Chapter 227: Follow Up Actions
Translated by Gumihou
Please read this at kitchennovel dot com
Su Dong Lou shook his head like a rattle, “Sorry, sorry, I really can’t help you.”
“Well, if you can’t help me, I’m going to go to sleep. Looks like that’s the only thing I can do for now.” Duan Tingxuan gave a cold sniff and strode back into the bamboo hut.
Behind him, Su Dong Lou laughed, “Well, you can also use the remaining time before daylight to think up a better idea, ah.”
The little marquis clenched his fist, but after a long consideration, decided that it was not worth his time to beat up this useless fellow.
The next day, Duan Tingxuan found himself facing the entire Lu Group, Foodie Lu, the two maids and the Lao Shan Brothers, within the bamboo hut. Lu Feng Yu laughed coldly, “Well? Are you going to permanently silence the people hidden in the mountain? Heheh, don’t say I didn’t warn you. Within that household, the only person who do not know martial arts is that matron. Everyone else, including her husband, those sons of hers as well as the various maids, guards, gardeners and servants-in-waiting are all high-level martial artists. What’s more, I have no authority over them. If you recklessly storm in, even I cannot guarantee who would end up dying.”
If they kill that woman, King Xiangyang would no longer have a witness. This was a very swift and efficient of settling this headache. However, the consequences were a little unpredictable. While it was possible that King Xiangyang would give up his wild ambitions for the throne and live the rest of his life as an idle prince at Jiang Nan, there is still the possibility that he might go crazy and decide to instigate a badly planned rebellion.
If that happens, Duan Tingxuan was sure that he could suppress whatever little rebellion the King had mustered up with just a good troop of brave Jiang Nan soldiers loyal to the imperial family. However, what kind of explanation should he give to the emperor later? Was he to say that King Xiangyang had suddenly gone crazy and decided to rebel? A rebellion with no prior preparations at all? Even if he dared to say this in front of the emperor, would the man himself believe him?
Moreover, what if King Xiangyang decided to just break his silence and drag Imperial Concubine Jing and the fourth prince through the mud with him? Even if it was dismissed as mere slander, with Imperial Concubine Jing knowing the truth and the letters written by her still in King Xiangyang’s hand, would the emperor really dismiss it all as a base rumour?
What? Are you saying that King Xiangyang would not be that stupid?
Heheh, this has nothing to do with intelligence. For a man who had laid foundations to seize the throne for 20 years, if he knew that all his painstaking plans would ultimately fail… who knows what kind of impact this blow would have on his overly ambitious mind?
After all, not everyone was as pragmatic and fatalistic as Lu Feng Yu, who could be counted on to weigh the pros and cons of every decision and chose the route that would benefit him most. Living by the principle of ‘As long as there are good things to eat’, this fellow would probably be contented if they kept him well fed and turn a blind eye to his little hobby of ‘scheming against those he didn’t like’.
After some discussion with Su Dong Lou, Duan Tingxuan decided to bide his time at Jiang Nan for the moment. With Lu Feng Yu and Su Dong Lou to control the information flow and watch King Xiangyang’s every movement, there’s no need to worry that the King would suddenly go berserk and turning into a pain in everyone’s backside. As to the question of whether Lu Feng Yu would cooperate with them wholeheartedly?
Heheheh.                          Â
Do you really need to ask? Of course he wouldn’t, ah. Especially since Su Dong Lou had already made his intentions painfully clear. What man, even a feeble scholar like Lu Feng Yu with his towering scholar’s arrogance, would consent to be bedded by another man? However, what does that have to do with this mission? With Su Dong Lou’s level of martial skill, he could suppress this snake through physical means. There’s also Su Nuan Nuan’s recipes to ensure that Lu Feng Yu would remain obedient for the sake of eating more of her food. Either of these two methods was enough to keep this treacherous, venomous snake in check.
Everything else aside, from Lu Feng Yu tone alone, Duan Tingxuan could tell that this fellow was incredibly aware of his own situation. Naturally, this fellow might still have some hidden agenda up his sleeves, but in the end they decided to just leave that hidden family alone. Let King Xiangyang think that his secret is still safe and that he would eventually become the emperor as long as he remained patient. That’s right, let King Xiangyang enjoy his life as an idle prince for just a little while longer.
Even if the crown prince decides to get rid of this eyesore, he would have to wait until he is enthroned. Seen this way, no matter how one calculated it, this mission would have to go on for a few more years at least. In these few years, Lu Feng Yu would play a vital role in controlling King Xiangyang’s movements. They would have to maintain the current status quo for at least a few years. In other words, Lu Feng Yu could enjoy several more years of good food and relative peace. Moreover, in that few years, do you think he’d just sit around and let time pass idly by? Of course not, he would keep an eye out for an opportunity to make a comeback or stab those who wronged him in the back.
Of all the people within the bamboo hut, Lu Feng Yu would be the one most invested in maintaining the current status quo for as long as possible. His sharp eyes had already discerned Duan Tingxuan’s desire to protect the fourth prince and would most likely elect to… omit some information from the emperor.
As for that crown prince, he’s a man who valued bonds of friendship and kinship most and would most likely come to the same conclusion as Duan Tingxuan. It was after going through all the above thoughts and calculations that Lu Feng Yu finally opened his mouth and risked making that provocative little shot at Duan Tingxuan to make him think thrice. He was really afraid that Duan Tingxuan would move recklessly and upset the status quo by assassinating Matron Qiong. If that were to happen, there would be no going back. Without a trump card to blackmail Imperial Concubine Jing, His Lordship would definitely go berserk.
More importantly, Lu Feng Yu would no longer have a role in this little play and would end up as a miserable plaything for that brutish Su Dong Lou anyway. At least, this way he would still have some leeway to ensure that he would not be treated too badly by the winning side.
Duan Tingxuan gave him a look, but his next words eased Lu Feng Yu’s heart.
“I’m only going to scope out the situation.”
At this, Lu Feng Yu knew that this man still hasn’t lost his head and happily handed over the coordinates. With that, Duan Tingxuan left, leaving Su Dong Lou to keep watch over a listless Lu Feng Yu.
On his side, Su Dong Lou felt that the more he looked at Lu Feng Yu, the sweeter and more adorable this fallen celestial appeared. A sad and dispirited air suited this little snake very well. In fact, the more he looked, the more in love he became. His mind was filled with thoughts of rolling this fellow in bed, but it was just too bad that Su Nuan Nuan was still around. Though he was sure that sister-in-law would not mind it if he took advantage of Lu Feng Yu, he was still reluctant to do such a thing in front of this tough as nails woman.
Under the hardship of only being able to look, but not eat, it seemed quite a long time before Duan Tingxuan finally came back at noon. Su Dong Lou quickly went forward to question him about the validity of the information. When Duan Tingxuan nodded, he realised that the information given by Lu Feng Yu was true. As to how Duan Tingxuan was able to verify the information, Su Dong Lou did not bother asking. They all have their own little skills after all, and this fellow was not an ordinary cultured imperial official. Otherwise, the emperor would not have sent him over to Jiang Nan to personally conduct this investigation.
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“This is where we will part. Once we leave this forest, our group will be leaving Jiang Nan, we won’t be stopping by Suzhou either. Nuan Nuan and I will be heading towards Niu Tou Mountain. No matter what, we must do our best to bring the Duke of Ping back to the Capital. After being wronged these past two years, the Duke had suffered enough. Even if we cannot return him to his former status, we should at least let him live a free and easy life. Nuan Nuan and I will go there and give him the good news personally.”
As they ate lunch, Duan Tingxuan, Su Nuan Nuan, Su Dong Lou and Lu Feng Yu all sat at the same table, discussing their own future plans.
Su Dong Lou nodded slowly at Duan Tingxuan’s words and said, “That’s good. Once you two leave, Teacher Lu and I shall break the news of your real identity and say that we were nearly taken in by your cunning. Fortunately, I had made some preparations and managed to save Teacher Lu and myself, but it’s just too bad that Feng Gu died in the process.”
At this, he smiled at Lu Feng Yu, “Though my ability to lie is unsophisticated, I have absolute trust in Teacher Lu’s skill to make it plausible. No, more than that. I trust that Teacher Lu would be able to make it so that it is ‘As Seamless as Heavenly Clothes [1]’ and not raise His Lordship’s suspicion.”
Lu Feng Yu sniffed, but declined to comment. Which was equivalent to an agreement. To make up such a lie to cover their tracks, could it actually even be considered a challenge for this Super Ultimate Foodie? Even a higher level lie would be no problem. Even if there are loopholes, so what? He’d just have to think of a way to plug them up seamlessly.
“We will allow King Xiangyang another two years of his leisurely life here. Though the emperor might still be in his active years, he’s a man pushing his fifties and has been busy with government affairs for many years. His heart and body must be tired from all that work. King Xiangyang is his only brother. It would do him no good to get angry over this worthless person, so I shall omit this information from my report. Feelings aside, having the emperor commit fratricide would damage his reputation with the people, so the best thing for everyone is for us all to keep this a secret. In the future, this matter will be dealt with by the crown prince.”
Lu Feng Yu quietly breathed a sigh of relief at Duan Tingxuan’s decisive declaration. Inside his head, he was just beginning to flick at his internal abacus calculating the possibilities of his future life, when Duan Tingxuan changed the topic of discussion. “One more thing. On the matter regarding Duke of Ping, I want Teacher Lu to give some assistance in this matter. Can you think of a way to get King Xiangyang to redress the duke’s reputation, and give an explanation for my presence here in Jiang Nan?”
Lu Feng Yu bowed his head in deep contemplation for a moment before lifting his head to say, “I can give you the business transactions of the army provisions, as for addressing the miscarriage of justice for Duke of Ping…”
…
…
[Gumihou: This Lu Feng Yu’s brain…]
[1] As Seamless as Heavenly Clothes – Perfect, flawless
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Translated by Gumihou from kitchennovel dot com.
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