Outside the Heavenly Sea Pavilion!
Suo Lun and his party had completely packed their luggage. A full several hundred people’s procession was on the road, ready to depart.
Several dozen Shadow Pavilion martial arts experts, several hundred warriors, each with two horses, escorted two carriages. One was for Fu Yan Er and Qin Qin, the other for A Shi Luo’s two beautiful human dogs, one of whom was the sorcerer Yao Meng’s daughter.
Fu Yan Er held Qin Qin’s hand. She felt no sorrow of parting whatsoever. She was so happy she could fly, wishing she could immediately fly to Tianshui City. But looking at this several hundred people’s procession, she also felt that travelling slowly, letting people envy them along the way, would be even more glorious.
She had previously been the Fire Worship City Lord’s most beautiful granddaughter, and had enjoyed the pinnacle of wealth and honour.
But at seventeen, these days of prosperity had already ended. For the following six or seven years, she had lived a life of hardship, so her horizons and perspective had fallen to the level of an ordinary townswoman. Only, she was much more beautiful, that was all.
Suo Lun stood at the head of the procession, waiting for A Shi Liren to come for the final farewell.
Fu Yan Er held Qin Qin with one hand, while her other hand could not help but come over to link arms with Suo Lun.
Suo Lun pushed her away, but soon she linked arms again.
Suo Lun was annoyed by her, so he went to hold Qin Qin’s hand himself, walking to one side, farther from Fu Yan Er.
As a result, she immediately sidled up, both hands linking his arm, even pressing her full and firm bosom tightly against him.
Suo Lun gritted his teeth, his cheek twitching, but ultimately did not go mad.
Fu Yan Er saw Suo Lun’s almost maddened face and found it both beautiful and adorable. She loved it to death in her heart. Far from feeling ashamed, she instead gave a charming smile and leaned in to kiss him.
“Cousin, we two are cousins. Could you please be more dignified?” Suo Lun said speechlessly.
“We already have a child. What dignity is there left?” Fu Yan Er said proudly, glancing at Qin Qin.
And Qin Qin turned away from her mother. She also felt her mother’s skin was too thick, knowing no shame.
…
Soon, A Shi Liren appeared, holding A Shi Yuan Ba in her left hand and A Shi Nan in her right.
Looking at Suo Lun from afar, when there were still several dozen metres between them, she stopped, unwilling to approach Suo Lun, as if getting closer would contaminate her with his shameless and roguish aura.
“Go,” Liren said to the two children.
Immediately, Yuan Ba and A Shi Nan ran over.
One rushed into Suo Lun’s embrace, the other ran over to hold Qin Qin’s hand.
“Teacher, do you really have to go?” A Shi Yuan Ba’s eyes were red.
“Yes, your mother insists on driving me away,” Suo Lun said. “If I do not leave, she will directly turn hostile and kill.”
A Shi Yuan Ba cried, “But have you done anything wrong?”
Suo Lun said, “In matters between adults, it is hard to say what is right or wrong.”
Yuan Ba said, “Then will you still come to see me?”
Suo Lun said, “I will. Even if I am not here, I will compile what you should learn into booklets and send them over. I will also assign you study tasks.”
When A Shi Yuan Ba heard this, he immediately became much happier. As long as he and Teacher still had contact, as long as Teacher still taught him, that was good.
“Then, then what about Qin Qin?” A Shi Yuan Ba asked embarrassedly, looking towards Qin Qin.
Qin Qin looked up at him, then continued listening to A Shi Nan constantly talking.
Suo Lun leaned close to Yuan Ba’s ear and said, “I previously told your mother that after growing up, if fate still binds us, I would marry Qin Qin to you. Are you willing?”
Immediately, Yuan Ba’s face went red, and for a moment he could not speak.
He was precocious in mind, but his body was like other children. He was still just a child now, and did not quite understand matters in this area. But he also felt Qin Qin was very special. At first he always involuntarily wanted to bully her, then could not help but try to please her.
Suo Lun pinched his little face and said, “So after growing up, do not provoke other girls.”
A Shi Yuan Ba blushed even more, fidgeting. “I, I won’t…”
The former A Shi Luo had also been incomparably pure. He and Tao Su had been childhood sweethearts, and until his teens she had been his only first love.
But the terrible things A Shi Luo once experienced would definitely not be allowed to happen to this child A Shi Yuan Ba again.
“Teacher, do you really have to go?” A Shi Yuan Ba said sadly. “Now there are very, very many people opposing Mother. She is in great danger. Stay and help Mother.”
Suo Lun glanced at A Shi Liren again and said, “Your mother won’t allow it. If I do not leave, she will draw her sword and drive me out.”
When A Shi Liren saw Suo Lun still inciting the child at this time, she immediately said angrily, “Count Suo Lun, the sun is about to rise. You have a few minutes left. If you still do not leave, do not blame me for turning hostile and being impolite.”
Then, she drew her precious sword halfway.
Immediately, the three thousand Rouan City cavalry surrounding them also fiercely drew their great swords.
In an instant, the atmosphere was taut as a drawn bow.
If it truly reached the point of military expulsion, face would be too hard to save.
“Go, go, go…” Suo Lun said. “We go.”
Then Suo Lun said to Yuan Ba, “Take good care of Mother. Write to Teacher often.”
Yuan Ba held back his sobs, nodding desperately.
“Depart,” Suo Lun said.
Fu Yan Er impatiently carried Qin Qin onto the carriage.
The several hundred people’s procession began to move, leaving Rouan City.
Yuan Ba and A Shi Nan returned to Mother’s side. Yuan Ba looked at Suo Lun, constantly wiping his tears.
A Shi Nan simply hugged Mother’s leg and wailed loudly.
Suo Lun rode his horse, guarding beside Qin Qin’s carriage, thus passing by A Shi Liren.
In this final farewell, the two of them did not say half a word from beginning to end.
Rouan City had not yet publicly declared support and allegiance to Princess Ji Yan, so Suo Lun leaving Rouan City at this time counted as a failed mission.
Half an hour later.
Suo Lun’s several hundred men and horses had left the main city of Rouan!
…
A Shi Liren returned to her residence.
In fact, until now she still did not know why her father A Shi Mo had let her become City Lord of Rouan, when he had several other sons.
The reason A Shi Mo did this was simple, yet also complex.
Because A Shi Luo had always been his most doted upon, and most indebted to, child. From beginning to end, A Shi Luo’s position as heir had never wavered.
A Shi Luo was dead, so he naturally thought to pass the position of City Lord of Rouan to A Shi Luo’s son, that is, A Shi Yuan Ba.
Just as the Ming Dynasty’s founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang’s crown prince Zhu Biao died, and he passed the throne to his grandson Yunwen rather than his other sons.
But Yuan Ba was truly too small. He feared that at such a young age he would be harmed by others, so he first let A Shi Liren shield him from wind and rain, protecting Yuan Ba as he grew.
Of course, A Shi Mo had another thought.
That was hatred for the Divine Dragon Temple, while A Shi Zhuo and others were loyal to Ji Li, and Ji Li and the Divine Dragon Temple were completely in the same trousers.
Though he felt the hope of revenge was infinitely slim, A Shi Mo still hoped that a person who hated the Divine Dragon Temple would become the lord of Rouan City.
And at this time, the one who hated the Divine Dragon Temple most was naturally A Shi Liren.
So, before his death, A Shi Mo risked the world’s great disapproval and transitionally passed the position of City Lord of Rouan to A Shi Liren.
However, the consequences of his doing so were extremely severe.
A Shi Liren inheriting the position of City Lord as a woman already broke tradition. If no one took the lead in opposing it, that would still be fine, after all there was A Shi Mo’s final command and the King’s edict.
But now, there happened to be someone taking the lead in opposing A Shi Liren, and with considerable weight. This person was A Shi Zhuo.
Naturally, after learning of A Shi Mo’s final command, A Shi Zhuo went everywhere to串联. First he sought important members of the A Shi family, then sought high-ranking warrior lords and high-ranking officers of Rouan City.
His foundations ran too deep, his power too great, and each time he waved Ji Li’s banner in his lobbying.
So, in just a few days, most A Shi family members, high-ranking warrior lords, and high-ranking officers were all swayed.
These people all promised that they would sit by and watch A Shi Zhuo overthrow A Shi Liren, and throughout the entire process, would not obey any of A Shi Liren’s orders.
The entire process was truly incomparably smooth.
In just two short days, all high-ranking officers and high-ranking lords within Rouan City expressed their willingness to stand on A Shi Zhuo’s side.
A Shi Zhuo’s original plan was to depose A Shi Liren’s position as City Lord and directly pass the position to A Shi Yuan Ba.
But he discovered it was going so smoothly, so he already planned to go a step further, deposing A Shi Yuan Ba as well, and passing the position to several other sons of A Shi Mo.
Choosing and choosing again, he selected the most cowardly and powerless A Shi Ci. Choosing such a City Lord would make him even easier to control in the palm of his hand.
By then he, A Shi Zhuo, would not be City Lord, yet would surpass City Lord.
After His Highness Ji Li succeeded to the throne, he would find an opportunity to kill this A Shi Ci, then have the new King Ji Li issue an edict ennobling him, A Shi Zhuo, as the new City Lord of Rouan. Everything would follow naturally.
…
A Shi Liren had become the new City Lord for three days already.
But she was still in her own Liren residence, not having moved into the City Lord’s residence.
It was not that she did not move, but that not a single official from the City Lord’s residence came to report to her.
She had completely become a lone figure in Rouan City. In her hands she still only had the hundred-odd female warriors she had brought from the Eastern Kingdom.
A few days ago when driving Suo Lun away she could still mobilise several thousand soldiers, but now she could not move Rouan City’s soldiers at all.
She sent female warriors with tokens to the military camp to mobilise troops, but they were not listened to, because the officers were not in the camp and no one knew where they had gone. And the common soldiers did not recognise these tokens.
She sent people to summon the civil officials of the City Lord’s residence, but each one reported illness and stayed home.
She wanted to see her mother, Lady Li Zhi, but she said she had a headache and was unwell, unable to see anyone.
Now Liren, though honoured as City Lord, could not even enter the City Lord’s residence.
She could not mobilise a single soldier, could not see a single civil official.
Under A Shi Zhuo’s leadership, the entire civil and military officials of Rouan territory, the entire A Shi family were ostracising and rejecting her.
…
A Shi Zhuo was completely walking on air lately. He had been far too glorious and pleased with himself lately.
Though A Shi Liren was nominally City Lord, she was no different from a prisoner.
And he, A Shi Zhuo, was not City Lord, yet surpassed City Lord.
After A Shi Mo and A Shi Luo were gone, he had become even more glorious instead.
“Someone, dispatch three thousand troops to surround the A Shi Liren residence. Say that assassins have appeared in the city and we must protect the new City Lord’s safety,” A Shi Zhuo ordered. “No one is allowed to enter or leave the Liren residence. All food, clothing, housing, and travel will be completely controlled by us.”
“Yes,” a high-ranking military officer went out to mobilise troops.
Two hours later, three thousand soldiers surrounded the A Shi Liren residence watertight under the pretext of assassins appearing to protect the City Lord, not allowing anyone to enter or leave.
Though called protection, this was completely imprisonment!
Next was the final step, driving A Shi Liren down from the position of City Lord.
And the reason was very simple. A Shi Liren had committed adultery with the vassal Suo Lun, selling out Rouan City’s interests.
However, this charge could only be determined by one person, and driving A Shi Liren from her position could only be presided over by one person.
That was the matriarch of Rouan City, Lady Li Zhi, A Shi Mo’s wife.
As A Shi Liren’s mother, she was currently the most revered person in Rouan City. She had reason to convict A Shi Liren, and qualification to drive A Shi Liren from power.
But after all, she was A Shi Liren’s mother, after all she was A Shi Yuan Ba’s biological grandmother. How could she bear to do this to her own daughter and grandson?
But to drive Liren from power, the matriarch Lady Li Zhi was necessary.
…
“Mmm, mmm, mmm…”
“Ah, ah, ah…”
From a secret room came waves of delicate moans, waves of heavy panting.
“Sister-in-law, sister-in-law, you are still so beautiful. I am truly too satisfied…”
“Your skin is still so smooth, your breasts still so firm. That brother of mine truly did not know how to enjoy himself, actually letting you stand empty for over a decade. Fortunately you have this younger brother of mine, otherwise letting such a beauty keep an empty bed would truly be a waste of heaven’s gifts…”
The two people in the room were A Shi Zhuo and A Shi Mo’s wife, Lady Li Zhi.
A Shi Mo had not touched her for over a decade. Younger brother A Shi Zhuo took advantage of the opening, and had been committing adultery with his sister-in-law Li Zhi for many years.
His ability was truly formidable. A full quarter of an hour later, the wind and waves finally subsided.
However, his tastes were truly heavy. Li Zhi was already in her fifties.
“Sister-in-law, have you thought it through?” A Shi Zhuo asked while stroking Li Zhi.
Li Zhi said, “But after all, she is considered my daughter.”
“Not biological,” A Shi Zhuo said. “My brother had a child with that woman, then directly brought her to you to raise, that is all.”
Li Zhi said, “But after all, I also raised her.”
A Shi Zhuo said, “Has that cold appearance of hers ever shown the slightest bit of treating you as a mother? Moreover, she is now committing adultery with Suo Lun. Women turn outward. In a few years she will have sold everything in Rouan City.”
Li Zhi said, “But… Yuan Ba is after all my biological grandson.”
A Shi Zhuo said, “But he is also the son of that vixen Tao Su. That vixen was first with Little Luo, then later received elder brother’s favour, causing you to keep an empty bed.”
At these words, a trace of hatred flashed in Li Zhi’s eyes, hatred for her husband A Shi Mo.
A Shi Zhuo said, “Besides, can a grandson compare to a son? Little Ci is your biological son. Only with him as City Lord of Rouan will he better filially serve you. Let A Shi Liren be City Lord, will that cold woman pay you any mind? In the future when A Shi Yuan Ba becomes City Lord, he also will not pay you any mind.”
Li Zhi closed her eyes and thought for a good while, then said, “Then, then how do you plan to deal with Liren?”
“Nothing much, just put her under house arrest. We will not kill her,” A Shi Zhuo said.
Li Zhi looked at A Shi Zhuo and said, “It is a pity our son cannot see the light of day, otherwise…”
A Shi Zhuo’s heart rejoiced and he said, “Zhi Er, you should make your decision. In this world, only I am your closest person, and your son.”
Li Zhi nodded and said, “Very well. Tomorrow I will go depose A Shi Liren’s position as City Lord. Do you have witnesses?”
A Shi Zhuo said, “Yes, yes. They personally witnessed Suo Lun and A Shi Liren committing adultery. They even have portraits, vividly lifelike.”
A trace of unwillingness flashed in Li Zhi’s eyes, and a trace of resolution. “Good, good. Tomorrow, tomorrow we depose her!”
…
At this time, the Liren residence was surrounded watertight by three thousand soldiers.
A Shi Nan was after all a child, and was so frightened she cried directly.
A Shi Yuan Ba even tucked the flintlock pistol into his clothes, ready to protect his younger sister and mother.
The hundred-odd female warriors beside Liren were facing a great enemy, gripping their swords tightly.
Liren came to the door, wanting to push it open and go out.
“It is unsafe outside. Please return, my lady,” a female general said coldly, her expression firm and indifferent.
“You, are you putting me under house arrest?” A Shi Liren said coldly.
“We would not dare. It is for the lady’s safety,” that female general said.
With Liren’s martial arts, killing her way out would of course be very simple, but that would be no different from making a spectacle of herself.
At this time she truly deeply felt a sense of powerlessness. Though she had become City Lord, she was actually no different from a prisoner.
Not to mention being unable to command a single soldier, now even her personal freedom was being restricted.
She felt she had fallen into a tight encirclement, layer upon layer, and actually did not know how to break free.
Gripping the sword in her hand slightly, she once again told herself that using martial force to solve problems was the worst strategy. Returning to devise a good strategy was superior.
Then, she walked back into the room and lay down lazily on the bed.
At this time she was vexed and irritable. At first she had not even noticed, and only after lying down for a full several minutes did she feel that there was an extra person in the room.
Her eyes went cold and she sat up.
But the person she saw in the room was actually Yan Zi Yu.
Moreover, it was a very fake Yan Zi Yu.
Of course it was Suo Lun, and this time the disguise as Yan Zi Yu was not done by the sorcerer Yao Meng, but by his own hand, so it was completely full of flaws. Anyone could tell at a glance that he was not the real Yan Zi Yu.
Liren immediately gritted her teeth and said, “What have you come for? Do you think I truly dare not kill you?”
Suo Lun bent at the waist in a proper bow and said, “This student Yan Zi Yu pays respects to the City Lord of Rouan, Miss A Shi Liren!”