Pomegranate Blossoms

It has to be said that this time, while drinking and carousing, he inexplicably encountered the Box Spirit recognizing its master and seizing its treasure. The incident happened suddenly, and Li Fan was indeed unprepared. It was just a spur-of-the-moment thing to do, but fortunately, he guessed right again.

Even during the fierce battle on the river, Li Fan had already used his Gu Guan Method to find a way out. However, he also noticed that the surrounding cultivators were being attracted by the treasure's light, and more and more were gathering. You must know that he was currently in the heart of the capital of Xun Kingdom, which was practically venturing into the tiger's den. Even if he defeated four Nascent Soul Stage and broke through the encirclement, he would still be targeted by the cultivators of Xun Kingdom, who would chase after him to seize the treasure.

Moreover, there's also that cunning old fox at the Transformation Stage, always lurking in the shadows, spying. If it weren't for Blind Guan's exceptionally sharp intuition, he probably wouldn't have noticed him. If he were caught off guard and surrounded by enemies, he might have been ambushed and suffered a crushing defeat.

Fortunately, good fortune smiles upon him, and Li Fan was destined to survive. He actually managed to find the large ship that was the party of Prince of Lu's banquet that night. Moreover, Prince of Lu and many of his officials were secretly plotting the banquet in the cabin, and his trusted experts naturally followed closely around these important figures to protect them.

So, only some Golden Core Realm guards remained on the balcony, while the Princess, leading a group of noblewomen, were also there to enjoy the moon, hoping to witness the spectacle of the treasure hunt on the river. This gave Li Fan the opportunity to launch a surprise attack and snatch the person away.

There were quite a few cultivators from the Xun Kingdom on the river at that time. Not counting the Imperial Guards who had already arrived after hearing the news, there were a dozen or twenty Nascent Soul Stage cultivators who gathered there, but none of them reacted immediately.

After all, four generals and officials from the Xun Kingdom had already gone up to seize the treasure. They were all serving in the same court, and this was such a sensitive time of conflict between the two palaces. It wasn't worth getting involved and causing unhappiness over a magic treasure.

But who would have thought that Li Fan, who was pretending to be weak, would be so outrageous, suddenly unleashing his fighting power and killing one and crippling three of his attackers! It was truly terrifying. This made everyone uneasy, and for a moment no one dared to step forward and challenge him.

When Li Fan used his "Wind and Cloud Dragon Ascension" technique to suddenly disappear and snatch the princess, everyone present was caught off guard and hesitant to act rashly. After all, they were from Xun Kingdom, not Russia. If they disregarded the safety of the hostages and recklessly rushed in to seize her, swords and spears had no eyes, and they risked accidentally harming even a hair on the king's beloved eldest daughter—wouldn't that just cause unnecessary trouble?

Besides, this princess and her entire clan are arrogant and domineering, and they don't get along well with many people. They were just out having a few drinks; is it worth getting into this mess for her? Moreover, even if Prince of Lu and the others aren't worried about losing the princess, why are you so anxious?

The Prince of Lu's faction was also in a difficult position. Firstly, they had something to hide and worried that someone was plotting a diversionary tactic. Secondly, if a group of people chased after them at this time, wouldn't that be an admission of conspiracy and treachery? It would be better to claim that everyone was at a party, drinking and carousing, and it wasn't convenient to make a move since they weren't even dressed properly... cough cough...

Besides, the kidnappers claimed to be from the Beichen Sword Sect. At least those lunatics have a reputation for keeping their word. Once the money is paid, there shouldn't be any major problems, right? At most, it'll just cost my sister some of her looks. Anyway, she doesn't care about that.

As for the Captain of the Guard, they had even more reason to chase them. They couldn't catch up, because the enemy used a teleportation technique! These few martial artists who had cultivated their bodies were flying on birds; how could they possibly catch up?

So the cultivators present, for their own reasons, merely went through the motions, chasing after Li Fan for a while before distancing themselves and letting him escape without a trace. The Divine Transformation cultivator hiding in the shadows didn't even bother to show his face.

Perhaps only Grand Quan Huang, stationed far away on the front lines of Baiyue Mountain, could truly believe it. He was so devoted to defending the border, and in the blink of an eye, his wife was gone?! That kind of...

By the way, the Ruler of Xun Country is probably going crazy too. He's like, "Damn it, if anyone mentions 100,000 again, I'll fight them!"

Ahem, of course, Li Fan also understood very well that kidnapping wasn't something you could just do by abducting someone and then shaking off the police.

As the ruler of Twelve Countries, how could he not have a few fortune tellers under his command? Therefore, he first had to hide the goods in his hands, so that they could not find them, before he could discuss the terms of cash on delivery.

Otherwise, what you would see when you open your eyes the next day wouldn't be 100,000 gold coins, but 100,000 Imperial Guards.

Fortunately, Li Fan possessed the kidnapping techniques inherited from the Profound Heaven Sword Intent and had learned the rich counter-surveillance experience accumulated by the predecessors of the Beichen Sword Sect. Today, he can finally bring this almost unparalleled skill back to life and carry it forward.

So when Princess Quan, the eldest daughter of the Ruler of Xun Country, who was married to Princess Quan Huang, opened her eyes, she found herself lying in a coffin the next moment, while she was admiring the moon on Rouge Pool.

Princess Quan was naturally terrified and about to scream when she found that her mouth had been gagged. Some kind of silk was stuffed into her throat, blocking her tongue and throat. There was also a cloth strip on the outside that was strangling her chin, so much so that her jaw was about to dislocate. She couldn't close her mouth, and saliva was dripping from it.

Her vital energy was completely stagnant, her acupoints sealed, her muscles ached and numb, making it impossible for her to exert any strength or move. After struggling and writhing in panic for a while, she finally realized that her palace robes and fairy clothes had been stripped off, leaving her completely naked. She was bound like a rice dumpling with talismans and incantations written on them, and her hands and feet were bound with Imprisoning Immortal Rope around her back. Her forehead was also sealed with a talisman. Lying in this coffin, she could only groan and twist her waist, unable to escape at all.

The coffin was suspended in mid-air in a dry well pit that Li Fan had randomly found in the suburbs. A magic array was set up outside the well, and layers of incantations and restrictions were placed inside and out. The ancestral kidnapping techniques of the Beichen Sword Sect were used to disrupt the heavenly secrets. To be on the safe side, Li Fan added two more Gui Xu Nascent Soul talismans that he had drawn himself with Taishan ink, so that even cultivators passing by could not detect the place with their Divine Sense. He also added an illusion array to prevent unauthorized people from entering.

Given such a complex and meticulous arrangement, Li Fan estimated that unless a diviner of the abbot's caliber was invited to directly invoke the imperial edict from the Zongzheng Temple to perform a ritual to find the princess, the Xun Kingdom would not be able to locate her within seven days.

Seven days is enough. The spiritual power of his talisman array will also expire in about seven days. By then, the Xun Kingdom will be able to find the person. After all, Li Fan is not really after the Xun Kingdom's 100,000 gold coins. He is just looking for an excuse to disrupt the situation so that he can fish in troubled waters, hand over the mass destruction jars to his inside man, and incidentally seize the Xun Kingdom's Heavenly Book.

Well, although this princess's cultivation level is rather low, she's still at the Golden Core stage. Locking her up for seven days shouldn't kill her, right? Anyway, let's get things done as soon as possible...

So, after hiding the princess of Xun Kingdom, Li Fan hurriedly fled back to Xingye City. He casually threw the princess's clothes and ornaments into the courtyards of wealthy families he passed by, not caring whether they were henchmen of the Crown Prince or Prince of Lu. He just wanted to stir up trouble and continue to muddy the waters and confuse the public.

His plan was simple: with the two palaces of Xun Kingdom embroiled in internal strife, the Crown Prince having just lost his strategist, and the Prince of Lu having his confidant kidnapped, the atmosphere in the court and among the people was undoubtedly extremely tense. While everyone's attention was focused on the kidnapping of Princess Quan, Li Fan had to seize the opportunity to contact Luo Feng's inside man, deliver the goods, steal the Heavenly Book of Xun Kingdom, and then make his escape, regardless of whether Xun Kingdom's fate was sealed.

However, upon returning to Xingye City this time, Li Fan keenly discovered that there were already seven Divine Transformation cultivators in the city!

Could it be that the heads of the four major families have also been summoned? It seems that the Ruler of Xun Country is truly enraged this time, with warships and cavalry searching Fourth Department along the river. It seems that the enemy has somewhat anticipated that Li Fan has not taken the Princess too far from Xingye City.

However, the Ruler of Xun Country seemed unwilling to halt the campaign against Baiyue Mountain because of this incident. He continued to send generals to the front lines and issued several edicts to reassure his family and generals, telling them to focus on preparing for war and not to worry about the rear.

When Li Fan boldly returned to the south bank of Rouge Pool, the boats and wreckage on the river had been taken away by the Imperial Guards, and Rouge Pool had returned to its former prosperity. In fact, many banquets on the river were even more lively and joyful, with the powerful and wealthy talking about the treasure-hunting drama that had just unfolded before their eyes.

Of course, the conversation now overshadowed the power struggle between the two palaces, focusing instead on the humiliation and abuse the Princess Quan would suffer after being kidnapped by the bandits. As expected, scandalous news always dominates the headlines. And when the conversation got really heated, the nobles couldn't resist and pulled in the courtesans for a mock reenactment. So, each of the pleasure boats launched a costumed role-playing service, with almost every boat playing battle games between bandits and princesses, kidnappers and female prisoners, and convicts and princesses—cough cough cough!

Li Fan lingered on the south bank for half a day, making sure there were no followers or ambushes, before he burrowed underground and sneaked into the north bank.

Following the instructions of the Jueyin Shenjun, Li Fan found a fish shop on the north bank. Generally, the merchants and residents on the north bank were retired veterans of the royal family's private army. These descendants of soldiers were highly valued by the royal family and were the most loyal. Every day, they would catch fresh fish from the Li River and provide them to the eunuchs in charge of purchasing in Tiger's Lair City.

This fish shop serves as a communication point between the palace and the outside world. As long as the jade pendant containing the secret message given by the Jueyin Shenjun is hidden in a tree hole outside the fish shop, the eunuch bribed by Luo Feng will sense it when leaving the palace and take the jade pendant back to the palace to hand it over to his superior.

Of course, many concubines and princes also used this method of communication between the palace and the outside world, whether it was fish shops, butcher shops, vegetable stalls, or taverns. The palace maids and eunuchs who went in and out to make purchases also earned some pocket money by carrying out deliveries. Especially recently, with the conflict between the two palaces, Gu Mo's assassination attempt, and the kidnapping of the eldest princess, the exchange of intelligence in Tiger City has been extremely lively.

When the Ruler of Xun Country was young, vigorous, and wise, no one dared to play such underhanded tricks and schemes in front of him. But now he's old. Seeing this once brilliant ruler becoming increasingly muddled and dull, and with the two palaces locked in a power struggle, the people of Xun are indeed filled with unease. Naturally, they all tacitly understand this and have begun to actively contact the outer court, wavering between sides.

Incidentally, I heard that this king is a rare long-lived person among the royal family of Xun Kingdom, no, among the royal families of the Twelve Countries. Not only does he have some talent for cultivation, reaching the Nascent Soul Realm, but he has also received life-extending elixirs from the Three Realms one after another.

Of course, the Nascent Soul Realm of the Ruler of Xun Country's Immortal Palace is fake. Although he can avoid the tribulation of lightning, he still has a tribulation every five hundred years. If he fails to pass one, his lifespan will be over, and his body will begin to show signs of the Five Declines of Heaven and Man. He must use immortal medicines and elixirs to prolong his life.

Of course, even the elixir bestowed by the Three Kings is not a cure-all; it only has a certain chance of extending life by ten years. The abbot could also refine this kind of medicine, and whether it lasts one year or ten years, the technical difference is not significant; the main difference lies in the materials. In short, this kind of elixir is so rare that only the rulers of the Twelve Countries are qualified to take it.

Even with the elixir of immortality keeping him alive, the Ruler of Xun Country wouldn't die instantly, but his fate was sealed. Who knew what would happen next?

So Li Fan waited until the next day, then changed his intelligence point and went to a small alley behind a pastry shop. Sure enough, behind a blue stone brick, he found the jade pendant that had gone to the palace and then been returned.

A piece of silk was taken out of the jade pendant, seemingly torn from some inner garment or skirt, on which was written...

"In May, pomegranate blossoms dazzle the eye, and among the branches, one can often see the first fruits forming."

Li Fan frowned and thought for a moment. He hadn't heard Jueyin Shenjun mention this sentence before, so it shouldn't have any special metaphor. He roughly guessed at the simple word puzzle. "Meeting at midnight, pomegranate blossoms in May, noon at five. "Li Fan estimated that the other party meant that they would meet at midnight when they left the city through the Meridian Gate, and there might be a pomegranate blossom pattern as a mark.

He actually left the palace late at night? Could it be a trap? It's hard to say.

In the past two days, Li Fan discovered that due to the recent battle at Baiyue Mountain, military intelligence was constantly being transmitted from the front lines. Tiger City was operating around the clock with its gates wide open. Fast horses were constantly traveling back and forth, carrying imperial edicts from various places. Occasionally, eunuchs would also be seen carrying imperial edicts in and out of the Forbidden City, frequently contacting various government offices and powerful families. It was unclear whether these were official decrees or forged edicts.

But it's clear that the Ruler of Xun Country is a bit impatient. He probably wants to seize this last opportunity to eliminate Luo Feng's remnants before he can die in peace.

So Li Fan hid in the ground and lay in ambush outside the Meridian Gate until midnight. Sure enough, he used his blind eyes to detect that someone had come out.

This man was a newly Foundation Establishment eunuch, carrying a lantern that was quite conspicuous. The lantern's silk shade was embroidered with red pomegranate flowers, and the bright light inside made him very difficult to mistake. Moreover, it was clear that he was handsome and easy on the eyes, unlike the greasy appearance of typical eunuchs. Judging from his breathing, he had a certain foundation in the art.

Li Fan couldn't immediately tell if this was the real inside man or just a trusted confidant relaying a message. But after following him stealthily for a while, he discovered that the man was heading in the direction of the pastry shop from earlier that day. Moreover, he didn't find anyone lying in ambush nearby, so Li Fan knew that this was probably the person.

As soon as he turned into the back of the alley, he silently emerged from the ground, poked his flute against the eunuch's back.

"The pomegranate blossoms in May are dazzling, what should the little eunuch be called?"

The young eunuch remained quite calm, not even trembling in the shadow of the pomegranate blossoms illuminated by his lantern. He silently recited, "The fruit is just beginning to form among the branches. I, Cen Hun, am Middle Palace Yellow Gate Redundant Servant, serving the Dachangqiu. I dare not call myself a eunuch."

Li Fan paused for a moment, then leaned closer and asked, "What autumn?"

Cen Hun froze for a moment. "Dachangqiu, that is... the chief eunuch by the Queen's side. I am just a servant serving Dachangqiu. I was ordered to come with you to fetch something and to deliver a few words to help you find something."

"Oh, the Dachangqiu." The Queen's chief eunuch—that's quite a high-ranking position. No wonder he had access to the Heavenly Book's information. But Luo Feng's people are truly ruthless. To destroy the Xun Kingdom, they actually castrated themselves to become an inside agent in the palace? Unbelievable...

Li Fan patted the young eunuch's shoulder blade, examined his skills, and thought, "Hey, this young eunuch has quite good aptitude, and his foundation is solid with a profound aura. Those two little girls can't even compare. He's even stronger than Asha three years ago. It's clear he's a trusted confidant who has been carefully trained and mentored since childhood."

So Li Fan took out the jar and handed it to him to hold, saying, "Tell your Dachangqiu to be careful when using it; this thing could break badly."

Cen Hun froze for a moment, "You've misunderstood, Master. I... wasn't sent by the Dachangqiu."

"Huh? But you said... Oh, oh, I get it. It's good to be careful. I understand, you weren't sent by the Dachangqiu." Li Fan nodded at him, winking. "Then where is what I'm looking for?"

Cen Hun choked for a moment, opened his mouth, and finally said, "... In short, my master ordered me to convey a message that the things the True Immortal is looking for are too numerous and too heavy. They are all stored in a secret room in the study of the Primordial Beginning Palace. That is where the King lives daily, and it is protected by countless seals. I'm afraid it will be difficult to obtain them, but..."

"However?" Li Fan frowned and leaned closer.

Cen Hun said softly, "Marquis of Jianchang Sun Zizhi was murdered by bandits in his youth and became disabled. He has now resigned from his general's post and is recuperating in Jiujiang Prefecture. The King once asked a master to help him copy what you, Master, are looking for, and forged a commentary on it. This commentary was written in twelve volumes of Qi cultivation and health preservation methods and sent to the Marquis for study, hoping it would help his injuries. If the Marquis can recover, given his past favor with the King and high expectations of the court, he might be able to ease the conflict between the two palaces..."

Li Fan raised his eyebrows and slowly lifted his head. "It's more than just relief... Marquis of Jianchang, right? I know him. He's the second son, and also Wen Tianjun's disciple. If he recovers, his two younger brothers won't even need to fight for him anymore... What, does your master not want him to recover?"

Cen Hun grinned shamelessly, "Your Excellency is wise and discerning; nothing escapes your keen eyes. If you could lend us a hand while you're retrieving your items, that would be most wonderful."

"Kindness..."

Li Fan crossed his arms and thought for a moment. These eunuchs really had a problem with the second prince. Cough cough, well, Luo Feng Palace would love for the internal strife in Xun Kingdom to die, and absolutely could not watch the Marquis of Jianchang recover and regain his throne. Although Li Fan didn't really think that the young general he had met once could actually comprehend the Heavenly Book.

After all, if Li Fan hadn't saved his life in Lei Marsh last time, that kid would have been dead. He was saved but still crippled; it seems this person's fate might be a bit unlucky. Even if he agreed, who knows, the young marquis might die before he even had to lift a finger?

Moreover, if the copied heavenly book is incomplete, we will need the help of this inside man to obtain the original. It wouldn't hurt to agree to the other party's request now and make a good connection.

Li Fan then glanced at Cen Hun and asked, "Is eliminating just one of the second-in-commands enough? Which side is your master on now? Should I kill a few more for you?"

Cen Hun chuckled and said, "You flatter me, Master. These things shouldn't trouble you. It's just that you heard about Princess Quan's accident a couple of days ago, so it's a bit inconvenient for you to handle matters outside the palace now."

"Alas, Master has received many favors and benefits from Princess Quan, and only now is he saying a few good words for Prince of Lu at the Taichu Palace. I wonder how the princess is doing now. If you learn of her whereabouts on your journey, please keep an eye out for her for us."

Li Fan was taken aback, but he also grinned widely, his mouth opening like a pomegranate.

"Oh dear, look at how this has turned out, isn't it just a coincidence?"