Cloud of the Qing Dynasty

By the time both parties to the banquet were satisfied and returned, it was already very late. Mu Liuyun deliberately stayed at the end to walk with Zhang Chi, and asked him as he walked, "Do you think Qin Wuqi's words are credible?"

Zhang Chi nodded: "It's believable. Qin Wuqi's plan to deal with the Red Lotus Sect should not have been a temporary idea recently, but had been planned at least half a year ago. I don't think he is stupid, nor is he arrogant. Certainly not so stupid that he wants to deal with the Red Lotus Sect, and at the same time provoke a powerful enemy like the Shangqing Palace in order to fight for this benefit. Moreover, he can take the initiative to spit out the benefits that have been taken into his mouth so simply and neatly, which is enough to show that he is not I have no intention of making enemies of the Shangqing Palace for the sake of profit."

"But who knows whether Yin Ci's acting that day was his own initiative or arranged behind the scenes. He failed and let his subordinates take the blame. Also about Bai Ling and the note, the explanation he gave was also very vague. I still I don't quite believe it."

Compared to Mu Liuyun's questioning, Zhang Chi thought that based on Qin Wuqi's follow-up handling of this matter, his motive of harming the Shangqing Palace for the sake of profit seemed untenable, and considering the instructions of Marquis Yongning, Zhang Chi was even more conscientious. Qin Wuqi excused himself.

"This matter may be deduced in this way. First of all, the relationship between Bai Ling and Qin Wuqi is that Bai Ling was employed by Jinghong Villa or Qin Wuqi himself, and did some secret things for them. The hidden weapon was only Qin Wuqi's reward for her. During the work, Bai Ling fell in love with Qin Wuqi's family background and appearance, but Qin Wuqi didn't like Bai Ling, so he rejected her. Maybe the rejection was not thorough enough, or there was some misunderstanding between Bai Ling's words and deeds, so that Bai Ling They said everywhere in the village that Qin Wuqi would come back to marry her or something, and they even said that the gift of thanks was a token of love. But although the word spread, Qin Wuqi never came back. Love gives birth to hatred, and cooperated with the Red Lotus Sect to commit murder and blame. My appearance at the time was just a coincidence. If I didn't happen to be there and you identified me as the murderer, she would definitely have follow-up arrangements It made people think that it was Jinghong Villa who poisoned and killed people. Later, the matter was exposed by us. In order to avoid being liquidated by Shangqing Palace and Jinghong Villa at the same time, the Red Lotus Sect sent people to kill Bai Ling on its own, and in order to push the matter to Jinghong In Hongshan Villa, the person who silenced him put the letter that the Red Lotus Sect obtained through other channels on Bai Ling's body."

Mu Liuyun still couldn't understand: "But you also said that it was a stupid act for that person to put the letterhead on Bai Ling's body. It was obvious planting at first glance. Why did the Red Lotus Sect do such a stupid thing? "

"Maybe the person who silenced her didn't know that we had searched her before, or maybe it was simply because of stupidity."

"Because I'm stupid...?" Mu Liuyun repeated in surprise.

"Yes, in fact, this is the case in many places. The leaders may be very smart and cunning, but when it comes to the people who work below, the majority are stupid. After all, where are there so many smart people in the world, right? "

Mu Liuyun nodded, reluctantly accepting this statement.After all, the murderer, Bai Ling, had already been executed. If the behind-the-scenes instigator was indeed the Red Lotus Sect, then according to the agreement reached between Shangqing Palace and Jinghong Villa, they would have to settle the debt sooner or later.

***

The next day, the martial arts conference officially opened with the sound of firecrackers.

Since the morning, some sideshows such as lion dance, dragon dance, acrobatics and operas have been going on on the stage, until the audience seats are filled up one after another, and the people who should arrive have almost arrived. retreated.

The sound of gongs and drums stopped, the noise of the audience also quieted down, and everyone's eyes fell on the team that walked up to the referee's seat.

This time, the judges were Tianhe Daoist from the Shangqing Palace, Master Huiming, an eminent monk from Shaolin Temple, Li Tieyi, the leader of the Beggar Gang, and Bai Xiaosheng's chief writer, and some other seniors who were highly respected in the world.

Generally speaking, people who are older and have a certain reputation and status will not participate in martial arts competitions, because even if they win, they will be said to be bullied by the big, and if they lose, it will be even more embarrassing.They were invited to serve as referees at Jinghong Villa, which was already giving Jinghong Villa face, and at the same time fulfilled their own face. After all, being able to serve as referees for others represented the recognition of their qualifications by the people in the world.

Most of the contestants are people in the age group of 40 to 24 years old. There are disciples of various sects, as well as casual people without sects. The applicants will determine the order of the battle by drawing lots. If you abstain, you will have two chances to compete with other losers to advance. Finally, in this relatively fair way, [-] people will be selected to participate in the finals.

If you fail to enter the final, the registration fee will be in vain, but as long as you enter the final, you will have a considerable reward. The final winner can also receive a bonus of up to 1000 taels of silver. The more valuable white jade unicorn and a miracle medicine "Snow Lotus Pill" for treating internal injuries that is said to be left behind by "Genius Doctor of Poisonous Hands" Qin Wushang.

In addition, the winner this time will also compete against Qin Wuqi, the owner of Jinghong Villa.

For individuals and some small sects, 1000 taels is not a small amount, but for a sect like Shangqing Palace, it is not a huge sum of money, so the bounty is still secondary, and the main thing is the martial arts conference With the attention of countless people, the results of the competition will be circulated for many years through gossip organizations such as "Bai Xiaosheng", "Bao Inquiry", and "Wan Shi Tong", so those who are not famous and have no status in the world hope to pass this competition. Earn a bit of fame and status in the world, and those who have fame and status in the world hope to maintain their fame and status in the world. As a result, every large-scale martial arts competition in the world has many contestants and the competition is extremely fierce.

***

Zhang Chi has no background and no affiliation, so he naturally sat with the spectators who bought tickets at their own expense. Shangguanling and Bao Qiqiao also got tickets presented by Jinghong Mountain Villa. On Shangguanling's left, Shangguanling has been staring at Zhang Chi angrily through Shangguanling in the middle.

Zhang Chi felt uncomfortable being stared at by her: "Miss, why are you always looking at me like this?"

"Is it you—it must be you, who told my father my whereabouts, right?" Bao Qiqiao was so angry that she wanted to throw something when she thought of the letter she received early this morning.

"I've been wronged, miss. We're inquisitive about information. If your father doesn't even know your whereabouts, we'll just change the name to 'Bao inquiring'."

Shangguanling leaned forward a little, intentionally blocking Bao Qiqiao's aggressive gaze, and said to Zhang Chi, "Did you see Uncle Grand Master?"

Zhang Chi said perfunctorily, "Isn't it in the referee's seat?"

Bao Qiqiao leaned back and continued to stare at Zhang Chi: "If you hadn't told my father, why did my father's letter remind me that you were specially recruited by Bao to inquire about you? What is your origin? Why? I just doubted your identity, so you can ask my father to write a letter to defend you?"

Zhang Chi also leaned back and tried hard to argue: "Miss, I'm just a small person who runs errands, delivers letters, and makes soy sauce. Your father probably just heard the news by the way, so I just want to let you stop embarrassing me." Forget it, don't make things difficult for me, a little guy, okay?"

Shangguan Ling also leaned back and continued to block their sight: "I mean Uncle Tianxuan."

"Yeah, where is Liuyun?" Zhang Chi didn't want to get entangled with Bao Qiqiao, so he stretched his neck and looked for Mu Liuyun in the front row specially reserved for the Shangqing Palace. Give him a look: "Brother Zhang Chi!"

Zhang Chi looked back, and saw a man with thick eyebrows, big eyes, and dark skin smiling at him.

"Brother Nine?" Zhang Chi said in surprise, "You're here."

The person who came was Long Jiu, the head catcher of the six gates they met that day. He showed his big white teeth and smiled and said, "Yeah, those who rushed so fast finally caught up."

Zhang Chi asked with interest: "Ninth brother, have you signed up for the competition?"

"I'm in a public position, so I won't join in the fun." Long Jiu sat down on the bench beside him, and greeted the two little girls, "Your friend?"

Zhang Chi introduced the two parties, and then asked Long Jiu: "Since you don't plan to participate, are you here for the invitation of the owner of Qin Zhuang?"

Long Jiu sighed: "That guy Qin Wuqi is slippery, and he has no reason to be caught. Anyway, I can't do anything to him, and I'm too lazy to talk nonsense with him. The main reason I came this time is to hear that There is a wanted criminal who changed his name and sneaked to participate in the martial arts competition, maybe he was lucky enough to be found by me."

***

While they were chatting here, Qin Wuqi, the organizer of this conference, had already jumped onto the competition ring.

He is wearing a well-tailored suit today. A jade belt embroidered with gold thread is strung around his strong waist, which sets off his slender and powerful figure. The delicate fabrics mainly in blue and white make the young owner's sword eyebrows and starry eyes even more beautiful. , handsome appearance, truly the appearance of a dragon and a phoenix among people.

Under everyone's attention, Qin Wuqi began to give a speech. His own powerful internal strength made his words sound full of air, and even the audience sitting in the last row could hear his resonant voice clearly.

"Thank you for showing off Qin's face and coming to participate in this martial arts conference." Qin Wuqi cupped his hands to the audience on three sides, "I think you have heard that this martial arts conference will not only make friends with martial arts, but also make friends with heroes from all walks of life. , the more important purpose is to unite the forces of fellow martial artists to encircle and suppress the Red Lotus Sect."

Although the spectators were all here to watch the competition, everyone knew that this was the highlight, and they all pricked up their ears and listened patiently.

However, when Qin Wuqi said, "I hope that everyone who is rich will contribute money and strength to safeguard the justice of martial arts together", a person in the front row of the audience said loudly: "I heard that Jinghong Mountain Villa and Hong Kong The Lotus Sect has a personal grudge, because the Red Lotus Sect robbed the territory of Jinghong Villa and killed the people of Jinghong Villa. But this is just your Jinghong Villa's own business. Others have no grudge against the Red Lotus Sect. You guys If you can't beat the Red Lotus Sect, it seems a little unreasonable to pull someone who has nothing to do with it?"