"So that's how it is. A man like Ji Wuyong was no match for the Joyous Union Sect's charms." Xue Qingqiu sneered. "It seems the Joyous Union Sect has already reached into the beds of the powerful and privileged... A great Demon Sect that's been at odds with us for a thousand years—and those idiots really think it's just a bunch of prostitutes and pretty boys?"
"I won't say much about the Joyous Union Sect," Xiahou Di said mockingly. "The truth is, it's not just the Pleasure-Seeking Pavilion. Most of the brothels in the Capital City are secretly tied to the First Prince. Together, they're close to squeezing your Hundred Flowers Garden out of business. If you hadn't gotten lucky and picked up a strategist who brought the Hundred Flowers Garden back from the dead overnight... Heh... What ideas does your Star Moon Sect even have?"
Xue Qingqiu looked a little put out and gave a cold snort. "Xue Mu is my younger brother. His ideas are the Star Moon Sect's ideas. What do you mean, 'picked up'?"
"Is that so?" Xiahou Di couldn't be bothered to argue with her. People might not know the background of someone as powerful as Xue Qingqiu, but it would be dereliction of duty if the Six Fan Gates hadn't investigated and learned about it.
The woman had been an abandoned infant from a peasant family struck by disaster, not even three months old when she was left behind. The Six Fan Gates had made a deliberate investigation and could be fairly certain her family had all perished in the disaster. She had no blood relatives.
By sheer luck, she'd been found in her swaddling clothes by an elder of the Star Moon Sect surnamed Xue and brought back to the sect. The Star Moon Sect had given her both her surname and her name, fed her and raised her, and started her on the path of cultivation with its unique medicinal baths as soon as she could walk. She was unquestionably a true-born disciple of the Star Moon Sect. Before she was even a few years old, she'd displayed extraordinary talent and insight. She was quickly made an inner disciple, then just as quickly taken in as the Sect Master's personal disciple. Thirteen years ago, a crisis struck: the former Sect Master died after suffering a qi deviation, and the male and female leaders of the sect fell into disagreement. After a civil war, the men left to establish a new sect, calling it the Blazing Sun Sect. As the Sect Master's personal disciple, Xue Qingqiu was pushed forward by the elders to become Sect Master amid the turmoil. She was fifteen at the time.
One could imagine that those elders simply didn't want to shoulder responsibility for the sect's decline, let alone the hardships that lay ahead. Their decision to make her Sect Master had been a transparent attempt to pass the buck. Everyone at the time thought the Star Moon Sect was all but finished. It was already hiding from the Imperial Court and the Righteous Path, while the other Demon Sects watched it like hawks. What could a young girl leading a battered, dispirited Star Moon Sect possibly do?
Nobody had guessed that the girl who'd been saddled with the blame would turn out to be a monster who could single-handedly turn the tide. Burdened with the weight of the sect, she prowled the martial world like a demon, beguiling all who crossed her path and bringing countless talented men to ruin, buying the Star Moon Sect room to breathe. Her progress in the martial arts was even more astonishing: five years to reach the Dao, three more to attain the Void-Piercing Realm. She'd traveled a road others couldn't complete in a lifetime and finally stood among the mightiest martial artists of her age. From then on, she hid her bewitching beauty and became a demon flame raging across the land, washing the world in blood and piling bones into mountains. She shook the realm and forged a living legend.
By then, she was no longer merely a scapegoat. The entire sect revered her like a god, and her word was law. Under her awe-inspiring reputation, the Star Moon Sect had grown stronger with every passing year. The number of disciples who'd joined over the past decade spoke for itself...
If one insisted that she had a younger brother, then he could only have been the son of that elder surnamed Xue: someone who'd left during the war between the men and women when he was young, hadn't joined the Blazing Sun Sect, and had only recently returned to claim his family ties. It wasn't very likely. If that were the case, plenty of people would know Xue Qingqiu had a younger brother. It wouldn't have come out of nowhere like this.
Still, Xiahou Di hadn't considered that the two of them might have some bizarre relationship. She'd simply assumed he was a strategist and adviser. Who in their right mind would guess that someone was courting Xue Qingqiu, not only surviving but even being acknowledged as her younger brother? He'd have to be insane... Xue Mu himself clearly had no idea just how terrifyingly awesome his older sister was. If he spent more time learning about her, he probably wouldn't have dared to entertain such thoughts...
In short, Xiahou Di's single
"Is that so?" had a pointed lilt to it. Xue Qingqiu said icily, "The Six Fan Gates isn't the household registry office. Stop meddling in other people's business."
Xiahou Di smiled faintly. "The Six Fan Gates is certainly no nest of gossipy old women."
Xue Qingqiu gave a "hmph."
Seeing that she was embarrassed, Xue Mu hurriedly changed the subject. "So Ji Wuyong's talk about corrupting people's morals was just talk. If the Hundred Flowers Garden really closed, the Pleasure-Seeking Pavilion would still put on uniforms the very next day, wouldn't it? I heard the Joyous Union Sect has already started making them."
"Perhaps. The truth is, your uniform scheme offended the Righteous Path. The Imperial Court was secretly backing you, as long as you didn't include the Six Fan Gates' uniforms."
Xue Qingqiu sneered. "Since the Joyous Union Sect is secretly plotting against my Hundred Flowers Garden, I needn't concern myself with any fellow-sect sentiment. Tonight, I'll..."
"Big Sister, you can't always think of using force to build an industry," Xue Mu cut in quickly. "You won't be staying in the Capital City for long, and what's the point of fighting until everyone's left with nothing but ruins? Besides, I caused this uniform mess, so I'll take care of it properly."
"Did I say I was going to use force?" Xue Qingqiu protested stubbornly, then quickly asked, "What scheme have you come up with?"
"We just won't wear them." Xue Mu shrugged. "If we don't, and the Pleasure-Seeking Pavilion sees such a lucrative opportunity right in front of them, they won't be able to resist putting them on. I figure the Righteous Path's experts are already on their way to the Capital City over this. By then, we'll have already stepped aside, while the Pleasure-Seeking Pavilion will walk straight into their line of fire. Let them run themselves ragged dealing with it."
Xiahou Di froze, a chill rising in her heart. Could he have calculated this turn of events from the very beginning?
Xue Qingqiu considered it and saw his point. She smiled. "You do see things clearly. So we'll take the losses for now and wait until the commotion dies down?"
"How could we take losses?" Xue Mu smiled. "The second step I set in motion earlier is about to bear fruit."
Xiahou Di felt an even deeper chill. The little dispute over the Hundred Flowers Garden was a trivial matter, but Xue Mu's handling of it showed what he was capable of. He wasn't just a crafty schemer who occasionally had a flash of inspiration and came up with an ingenious plan. He clearly had the ability to strategize on a grand scale.
"Is that the thing you were tinkering with with Chan'er earlier? I haven't seen it yet. Come on, let's go take a look." Xue Qingqiu seemed deeply interested. As she spoke, she grabbed Xue Mu and set off, treating Xiahou Di as if she were air.
Xue Mu had no choice but to call back over his shoulder, "Chief Constable, I'll be waiting for your good news." Then he was dragged away, stumbling along.
Xiahou Di narrowed her eyes as she watched the siblings leave and thought to herself: The Star Moon Sect is an old and powerful Demon Sect, with deep roots and resources to match. Xue Qingqiu is a shrewd operator in the martial world, with foresight and plans on a broad scale. She's also a martial arts prodigy with peerless demonic arts, so the sect has recovered quickly. But she's no immortal or god; nobody can do everything. Running an industry and managing its affairs are her weaknesses, and the sect's younger generation hasn't matured yet. Yue Xiaochan is still young, while Yin Ye is nothing but a liability... So the Star Moon Sect has hit a bottleneck, as its losses across the board make plain. It'll be hard for them to grow any further. But now they have Xue Mu, and his talent for planning and management is already starting to show... Put them together, and they fit like fish in water—a meeting of wind and cloud. If Xue Qingqiu really continues to heed Xue Mu as she does now, the Star Moon Sect will be unstoppable, and its enemies had better prepare for disaster...
For now, she planned to cooperate with them, so there was no problem. But if they ever fell out, Xiahou Di knew she would choose to kill Xue Mu at once, whatever the cost!
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