Qin Shi Ambitious

Page 67

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In the elegant pavilion of Tantai Yukihime, the dressing table of Yuki-onna is now filled with bamboo slips.

Not only on the stage, but also on the floor next to the dressing table, there was a neat stack of bamboo slips.

Xue Nu held a brush, frowning as she revised the bamboo slips. These slips were filled with her vision for the Fei Xue Pavilion, which she would soon be in charge of.

News of the victory on the northern front reached Tantai last night, and the other dancers were delighted that their distinguished guests would be returning soon. However, Xue Nu had heard about the matter from Steward Lu during the day, so she was not too excited.

Instead, he felt somewhat anxious about establishing a music and dance hall on his own in the unfamiliar land of Yan.

She didn't know if her design would be favored by the nobles of Yan, but fortunately she got her hands on the Flying Snow Jade Flower Platform yesterday. Although the platform didn't belong to her and she could only use it temporarily, that was enough!

She gently tapped her forehead with the pen, not caring if the ink from the pen tip splashed onto her chest or dripped onto her smooth thighs. The Snow Woman tried her best to think about how to improve her own settings.

"Miss Yuki, are you going to perform on stage tonight?" A maid knocked gently on her door. "Our distinguished guests are returning to Tantai for the first time, and they are being exceptionally generous with their rewards tonight."

"No need." The Snow Woman, disturbed, sighed, put down her brush, looked down at the ink stains all over her body and the ground, and said coldly in a low voice, "I'm going to take a bath in half an hour. Go and prepare!"

"Yes," the maid said, realizing she wouldn't receive any extra reward money that night. She became dejected, but still followed Yuki's instructions and went to do as she was told.

"The State of Yan, it is said to be the capital of Xue..."

Leaning down in front of the dressing table, the Snow Woman looked up at the jade flute hanging high above, pouting as if to say, "They'll bless me, this 'snow,' to succeed, won't they..."

After discussing with Zhao Yi how to enter the court, Lu Wei casually suggested that although he could not become a military general, he could make proper connections with General Li Mu.

"General Li Mu is the Great Wall of my Zhao State, and I should certainly befriend him!"

Zhao Yi patted his chest, having no objection to the request, but Lu Wei, seeing this, instead tried to stop him:

"You may befriend General Li Mu, but only in an official capacity. In private, you must not get too close to General Li Mu."

"...The chief steward is worried that King Zhao will suspect me of colluding with the army!" Upon hearing this request, Lord Xiaopingyuan narrowed his eyes and suddenly realized what was going on. He clapped his left fist with his right palm and whispered.

No, I'm worried that if Li Mu is punished in the future, Guo Kai might see that you've befriended Li Mu and prevent you from going to the military camp with him. In that case, there won't be a chance to save my general.

“Exactly!” Lu Wei nodded with a smile.

"Don't worry, Steward Lu, I understand!" Zhao Yi accepted the task with great enthusiasm.

------

Another month passed, and Zhao general Li Mu led his army south to join forces with Sima Shang.

The Qin army breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that they had completely lost their chance of victory. After a probing attack that resulted in a disastrous defeat, they began to slowly withdraw.

The Qin army withdrew first, followed by the combined forces of Han and Wei.

With this, the war officially ended that year, the city of Handan was unsealed, and Lu Yu led his caravan into the city.

"Brother Lu!" Lu Yu is eighteen years old this year and can already stand on his own. He asked the caravan to sell the grain they brought in the city, while he himself came to Lu Wei's small building and happily met up with the steward.

"Ayu, you have a crucial mission in Zhao!"

After a brief chat and reminiscing, Lu Wei's expression turned serious, and he solemnly ordered: "Assisting Zhao Yi in Zhao State is only what you are supposed to do on the surface."

"Secretly, General Li Mu of Zhao will be punished by the King of Zhao in a few years. You must find a way to secretly rescue Li Mu at that time!"

Ah Yu is Lu Wei's most loyal subordinate, and only by letting him handle the planning and uncovering the truth of this matter can Lu Wei feel at ease.

"Yes!" The huge amount of information shocked Lu Yu, but since it was a task personally assigned by his brother Lu, he didn't need to think about it and just had to carry it out strictly.

"Don't put too much pressure on yourself. There may be two or three years left. During these two or three years, you stay in Zhao and just focus on making plans. When it's time to implement them, I will come to Handan in person!"

"Don't worry, Brother Lu, I will definitely do this well." Lu Yu had been doing intelligence work for several years and was highly competent. He didn't ask any questions beyond the mission.

That night, he brought Ah Yu to Tantai. While enjoying the music and dance, the steward also told him about Tantai's plans to expand to other countries.

Besides the Yan Kingdom, A Yu selected loyal secret guards from among his subordinates, believing that these people could serve as heads of the Tantai branches in other countries.

By cooperating with local farmers and disciples in various countries, even if those disciples are not from Gonggongtang, it is not a big problem for them to settle down.

As for the Yan Kingdom, after the Snow Maiden finished her dance on stage, and the noble young men were happily tossing gold coins around, he gave the Snow Maiden a look from the second floor. The Snow Maiden immediately understood, silently withdrew from backstage, and went directly to the private box.

"Xue Ji greets Steward Lu." Observing her expression, she could tell that the young man Lu Wei brought was his subordinate, so she ignored him.

"The matter of Feixue Pavilion can begin. Get ready, and in a while, head north to Yan."

"I understand," Yukihime said with a slight bow, her expression serene. "I have already selected four dancers, two musicians, and ten zither players to accompany me from the Tantai. We are ready to depart at any time."

"However, transporting the Flying Snow Jade Flower Platform is quite troublesome, and it will take a while to deliver it to Ji City."

"Okay, it's good that you're prepared. You can go now."

"...Yes," she replied somewhat unexpectedly. She had thought she would be asked to perform a solo dance for Steward Lu, but he seemed to be in no mood for it today.

With a slight raise of her delicate eyebrows, Xue Nu glanced cautiously at Lu Yu behind Lu Wei before quietly leaving.

Everything was arranged, and only at the very end did the head steward take Ayu to Zhao Yi's residence and recommend him as the steward of Zhao Yi's residence.

Zhao Yi readily agreed. With Guo Kai's recommendation and the reputation of the reinforcements, he successfully entered the imperial court. He was very proud when he met with his brothers these past few days.

Steward Lu has sent his elite farmers to help him again, which is certainly another good thing.

With the help of these farmers, every little good deed I do gets a huge reach, which is wonderful.

Chapter 89 You don't want this to get out, do you?

Over the course of a week, Ayu learned about all the matters in Handan City. Meanwhile, Xue Nu in Tantai prepared the transportation of Feixue Yuhuatai. Dancers, musicians, and zither players would follow the transport team and slowly drive into Yan.

Within the Zhao territory, Zhao Yi used his relationship with Zhao Cong to specially arrange a cavalry team to help escort the goods. As long as the goods wouldn't be lost in Zhao territory, and since Yan territory was Luqiu Pavilion's territory, there was even less chance of loss.

Xue Nu herself will follow Lu Wei and ride back to Ji City ahead of him. She needs to design Fei Xue Pavilion there in advance so that it can start operating quickly once Fei Xue Yu Hua Tai arrives.

As a dancer who grew up in a music and dance hall, Yuki-onna did not know how to ride a horse on her first long journey.

But she knew that Steward Lu would not change his carriage just to accommodate her, so she practiced diligently for a few days and didn't hold her back too much.

The further north they went, the colder the weather became. Just after crossing the border between the two countries and entering the Yan Kingdom, they were immediately caught in a sudden downpour and had to rest at an inn in the evening.

There were quite a few pedestrians taking shelter from the rain on the first floor of the inn. Groups of wandering knights dressed in various styles chatted amongst themselves, only glancing at the two newcomers.

The Snow Maiden was still young and her inner strength was shallow. The autumn rain was icy cold, and even though she was wearing a thick fur coat, she still felt cold and uncomfortable after her hair got wet. She booked two superior rooms and hurried upstairs to change into new, dry clothes.

Steward Lu glanced around the first-floor hall, ordered a table of food and wine in a corner, and listened intently to the conversation of the wandering knights while drinking alone.

In the short time it took Lu Wei to sit down, pour the wine, and drink it all, at least eight gazes and two internal forces focused on him.

With a cold snort, he responded with a burst of internal energy, and all the gazes and probing immediately vanished from the surface.

Of the forty or so passersby in the lobby, half could be considered skilled fighters. Given this high proportion, the steward guessed that he had unintentionally encountered a group of unknown sects.

"That kid is no ordinary person; he's not one of ours."

The sounds of wandering swordsmen conversing at a table near the stairs reached Lu Wei's ears.

Although the four people at the table didn't look at him, the "that kid" they were talking about was definitely referring to him.

"Should we try to probe the waters?"

"At such a young age, he possesses profound internal strength and is traveling with a young girl with unusual hair color. He must be an elite disciple from another sect. We need not provoke him."

The oldest of the four picked up a piece of food, put it in his mouth, and shook his head.

"Fine, we can control him, but that person..."

“That’s the misfortune of those two young boys and girls,” the elder said, pausing with his chopsticks before quickly resuming his speech. “But he knows what he’s doing, nothing serious will happen.”

"Well, it would be best if you, Elder Li, advised the leader that these two children are handsome and may be from prominent families. We should avoid provoking too many enemies on our trip to Jicheng."

"I can't persuade him otherwise..."

"If there's no movement from Lao Li's side, we won't move either."

The group of four sitting at the table by the door were a bit rude, with the leader glancing at the steward out of the corner of his eye from time to time, trying to hide his unprofessional behavior.

However, what was being discussed at the table interested Lu Wei even more:

"The Qin state was so lively a few months ago, it's a real pity we couldn't go and do our part."

"Indeed! Gao Jianli and Kuang Xiu joining forces to fight against more than fifty Qin henchmen with music—just thinking about it is exhilarating!"

"This Gao Jianli was originally an unknown figure, but he suddenly rose to prominence last year. A single guqin piece could move everyone in a tavern to tears. His future achievements may even surpass those of Kuang Xiu!"

"Heh heh, the fact that these two are still alive is an irony to the incompetence of Qin's lackeys! If Ji City hadn't urgently summoned us, I really would have liked to go to Qin and lend a hand!"

"Your skills are so mediocre, you might as well give up."

"What's there to calculate? Even if I die there, it's worth it to have lived alongside such righteous men..."

The people talking at the third table were right next to Lu Wei, and the wandering knights at this table didn't hide anything from him at all, their voices booming: "There are actually such villains in Xinglong City!"

"Once the rain stops tomorrow, we'll take a detour and get rid of that bully in Xinglong City!"

A muscular man stood up, placing one leg on the bench: "Otherwise, it would be against our code of chivalry!"

"We'll listen to Brother Tiger!"

The people surrounding him exclaimed and raised their hands, causing quite a stir.

The other tables of companions, seeing what this group was doing, helplessly covered their foreheads but did not say anything to stop them.

The Snow Woman had changed into a white coat and wiped the water droplets from her hair. Although she was still a little damp, she was no longer so cold.

She slowly descended the stairs, sidestepped past the seats of the wandering knights, and sat down in front of Lu Wei:

"I looked out the second-floor window and the rain got heavier. I don't know if it will stop tomorrow."

"It's alright. This inn sells fur cloaks. If we can't stop tomorrow, we can just buy two cloaks to wear."

Lu Wei stared at the Snow Woman's face and shook his head: "Take off your earrings."

"Huh?" The snow woman followed the instructions with a puzzled look, removing the two crystal earrings from her ears and holding them in her palm. "Why?"

"When you're out in the world, and you're not very strong, don't wear too many decorations."

"Yes, Yuki-hime understands." Yuki-hime carefully put away the earrings and nodded. She had no experience going out alone, but her ability to be obedient was always an excellent trait.

As she put away her earrings, the Snow Woman moved her purple jade bracelet up above her wrist and pulled her sleeves down a little.

Fortunately, she had put away her headdress earlier because she needed to ride horses every day; otherwise, it would have been difficult to hide it for a while.

The wandering swordsman at the next table overheard their conversation, smiled amicably, and then paid no more attention to the situation.

Based on the three conversations he overheard, Lu Wei had a vague idea that they might be disciples of the Mohist school.