intervened before he could."

"Huh? What do you mean 'we'? What are you interfering in? Sun Yixie immediately raised his voice and asked three times.

"Heh... You didn't even notice this, kid?" Yun Shili said with a smile to Sun Yixie. "After I visited your family a few years ago, the people from the Eastern Depot didn't dare to deal with you anymore. But after Eunuch Wang (up to the point where Yun Shili said this, the head of the Eastern Depot in this book was still the Grand Eunuch Wang Ting of the Directorate of Ceremonial) received the report, he naturally still had to send people to keep an eye on your family."

As he spoke, he looked at Huang Donglai and said, "As for your Huang family... well, let's not even go there. Your father has been secretly supervising the manufacture of weapons for the Shenji Battalion for quite some time now..."

"What?!" Huang Donglai exclaimed in surprise. "What are you saying the Huang family is supervising?"

"Why are you making such a fuss?" Yun Shili retorted with a smirk. "Didn't you get those blueprints? Didn't you know?"

Reminded by him, Huang Donglai realized that after he left home last time, his master had probably used the "Zhuge Liang's relics" that he left at home to expand his business; after all, arms dealing was more profitable than smuggled salt, and this was an official order, so even if it was shady, it was still legal.

"Okay, okay... I understand." After calming down, Huang Donglai rubbed his forehead and said, "Then a lot of things can be explained."

"So..." Yun Shili continued in a concluding tone, "Now, not only are you not the suspects, but you are also the ones who need to be protected. For Master Shu, it is more realistic to get rid of you two loyal ministers who have 'made contributions to protecting the country' as soon as possible, rather than making you 'repay favors'."

"Hmm..." Sun Yixie pondered for a moment, then seemed to think of something else, "Eh? What about Master Ling and Boss Ding?"

He only asked those two here because the reason why Jiang Muchan and the Three-Character King were involved was self-evident, so neither of them complained about it.

Upon hearing this, Ling Sheng'er spoke first: "You should be able to guess my reason, I also owe Master Shu a favor."

“Oh…so you’re also a ‘bad debt’?” Sun Yixie asked again.

“I’m different from you…” Ling Sheng’er sighed softly before replying, “Many years ago, when Tingfeng Tower’s business was just starting to grow, I was framed by the illegitimate son of the concubine. Although I survived, I suffered irreversible injuries, which forced me to practice the Bone-Dissolving Body-Refining Divine Art. At that time, the technique was in the hands of the illegitimate son of the concubine, and since then, I have been constantly hampered by him. As a result, over the years, Tingfeng Tower has been filled with his spies…”

As she recounted this experience, Shuangxie realized that it was essentially the same as their past experience of owing a favor to the illegitimate master at "Seven Willows and Secluded Railing".

The way this illegitimate man sells favors is, to put it bluntly, "creating demand where there is none"—you might not have any problems at all, but once you cross paths with him, you get into trouble, and sometimes he even deliberately puts you in that situation; after the incident, he'll "let you off the hook" or even "help you out," and that's what he calls a favor. Some fools can't see through this and take it as a kindness.

Over the years, many young people in the underworld have fallen for his tricks. Basically, as long as he thinks someone has some potential or a skill that might be useful in the future, he tends to keep them alive and play the long game.

"Oh~" Sun Yixie said, shaking his head as he listened to Ling Sheng'er's words. "I was wondering why all the thugs outside today were from the Youjia Gang. So, Master Ling, you're all alone now?"

Although the word "commander" existed in ancient times, its meaning was obviously different from that in modern times. Of course, this did not prevent Ling Sheng'er from understanding Sun Yixie's meaning at this moment. Two seconds later, she replied, "It's not that I can't mobilize manpower, but I can't completely identify which people around me were planted by the illegitimate son. Therefore, it is best for me to come alone in this situation."

At this moment, Huang Donglai added, "Well, since Master Ling also wants to take this opportunity to settle accounts with the illegitimate son, right?"

But Ling Sheng'er just drank her tea and didn't respond.

The book subtly suggests that Huang Donglai underestimated Ling Sheng'er. This heroine's decision to turn against the young master at this time was based on careful consideration.

First of all, Ling Sheng'er had already keenly realized that as the young master's rebellious plan unfolded, Tingfeng Tower would no longer be able to remain neutral and uninvolved... Since she knew that she would have to take a side sooner or later, she might as well choose a side early on. After all, those who take a side early may not necessarily be rewarded, but those who take a side later may be purged.

Secondly, her Bone-Refining Body Divine Skill has recently reached its peak, which has given her great physical advantages and the confidence to resist.

Thirdly, as Huang Donglai said, she had indeed wanted to settle accounts with the illegitimate son for a long time, and there was no better opportunity than this.

"Hey? What about you, Boss Ding?" Huang Donglai asked Ding Buzhu after seeing that Ling Sheng'er seemed to have tacitly agreed.

"Me?" Ding chuckled. "Heh... Don't you know me? When it comes to business, the benefits promised by Lord Yun and the price offered by Lord Ling are not low at all."

His words sounded honest, but in reality, he was only telling the truth and hiding the rest.

For Ding Buzhu, what truly solidified his stance against the commoner was his desire to repay the kindness of Zhenxia Hall, or rather, Zai Qianqiu.

“You can’t say that…” Sun Yixie retorted jokingly, “What if the illegitimate son offered a better price? Wouldn’t Boss Ding be able to sell us off right away?”

“Hey~” Ding waved his hand, “Young Master Sun is joking. You are also a businessman. You should know that you can’t just look at the profits when doing business. You have to look at the risks too.”

"Hahaha... You're too kind, too kind. Boss Ding is indeed very righteous. I admire you, I admire you..." Sun Yixie ended the test with a sly smile and satisfaction.

"Haha... You flatter me, Young Hero Sun is no less impressive." Ding Buzhu replied with a smile, as if nothing had happened.

Even the Three-Character King couldn't stand their dog-like sympathy anymore. After remaining silent for a while, he finally spoke up and asked, "And then?"

Yes, the people in this room have temporarily gained each other's trust and formed an alliance, but given the current situation, what should they do next?

At this moment, it was Jiang Muchan who brought up an idea that probably only popped into the mind of a master thief: "I say... have you all ever heard the saying, 'The thief never comes back'?"

Everyone present was intelligent, and they all understood what Xiao Jiang meant when he asked the question.

Thus, tonight's events unfolded... a second exploration of Wudang Mountain.