Chapter Eighty-Seven: The Tianji Society

  Zi Yun Ge. This is a wine house that exists only in rumors within the capital, and hardly anyone knows its exact location except for a few people. However, Jiang Xia is currently drinking with Zhang Yong in the most luxurious Zi Qi Dong Lai Ju of Zi Yun Ge.

  This Purple Cloud Pavilion is actually a "private club" opened by Zhang Yong, from the opening to now has never been publicly open for business, only a few people who Zhang Yong thinks are very important will be brought here to play, and then give them an identity plaque, so that they can come at any time when they are interested.

  Jiang Xia didn't think much of the Purple Cloud Pavilion at first when Zhang Yong brought him here. First, it was located in a remote area outside the capital city, and the location was somewhat out of the way. Then, from the outside, it looked completely ordinary, even giving people a feeling of being somewhat dilapidated.

  However, after entering the Purple Cloud Pavilion, Jiang Xia suddenly felt that things were different inside. The scenery behind the high walls was completely different from the outside. After entering, he stepped on a purely handmade Persian carpet, which was extremely valuable even in later generations, let alone in the Ming Dynasty. On the carpet, two rows of maidservants knelt, and it was clear that they had been carefully selected, each with a beautiful face and a seductive figure. They wore almost transparent thin gauze, their beautiful figures faintly visible, almost completely exposed.

  In the hands of the maids were various pastries and fruits chilled with ice, as Jiang Xia passed by, he casually picked a grape from one of the maid's fruit plates and put it in his mouth. The maid immediately stood up and silently followed behind Jiang Xia.

  Jiang Xia didn't understand what it meant, and Zhang Yong didn't explain either.

  Afterwards, Jiang Xia followed Zhang Yong to the Ziqi Donglai residence. The maid also followed and entered the house, standing behind Jiang Xia. Jiang Xia finally couldn't help but ask Zhang Yong what was going on. Zhang Yong laughed and said: "You chose the fruit from her plate, which means you chose her. Don't worry, she's still a virgin. If you're interested, she'll be yours today. After playing with her, if you like her, you can take her back with you. If you get bored, you can send her back too."

  Jiang Xia heard that there were still these details and smiled, shaking his head repeatedly, saying it was unnecessary.

  When he saw Jiang Xia's appearance, Zhang Yong burst out laughing and then waved his hand to let the maid go. He picked up a cup of fine wine from the table and said to Jiang Xia: "Come on, good brother, this time you've helped your brother out of a big trouble."

  Jiang Xia also raised his wine glass and touched it with Zhang Yong's, "Brother Zhang is being polite, you've helped me out a lot, if not for that I'm afraid I wouldn't have passed the Liu Jin hurdle."

  "If it can't be done, then so be it. As long as you follow me, Brother Jiang, I guarantee that Liu Jin won't dare touch a hair on your head." Zhang Yong said. It was clear that he wanted to pull Jiang Xia into his own camp very much.

  Jiang Xia smiled slightly and shook his head, saying: "Brother Zhang, after this incident, I am already working under your command. However, I have just gained Liu Jin's trust, and in my opinion, the best approach now is for me to continue infiltrating the Eastern Depot. This way, if Liu Jin wants to do anything to you, Brother Zhang, I can alert you in advance, so we can respond accordingly and avoid being caught off guard."

  Jiang Xia's proposal was also Zhang Yong's original idea. Now that he heard Jiang Xia bring it up, what reason did he have to disagree? He immediately became excited and said: "Good, good...... Then from now on, I'll have to trouble my brothers to help me a lot more. If we can defeat Liu Jin, I definitely won't forget the kindness of my brothers."

  "Zhang Dage was being polite..." Jiang Xia and Zhang Yong once again raised their wine cups together and took a sip.

  After coming out of Zhang Yong's Ziyun Pavilion, Jiang Xia finally breathed a sigh of relief. Now he has gained the trust of both Liu Jin and Zhang Yong, temporarily avoiding the threat of having to take sides. However, Jiang Xia also knows that now he is like walking on thin ice, trying to please both parties at once, and one misstep might offend both. But for now, he can't think about so many things, he can only take it one step at a time.

  At the same time as Jiang Xia returned to the capital city, something unexpected was discovered outside the back door of the Marquis of Moyang's residence.

  Liu Qingyun has been staying indoors for some time, because his family spent a lot of money to invite a divine doctor from Yunnan to help him treat the injury in his lower body.

  The divine doctor is indeed a divine doctor, after careful treatment, the small doppelganger of Liu Qingyun that had not been listening to orders for several days finally started to perk up. Especially today, as soon as he got out of bed in the morning, Liu Qingyun felt something was off. He reached down and touched it, and suddenly felt a surge of refreshing energy rush to his head, it's hard!

  After confirming the fact, Liu Qingyun didn't say another word and immediately changed his clothes to prepare for going out. This time he traveled light, only bringing a stack of precious notes and two personal bodyguards. After exiting from the back door, Liu Qingyun glanced at the Cuifeng Building, which was his favorite place to go, and thought to himself: "Cuifeng, I'm coming, you must be anxious after not seeing me for so long."

  No sooner had this thought occurred to him than several strong gusts of wind struck.

  Liu Qingyun's two guards had just felt something was off, when suddenly two swords had already been thrust into their backs, directly piercing through their bodies and coming out from the front of their chests.

  Lau Ching-yuen had a faint feeling that something was amiss, he turned his head over...

  Nor did he know what he saw, anyway, a white light flashed and his throat was already cut out with a big mouth. Then another person took out a large knife and swung it forcefully, Liu Qingyun's head was beheaded instantly.

  Five men in black fled quickly, leaving behind three corpses at the scene, two of which were intact and one was a headless corpse.

  Near Xizhimen, inside a large household with the surname Wang.

  The Wang family's mansion was very spacious and occupied a large area. The neighbors on both sides of the house knew that the Wang family was doing business, but judging from the security situation inside the Wang family's mansion, their business was definitely not simple.

  The Wang family mansion was a three-entry, three-exit compound with gardens and several rows of outhouses. At this moment, two rows of people were standing beside the chairs in the central hall without daring to sit down, looking at each other as if waiting for someone.

  "Ah......" Accompanied by a lazy yawn, a seventeen or eighteen-year-old young man wearing a bright yellow satin long gown walked into the main hall. The young man directly walked to the middle of the main hall and sat down on the main seat, and the people standing in two rows on both sides of the hall immediately knelt down and saluted: "Greetings, Young Master Wang!"

  The young man swept his eyes over the crowd and waved his hand, saying, "Alright, let's get up."

  "Thank you, Your Highness." Everyone stood up, and after the young prince gave a slight nod, they dared to sit down in their chairs.

  So Jiang Xia should be able to recognize him at a glance, and this young prince was none other than Zhu Houxi, the eldest son of King Xingxian, who had been brutally beaten by him on the street that day. It's only been a few days since then, so the redness and swelling on his face have not completely faded away, making him look somewhat disfigured.

  Zhu Houxi glanced at the middle-aged man sitting in the first position on his right hand side and asked, "He Shu, how did the matter I let you handle last time go?"

  A middle-aged man known as He Shu immediately stood up and saluted Zhu Houxi, saying: "As for the young king's words, the Mouyang Marquis's internal guards are very strict, so I didn't dare to make a move inside the marquis's mansion. However, our people have already found out who Liu Qingyun is, and they are currently waiting outside the mansion. As soon as Liu Qingyun comes out, our people will definitely be able to bring back his head."

  "Alright, this matter must be dealt with swiftly. Whoever dares to strike at me, I will make sure he dies without a place to rest his bones!" Zhu Houxi said furiously, his eyes flashing with murderous intent.

  After taking two deep breaths and calming down his emotions, Zhu Houxi asked: "Have all the masters of the Tianji Association arrived?"

  "There are fifty experts in total, and they have all arrived." Heiyou replied.

  Zhu Houxi nodded slightly, "This time I came to the capital is to celebrate the birthday of the current emperor. It's said that this year the emperor will gather one hundred nuns on top of Desheng Gate to throw embroidered balls to one hundred monks. At that time, the emperor himself will also appear on the city gate tower of Desheng Gate. When the time comes, our fifty masters will take advantage of the chaos and surely be able to kill the emperor with one move."

  Once the Emperor dies, the world will inevitably be in great chaos. My father, the King, has already discussed with the Commander-in-Chief of Anlu State and once the Emperor dies and the capital is thrown into chaos, our Xingxian Palace will join forces with Anlu State to gather 100,000 troops and march straight into the capital. At that time, since the Emperor has no heir, our Xingxian Palace will be the closest relative of the imperial family, so when my father ascends to the throne, it will be justified. And at that time, I will be the Crown Prince, haha...

  "Wishing Young King Wang great success in his endeavors and an early ascension to the throne." The people in the main hall all knelt down on the ground, paying their respects to Zhu Houxi.

  Zhu Houxi nodded and then asked the middle-aged man surnamed He, "Hey Uncle He, isn't it possible to find two somewhat pretty women in this big city? I've been here for so many days and all the ones you've introduced me to are just mediocre and uninteresting."

  He Qizheng was slightly embarrassed, as everyone's aesthetic appreciation for women is different, so how could he know what kind of appearance Zhu Houxi likes?

  Just as He Qi was in a difficult situation, a young man next to him leaned into his ear and whispered: "Chief Helmsman, have you forgotten about Ru Xue? That girl has a good figure after all."

  "Like frost?" He Qiyan said in a low voice: "It's been a long time since Rusen has contacted our Tianji Association, is there any way to find her?"

  That young man chuckled and said, "Has the Grand Master forgotten? Although Ruo Xue doesn't have any contact with our Tianji Association, she still exchanges letters with her master. Why don't we go find her master and let him summon her to the main hall?"

  He Qiutu's eyes lit up as soon as he heard the young man's suggestion, and he immediately bowed to Zhu Houxie: "Don't worry, Your Highness, I will do my best to find a girl that satisfies you."

  "Good. Uncle He is indeed a good helper for our Xing Xian Wang Fu. If the great cause can be achieved in the future, the position of Minister of War will definitely be Uncle He's." Zhu Hou Xi said with great satisfaction.

  Just then, the five black-clad men who had gone to assassinate Liu Qingyun returned. One of them shouted loudly: "Your Highness, Grand Master, it's done."