Returning from the abyss

Chapter 1328 Welcoming the Emperor
Pei Yingfu has been in the position of prime minister for six years. It can be said that he became prime minister shortly after Dong Zai took office. Compared with the old minister Yuan Weinong and the rising star Li Zhuoyu, he can be regarded as Dong Zai's true direct descendant.

The reason why Lu Ning was able to find him was because Lu Qingxu knew the prime minister quite well.

First of all, Lu Qingxu guessed that the two ministers would probably come to Xingyin City a day earlier to arrange for the emperor to be welcomed here, and they must not make any mistakes. Since Yuan Weinong was not coming, he had to find the remaining two people.

The two would not enter the city in a big way, but they would not sneak in disguised as beggars. They would usually pretend to be rich people with a few servants. Lu Qingxu was not sure about Li Zhuoyu, after all, he didn't know Li Zhuoyu very well. But Pei Yingfu basically had only a few places to go.

Pei Yingfu was born in a humble family, he did not like extravagance, when he was young, he also had some understanding of the people's sentiments, and he went out in plain clothes. And now in this place in the brothel, it was also Lu Ning who relied on the fortune-telling method given by the fortune-teller Tao Xuanzu, combined with his understanding of Pei Yingfu.

Of course, in order to confirm which building they were in, Lu Ning had secretly checked almost every place here in advance. She already knew that there were some problems with the people here, but as long as they didn't provoke her, it was best to ignore them for now.

When Pei Yingfu saw Lu Ning, he didn't have any special expression on his face.

"Lu Qingxu's daughter."

The old man put the book in his hand on the table and looked at Lu Ning kindly.

"Prime Minister Pei actually knows about the common people."

"Of course I know. Lu Qingxu praised you." Pei Yingfu smiled. "He is a weak scholar, but he raised a daughter who is good at martial arts."

Although Pei Yingfu looked kind, Lu Ning still did not dare to neglect him. This old man who had been in a high position for a long time had a sense of dignity. At that moment, she bowed slightly and said, "I came to visit you at night and bothered Prime Minister Pei, but the situation was urgent and I had to resort to this last resort."

"You are quite cautious in coming to me, which is quite like Lu Qingxu's style. He seems bold, but he needs to be sure before he acts. You have been to many places around here today." Pei Yingfu pointed to a chair on the other side of the table, "Sit down, and tell me slowly."

Lu Ning sat down. She had already organized her thoughts and stated the core purpose right away.

"I have learned, either accidentally or intentionally, that there are several different forces lurking in this city in the dark, including remnants of the evil cult, demons, and perhaps some people of unknown origin, all of whom have ill intentions against the emperor. I am personally powerless to stop them, so I can only find Prime Minister Pei and tell him the truth."

"Haha, don't worry." Pei Yingfu said with a smile, "Do it one by one, we have plenty of time... Oh, right."

A man with ordinary appearance and clothes appeared at the door. He looked at Lu Ning without saying a word. Pei Yingfu waved his hand at him: "Don't worry, she is also the daughter of an old friend, otherwise I would have called you over a long time ago."

The man nodded slightly, turned around and left.

"Haha, I'm old and my status is relatively important. I'm ashamed to receive your majesty's love." Pei Yingfu said to Lu Ning, "Let's talk about it first, the remnants of the Demon Cult, where did this come from?"

"I met a man who used a strange magic weapon in the city. He claimed that he was ordered by a man called 'Young Master'. In the world today, the most famous person in the art of refining magic weapons is Qiu Weishuang, the former leader of the Demon Cult. Previously, in Zhenjian Villa, I saw someone kill the son of the villa owner and call himself a member of the Demon Cult. Now it seems that the remnants of the Demon Cult have probably infiltrated the city."

"Calling yourself a member of the Demon Cult? I also know something about the events at Zhenjian Villa." Pei Yingfu said, "However, what that person shouted that day was 'The descendant of the Demon Cult must avenge the blood debt'."

"Yes."

"There are some doubts about this matter. You must know that the Demon Cult flourished in the martial arts world at the beginning. The Demon Cult was just a name given to it by various sects and the court because of its actions. If they are really members of the Demon Cult, they should call themselves the 'Holy Cult'."

Lu Ning was stunned for a moment.

"It's normal that you don't know. People in the Demon Cult wouldn't call themselves that. Although we can't rule out the possibility that they did it on purpose, it's unlikely that they would try to cover up something."

This is something Lu Ning didn't know, but it doesn't matter.

"Whether it is true or not, the purpose of this group of people is still unclear, but they undoubtedly have a plan. Even in this brothel you chose... have you noticed that the people here are quite strange?"

Pei Yingfu asked back: "Since I know you have been investigating here before, how come you don't know about the unusual situation here?"

"You have control of this place?"

"Control? Young man, you are too impatient." Pei Yingfu stroked his beard, "Let's talk about the demons. The demon cult is nothing but the affairs of the human race. We must be cautious when the demons act."

"I heard that the demon has built a platform around Xingyin City and has completed the ritual. The demon's goal must be to use Xingyin as a trap and plot against the emperor who will arrive tomorrow."

“Master…” Pei Yingfu narrowed his eyes, “The Demon Suppression Department has not reported this to me.”

"Then Prime Minister Pei, can you please confirm whether the Demon Suppression Department is handling this matter? I once reported this matter to the Demon Suppression Department, and then there was no news."

"I haven't been to the Demon Suppression Division yet." Pei Yingfu said, "and it's strange that the Demon Suppression Division hasn't reported it. Lin Huaiyong is mature and prudent, and he will report this situation to the Political Affairs Hall. If he didn't do so, it's either because he thinks it needs to be kept secret or something unexpected has happened. Qin Chen is not here, Jun Tian--" Pei Yingfu looked at Lu Ning, "You didn't go into this matter, which is good. It seems that the Demon Suppression Division is already overwhelmed with important matters and can't take care of itself."

"But if this is the case, how will the demons respond?"

"It doesn't matter that it's not just the Demon Suppression Department in Wei that's dealing with demons." Pei Yingfu waved his hand. "I already know about the platform outside the city. The demons have always done similar things, so it's not difficult to infer what methods they used. And when your Majesty came to Xingyin, he naturally considered this issue. Besides this, is there anything else?"

Lu Ning thought for a moment and said, "There is another thing, which may be a man-made disaster within the court."

This time, Pei Yingfu put away his kind expression.

"Inside the imperial court?"

"I... found that the recent changes in Xingyin are really contrary to common sense, and I myself unknowingly thought it was just an ordinary thing." Lu Ning still planned to speak out about this matter. She didn't know who was behind Xingyin City, so she could only bet that Pei Yingfu was not the one behind the scenes. She knew very well that she couldn't see what these shrewd guys were up to, so she simply went back to what she was best at - taking the initiative to pick out the problem, and then seeing how the situation developed before breaking it.

After she described what had happened in Xingyin City in the past few days, she did not see any change in Pei Yingfu's expression.

Not long after, Pei Yingfu spoke up: "You told me three things, so I will give you three things. You can bring up anything that is reasonable and logical."

"My father asked Prime Minister Pei to arrange for me to meet the emperor?" Lu Ning asked tentatively.

"Lu Qingxu knows that I have this ability, but meeting His Majesty is not ordinary, nor is it reasonable. If you insist on seeing him, I will do this only for you."

"Can I choose the time? You can choose the location."

"Your Majesty must decide the time. Even I cannot influence your Majesty's mind. It is not easy for you to get a chance. If I had not confirmed your identity in advance, I would never let you have this opportunity." Pei Yingfu said seriously.

"The common people know."

"As a commoner, you must follow the etiquette when meeting the king. I will send someone to choose a day to teach you the etiquette of meeting the king."

"Yes." "Where do you live?"

Lu Ning reported the inn where she was staying. Pei Yingfu nodded in agreement and then waved his hand: "I will take care of the three important matters. If you have nothing else to do, you can leave."

"Excuse me, Prime Minister Pei." Lu Ning stood up, bowed, and quickly left the room, not daring to stay any longer.

She could sense that the ordinary man had an aura that was not easy to mess with.

=
Wen Rong watched Lu Ning leave from upstairs, and soon disappeared into the crowd.

"Qiu Suying, tell me honestly, did I come back to cause trouble again?"

"I didn't expect you to be so fast. It may be because these demon kings don't require you to spend too much time worrying about them." Qiu Suying was checking the Soul-Reflecting Mirror. He was now leaning on the bed, his face pale, and it was obvious that he was not in good health.

"It's inevitable." Wen Rong slapped his head, "Forget it, what do you need these seven demon kings for? I hate noise, why are the demon kings so annoying?"

"Guang Hengzi and his subordinates have quite a few methods for practicing Taoism and refining weapons. Qiu Weishuang's refining skills were taught by Guang Hengzi." Qiu Suying said, "Because of this, although some of the hidden dangers I found in the refining methods have been corrected, they are ultimately lacking evidence because they did not come from the beginning. These old guys are too difficult to invite, so I have to use some other methods to invite them over."

"There is such a fate." Wen Rong suddenly realized.

"I don't really care what the demons think, but there are always many troubles in the method of refining instruments. The Soul Reflection Mirror is a relatively complete instrument I have made. The ones given to others for use are mostly flawed and not very useful. So, these demon kings have already studied the effect of the Soul Reflection Mirror?"

"That's what they said, so I was so scared that I quickly locked it again."

"Open it." Qiu Suying said.

"Okay." Wen Rong took out the key and scratched the back of the mirror. Then a noisy sound came out from inside, followed by a large ball of colorful mist coming out of the mirror, wrapping Qiu Suying completely.

However, after a moment, everything returned to silence, the colorful mist dissipated, and Qiu Suying was still lying well in bed.

"Hey, this mirror actually has a second mechanism."

"This kid is more talented than that stubborn Qiu Weishuang."

"But it's still a little lacking in skills, otherwise the first one wouldn't be so easy to solve."

“The second one isn’t that difficult either.”

After hearing the sound, Qiu Suying rubbed his temple. He finally understood what Wen Rong meant by the noisy journey.

"Everyone, I just want to ask you about the method of refining weapons. Once my curiosity is satisfied, I will let you go back..."

"No, you might as well give us to that girl."

"You finally have a legitimate reason to escape, don't go back so soon."

"Guang Hengzi doesn't care about Qingyun Temple, so why should we care?"

"……it is good"

"What a bullshit!" Wen Rong jumped up immediately when she heard Qiu Suying say that. "These demon kings are so annoying! Now they even know where I plan to have breakfast tomorrow!"

"You said that?" Qiu Suying looked at Wen Rong strangely.

"I just took a few more glances at the stall I wanted to eat at. These guys' bodies were locked in the mirror, but their perception could spread outside!"

"It's a good opportunity for you to send them back, or to go somewhere else. Wouldn't it be better to leave Xingyin City, where something is about to break out?"

"I wanted to drag you away with me." Wen Rong said helplessly, "If you didn't know my keyhole, I could even use it to open your blocked external energy absorption ability, but now it can't be used on you."

"I won't leave easily. My mission is better to be involved in the affairs of Xingyin City." Qiu Suying said, "But you don't need to."

Wen Rong was speechless for a moment. Her mind told her that she could indeed run away overnight, but she would not be able to live with herself if she really abandoned her friends and ran away.

"You'd better find me something I can help with. Anyway, you won't cheat me."

"Girl, is this boy your lover? Why do you trust him so much?" Another sentence came out of the mirror, which made Wen Rong angry at the time. She took out the key and swiped it on the mirror again, this time even the sound was muted.

"Wouldn't you have avoided being scolded if you had done this earlier?" Qiu Suying couldn't help but feel a little curious.

"It must be opened first and then the blockade must be reset. How would I know you had a second mechanism? If I dared to open it, wouldn't I have released all these demon kings?" Wen Rong said unhappily, "These guys remind me of my deceased grandparents. They keep talking nonsense all day long..."

Looking at Wen Rong like this, Qiu Suying suddenly felt a little relieved.

He didn't have many friends. He didn't consider most of them as friends. They were stupid, arrogant, and short-sighted. His personal "friendship cleanliness" made him seldom interact with others even after reaching the fifth level. Wen Rong was one of the few people he didn't find annoying and could include in this circle.

"Take this, I'll keep the mirror for a few days." Qiu Suying handed an iron plate in the shape of a Pegasus to Wen Rong.

"what is this?"

"Then he will be executed in the autumn."

When Wen Rong heard the name, her hands trembled and she almost dropped the sign on the ground.

"Just as you learned that day... call the other person's name, and when they answer, a giant hand will tear their head off." Qiu Suying explained to Wen Rong.

=
When the morning light shone into the city of Xingyin again, the people who had been called out by gongs and drums had already formed a long line on the roadside from the city gate to the temporary palace to welcome the emperor. The city gate opened, and a convoy arrived from afar. The people standing at the city gate were the first to see the mighty team of nearly a thousand people slowly approaching.

At the forefront of the team are elite soldiers dressed in armor and holding sharp weapons. The imperial guards form a spearhead with natural deterrence. Unlike the palace guards and other positions, most of which are positions selected from the descendants of officials, the imperial guards are the most powerful soldiers drawn from the army of the Wei Dynasty.

Zhao Yuqiao was standing at the city gate, stroking his beard and estimating that a few imperial guards would be able to kill him.