Chapter 212: Mystic Dragon Cult in the dark

"It'll be really a bit tricky." Ajiu fell into a deep thought.

"Did you come alone to Shengjing this time?" Song Qingshu asked.

"The people from the Ming Cult originally planned to follow me to protect me, but I felt it would be inconvenient, so I didn't agree and left them at Heimuya." Ajiu replied.

"I'm alone as well, so it’ll be difficult to do this now. It seems that grabbing her directly from the palace wont work. We have to use our heads." Song Qingshu paced back and forth, he also felt quite confused.

"Let's figure out a solution first, and then discuss it together afterwards." Ajiu said after the two remained silent for a moment.

Song Qingshu understood that she wanted to leave, and hurriedly asked, "Where do you live, and how should I contact you?"

Ajiu hesitated for a moment, but still didn't say where she was staying, she pointed to the yard outside and said, "If you want to find me, hang a yellow silk on the tree in the yard, and I will come to meet you."

*****

Not long after Ajiu left, Zhang Kangnian hurried in and said with a strange expression, "That woman from last night has come again."

Song Qingshu's heart moved, and he asked Zhang Kangnian to let her come in. A smug smile appeared on the corner of his mouth as he watched the radiant Nan Lan walk into the room.

"Why are you smiling like that?" Nan Lan felt extremely uncomfortable when she was stared at by him like that.

"I suddenly feel very proud and full of a sense of accomplishment after seeing Madame Tian's face become so rosy and beautiful. So naturally I would smile." Song Qingshu replied.

"What are you so proud of…" Nan Lan suddenly came to her senses and spat with a blushing face, "You also know that I am Madame Tian? Then who was pretending to be drunk and confused last night?"

"It was all to get a taste of this beautiful woman right here." Song Qingshu reached out his hand to touch her face, but Nan Lan's expression changed and she took a few steps back.

"I already gave you what you wanted. I hope you will keep your promise and help me rescue Guinong." Nan Lan's expression was extremely complicated.

"Don't worry, I'm not that kind of ruthless person." Song Qingshu shook his head, "Do you know where Tian Guinong is being held?"

Nan Lan was still thinking about the meaning of his words, and subconsciously replied, "He was originally imprisoned in the city prison, but I don't know where he is being held now. I asked many people, but no one was willing to tell me. Yesterday I got a piece of news that Guinong seems to have been subjected to a very cruel and inhumane punishment. I am worried about his life, and I don't even know what the punishment is, so I…"

"That's why you were so eager to save your husband and I ended up benefiting from it?" Seeing Nan Lan's angry expression, Song Qingshu quickly said, "Don't worry, I'll send someone to investigate immediately, and then I’ll save him immediately."

"Thank you, Young Master." Nan Lan became stunned as soon as she said those words, thinking that she had paid for her innocence, yet she still needed to thank him.

Sure enough, Song Qingshu laughed when he heard her words of gratitude, "You don’t have to thank me. Last night was just a deposit. After the matter is completed, the Madame will still have to pay the other half of the payment."

"Last night…wasn't that enough?" Nan Lan remembered those intense scenes from last night, which caused her legs to become weak and her cheeks flushed red. Although she had been married for many years and had even given birth to a child, she had never felt as good as she had felt last night… ‘Ah! What am I thinking!?’

"Naturally it's not enough! Even if I do it with the Madame every day, it won't be enough." Song Qingshu really wanted the rich Yin Qi in her body, and he felt that it would be too much of a waste to just let it be. This was truly a woman among women. He had already enjoyed her to the fullest last night. Her tantalizing gentleness could even turn the toughtfest of metals into soft mud.

Although Nan Lan was a little embarrassed, she still felt a little happy in her heart after listening to his heartfelt praise. Her face was full of infatuation, but she still couldn't bear to agree to such an absurd request. So she could only say something ambiguous, "Wait. Let’s talk about it again after you’ve saved Guinong.”

"Okay!" Song Qingshu felt very happy in his heart as he noticed that the young woman in front of him not only showed a bit of anger, but also a bit of shyness, a bit of charm, and a hint of strong spring between her brows, "Madame has returned after leaving, was it only to ask this?"

"Otherwise, do you think I came back to meet you?" Although Nan Lan just gave him a casual glance, Song Qingshu was amazed by the variety of charming expressions she unconsciously showed.

Song Qingshu smiled and said, "Husband and wife for a day begets affection for a thousand years. I thought that the beautiful Madame was here to continue from where we finished last night."

"Obscene!" Although Nan Lan said this, she was surprised to find that she didn’t feel the slightest bit of anger in her heart, but instead she felt a hint of excitement for having done something forbidden. Nan Lan was tossed around so roughly by this man last night, so as soon as she got out of his clutches this morning, she had left in a hurry. When she returned to the mansion, she suddenly realized that she hadn't told him about her husband. So, she had been tossing and turning in bed and finally decided to come back to this place.

"Madame, if you have time, you can come to the Sifang Pavilion more often." Song Qingshu continued to tease her.

Nan Lan hurriedly shook her head, "I won't come here again!"

After saying that, she started walking, but when she reached the door of the room, she paused and didn't look back, she just softly said, "If the Young Master finds the whereabouts of Guinong, you can come to this Concubine's house and sit down." After speaking, her ears turned all red. She really couldn't understand why she had acted so boldly, and she left as if she was running away.

Song Qingshu became stunned for a moment. Then he really couldn’t hold himself back anymore, and began to laugh loudly. Hearing his laughter, Nan Lan ran away even faster.

"Zhang Kangnian, Zhao Qixian, take your subordinates to investigate around Shengjing City to find out where a man named Tian Guinong is locked up. He was the former leader of the Heavenly Dragon Sect, and a master in Prince Bao’s palace. You must find a clue, if necessary, contact the court's spies in Shengjing." After Nan Lan left, Song Qingshu called the two guards inside and ordered.

"Yes, we will do our utmost." The two agreed and took their leave one after another.

*****

"I remember now! Isn’t that woman Tian Guinong's wife?" After the two felt that they were far away enough from Song Qingshu, they began to whisper.

"Yah, it looks like she came to ask Lord Song to save her husband."

"Hehe, Lord Song is really lucky to be able to enjoy such a stunner. Looking at that woman, the posture of her steps seemed to have changed a bit when she walked. Our Lord Song really doesn't show any mercy." His tone was full of envy.

"If I have an opportunity to play with such a beautiful young woman, then I probably wouldn’t be willing to get out of the bed as well."

"You’re just exaggerating. Do you think you’re that good?"

"Hey, what exaggeration… Tian Guinong, that tortoise, if he knew that he was rescued at the cost of his wife's body, do you think he would still be willing to be rescued?"

"Why wouldn’t I be? Can my wife's body be comparable to my own life? She's not a maiden anyways, so she'll be clean after a wash"

"Brother Zhang, your mind is indeed brilliant!"

*****

Song Qingshu meditated in the room and practiced circulating his Qi. He felt that his limbs and meridians were all uncomfortable. He suddenly opened his eyes and looked out the door: "What's the matter?"

"Reporting to the Lord, Master Zhang in Shengjing sent someone to invite you to a banquet in the mansion." A guard replied.

"Master Zhang? Which Master Zhang?" Song Qingshu asked with a strange expression, was he acquainted with any official surnamed Zhang here.

"It's Lord Zhang Zhaozhong, the left leader of the Shengjing Xiao Cavalry Battalion." The guard replied.

"Zhang Zhaozhong?" Song Qingshu remembered that this guy had spoked out for him at the banquet last night, and he was even willing to lend his sword to him, which was far from the sinister and vicious villain in "The Book and the Sword" in his impression, "Okay. I'll go right away."

Song Qingshu thought that he had to thank the guy for his help at the banquet last night. If he didn't go, he would probably create an enemy out of thin air. Moreover, as this guy was an official, he wanted to see if he could find any inspiration to come up with a way to rescue Xia Qingqing.

*****

When Song Qingshu followed the housekeeper of Zhang Zhaozhong's house on the road to Zhang's house, a window of a house on the other side of the street slightly opened. A beautiful young woman silently watched his figure walk away as she smiled and said, "So this is Song Qingshu who once injured the leader, huh? He seems so weak, he looks more like a scholar than a martial arts master."

This beauty looked only twenty-three or four years old. She had a slight smile on her coquettish and incomparably gorgeous face. Her voice was gentle, charming, and extremely pleasant to the ears, but the men behind her seemed as if they were blind, and deaf. They had their heads lowered with a respectful look, not daring to show even a trace of disrespect.

If Song Qingshu saw this, he would definitely sigh, "What a waste…they don’t even know how to appreciate beauty."

"Madame, according to the reports of our brothers, he made Hongli's first master Yu Zhenzi admit defeat as soon as he made a move yesterday. I am afraid that his martial arts is quite a bit more powerful than what the leader saw that day." A man in his forties dressed as a scholar said.

"Oh?" The woman fell into deep thought, "Although Yu Zhenzi, that old bull is perve*ted and lust*ful, his martial art is indeed not bad. Even the leader's martial arts is not much better than him. Is Song Qingshu's martial arts realm really that high?" There was now a hint of panic in her voice.

In fact, this was a wonderful misunderstanding. Song Qingshu just happened to be proficient in the swordsmanship of the Five Sacred Mountain Sword Sects, and Yu Zhenzi just happened to use the swordsmanship of Mount Tai Sect. So naturally, he was at a huge disadvantage.

In the past, Song Qingshu had injured Hong Antong and defeated Taoist Chongxu and the chief of the Five Sacred Mountain Sword Sect Alliance Zuo Lengchan with a single sword strike, and in the imperial palace, he beat the leaders of the Red Flower Society. As a result, he got the title of the first master of the Qing court. But all of that was, after all, just words in people's mouths. This group of people didn’t really see the fight themselves, so their leader being injured by Song Qingshu didn’t seem as shocking. However, now they saw Yu Zhenzi, who had been running rampant in Liaodong for more than ten years, unexpectedly losing to him so easily. They felt that they had greatly underestimated Song Qingshu's strength.

The room fell silent for a while, and the schooler spoke up, "Don't worry, Madame, we are just here to find out what Hongli intends to do with our Cult, and there should be no conflict of interest with him."

It turned out that this group of people were the members of the Mystic Dragon Cult. The beauty was naturally the cult leader's wife Su Quan, and the scholar was Lu Gaoxuan, who was adept at both civil and military affairs. The other two people were the “Fat Venerable” and the “Thin Venerable”.

They received news from their spies a few days ago that Hongli seemed to be preparing a big plan to deal with the Mystic Dragon Cult, but the spies didn’t know what the specific plan was. So, Hong Antong sent his wife and his subordinates to Shengjing to find out.

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay