Chapter 250: The Preparation
Translator: StackThatCoin Editor: Hitesh
‘Two dynasties join hands, kill Qin!’
Of course, when it came to killing Qin, the person they wanted to kill was none other than the Emperor of Great Qin, Ying Zheng!
Putting together the national strength of both Great Chu and Great Qin, killing Ying Zheng at all cost… Paying no attention to anybody around Ying Zheng, and spending whatever it took, using all available methods and approaches, focusing all the elite powers of Great Yan and Great Chu to kill Qin, to put Ying Zheng into an absolute death! Thus, the place found by Wu Qi and his company was the burial ground specially made for Ying Zheng!
Wu Qi was overwhelmed by the news Qin Qingshui told him. When he finally returned to Meng Fortress, he was still in confusion.
But, after all, Wu Qi was a man with a strong heart. Since he merged with Wu Wang and Le Xiaobai's souls, his experience and knowledge was not something ordinary people could compare with. He had very quickly calmed his mind down and thrown himself into the preparation work actively. They were going to murder the first emperor of Qin Dynasty, and Wu Qi felt a malicious joy filling his heart, as he could be part of this seemingly impossible mission.
If Le Xiaobai were here, perhaps he would have long sung a little tune to express his joyful mood.
On the night Wu Qi returned to Meng Fortress, he was in the middle of helping Lu Chengfeng counting and recording the enormous amount of energy stones and all kinds of strange instruments brought here from the national treasury of Great Yan. But suddenly, he felt a glance filled with immense killing intent brush quickly through his body.
Wu Qi was startled, hastily turned his head and looked into the direction.
He saw a fat old man, escorted by a group of palace guards, walking slowly through a round-arched door into the backyard of the Mayor Mansion. Wu Qi's face flickered. He knew this old man, as he was none other than Lu Buwei, who previously used the fake name of Wei Sanjue. When Lu Buwei paid a visit to Lu Chengfeng many months ago, he looked exactly the same as now.
Lu Chengfeng noticed Wu Qi's strange expression, so he hastily turned to look in the same direction. He was shocked and surprised to see Lu Buwei. He remained in a daze for a brief moment, then hurriedly put down the book of accounts in his hand, asking a few of his assistants to take over his job, then strode towards the old man. He gave Lu Buwei a deep bow and said, "Chengfeng offers greetings, benefactor. It is a surprise to see benefactor here. Can Chengfeng know the purpose of benefactor's visit?"
Lu Buwei forced out a smile and said coolly, "Duke of Yan Le, I don't deserve the calling of a benefactor. Heh, hehe, throughout my entire life, I've never suffered a loss in silence before. If I am defeated by someone else, someone who I am familiar with, I can still accept it contentedly. But too bad that I was ripped off by a nobody, a junior. Duke of Yan Le, from now on, please don't ever address me as your benefactor, as I am not worthy of such honor."
Lu Chengfeng was stunned. While he was about to say something, Wu Qi had already come up to him, grabbed his shoulder and pushed him seven to eight steps back. After that, Wu Qi turned to look at Lu Buwei, face blooming with a bright smile as he said, "Oh, so it is old mister Wei Sanjue? Tsk, I thought Great Yan Dynasty had already declared that Wei Merchant is a traitor? So, why are you still here? Could it be... you are being captured alive?"
Lu Buwei's eyebrows immediately raised with rage. He glared furiously at Wu Qi, flung his sleeve, and said in a cold voice, "You ignorant youth! I'm too lazy to be bothered by you!" He issued a cold laugh, spun, and left. There was a fierce gleam filled with boiling killing intent flashing in the depth of his eyes.
Wu Qi smiled coldly and put up a straight face as well. Since he had already offended Lu Buwei, he did not mind to raise the level of enmity to a higher level, making Lu Buwei feel even worse. "Lu Buwei, I'm the one who killed Wei Longfeng." said Wu Qi in a cold voice, "Also, I'm the one who personally killed Wei Xiaoxiao, and even took away all her magical treasures and belongings. Oh, it is also because of me that the Wei Merchant was eradicated."
A gold coin, blinking and glinting with a foggy light, appeared in Wu Qi's hand. He tossed it up and down for a few moments, then put it back into his body.
Lu Buwei's face turned ghastly pale, then quickly replaced by a purple hue. However, in just a brief moment, he managed to restore his original look. He cupped his fist and bowed at Wu Qi smilingly, then said, "The great kindness that Duke of Tianyun has given to me, I'll definitely return the favor in the future. As for today, I am here by the imperial decree of His Majesty, the Emperor of Great Yan Dynasty. From today onwards, I'll be one of the ministers of Great Yan. In the near future, there are plenty of chances we can meet in the imperial court, Duke of Tianyun! Therefore, we do need to spend some time in maintaining our relationship!"
Wu Qi was stunned. Lu Buwei had become one of Great Yan's ministers? What kind of a joke was this? Wei Merchant could be found in every state and dynasty, and while Lu Buwei was secretly controlling it from behind, he must have been living a leisurely and luxurious life. So, why was he suddenly becoming Great Yan's minister? Also, if that were true, didn't that mean Great Yan Dynasty had hammered a nail deeply into each and every single state and dynasty? Yan Dan had indeed gained a great advantage by this!
But, the question was, why was there such a peculiar transformation all of a sudden?
When Lu Buwei saw Wu Qi's stunned and confused expression, he could not help but break out into a loud laughter. He tilted his head up complacently and walked swaggeringly into the backyard.
A fragrance scent filled the air, as Princess Zhang Le brought a group of guards and came over unannounced. She stared at Lu Buwei's back and murmured under her breath, "Here's a news Zi Xuan just heard: my grandpa used three sons of this old fellow to threaten him, forcing him to swear an oath to join Great Yan and become one of the ministers. Grandpa said this old fellow is very intelligent and wise, a very powerful man. By having him join the Great Yan, he will bring many benefits."
She hugged Wu Qi's arms tenderly, shook her head, and said quizzically, "But, is this old fellow really so powerful? I thought his Wei Merchant was eradicated because of you, Wu Qi?! You've also killed that Wei Xiaoxiao and Wei Longfeng, haven’t you? So, since all his offspring are merely some useless fellows, it proves that this old fellow is not that powerful as well!"
Wu Qi looked surprisingly at Princess Zhang Le, then gave his temples a few rubs. He felt a headache coming on.
Lu Buwei surrendered to the Great Yan because of his three sons? Wu Qi suddenly recalled that a few months ago, he heard a few core members of Wei Merchant were caught alive in Ji City. Perhaps, the three sons of Lu Buwei were among them? But, they were just three sons. A fierce and ambitious person such as Lu Buwei, how could he be willing to resign himself and became Great Yan's minister?
A man suddenly appeared right next to Wu Qi. It was the heretic and evil Lao Ai, emerging out of nowhere together with immense evil aura. Clasping hands behind his back, he looked at Lu Buwei's back and said coolly, "Do you know why he is willing to surrender to the Great Yan just because of three sons? It is because he can no longer give birth to any offspring! As he is cultivating the Five Ghosts Grand Magic, and his body has transformed into half-human and half-ghost, he can never have any offspring again! He only has five sons. Half a month ago, two of them were killed by someone in the capital city of Great Qin, Xian Yang, while the remaining three have been captured alive by Great Yan!"
Wu Qi turned to look at Lao Ai. He did not understand why Lao Ai would explain this to him, as it seemed to him that there was only resentment between him and Lao Ai, and they were not friends at all. From his face, Lao Ai saw Wu Qi's question, so he said in a cold voice, "There are some old scores between me and that old fool. Currently, he is given with the title of Prince of Wenxin, and also the position of Left Prime Minister of Great Yan. That is a position with real power in hand!"
Wu Qi understood now. For Lao Ai who had some old scores with Lu Buwei, the arrival of Lu Buwei and his joining into the imperial court of Great Yan Dynasty, becoming one of Great Yan's ministers, was a great threat. Or perhaps, Lao Ai was actually jealous of the treatment Lu Buwei received. After all, he himself was the Prince of Changxin, but besides a title of the Prince, he did not have any real power in hand. It was absolutely impossible for both men to become friends in the future.
Compared to the old scores between Lao Ai and Lu Buwei, the small conflicts between Wu Qi and Lao Ai were nothing really serious. Or putting it in another way, Lao Ai never took Wu Qi as his opponent, and all his attention was focused on Lu Buwei now. Therefore, when Lu Buwei made his appearance, Lao Ai immediately showed himself before Wu Qi, trying to draw Wu Qi to his side and get a strong aid for himself.
Looking at the arched door that led into the backyard, Wu Qi said coldly, "When did this old fellow agree to join Great Yan?"
In the same cold voice, Lao Ai said, "Yan Dan has done a good job in keeping the secret. After he captured the three sons of Lu Buwei, he had engaged him in a secret negotiation. It was only until half a month ago that the other two sons of Lu Buwei were killed in Xian Yang, and that is when he agreed to join Great Yan. Yan Dan had promised him numerous benefits, and this crafty old fox accepted only the offer of the title of Prince of Wenxin and the position of Left Prime Minister."
He sneered, then said coolly, "In order to rope in this old cunning fox, Yan Dan has taken Lu Buwei as his teacher."
Wu Qi breathed out a long sigh and said, "If that is the case, Wu Qi can no longer return to Ji City. This old fellow must have his eyes on me all the time!"
Lao Ai sighed as well. "We are both in trouble after this old fox becomes a part of Great Yan." He said, "This old fool, he really deserves the punishment of not being able to have any offspring again!"
Unknowingly, Wu Qi and Lao Ai stood shoulder-to-shoulder, and both had their hearts filled with common hatred. But soon, a strange expression emerged on their faces as they quickly took a few steps apart from each other, then gave each other a ferocious glare. Lao Ai snored coldly, spun and left, while Wu Qi sneered, putting his arms around Princess Zhang Le's waist and leaving the place quickly.
For the next few days, as the deputy chief supervisor of West Field Headquarter, Wu Qi was so busy that his feet hardly touched the ground. Even with his current cultivation base, he still felt very tired and nearly passed out of exhaustion.
The top-secret strategic forces of Great Yan Dynasty kept gathering from all directions. Various strange and peculiar instruments were being transported to Meng Fortress, and were then secretly transported to the mountain ridges near the hot springs which he found a few days ago, lying in ambush. A massive amount of personnel, the transferring of military provisions, every single transaction was required to be recorded by Wu Qi and Lu Chengfeng. On top of that, all the transfers were to be an absolute secret. Not only they had to prevent any internal leaking, they also had to keep watch on any possible spy deployed by Qin army. The massive workload gave Wu Qi a wrong impression that his brain juice was about to vaporize.
Another few days later, Qu Ping brought many Great Chu's ministers and stealthily arrived at Meng Fortress.
This news was also completely sealed off. After Qu Ping and his men entered Meng Fortress, they never showed themselves in the eyes of public again. Even Wu Qi only knew that they had arrived. As for how many people were here with Qu Ping, and who those people were, apart from Yan Dan, Jing Ke, and a few core members, none would know the details about it.
More armies and military provisions arrived at Meng Fortress. Under the arrangement of Wu Qi, Lu Chengfeng, and their assistants, these armies were sent to the hot springs and laid ambushes in the nearby areas. A massive amount of energy stones and formation maps were being transported to the hot springs. A great number of formations were being drawn and carved, and all sorts of preparation works kept squeezing the last drop of Wu Qi's energy.
When Wu Qi felt he was on the verge of collapsing, all the preparation works were finally completed. The mission of killing Qin had entered its last and final stage - the execution.
Wu Qi could not help but have a huge curiosity towards this mission.
Although he did participate in the entire process of preparation, he only had a superficial knowledge about the mission. He totally had no clue how Yan Dan and his comrades were going to scheme against Ying Zheng. He was curious, could Ying Zheng really fell into the trap so easily?