Chapter 866: Hes indomitable (1/2)
Nephew Beiyue?
What a familiar term of address. Once upon a time, the two elders from the Nether Clan had called him the same thing. Gu Beiyue was a man who treasured old friendships, but not former ties. He looked back to see Bai Yanqing standing in the doorway, dressed in a long, gray robe. It was simple and clean and paired with his amiable smiling face. Although his clothes didn’t give him any sense of high status, Gu Beiyue’s eyes were quite sharp. He knew Bai Yanqing was no ordinary man from the first night he set eyes on him.
Gu Beiyue returned the greeting with a small smile of his own and cupped his hands politely. “Uncle Bai.”
“Come, come, sit outside. Uncle Bai’s found you a few more medicines, take a look,” Bai Yanqing called for him warmly.
“I’ve troubled Uncle Bai,” Gu Beiyue’s clear voice was tinged with a hint of mockery that quickly faded without a trace. The day he’d fallen off the cliff, Bai Yanqing’s guards had immediately whisked him away in a rescue. Less than two hours later, he met Bai Yanqing in person. The man had proclaimed he was the leader of the Wind Clan and the Hundred Poisons Sect’s former leader. For many years, he had been searching for the heir to the Shadow Clan. If not for seeing him use the shadow arts by chance in the Poison Sect’s forbidden grounds, then he might have never found him.
Bai Yanqing was certain that Gu Beiyue’s assassin was Long Feiye and even told him that the Wind Clan had long known of Long Feiye’s identity--as well as Han Yunxi’s status. He had kept it under wraps all this time to wait for the Wintercrow Clan’s 100,000 horses to be delivered to Northern Li. Then they could catch Long Feiye unawares in battle.
However, he never expected Long Feiye to publicize his own identity out of the blue. Thus, he and a few of the Wind Clan elders discussed things and agreed to publicize Han Yunxi’s status in turn, then ally with the Di Clan to deal with Long Feiye.
Was Gu Beiyue so easy to fool?
Even if he didn’t have secret dealings with Long Feiye, he wouldn’t believe Bai Yanqing’s words. Back then, the Nether Clan’s Chu Family had proclaimed they were reviving the West Qin as an attempt to rally their own source of strength, team up with the Di Clan to take Tianning, and deal with Long Feiye and Long Tianmo. All of Cloud Realm Continent knew this, so if the Wind Clan was really intent on reviving the West Qin Dynasty, why did they wait until now to make a move? Why not help the Nether Clan back then?
After all, besides him and Long Feiye’s group, few people knew the truth of the Nether Clan’s ambitions to rule a puppet regime with the monarch under their thrall. Leaving aside the Wind Clan, Gu Beiyue already had judgments in play for the Li and Black Clans, neither of which had yet to show their faces. Han Yunxi’s identity had long been exposed, so members of both clans should have found the Di Clan long ago to seek her out. Yet neither of them had made a move. Either they were standing aloof from it all, or waiting for an opportune moment to strike with bad intentions!
Gu Beiyue wasn’t an ignorant three-year-old or an impulsive thirteen-year-old. He was born in Medical City and grew up in the imperial palace, so he’d seen too many examples of sinister hearts and motives. There were plenty of people trying to cheat each other with schemes and intrigues. He seemed gentle and refined, a figure aloof from the world, but his clear, clean eyes had collected hundreds of the world’s attitudes and experiences. He was mature, sedate, calm, farsighted, and wise; despite being gentle in hundreds of ways, he could also be ruthless in thousands more!
Even Long Feiye wasn’t as calm and rational as he could be. While Long Feiye would lose all reason when it came to Han Yunxi, he would only grow more rational. It was impossible for Bai Yanqing to trick a person like him, much less control his actions.
Bai Yanqing had no idea that Gu Beiyue and Long Feiye had revealed their identities to each other long ago and were secretly allies. Since the man wanted to trick him, he didn’t mind replaying a plot with a plot. In any case, he couldn’t escape.
The two of them settled down at the tea table, where Bai Yanqing took out four different ingredients for Gu Beiyue to review. In a serious air, he said, “This is Sky Mulberry, Earthleaf, ginseng, and ghost branch. Boil them together and drink it three times a day. It’s good for recovering your internal energy.” Besides the ginseng, the other three ingredients were all extremely rare.
“This junior is favored with Uncle Bai’s care, yet I have nothing to repay you…” Gu Beiyue said sincerely as he prepared to bow again.
“Aye!” Bai Yanqing quickly stopped him. “Nephew Beiyue, if you keep being so formal, it won’t be interesting anymore! Your parents passed away while you were still young. If you don’t mind, you can take Uncle Bai as family as well.” As he spoke, he took Gu Beiyue’s hand and said seriously, “Nephew Beiyue, in the future the princess’s safety will all rely on you! Long Feiye’s sword skills are remarkable--you saw it yourself that night.”
Gu Beiyue nodded before silently withdrawing his hands. “Aye, I never expected Long Feiye to be the East Qin crown prince! Is the princess still at the West Qin barracks? Has she...been well recently?”
Gu Beiyue had no idea what was going on around Cloud Realm Continent right now, much less that East and West Qin had already stopped fighting, or that Han Yunxi and Long Feiye had teamed up. Bai Yanqing told him that the Wind and Di Clans had already united to loyally serve the West Qin princess against a common enemy. Now as long as Ning Cheng held back the advance of the East Qin army until Jun Yixie brought in his battle horses, they could use Northern Li’s calvary. Only three months were needed for Jun Yixie’s horses to all reach the south and join Ning Cheng’s forces. By then, they’d leave Long Feiye forces scattered like flowers in flowing water. Bai Yanqing had told him multiple times that he just needed to stay here and mend his injuries. Once he was recovered, he wouldn’t need to worry about the warfront anymore.
After eliminating Long Feiye, neither Western Zhou nor Tianan would last long. Within a year, West Qin would recover once more.
“Everything’s fine...it’s just…” Bai Yanqing started, then stopped.
“What is it?” Gu Beiyue asked hastily.