Chapter 194 - 39: Backed by the Prime Minister! News of the Grandmaster_3

In response to Qi Yuanliang’s accusation,

Ye Liuyun shrugged nonchalantly, his face unbothered.

"Governor sir, even if you want to pin this mess on me, you still have to see if you get the chance. I was with Prince Jin the whole time just now, wasn’t I? Besides, I still don’t have a damn clue what really went down."

"Weren’t we supposed to be catching bandits? So what the hell is happening now?"

Prince Jin Yan Ze’s expression didn’t change.

But after hearing Ye Liuyun’s explanation, Prince Jin still nodded slightly.

That’s right, Ye Liuyun was indeed with him in the attic the whole time, no chance to make a move. As for Ye Liuyun’s subordinates, Prince Jin Yan Ze simply ignored them.

What’s more—

Seeing Ye Liuyun’s utterly confused look,

Prince Jin Yan Ze instinctively thought,

Ye Liuyun genuinely had no idea what was going on and didn’t know those bandits were actually his own soldiers. How could Ye Liuyun possibly be blamed?

"You think you can act bold with Fu Zhengqing backing you? You take me for a fool, huh?"

"I—"

Only those who have wronged others know just how wronged the innocent really feel.

Seeing Qi Yuanliang looking so tongue-tied and aggrieved,

Ye Liuyun knew perfectly well the guy was truly innocent. But sorry, that’s just how it goes when you stand in my way.

Sorry about that.

I’ll strike first.

"Jiang Jing!"

Prince Jin Yan Ze couldn’t be bothered with bullshit anymore.

After this great fire, who knew how many soldiers he’d have left out of a hundred thousand?

Forget Fu Zhengqing not being here; even if Fu Zhengqing showed up in person, Prince Jin Yan Ze was ready to kill this Qi Yuanliang on the spot.

"Do it!"

"Yes, Your Highness!"

On the surface, Jiang Jing was just doing Prince Jin’s bidding.

But Jiang Jing knew in his heart that everything happening today was all part of Ye Liuyun’s scheme, and that this Qi Yuanliang was probably one of Ye Liuyun’s targets too.

"Die!"

He grabbed the long spear from his back.

With two swift swings, he charged straight at Qi Yuanliang to strike him down.

Jiang Jing didn’t hold back—a single move, and it was a killing blow.

Feeling the intent to kill, Qi Yuanliang didn’t have time to think. He immediately unleashed his inner strength to ward off Jiang Jing’s spear.

"Innate Perfection!"

With that, Qi Yuanliang’s true cultivation was totally exposed.

Jiang Jing, at late-stage Innate, wielded the Jinghong Spear Technique, which was made to kill.

If Qi Yuanliang could block that, his cultivation had to be above Jiang Jing’s.

"Just as I thought."

The moment Qi Yuanliang revealed his power, it didn’t spark any admiration in Prince Jin Yan Ze’s eyes.

Instead, his murderous intent toward Qi Yuanliang only deepened.

Sending an Innate Perfection martial artist into his turf—

To Prince Jin, Fu Zhengqing was obviously out to screw him over.

"Attack!"

Prince Jin Yan Ze didn’t give a damn about any code of honor or one-on-one duels.

He waved his hand.

Several more guards burst out from behind him, charging at Qi Yuanliang.

These guards weren’t as strong as Jiang Jing, but some of them had just entered the Innate Realm.

One on one, Qi Yuanliang had nothing to fear, but once they ganged up, even he was a bit overwhelmed.

Especially since Jiang Jing’s Jinghong Spear Technique—though he was only late-stage Innate—could hit with the force of Innate Perfection.

Ye Liuyun was just watching the show at first.

But at that moment—

Prince Jin Yan Ze suddenly seemed to remember something and glanced sidelong at Ye Liuyun.

"Don’t worry, I’ll give you proper closure over this whole affair!"

"???"

Closure? What the hell do I need closure for?

Ye Liuyun was dumbfounded.

Maybe Prince Jin was thinking: Qi Yuanliang is the Governor of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and me, as a Lord Thousand Households, just watching my superior get killed isn’t a great look.

So to keep Ye Liuyun appeased, Prince Jin threw out that promise.

"Ahem!"

Honestly, Ye Liuyun wanted to say—

You can kill him however you want. I won’t even bat an eyelid.

Of course, he couldn’t come out and say that so directly.

So after clearing his throat, Ye Liuyun replied with a straight face,

"The Governor used to look out for me. Best give him a quick death."

"Good!"

Prince Jin nodded in agreement.

In Prince Jin’s view, Ye Liuyun was still way too naïve, barely understanding the way power shook out in the Dynasty. Someone’s a little nice to him, he thinks they’re a good person.

Still, being simple-minded has its uses.

Makes it easier to recruit him.

...

As time dragged on,

Qi Yuanliang’s situation grew worse and worse. From fighting back at first, he could now only dodge blow after blow just to stay alive.

But even so—

Qi Yuanliang was already covered in wounds, big and small.

If this went on, he really would die right here.

Qi Yuanliang shouted,

"Prince Jin! Think about what you’re doing!"

"If I die here, the Prime Minister definitely won’t let you off!"

Even though being set up like this made no sense,

at a time like this, staying alive trumped everything else.

He had hoped name-dropping his backer would make Prince Jin Yan Ze hesitate.

But it was clear: things were different now.

At any other time, for some trivial issue, Prince Jin Yan Ze might’ve backed off for fear of Prime Minister Fu Zhengqing—after all, the other man was a Grandmaster, and Prince Jin didn’t want to create a blood feud.

But now, after years of secretly raising troops, a single fire left him with next to nothing.

The dream of rebellion was utterly dead.

By the time he managed to rebuild his forces, his old man the emperor would probably already be out of retreat and in charge again.

What would be the point of rebellion then?

There wasn’t the slightest chance anymore.

With all that piling on his nerves, Prince Jin wasn’t scared by Qi Yuanliang’s threat. In fact, the murderous glint in his eyes only got sharper.

"You’d better pray Fu Zhengqing shows up right now and saves your sorry ass!"

...