Rebirth As a Fatuous and Self-indulgent Ruler
chapter-81

Long shook his head. “I don’t know what to say about this currently. We can talk about this after having a lunch. Don’t worry.”

Shi went silent for a while. “Okay, meal first.”

Long headed to the dining table, with Shi’s hands in his hands.

Shi wasn’t hungry as he just woke up, but since Long was hungry, he accompanied him to have his meal.

Xu You came in the middle of their meal, so they prepared another set of tableware for him.

“Big brother.” Xu asked as he was having his meal, “Anything new from Fang?”

“Yes, I will tell you more later.” Long didn’t want to hide this from Xu.

Xu rushed to finish his meal, as if someone was going to take his meal from him.

Shi couldn’t help but said, “Take it easy, no hurry.”

How could he not hurry, what he cared the most now was Tianyin post!

Xu continued to eat in silence and Long smiled slightly. Neither of them was willing to talk with one another.

After the meal, Xu had eaten everything he got in an aggressive way while Long and Shi did it leisurely.

Xu looked at Long eagerly after having the meal.

Long pouted and told Xu the situation in Tianyin post.

Xu’s expression turned solemn. “Smuggling of horses… started five years ago? I had been staying in the post for more than five years; how come I have never seen that many horses?” Most importantly, he didn’t know a thing about this at all!

“If you knew all this, it wouldn’t be Tianyin post either.”

Xu was upset. “I always think the old head of the post has been treating me well, never expect that he wants me dead.”

Long threw an apathetic look at him. “Fang Shuoyang has also been detained by him.”

Xu clenched his fists. “We need to save him.”

“That’s for sure. I am planning on this even if you don’t say it.” Said Long.

Now that Tianyin post was involved in the rebellion incident, the court would definitely interfere!

“Really?” Xu’s eyes lit up and he was a bit relived.

Long nodded. “Hum…” and then he turned to Shi.

“Qingzhou, looks like we need to send someone over to the Tianyin post.”

“Yes.” Shi nodded. “But whom?”

Long blinked his eyes and grinned. “Do you want to go, Qingzhou?”

Shi also blinked and looked at Long hesitantly.

Long burst into laughter. “This will be different from fighting on the battlefield. Don’t worry, Qingzhou. Besides, I will be more relived to know that you are there.”

Shi paused.

Long took his hands. “Just take Xu with you. I believe only you can guarantee that he doesn’t mess around, and if he doesn’t follow your order, you can always teach him a lesson.”

Xu was speechless. “Big brother, I am not that stupid and I have always been obedient!”

Long pretended he didn’t hear anything.

Xu felt even more speechless.

Xu left after making the decision and Shi asked Long. “I don’t have to go; what’s on your mind?”

Long grinned. “You go first and wait for me there.”

Shi paused and said unbelievably, “You are going too?”

Long shook his head. “Not now.”

Shi was confused. “What do you mean?”

“Qingzhou, how many officials do you think have been bribed?”

Shi paused and said conservatively, “Some, but not many.”

“Yeah.” Long chuckled. “Not many. So, let’s say we all went there, what will these people do?”

Shi muttered to himself and said, “The situation will be out of control.”

Long sighed slightly. “Yes, but isn’t there a saying that nothing ventured, nothing gained?”

Shi shook his head. “But that’s too risky.”

Long smiled lightly. “We can also play safe in another way.”

“Hum?” Shi looked at Long.

“Ask your father to come back.”

Shi was startled after hearing this, then he muttered to himself. “This might work.”

Long raised his eyebrows. “Really? I thought you would say no to this.”

Shi smiled at him. “There used to be some garrison troops near the border, though the envoy from the North had been killed here, they didn’t say anything about this and sent someone new who is currently on his way here, which means the Northern side is not our concern anymore. My father staying there for the smuggling of horses is really wasting his talent on a petty job, he can totally delegate the duty to his subordinates. However, while telling them about our plan to make sure my father get back, we need to make our enemies believe that my father is still near the border.”

If Long’s plan was just a beginning, Shi’s plan had already worked out the follow-up for him.

Shi really served as a perfect wife. Long had a big smile on his face now.

“Hum, Qingzhou’s plan sounds great, let’s do it. You can set off to Tianyin post once your father leaves the border.”

“Okay.” Shi nodded. “This way, by the time my father arrives at the imperial palace, we should’ve arrived at Tianyin post. We can still send people to keep investigating in the martial arts community.”

“That’s right.” Long said. “They can get as much information as possible. There couldn’t be no trace at all as they have done it for five years. We couldn’t think of this before, but I can’t believe if we still couldn’t find anything now. There will be traces as long as they do it.”

Shi nodded. “I will make sure they hurry the investigation.”

“Okay, I am sure you won’t let me down.” Long chuckled.

Long and Shi sent the Shadow Guards to the border out of extreme urgency.

Four days later, after settling down the border business and left some words to two of his most trustworthy generals, Shi Qingshan took 300 elite soldiers and went back to the imperial palace the very night.

The next day, four groups of soldiers totaling 50000 people were secretly gathered towards the direction of the imperial palace from the border.

Everything was going on without being noticed.

Just on the same day when Shi Qingshan was back, Shi Qingzhou and Xu You took 30 Shadow Guards and left the imperial palace.

Long still went to the Qiankun Palace after the routine meeting and still slept in it every night.

Only Shi Qingzhou never showed up, but the people inside the imperial palace, apart from the people working inside the Qiankun Palace, had no idea that Shi had already left the imperial palace!

There were also some changes inside the Qiankun Palace in the past three days.

On the principle of better catch the wrong guy than letting him go, Long and Shi changed three imperial servants, including two maids and one eunuch.

The three servants were switched to other places and were under watch by other people.

After the departure of Shi and Xu, Long received his long-waited Shi Qingshan, who went into the imperial palace secretly on the fourth night.

The two people had a night long conversation that night.

The next day, Long was assassinated in the imperial palace.

And the assassin turned out to be the same person who got caught the other day!

The whole thing shocked the entire imperial court!

Meanwhile, Long got hurt this time in his arm! He was lucky that the Shadow Guards helped him keep away from the danger, or else he would get more injures!

Though he executed the assassin after getting hurt in the arm, Long’s temper became very strange afterwards. He was not just being weird, but easy to lose his temper!

Long never went up to the imperial court after getting hurt, instead he let the courtiers write the reports to him.

And then the emperor would examine the reports and the people who wrote instructions were all eunuchs, after all, Long got injured in his arm!

Two courtiers visited Long once, but Long was in his bad mood, and one of the courtiers got caned after saying something not appropriate!

In the end, the courtier was carried home on a stretcher.

The imperial physician said that His Majesty got seriously injured in his arm, so he wouldn’t recover within months.

After the day the courtier got caned, the other courtiers tried their best not to provoke their emperor… nobody ever wanted their butt to be caned, right?

After completing all the plans, with the escort of the Shadow Guards one night, Long left the imperial palace… for his wife!

While Shi Qingshan now lived inside the Qiankun Palace with the left Shadow Guards.

Apart from the daily court affairs, Shi Qingshan was also responsible for contacting the troops coming from the frontline secretly.

Since the net was spread now. No matter what they were facing, they were certain to catch something with one shot!

Shi Qingshan was now sitting behind the desk of the study and started to deal with the state affairs orderly, with a sense of swiftness and fierceness in his eyes.

The Shadow Guards standing on the roof top, having a bird view of the vicinity of the Qiankun Palace, fulfilled their duties.

While Long Xiaoyuan…unable to bear the suffering of riding a horse at its top speed, decided to take a rest.