Zhuge Liang's Journey to Dominate the World: Starting from Another World

Even when Zhu Bajie rode his flying spirit beast around the city several times, Kongming deliberately let him go, his purpose being to let the other side know that he had arrived in the county town.

Rather than passively defending, he preferred to take the initiative; his intention was to lure out the people sent by Du Ruhui…

Jinshan County, though having just been ravaged by war, quickly returned to peace.

Ordinary people know they can't control the situation, so they can only go with the flow or flee to avoid trouble.

A guqin shop called "Qinyunzhai" in the city has always enjoyed a great reputation.

But for some reason, the previous manager had disappeared. According to the new manager, he was afraid that the imperial army would invade, so he returned to his hometown to avoid disaster and handed over the music shop to him.

The new manager, dressed in white, sat beside a guqin (a traditional Chinese stringed instrument), and appeared to have a refined and scholarly air.

At this moment, two people looked around and walked straight into the music shop.

"Wu Guanqing, will your method work?" one of them asked with some skepticism.

“There are many cultivators in this city now, and even more experts in the army. Do you have a better way? We can only outsmart them, we can’t be reckless!” Wu Guanqing smiled slightly, gently plucked the strings of his zither, and produced a few melodious tunes, as if to soothe the two of them’s impatience.

"But waiting around like this isn't a solution. Look, we've been here for several days, and we don't even know what the people in the prefect's mansion look like!"

Wu Guanqing stood up and continued, "This 'Qinyunzhai' is quite famous in this city. On ordinary days, scholars and literati come here to make friends by playing the qin. I have found out that Zhuge Kongming is a person who likes music. He may come here after hearing about it."

"Dealing with you bunch of pedantic scholars is such a pain!" complained the elder of the Five Poisons Sect.

"Don't keep coming to my shop. Go back to your stationery store, and maybe someone from the prefectural governor's office will come out to buy stationery! You can recommend a few items to them then. Don't rush this!"

It turned out that these three people were the cultivators from the three sects that Du Ruhui worshipped. In order to make the assassination successful, each of the three sects dispatched a Golden Core stage elder.

The refined cultivator called Wu Guanqing was a Golden Core elder of the Ju Kui Sect.

The other two are elders of the Dayan Sect and the Five Poisons Sect. Last time, when Du Ruhui's son, Du Qingfeng, was calling for reinforcements in Leizhou, these three arrived a step too late, resulting in Du Qingfeng's death. This time, they volunteered to go and try to atone for their sins.

It must be said that Wu Guanqing's thinking was correct. There must be cultivators from the Jade Cauldron Sect and the Heavenly Thunder Sect guarding the military camp. If they rashly rushed in, they would definitely not return.

Before taking action, he did a lot of research and had a pretty good grasp of Kongming's preferences. He also happened to be obsessed with music.

So he quickly came up with a plan to get close to Kongming in this way.

As for stationery shops, the demand for writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones is enormous, whether in the military or in the prefectural government.

The shops they acquired were the best in the entire county, making them the places with the best chance of speaking with Kongming's people. The resulting butterfly effect would then be relatively obvious.

As expected, two days later, a woman arrived at the stationery store with several plainly dressed attendants, wanting to purchase a large quantity of paper and ink.

Wu Guanqing stood at the entrance of Qinyunzhai, staring at the stationery shop across the street. As someone skilled in intelligence, he recognized the woman in the shop at a glance.

Wu Guanqing's eyes gleamed with shrewdness. He observed the woman's actions discreetly, secretly planning his next move.

As the woman stepped into the stationery store and began carefully selecting her items, Wu Guanqing's lips curled into a barely perceptible smile.

He knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He never expected that a princess would personally come out to make purchases. He had also heard about the relationship between Li Muling and Kongming.

Wu Guanqing slowly stepped into his Qinyunzhai, his fingertips lightly plucking the strings, and a melodious guzheng tune immediately flowed out.

The melody, tinged with sorrow and anticipation, seems to penetrate the heart and touch the soul of every listener.

Upon hearing the sound, Li Muling involuntarily stopped what she was doing. She turned her head slightly, looking in the direction from which the music was coming, a hint of curiosity and surprise flashing in her eyes.

"This young lady must be new to the county town. This 'Qinyunzhai' is the most famous musical instrument shop in the county town, and it even has many rare musical scores..."

Seeing that the other side had successfully attracted Li Muling's attention, the Five Poisons Sect elder tried his best to recommend her.

“Oh? Qin Yun Zhai? I have some knowledge of music, but I hadn’t noticed this place before.” Li Muling replied softly, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes.

Then, she gracefully walked towards the Qin Yun Zhai across the street.

Wu Guanqing closed his eyes and concentrated, as if nothing in the world could break his heartstrings, but in reality he was panicking, because this was a key part of his plan.

As the music ended, Wu Guanqing slowly opened his eyes. "Is this young lady here to choose a zither or a musical score?"

"Shopkeeper, your musical skills are superb. I was simply drawn in by the music!" Li Muling smiled slightly, her gaze sweeping over the antique musical instruments in the shop.

Wu Guanqing was secretly delighted, but he kept a straight face and said slowly, "This zither is called 'Youlan' and is the prized possession of my Qinyunzhai. It can communicate with people's hearts and cannot be obtained by anyone but those with a special affinity. Since you, Miss, are destined to have 'Youlan', why not give it a try?"

As he spoke, Wu Guanqing gently took the 'Youlan' guqin from the shelf and carefully handed it to Li Muling.

"Shopkeeper, you misunderstand. Although I have some knowledge of music, I am not an expert."

"Could it be that Miss has come for the one she loves?"

Upon hearing this, Li Muling blushed. She took the guqin, her fingertips lightly touching the strings, and a warm sensation instantly spread throughout her body.

"It is indeed a fine zither!" Li Muling exclaimed.

She knew that Kongming loved music, and if she gave him this zither, it would be a fair exchange for the help he had given her brother.

Seeing that the fish had taken the bait, Wu Guanqing was secretly pleased, but he remained calm and continued, "If you are giving this zither away, I will not sell it. But if the recipient is just a layman who has only a superficial understanding of music, wouldn't that be a disgrace to my fine zither!"

After Wu Guanqing finished speaking, he secretly observed Li Muling's reaction, looking for the most suitable opportunity.

“My master is a master of music. This zither will surely not go to waste if it is with him!” Li Muling argued vehemently when she heard the shopkeeper say this.

"Oh? My Qin Yun Zhai is hosting a unique gathering of friends through the zither on the fifth day of next month. I wonder if your husband would be interested?"

"I can't make that decision myself. I'll have to ask around later!" Li Muling replied, gently stroking the body of the "Youlan" zither.

"That's a pity. When I acquired this guqin, I made a wish to find it a master who understands it. So please forgive my rudeness, but I'm afraid this guqin cannot be sold today!" Wu Guanqing said with a troubled expression...