You were taken hostage, why pursue the Enemy's Empress?

These past few days have been peaceful and uneventful.

Ying Wuji spent his free time practicing swordsmanship and reading books. Other than visiting the Mohist Guild twice and secretly meeting with Wu Shuangxu once, he had not done anything else.

Mechanical engineering was the Mohist's forte, and there were many skilled craftsmen in the field. Printing was a piece of cake, especially with the detailed steps and instructions. @@novelbin@@

As for Wu Shuangxu...

Ying Wuji finally figured out the details of the "Wei Wo Pai" faction, which was a branch of the Daoist school of thought.

The Daoist school was established during the time of Laozi, and the book "Tao Te Ching" laid the foundation for Daoist philosophy. The school enjoyed great success and shared the spotlight with Confucianism, founded by Kong Sheng, during that era. However, Confucian disciples were more active in the political arena.

Later on, for some unknown reason, Daoist disciples went into hiding en masse and disappeared from people's sight for a short period of time. However, not long after, the Yang Zhu school rose to prominence, reviving the glory of the Daoist school. They confronted the Mohists, who had already risen to power, breaking the pattern of the Confucian-Mohist rivalry in the court at the time. Even the Confucian sage Mencius sighed, "If the world's words do not belong to Yang Zhu, they belong to the Mohists." Although there was some bitterness and exaggeration in his words, the influence of the Yang Zhu school was evident.

Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

The core idea of the Yang Zhu school was "valuing oneself and protecting one's own nature." Later on, for some unknown reason, the Yang Zhu school quietly disappeared and established many new sects outside the dynasty. Wu Shuangxu's sect was one of them. However, there was a faction within these sects that deviated from the Yang Zhu school's philosophy and went to extremes. They had mostly led lives full of pain, and their way of cultivation was to face pain head-on and ultimately become pain itself to eliminate it.

The Wei Wo Pai disciples were extremely secretive, unpredictable in their actions, and wielded various mysterious spells that made them difficult to deal with. The Flying Fish Guards had found clues left behind by the Wei Wo Pai in the previous poison incident, and Ji Su's unusual situation seemed to be related to the Wei Wo Pai as well.

"Why are they targeting me?"

Ying Wuji pinched his chin. "Could it be that they're targeting my current situation, wanting to kill me and provoke a war, causing more people to suffer and absorb more disciples?"

He couldn't quite figure it out. Although his situation was delicate, it would be difficult to start a war immediately. It was more like they were trying to instigate Qianli to go to war with the Flame Kingdom. However, these people didn't realize that Ji Su was a weakling and had almost been killed by him.

There was too little information to understand the intricacies of the situation. Just then, there was a knock on the door, and Bai Zhi entered."Young master! Zhai Yun's people have notified us that the printing equipment for movable type has been completed, and Hua Chao has delivered all the paper to the bookstore. They say we can begin!"

"Good!"

Ying Wuji's eyes lit up. His first bucket of gold was finally arriving.

...

He watched as the two left in secret.

Xun Zhiyin returned to the embassy and went straight to his residence. He pushed open the door and bowed respectfully to a figure. "Sir, Ying Wuji has made a move."

Although the "sir" was dressed in a brocade robe, his demeanor was rough and his appearance was ordinary, like an old farmer who had been farming for decades suddenly took a bath and changed into clean clothes to come to the embassy, standing out like a sore thumb.

But Xun Zhiyin was extremely respectful to him.

Because he knew that the "sir" named Tieniu was Ying Wuque's confidant, and had been serving him for over a decade before Ying Wuque went to the Qian Palace to recognize his relatives. His methods and strength were unknown, but just this identity alone was worth his utmost respect.

Tieniu picked up the cold tea on the table and took a sip before spitting out the tea leaves with a disgusted expression. "I don't care what he's up to. Your task is to make sure he doesn't accomplish anything. As long as we hear Ying Wuji say something good about him in the Qian Palace, you can forget about working with us."

"Yes, sir! Don't worry, as long as I'm here, I can keep Ying Wuji pinned down for life." Xun Zhiyin inwardly sneered. It was truly a case of one man's gain being another man's loss. If it weren't for his relationship with Ying Wuque, how could he possibly flatter such a person?

Seeing how humble Xun Zhiyin was, Tieniu's expression softened slightly as he asked, "What do you think he wants to do? Is it possible for him to succeed?"

"Probably just wants to open his own bookstore and sell off the paper he has hoarded. But this kid is all talk and no action. He only sees the profits of the bookstore, but doesn't know the background of the bookstores. In my opinion, he'll probably end up losing money."

Tieniu frowned, "I'm not interested in your assurance that he'll lose money. I want to know how you'll deal with him if he actually makes money."

Make money? How could he possibly make money? Although Xun Zhiyin thought this, he still bowed and said, "Don't worry, sir! The seal is in my hands, and I am in charge of the tax collection for the Li merchants. Unless Ying Wuji does something that can alarm the supervisors, no one will know what he's up to!"

The supervisors were officials sent by the Qian Kingdom to supervise the embassy personnel. They only needed to report on major matters.

These were the Qian King's true confidants, and could not be infiltrated.

Tieniu's face, weather-beaten and calm, remained composed. "What about the bookstore? Have you found out anything about it?"

"Not yet, but don't worry, sir! Even if Ying Wuji is stupid, he won't entrust his lifeline to a woman who once tried to assassinate him. As long as the bookstore is still an industry of our Qian Kingdom, I have a way to control him!"

"Very good!"Iron Bull nodded in satisfaction, dusted himself off, and prepared to leave.

Xun Zhiyin quickly made way, but couldn't help asking, "Lord, when will we kill this person again?"

Iron Bull paused and a fierce expression flashed across his face. "We have already assassinated him once, but now he has skilled protectors by his side. We cannot risk alerting him. Do not act rashly unless it is necessary."

"Yes!" Xun Zhiyin felt some resentment. Although he did not participate in the previous assassination, he knew that it was Ying Wuque's doing. Even his own reactions before and after the event were guided by Ying Wuque. Even if Ying Wuji was useless, they could not allow any mistakes in the position of King Qian.

Previously, they had almost made Ying Wuji give up on his own through various forms of provocation, ultimately giving them the opportunity to assassinate him with poison.

But he did not expect that Ying Wuji would survive the brothel incident, as if he had become a different person. The change in identity seemed to have no impact on him at all.

Through this incident, Xun Zhiyin also understood that although Ying Wuque and his mother appeared to be commoners without any background, they were actually very resourceful. Otherwise, they would not have been able to arrange various coincidences in the capital of Li Kingdom and even make the prime minister's daughter a poisoner.

This was enough to show that they could also exert their power in Li Kingdom, and it was not wrong to associate with them.

He couldn't help but ask, "Lord, may I ask which of the six major families in Li Kingdom is our ally? I will pay more attention in the future to avoid any misunderstandings..."

He stopped halfway through his sentence, as a cold and chilling energy rose from his tailbone and shot straight to his head, causing him to break out in a cold sweat.

Looking up, he saw Iron Bull's mocking expression. "I haven't even said it yet, and you already guessed it was one of the six major families. Xun is truly a smart man!"

Xun Zhiyin was shocked and quickly bowed. "I spoke out of turn!"

For a long time, there was no response from Iron Bull.

He tentatively looked up and found that the room was already empty.