Looking for Qing Ya was not only about the matter of the backer behind Lingxi Zhai, but also about the current situation they had wanted to understand earlier, worried that the Earth Mother might come after them.
Now that both matters had come together, the three martial brothers had no choice but to run to Jinghong Palace again. This time, they had to find a way to locate Qing Ya first.
Yet when they ran to the entrance of Jinghong Palace and asked to announce their presence, the result was the same as before. The steward greeting guests at the door spoke politely but repeated the same words. “Three gentlemen, I truly apologise, but Master Qing has gone out on business and has not yet returned.”
Yu Qing asked, “Roughly when will he return?”
The steward smiled bitterly. “Sir, please do not make things difficult for me. What kind of person is Master Qing? How could his affairs be easily known by others? I am even less likely to know.”
After a round of polite words sent the three martial brothers away, the result was different from before. They discovered that the three brothers had not gone far, but had sat down on the opposite curb, sitting in a row and staring eagerly at this side.
The two gatekeepers on either side of the door gathered beside that steward. One said, “Steward Huang, has Master Qing actually been inside all along?”
The steward snorted, staring at the three brothers sitting across the road. “Do you not understand? He does not want to see them.”
The other gatekeeper said, “Why not just drive them away?”
The steward gave him a look. “You lot know nothing. If they want to sit by the roadside, let them sit. If they come over, deal with them politely. Whatever you do, do not provoke them.”
Some things he could not say carelessly. On the night Wang Wentian was taken away by the Nether Messengers at Jinghong Palace, when the commotion started he had also run to the scene. At that time, he had personally seen those three fellows sitting by the roadside opposite. Moreover, Pang Chengqiu had specifically warned them not to provoke them.
“Yes, understood.”
The two gatekeeping servants nodded repeatedly. They roughly understood. Those three must have some background. They were not ordinary people.
It was not hard to understand. People who could repeatedly and bluntly come looking for Qing Ya, could they be ordinary people?
Little did they know that Yu Qing, who was staring at this side, had already narrowed his eyes abruptly, closely watching the lip movements of their conversation.
Sitting by the roadside listening to the faint sounds of joyful singing and dancing drifting out from Jinghong Palace, Nan Zhu could not help sighing. “Speaking of which, we are people who have earned over a hundred million in a single day. When will we be able to enjoy ourselves like the people inside, throwing money around like dirt?”
Mu Aotie replied blandly, “Vulgar!”
Nan Zhu rolled his eyes. But arguing with this blockhead of a ninth brother was pointless. He turned back to look at Yu Qing, whose eyes were flickering as he pondered something unknown, and changed the subject. “I say, fifteenth brother, is it appropriate for us to look for Qing Ya for every matter, big or small? If I were him, I would probably be annoyed too. After all, we do not have much of a relationship.
Fifteenth brother, do not say I did not warn you. It is true that you have some leverage over him, but if you keep using that little bit of leverage to order him around, no one can endure it. If you really annoy him, this local snake is not easy to deal with. If you force him to silence us, that would not be fun.”
Yu Qing stared at the opposite gate and said slowly, “I am not so lacking in tact. I dare to bother him because I have a reason to dare. Rest assured, this local snake does not have the qualifications to fall out with us. Use him as much as we can.”
Hearing this, Nan and Mu turned their heads to look at him simultaneously, both with surprised and puzzled expressions.
Nan Zhu naturally asked, “How so?”
Yu Qing said, “Because I have grasped this snake’s vital point.”
Nan Zhu immediately said with dissatisfaction, “Do not speak in riddles in front of us two. What is the situation?”
Yu Qing looked around, raised his hand to cover his mouth, and lowered his voice further. “This snake might be raised by someone else. He should have another master behind him. When I came last time to get medicine, I accidentally overheard his conversation with the proprietress inside.”
He told the two senior brothers about the conversation content he had accidentally discovered when he came to get White Luosha last time. He only said he had overheard it by accident, not that he had seen it through the Word Observation Technique.
After hearing this, Nan and Mu were rather shocked. Nan Zhu asked doubtfully, “To be Qing Ya’s godmother, she cannot be young. Yet behind him hides an old woman plotting against us in secret. Who is it?”
Yu Qing said, “You ask me, who do I ask? If I ask Qing Ya, would he tell me?”
Nan Zhu asked, “Have you offended any women? And an old woman at that. Speaking of which, have any of us three offended such a person?”
Mu Aotie fell silent in thought.
Nan Zhu suddenly said, “Could it be the Earth Mother? Fifteenth brother, think about it. The matter with her female disciple, it seems quite possible. Apart from her, I cannot think of how we could have ever offended an old woman capable of commanding someone like Qing Ya.”
Yu Qing said, “If the Earth Mother wanted to deal with me, would she need to wait until now? Who knows who we have provoked. Ever since I learned there was some ‘godmother’ hiding behind him, I have had to suspect one thing. Was it really a coincidence that he and Wang Wentian joined forces to target us?
From what I heard, it is not only Qing Ya’s godmother, but also the godmother of Jinghong Palace’s proprietress Gu Qingzhao. And the incident happened right at Jinghong Palace. Furthermore, Gu Qingzhao threw dirty water on us. Gu Qingzhao and Jinghong Palace clearly participated in it. Now we all know Jinghong Palace’s background. That is not something the Young Sect Leader of Zheluo Mountain could command, especially getting Gu Qingzhao to cooperate in doing something that might ruin their reputation.”
Nan Zhu pondered, and understood too. His expression gradually grew solemn. “According to what you say, from the time Wang Wentian started looking for trouble with us, that godmother may indeed have already been involved. But wait, since you know someone is plotting against you, why are you rushing to put yourself in front of them? Are you looking for death?”
Yu Qing said, “If Qing Ya truly wanted to kill us, he would have done so long ago. With his strength and influence in the Mirage City, killing us would not be difficult. There would be no need to keep dragging it out, nor to go around in circles.” He shrugged. “Anyway, we are not as powerful as them, and we cannot win against them. Since that is the case, we might as well deliver ourselves to him to plot against. Rather than letting him idle and find trouble, causing us to be utterly confused about the situation, we might as well help him find trouble.”
In fact, he had been doing exactly that ever since he learned of it, including assassinating Wang Xuetang, which he had also dragged Qing Ya into playing along.
Nan Zhu worried, “Even if that is the case, is it really appropriate to let Qing Ya get involved in the Lingxi Zhai matter?”
Previously, not knowing that Qing Ya had this hidden agenda behind him, it had not mattered. Now that they knew he had ulterior motives, yet still let him get involved in such matters, he began to worry.
Yu Qing said, “It is not the only inappropriate thing we have asked him to do. What are you afraid of? Afraid he will not help us find that mysterious backer, or afraid he will take the opportunity to scheme?”
Mu Aotie suddenly interjected coldly, “Could it be that the iron masked person’s backer is targeting us again?”
The three of them instantly fell silent. It was not impossible. That was a painful memory, still fresh and unforgettable. Perhaps the mastermind wanted to replay the scene of searching for the Golden Ruins.
Yu Qing said, “If it really is that mastermind, for the present it might not be a bad thing. We would actually be safer. It should not be. If it were, the mastermind would want us to find it as soon as possible, rather than putting obstacles in our way to stop us.”
After speaking, he raised his chin towards the opposite gate. “Seventh brother, did you not want to go inside and enjoy yourself throwing money around? Today I will grant you your wish.”
Nan Zhu’s eyes lit up. “You are treating?” Then he seemed to come to his senses and scoffed, “What a joke. With the little money you have on you, it would not even be enough to fill their teeth. Alright, sitting by the roadside looking shabby is shabby, but it is still better than going in and being unable to pay, losing face.”
Yu Qing stared at the opposite gate and sneered, “I am not treating. Someone else is treating. That local snake is inside right now. He never left at all.”
The two senior brothers stared at him abruptly. Nan Zhu said, “How do you know?”
Yu Qing said, “Because I am smarter than you, and I can judge. Otherwise, why would the Sect Leader position be passed to me?” After speaking, he got up and left. “To be honest, I previously owed Qing Ya another twenty million. I do not mind owing a bit more. That bastard actually shrunk inside and played me for half a day. Go in and play to your heart’s content. Today we will also see the world.”
Owed another twenty million plus? Nan and Mu were shocked, but they quickly understood something and hurriedly got up to follow.
Just as Jinghong Palace’s entrance had sent off several carriages, the gatekeepers saw the three martial brothers coming again. One quickly turned back to call out, summoning that Steward Huang.
Yu Qing did not care whether he was Steward Huang or Steward Li. He confronted him and shouted, “Move aside!”
Steward Huang blocked them, repeatedly cupping his hands and saying, “Sir, Master Qing truly has not returned yet.”
Yu Qing said, “It is cold and desolate outside. Sitting is uncomfortable. Can I not go in to spend money and find some pleasure?”
Steward Huang was speechless. The gatekeepers on either side were also stunned.
However, Steward Huang quickly smiled again. “Sir, truly, I am not lying to you. Master Qing really has not returned. Please do not make things difficult for us.”
“Make things difficult?” Yu Qing’s brows rose. Suddenly he threw a punch towards the other’s face.
With a cry of pain, Steward Huang was caught off guard and smashed with a bloody face, staggering backwards.
“Hit him.” Yu Qing shouted and stepped forward to continue punching and kicking.
Nan and Mu were stunned for a moment before charging forward too. The three martial brothers joined forces to beat him up, punching and kicking, even knocking down the two gatekeepers who tried to intervene.
These people who greeted guests at the door were quite smooth and worldly in receiving guests, but their fighting ability was truly not up to much. It somewhat exceeded Yu Qing’s expectations. He had originally wanted to use the fight to tear down Jinghong Palace’s gate, but failed to achieve it.
However, there were many guards inside who were skilled at fighting. As soon as the commotion at the door started, several figures immediately swished out.
Just as these people were about to charge forward and attack, someone immediately shouted, “Stop!”
It was Pang Chengqiu appearing urgently, flashing to the entrance.
Yu Qing looked up and could not help a cold laugh. He knew someone inside had been watching him all along. Sure enough, as soon as he caused trouble, they showed up. Still, he waved his hand to signal Nan and Mu to stop.
The men inside quickly dragged the three injured people away.
People and carriages coming and going outside all stopped to watch the excitement. They were all amazed. Someone actually dared to cause trouble at Jinghong Palace’s entrance?
Pang Chengqiu’s gaze swept across the three martial brothers. He said in a deep voice, “Have you picked the wrong place to cause trouble?”
Yu Qing said, “I wanted to go in to spend money and enjoy myself. They blocked me and would not let me in, saying that Qing Ya would not let me enter. I thought, how could Qing Ya possibly say such words? After all, Qing Ya is not a person of Jinghong Palace. So I helped Master Qing teach them a lesson.”