Chapter 543 - Deal

Everyone around Li Huowang hesitated at his words.

While they were more than happy to help Ji Xiang deal with Li Huowang, it didn't mean that they were willing to dive into the muddy waters of politics.

“You!” Fo Yulu was furious, but she didn’t do anything in the end. The higher-ups of the Surveillance Bureau were cautious and had never gotten involved with the palace.

There wasn’t any punishment for getting involved with the palace; their career would most likely stay stagnant afterward. It was a difficult pill to swallow for everyone here.

Fo Yulu was no longer threatening him, but Li Huowang realized that they were still wary of him.

However, Li Huowang now had the initiative.

An hour later, they decided to disperse.

“Don’t you even dare think about running away! You'll be under surveillance from now on! I'm going to kill you on the day the prince becomes the emperor! Let’s go!”

Fo Yulu stomped her way out of Li Huowang's residence.

Hong Da was about to leave as well.

However, Li Huowang said, “Brother Hong, it's been a while since we saw each other, and you're leaving already? How about we have some drinks? My treat.”

Li Huowang understood that it was easy to force her to leave right now, but he still needed to find a way to deal with the problem permanently.

A big table of food was placed in the first room of the Yangquan Inn. Li Huowang filled the cups with wine.

“Come, let me toast three cups to Brother Hong.”

Upon holding one of the cups, Li Huowang stared into the content of the cup and inwardly muttered,

This is water! This is water!

After the drinks, Li Huowang ate some vegetables to wash the liquor down.

“Brother Hong, don’t just sit there; come and eat as well. If it weren't for your recommendation, I wouldn't become a part of the Surveillance Bureau, after all.”

Hong Da sighed. He was not an idiot. There was a reason Li Huowang had treated him to a meal. As someone stuck in the middle, he had the riskiest position. Of course, he preferred it if both parties stopped fighting each other.

“Fine. I will help you just this once and become your mediator. Return her sword to her, and I will try and convince them to not do anything to you. We can then consider this issue as resolved by then.”

“Return the sword?” Li Huowang touched the spine sword and shook his head. He would never return such a good weapon. He also didn’t want anyone desecrating Zhuge Yuan’s corpse. “Can you pass a message to her from me? We're all from the Surveillance Bureau, and I don’t want to burn bridges, too. Tell her that I can’t return her sword, but I can trade it for something of equal value.”

Hong Da frowned and put down his chopsticks. “Trade it for something of equal value? The sword is made from a Twisted One's corpse! Do you know how valuable that sword is even when compared to the treasures in the vault? You can borrow it, but you have to return it! If you don’t return it, then don’t blame me for not taking care of you. The Surveillance Bureau already knows about the issue, so you cannot escape this!”

Li Huowang took another cup of wine and gave it to Hong Da. “A weapon made from a Twisted One's corpse? How about I exchange it with a Strayed One?”

“A Strayed One's corpse?” Hong Da reeled backward, and his expression returned to normal. He drank his wine calmly and asked, “A Strayed One? Dead or alive?”

Hearing that, Li Huowang knew that the deal was secured.

“

Hoho,

let’s eat first, or the food will get cold.” Li Huowang relaxed and ate with relish.

They ate and drank while probing each other. Finally, Hong Da agreed to go back and pass Li Huowang's message.

This was a grudge between Li Huowang and Fo Yulu. He couldn't make any decisions as he was just stuck in the middle.

𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

However, Li Huowang knew that it was considered resolved, and it was all because of Hong Da’s reaction. If one Strayed One wasn't enough, then he could just add another one.

The business talks were over, so the two chattered leisurely.

They weren’t really on extremely good terms, as they only worked together once, but under the influence of alcohol, the two became pretty friendly with each other.

“Er Jiu, how did you get involved with the imperial family? You should have asked me before getting involved with them. You're walking on a difficult path. Otherwise, everyone would be fighting for the same opportunity as yours. He's today's emperor, but he could die the next day. Promises will mean nothing once he's dead. You should have just focused on the Surveillance Bureau.”

Li Huowang smiled and said nothing. If Shai Zi hadn't forced him, he wouldn't have come back to Shangjing.

“It’s too late for that. Having said that, what have you been up to recently?”

“

Hoh,

what else? There have been so many missions to do ever since the Dharma Sect rose up. Thankfully, the rewards are pretty good, so I’ve been running here and there for the past few months. If it wasn’t because of you, I would still be outside getting rid of the Dharma Sect.”

“Have they really grown so much? Can't the Surveillance Bureau just deal with them outright?” Li Huowang asked nervously as he glanced at Qiu Chibao.

Hong Da ate a chunk of chicken and said in a stupor, “It’s probably fine now that Si Qi’s Surveillance Bureau has decided to join us. We now have more people to work with.”

“Si Qi’s Surveillance Bureau has joined us?” Li Huowang was surprised to hear that.

“

Hehe,

you don't know that Si Qi has fallen?”

Li Huowang woke up from his stupor. He arrived at the Liang Kingdom via Si Qi. It was a tiny place, but Li Huowang didn't expect it to fall.

He recalled the Abbess and the Righteous Monastery residing in Si Qi. “How did it fall? Weren’t they at peace?”

“Who said that? They’ve been at war for a long time now. The Liang Kingdom has been stable for the past few years while the other nations have been fighting each other for so long. We just don't know the details due to the distance.”

“But why did the new imperial family get rid of the Surveillance Bureau? Aren't Surveillance Bureaus necessary?”

The Surveillance Bureau was there to deal with Natural Disasters. As long as they weren’t idiots, they ought to know that a Surveillance Bureau was necessary.

Without anyone dealing with Natural Disasters, a kingdom would fall like paper mache; their strength didn't matter at all.

Hong Da shook his head and drank another cup of wine. “I don’t know anything about that. If I knew more about the details, I wouldn't be here right now. Anyway, times are tough, and everyone is at war with each other.”

Li Huowang felt restless after knowing that Si Qi had fallen and the new imperial family did not want the Surveillance Bureau. He felt a sense of foreboding at the revelation. He glanced at Qiu Chibao and saw that she was trying to eat a piece of the chicken.

Are these changes related to the Qi Kingdom somehow? I hope that whatever happened to the Qi Kingdom won't happen to the Liang Kingdom.