Translator: Kazeyuki_ Editor: Jimmy_

Gou Sheng was faithfully acting like a qualified dog. At least with regards to the biting part, he performed with the ability that a fighting dog should have.

After some planning and decorations, the news of how the Xu family had betrayed the Bai Yue Country was spread far and wide and caused an uproar throughout many places. Officials of the River County immediately sent people to the Qin house to take in the criminals.

From Patriarch Xu Sanli to the servants, in total, thirty-two had been taken alive during the raid on the Qin. More than twenty people had died and sixteen more had escaped after setting fire to the stores.

The mighty Xu, formerly of the Wealthy Class and who had enjoyed superior status, had become criminals locked in jail overnight. And they had been sentenced to death.

From people of the Xu, people had found letters between the Elders of the Xu family and one of the Feudal Lords in Great Wu Country. Additionally, escape routes were also present as evidence.

The entire family of the Qin were witnesses since they were the targeted victims of the attack. The Xu had been caught red-handed.

Since the people and evidence were present, the government spent almost no effort in conducting investigations. After a short round of torture, the weak people of the Xu revealed everything and blurted out all the big and small secrets.

The government in River County immediately sent out official orders to all states in Redwood Royal Territory asking that they asked assist in catching the escaped traitors.

This way, the group of the Xu had nowhere to hide. Plus, since their people had already revealed their escape routes, they had ran into the traps set by the government.

The rest of the criminals were all taken back to River County for questioning. After some interrogation, the case was quickly settled. The records were sent to the higher-ups, and soon, it reached the royal table of the Emperor.

Usually, common crimes were overseen by state officials. However, this form of high treason required the Emperor to make the final decision.

Of course, such treason was the most sensitive. After the Emperor had read through the report and conducted his investigations, he became furious since the evidence were clear and there was not a trace of mistake. Thus, he lay down the order and sealed it with his royal sign—Behead immediately with no forgiveness!

Then, he also sent out an imperial edict that ordered a thorough investigation within Redwood Royal Territory. Mainly, he wanted a stricter investigation on those families that had a tight connection with the Xu.

Overall, no innocents would get a false accusation. However, no collaborators would get away easily.

…

No matter how much things had changed in the outside world, Qin Wushuang stayed at the Qin house. Each day, besides practicing martial arts, he would perform acupuncture on the Da Xi Matriarch.

It was clear that the Da Xi Matriarch enjoyed the quietness in the Qin home since it was so close to nature.

And Da Xi Ming, under such environment, was like a fish back in the water. Besides, he was accompanied by a beautiful woman. Thus, the more he indulged in pleasure and the more he forgot about home and duty.

Each day, Qin Wushuang patrolled the area. He could not forget that “Demon” described by his sister. If this demon was still watching them in the dark, then Da Xi Ming would surely be the next target for the “Demon” to attack as he had been staying every day at the Qin house.

However, nothing had happened after many days.

The government and the Zhen Wu Holy Place had sent people to the Qin house to take evidence and to comfort them. A lot of things had been happening after the Xu had committed treason.

…

“Wushuang, is my arm really going to be restored to how it was before?” Qin Lianchuan was extremely impressed by his nephew.

“Uncle Lianchuan, how would it be enough to only let it become normal again?” Qin Wushuang revealed a bright smile.

These days, he had been investigating Qin Lianchuan’s body functions via inner Qi. He discovered that his uncle’s body function to be unyielding. Regardless of tendons, bones, muscles, they were all in a perfect condition.

“Wushuang, you mean?”

‘Uncle, you also saw that a few people from the mere Xu were enough to put our home in extreme danger. In the end, the Qin house needs more elite warriors.”

“Elite warriors…” Qin Lianchuan chewed on this word and felt a trace of shame. As the captain of the household guard, he was only at the peak of Stage Nine of the Power Force. When compared to the elite warriors, he could not stand on the same ground with his current strength.

Suddenly, Qin Lianchuan seemed to have understood some meaning from Qin Wushuang’s smile. With a stunned expression, he looked at this nephew that was becoming even more mysterious and said: “Wushuang, could it be, you are…”

“Uncle, you’ve guessed right. The Qin residence not only need a team of household guards but a wolf pack! Not only do they need to have the temperament of wolves and tigers, but they must also possess the fierceness, toughness, and the combat abilities of them! And you, Uncle Lianchuan is the best candidate for the leader of this wolf pack!”

“Me?” Qin Lianchuan’s gaze could not help but stop on his broken arm. He smiled bitterly: “Wushuang, I am extremely loyal to the Qin. But, in my entire life, I am afraid…”

Qin Wushuang laughed: “Uncle, if I remember it correctly, you are only forty-two years old, right? Your life is still long. How about it, after lunch, gather all the guards and assemble at the training ground. I have something to say.”

Although they did not know what Qin Wushuang intended, after the battle with the Xu, everyone had nothing but admiration for Qin Wushuang, the one and only heir, from the bottom of their hearts.

Since Qin Wushuang had spoken, of course, Qin Lianchuan gave the order.

He watched his nephew’s leaving back where all his actions, movements and speech showed an imaginable calmness that belied his years. His nephew even gave out a sense of mysteriousness that he could not figure out.

Anyways, Qin Lianchuan was happy for his brother—Big Brother Lianshan has an heir!

…

Gou Sheng had been waiting for some time after Qin Wushuang had returned to his room.

“Young Master.” When he saw Qin Wushuang, Gou Sheng immediately greeted him with eagerness.

“How did you do the things I asked you to do?”

“The news has already spread out through a variety of channels. It was done in utmost secrecy. I promise, no one would be suspicious that the Qin house had spread this news.” Gou Sheng was smart because he knew while holding higher positions, acting without arrogance was the most appropriate behavior as an underling. At the moment, he only told the truth without a trace of arrogance.

Qin Wushuang saw everything as he nodded lightly: “Ok, good job on that. Right, in the Qin house, don’t speak as if you are a lowly person. You only have to treat yourself as a subordinate. I only need people that can do business, not people who speak pretty words.”

Inwardly, Gou Sheng felt happy when he heard these words. He knew that his status had changed in the Young Master’s eyes. At least, from the beginning, he had now returned to being a “human” from being a dog.

It was a good start. Inwardly, Gou Sheng felt grateful. He could see that although the Young Master was a strict person, he always did things within a boundary. He would never look down and despise subordinates.

“Young Master, since the Xi Men Feudal Lords had a close connection with the Xu during Family Class Evaluations, why not use this opportunity to put more suspicion on them?”

Gou Sheng still could not understand why the Young Master had only let him spread the rumors regarding how the Xu was only acting as a test subject for the Xi Men Feudal Lords. In fact, it was the Xi Men family that had colluded with the Great Wu Country. Actually, Gou Sheng had frantically made up all the rumors regarding how the Great Wu would crown the Xi Men with Royal titles, promising them the entire Redwood Royal territory and how the Great Wu wanted to devour the Bai Yue Country to upgrade to a upper-level Subordinate Country.

“You thought that only with my word, we could drag down the Xi Men?” Qin Wushuang asked.

“If not dead, we would make them become half-dead.” Gou Sheng was very confident in his negotiating skills.

“Half-dead?” Qin Wushuang shook his head, “That is not what I am after. It’s fine not to make a move, once I’ve decided to go against them, I must make sure it will be enough to destroy them, and not just leave them half-dead.”

Gou Sheng knew that Young Master had his reasons for doing it this way. However, after some in-depth thinking, he still felt confused. From Young Master’s tone, he seemed that he still did not want to have a falling out with the Xi Men Feudal Lords. If so, then why spread the rumors? It would not cause much harm, so how would it damage the Xi Men?

“Are you thinking that since we don’t want to fight head-on with the Xi Men Feudal Lords for now, then why are we spending our efforts spreading rumors?”

“I am afraid I don’t understand…”

“Nothing else, I am only fighting for time. If the Xi Men Feudal Lords had no flaws or trouble, maybe next time, the first thing they would do would be to deal with my Qin house. At the moment, I don’t want to fight them, yet, I cannot let them have the free time. Since we poured this bucket of dirty water onto them, regardless of how innocent they may be, they would undoubtedly be distracted by the rumours for a while. Presently, time is what I need the most. Of course, another use of the rumors would be to let the Xi Men to prevent them from taking actions against us. If they went ahead and attacked us now, then wouldn’t it mean that they were hiding something?”

Qin Wushuang’s words had opened Gou Sheng’s mind. He suddenly saw the light and endlessly admired the Young Master’s wisdom.

Such a skilled person, and such a wise move. It was hard to tell if it was real or a sham like the battles on a Go board. Before both parties had landed their move, they were already fighting against each other exteriorly in secret.