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nLate at night, a lot of people were carrying out their tasks outside, but the top two leaders, Shi Qingzhou and Long Xiaoyuan, didn’t participate. They were staying in the inn.

n“Qingzhou, aren’t you worried?” Long asked with a smile.

nShi smiled. “We’ve sent so many troops there. If they still can’t make it, I’ll have nothing to say.”

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nLong smiled. “All the guards have been sent out. Qingzhou, do you think someone will come to assassinate us tonight?”

nHearing the question, Shi shook his head. “I don’t know.”

nLong was looking forward to it somehow. “I wish someone would come tonight.”

n“Why?” Shi was confused.

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n“At least it would show that the person behind the scenes would fight to the death.”

nShi kept silent for a while and then said, “But what if he isn’t going to do anything?”

nLong sighed. “That would show that the situation is pretty grim, since our enemy can stand the losses here.”

nShi added, “And they must have had many secret forces.”

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n“That’s right.” Long curled his lips and said, “What’s more, message from the imperial palace said that it’s very peaceful over there, which is really abnormal.”

nShi said softly, “You doubt that their leader has already abandoned the Tianyin post and Zhou family?”

n“If only that were the case.” Long sighed. “But how can he abandon the forces here for no reason?”

nShi frowned. “I don’t quite understand what you mean.”

nLong said softly, “Qingzhou, the person behind the scenes is very cunning. He probably has found that we made a lot of deployment this time. He also failed to assassinate us. Since the people of Tianyin post can’t be saved, it’s better for him to just give up on them. This man… is indeed… scheming.”

n“It’s true that we’ve made some deployment, but if those people in the palace act together, won’t we also be very dangerous?” Shi still didn’t understand.

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n“Alas.” Long sighed. “You belittled the influence of Shi family.”

nShi was stunned. “Those people knew that my father was there and they wouldn’t succeed, so they just gave up?”

n“That’s right.” Long nodded. “With your father there, no ordinary conspiracy will succeed. Maybe the several Wangyehs would take action… But do you remember the message from Zhou Huan?”

n“The real powerful leader behind the scenes is not from the imperial court.” Shi said slowly yet firmly.

nLong nodded. “Right… This is what worries me most… From our point of view, among the several Wangyehs, the most powerful one is the First Wangyeh, but he’s already dead and obviously, he was murdered by others. Hu Qingyuan is quite capable. He found some clues from the case of the First Wangyeh. But those clues point to Eastern Darkness and Northern Barbarians. The truth has been covered by the First Wangyeh’s death.”

nShi kept silent for a moment, and then said, “If some things have been done, there must be some traces left. We will find them sooner or later. At least we can be sure that those who killed the envoy of the Northern Barbarians and the First Wangyeh were the same group of people.”

n“Now the second bunch of envoys of the Northern Barbarians has also arrived, right?” Long asked.

n“Mhmm.” Shi nodded. “They arrived yesterday.”

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n“Yesterday?” Long frowned.” Why took them so long?”

nShi burst into laughter. “They walked slowly. Of course it took them a long time.”

nLong raised his eyebrows, “Hmm? What do you mean, Qingzhou?”

nShi said, “I’m not sure, but I think the death of the envoy may have something to do with the Northern Barbarians. They walked slowly. If they wanted to do anything along the way, they could do a lot of things.”

nLong blinked, and then held Shi in his arms.

n“But it doesn’t matter… No matter what they want to do, we’ll just watch them closely. I don’t believe they’ll defeat us. Look, we’ve solved the problem this time, haven’t we? If they dare, we’ll continue to fight against them. Let’s see how many times they’ll do this. We won’t stop until they dare not to do it again!”

nShi thought about it and nodded slowly. “It’s not a wise idea, but it still works well.”

n“Yes.” Long smiled. “Qingzhou, you also think so? In addition, I don’t worry about the Northern Barbarians. They’re no match for us at all. Your father is guarding the border, so don’t worry about them. As for the Eastern Darkness… Humph. There are also our men there.”

nShi was confused. He blinked and said, “What do you want to do?”

n“We don’t want to make them revolt, but we can make some trouble for them, some small trouble that won’t cause much real harm.”

n“Hmm?” Shi’s eyes narrowed slightly. “What do you mean?”

n“Those who want the land are all rulers and only the usurpers will covet other people’s land. However, since ancient times, the most important thing for a ruler is actually the people’s support. Tell me. How many people want to fight on the battlefield?” Long smiled.

nShi understood what Long said. “So, you want to mold the public opinion in Eastern Darkness?”

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n“That’s right.” Long nodded. “I didn’t want to do this earlier, but since they’ve started to bully us, then I’ll let the people there know that their ruler don’t want them to live a good life. He only focuses on expanding his territory and the common people’s lives have been ruined… I don’t believe that their emperor can still remain calm facing such a big trouble!”

nShi laughed, “That’s a good idea.”

nLong said with a smile, “Right. So, we need a good plan which will save us a lot of troubles.”

nShi smiled and gently touched the corner of Long’s eye.

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