Lord Gu, You're Fucking Awesome!

The center of the labyrinth was completely empty.

Every treasure had been carried away, leaving nothing but bare rock walls as far as the eye could see.

However,

in an underground corner where no one could notice it, a wisp of black smoke slowly rose.

The smoke enveloped a pitch-black dragon pearl, and a piercing, agonized roar rang out from within:

"Qi Yueli!"

"You brat Gu Yuan!"

"I'll make sure neither of you dies a good death!!!"

Hong Ni had been troubled these past few days.

It wasn't because Xiao Chen had punished her.

Rather, when she had gone to the summit of Mount Mangdang that day, she hadn't met the person who had sent her the voice transmission. All she had seen was a letter left by the mysterious person.

The letter contained a name she had long since forgotten-Mu Hongxi.

The Mu Clan of Qingzhou had been a martial arts clan for hundreds of years. One of its elders had once reached the Third Grade of martial cultivation, and she had been the most gifted member in the clan's history.

But the heavens were unpredictable.

A band of villains had set their sights on the Mu Clan and slaughtered the entire family. She had been saved by the King of Qingzhou, who happened to be passing by... As far as Hong Ni knew, that was what had happened.

However,

the account in the letter was entirely different.

At the birthday banquet of the Mu Clan's legitimate daughter, Xiao Ye, the King of Qingzhou, had seen a girl with outstanding talent. To make her serve him, he had sent assassins to kill everyone in the Mu Clan, then stepped in to save the girl just as she was about to be killed. He had killed all the assassins and avenged her...

Hong Ni knew exactly what had happened afterward.

Full of gratitude, she had sworn to serve the King of Qingzhou unto death. She had taken mysterious medicinal herbs every day, and her martial cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds until she became a Third Grade martial artist. At the same time, she had become a deathsworn at Xiao Chen's side, ready to die for him at any moment...

Hong Ni didn't know whether the letter was telling the truth.

She needed to verify it.

But once the seed of doubt was planted, it was hard to erase.

She felt somewhat at a loss.

That was why she was troubled.

"What's wrong?" Lü Luo walked slowly over to Hong Ni's side.

"Nothing..." Hong Ni shook her head.

Lü Luo had been in the same group of children given the medicine as her. Only the two of them had survived.

If what the letter said was true, then Lü Luo's family had probably also...

Hong Ni shook her head again and stopped herself from thinking about it.

She had to get to the bottom of everything before deciding what to do.

Lü Luo sighed. "Hong Ni, as servants, we share the heir's honor and disgrace. Don't let some insignificant little matter make you resentful."

"I don't, Lü Luo. Actually..." Hong Ni trailed off.

"Here, this is a gift from the heir." Lü Luo sighed softly, took out a red box, and handed it to Hong Ni.

Hong Ni opened it. Inside was a crimson jade hairpin.

In the past, she would have been overjoyed to receive a gift.

Now, she felt nothing in particular.

"My thanks to the heir."

"The heir has a task for the two of us." Seeing Hong Ni accept the gift, Lü Luo continued, "The Mo Clan Mechanism Book is in the hands of Meixiang, the only surviving member of the Mei Clan. The heir has ordered us to obtain it no matter what."

"Some days ago, Gu Yuan acknowledged Meixiang as his younger sister and brought her to the Gu residence. The heir suspects Gu Yuan is after the Mo Clan Mechanism Book too."

"We need to find a chance to get close to Meixiang, find out where the book is, and then take it... Hong Ni, do you understand?"

"I understand." Hong Ni nodded.

Just then, a commotion arose in the street.

"They're handing out money! Handing out money!"

"Hurry to the city gate!"

"Lord Gu led the Mystic Shadow Guard to wipe out the bandits and retrieve the tribute gifts. He brought back lots of treasure too, and now he's handing out money at the city gate!"

"I swear, I've never seen that much treasure in my life."

"Lord Gu? Which Lord Gu?"

"Who else? The one who furiously slew the Heir of Prince Duan and suppressed the heirs of the Nine Provinces single-handedly!"

"Lord Gu recovered so many treasures as soon as he took action, and he's even sharing them with the people. He truly is a blessed general for our Great Qi!"

"This happened so suddenly. Why didn't the authorities post a notice?"

"Who cares!

"If Lord Gu dares hand it out at the city gate, the empress must have given her permission. You don't think he'd dare ignore her orders and decide on his own to distribute the treasure to the people, do you?"

"Hurry up! If we're late, the money will all be gone!"

Hearing this, the people talking hurried toward the city gate.

Hong Ni and Lü Luo exchanged a glance.

"Buying the people's hearts with money. What a direct method." Lü Luo snorted softly. "But that money hasn't entered the palace yet. Won't Gu Yuan's actions make the empress suspicious of him?"

"Sometimes the direct approach works best..." Hong Ni said slowly. "As for the empress and Gu Yuan, it wouldn't be a bad thing if they became suspicious of each other."

"Let's go take a look first."

"Brother Gu, you really aren't afraid of death!"

Shangguan Weiming and Dong Wuj iu were still dumbfounded.

As soon as they had reached the gates of the Qi Capital, Gu Yuan had suddenly said, "It came from bandits, so let's use it for the people. How about we hand out the money?"

Then he had actually dismounted, opened the chests, and started handing it out.

Everyone watching had exclaimed at how awesome he was.

For something this important, shouldn't the empress at least have been informed?

"Brother Shangguan, Brother Dong, I'm doing this to build up Her Majesty's reputation. There's no need to be so surprised. Her Majesty will understand me."

"..."

How is this building up the empress's reputation? You're clearly using her money to build up your own!

And you've put the empress in a bind.

If she dares come out and stop you, she'll stir up resentment among the people.

"Brother Gu, aren't you really afraid Her Majesty will settle the score afterward?"

Settle the score?

That would be great!

Better yet, she could strip him of his office and exile his entire family three thousand miles away. Then he could raise an army and rebel with a perfectly legitimate reason...

"Don't worry. Everything is going according to Gu Yuan's calculations!"

The imperial palace of Great Qi.

Qi Yueli's face was clouded with worry.

Counting the days, Gu Yuan should be back soon...

But she wasn't prepared. She didn't know how she should face him.

In the labyrinth,

the two of them had been just one step away... If Lu Ling hadn't suddenly appeared, things would have taken their natural course.

Qi Yueli didn't feel averse to it. Instead, she felt a faint trace of anticipation.

If something really happened between us... what would Gu Yuan do?

Would he still rebel?

"Report!"

"Your Majesty, Lord Gu has returned to the capital after leading the troops to wipe out the bandits."

Zhao Sheng's report interrupted Qi Yueli's thoughts.

She gathered her wandering thoughts and said slowly,

"Mm. Where is he?"

"Your... Your Majesty... Lord Gu, he..."

Qi Yueli's heart tightened.

"Is he hurt?"

"Lord Gu is unharmed. He..."

Qi Yueli felt a little relieved.

"What is it?"

"Your Majesty, Commander Shangguan sent me to report that Lord Gu took the artifacts and materials obtained from the bandits."

Artifacts and materials?

That's all...

Qi Yueli gave a soft hum. "Then let him have them. Tell Gu Yuan that if he needs more, he may take them from the state treasury."

Zhao Sheng stood frozen.

Lord Gu, you're awesome!

"Your Majesty, there is one more thing. Lord Gu piled the treasure they obtained at the city gate, found merchants in the capital to exchange it for silver, and then handed it all out to the people of the Qi Capital..."

Zhao Sheng instinctively looked up.

At the slightest sign of anger from the empress, he would drop to his knees without hesitation and present the memorial pleading for mercy that Shangguan Weiming and Dong Wuj iu had prepared.

"I see."

Qi Yueli spoke calmly.

Huh?

That's it?

Shouldn't she be furious?

No matter how you look at it, what Lord Gu did was an affront to imperial authority!

All she had to say was that she knew?

It looks like the memorial won't be needed...

"If there is nothing else, you may withdraw," Qi Yueli said calmly. "You've worked hard on this journey. I grant you three days' leave. Return to duty in the palace after that."

Zhao Sheng stood there in a daze.

Not only is there no blame, but she's even giving us time off?

Awesome!

Lord Gu, you're fucking awesome!

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

"I'll go inform them at once." Zhao Sheng left excitedly.

Worry resurfaced in Qi Yueli's eyes.

She had no mind to read the memorials before her. Her head was full of Gu Yuan, and she couldn't get his image out of her mind...

"The empress really said that?"

"Nothing else?"

Gu Yuan stared at Zhao Sheng in astonishment.

"Nothing. I guarantee it. I heard her perfectly clearly. She just said she knew, and then granted everyone three days' leave."

Shangguan Weiming and Dong Wuj iu stood there in a daze.

Was this reasonable?

Handing out silver without permission like that was an outright challenge to the empress's authority, yet her reaction was so mild?

"Brother Gu, tell me the truth. Is there some relationship between you and the empress that no one knows about?"

*???*

Gu Yuan wanted to ask the same thing himself!

What's going on?

You don't care that I pocketed the money, and you don't care that I overstepped my authority to hand it out? You're the empress, for heaven's sake. How do you govern your country?

Can you still command anyone's respect like this?

Gu Yuan couldn't take it anymore!

"Keep handing it out here. Give away everything except the tribute gifts from Mozhou."

"Brother Gu, where are you going?"

Gu Yuan swept his robe aside, looked straight toward the imperial palace, and declared,

"To the palace, to beg the empress's forgiveness!"

Everyone: *???*