Chapter 634: Chapter 633: Night Entry into the Heart Pavilion’s Cangshu Pavilion
The Seventh Prince took the cup of tea and slowly lifted his gaze: "Lord Li, are you referring to..."
"Warrior lion trapped in the Heavenly Prison, comrades’ families all entering the Imperial Music Bureau. Your Highness, can you bear to watch? Aren’t you afraid of chilling the hearts of the 300,000 troops in the border town?"
The Seventh Prince gently swirled the cup of tea in his hand.
In just a few short sentences, everything struck deep into his chest.
What Lin Xiaosu said was exactly what he was thinking!
General Xuelong had fought bravely on the battlefield for forty years, defending the country with unparalleled iron will, only to suffer dire misfortune because of this Seventh Prince.
If he couldn’t save him, how could Hong Yun call himself human?
Wouldn’t the 300,000 border soldiers feel chilled?
Where does the righteousness stand?
Therefore, even amidst countless challenges, he must ensure Xuelong’s safety!
"Lord Li... what do you mean?" The Seventh Prince’s mind was stirred, yet he maintained his composure.
"I want to help you!" Lin Xiaosu said.
This was to reveal his intentions.
However, the Seventh Prince slowly lifted his gaze: "Thank you for your kindness, but there is no need for the trouble, this matter need not concern you or me. My father has his own judgment; perhaps there might be a turn of events."
Lin Xiaosu laughed: "The turnaround you mention, Your Highness, isn’t your father’s judgment, but rather He Yun’s scheme, isn’t it?"
The Seventh Prince’s expression subtly darkened: "What do you mean, Lord Li?"
Lin Xiaosu said: "We currently lack trust between us, so even one extra word is too much! I don’t require any answer from Your Highness, I’ll say it, and Your Highness just listens!"
The Seventh Prince slowly nodded: "Please, my Lord!"
Lin Xiaosu said: "Your Highness entered the Heart Pavilion today, seeking He Yun—that was a wrong move, extremely dangerous..."
The Seventh Prince, adhering to what Lin Xiaosu just said, didn’t give any response, only sipped his tea.
Lin Xiaosu said: "He Yun’s suggestion, let me boldly guess, is to ask Master Song, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice, to carry out a prisoner exchange?"
The Seventh Prince suddenly became completely rigid.
He didn’t reveal any trace, but his demeanor was as clear as ink on paper in Lin Xiaosu’s eyes.
Indeed, this was the method!
What a vicious He Yun!
Lin Xiaosu said: "Xuelong already lost ninety-nine percent of his life, his body fallen into the Abyss, beyond salvation. The prisoner exchange seems to offer a ray of hope, but Your Highness, do you realize this glimpse of hope is actually a sinister trap for Song’s layout by others?"
The Seventh Prince slowly opened his eyes, staring at Lin Xiaosu.
Lin Xiaosu said: "Your Highness, you need to accept a reality that Xuelong has fallen into the Heavenly Prison. He’s long gone from the chessboard, no longer a target. His only value is as bait to cleanse the court! If you can’t let go, today’s schemes will trap you repeatedly, until in the Dahuang court, those loyal ministers and generals all fall to their deaths!"
The Seventh Prince still didn’t speak, but his back naturally turned cold.
"Here’s a suggestion!" Lin Xiaosu said: "Play along with their tune!"
The Seventh Prince took a deep breath and finally spoke: "Play along with their tune?"
His voice was hoarse.
"Yes, didn’t he suggest you exchange prisoners? Then show him you can! But..." Lin Xiaosu’s voice lowered.
The Seventh Prince’s eyes slowly brightened.
"Even if it fails, at least it’s harmless. What does Your Highness think?" Lin Xiaosu said.
The Seventh Prince gently closed his eyes, then slowly opened them: "Lord Li, why... why do such a thing?"
"I’ve asked you many questions you haven’t answered. This question, I won’t answer either!" Lin Xiaosu said: "Still, after a few days, when you truly find Mr. Li worthy of your trust, we can continue today’s conversation, how about that?"
"Today... farewell!" The Seventh Prince stood up.
"Good passage, Your Highness!" Lin Xiaosu rose to send him off.
The Seventh Prince walked down the pavilion, Lin Xiaosu’s gaze moved to the adjacent pavilion.
There was no one in the adjacent pavilion.
However, under his Heavenly Tao Wisdom Eye, he clearly saw He Yun and his Grey Curse companion in a dim room, far from the window, invisible to ordinary eyes.
Unable to see the mysterious expression on He’s face.
"Lord Steward!" the Grey Curse said: "This Steward Li is overstepping!"
He Yun smiled faintly, without answering.
The Grey Curse said: "That he dared to interfere with the task Lord Steward accepted? Who gave him the courage? Just because... he recently completed the alliance with Qingqiu? He thinks he has a shot at entering the cave?"
"Good thing!" He Yun lightly smiled.
"Good thing?" The Grey Curse frowned: "Isn’t that an insult to the lord—why... why would..."
He Yun said: "Grey Curse, you have been with me for some time. You should understand that everything in this world has a price, except dignity and face—that’s worthless. Don’t just see the moment; look at the result! Understand?"
The Grey Curse seemed to understand yet not understand...
In Lin Xiaosu’s pavilion, he also had a conversation with Saintess Qian Ling.
Saintess Qian Ling reminded him: "This He Yun already sees you as an enemy!"
"What will happen?" Lin Xiaosu asked in three words.
In those three words, Saintess Qian Ling suddenly fell silent.
She suddenly realized the real reason Lin Xiaosu disregarded the rules.
Because he was indeed not Li Chengnian.
The shackles imposed on Li Chengnian could never bind him.
Others must consider every aspect in their actions, but what does he need to concern?
The entire world is his enemy.
As long as he isn’t dead, he doesn’t care who dies.
Does he still fear the Crown Prince targeting the Li Family?
Would he still fear the entire Heart Pavilion targeting the Li Family?
This situation doesn’t concern him, he’s indifferent whether this world is flooded.
In the time that followed, Lin Xiaosu was quite relaxed at the Heart Pavilion.
With the steps of a educated gentleman, he entered the Cangshu pavilion, where, with his clearance, he could view all records below the third level.
Flipping through here, glancing there, seemingly careless.
The crowd paid it no mind.
Occasionally, when encountering stewards of the same rank, they would jest with each other, mostly drawing from Qingqiu family affairs, fully displaying the pretentiousness of scholars, until two days later, an elder descended from the third floor.
The moment this elder appeared, everyone around fell silent.
All the stewards bowed, addressing him as Pavilion Master.
The old Pavilion Master nodded to them, and under the escort of a large group, left the pavilion and entered his secret chamber.
Late at night, the Pavilion Master appeared again in the Cangshu pavilion, reaching the third-floor entrance.
At the first floor portal, someone stood guard.
The second floor portal had no guard; the steward token could activate the array to open it.
The third floor portal could not be accessed with just the steward token; it required the Pavilion Master Order to open.
The Pavilion Master held a token to activate this array and entered the third floor.
Inside the third floor, an elder bowed to greet him: "Pavilion Master, what kind of information do you wish to consult?"
"Go guard outside!" the Pavilion Master ordered.
"Yes!"
The elder went outside.
The Pavilion Master’s eyes suddenly became calm and serene.
The expression in his eyes revealed that Lin had done something extraordinary.
He disguised himself as the Pavilion Master, forged the Pavilion Master Order, and used his proficiency in arrays to unlock the most confidential third floor of the Heart Pavilion.
The information on the third floor was indeed extraordinary.
Lin Xiaosu’s heart was filled with tremendous excitement...
He had a strong interest in this information, but he restrained himself.
Because beneath the time space reversal, there was something even more indispensable, and that was a secret chamber set within the third floor.
He pointed his finger at the spot where the Pavilion Master once did, but he couldn’t open the secret chamber.
His mind shifted, Subdivine Skill!
As soon as the Subdivine Skill was employed, the Dark Gate activated silently.
My God, it takes reaching Level 30 in the Subdivine Skill to open this door; the secrets inside must be extremely high-level.
Sure enough, after entering the secret chamber, upon opening the first volume of information, his heart rate quickened...
Human Tao Orchid Heart operated at full capacity; it took about three minutes to finish the first volume.
Then the second volume, two minutes.
The third volume...
Such rapid browsing was unfathomable to ordinary people, yet Lin Xiaosu felt it was still too slow.
His True Qi circulated, causing two books to rise simultaneously, his Heavenly Tao Primordial Spirit decoding them in sync, doubling the speed.
Time ticked by, minute by minute...
An hour, two hours, three hours...
Finally, before dawn, he finished all the information inside.
He exited the secret chamber.
Arrived at the third-floor exit.
"Today’s events of my presence here must not be mentioned to anyone!" Lin Xiaosu ordered the elder.
"Yes!"
Lin Xiaosu left the pavilion.
In most places, such an order would arouse suspicion, but in the Heart Pavilion, it was quite normal.
Because the Heart Pavilion is a place of cunning minds, where everyone plays games of wit.
The elder guarding the pavilion had come to develop a fixed mindset over the years: only the Pavilion Master Order can open the third floor, and the information inside the third floor is partially true and partially false, offering little real value; the truly valuable things, only the two Pavilion Masters know their whereabouts and how to access them.
Therefore, it was believed that no one would steal the information.
Outside the Cangshu pavilion, there are arrays.
The Heart Pavilion has arrays everywhere.
For ordinary people, this undoubtedly increases the difficulty of acting freely, but for Lin Xiaosu, it serves as the best cover. Although his cultivation was just average, when it came to spy skills, his level was disruptive in this world — after all, in this world, systematic espionage theory does not exist.
He became the Pavilion Master and transformed back to Lin Xiaosu, all without being detected.
Half an hour later, he returned to the room.
Opening the door, he was shocked to see a beauty lying on the bed...
The Saintess Qian Ling disguised as Yan.
Upon sensing his arrival, Saintess Qian Ling sprang up: "Where have you been?"
Lin Xiaosu hesitated slightly...
Saintess Qian Ling’s eyes twinkled: "Is it that someone is also monitoring outside at this time, and you need to put on a show with Yan on the bed to conform to daily behavior?"
Lin Xiaosu cast her a sidelong glance: "If I said yes, would you really cooperate with me in this act?"
"Of course not! But I can conclude from this that you’ve had ulterior motives all along."
"Alright, alright, stop teasing!" Lin Xiaosu sat down by the bed: "I found out some news about the Spirit Clan."
Upon these words, Saintess Qian Ling’s expression changed.
News about the Spirit Clan!
The Spirit Clan, far away in the Spirit Ruins.
Truly a million miles away from here.
Originally, upon entering the Ancient Wilderness, she was supposed to return to the ancestral land, but she couldn’t let go of him. At the same time, as she said, being near one’s homeland only deepens apprehension; she dared not ask anyone.
The span of a million years is unimaginably long.
The rise and fall of clans is just a tiny ripple in the river of time, nothing surprising at all.
She was worried the news would be that the Spirit Clan had perished, that the Spirit Clan had long become a mere relic of history...
Thus, she did not immediately embark on the journey back to the Spirit Ruins; she hoped to first learn about the Spirit Clan’s current status from the Heart Pavilion...
And now the news has come!