After Su Mu returned to the imperial city he devoted himself to all kinds of busy political affairs without even a day’s rest, so he did not have time to pay attention to those two in the harem who fought for favor whether obviously or secretly. Su Mu felt that the few days he spent in Lingxiao Peak had left an indelible mark on him. He needed some peace to himself, but this decision soon flew up into the clouds when he saw Huang Xuan’s large, clear and bright eyes that look so plaintive and aggrieved. Su Mu led him to the imperial gardens to admire the budding lotus flowers. After dismissing the servants, he squeezed Huang Xuan’s chin and teased, “What’s the matter? Who has bullied you for you to have such an unhappy look.”

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Seeing the Crown Prince teasing him like a hoodlum teasing a good woman, Huang Xuan was a little speechless. But who made him take the silly white sweet route, so he was very cooperative, instantly putting on a pitiful expression and saying: “Your Highness, you haven’t spoken to me for three days.”

Su Mu leaned forward and rubbed his tender lips: “Am I not here accompanying you now?”

Huang Xuan asked happily with an innocent look: “Your Highness, can I accompany you tonight?”

Su Mu’s body stiffened: “No.”

“Your Highness…..” Huang Xuan said aggrievedly.

Su Mu pretended not to notice, and changed the subject: “How is the imperial medical college?”

Seeing that the Crown Prince did not intend to continue that topic, Huang Xuan had no choice but to restrain his expression and reply: “Very good, Doctor Hu has taught me a lot.”

Su Mu looked at the budding lotus flowers in the pond and said: “Doctor Hu’s family has practiced medicine for generations. It is indeed good for you to study with him more, but the imperial medical college is not a place to stay for long.”

The imperial medical college was not a place to stay for long. This provoked some thought. For a medical student, the imperial medical college was the best place to go. Did the Crown Prince want to dismiss the imperial medical college?

With a turn of his thoughts Huang Xuan soon guessed the Crown Prince’s intention. These imperial doctors were originally raised to serve the royal family and various nobles. However, the Crown Prince had already planned to get rid of most of the nobles. By then, there would be no need for the imperial medical college to exist. But most of the imperial doctors, after all, possessed real talents and could not be easily let go. The Crown Prince attached great importance to the common people’s livelihood, so the result must be that the imperial physicians would soon face the common people. A new institution would be born, and the Crown Prince planned to let him carry the banner.

Huang Xuan looked at Su Mu firmly and said: “Your Highness, please rest assured, this official will not let you down.”

Su Mu pulled him down to sit at the stone table and said, “You don’t have to be too anxious. Due to many other affairs, I have no time to intervene in the imperial medical college now.”

“Then this official should even more so share in the worries of Your Highness.” Huang Xuan said with an expression of adoration.

Su Mu pinched his smooth cheeks and said, “How sweet.” After saying that, he jumped and flew across the water like a dragonfly. When he landed in front of Huang Xuan again, a fresh and elegant fragrance permeated the air. Su Mu reached out and lifted a budding lotus up in front of Huang Xuan, saying: “It is as sweet and lovely as you.”

Seeing Huang Xuan staring at the lotus in front of him, Su Mu asked a little strangely: “You’re not going to accept it? This is the first time I gave someone a flower.”

Huang Xuan smiled with a little difficulty, and recalled his father’s words “relying on beauty will not last long”. He reached out and took the Crown Prince’s hand, plucking up the courage to ask: “Your Highness, if…..I am not young anymore, will you still like me?”

At this time, even a fool knew how to answer. Su Mu smiled and said, “Of course I will like you. I like you not entirely because of your face.” This was true, but it was indeed this face that attracted him at first, but Su Mu was not so stupid to say this. Su Mu slowly leaned forward and kissed him. He said, “Holding the hand and growing old together.”

The bright eyes were instantly misted over. Huang Xuan held Su Mu’s hand holding the lotus and kissed back vigorously.

Outside the imperial gardens, Shi Yan strode forward towards the eunuchs who were guarding the entrance: “Please inform the Crown Prince, this official has important matters to report.”

The eunuch spoke in a troubled voice: “Lord Shi, His Highness and Huang Gongzi are inside, you…..could you come back later?” The eunuch’s tone was a bit uncertain. After all, everytime the Crown Prince fooled around it always took a long time, and right now barely any time had passed.

Shi Yan was loyal to the Crown Prince, but he also knew what the Crown Prince was like. He clasped his fists and said, “I have troubled gonggong, I will come back later.”

The eunuch said in a hurry: “I don’t dare, Lord Shi, please walk slowly.”

“Wait.”

Immediately after Shi Yan took a few steps, the voice of the Crown Prince sounded from behind, and everyone hurriedly knelt down and said, “Greetings to Your Highness.”

“Rise.” Su Mu walked towards Shi Yan and said, “What’s the matter?”

Shi Yan bowed and said: “Your Highness,  the person is found; he is currently in the study.”

Only then did Su Mu recall that he had asked Shi Yan to find a person. The procession made their way to the study. As soon as Su Mu opened the door, he saw an old man with white hair and white beard, looking a little like a beggar and was currently tied to a chair. At this moment, the old man was blowing his beard and glaring in Su Mu’s direction. Su Mu walked calmly to the desk and sat down. Although the old man was very angry, he did not curse and swear. It seemed that Shi Yan had taught him well in advance. Su Mu nodded with satisfaction and cast an appreciative look at Shi Yan.

Shi Yan remained expressionless without a trace of emotion. He stood in front of Su Mu and introduced: “This is a scholar from the Jin kingdom, Jiang Rende, fifty-eight years old. He has no wives, children, or students. He wrote the book “Benevolent Integrity” to teach the world. But no one appreciates it and he is often in a destitute state.” After speaking, he presented the book that he had been holding to Su Mu.

Su Mu opened the book and looked through it. It was a little different from the Qing kingdom’s text, but it was still understandable in context. It was indeed about benevolence and integrity. Su Mu roughly flipped through the book before closing it and indicating Shi Yan to untie the ropes. Looking at the old man who had an expression of displeasure, Su Mu said: “Mister has great talent, this book should be something to be handed down the generations.” Everyone loved flattery, especially this kind of literati who thought highly of himself but lacked any success for decades.

Sure enough, the displeasure on the old man’s face disappeared a lot as soon as Su Mu finished speaking, but his face still looked a little angry. His expression obviously revealed a contempt for nobles like Su Mu who oppressed the common people.

Su Mu smiled and said: “I didn’t know that Mister had such talent before. Please forgive me if I have offended you.”

“Hmmph!” The old man let out a cold snort and looked at Su Mu silently.

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Su Mu smiled at him and said to the old man: “Mister, Ben Gong must confess to being anxious to invite Mister to come to discuss some matters related to the great cause of the future.”

When talking big one must talk as big as possible in order to bluff the other first.

Sure enough, the old man appeared willing to give him a chance to talk.

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The journey from Anyang County back to the imperial city was unexpectedly uneventful. The assassination attempts that Su Mu had predicted did not happen, but this was exactly what Su Mu was worried about. Knowing to lay in wait after being unable to kill with a single blow. An enemy with a brain was more troublesome than someone who only knew to throw away his life.

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But as soon as he returned to the imperial city, Su Mu had no time to think about assassins. The imperial court was in a mess because he had left for half a month. Su Mu’s New Laws encountered great obstacles as that group of court officials simply did not take his words seriously, after all, who would hand over the meat that was already eaten in one’s mouth. As a businessman in his previous life, he could understand this, but this did not prevent him from forcefully taking the meat out of those people’s stomachs.

Crystal drops of water rolled down the pale body, as alluring as a flower covered with dew. However, the maids who were serving on the side did not dare to look at him. Su Mu had just finished getting dressed when Liu Xi walked in from the door. Instantly, the somewhat dim room seemed to brighten immediately.

“Have all the people arrived?” Su Mu stretched out his arms to let the maid tie his belt.

Liu Xi respectfully said: “Answering Your Highness, they have all arrived.”

At this moment, the people standing in the great hall of the Crown Prince’s Palace could not contain their excitement. The first thing the Crown Prince did when he came back from his trip was not to hold court, nor to summon the old officials, but to summon them. The Crown Prince was the future emperor, and the meaning behind this went without saying. The eunuch’s shrill voice came from outside the door: “The Crown Prince has arrived.”

The dozen people in the great hall immediately stood up and said to Su Mu: “Paying respects to Your Highness.”

Su Mu raised his hand, “No need to be courteous.” He walked to the main seat and sat down, looking at the young people who were present and saying, “The past days that Ben Gong has not been present, you all have worked hard.”

Everyone bowed their heads and responded: “This is only this official’s duty, His Highness over-praises us.”

Su Mu nodded and asked, “How is the progress of the characters and teaching materials?”

Su Mu wanted to establish public schools so a large number of textbooks and a system of simplified characters were indispensable, otherwise knowledge would still be something belonging to the upper class.

Lin Siyuan stepped forward and handed him a thin book: “This is a textbook written in simplified characters, please have a look.”

Su Mu opened the book and glanced through it for a few moments, then closed the book and said to Lin Siyuan: “You can start printing.” 

Then he asked Liu Xi: “Has the three academies begun construction yet?”

Liu Xi stepped forward and replied: “Your Highness, construction has just started.”

Su Mu said: “As the supervisor you must supervise it well, the construction of the three academies is not allowed to have any mistakes. This time you left the imperial city without authorization and will be punished with a three months deduction of salary. The next time you commit another crime, the punishment will be doubled.” 

Su Mu then shifted his gaze to Huang Xuan who had just let out a sigh of relief, and said sternly: “And you too, without an official order from Ben Gong and leaving your post without permission, you will also be fined with Liu Xi together.”

Liu Xi glanced at the domineering and majestic Crown Prince, his heart feeling as if it was tickled by a kitten’s paw. Huang Xuan lowered his head with shame: “This official understands.”

Yun Feiyu, seeing that the Crown Prince had finished asking his questions, walked forward, “Your Highness, might setting 15 years old as the lowest age for women to be allowed to marry inappropriate? Taking the current marriage age of 14 for males and 13 for females, 15 being the legal marriage age will reduce the number of births by at least one infant, and of our country’s 7 million population the number of births will be reduced by at least tens of thousands of infants every year, which is not good for the country’s population growth.”

Yun Feiyan frowned, but she didn’t know how to refute this because what Yun Feiyu said was true. Due to the many years of warfare, if there were not enough newcomers to add to the country’s population, the country would be destroyed by itself within a few years.

The Crown Prince’s steady and powerful voice sounded in her ears, and Yun Feiyan raised her head to look up at the Crown Prince on the main seat.

Su Mu said: “The current method to increase population is only a temporary solution, not a permanent cure. We don’t have enough food to feed more people, so how many infants would even survive? The fundamental purpose of delaying marriage age is to get more women participating in labor. The biggest cause in reducing the population in Qing kingdom is hunger so the more food produced naturally there will be more people. The most urgent thing is how to increase food production. The Imperial Agricultural Academy was built to solve this problem.”

Su Mu’s words gave Yun Feiyan a spark of inspiration. She stepped forward: “Your Highness, nowadays, a large number of women in the Qing kingdom are flowing to the upper class, which not only wastes women’s labor, but also takes up a lot of wealth to support them. It is better to practice monogamy so that more wealth can be created.”

Su Mu cast an appreciative look at her, nodded and said: “Changing from consumer to producer is very good, but monogamy…..” Su Mu looked at the nervous Yun Feiyan: “It’s not feasible for the time being. At present, the number of men has decreased due to war among the various countries for years. At present, there are more women in the Qing kingdom, and sooner or later, the Qing kingdom will also have to fight in wars. The difference between the number of men and women will be even greater.”

Yun Feiyu looked at his somewhat disappointed sister, and asked Su Mu: “Your Highness, as Feiyan said, those rich and powerful are not productive but occupy a lot of wealth and consume more resources, which is truly a malignant tumor of the Qing kingdom.”

Su Mu looked at him and asked, “Do you have any suggestions?”

Yun Feiyu raised his head and looked at Su Mu calmly as he replied: “Levying taxes, taxes on house construction, taxes on taking more than one wife, taxes on purchases…..”

Yun Feiyu’s list of taxes amazed Su Mu. Su Mu felt that if all these taxes were levied on a single rich man, they would peel off a layer of his skin. But Su Mu didn’t just want to peel off the skin, he wanted to dismantle the bones and eat the meat. Their wealth was originally taken from the people, and should be used to benefit the people.

Su Mu waved his hand: “After you leave, write a detailed plan with the others and send it to me.”

“Yes.”

After staying in the great hall for most of the day, Su Mu let the people leave when it was time for dinner. Ye Qingfeng was sent by Su Mu to gather the forces of jianghu. Gu Yunzhou went to investigate Shi Qingshuang’s affairs. Yun Feiyu and the others left to discuss the taxation, Huang Xuan also went back to the imperial medical college, so the only remaining one, Liu Xi was finally alone with Su Mu.

A group of blue-clothed palace maids filed in and placed a variety of exquisite dishes on the table. Liu Xi stretched out his delicate and slender fingers, picked up the chopsticks, and lifted a piece of tender and delicious fat meat to Su Mu’s mouth, saying: “Your Highness…..”

Su Mu glanced at his perpetually seducing eyes, and pushed Liu Xi’s hand away: “I have hands.”

“Your Highness…..” Liu Xi’s eyes were full of unspoken words.

Su Mu looked at him speechlessly: “Can’t you let me have a quiet meal?”

Liu Xi spoke with distress: “This kind of trivial matter, please let this official do it for you instead. Where is the need for Your Highness to do it personally? You have been wandering outside for more than half a month, unable to eat well and rest well, even losing a lot of weight. We must make up for it.”

This moving and emotional tone would fit perfectly in TV dramas. The corners of Su Mu’s mouth twitched and he said, “Are your eyes concave? Why don’t I know that I have lost weight.”

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Seeing that he was about to speak again, Su Mu put emphasis in his tone: “Shut up and eat.”

Liu Xi withdrew his hand with aggrievance, that pair of beautiful eyes glittering like diamond waters and nothing more beautiful could be imagined, causing Su Mu to feel slightly dazed. He hurriedly turned his head and stuffed something into his mouth.

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However, Su Mu, who was just about to go lay down, heard a slight disturbance, so he immediately put on the robe he had just taken off and walked to the window.

A nimble figure in the night sky quickly flew towards Su Mu, and appeared on the roof of the building opposite Su Mu in the blink of an eye. The surrounding soldiers immediately pointed their weapons at the newcomer, but the vigilance on Su Mu’s face was soon replaced by surprise. Staring at the person in front of him, his emotions unsteady: “Princess Qingshuang.”

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Su Mu closed his eyes and suppressed the disturbance in his heart. He flew out of the window and landed opposite Princess Qingshuang.

Dressed in an easy to move agile outfit, the other appeared exceptionally handsome and valiant. Her deep eyes looked at the obviously affected Su Mu as she said: “Long time no see, Your Highness.”

Su Mu tried hard to control his emotions, and asked in a displeased tone: “What exactly do you want?” Su Mu didn’t believe that her appearance here was just to see the sights.

Princess Qingshuang was not the slightest bit intimidated by Su Mu’s aura. She folded her arms behind her back, eyes misted over as she looked at the new moon up in the sky, speaking almost as if to herself: “My sister died for you, but you don’t seem to take her to heart.”

She spoke in a calm and gentle tone, but Su Mu felt a trace of killing intent.

Su Mu looked at her and said, “So what? Are you here to gain justice for her? To kill me?”

Didn’t take her to heart?

In the past, Su Mu never believed that one person’s heart could be completely occupied by another person, leaving no gaps, until he became Su Mochi and received all his memories. No one knew better than Su Mu how much Su Mochi loved Qingxue. If destroying the world could bring Qingxue back to life, Su Mochi would destroy the world without hesitation; and in the same vein, if saving the world meant Qingxue could come back to life he would also not hesitate at all. The root of Su Mochi’s madness was not in Su Mochi’s love for Qingxue, nor Qingxue’s love for him, but that only Qingxue loved him in this world.

Princess Qingshuang turned around calmly, a charming smile at the corner of her lips but eyes extremely cold: “Originally, I wanted you to be buried with my sister, but I can’t beat you.” She looked at Su Mu who was still trying to control his emotions, and said: “But there is always a way, right?”

“Crazy woman!” Su Mu cursed severely, enduring the emotions of anger and sorrow.

Qingshuang spoke disapprovingly: “How about we make a deal?”

Su Mu turned around to leave, not at all interested.

With a smile at the corners of Qingshuang’s lips, she looked at Su Mu’s back and said: “Confer the title of Princess Consort to my sister.”

Mental!

Su Mu didn’t even have the desire to speak. This Princess Qingshuang was obviously similar to Su Mochi, obsession turning into madness.

“Otherwise, I will kill your male pets.” Princess Qingshuang looked at Su Mu, and said calmly, “Gu Yunzhou, I can’t do anything about, but the others are much easier targets.”

Su Mu was most disgusted with being threatened by others. He looked at Princess Qingshuang dangerously and said, “You will die before that.”

“Why don’t we give it a try?” Qingshuang seemed to be satisfied with her proposal and smiled happily.

Su Mu clenched his fists and looked at the mentally abnormal woman opposite and said, “Qingxue is dead.”

The smile on her face instantly disappeared, and Qingshuang turned her head to look at Su Mu with a dark expression: “So you can forget her and erase her existence?”

She stared at Su Mu fiercely, her anger almost burning away her sanity: “On the night before her death, I had arranged for someone to take her away, but the news I received the next day was that she was already dead. I found her body in a mass grave outside the city! And you? Where were you? Even if you couldn’t get away at the time, what about afterwards?”

Qingshuang looked at Su Mu angrily and said, “After that, you forgot all about her, everyday hanging out with a palace full of male playthings.”

Su Mu felt a dull pain in his heart, and his eyes also felt a little dry. He looked directly into Qingshuang’s angry eyes: “If possible, Su Mochi is willing to exchange anything for her rebirth, but the facts cannot be changed, Qingxue will not come back to life no matter what you do.”

Qingshuang slowly stepped back and looked at Su Mu as she said, “So I want to take everything back for her, including you!”

This woman was simply mentally sick. Su Mu took a big breath, unwilling to bother with her anymore and turned away.

Unexpectedly, Qingshuang’s sneer came from behind him: “His Royal Highness is really heartless. If this is the case, then don’t blame me hehehe…..”

Su Mu instantly turned around, but Qingshuang’s figure had already disappeared into the night. Su Mu frowned and was really afraid that this crazy woman would do something. This kind of lunatic would never speak reason with you, just act according to their own wishes, just like Su Mochi before.

Su Mu returned to the room and lay on the bed but couldn’t sleep restfully at all.

The next day, although he went to bed late, because he had to get up early every day in the imperial city to attend morning assembly, Su Mu habitually woke up early. After breakfast, he planned to go back to the imperial city immediately. After all, as the head of the New Laws it was unsuitable for him to be away for too long, otherwise many things could not be decided.

It was just that unexpectedly, as soon as Su Mu walked down the stairs, a soldier reported: “Paying respects to Your Highness, Princess Qingshuang requests an audience.”

Su Mu frowned and looked towards the door. Sure enough, a slender and graceful woman in a palace robe walked in. She took off her veil, revealing tender white cheeks colored with a faint blush, cherry lips that were tender and lovely, and a delicate nose. That pair of bright eyes were also as intoxicating as autumn water. After seeing Su Mu, she showed a charming smile, her voice melodious like a black-naped oriole. Her whole person was completely different from the twisted and crazy Qingshuang of last night.

“Your Highness, it’s been a long time!”

It was fortunate that Su Mu liked men and would not be captured by her beauty, but the emotions that belonged to Su Mochi once again flared. However, this time Su Mu would not be so easily affected. He calmly walked down the stairs, the corner of his mouth tugging up into a half-smile, and said, “Princess Qingshuang, hope you are well.”

Su Mu didn’t understand what the other was playing at, did she intend to harass him from morning to night?

They both had perfect and hypocritical smiles on their faces as they sat opposite each other on the chairs. Su Mu looked at her and asked: “Why has the Princess come to Anyang County? Planning to go back to the Shi kingdom?”

Qingshuang smiled and said, “That’s not it, why would I be willing to leave the picturesque scenery here in Qing kingdom?”

The smile on Su Mu’s face became cold, and he said, “What exactly do you want to do? Shi Ran having you come to the Qing kingdom should not be for a leisurely tour of the Qing kingdom’s mountains and rivers.”

“Naturally.” Princess Qingshuang replied, seeming to have no intention to hide her motive: “His Majesty learned of the transaction between Your Highness and the Wu kingdom, and ordered me to take the technology that Your Highness gave to the Wu kingdom.”

Su Mu was a little surprised, he didn’t expect her to be so straightforward: “Do you think you can take it from me?”

Princess Qingshuang shook her head and smiled as she said: “Of course I know that it would be difficult to take anything from Your Highness, but taking it from Sun Haoran’s hands would be a much easier task.”

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Su Mu smiled and did not respond to that, and instead said to Qingshuang: “If the Princess wants to tour the rivers and mountains of Qing kingdom, then please help yourself, Ben Gong still has important matters to take care of and will not accompany the Princess.”

Qingshuang smiled, eyes deep, as she replied, “I don’t dare to trouble Your Highness.”

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Su Mu quickly forgot about the news that someone was plotting against him, because he had more difficult things to deal with.

The moon hung high up in the night sky. Su Mu sat on the side of the bed with a grumpy expression, looking at the two demons of pestilence standing in front of his bed, and said angrily: “I need to rest, can you two not show up?”

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It had been three days. Whenever Ye Qingfeng found a chance to appear in front of Su Mu, he would be sent flying by the omnipresent Gu Yunzhou and his sword. Of course, so long as Gu Yunzhou tried to be alone with Su Mu, Ye Qingfeng would also show up and follow close behind, causing Su Mu to not only be unable to do business, but also unable to take a good rest.

Ye Qingfeng looked at him with a sorrowful expression on his face and said, “Darling, I’m here to accompany you to rest, but this annoying guy is being an eyesore. Can you please drive him away.”

Gu Yunzhou glanced murderously at him, the iron sword in his hand ready to be unsheathed.

How could he be able to sleep in such a situation! Su Mu rubbed his temples. Suddenly, he changed into a smiling expression, stood up and walked to the two unsuspecting men, and quickly snapped out his hand to tap their pressure points. He then walked out the door with a dark expression.

He must find a place where the two of them wouldn’t be able to find him and take a good rest. The cutting night wind outside blew by, cold and bitter. Su Mu psused, not knowing where to go at that moment.

The city of Anyang at night was quiet and gloomy. As Su Mu flew across the roofs he looked at the piles of rubbish and dilapidated houses and frowned deeply. It was not like a city at all, lying on the street everywhere were sleeping beggars. If Anyang City still possessed a bit of liveliness during the day, it was like a dead city at night.

It seemed that Yang Hanbo had robbed the people clean of anything he could. Su Mu stood on a tall building. This place should belong to the rich and powerful. It stood in sharp contrast with the low houses next to it. Light could be seen from a section of the street not far away, the bright lights lighting up the streets and highlighting the moving human shaped shadows. Su Mu circulated his inner energy and was about to make his way over when suddenly a dozen people in black charged up from the courtyard under his feet to surround Su Mu.

Su Mu stood in place, not at all surprised, his eyes cold and emotionless. These black-clothed men surrounding Su Mu had high martial arts skills. Without saying a word, they raised their weapons and attacked Su Mu, aiming at his vital parts.

Like a ghost, Su Mu’s figure flitted quickly among the people in black. Without exception, anyone who was touched by Su Mu instantly stopped breathing. Suddenly, a sharp arrow cut through the air, aiming straight at Su Mu. With a wave of his sleeve, it was directly knocked aside, but immediately afterwards the sound of more arrows whistled through the sky, dozens of arrows aiming towards Su Mu’s vital parts from all different directions. The men in black who were still engaged in combat with Su Mu seemed to completely disregard these arrows, continuing to attack Su Mu with a desperate fervor.

A black-clothed man pierced his sword towards Su Mu’s chest. A murderous light flashed in Su Mu’s eyes and he grabbed the black-clothed man’s wrist and pulled him in front of him. A series of fleshy sounds could be heard and blood sprayed out everywhere. The black-clothed man was shot directly into a sieve. Seeing that more and more people were hiding in the dark and shooting arrows, Su Mu frowned and flew away. But the men in black behind him continued to chase after him. Although they couldn’t catch up to Su Mu, they also couldn’t be rid of at the moment either.

These people were not weak in their martial arts skills so they should not be unnamed nobodies. There was a great possibility that they were from jianghu. Could it be that Fan Qiang mentioned earlier? Su Mu glanced behind him and then accelerated his speed, charging into the dense forest outside the city. A black-clothed man made a gesture, and everyone immediately dispersed and charged into the forest.

But in just a short while, Su Mu appeared silently outside the woods, and flew back towards Anyang City without even looking back. But when Su Mu landed at the entrance of the inn, he saw that there were many more soldiers outside the inn. Su Mu recognized that they were the palace guards. Seeing the different signs on the arms of these people, Su Mu knew who had come.

“Paying respects to His Highness!”

When Su Mu appeared at the door, everyone immediately knelt down on one knee, and the people in the room who heard the sound also immediately rushed out.

“Your Highness!”

Like a blooming flame, Liu Xi rushed to Su Mu with glittering eyes and hugged him regardless of etiquette: “Your Highness, where have you been this whole time? I was so worried about you.”

So many people were still watching! Two grown men hugging and embracing in broad daylight on the streets was too indecent! Su Mu gritted his teeth and pulled away the tight arms around him, and said in a low voice, “Behave yourself.”

Liu Xi retracted his hands aggrievedly. Huang Xuan who followed a step behind wanted nothing more than to poison Liu Xi and disfigure that seductive face immediately. He shot Liu Xi a murderous glare: “Shameless.” Then he walked over to Su Mu and said with a concerned look, “Your Highness, please go in and take a rest.”

Su Mu nodded and walked into the inn, immediately coming face to face with Gu Yunzhou and Ye Qingfeng standing in the lobby, both with dark expressions on their faces. Liu Xi walked up behind Su Mu and seeing that these two people were still here, phoenix eyes looked at them with displeasure: “This place is to be the temporary residence of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, idlers shall quickly dismiss themselves.”

Huang Xuan also looked at the two people opposite them with a look of hostility: “His Royal Highness is unwell and needs a good rest, please move aside.”

Ye Qingfeng glanced at the two with disdain and said sarcastically, “Is this any place for you to speak out of turn?”

“Clang.” Gu Yunzhou flicked his scabbard with his left hand, revealing a sharp iron sword, murderous intent permeating his aura.

Su Mu felt a headache. Earlier even when it was just Gu Yunzhou and Ye Qingfeng he didn’t know what to do, but now that two more came along wasn’t this just a mess on top of a mess? He rubbed the tip of his nose with his index finger and coughed, saying to the two behind him: “Someone made an assassination attempt on me just now, Liu Xi, go investigate with particular attention on a person named Fan Qiang. Huang Xuan, go and prescribe a prescription for me to calm the nerves and help me sleep. Ye Qingfeng, don’t forget the matter I entrusted you with, Gu Yunzhou…..”

Gu Yunzhou looked at him expressionlessly. Su Mu turned his head to the side and said embarrassedly: “You come with me and help me with circulating the inner energy to heal my injuries.”

With another “clang”, the iron sword was re-sheathed. Don’t know if it was Su Mu’s imagination but he actually saw a smile flash across Gu Yunzhou’s face. Su Mu didn’t dare to stay here any longer. The eyes of the remaining three were causing his hair to stand on end.

Seeing the figures of Su Mu and Gu Yunzhou disappearing upstairs, Liu Xi was so vexed that even the corners of his eyes flushed red. He kicked over the table next to him, and said bitterly, “Why him?”

Huang Xuan flicked his sleeves and snorted coldly before obediently leaving to write the prescription. Ye Qingfeng gritted his teeth and disappeared in a flash. If it weren’t for the fact he couldn’t beat the two of them, he would have chopped Gu Yunzhou into pieces a long time ago, and then forever lock up that heartless little guy.

Upstairs, Su Mu walked into his room, feeling that scorching gaze from behind, and instantly recalled the absurd events of the last few days. His body temperature also increased a little bit, but he was simply too frightened by Gu Yunzhou, so he hurriedly sat on a stool and changed the subject: “Do you have people in the Shi kingdom?”

Gu Yunzhou nodded and said: “Yes.”

Su Mu: “Can you help me investigate a Princess Qingshuang of Shi kingdom? Of course, I will pay the price.”

Towards Princess Qingshuang, Su Mu kept getting the feeling that she was not that simple. According to Shi Ran’s previous actions and behavior, towards the daughter of his brother and enemy, how could he keep Qingshuang alive and confer her the title of princess?

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“Fine.” Gu Yunzhou promised very simply and disappeared quickly afterwards.

Su Mu breathed a sigh of relief. He was really worried that Gu Yunzhou would kill the others in a fit of anger. After all, in a fight between the two he could only guarantee a tie. Also, towards those three days of being imprisoned by Gu Yunzhou in that mountain cave, every time he thought about it, Su Mu’s face would flush red but at the same time also feel his hair stand on end.

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Yang Zifei hurried back to the manor. Seeing his father was like seeing a life savior. He rushed forward and grabbed Yang Hanbo, incoherent words coming out in a panic: “Dad, escape, we have to escape…..”

Yang Hanbo was shaken dizzy by the other and quickly ordered a servant to pull him away. Looking at an obviously overwhelmed and frightened Yang Zifei, he reprimanded unhappily: “What kind of demeanor is this, weren’t you going to arrest those two filthy commoners? Well, where are they?”

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“Dad…..” Yang Zifei tremblingly said: “We are in big trouble!”

Yang Hanbo said disapprovingly: “What trouble, isn’t it just two filthy commoners?”

As a senior provincial official of a whole county, it was not an exaggeration to say that he was the local tyrant of the area. There were only a handful of people in the Qing kingdom that could scare him. Yang Hanbo said with seeming confidence: “Speak, what are the backgrounds of those two.”

“Crown Prince…..” Yang Zifei replied with a look of fear: “Dad, one of the two is the current Crown Prince, dad, we have to leave! Or else it will be too late, the Crown Prince might even be on his way here to kill us.”

Crown Prince!

Hearing these two words, Yang Hanbo’s pupils dilated, his whole body feeling as if it had fallen into an ice cellar, his hands trembling uncontrollably. He tried to calm himself, and scolded: “Nonsense, how could the Crown Prince come to Anyang County? This must be a fake.”

It was not that Yang Zifei didn’t think of this, but if this really was the Crown Prince, wouldn’t they be facing a dead end? Yang Zifei persuaded: “Dad, let’s escape now. If he is really the Crown Prince then by staying here there will only be death. And if it’s a fake then it’s not too late to come back for revenge.”

Yang Hanbo struggled for a while, after all, he couldn’t just easily let go of his life’s hard work here. Yang Zifei saw his hesitation and immediately ran inside to pack up his things.

“Dad, I don’t want to die, I’m going to go ahead first.”

Yang Hanbo bitterly scolded “unfilial son”, and hurriedly followed. In the end, life was more important. But before the two of them even left the manor they were surrounded by soldiers led by Zhao Yuanshan.

Yang Hanbo and his son were brought to Su Mu. Su Mu ignored this pair of father and son’s begging for mercy. He just lightly ordered them to be escorted to the imperial city for processing by the Ministry of Justice and didn’t bother with this matter anymore.

The people around all retreated under Su Mu’s orders. The shameless guy, Ye Qingfeng, seeing that Su Mu was now free, siddled over with a look of evil intentions: “Darling, your business is done, isn’t it? It’s my turn now.”

Su Mu glanced at him and suddenly said, “Go and become the Wulin leader of jianghu!”

“What?” Ye Qingfeng was confused by Su Mu’s words that seemed to have come out of nowhere.

Su Mu picked up the teapot and poured two cups of tea, saying: “Jianghu is also a huge force to be reckoned with and needs to be in the hands of reliable people.”

Ye Qingfeng wiped away the smile on his face, frowning as he said: “Darling, the people of jianghu are used to being free and loose. I am afraid it won’t be so easy to get them to listen to you. Besides, many jianghu people are actually very disgusted with the imperial court. Recruiting them is not very possible.”

Su Mu put down his teacup and glanced at Ye Qingfeng’s rarely serious face and replied: “Who said I want to recruit them, didn’t I ask you to go? You have a lot of connections in jianghu made over these years, so you coming forward would be the best solution.”

Ye Qingfeng hesitated: “But…..”

Su Mu raised his hand and interrupted him, “I know what you are worried about. Although the people of jianghu are dissatisfied with the court, so long as they don’t openly rebel, I won’t take action against them. Asking you to manage the people of jianghu does not mean I want you to use them. I only want you to keep watch on them so they don’t just fight and kill all day long. Jianghu people possess hostility towards the court so I don’t plan to send someone to manage them directly. In addition, the New Laws have just been implemented. I don’t have that much spare energy to suppress the fighting and conflict among the factions and sects, so that’s why I need you to watch them for me.”

Ye Qingfeng finally felt reassured. He really thought that Su Mu was going to take action against jianghu. It was really difficult to choose between his lover and friends. Ye Qingfeng was relieved, but his face showed a sad expression: “Darling, I hate managing this kind of troublesome thing the most.” Then he changed his tone, sweeping Su Mu up and down with thief eyes: “But, darling, if you compensate me enough, I can consider it.”

Su Mu lifted his eyes and glanced at him deeply, a smile appearing on the corners of his mouth as he said: “When things are done, then we’ll talk about compensation.”

“No, I have to collect my deposit first.”

Ye Qingfeng was helplessly seduced by Su Mu, eagerly throwing himself at the other. But unexpectedly, a sharp sword energy attacked him from out of nowhere, causing Ye Qingfeng’s hair to stand on end as he hurriedly avoided it.

With a ‘bang’, the wooden table was cut in half, the cut so smooth as if it had been polished.

Gu Yunzhou suddenly appeared in the room, looking at Ye Qingfeng with eyes full of murderous intent. Ye Qingfeng stood opposite Gu Yunzhou and stared at him with equal hatred. Love rivals see red the moment they meet. Neither of them gave ground, wishing nothing more than for the other to disappear immediately.

The atmosphere in the room became more and more tense, like a bowstring stretched to a breaking point. Su Mu sat on the stool and looked at the two with a slightly guilty conscience. Seeing that they were about to come to blows, Su Mu had no choice but to toughen his skin and cut in: “Uh, let’s sit down and have some tea.”

The two turned their heads at the same time when they heard the words. Ye Qingfeng had an accusing expression on his face as if looking at a heartless slag while Gu Yunzhou had no expression on his face, but the sorrow in his eyes was quite obvious. He looked at Su Mu earnestly and said: “Come with me.”

Su Mu felt a pain in his heart but before he could say anything, Ye Qingfeng on the side instantly cut in: “Delusional!” 

Ye Qingfeng looked at Su Mu angrily and said, “If you dare to leave, I will die in front of you!”

Su Mu glared at him speechlessly. 

Gu Yunzhou’s voice sounded again, slightly hoarse. “Come with me.”

Ye Qingfeng was well aware that he couldn’t beat this guy in martial arts. He stared at this pair of adulterers bitterly. He grabbed Su Mu’s hand and walked towards the door. Su Mu was violently pulled up by Ye Qingfeng but he only just gained his footing when his other hand was also caught. One person was trying to pull him out towards the door, while the other person inside the room kept his other hand in a death grip.

Seeing this scene straight out of a TV drama suddenly showing up in real life with him as the protagonist, Su Mu wanted nothing more than to beat some IQ into these two guys. He circulated his inner force and broke away from the two people’s restraint.

As a result, the two of them looked at him with wounded expressions before disappearing one after the other, one through the door and one through the window. Su Mu looked left and right, conflicted on who he should chase after. In the end, he slammed the door with a belly full of anger and took up the documents on Anyang County brought over by Zhao Yuanshan.

Hmmph! Business comes first.

But Su Mu only just read for a short while when he heard the voice of a soldier coming from outside the door, saying: “Gongzi, there is a girl outside the door requesting to see you, saying that she has come to thank you for saving her yesterday.”

Su Mu recalled the two girls who fell into the lake yesterday, but Su Mu was not a fool and naturally realized that one of them was interested in him. He didn’t want to give her the wrong message, so he said to the door: “Tell her I am feeling unwell and have her go back.”

“Yes.” The soldier hurriedly replied, and after a while he came back again and said, “Gongzi, the girl said that there is a man named ‘Fan Qiang’ who is plotting against you and to please be careful.”

Fan Qiang? Su Mu didn’t recall any person with this name. Anyway, he had countless enemies so Su Mu didn’t take it to heart. Instead, he asked, “Where is that girl now?”

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She had specially come here to report this to him, so it wouldn’t be good to completely ignore her.

“The girl has already left.” The soldier replied.

This was also fine. In any case, he didn’t know how to interact with the women of this era.

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TN: title is an idiom that refers to remote places being beyond the reach of the central government

Su Mu slept late into the next day, only slowly getting up from the bed when the sun was high up in the sky. Only after having breakfast with Ye Qingfeng in the inn did the young master of the senior provincial official’s family bring soldiers and horses to surround the inn they were staying in.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

Yang Zifei walked into the inn triumphantly and looked at Ye Qingfeng and Su Mu with hatred: “You two are quite courageous, still having the leisurely sentiment to eat breakfast after offending me, Yang Zifei!”

Su Mu put down his chopsticks, wiped his mouth with a handkerchief, and poured a cup of tea calmly: “One, I didn’t break the law, and two, I didn’t commit any crime. What can you do to me?”

“Hahahahaha…..” Yang Zifei bent over and laughed for a while as if he heard something extremely funny. He then pointed at Su Mu’s nose and said: “There are still people who don’t know that this young master is the law of Anyang County. Arrest them for me, today this young master will let you know that I am the law of Anyang County!”

With a sharp swiping sound, more than a dozen spears pierced towards the two of them. Su Mu’s eyes flashed, his right hand gently squeezed the teacup in his hand causing it to burst into pieces. In the next moment, the broken shards in his hand flew out like the sharpest hidden weapons.

The soldiers didn’t have time to react at all. The moment the shards appeared in their vision, a sharp pain could already be felt from their bodies. The next thing they knew was laying down on the ground and wailing in pain.

Yang Zifei was so scared that he hurriedly hid behind his family servants. He had expected that the two knew martial arts, so he brought nearly a thousand soldiers to arrest Su Mu and Ye Qingfeng, but he did not expect that the fighting power of these two people was still much higher than he could have imagined.

Yang Zifei, who was afraid of these two people taking revenge on him, hurriedly yelled and commanded: “What are you trash just standing there for? Why don’t you catch these two rebel thieves! Hurry up and attack!”

He actually became a rebel thief! Su Mu was so angry he laughed. Standing up, he kicked the table in front of him, sending it flying towards the soldiers rushing at Su Mu and Ye Qingfeng.

Su Mu coldly glanced at the obviously fearful soldiers, “Take one step further, death without mercy!” He looked at the group of soldiers in Qing kingdom official uniforms and spoke coldly: “Taking the common people’s salary but behaving like bandits. Call Yang Hanbo to get out and see me now.”

Yang Zifei hid behind his family servants, and said angrily: “Who do you think you are, my dad’s name is not something to be spoken directly by the likes of you. Don’t listen to his words, catch him quickly, no matter dead or alive, there will be heavy rewards!”

“Stop, who dares to step forward with Ben Gong here!” Su Mu’s domineering aura swept over the room, causing the people to feel like they were facing a giant dragon, unable to muster up any resistance at all. With his right arm folded behind his back, Su Mu looked down at the people in front of him and said: “Ben Gong Su Mochi order you to call Yang Hanbo to come see me quickly.”

Su Mochi. These three words were like a bolt of thunder, shocking everyone present and causing them to feel as if they were experiencing hallucinations, unable to believe what they heard.

After standing dazed for a while, Yang Zifei fell to the ground on limp knees and exclaimed with a look of horror: “It’s impossible, how could he be the Crown Prince…..” He hurriedly grabbed the two family servants and wanted to stand up. But unexpectedly those two family servants were also too scared to stand steady, falling to the ground as soon as they were pulled by Yang Zifei.

Having the weight of a grown man crashing onto him, Yang Zifei screamed in pain and then yelled angrily: “Get out of the way, you trash!”

“Young master forgive me, young master forgive me…..”

The two panicked family servants hurriedly helped Yang Zifei up and out of the inn.

After exiting the inn, he felt that his clothes were soaked all over, feeling as if he had just been in hell. Yang Zifei didn’t dare to stay for a moment longer and hurried home.

The soldiers in the inn were not so lucky. Every step forward Su Mu took, the suffocating murderous aura accumulated from the taking of countless lives, like the breath of hell, battered at the soldiers present. Every one of them had no time to think or to muster up the courage to escape. They all fell to their knees trembling, begging for mercy: “Your Royal Highness, please forgive us, Your Royal Highness, please forgive us…..”

Su Mu’s cold, indifferent eyes scanned the group of soldiers who were scared to death, like a wolf looking at a pen of sheep.

“Where is your leader?” Su Mu’s nightmarish voice sounded over their heads.

A slightly taller man among them instantly paled and answered with a trembling voice: “Your…..Your Royal Highness…..this official Zhao Yuanshan pays…..pays respects to Your Royal Highness…..”

After finishing, Zhao Yuanshan closed his eyes and waited for his death, praying in his heart that this would not implicate his wife and children.

“Zhao Yuanshan, what is the relationship between you and Yang Hanbo?” Su Mu asked.

Zhao Yuanshan replied tremblingly: “Answering Your Royal Highness, this official and the senior provincial official are superior and subordinate, other than this there is no other relationship.”

“Is that so?”

Su Mu’s light question fell on Zhao Yuanshan and felt as heavy as a mountain. He hurriedly begged for mercy: “Your Royal Highness please forgive my sins, please forgive my sins. The wife of this official is a relative of the third wife of the senior provincial official. Except for this there is really no other relationship, please Your Highness!”

Su Mu snorted coldly: “If there is no relationship would you have been able to sit in the position of leader? You had better give me a clear explanation!”

Every word Su Mu spoke hung over Zhao Yuanshan like a sharp blade, causing him to no longer dare to conceal even the slightest bit. After all, the Crown Prince’s fierce reputation was notorious. The neighboring Qingyang County used to be part of Tian Guohai’s territory, and three of the nine cities the Crown Prince bathed in blood were located in Qingyang County. Zhao Yuanshan had personally witnessed one of them. He just looked from a distance but it was enough to make him feel like he was witnessing hell, hurriedly retreating in fear. Now facing this living god of death, how could he not be afraid.

“Answering…..answering Your Highness, this official is the eldest son of the sixth branch of the Zhao family of Anyang County. This official position was…..was bought by my family, but Your Highness it’s…..it’s impossible to be an official in Anyang County without paying money. Every official position is clearly marked with a price, and only bought by the highest bidder.”

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

Zhao Yuanshan finished speaking with trepidation, for fear that he would lose his life after finishing the last word.

Actually daring to blatantly make a business of selling government official positions! It seemed there were still people who didn’t take him seriously!

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