Great Li Martial God

In the hall lined with bookshelves and buried under mountains of documents, the silence was so complete one could hear a pin drop.

Faced with Fu Qiwen’s overwhelming and terrifying aura, Zeng Hai, prostrated on the floor, trembled from head to toe. He opened his mouth with difficulty, wanting to recount the matter of Li Zhu’s corpse once more.

But Fu Qiwen had appeared at his side at some unknown moment, and asked in a low, stern voice, ”Where is the Third Prince’s body now? Does anyone else know of this?”

Zeng Hai did not dare lift his head, and answered in a quavering voice, ”This subordinate has hidden the Third Prince’s body and then came to find you at the first opportunity, without telling anyone in the meantime.”

Fu Qiwen, his brows and hair half white, bore deep lines on his face, and his expression was grave beyond measure.

He had asked Li Musheng to help him deal with the Third Prince and the like, while he himself poured every bit of his attention into handling Tianjin Guards affairs and preparing for the extermination of Falling God Peak.

And this was how the man had helped?

He had actually gone and done away with the person he was meant to deal with, and the person he had done away with was another prince, no less.

The sheer audacity of it. How could he dare kill the Third Prince?

Fu Qiwen’s expression shifted through a succession of changes. A prince had died on his premises, and though he had not been the one to do it, he could hardly escape responsibility.Moreover, tracing it back to its root, it had been his own invitation to Li Musheng that had set all of this in motion.

Fu Qiwen had clawed his way up from the very bottom of the Tianjin Guards and navigated the halls of officialdom for many years, weathering every manner of storm and upheaval. Yet this kind of undeserved disaster was something he was encountering for the first time.

The hall remained silent for quite a while as Zeng Hai knelt on the ground in utter torment.

He cautiously raised his head, only to see Fu Qiwen let out a long, heavy sigh and say to him with a deeply unpleasant expression, ”Once you go back, make sure you keep the Third Prince’s body well hidden.”

Hearing this, Zeng Hai froze in an instant, his face a picture of bewilderment.

He had come to the Commander seeking a solution to the problem, and this was the solution he was given?

He might as well have stayed put. Had he known it would come to this, he could have dug a hole himself and buried Li Zhu’s body, saving himself the wasted trip.

Even so, Fu Qiwen seemed to have read his thoughts, and continued in a stern tone, ”After tomorrow, once I have left the capital, remember to secretly move the Third Prince’s body to the front gate of his own residence.”

”Be absolutely certain that no one sees or hears of this. I trust you understand what the consequences would be otherwise.”

With that, Fu Qiwen waved his hand and dismissed Zeng Hai.

In the past, had a prince died anywhere within his Tianjin Guards’ domain, he would have exhausted every means at his disposal to handle the matter properly.

But now was different. The extermination of Falling God Peak was at hand, he was buried under affairs, and he simply did not have the energy to spare.

Moreover, on the forthcoming journey to Falling God Peak, his own life and death remained uncertain.

In Fu Qiwen’s estimation, if he met his end at Falling God Peak on this trip, there was naturally nothing left to worry about regarding Li Zhu.

And if he managed against the odds to come back from Falling God Peak alive, then whatever responsibility he bore in this matter would, by virtue of the merit earned in exterminating Falling God Peak, earn him pardon in Emperor Yuanwu’s eyes.

So while the killing of the Third Prince appeared on the surface to be a catastrophic affair, from Fu Qiwen’s perspective the solution was actually fairly simple.

He looked at the ashen-faced Zeng Hai stumbling out of the room, shook his head gently, and then called in two of his most trusted men.

He instructed one to keep a covert watch on Zeng Hai, and the other to disguise himself as Li Zhu and leave the Tianjin Guards headquarters in that appearance.

He harbored no illusions that this could fool the Second Prince, the Right Minister, and the rest for long. He only hoped it would buy him one more day.

And once he had left the capital, how things developed from there was naturally beyond his ability to control.

Having arranged all of this, Fu Qiwen turned slightly and glanced in the direction of Li Musheng’s courtyard.

This Eighth Prince operated without the slightest regard for rules, acting entirely as he pleased, utterly lawless and unbridled.

Frankly speaking, the man was inscrutable to him, and had been quietly looking down on him all along without any attempt to conceal it.

Even so, judging from the fact that the man had killed the Third Prince without a second thought, being merely looked down upon was, in truth, no great calamity.

Fu Qiwen shook his head and returned to the desk to continue handling his affairs.

From beginning to end, he did not go to find Li Musheng. He knew that doing so would be pointless.

After all, like himself, whether the man would make it back alive from Falling God Peak was still an open question.

...

At sunset, two lightly dressed men rode out of the Tianjin Guards headquarters on a pair of powerful horses, with an ordinary carriage following behind.

Crack!

On the gradually thinning streets, the coachman Cao Gaoshan, clad in coarse hemp clothing, cracked his long whip and drove two bay horses forward at a brisk pace.

Inside the carriage sat three people.

One was a middle-aged man of roughly fifty-three or fifty-four, dressed in a long robe of ink-green cloud-patterned silk, his frame somewhat stout, with the overall appearance of a wealthy merchant.

Another was a slight figure in a snow-white scholar’s robe, with jet-black hair pinned up with a jade hairpin, who had the look of a young student from some academy.

The third was Li Musheng, reclining against the cushion behind him. He gave the two of them a look, then directed his gaze at the middle-aged wealthy merchant opposite, and said plainly, ”Commissioner Hu, the road to Lan Province is long. Why bring along a young woman dressed as a man?”

Hearing this, the scholar in the carriage pressed their cherry-red lips together and looked up at Li Musheng with a timid glance, then immediately looked toward the wealthy merchant beside them.

At this point, the Right Deputy Commander Hu Rui’an gave the scholar a gentle wave of his hand, and a smile appeared on his round face as he clasped his hands toward Li Musheng, saying, ”Your Highness, Miss Murong’s father and Commander Fu are sworn brothers of the deepest bond, and her family happens to be in Sheng Province. Commander Fu was not at ease letting her travel home alone, so he arranged for her to journey along with us.”

Hearing this, Li Musheng rubbed his chin with a thoughtful expression.

At this moment, Hu Rui’an gave the scholar a subtle look.

Seeing this, Murong Xiaoya clutched the hem of her clothes tightly and hesitated for a moment, but in the end she bowed toward Li Musheng, her voice barely above a whisper, saying, ”This commoner pays her respects to the Eighth Prince.”

Li Musheng gave her a glance and raised an eyebrow, but did not make things difficult for her.

Even so, he could not shake the feeling that Fu Qiwen’s reason for having him set out ahead of schedule was not only the matter of the Sheng Province Deputy Commander and Governor colluding with Falling God Peak, but likely had something to do with this young girl before him as well.

With that thought, Li Musheng let his attention drift away from the two of them and did not pursue the matter further.

In any case, none of it was anything particularly important as far as he was concerned.

A little over an hour later, the carriage traveled out of Shangyang City without incident and raced off in the direction of Lan Province.

...

At the same time, deep in the dark of night in a certain alleyway, a figure jolted awake from unconsciousness and snapped open his eyes.

He circulated his martial True Qi at once and scanned his surroundings with alert wariness.

Only after confirming there was no danger nearby did he let out a slight breath of relief, then quietly leaped atop a high wall and looked out in every direction, his expression somewhat unpleasant, thinking, ”I hope the Eighth Prince has not come to any harm.”

He was a martial expert dispatched from the palace to protect Li Musheng, but that afternoon while covertly following Li Musheng’s carriage, he had been knocked unconscious and had only now come around.

The one who had struck him out was naturally Guan Tianqian, though he had no way of knowing this.

Now that he had lost track of Li Musheng, he had no choice but to return to the Tianjin Guards headquarters temporarily.

Yet upon returning, he learned to his dismay that Li Musheng had already left Shangyang City.

...

In the brightly lit residence of the Third Prince.

Right Minister of Great Li, Ji Song, was huddled in an armchair, a look of anxious unease etched across his aged and gaunt face.

Servants came and went in the study with reports at intervals, but every piece of news amounted to the same thing.

The Third Prince had vanished since leaving the Tianjin Guards headquarters and could not be found.

The Second Prince, Li Que, had been staying temporarily at Li Zhu’s residence since the matter with Imperial Consort Ji, discussing how to assist in apprehending the killer. He now sat across from Ji Song, his expression rather unpleasant, saying, ”A pack of useless fools. A prince has been missing for several hours and you haven’t found so much as a single trace.”

The servants in the residence were so frightened that they dared not make a sound. Seeing this, Li Que reined in his anger and turned to Ji Song, saying, ”Right Minister need not be anxious. Third Brother may simply have been so overcome with grief over his Imperial Mother that he went out to clear his head and has not yet returned. I have already sent the household’s martial world experts to search for him. I expect word will come before long.”

Ji Song moved his thin, nearly bloodless lips but said nothing. After a while he clasped his hands toward Li Que and asked, ”Your Highness, this old one’s memory grows poorer with age. Would Your Highness please tell me once more how Commander Fu Qiwen responded regarding Zhu’s matter?”

Li Que let out a quiet sigh, thought for a moment, and said, ”Commander Fu sent word that he has no knowledge of Third Brother’s whereabouts, but has already dispatched men to search for him with full effort and will notify us the moment there is any news.”

Ji Song gave a nod, then asked, ”And has that Eighth Prince sent any reply?”

Hearing this, Li Que’s expression immediately turned dark as he shook his head, saying, ”Not a single word, from beginning to end.”

At this point, Ji Song slowly closed his eyes and said, ”I know Zhu’s temperament. Hotheaded as he is, he always abides by the rules. To deliberately vanish without any word is simply not something he would do.”

With that, he opened his clouded eyes and said in a low, hoarse voice, ”Fu Qiwen was previously unwilling to cooperate with us, yet now that he knows Zhu has already left the Tianjin Guards headquarters, he has acted entirely out of character and sent men to search for his whereabouts.”

”Fu Qiwen’s behavior is irregular, and that Eighth Prince has not even bothered to reply, which is even more wrong. Zhu’s disappearance is almost certainly connected to the two of them.”

Hearing this, Li Que furrowed his brow with a thoughtful expression, saying, ”Knowing Third Brother’s temperament, he must have gotten into a conflict with that son of Consort Jing when he went to the Tianjin Guards today. But Third Brother should have come out unscathed, given that he was seen leaving the Tianjin Guards headquarters.”

”Unless... that son of Consort Jing had second thoughts afterward and moved against him in secret, abducting Third Brother.”

Ji Song said nothing, but seemed to find Li Que’s speculation plausible, and said, ”I have already had people keeping watch on the Tianjin Guards. Perhaps there will be results shortly.”

Before long, a figure in dark night-traveling garb dropped down from the eaves and came silently to the outside of the study, reporting, ”Your Excellency, our people have found that this evening an ordinary carriage appears to have quietly left the Tianjin Guards headquarters. Based on the direction it was heading, it seems to have been leaving Shangyang City overnight.”

Hearing this, a sharp gleam flashed in Ji Song’s lowered eyes, and he looked toward Li Que, saying, ”Something unusual always conceals something suspicious. That Eighth Prince, if he has any sense at all, would know that by provoking us he had better tread with extreme caution and not dare set foot outside the Tianjin Guards headquarters lightly. And if he did want to leave, perhaps his only option would be to move covertly. He may very well be concealed within that carriage.”

Li Que’s expression shifted, and he nodded, saying, ”Whether or not Third Brother’s matter truly involves him, if he is in that carriage, we cannot let this opportunity pass to seize him. We must take control of the situation.”

Ji Song gave a gentle nod, then turned toward the figure outside the door and asked, ”Do your people have any track of that carriage’s whereabouts?”

The figure in black bowed and said, ”In reply to Your Excellency, people have already been sent to investigate. The carriage should be traceable before too long.”

Hearing this, Li Que rose to his feet and looked toward Ji Song, saying, ”That man is surely protected by formidable experts from the palace. Ordinary people would likely be unable to take him down. As it happens, my residence is home to a great many martial world experts, and I would be glad to offer the Right Minister my full assistance.”

Ji Song gave a nod, his voice hoarse, saying, ”Then I shall trouble Your Highness. If this old one is not mistaken, Zhu’s disappearance is in all likelihood connected to that Eighth Prince. As long as we can apprehend him, we should be able to find Zhu.”

Hearing this, Li Que’s expression turned resolute, and he said, ”Right Minister may rest easy. Leave this matter entirely to me. I will capture that son of Consort Jing and bring Third Brother back.”

With that he took his leave and returned to his own residence to arrange what came next.

From beginning to end, neither the Second Prince Li Que nor Right Minister Ji Song had so much as considered the possibility that Li Zhu had died within the Tianjin Guards headquarters.

After all, someone like Li Musheng, who placed so little value on a prince’s life that he would kill without a second thought, was almost unheard of in all of Shangyang City.

And Tianjin Guards Commander Fu Qiwen would never permit such a thing to happen on his own ground, let alone actively help conceal Li Zhu’s death.

...

The Second Prince’s residence.

In an extremely lavishly furnished room, wisps of curling incense smoke drifted through the air, and the sound of soft, melodious voices floated out from behind pink gauze curtains.

The Formless Elder sat bare-chested, surrounded by a circle of young women in the bloom of their youth.

At this moment, the Formless Elder’s face shifted constantly from one appearance to another, each one youthful and strikingly handsome, sending the women around him into a dizzy, enchanted daze.

”My dear beauties, does this old man’s face meet your approval? If any of you are dissatisfied, feel free to say so, and I shall keep changing until every one of you is perfectly pleased.”

The Formless Elder wore the face of a sharp-browed, bright-eyed young man as he spoke with a cheerful smile to the women around him.

His ever-changing face and his stooped, aged body were so utterly at odds with each other that the effect was deeply unsettling.

Yet the women around him seemed entirely unbothered, their minds seemingly captivated by his shifting features, lost in a deep and helpless enchantment.

Just as the Formless Elder was savoring the warmth and softness around him, a knock came at the door.

”Senior, Steward Song requests your presence.”

The Formless Elder, annoyed at being disturbed, furrowed his sharp brows and said coldly, ”This old man is busy. Not going.”

But the voice outside the door continued, saying, ”Steward Song says he has found news of Senior’s enemy.”