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nThe leader of the envoy delegation who got murdered was called Muzar.

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nIt was said that Muzar was depressed and drank with his companions in the delegation last night.

nThink about it, drinking with his companions? It was weird, wasn’t it?

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nRight, he might feel depressed. Okay, he came here to conduct a peace talk. His country was defeated, so it was understandable that he felt depressed.

nHowever, as an envoy bearing heavy responsibilities, he got drunk and was helped by others to go back to his room to sleep… Hadn’t he gone too far?

nMore importantly, Muzar got several servants to serve himself.

nAfter all, he was a special guest, wasn’t he?

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nBut, he drove them out of his room and hit two of them under the pretense of drunkenness.

nHe just got here to seek for peace. Wasn’t he too unbridled?

nLong read the report of investigation process handed in by the Ministry of Punishment and then frowned.

nShi sat beside Long and asked subconsciously upon seeing this, “A little odd?”

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n“Eh. I feel he was literally looking for death,” said Long with a sneer. After some thoughts, he added, “Qingzhou, look at this, by the way. He hit two servants.”

n“Eh… did he do it on purpose?” asked Shi with his brows raised.

n“There is something more… I guess he didn’t hit them randomly…” murmured Long.

nHaving pondered over it for a while, Shi said, “I’ll investigate it.”

nLong said with a nod, “Let’s find out whom he hit.”

nShi ordered someone to investigate this. Shortly, the result was reported. Two menservants responsible for Muzar’s safety at night were beaten away that night.

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n“He really did it on purpose…” Long continued with coldness in his eyes, “But, did he beat them away to collude with anyone or finish his own life?”

n“Did he need to take so much trouble to commit suicide?”

nMuzar traveled a long distance and came here to kill himself? What was wrong with him?

n“Or he wanted to die within our borders?” Long made speculations.

nShi frowned. “If so, he could do it the moment he set foot on our land. Is there any difference between the two ways?”

nLong stroked his chin. “So… he actually made an appointment with someone?”

n“In that case, the murderer must be the one he had conspired with…”

n“Hmm, I suspect it’s one of our men,” Long said.

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nShi said with serious eyes, “Traitors…”

nLong smiled. “Those Wangyehs are quite suspicious. Before Northern Land started a war, they had already tried to collude with them. Now that Northern Land was defeated by us, are they willing to give up?”

nShi nodded. “It sounds possible indeed.”

nAfter they talked to each other for a while, Long said, “Well, let’s only keep this between us.”

nShi nodded in agreement. “Do I need to inform my father of this?”

n“You bet!” Long added with darkened eyes, “If Northern Land utilizes this as an excuse to start a war, your father has to be well prepared for it.”

nShi nod again. “Sure. Will you leave this matter to me?”

n“Yes, I will.” Long totally agreed with Shi.

nShi gently smiled and went to handle the matter.

nWhen Long read two imperial reports, one eunuch reported that Xu You came over.

nUnexpectedly, Xu looked preoccupied. “Elder brother, I received the message Fang sent to me by a pigeon.”

n“Who?” Long didn’t think of whom Xu was talking about at first.

n“Fang Shuoyang,” Xu said and took a pigeon and a paper-note out of his bosom.

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nLong somehow found the scene hilarious and couldn’t help twisting the corners of his lips. “The pigeon…”

n“I kept it when I first came to the world. I didn’t take it with me on purpose when I escaped from the fort. I had thought Fang would send it to me after he made a decision. I’ve received the pigeon, but the news…”

n“What did he write on the note?” asked Long immediately upon seeing Xu’s grave face.

nInstead of replying to Long, Xu passed the note along.

nWhen Long read it, he got stunned, for the words were written… in the Chinese phonetic alphabet.

nRight, it was the Chinese phonetic alphabet! “You taught him this?”

n“I said I created it in the form of secret codes,” Xu replied.

nLong nodded and found that it was quite good to use such a method to keep secrets.

nThe handwriting was a little messy and it read, “Strong enemies invaded the fort. Don’t come back and don’t trust anyone. Wait for me to look for you.”

n“Sky Hermit Fort was invaded?” asked Long in surprise. It was said that Sky Hermit Fort was quite mysterious in the Rivers and Lakes. More importantly, it was rather powerful, but based on the note sent by Fang, the young master of Sky Hermit Fort, strong enemies launched an attack against the fort, but who were them?

nLong frowned and asked, “What do you think?”

nXu shook his head with concerns. “I don’t know. Sky Hermit Fort is very powerful, but Fang Shuoyang still described them as strong enemies… it’s hard for me to imagine how strong they are.”

nLong was lost in his thoughts. Shortly, Shi came back after delivering the news to his father and raised his brows upon seeing Xu. He then asked while seeing Xu’s worried look, “What’s up? What happened?”

n“Elder Brother Shi.” Xu brightened his eyes and said, “Do you know about the enemies of Sky Hermit Fort?”

nShi fell into silence for a while and asked, “Haven’t you stayed there for six years?”

n“Yes.” Xu flattened his mouth and said, “But I have no idea about its enemies.”

nShi didn’t know what to say.

nLong sighed. “Something happened to Sky Hermit Fort. Fang Shuoyang passed a message along and said they were attacked by strong enemies, but we still don’t know the details yet.”

n“Oh? Revenge from the Rivers and Lakes?”

nXu felt frustrated. “I don’t know…”

nShi pondered over it and said, “I have some connections in the Rivers and Lakes and will ask them to look into this.”

n“Okay, okay.” Xu turned cheerful and said in a hurry, “Elder Brother Shi, I know you’re more awesome than elder brother. Thank you.”

nLong, “…” What did Xu mean by saying this? Xu should have kept it in his heart, but why did he have to speak it out loud?

nShi also felt speechless and glanced at Long with a faint smile. Your sworn little brother made you lose your face…

nLong’s face turned darkened.

nShi cleared his throat and said, “I’ll go give an order.”

nAfter Shi left, Xu asked, “Elder brother, Elder Brother Shi will absolutely find out what’s going on there, won’t he?”

nAbsolutely? Long nodded. Shi was the leading character in The Empress’s Way to the Throne where the matters concerning the Rivers and Lakes weren’t involved much.

nEven so, Long didn’t forget one sentence written thereof.

n“The emperor, Shi Qingzhou, actually controlled half of the Rivers and Lakes before succeeding to the throne. After he was enthroned, he controlled the entire Rivers and Lakes.”

nBased on this sentence, Long counted the time and guessed that Shi must have developed his force in the Rivers and Lakes by now!

nIn addition, if the plots went on as the book said, Shi had already killed the original emperor and was enthroned, okay?

n“Really? That’s good.” Xu could rest assured.

nLong asked with a darkened face, “What do you mean by saying ‘you know he’s more awesome than me’?”

n“Er…” Xu got tongue-tied and scratched his head. “Well, I’m telling the truth… besides, I think our minds are different from those of the real people here.”

nLong, “…” He really thought that Xu made him angry to death.

nThis afternoon, when Long and Shi were handling the imperial reports in the Qiankun Palace, Xu came over once again.

nXu said this time, “Elder brother, I wanna go out.”

n“Hmm? Why?” Long raised his brows.

n“The people from Sky Hermit Fort chased after me the other day, so I wanna arrest a couple of them and ask them how much they know about what’s going on there.”

n“Good idea… but…” Long squinted at Xu. “But, how can you arrest them given that you’re not good at martial arts?”

nXu said naturally, “Of course I can’t, so I wanna invite Elder Brother Shi to go with me.”

nLong, “…”

nShi raised his brows.

nXu said, “Elder brother, be generous! It will only cost Elder Brother Shi half a day.”

nLong slightly twisted the corners of his lips.

nShi directly nodded. “Mmm, I have nothing else to do, so I’ll help you with this.”

nLong, “…” Why did nobody ask his opinions?

nLong was directly ignored. After that, Shi and Xu got changed and went out.

nLong also wanted to follow them out, but his hands were tied, so he was left in the imperial palace.

nXu didn’t stop talking on their way out.

nFor example…

n“Elder Brother Shi, are you and elder brother really close?”

nShi smiled but said nothing.

nXu asked again, “Elder Brother Shi, what’s the most romantic thing elder brother has done for you?”

n“Romantic?” Shi raised his head and looked at Xu.

nXu explained, “Something makes you feel extremely happy… how to put it? Okay, let me explain its meaning to you first. Romance is that someone does something to make your heart beat faster and thereby you want to be with him.”

nShi paused for a moment and was reminded of the lake, the lanterns, and the promise Long made to him that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with him only…

nSeeing Shi fall into silence, Xu thought that there was a chance.

n“Elder Brother Shi, what were you thinking of?”

nShi said with a faint smile, “Nothing.”

nXu pressed his lips. “Elder Brother Shi, you’re a liar.”

nShi still wore a smile and changed the subject. “Don’t we get down to business?”

nXu pondered over it and said, “In the past, as soon as I showed up, they would chase after me. I don’t know where to find them actually. Or, will we go where it’s crowded?”

n“Okay.” Shi nodded in agreement. “Let’s go where the crowd like to go first. If they are still here, they’ll definitely follow us. Then, we go where it’s remote and they’ll make an action.”

nXu considered this a good idea and nodded. “Okay, let’s do it!”

nShi also nodded and followed Xu to where there were so many people…

nThey did nothing but stroll leisurely on the street.

nAbout 15 minutes later, Shi said, “Let’s go and find where there are fewer people.”

nXu instantly turned vigilant but found nothing suspicious. Thus, he asked in a low voice, “What’s up? Have they followed us?” Shi invisibly nodded. “Yes, I’ve found them.”

nXu said with his eyes brightened, “Elder Brother Shi, let’s find a place with less people!”

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