Chapter 263: Staying unchanged in response to all changes
The clouds are low and dusk, and the snow dances back to the wind.

The cold wind wrapped around the fine snow, causing Guangmutian's skirt to flutter irregularly. A guqin was carried on her back, wrapped in cloth to protect it from the wind and snow as much as possible.

The horse under her had begun to lose strength, and it snorted loudly in the snow, with white mist lingering between its mouth and nose, obviously having run a long distance.

In fact, this place is indeed nearly a hundred miles away from Fengxiang. It is already extremely difficult for Guangmutian to control his horse to get here, not to mention that most of the way he has walked is on small paths and the journey is difficult. His mount has long been overloaded.

But even so, Guangmutian still did not conserve the horse's strength. He pursed his lips tightly and urged the horse forward. However, the road was changed from a small path to a main road, and he also rested for half a day in the middle to allow the mount to recover some strength.

Fufeng had been left behind by her, and in front of them was Qianzhou's Wugong County. Qianzhou governed four counties, but Wugong County was already under the jurisdiction of Liang State. The two sides had always been at odds with each other, but Guangmutian finally arrived here and instead felt relieved.

Due to the border between the two countries, the city wall of Wugong County is much higher than that of ordinary counties, but fortunately the two countries have not been at war for several years. Some minor frictions a year ago quickly disappeared because Xiao Yan directed his attention to Hebei. Merchants could pass through without hindrance. Even Guangmutian, who was obviously dressed as a woman of the underworld, was still allowed to pass safely after handing in the pass.

However, after Guangmutian replenished his supplies and headed east out of the city, in the territory of Liang State, he saw someone whom he should have seen earlier but had not arrived yet, and whom he should not have seen now but seemed to have been waiting here for a long time.

Fanyintian was wearing a silk dress, exposing her white chest in this snowy day, which was a perfect match for the white, making it particularly pleasing to the eyes.

Guangmutian's face was solemn. He sat on the horse without getting off, but his hand was already on the guqin behind him. He said in a low voice: "Do you really want to stop me?"

"so rude."

Fan Yintian covered his mouth and laughed, pacing back and forth in a lazy manner, and then folded his hands on his chest, looking quite graceful: "After all, I am the head of the Nine Heavens Saints. I have raised you as my sisters all these years. I can't say that you should be grateful, but at least you should show the proper respect, right?"

Guangmutian had a slightly cold face, but he still did not dismount. His fingers were placed on the strings through the cloth.

Fan Yintian smiled, seemingly not noticing these little moves, and continued, "Over the years, if I don't have a big contribution to Huanyinfang, then I can say that hard work is second to none. Who among you dares to take the first place? Now that King Qi has asked me to take charge of Huanyinfang on behalf of the Empress, how dare you little guys be unhappy? Hmm?"

When she said the last word, her face darkened and she stared at Guangmutian. "Qiguo keeps you as a bitch, not to betray you! King Qi has returned, and it is the time for Qiguo to expand its territory. It would be fine if you, a bitch, did not share the worries of the master, but how dare you collude with the foreign enemy and ruin King Qi's plan?"

Guangmutian's brows were already extremely cold. She didn't say much, but still said in a deep voice: "Fanyintian, the empress treats you well."

Fan Yintian shrugged his shoulders, looking nonchalant: "Huan Yin Fang was originally founded by King Qi. To put it bluntly, isn't the Empress a subject of King Qi? Now I am acting in accordance with King Qi, is there anything wrong with that?"

At this moment, Guangmutian didn't want to waste words anymore. He just lightly touched the white cloth wrapped around the zither with his fingers, and the sound of the zither bypassed the snow particles and instantly spread forward.

"Do whatever you want."

Fanyintian sneered and clapped her hands casually, and the pipa behind her back fell into her hands. Then she plucked it with three fingers like a pulley, and the three fingers circulated. The sound wave was as big as a crescent moon, which suddenly shattered Guangmutian's piano sound and rushed straight away.

Guangmutian did not dare to be careless. He stood up and rushed behind him. Then he held up the three feet six inches and five guqin in one hand and plucked the strings with five fingers to compete with him.

Both are sound waves, but Guangmutian's are rolling blue waves that cover all sides, mostly in a defensive posture, with occasional flashes of attacking waves.

Fanyintian's whole attack was in progress. As he walked slowly, the sound waves continued without interruption. The three fingers that plucked the pipa were changed to four fingers. The attack was intense and continuous, one wave stronger than the other, and he was obviously better than Guangmutian.

Guangmutian kept her lips pursed and remained silent from beginning to end. In fact, her piano skills needed to be coordinated with other saints using the Magic Sound Technique to exert the greatest effect. In the past, when fighting against the enemy, Miao Chengtian was always the best partner. The two of them worked together, both offensive and defensive, and they were able to fight even against masters of the Zhongtian level.

But judging from her individual performance, she is indeed not as good as Fanyintian, that is a fact.

But Guangmutian did not want to fight. As she quickly rushed backwards, she had already placed the guqin in her hand flat in front of her, hanging in the air. She plucked the guqin with her ten fingers, doubling her power. The ten feet to her side became her attack and defense area.

At the same time, the mount in the distance just ignored everything and fled eastward.

Fanyintian sneered, and the four-wheel finger transformed into a five-wheel finger, which suddenly increased the pressure on Guangmutian. The flying snow floating in the air was often destroyed by the rolling sound waves in mid-air before it fell. The snow on the ground ten feet around the two of them was swept into the sky, like a ball of constantly rolling snow fog.

The two of them continued to fight. Guangmutian tried to escape to the east several times, but was entangled by Fanyintian every time. It was obvious that his attack was not fake, and it seemed like he was going to kill him.

Further away from them, two riders were slowly climbing the hill.

However, one of the men, a forty-year-old warrior in military uniform, lagged behind by half a body length. He was slightly respectful to the other handsome man, but not much. Although there was no arrogance on his face, he looked relaxed and did not look like a surrendered general at all.

"I've heard that there are nine ladies in the Huanyin Pavilion of King Qi, each of them is a peerless beauty. They are known as the Nine Heavenly Saint Ladies in the martial arts world. I didn't believe it before, but after seeing them today, I find that they are indeed beautiful. When they fight, they are more attractive than ordinary women."

Li Maozhen, who was called the King of Qi by him, looked indifferent. He held the reins and asked, "Why, does the King of Dapeng have any ideas?"

The forty-year-old warrior, the so-called Prince of Dapeng, was none other than Liu Zhijun, the Prince of Dapeng who was formerly the governor of the Daliang Kuangguo Army and stationed in Tongzhou.

After being named Prince of Dapeng, Liu Zhijun had become a real frontier official in Daliang and even led his own army. Logically speaking, unless he had a brain tumor, he would never rebel against Liang.

But just because Liu Zhijun didn't have a lump in his brain doesn't mean Zhu Wen didn't have one.

At the end of the second year of Kaiping, when Xiao Yan had not yet gone out to attack Mobei, Zhu Wen was either in a bad mood or afraid that the loss of Hebei would make the military leaders under him look down on his authority, but he actually believed the slander and directly exterminated Liu Zhijun's neighbor, Wang Chongshi, the governor of the Youguo Army.

Regardless of Wang Zhongshi's merits and demerits, or whether he was wronged or not, there is no need to worry about it, but as the governor of the Youguo Army, he had been guarding Chang'an for Zhu Wen for many years since Zhu Wen took control of Guanzhong. He and Liu Zhijun, who was in charge of Tongzhou, had been stationed in Guanzhong to defend against the State of Qi.

But Wang Zhongshi was suddenly beheaded, and his entire clan was exterminated by Zhu Wen's order. At the same time, Liu Zhijun, who was guarding Tongzhou, was moved to Chang'an. In fact, at this time, Liu Zhijun had no other thoughts except for some grief, but at the beginning of this year, Zhu Wen suddenly summoned Liu Zhijun to Beijing.

After the imperial edict came down, Liu Zhijun was shocked and frightened. After all, Zhu Wen had killed quite a few Yuancong meritorious officials over the years. Not to mention that Liu Zhijun had been guarding Guanzhong for several years. It was okay before, but now that Guanzhong is no longer constrained by Wang Zhongshi, Liu Zhijun is the only one in power. In this case, it is inevitable that he worries that Zhu Wen will have other ideas, and that his entry into Beijing will be like a Hongmen Banquet, and he will be beheaded without any reason.

Just when Liu Zhijun was in this dilemma, his younger brother, who was an official in Bian Jing, suddenly sent a secret letter, which directly said that Liu Zhijun should not go to Beijing. Liu Zhijun now believed that Zhu Wen wanted to kill him, so he decided to go all out and directly occupied Chang'an to rebel against Liang, while at the same time controlling Tongguan to split Guanzhong.

But the situation was so hasty that many people in Liu Zhijun's mansion refused to cooperate. Not long after the rebellion, Yang Shihou, the commander of the Daliang West Road Camp who was attacking Luzhou, was ordered to march south. Within a few months, he broke through Tongguan and recaptured Chang'an...

Therefore, it is self-evident why Liu Zhijun, who failed to split Guanzhong, appeared on the border of Qiliang.

At this time, after hearing Li Maozhen's cold question, Liu Zhijun laughed and stroked his short beard and said, "What Dapeng County King? I just started the rebellion and Zhu Wen took away my official position and title. Besides, since I have come to Qi Wang for refuge, I will not recognize the damn Dapeng County King. I am a commoner and will need to rely on Qi Wang for advice in the future..."

After saying that, he nodded and said, "But, as the saying goes, everyone loves beauty. I am a rough man, so I love these two beauties of King Qi very much. But even if I don't know anything about the martial arts world, I know that the Nine Heavens Saint Ji is King Qi's favorite. Although I like her, I dare not covet her."

Li Maozhen narrowed his eyes and said nothing. Liu Zhijun also didn't say much, with a smile on his face.

But after a moment, Li Maozhen suddenly said calmly: "They are just a few women, what's the big deal? If you can retake Guanzhong and present it to me, it would be a blessing for these nine holy girls to be your concubines."

Liu Zhijun stroked his short beard and laughed: "Since King Qi said so, I am afraid that even if I die, I will die on the way to Chang'an. But today King Qi came to pick me up in person, which has given me great face. How dare he ask for a beauty with only Guanzhong. If I can conquer Bianjing and enter the Central Plains in the future, it won't be too late for King Qi to reward me."

Li Maozhen narrowed his eyes and just stroked the reins without making a sound. Behind the two of them, the fake Li, who was also controlling the horse and not moving forward, smiled coldly and just looked down on Liu Zhijun.

This kind of guy who is greedy for beauty can only achieve so much. Li Maozhen went all the way to Liang in person to meet this man and the thousand or so remaining soldiers under his command. No one knows what he is after.

And there is another point that makes the fake Li feel particularly cold.

This damn Li Maozhen doesn't behave like a loyal subject at all. The former commander-in-chief asked Li Maozhen to assist him, but this guy put on the skin of King Qi and acted so arrogantly, looking down on everyone. Apart from guiding him in practicing martial arts, he was not allowed to interfere in the affairs of Qi State.

What are you pretending to be?
Fake Li sneered, he was not a fool who could be fooled.

As soon as Li Maozhen returned to Qi State, he naturally gained the trust of the empress first. However, after the throne of King Qi was transferred to him without anyone noticing, the first thing Li Maozhen did was to imprison the empress, take control of Huanyinfang, and then observe and cultivate ministers who could truly be used by him, Li Maozhen.

In the current Qi Kingdom, the empress still controls more power. It has been fourteen years since Li Maozhen left. His former confidants have either died or grown old, and the rest are all people promoted by the empress over the years. The empress is the only one who understands the court affairs and the battlefield layout. The interests of the politicians from humble families and the generals have long been intertwined with her. In a short period of time, I am afraid that only she understands how to maintain and win over this interest line.

At this moment, even if the empress confessed her identity, most of the civil and military officials in the court and the country would still support her.

Although they are both Kings of Qi, and even look almost the same, changing someone is like changing the world. The current court of Qi, whether it is the monarch or the ministers, are the most compatible. If someone else is replaced, we will have to spend a lot of time to figure out this "newcomer". More than ten years of hard work will be wasted in one day. Why bother?

The old Qi Wang's team had long since disappeared in the great waves. Those who could stand firm in the Qi Kingdom's court, regardless of whether they were loyal or not, were at least old officials that the empress valued. Changing the Qi Wang? I'm afraid they wouldn't agree.

In other words, Li Maozhen is now just a fox in tiger skin. How much more knowledgeable can he be about the government affairs in the court than the fake Li?
Otherwise, Li Maozhen would not have not held a court meeting for half a month. He would have been either working on documents or visiting various places. Wasn't it just to get more familiar with this strange country of Qi?

So, what qualifications did Li Maozhen have to act in front of the fake Li? He even treated him, the prince of the Tang Dynasty, who Yuan Tiangang had personally pointed out to Li Maozhen, as a follower. How audacious!
However, the fake Li was angry, but he really couldn't bear it and only said a few words without daring to take any concrete action.

Because again, he is not stupid.

It would be fine if others didn't know, but he was the one who knew Li Maozhen's strength best. Killing a Zhongtianwei was as simple as spitting, let alone the top Datianwei in the martial arts world. Fake Li even doubted whether Li Maozhen could compete with Yuan Tiangang...

Although he was skeptical about this, it did not prevent him from being polite to Li Maozhen. At least according to Yuan Tiangang's plan, it seemed that he intended to let Li Maozhen help him replace the dragon blood and become a loyal minister?

Humph, just wait until tomorrow.

Fake Li sneered in his heart, and rode behind with an expressionless face. However, he was more skilled in running the Tiangang Jue in his body than usual, and he could already practice it all the time.

Unconsciously, under the guidance of Li Maozhen, he had touched the threshold of Zhongtian level. Entering Zhongtian level was just a natural process.

……

The fight between Fanyintian and Guangmutian soon came to an end. After all, Fanyintian was more powerful. However, he had paid a heavy price to capture Guangmutian, who was determined to escape. His face was pale, and he obviously suffered internal injuries. He looked very pitiful in front of Li Maozhen.

As for Guangmutian, he was just locked in the distance with a cold face. He didn't even look at the so-called King Qi, the empress's biological brother, and would never tell the purpose of his trip.

"King Qi has family affairs to deal with, so I will take my leave first." Liu Zhijun was very sensible, but before leaving, he still glanced at Fanyintian's chest twice before leaving.

"This Liu Zhijun is so insolent!" Fake Li rode forward and sneered, "You allow him to be so disrespectful to you?"

"Idiot." Li Maozhen didn't bother to pay attention to Guangmutian and directly asked Fanyintian to capture him and put him in the carriage and take him back to Fengxiang. He was even more lazy to pay attention to the fake Li and just rode away.

But after thinking about it, he said, "Liu Zhijun is a smart man. He is not arrogant for coveting beauty. Instead, he is showing goodwill to me, which shows that he does not have too big ambitions. Regardless of whether he is pretending or not, at least he has the intention. Wait, it won't be long before he will give me a handle."

The fake Li was a little suspicious, but since Li Maozhen was willing to explain everything to him, he couldn't push it any further and could only listen.

The group calmly passed through Wugong County and returned to Fengxiang. The commander of Wugong County did not dare to stop them at all. Half a day later, they changed the flag of the Qi State.

------

It was snowing at night, and someone carrying a lantern walked slowly into Huanyinfang, and easily entered the pavilions and waterside terraces that no one was allowed to enter without the order of King Qi.

The empress, still dressed in white, painted by the lamp, neither slow nor long.

The woman holding the lantern stood behind the door and spoke carefully: "Guangmutian has been brought back by this servant. He has successfully gained her trust. You can rest assured..."

There was no reply from the person inside the door, and the woman holding the lantern continued to speak in a low voice, "As you expected, that person did go to meet Liu Zhijun in person and appointed him as the acting Taifu and Zhongshu Ling. But because there were no vacancies in the towns, that person couldn't just dismiss the position of Jiedushi of a town, so he only gave him an empty title and promised to make him the Jiedushi of the land that Liu Zhijun conquered."

"I still don't know why your inner strength is sealed, but I will continue to find out carefully. Please wait a little longer..."

After a moment, the woman outside the door said a few polite words in a loud voice, and then left in a dignified manner, without concealing her arrogance at all.

The empress was alone in the attic. She put her brush on the inkstone, pondered for a moment, and looked out the window.

The sky was filled with heavy snow, which drowned out the lights in the city.

She picked up a jug of wine, drank from it, and rested her chin on the table, her thoughts in a mess.

Subconsciously, she tilted her head to look at the painting "Yanzhou Li Jiu Sending King Qi" hanging on the wall.

Although she had seen it many times, she still thought that the figure standing in the pavilion with his hands behind his back, facing the sunlight, was gentle and warm, yet heroic.

Look at the figure next to him.

The empress smiled.

In an instant, it seemed as if the night suddenly brightened.

But no one appreciated the beauty, and she herself had no intention of appreciating it.

She is just worried now.

If he had given her advice, wouldn't the final outcome have been more perfect...

(End of this chapter)