Chapter 413: Si Jin’s Return 8
“This is no longer a question of whether you think it’s possible! It has already happened, and Pang Juan is really dead!” ‘And if Gongsun She really joined in on the battle but his corpse did not show up, then he is likely to have been severely injured. He probably escaped!’ Mo Yang thought to himself.
Gu Cheng did not say anything again. He just kept shaking his head, seemingly not wanting to accept reality.
The Qi Residence.
The group had returned home about an hour ago.
Si Jin sat next to Qi Qingyao and slowly drank a cup of tea.
Jiang Yeqian, Li Ruoxuan, and Lu Yan, as well as Zhu Shen, Zhao Xin, Dong Jing, Steward Zhang, and the others who were at the door, had been staring fixedly at him for half an hour now.
Although Si Jin had briefly explained the situation on the way back…
Li Ruoxuan had endured the chaotic emotions in his mind for a long time. He finally could not help but ask, “Shouldn’t you explain yourself?”
Si Jin tilted his head in confusion and asked with a naive and innocent look, “Explain what?”
“How did you win?” Li Ruoxuan’s expression made it look like he was having a meltdown.
Si Jin said with a really adorkable smile, “I just fought normally and won.”
A dark current streamed across the bottom of Li Ruoxuan’s eyes. He said with a deep and quiet gaze, “But you’re all grand masters. Why did the two grand masters fail to beat you even after teaming up? That doesn’t seem right.”
“Then blame them for not having good enough skills.” Si Jin finished speaking with a silly smile. Then, he touched his chin again and said with a relaxed expression, “Or maybe I’m too excellent.”
That cute and narcissistic look made Qi Qingyao burst out laughing.
However, it made Li Ruoxuan, “…”
Jiang Yeqian, “…”
Lu Yan held his cat and remained silent.
After another long silence.
Li Ruoxuan wanted to ask something again.
“Winning is a good thing!!!” Qi Qingyao cut him off before he could say what he was about to say.
Li Ruoxuan frowned. His expression was complicated, but he did not say more.
Qi Qingyao was puzzled. “Why care so much about the method?”
Li Ruoxuan gave her a complex look.
Qi Qingyao pouted and ordered the guests to leave. “You two handicaps, why are you still in my house? Do you plan to get free lunch? I’m telling you, no way! Get out, now~!”
Jiang Yeqian, “…”
Li Ruoxuan knew that even if he kept asking, he probably would not get any useful information from Si Jin. Thus, he exchanged glances with Jiang Yeqian, the two of them having similar expressions on their faces. Then, they got up and left the Qi Residence together with long faces and without bidding goodbye.
As they headed back, Li Ruoxuan followed Jiang Yeqian into his carriage.
Jiang Yeqian did not refuse his company.
The atmosphere in the carriage was even more weird and silent than one might have expected
When the carriage arrived at the gate of Jiang Yeqian’s courtyard, Li Ruoxuan got out of the carriage only to realize that it was not his own residence.
He frowned. He wanted to go inside.
Jiang Yeqian would have usually already stopped him.
This time, however, he did not refuse.
Li Ruoxuan followed Jiang Yeqian straight to the garden of this courtyard.
Zhao Xin ordered the servants to serve them tea and refreshments.
Then, he left.
Before leaving, Zhao Xin even deliberately closed the door.
Only Jiang Yeqian and Li Ruoxuan were left in the huge garden.
They sat still like statues.
After they both played the roles of ice sculpture for an hour. Jiang Yeqian pursed his lips and massaged the space between his brows. After returning to his senses, he realized that Li Ruoxuan was actually beside him, so he asked, “What do you think about this?”
After Li Ruoxuan lifted his eyelids, he licked his very dry lips. He held up his teacup and drank his long-cold tea. The tea swished around his mouth, but he could not taste anything at all. After downing it in one gulp, he said with deep, sunken eyes, “If he really won against two Grand Masters, then he is the strongest of all of the grand masters. He’ll surely have the entire Eastern Hua Continent’s eyes on him. I’m afraid other grand masters won’t be able to sit still anymore.”
Jiang Yeqian’s expression was agitated. “He said that Gongsun She was severely injured and had escaped.”
“Why are you saying this?” Li Ruoxuan was taken aback and asked in confusion.
Jiang Yeqian picked up his own teacup and looked at the pattern on it. He said with a slightly cryptic expression, “What I’m thinking is, he said he’d kill Pang Juan, and he then really killed Pang Juan. He said he’d severely injure Gongsun She, and he really did allow him to escape with severe injuries.”
Li Ruoxuan asked, “Is there a problem with that?”
Jiang Yeqian’s eyelids covered half of his bulging eyes. “The problem here is that Pang Juan was killed and Gongsun She was severely injured within half an hour!! Don’t you think that that span of time is… crazy? Seeing how he did it with such ease, if he had been given ten more minutes, would Gongsun She have been beaten to death as well?”
Li Ruoxuan raised his eyebrows, a gleam of faint light flashing across his eyes. He said, “So you’re saying that he did what he said he would and deliberately let Gongsun She go.”
“…I didn’t say that.” Jiang Yeqian looked away.
Li Ruoxuan, “…”
Jiang Yeqian had just said he did not say that, but it was because he did not want to speculate on certain possibilities.
However, the truth was…
His sentences before this had already pushed things in a certain direction.
Li Ruoxuan held his forehead, and muttered to himself in a very helpless tone, “If one person has the strength to take down two grand masters in such a short period of time…”
The bottom of Jiang Yeqian’s eyes were a dense black. He responded to Li Ruoxian’s words profoundly. “This proves that his strength is above all the other grand masters. It’s possible that even when combined, all the grand masters on the Mainland would still be no match for him.”
“…” Li Ruoxuan’s brows furrowed in an instant. His fingers could not help but begin tapping on the side table. A knocking sound followed.
It was very rhythmic.
It inexplicably irritated Jiang Yeqian.
Li Ruoxuan said, “He’s stronger than other grand masters? Has he broken through the realm of the grand master long before this and reached a higher realm?”
Jiang Yeqian casually suggested, “Is it because Qi Qingyao was by his side?”
“…” ‘Is that perhaps why?’
Jiang Yeqian continued, “Didn’t Gongsun She say before that he thinks Qi Qingyao is that fated person? Si Jin might have broken through the realm with her by his side.”
“There’s no use in guessing. At the moment, all we know is that Si Jin’s strength is really terrifying.” Was it really related to Qi Qingyao? That could not be possible, right? That woman was nothing but an ordinary single mother. Li Ruoxuan did not want to believe such nonsense.
After a pause, he thought of another thing. “It’ll be best if he can be used by Northern Liang. If he can’t be used by us, this terrifying strength will become our strongest threat.”
“State Preceptor…” Jiang Yeqian said suddenly.
Li Ruoxuan, “?”
A relaxed smile suddenly blossomed on Jiang Yeqian’s face. Li Ruoxuan was puzzled by his smile. Jiang Yeqian poured himself another cup of tea. After he finished drinking it, he said with a smile in his eyes, “After I finish my work, I’ll return to the Capital City and hand in my letter of resignation to the emperor!”
“What?” Li Ruoxuan thought that he had heard him wrong.
Jiang Yeqian said, “Are you deaf? Don’t you understand? I said I want to resign!! I quit!”
“You want to give up being the Head Grand Secretariat? Did I hear that right?” Was he saying that because Si Jin was too strong? Could this guy have been driven mad by the shock of Pang Juan’s death today? Maybe that was why he was saying such crazy things!
Jiang Yeqian shook his head in slight helplessness. “I think you’re really deaf.”
Once Li Ruoxuan was sure he was not joking, he could not help but ask, “Are you seriously going to resign? You’ve gone mad.”
Jiang Yeqian had gradually calmed down from his shock about Si Jin’s strength just now. He had begun analyzing him, so he said, “You’ve said that Si Jin’s strength is terrifying as Hell. And Pang Juan is now dead! Eastern Ling will surely withdraw their troops, and Daming won’t do anything for the time being as well. The situation in Northern Liang will be very stable. No one will dare to act rashly in Qingzhou City now that Si Jin’s existence has been made clear!”
“You and I have been fighting for several years. You’ve always disliked me, and you want to monopolize the imperial government.
“Once I resign, you’ll be in the imperial court all by yourself, and your words will have sole authority. The emperor will also follow your advice. Isn’t that good?”
All those words came out.
Li Ruoxuan, “…”
It was a good thing, but he had never thought that Jiang Yeqian would resign.
He asked, dazed, “You want to resign just because I fight with you sometimes?”
Jiang Yeqian rolled his eyes and said, “Me wanting to resign has nothing to do with you.”
Li Ruoxuan’s eyebrows sank.
He glanced at Jiang Yeqian and felt inexplicably annoyed.
He had never thought about Jiang Yeqian wanting to resign before. He had always been planning to kill this man one day, but now, he…
Li Ruoxuan suddenly asked, “Do you know why I wanted to kill you before this?”
Jiang Yeqian said with complete disinterest. “I don’t know, and I don’t care. So you don’t have to tell me.”
“…” He was really such a wild card.
Since he did not want to know, Li Ruoxuan did not want to tell him anymore.
He thought for a moment, then asked, “At such a young age, what do you plan on doing after you resign?”
“The world is so big. I’ll just travel around and practice my skills. I’ll find out how a rank nine can advance to the level of Grand Master.” At present, this reason was the most logical. He could not possibly say that he was the Head of the Zhaixing Administration under the Ghost Organization and that he wanted to step down because all the spies had been deployed… He could not speak about such things. Jiang Yeqian thought about this all to himself.
Li Ruoxuan, “…”
Seeing that he was silent, Jiang Yeqian thought he was still suspicious of him. After all, Li Ruoxuan was a person who thought a lot. He said, “Don’t you think that after becoming a government official, there’s no time to think about practicing at all? There are too many distractions.”
“…” It was true! However…
Jiang Yeqian continued, “Also, I’m not short of money, nor do I have any love for holding power.”
Li Ruoxuan looked at him silently for a while before saying, “Maybe you and I can be friends.”
“Forget it.” Jiang Yeqian put on a distant expression and said seriously, “I’m not interested in being friends with the State Preceptor.”
Li Ruoxuan smiled slightly. “I’ve suddenly began to admire you, Head Grand Secretariat! No, I should call you Jiang Yeqian.”
There was sharpness hidden in Jiang Yeqian’s eyes, and his smile was profound. “I’m totally uninterested in the shrewd State Preceptor with his sullen mind. I don’t want to be friends with people like you!”
“Hahahaha!” Li Ruoxuan smiled a very disappointed smile.
Wait a minute! He suddenly realized that if Jiang Yeqian really left the imperial court, he would have time to practice.
‘Will he quickly break through rank nine and advance to grand master… then come back and kill me?!’
When he thought about this, Li Ruoxuan looked at Jiang Yeqian seriously.
Jiang Yeqian, “???”
Was he seriously doubting Jiang Yeqian’s motive for resigning…