1037: Chapter 646 Alarm Bell_2 1037: Chapter 646 Alarm Bell_2 After clearing the scene, Xu Yuan spoke softly:
“Lu Bozou is dead.
He committed suicide.”
Li Junwu stared at the docunts before him and responded lightly:
“Hmm, I see.”
“Before his death, he revealed a few nas of people who might be spies.”
“What?”
Li Junwu raised his eyes upon hearing this and instinctively asked, “Can his words be trusted?”
As the words left his mouth, Li Junwu faintly tightened his grip on the wolf-hair brush in his hand and then said:
“Forget it, just give the list first.”
Xu Yuan noticed his reaction and did not move forward imdiately, remaining where he stood.
Li Junwu slightly furrowed his eyebrows:
“What’s wrong?”
Xu Yuan chuckled and made a joke:
“Becoming too obsessed is unhealthy.
Even if you don’t want to rely on your old pal anymore, at the very least, you should ask for the full story, right?
After all, regardless of how you see him, Lu Bozou was one of Zhenxi Prefecture’s high-ranking officials.”
Li Junwu was silent for a mont and raised his hand to rub his temples:
“Make it brief.
I’m quite busy right now.”
Upon hearing this, Xu Yuan beca direct:
“Before he died, Lu Bozou told the reason he betrayed Zhenxi Prefecture.”
As he spoke, he walked forward and pulled out a scroll from the Suru Ring, placing it on the desk.
Li Junwu reached out to grab it but found that Xu Yuan’s finger was pressing down on the scroll.
He looked up in confusion, only to et Xu Yuan’s serious gaze.
Looking at her, he enunciated clearly:
“He said, you are unworthy of his loyalty.”
Snap…
The wolf-hair brush snapped.
The simple words echoed in his ears, and a suffocating heaviness lood over his chest.
Li Junwu instinctively avoided the sharp gaze directed at him, his fingertips lightly digging into his palm.
The City Defense Formation was incomparably powerful; if she wanted, she could investigate every inch of the city at any given ti.
She’d heard many of the opinions that people below had about her:
“Being a hedonist in Di’an was bad enough, and last year she ca to the Western Frontier to continue ssing around.”
“She ate, drank, and played recklessly at Zhenxi Prefecture for over a month, only for the Marquis to suddenly send her into the army—what kind of nonsense is that?”
“I think it’s probably an attempt to groom her, but isn’t it a little late for this prodigal daughter to turn over a new leaf?”
“A hedonist should just stick to being a hedonist.
Suddenly commanding the military will just harm people.”
“That woman is simply lucky to have been born into the Marquis’ household.”
These comnts pierced her heart like tiny needles, though Li Junwu could usually endure them.
These complaints stemd from her past actions, sothing she could slowly and through effort.
But what Xu Yuan said struck directly at her core, cutting her completely in half like a sharp blade.
Her shrunken black pupils trembled incessantly, and her breathing grew increasingly strained.
It was her fault that Zhenxi Prefecture was divided.
It was her that led those who had been loyal to her father to develop second thoughts.
In the gradually dimming view of Li Junwu, Xu Yuan slowly released his finger from the scroll.
Imdiately raising her head, she saw Xu Yuan already turning away, walking towards the hall’s exit.
As he walked, Xu Yuan calmly said:
“Don’t worry too much.
It’s also possible that Lu Bozou made all this up on his deathbed to disgust people.”
Li Junwu gazed at his back, an inexplicable blend of emotions rising within her.
Her voice remained steady:
“Lu Bozou followed my father all his life.
He had no wife or children; there’s no reason for him to remain loyal to those Sects in his final monts.”
Xu Yuan stopped mid-step and turned half his face:
“Then it’s likely that both his words and the list are genuine.”
Li Junwu clenched her teeth lightly and replied:
“Hmm.”
Xu Yuan turned fully, suddenly breaking into a grin:
“Well, if that’s the case, I guess that makes the two of us kindred spirits.”
“What do you an by that?”
“The literal aning.
You don’t think the higher-ups in the Pri Minister’s Mansion blindly support , do you?”
Xu Yuan’s tone was carefree as he spoke quietly: “Even with my father overseeing things, as soone who was once a hedonist, I still have to build my prestige bit by bit.”
He sighed in mild frustration, half-jokingly adding:
“Besides, my problems are even worse than yours.
After all, my household is a lot wealthier than yours.”
“…..”
Looking at his playful deanor, Li Junwu couldn’t help but stifle a chuckle.
Yet, the fleeting emotion was soon replaced by profound lancholy:
“You and I are different.
I… can’t handle these things the way you do.”
“No one is born proficient in these matters.
Since you’ve never been taught such skills, it’s only natural you find them difficult to manage.
Oh, my father is an exception; I think he started plotting power grabs when he was six or seven.”
“What about you?”
“I wasn’t born proficient either; the situation was rather unique.”
Xu Yuan paused briefly in thought and said quietly: “You know, various strange figures have frequently visited my house—Chiefs of Staff, Ministers of Justice, nobles—we deal with all kinds of people.
Compared to you as a Hostage Prince, I’ve been exposed to much more.
“Moreover, my father rarely keeps things off-limits to us; the Pri Minister’s Mansion’s records were always open for to review as a child.”
At this point,
Xu Yuan showed a sowhat awkward expression:
“Well…
there were exceptions.
After I sold about a dozen copies of those records, I was banned from accessing them.
Though, this incident was partly your fault.”
Hearing this, Li Junwu scoffed and retorted:
“You three loved acting high and mighty; what does that have to do with ?”
Xu Yuan shrugged, pointed behind himself, and smiled:
“In short, skills and abilities can be trained.
Take what I ntioned earlier: for instances of power seizures and coup attempts, there are a hundred or so case studies in my family’s internal archive.
Reading through them, one can always find solutions.”
“That’s why,”
“Growth cos gradually.
Jun Wu, you shouldn’t bla yourself too much.”
“…”
Li Junwu was quiet for a mont:
“…
You said all that just to comfort ?”
“Sothing like that.”
“Unnecessary, a waste of ti.”
“Tsk, you little…”
“But it’s quite helpful.”
Li Junwu’s almond-shaped eyes curved into two slivers of a crescent moon, her smile as clear and serene as the moonlight, leaving one spellbound.
Xu Yuan froze for a mont before teasing:
“Could you not smile like that?”
Seeing his reaction, Li Junwu snorted softly, tilting her fair chin upward:
“I was born beautiful; your reaction is perfectly normal.”
Xu Yuan rolled his eyes and said:
“With that hair, with that armor, smiling like that just makes you look like a pretty boy from a brothel.
I’m not into that.”
“…”
Li Junwu’s eye twitched as she gritted her teeth:
“Once my hair grows out and I dress up properly, you’ll see how stunning I can be.”
Without waiting for Xu Yuan’s reaction, Li Junwu waved dismissively at him:
“For now, little Emperor, step aside!
I need to deal with official matters.”
“…..”
After a brief stare-off, Xu Yuan lowered his gaze and chuckled faintly, mimicking a respectful gesture with clasped hands:
“Understood.”
With that, he took small steps backward and left the grand hall where she was.
Watching him leave, Li Junwu unconsciously bit her lip and pressed her hand against her heaving chest, feeling the increasingly rapid heartbeat beneath.
Then, she scoffed dismissively…
…
…
…
Before his death, Lu Bozou revealed the nas of those suspected spies, and Li Junwu placed them under house arrest for various reasons.
The resources of the Noble Clans and rchant Hero Groups were successfully requisitioned as well.
anwhile, Xu Yuan seized this opportunity to visit the Zitan Road Shop No.
7.
This shop operated on a mbership system, its décor refined and elegant.
Upon entering, Sizi Jing, who had been waiting for so ti, approached and presented a small box from his arms.
Aside from this, behind the counter, Xu Yuan saw a semi-transparent wine jar containing a preserved head.
Mu Qing.
As the Blackscale Chief of Jingji, Sizi Jing had ticulously arranged everything before Xu Yuan’s arrival.
Without alerting anyone, Sizi Jing had assassinated Mu Qing.
Seeing this, Xu Yuan left with satisfaction.
The City Defense Formation and the military had been consolidated, and the spies within the city were eliminated step by step.
Everything was proceeding as planned.
And just as Xu Yuan stepped out of the tavern,
“Dong—”
“Dong—”
“Dong—”
Nine strikes of the alarm bell suddenly resounded above Zhenxi Prefecture City.
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