Chapter 37: Gu Niqiu Gu Wengang planned to snatch Zhao Feng's elixir, but he didn't expect the other party to take the initiative to deliver it to him.
Upon second thought, it made sense.
Setting aside their personal grievances, detaching himself from his own perspective, he was now Zhao Feng's most trusted right-hand man, the only capable minister after the deaths of Minister Feng and Minister Hu San Yuan.
There were many capable guest officials, but either they were just figureheads of prestigious families or their positions did not match up with Gu Wen's.
Up to now, Gu Wen had never shown any signs of rebellion, he could get things done, and he knew how to make money for the royal mansion.
As for those grudges and enmities, Zhao Feng probably had long disregarded them, as they were merely a show put on for the court and the immortal sects.
Gu Wen understood these high-ranking officials very well.
They had already established a psychological barrier between themselves and commoners, never seeing commoners as equals.
The distinction between superior and inferior was not just a formality; it was a deep-rooted belief that treated people as livestock.
In their eyes, the millions of people in the world were just numbers, like chips discarded on a gambling table, no matter how many died, they would always reproduce like weeds.
He was no exception, so his emotions were never taken seriously.
Gu Wen remained composed and said, "Regarding the elixir, this humble one does not understand."
"No problem, just treat it as a routine purchase of supplements. However, you cannot deliver them directly to my mansion, nor let those guards know that you are buying medicine for me. Remember, only you and I should know about this."
Zhao Feng's strange request confirmed what He Huan mentioned last night, but Gu Wen did not inquire further.
There were already too many things that could not be leaked out, delving deeper would only arouse suspicion.
"How should I deliver them to Your Highness then?"
"At the end of each month, report the account books and send a batch. If it's urgent, I will send someone to inform you. You can come up with your own reasons, but do not let the palace suspect anything."
Avoiding the prying eyes of the palace was not difficult; in ancient times, they could not establish the extremely dense surveillance and information gathering capabilities of modern times.
Even if Zhao Feng were killed, it would take at least half an hour, or even an hour, for the news to reach the palace, making it extremely difficult to detect such specific actions related to individual persons.
But why could He Huan know? Was there a circle among those who were involved in the world?
Perhaps their methods were similar to mine.
I know that the Dragon-Tiger Pill is an auxiliary medicine for Condensation Pills and its side effects, and seeing Minister Hu San Yuan buying it can also deduce it.
No one here is a fool.
"Understood."
Gu Wen nodded in agreement, without a single extra word.
Zhao Feng was very satisfied, knowing that this matter was settled.
At the same time, he regretted not entrusting the matter to Gu Wen from the beginning, instead of that lackey, Minister Hu San Yuan.
He was not surprised at all whenever Minister Hu San Yuan died.
Those who resorted to underhanded means were like those rural collectors who would eventually be wiped out.
He just didn't expect him to die at this time, causing him to lose ten thousand taels of silver for nothing.
If Gu Wen knew what the other party was thinking, he would only sneer at him.
Leaders are often fools; they won't listen unless something goes wrong.
Gu Wen belonged to the type who wouldn't take the blame, cherishing his feathers extremely, making it difficult for him to win the favor of the main family.
On the contrary, his position and abilities would be deeply rooted in the royal mansion, just like before, Zhao Feng and Minister Hu San Yuan couldn't hide anything from him.
Because he held the economic lifeline of the entire royal mansion.
"Gu Qing, go. After this matter is settled, I will submit a petition to grant you a title, and your title will come down as soon as possible."
Zhao Feng waved his hand, thinking he was generously bestowing a favor, but it made Gu Wen secretly spit out in disdain.
"It seems like you don't want to give me any benefits at all. Given the current situation of the Zhao family, even if you grant me a title, it won't be worth a thousand taels. But it doesn't matter, not giving anything to Gu Wen will only make him take more. With so much expenditure, he could eat his fill and get at least ten thousand taels as a minimum."
The main income in the royal mansion was in his left hand, while the main expenses were in his right hand, making it unnecessary to conceal any false accounts.
It would not be about leaving oil after eating meat, but about cutting meat into pieces.
Furthermore, He Huan and he still had to compete for elixirs, so there was a possibility of self-theft and blame-shifting.
Gu Wen bid farewell with a bow, and then did not linger too long in the royal mansion, leaving in a carriage.
Returning to Longqiao, he saw Qianfeng Tower brightly lit up, with two huge banners hanging down.
With Qianfeng Tower, which sold its own elixirs and had an immortal sect backing it, Gu Wen was still concerned and sent someone to inquire about the situation.
After a stick of incense, Qin Mian returned and said, "Master, it was the top scholar who presented a poem for the new courtesan at Qianfeng Tower last night, attracting the entire city to come and watch, called..."
"No need to tell me, I'm not interested."
Gu Wen suddenly felt bored; after all, it was mostly about worldly pleasures, and he had seen enough in the past five years.
There were courtesans at Qianfeng Tower every year, and every year someone would compose poems for them.
The only special thing might be that today it was the top scholar.
On the way, he encountered He Huan again, surrounded by a group of people pointing and whispering.
A young woman confronted him, the daughter of the Minister of Personnel from this morning.
He Huan spoke as if he were a rogue, saying, "Miss, I have never touched even a finger of yours, and I only accept the suffering of beautiful women. Why bother coming to me when you are born noble? How about this, when your family falls apart, I will come to you, if not, then I will pretend you don't exist."
A strange quirk.
Gu Wen didn't care about matters that didn't concern him and returned to the mansion without any waves.
Recently, Longqiao, and even Bianjing, had become lively.
-
Midnight.
Gu Wen closed his eyes to cultivate, and after the door was opened and closed, if it were an ordinary day, he would have thought he had encountered a thief.
The first level of Dao Foundation was the generation of qi, the circulation of qi in the sea of qi, resulting in a continuous flow of qi, which was the first level of Jade Clear Dao Foundation.
The second level of Dao Foundation was the transcendence of the body, the purification of the body, and the extraordinary senses of the body.
Everyone had a scent, and he could discern it, at least he could smell untimely scents.
But there was one person whose scent he could not detect, truly tasteless and soundless.
After a stick of incense, circulating qi throughout the body returned to the sea of qi, and his magical power increased by another level.
The magical power was the size of an egg, the sword intent was the size of two thumbs, and the spear intent was not much different from the heart sword.
He opened his eyes in a daze, a candlelight reflected in his eyes, under the warm-colored candlelight, a plain-clothed woman sat by the window, bowing her head to read poetry, serene and peaceful, with only the sound of pages turning as her only movement.
She truly loved poetry, unlike Zhao Feng's pretentiousness.
"How has your cultivation been lately?"
"I've made some breakthroughs."
"That's good then."
Yuhua pointed to the food box on the table and said, "I brought some pastries, prepared by the royal mansion. I don't know if they suit your taste?"
Gu Wen wasn't hungry, but he didn't refuse either.
He walked over to sit opposite Yuhua, picked up a piece of mung bean cake, chewed it like an old cow chewing grass, but there was no reaction from his fate pattern, feeling slightly disappointed.
He still praised, "The pastries brought by the Daoist are only slightly inferior to those from Longqiao's Jiangyue Tower."
"It's not mine, it's the pastries sent by Zhao Feng every day." Yuhua said without looking up, "After transforming into a mortal, I also need to eat grains, but I have been relying on elixirs all along. According to the rules, the royal mansion still has to prepare three meals a day, and pastries are not included."
"He hasn't dared to come recently, but the kitchen still sends them, quite a waste for that old donkey to eat."
Pastries sent by Zhao Feng for me to eat, and cakes sent by a lackey, huh?
Gu Wen's expression was somewhat strange, feeling a sense of déjà vu for some reason.
Surprisingly, the more I eat, the more delicious it becomes!
Seeing Gu Wen's eating manner, Yuhua was also a bit curious and reached out to take one.
After eating a piece, it tasted the same as before, but it seemed more delicious as if snatching it made it tastier.
After they finished eating, Gu Wen recounted his experiences from last night.
Yuhua was currently the only one in Bianjing who had no conflicts of interest with him and had some knowledge of the cultivation world.
Of course, this did not include his plan to snatch Zhao Feng's elixir, which had nothing to do with Yuhua.
The fewer people who knew about it, the better.
Yuhua was not surprised to hear that Gu Wen had defeated the tenth person on the ranking list.
However, seeing Gu Wen describe it with such enthusiasm, she couldn't help but nod in agreement.
She never thought of Gu Wen as a servant or an ordinary person; his talent should have been the best in the world from beginning to end.
Even the senior brother in the sect called Daozi was not as good as him.
She looked at Gu Wen with interest and asked, "Have you broken through to the fourth level of Xuanming Spear?"
In just a few days, he had to cultivate his mental techniques, practice spear techniques, train his body, and protect his body with Dao techniques.
Gu Wen was not a orthodox disciple of the Xuanmen sect, even if he was personally taught by her, she did not give him the full transmission.
The lack of sufficient growth time was his disadvantage, but growing up was his talent.
The more disadvantaged, the more it could show a person's potential.
"It was a stroke of luck."
He had just modestly said a sentence when he heard, "Not only Xuanming Spear, but also body techniques."
Otherwise, how could he have traveled so far without body techniques, let alone defeat the tenth person on the ranking list.
The focus was on defeating, not letting the opponent escape.
"Also a stroke of luck."
Gu Wen modestly replied again.
He didn't think there was anything wrong with this; otherwise, it would be disrespectful to his identity as a 'Daoist in Four Days.'
Yuhua's eyes showed a few more approving glances, and suddenly a thought arose: 'With this slippery character, I'm afraid there are still other means hidden.'
She casually asked, "How is the Lingyu Body Protection Technique?"
"I haven't learned it yet..."
Before the last word fell, a hand suddenly reached out, Gu Wen retreated, and Yuhua advanced.
The two of them had a tacit understanding, as if dancing in the air, in an instant, Gu Wen was pressed against the wall, almost unable to move.
Yuhua's palm touched Gu Wen's chest, feeling the hardness formed by the Lingyu Body Protection Technique.
Although she had expected it, she was still somewhat surprised.
The chest and torso were integrated, but the limbs and bones were not well-tempered.
"You have also cultivated the first level of the Lingyu Body Protection Technique?"
This little mud loach is really good at hiding!
Many books are hard to find now, so cherish them while you can.