Hero's Gall

The Prime Minister's Mansion the Great Yang Kingdom was burned down. Prime Minister Yin Wufeng; it is said he was captured...

The commotion last night was so great that it was known throughout the city. When the news spread, the entire Dayang City was in an uproar, and everyone's topic immediately shifted from the Princess's marriage proposal to this matter.

Although the streets leading to the Prime Minister's Mansion were blocked off, ordinary people who wanted to see the spectacle could still see from afar that the once luxurious Prime Minister's Mansion was now filled with smoke and fumes. When they saw it, wisps of smoke were still rising, confirming the story of a 'fire from the sky' that had burned down the Prime Minister's Mansion.

The Great Yang Kingdom was shocked, as were the envoys from other countries. Carrier pigeons frequently flew up in the sky above the Dayang City, carrying the news back to their respective countries.

Inside the imperial palace of the Great Yang Kingdom, the court officials gathered to discuss this matter...

In the secluded courtyard within the territory of the Biyuan Kingdom's embassy, all the residents were present. The Wen Qing was quite shrewd; Furong and she had become inseparable. The two lay on the lush green grass, whispering to each other, seemingly plotting something. Yue Qianchou, on the other hand, had claimed the rattan swing chair that originally belonged to the Wen Qing, basking in the sun with his eyes closed, gently rocking back and forth, examining a jade tablet in his hand.

This is the jade tablet that Lu Wanqian gave me. The vast amount of records inside shows that he did indeed put a lot of effort into it, and he might really have the idea of bringing this thing back to China.

Yue Qianchou had handed over Yin Wufeng and the other captured cultivators, along with the others, to Guan Yu for interrogation, hoping to extract some useful information. Before leaving, Yue Qianchou specifically instructed that torture was acceptable...

Zhang Peng, standing nearby, occasionally rocked the swing to keep it from stopping. At first, they thought he was asleep on the swing, but after noticing him slightly open his eyes and glance at Furong, Zhang Peng finally asked, "Sir, cough cough... I heard from that prince that the Prime Minister's Mansion was burned down last night, and there was a great battle, with hundreds of ordinary soldiers dying. It seems the Prime Minister also disappeared. Sir, next time something like this happens, take me with you!" He immediately guessed that it was his master who was responsible.

The sun was a bit dazzling, Yue Qianchou squinted at him, saying lazily, "There are too many people and too many eyes in this place. With your size, even if you cover your face, people can recognize you at a glance. Don't worry! There will be plenty of opportunities in the future."

"Uh..." Zhang Peng was speechless. He never expected that his good physique, which was used to charge into battle, would now become a burden.

Yue Qianchou closed his eyes, immersing himself once again in the vast records within the jade tablet... Yin Baikang, at the late Spirit Transformation stage, was actually the ruler of the most powerful foreign nation. The true controller of the Tuan Kingdom, his grandson Yin Wufeng, had gone to the Great Yang Kingdom to serve as prime minister—this was quite interesting.

It is said that Yin Baikang was probably the most Cultivation World cultivator in the Nascent Spirit Transformation stage, desperately trying to father children with cultivation Spirit Root. However, even now, despite having numerous children and grandchildren, he has yet to produce a single offspring capable of cultivation. It is said that in recent years, he finally resigned himself to his fate and stopped engaging in such activities.

Upon seeing this message, Yue Qianchou felt somewhat depressed. He had thought that by capturing someone's precious grandson, he could extort a hefty ransom, but he hadn't expected that the old man had no fewer than a hundred grandsons, and he probably wouldn't care too much if one or two died.

However, when Yue Qianchou saw that among the old man's grandsons, fewer than ten were capable and worthy of important tasks, he was delighted again. No wonder Yin Wufeng was able to be brought to the Great Yang Kingdom to become its Prime Minister; Yin Baikang must have pulled a lot of strings to get him there, otherwise Huo Zongming, who actually controlled the Great Yang Kingdom, wouldn't have agreed! This showed that the hostages he held were still worth something.

"Sigh! It's been so long since I've done this kind of kidnapping and extortion. I never thought I'd have the chance to go back to this business in my lifetime. Hmm, Yin Baikang is one of the richest people in the Cultivation World! I wonder how much his grandson is worth..." Yue Qianchou muttered to himself with a smile, his eyes closed.

"Sir, what did you say?" Zhang Peng didn't hear clearly and thought he was being spoken to.

Yue Qianchou opened his eyes, smiled and waved his hand, saying, "I wasn't talking to you."

He put away the jade tablet in his hand and took out the one that detailed the topographical map of the Great Yang Kingdom. He needed to find a suitable place to pay the ransom... He carefully examined the terrain around the Dayang City and finally determined the location to be a valley not far outside the city.

Inside the palace of the Great Yang Kingdom, Emperor Zhao Heng was getting a headache from the commotion among his ministers. The prime minister of the country had suddenly disappeared, which was quite a big deal, especially since it happened right when the Princess was going to hold a martial arts contest to choose a husband.

In the Golden Hall, although the ministers were righteously condemning the murderer and demanding that the Prime Minister be brought back as soon as possible, they were all secretly thinking that, given the bloodshed at the Prime Minister's Mansion, their beloved Prime Minister was probably not coming back.

So, someone started the conversation, saying that although the prime minister was no longer there, the affairs of state could not be neglected for even a day, and that someone had to be found to temporarily fill in for the prime minister, and then the position would be handed over to him once a prime minister was found.

The missing prime minister was immediately sidelined, and the court officials clamored to recommend someone representing their faction to temporarily fill the position. Everyone knew that if the prime minister didn't return, the replacement might very well become the official prime minister.

Emperor Zhao Heng sat upright on the dragon throne, his face grim, looking at the ministers below who were practically ready to fight. They didn't know, but he did. Yin Wufeng was a man with a powerful background, and the outcome of this matter was still uncertain. It wasn't time to replace the prime minister... The elders in the palace had already told him yesterday that this matter was no longer something the court could interfere with. He would make a decision after the Cultivation World had dealt with it.

Just as the courtiers were arguing fiercely, a report came from outside. A guard from the Golden Hall rushed in, knelt down, and loudly reported, "Your Majesty, the city patrol has found the Prime Minister's concubine, Lady Li."

The hall fell silent instantly. The ministers exchanged bewildered glances. Zhao Heng waved his hand and said, "Bring the person to the inner palace. I want to question him personally." He then left without paying any attention to the others.

A beautiful and graceful woman was led by several guards into a secluded part of the inner palace, a forbidden area with its own courtyard and no guards. Upon reaching the courtyard gate, the guards stopped and asked her to enter alone. Lady Li cautiously walked in alone, only to see Emperor Zhao Heng standing with three elderly men, all four staring intently at her, sending a chill down her spine.

A fresh whip mark marred Lady Li's face, and her clothes were tattered, clearly indicating that she had been whipped. Consider this: besides those who targeted the Prime Minister's Mansion, who else would dare to strike the Prime Minister's wife? Their gazes didn't linger on her, but instead focused on the jade tablet she clutched tightly in her hand.

"Greetings, Your Majesty!" Lady Li said, her voice trembling slightly as she bowed.

"No need for formalities!" Zhao Heng's expression was somewhat cold. He had met this Lady Li before, but she hadn't been this respectful then! Clearly, she was terrified. She still looked shaken.

Just as Lady Li rose, Zhao Heng suddenly shouted, "Where is the Prime Minister?"

Lady Li was so frightened that she trembled and knelt down again, crying out in terror, "I don't know, I don't know anything, Your Majesty, spare my life!"

Seeing her kneel down again, Zhao Heng's expression softened slightly. He asked in a deep voice, "Speak! What exactly happened? Tell me everything you know. If you dare to lie, I'll have you dragged out and executed by slow slicing!"

"I'll talk, I'll talk," Lady Li said, trembling. "There was a huge fire, a huge fire suddenly broke out. My husband and I had just escaped when suddenly a lot of masked men who could fly came and killed people. They knocked us unconscious. When we woke up, they asked me questions I didn't know. I said I didn't know, and they kept hitting me..."

The group frowned; the woman was clearly terrified, her words incoherent. Zhao Heng asked, "What did they ask you?"

"Yin Baikang, they asked me about Yin Baikang, but I really don't know this person." Lady Li said, crying as she spoke.

The three Mi brothers exchanged glances. Sure enough, they were after Yin Baikang. They wondered who he was and how he dared to be so bold.

"Then how did you get back? Where is the Prime Minister? Has he returned?" Zhao Heng continued to ask.

"I don't know, I really don't know anything," Lady Li stammered. "They knocked me unconscious again, and when I woke up, I was outside the city. A masked man gave me this and told me not to lose it, or I would lose my life. He said this thing was something to save the Prime Minister." As she spoke, she held up the jade tablet in her hand.

Mi Rushan grasped the jade slip with his five fingers forming a palm, immediately channeling his Divine Sense into it. Inside, it read, "Yin Baikang, I don't care if you're at the Spirit Transformation stage or the Dog Transformation stage, your precious grandson is in my hands. I'm a bit short on cash lately, so I kidnapped your grandson. If you want your grandson back, prepare two hundred million high-grade Spirit Stones to ransom him. If I don't see the Spirit Stone within three days, I guarantee your name, Yin Baikang, will be remembered for generations to come in the Cultivation World. Below is where you pay the Spirit Stone; don't go to the wrong place."

Mi Rushan's expression twitched. The signature at the end was "Hero". Below that was a map, presumably the place to exchange Spirit Stone.

"Take a look!" After reading it, Mi Rushan didn't know what to say, so he handed the jade tablet to his two brothers. After reading it, the two brothers were speechless, and the jade tablet returned to Mi Rushan's hands.

"Let her go! You won't get anything out of her," Mi Rushan waved his hand. Zhao Heng immediately ordered someone to take Lady Li away, then asked, "Great Venerable, what's inside?"

"Heh heh! Someone's got some nerve, kidnapping Yin Baikang's grandson and trying to extort Spirit Stone from Yin Baikang." Mi Rushan sneered, wondering to himself which madman did it. Yin Baikang's money wasn't so easy to extort.

Zhao Heng knew who Yin Baikang was and was surprised, asking, "Who? Who did this?" Mi Ruhai uttered the word "hero." Mi Ruquan chuckled and said, "Hehe! Who is this person? I really want to meet him. He's clearly doing something shameful, yet he calls himself a hero. But... although he didn't do it himself, he certainly has the Hero's Gall!"

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