Feng Yu Jiu Tian - Volume 11 - Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Everyone watched in astonishment.

They didn’t know what other plans their new Prime Minister would come up with, but His Majesty had already nodded in advance and even handed him a token. It would have been better to wait for Lie Zhong Liu to discuss about the plan, but Rong Tian had stated clearly beforehand, even if the plan is not a good one, Rong Tian would not dismiss it.

Lie Zhong Liu did not immediately accept the jade handed in front of him, but smiled and asked, “I wonder if both His Majesty and Duke Ming are considered commanders in charge?”

Everyone was surprised by his bold and arrogant attitude.

Rong Tian stared straight into Lie Zhong Liu’s eyes, but he showed no fear and was still relaxed. RT: Alright. Duke Ming along with me will listen to the Prime Minister’s arrangements.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.” At this time, Lie Zhong Liu accepted the jade with both hands.

Feng Ming already knew the way Rong Tian handled national affairs. When making decisions, he was always wise and firm so he was not even a bit surprised. Feng Ming obediently sat next to Rong Tian, waiting to hear Lie Zhong Liu’s command.

When Wei Chiu Niang saw Rong Tian’s action firsthand, she was secretly taken aback.

In other words, Lie Zhong Liu was a Yong Yin citizen and not a citizen of Xi Lei; yet Rong Tian trusted him entirely, handing over complete power to Lie Zhong Liu. Just by this action alone, all the other powerful nations, no matter how open minded, would still lose in comparison to Rong Tian.

After all, she is fully aware of a royalty’s state of mind, saying one thing and doing something else is common. When hearing about the Grace’s Order, she still held onto a bit of hope.

Thinking about this, she is now in favor of Rong Tian.

Lie Zhong Liu received the token, holding the jade in hand as he stood in front of the table. While looking around, they all held their breaths waiting for his order. A handsome smile appeared on his face as he began calling out their names one by one, “Qian Lin!”

“Present!” Qian Lin knew what military order would be issued at this moment, so he immediately stood up before answering briskly with a military salute.

“I’m handing this map to you. Starting today, you are responsible in guarding Yue Zhong City and monitoring the movements within Xi Lei.”

“Understood!”

Lie Zhong Liu saw Qian Lin had taken the map on the table, neatly folded it and placed it inside his shirt. “Keep the map in a safe place, I have personally went through the tunnels and after careful examination, I drew out each route. General Wei is a magnificent talented person, creating a changeable tunnel design filled with complexity. If you wish to utilize it, you must remember that in case of war, it can be put to good use. This city will be an important foundation for His Majesty if he chooses to return to Xi Lei in the future. Before His Majesty can retake the throne, we must not lose Yue Zhong.”

Qian Lin inscribed everything within his heart and with a serious face he said, “Prime Minister, I understand. I will keep this map with me at all times and will carefully examine every detail of it several times.”

Lie Zhong Liu nodded, then called out Mian Ya, who stepped forward to receive his order. “Ruo Yan is aiming on annexing Fan Jia, all the other nations are worried. Go and pick someone who is competent with disguising and send him to each nation to inquire about the situation.”

“Yes!” Mian Ya said, “Once there is a reaction among the rulers and nobles of each nation, our spies will immediately notify us by all means.”

“Not just the response of the dignitaries.” Lie Zhong Liu gently laughed, “Also the rumors by the people, all the generals and soldiers from top to bottom, even the lower ranking guards, how about that? They have to ask and discuss with the people which monarch they like and which King they are troubled by, all of these are not to be left out.”

Mian Ya was shocked, but respectfully accepted the order.

After Lie Zhong Liu finished giving his command for Mian Ya, his sight turned to Lie Er.

Lie Er was sitting on the chair, yawning, but suddenly jumped up and changed into a serious expression, waiting for the task assigned to him.

Unexpectedly, Lie Zhong Liu just glanced at him and then turned his sight to another direction. He calmly called out, “Rong Hu.”

“Rong Hu’s here!”

“Whatever responsibility you were in charge of before, you can continue doing the same. However, I also want to add an extra small assignment for you.”

“Please assign it, Prime Minister.”

“You have to help me manage our monetary assets.” “Ah?”

Lie Zhong Liu did not show any expression of being joking around as he looked at Rong Hu. “Master Xiao monopolized the large shipping industry within the eleven kingdoms. There are hundreds...many years, many generations of accumulated wealth. Duke Ming has just inherited it so he has to be aware of his family wealth.”

Feng Ming nodded his head nonstop.

Indeed, his father is upstanding and carefree. With just one word, he readily handed over the Xiao Family’s shipping business and assets to him, packed up his things and left without a word. He heard that the Xiao Family’s properties are endless so who knows how much wealth was accumulated?

Rong Hu gave a troubled look, “Prime Minister has a point, but I’ve followed His Majesty for some time now and learned mostly martial arts and war strategies, as for financial management...I don’t seem to understand it....”

“If you don’t understand how to manage finance, there is nothing to worry about,” Lie Zhong Liu happily explained, “The Xiao Family is such a large industry, other nations are bound to have their own financial managers and have regular financial review with their masters. You are a meticulous person. The first thing required is to input the amount of assets we have right now, as well as the annual earning each year, amount of jewelries and treasures and everything else included. The location, leases, and how many properties combined. Inspect and calculate all of them clearly, so that I can coordinate on how to use this amount of money.”

He then turned his head to smile at Rong Tian, “Since His Majesty hasn’t regained the throne, he does not have a treasury to collect taxes and yet will need a huge expenditure. The first thing that must be resolved is the question of money.”

Feng Ming never dreamt that he would become a world-class tycoon and now would be “supporting” Rong Tian. He giggled and looked over to Rong Tian, proudly comforting him, “Don’t worry, with me here, you won’t go hungry. Even if you’re not a King for this whole life, I’ll continue to support you. Of course, in order to repay me, you will have to listen to the words of Duke Ming.”

Rong Tian’s face was filled with a spoiled expression while his hand slid under the table and roamed across Feng Ming’s legs. He grabbed onto the organ situated in the middle of them and between the fabrics, he slowly caressed it as he gave Feng Ming an insinuating chuckle, “How many nights should I wholeheartedly thank Duke Ming for his generosity?”

Feng Ming grimly stared at him. This time he didn’t dare to be arrogant and stuck out his tongue, “Well, I’m just saying. How can you be so stingy while there are many people here?”

Chiu Yue and Chiu Xing who had been standing behind them, saw the events happening under the table and they both couldn’t help but giggle.

Zi Yan was standing to one side and took the initiative to ask Lie Zhong Liu, “Prime Minister, then what...should I do?”

“You will follow His Majesty, to....”

Lie Zhong Liu spoke halfway, when the sound of disruptive footsteps came from afar. Everyone felt it was strange when the large door suddenly opened. Two guards rushed in and shouted out in a loud voice, “Your Majesty! There appears to be an enemy within the city!”

Everyone’s hearts suddenly leaped out of their chests.

Qian Lin and Zi Yan were both responsible for guarding Yue Zhong so they immediately stood up. “Where has the enemy appeared? How many are there? What is the current situation? Hurry and carefully tell us everything.”

During this emergent situation, Qian Lin was able to question the guards calmly in an orderly and professional way.

Lie Zhong Liu nodded at his actions and silently thought about how well Xi Lei King picks all his candidates.

The two guards were a little panicked, but after listening to Qian Lin’s methodical questions, they eventually calmed down and replied, “Replying to Commander; the enemy suddenly appeared at the entrance gate, 200 paces northeast. We have followed your orders to switch shifts in surveying the area, but we don’t know how the enemy snuck inside the city. They have injured the guards on duty and immediately alerted our attention. Probably they were afraid of the number of people we have so they fled the scene. However, most strangely enough, the other party seemed to have some sort of invisibility trick. They can move through walls. Every time we clearly surrounded and close in on them at every direction, they would disappear without a trace. So far, we still don’t know how many people there are.”

Qian Lin’s eyes flashed in realization, “They must be using those underground tunnels.” He quickly reached inside his shirt pocket and pulled out the map of Yue Zhong he had just received and laid it out on the table.

He had personally inspected this city many times before. He glanced at the area on the top of the map and effortlessly found the gate in the northeast, at about 200 paces, he pointed to the route, “Your Majesty,behold, this place happens to have a tunnel exit.” He turned to look at the reporting guards and asked, “When they fled the scene it was from the East, so they must have came from the South?”

The guards were surprised as they replied, “It is from that area, how does commander know?”

Zi Yan stood beside Qian Lin and with his fingers he traced the path on the map and found the alley Qian Lin had spoke about. Facing Rong Tian and Feng Ming, he said, “With so many exits to the tunnel, if the enemy is aware of these tunnels clearly like the palms of his hands, along with his swift movements, even if their number is small, they can put our troops into a complete confusion.”

They had just heard from Lie Zhong Liu regarding the complex tunnel route of Yue Zhong, so they haven’t warned the guards on patrol about the tunnel design.

The guards on patrol must be completely tricked and were spinning around in circles.

“Prime Minister, could there be other people who are aware of Yue Zhong’s tunnel routes?” Rong Tian looked towards Lie Zhong Liu.

If the tunnels were no longer a secret, then wouldn’t they no longer be useful?

Instead, if the enemy were to place a siege in the future, it will become Yue Zhong’s Achilles’ heel.

Lie Zhong Liu calmly replied, “Please, rest assured, Your Majesty. If the opponent is familiar with the tunnel routes of the city, then he is not an enemy.” He asked the guards, “What’s the current situation? Did you already capture the person?”

“We still haven’t caught him.” The embarrassed guard continued, “We’ve surrounded him several times, we obviously saw him entering the small courtyard, but then we found out he had already left the area. They seemed to be hiding in a secret location and would occasionally come out to wound several of our brothers. Even now, we still don’t know where they went. We were worried that they will continue to disrupt the city; therefore, we quickly came here to report this to His Majesty and our commanders.”

Feng Ming frowned and said, “So who is exactly behind all this?”

“Duke Ming doesn’t need to worry, I already guessed who it is.” Lie Zhong Liu laughed out loud, waved his sleeves and straightened himself, “Not only could I guess who he is, but I can also guess where he is hiding. Come, everyone follow me.” He turned and stepped outside the door, bypassing the dilapidated servant room, to the back courtyard and stopped in front of a small door.

Lie Er leaned in towards Feng Ming and whispered in his ears, “So it is this door, following along this trail, go further a bit and it is Yue Zhong’s lieutenant of defense’s resident."

When he first entered the city, Lie Er was adamant in finding Wei Chiu Niang to count scores with and wanted to turn the whole residence upside down so he was quite familiar with this place.

Everyone continued to follow Lie Zhong Liu.

Sure enough, once outside the door was a small trail leading to another small door.

Feng Ming thought to himself, this is probably the back door to the Lieutenant’s resident.

Lie Zhong Liu opened the door and led everyone inside.

Zi Yan went inside and looked at all four corners. He was instantly alarmed and exchanged a glance with Qian Lin. Facing Rong Tian, he whispered, “Your Majesty, something is not right.”

“Oh?”

“I have arranged two teams of guards to look after this place, but right now, there is not a single movement. I’m afraid that there is an ambush.”

Rong Tian’s eyes glanced over at Lie Zhong Liu with a burning look. “Your Majesty, do you want to head back?”

“Let us summon another team of guards before heading inside.”

Rong Tian had yet to answer, but he suddenly felt something strange. It seems that Feng Ming who was beside him, was gently tugging on his sleeve. Seeing him turning around, he said in a serious

manner, “If you suspect the person, then don’t use him. If you use him, then don’t suspect the person.”

Rong Tian smiled at Feng Ming, grabbed his wrist and strode behind together with Lie Zhong Liu.

Lie Zhong Liu had no knowledge of the whispering behind him and still led the way towards the office room in front. Zi Yan carefully examined the surroundings and sure enough not a single guard was found.

At this time, the two of them immediately clenched the sword hilts on their waists, secretly moving in position, one in front and one in the back, protecting Rong Tian and Feng Ming.

Rong Hu and Lie Er had noticed it earlier and were quietly guarding both left and right of Rong Tian and Feng Ming. The four of them surrounded them, making Rong Tian and Feng Ming as their center.

They were not suspicious of Lie Zhong Liu, but their King and Duke Ming’s lives were at stake. In order to ensure their safety, they did not dare to neglect their duties.

The Lieutenant’s residence was so silent it was scary. Only rustling of footsteps could be heard. The more they went further inside, the creepier it got. After walking for a bit, Lie Zhong Liu suddenly stopped causing the rest to do the same.

Looking around in all directions, just like before, not a single person was seen.

Lie Er exhaled a breath and was just about to ask Lie Zhong Liu when a shadow abruptly sprang from the side and flew towards them.

“Ah!” Chiu Yue and Chiu Xing were so scared they cried out. Chiu Lan was frightened that she sat on the ground.

Zi Yan and the others had already wield out their weapons and without hesitation aimed at the dark shadow.

That dark shadow was unusually cunning. It flew in the air, threw itself in front of Chiu Yue, but suddenly twisted and escaped from several cutting edges aimed towards it. It quickly hopped and jumped straight towards Lie Zhong Liu’s chest.

Lie Zhong Liu had guessed earlier that this would be the case so he happily stretched out his arms and picked up that dark shadow. He smiled while standing in place and said to the rest of them, “Is this how to act during our first meeting? Acting very fierce, be careful as someone might hold a grudge on you in the future.”

From the first moment the dark shadow emerged, Rong Tian had pulled Feng Ming close and guarded him in his arms. In a quick glance, the shadow appeared to be an animal. Feng Ming stuck his head from Rong Tian’s arms and calmly asked, “Prime Minister, is that a squirrel?”

“It is not a squirrel.” Lie Zhong Liu explained, “Yong Yin people call it a flying marten. This one here, its name is (Xiao Chiu) Little Autumn.” While talking, he slightly raised his arm.

Feng Ming quickly walked over to take a look.

The little marten seemed to suffer a fright from Zi Yan and the others’ weapons that it hid inside Lie Zhong Liu’s wide sleeves. Its small body formed a ball inside the sleeve, causing Lie Zhong Liu to pull it out, but it was still attached to his arm. In a short while, the animal showed its furry face. Its face was similar to a squirrel, but its nose was red like a small red bean, but its eyes were bright green.

Feng Ming opened his mouth wide and laughed, “How cute!”

Zi Yan and the rest saw that it was not an enemy so they were relieved, placing their weapons back into the sheath and came over to take a look at the little animal.

Chiu Yue and Chiu Xing who were originally scared, stood behind Feng Ming and timidly observed. With big bright eyes like a child seeing her favorite pet animal, they repeatedly exclaimed, “So interesting! So cute! Chiu Lan, come over here and look!” They petted the furry animal.

Little Autumn knew the maids were boasting how cute it was so it stretched out its little head and allowed the two to touch it.

Chiu Lan was still hesitant to come over, but after glancing from afar, she couldn’t help but laugh, “That is interesting, it is really well-behaved.” She eventually reached out to touch it.

She had formerly kept a kitten and likes all types of cats, the marten really loves having its neck scratched so Chiu Lan gently scratched the side of its head.

Little Autumn was greatly pleased that it completely crawled out of Lie Zhong Liu’s sleeve, shaking its big colorful tail and narrowing its eyes in enjoyment.

Feng Ming could not help but reach out and touch its tail. “Prime Minister, is this animal raised by you? How come I haven’t seen it before?”

“It is raised by my little brother.” Lie Zhong Liu answered, one hand holding Little Autumn, he tilted his head and raised his voice, “Zhong Shi, you better come out for me!”

After shouting out, dust was rustling down from the top of the building. Zi Yan yelled, “There’s someone up above!”

Everyone jumped back and looked up.

Suddenly a figure leaped onto the beams and stood up beautifully in the air as he landed in front of the crowd, which happened to be in front of the door, forming a huge shadow covering everyone.

Feng Ming only felt everything suddenly went dark when that tall and mighty person stood in front of them like a huge tower.