Martial Arts World Assassin

Chapter 176: Rebels on all sides
Mu Jiansheng and Liu Dahong both knew that Hu Guinan had a deep connection with the Five Poisons Sect.

The two men originally had smiles on their faces and planned to give Huang Sixi a grand reception.

As a result, when Liu Dahong saw Liu Fangliang behind Huang Sixi, his face suddenly darkened and he said sternly: "How dare you, a thief, to enter the gate of my Prince Mu's Mansion? You are so brave!"

Liu Dahong is a famous figure in the Yunnan and Yunnan martial arts circles, and is also the oldest retainer of the Prince Mu's Palace. He is already over seventy years old and has experienced the Jiashen National Disaster and the destruction of the Prince Mu's Palace. In the past, he had met many generals of the Chuang Army, and Liu Fangliang was one of them.

The Prince Mu's Mansion guarded Yunnan and Yunnan for the Ming court for 300 years. At that time, Mu Tianbo, the last duke of the Mu family, followed Emperor Yongli to flee to Burma, where he was unfortunately killed by Burmese soldiers. He died bravely for the Ming court, and everyone in the world knew that the Prince Mu's Mansion was loyal to the Ming court.

The Chuang army was the culprit who overthrew the Ming court. When Liu Dahong saw Liu Fangliang coming to his house, he naturally did not look happy. If it were not for the fact that Huang Sixi was holding the Mu Wang Order, Liu Dahong would have directly driven him away.

But Liu Fangliang also had a hot temper. When he saw Liu Dahong calling the rebels thieves, he cursed back: "Marshal Li was conferred the title of Duke of Lin by your late emperor, and I also have the damn earldom awarded by your late emperor. You call me a thief, so your late emperor must be the chief rebel!"

The Marshal Li he mentioned is the current leader of the Chuang Army, Li Laiheng, and the late emperor is the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Yongli.

At that time, the Qing army conquered the Central Plains with great momentum. The Ming court could not resist and was forced to join forces with the Chuang army. In order to win over the Chuang army to fight against the Qing, Emperor Yongli conferred titles on many of them.

However, Emperor Yongli has been dead for ten years, and the Ming Dynasty has also collapsed. Not to mention dukes and earls, even princes of the Ming Dynasty are no longer worth mentioning.

Liu Dahong glared at Liu Fangliang and shouted, "The late emperor conferred titles on you, but that was a thing of the past and has nothing to do with our Mu Palace!"

Although he is over 70 years old, he is full of energy and speaks in a loud voice: "We in Prince Mu's Mansion do not welcome traitors, let alone rebels..."

Before he could finish his grumble, Mu Jiansheng beside him interrupted him, "Master, don't be impatient. They hold the token of Sect Leader He. Let's hear their intentions first!"

Liu Dahong was Mu Tianbo's trusted retainer. When Wu Sangui invaded Kunming, Liu Dahong led the generals of the Mu Palace to protect Mu Jiansheng and Mu Jianping from escaping. However, the Qing army was powerful and Liu Dahong and his men were surrounded.

When it seemed that there was no hope of breaking out, Hu Guinan suddenly rushed into the battlefield, commanding the swarm of bees to force back the Qing troops and rescue everyone in the Mu Palace. Afterwards, brother and sister Mu Jiansheng and Mu Jianping became Hu Guinan's apprentices.

But Hu Guinan, nicknamed 'Ploughing Divine Bee', stayed in Liaodong all year round to cause trouble, and had no way to bring Mu Jiansheng and Mu Jianping with him, so the two siblings' enlightenment master was actually Liu Dahong, and usually addressed him as master.

Liu Dahong did not take advantage of his seniority in front of outsiders. He was nominally Mu Jiansheng's teacher, but in reality he was a family servant. When he heard Mu Jiansheng speak, he stopped arguing with Liu Fangliang.

Liu Fangliang was not relenting: "Damn it, do you think I want to meet someone from Prince Mu's Mansion? I am following the Dragon-Subduing Hero to do something important. If the Dragon-Subduing Hero hadn't visited your home, I wouldn't have come even if you, an old man, had come to invite me!"

"Dragon-Falling Hero?"

Mu Jiansheng and Liu Dahong were stunned and looked at Huang Sixi at the same time.

Su Gang and Fang Yi beside them also widened their eyes: "Is this brother the Dragon Subduing Hero? It is rumored that the Dragon Subduing Hero has reappeared in Hejian Prefecture and invited heroes from all over the world to gather in Yunnan. Is this rumor true? Is the Dragon Subduing Hero still alive?"

Although they were shocked, seeing that Huang Sixi looked as young as Li Siyong, they found it hard to believe Huang Sixi's identity.

Huang Sixi had no contact with people from the Mu Palace in his early years, and they had never seen Huang Sixi before.

Huang Sixi did not explain too much, only said: "I brought the token of Master He, and I hope you will accompany me to the Pingxi Palace!"

The Pingxi Palace was Wu Sangui's old nest, with thousands of elite soldiers stationed there and extremely tight defenses. It was a den of dragons and tigers, and ordinary people would never dare to take the risk easily.

But Huang Sixi not only carries the Mu Wang Ling, he is also suspected to be the Dragon Subduing Hero.

Mu Jiansheng and Liu Dahong did not refuse, but asked: "Excuse me, sir, did you invite us to the Pingxi Palace in order to assassinate Wu Sangui?"

Huang Sixi pointed at Li Siyong and said, "This gentleman is the younger brother of Li Laiheng, the commander of the Chuang army. He was invited by Wu Sangui to go to the Pingxi Palace to discuss the alliance against the Qing Dynasty. I am accompanying him to the meeting!"

"Wu Sangui was a vassal king appointed by the Tartars. Would he join forces with the Chuang army to fight against the Qing?"

"It certainly wouldn't have happened before! But now is a different time. The Tartars have stabilized their rule and will soon launch an attack to eliminate the feudal lords. Wu Sangui doesn't want to sit there and wait for death, so he has no choice but to rise up and fight against the Qing."

"If the Tartars really want to abolish the feudal system, then Wu Sangui's rebellion against the Qing Dynasty would be reasonable, but..."

Mu Jiansheng spoke in a gentle and elegant manner. He clenched his fist and politely expressed his position to Huang Sixi: "Back then, Wu Sangui led his troops to invade Yunnan and Yunnan and destroyed our Mu Palace. We in the Mu Palace and Wu Sangui were irreconcilable! Even if Wu Sangui really wanted to rebel against the Qing Dynasty, our Mu Palace would never ally with Wu Sangui. Please forgive me, sir!"

He knew that the Five Poisons Sect was a neutral force in Yunnan and Yunnan, and had been being won over by Wu Sangui over the years.

At this moment, Huang Sixi was traveling with the envoy of the Chuang Army, holding the Mu Wang Order. He should have been entrusted by the Five Poison Sect leader He Tieshou to go to the Pingxi Palace to discuss the alliance against the Qing Dynasty with Wu Sangui.

Since Huang Sixi led the envoys of the rebel army to visit Prince Mu's mansion, Mu Jiansheng thought that Huang Sixi's intention must be to persuade Prince Mu's mansion to join the alliance.

Mu Jiansheng was unwilling to associate with traitors, so he took the initiative to express his refusal.

Huang Sixi smiled and said, "Young Master, you have misunderstood. I am not here to lobby the Prince Mu's Mansion, but to ask you and others to be my guide. Although Wu Sangui claims to be against the Qing Dynasty, he may not be sincere. He may be a trap! So it is hard to predict whether it will be good or bad for me to go to the Prince Pingxi's Mansion with Li Xianggong and General Liu!"

Huang Sixi paused for a moment, his eyes swept over the faces of Mu Jiansheng and the others, and then said, "The Pingxi Palace was originally the former palace of Emperor Yongli. You all grew up in the palace and know the terrain very well. You also know the deployment of troops in Kunming. With you as guides, even if Wu Sangui is against me, Li Xianggong and General Liu, we can easily escape from the Pingxi Palace!"

In fact, Huang Sixi's trip to the Pingxi Palace was to assassinate Wu Sangui and then control the central power of Yunnan and Yunnan.

But as one of the leaders of the Chuang Army, Li Siyong was eager for Wu Sangui to raise the anti-Qing banner, so he might not be willing to cooperate with Huang Sixi to kill Wu Sangui.

In order to avoid alerting the enemy, Huang Sixi did not reveal the truth to Li Siyong.

After Huang Sixi followed Li Siyong into the Prince of Pingxi's Mansion and met Wu Sangui, he waited for an opportunity to kill the old traitor and made the matter a fait accompli. By then, it would be too late for Li Siyong to object and he could only obediently follow Huang Sixi's arrangements.

Huang Sixi did not tell Li Siyong and Liu Fangliang his plan in its entirety, so he naturally needed to change his excuse to the people in Prince Mu's Mansion.

After hearing this, Mu Jiansheng and Liu Dahong exchanged glances and thought that if Huang Sixi was really the Dragon Subduing Hero, then no matter where Huang Sixi asked them to go, they would have no choice but to go. Not to mention breaking into the Prince of Pingxi's Palace, they would even be able to enter the Tartar Palace.

The key point is that Huang Sixi's identity is in doubt. Mu Jiansheng and Liu Dahong feel that the risk is too high and it is not appropriate to follow Huang Sixi, but they cannot completely refuse. After all, Huang Sixi holds the Mu King's Order, and they need to give face to Hu Guinan and He Tieshou, so they decide to send one or two family generals as guides. In case something happens, the whole mansion will not be lost.

Before Mu Jiansheng and Liu Dahong could recommend someone to Huang Sixi, Fang Yi stepped forward and whispered, "Master's beekeeping technique was taught by the Dragon Subduing Hero. It is a unique skill. Only the Dragon Subduing Hero can control bees to perfection. We can take out the box of poisonous bees left by Master and let this man show off his skills!"

As long as Huang Sixi's bee-controlling skills are more sophisticated than Hu Guinan's, Huang Sixi's identity will be set in stone. He can then sneak into the Prince of Pingxi's Palace with the beehives, and he will not be afraid even if he encounters thousands of troops.

Mu Jiansheng and Liu Dahong responded immediately and waved to Fang Yi: "Go and bring the beehives here!" "Hey!"

Fang Yi rushed to the backyard and brought in a wooden box.

Li Siyong and Liu Fangliang were puzzled by the mysterious behavior of everyone in Prince Mu's Mansion.

Huang Sixi's eyes lit up: "Do you raise bees?"

He walked over and looked at the beehive.

Fang Yi stood beside him, opening the lid of the box and introducing: "These are the poisonous bees that Master carefully raised. He arranged for us to stay in Kunming, but he was worried that our identities would be exposed and we would be besieged by the Tartars, so he left this box of poisonous bees for us as a backup!"

The beehive contains more than a thousand poisonous bees, which are several times larger than ordinary bees. Although a sting from them will not kill a person, it can paralyze the whole body and make the person lose the ability to move instantly.

Fang Yi opened the box very carefully, fearing that she would be stung by a poisonous bee by mistake.

She untied a bamboo flute from her waist and showed it to Huang Sixi: "This is the bee-controlling flute that my master left me. I have practiced for many years, but I still cannot control the bees. My master often said that his bee-controlling technique was taught by the Dragon-Subduing Hero. I hope my husband can teach me a thing or two!"

Huang Sixi understood what she meant. Giving advice was fake, but confirming her identity was real.

Huang Sixi happened to find this box of poisonous bees very useful, so he reached into the leather bag on his waist, took out a bottle of honey, and asked Fang Yi, "Back then, I taught two sets of bee-controlling techniques from Southern Guangxi. One is to control bees with flute sounds, and the other is to control bees with honey. Have you learned all of them?"

Fang Yi smiled and shook her head at Huang Sixi.

She had a beautiful face and was about seventeen or eighteen years old, but she did not have the shyness of a young girl. She behaved very steadily and said generously: "The method of using honey and the unique skills of collecting and refining honey were only taught to the little princess by the master. No one else can learn it. I can only envy you!"

She and Mu Jianping are sisters from the same school, but her ancestors were servants of the Mu Palace, so she usually calls Mu Jianping "little princess".

Huang Sixi then opened the mouth of the honey bottle and let his inner strength flow into the bottle. As soon as the honey fragrance spread out, the thousands of poisonous bees in the beehive made a "buzz" sound and flew into the air.

Huang Sixi raised his arm and waved it again, and the swarm of bees began to follow him like a shadow. Wherever Huang Sixi pointed, they flew there, just like Huang Sixi's arm, at his command.

When Mu Jiansheng and Liu Dahong saw the swarm of bees flying in a spiral around Huang Sixi, like a bee ring sticking to Huang Sixi, but not a single poisonous bee got out of control, they were already convinced of Huang Sixi's identity.

Huang Sixi's ability to control the bee colony has reached the pinnacle; even Hu Guinan cannot reach such a level of proficiency.

After practicing for a while, Huang Sixi let the swarm of bees fly back to the beehive, and then said, "In addition to the guide, I would also like to borrow these bees. What do you think?"

Mu Jiansheng and his men said in unison: "Everyone in Mu Palace is at your disposal. We are willing to follow you to Pingxi Palace. You will also be responsible for the poisonous bees!"

Fang Yi sealed the box lid and bowed to Huang Sixi with a smile: "My sister will go and pack our weapons and luggage. Please wait for a moment, my husband."

Huang Sixi told her, "Miss Fang, go prepare some Yi people's clothes. You have to pretend to be members of the Five Poison Sect and come with me to meet Wu Sangui!"

At the same time, they also have to be disguised, including Huang Sixi himself, who will be disguised as a member of the Five Poisons Sect.

After staying in Prince Mu's Mansion for half a day, everything was ready.

They went together to Wuhua Mountain in the west of Kunming City, which is also the location of the Pingxi Palace.

The palace on the mountain was originally the former residence of the Yongli Emperor of the Southern Ming Dynasty. It was several miles wide. After Wu Sangui moved in, he continued to add towers and pavilions over the years.

Today, the size of the Pingxi Palace has been expanded several times, with towering pavilions, carved walls, red pavilions and green ponds, which are almost the same as the inner courtyard of the imperial palace. This is a deep palace, and outsiders who rashly enter the palace will be in danger of getting lost.

Since the alliance between the Chuang Army and the Pingxi Palace was initiated by Wu Sangui, Wu Sangui sent an envoy to visit the leader of the Chuang Army several months ago and left a visiting card.

This time, Li Siyong and Liu Fangliang visited the Prince of Pingxi's Mansion, which was actually a courtesy exchange.

When they arrived at the foot of Wuhua Mountain, the personal guards had already come up to check. Li Siyong took out Wu Sangui's handwritten name card. The guards did not dare to delay and immediately went into the mansion to report.

Soon, Xia Guoxiang, Wu Sangui's trusted and beloved general who had been sent to the Chuang army camp, came out in person to greet them and led them into the Prince of Pingxi's Palace.

Xia Guoxiang was over 30 years old, in the prime of his life and very talented, so he was recruited by Wu Sangui as his son-in-law. All the officials in Yunnan and Yunnan knew that Wu Sangui had ten generals under his command, who were in charge of the military power of the Pingxi Palace.

The prime minister of the Xia State was ranked first among the ten generals, which shows his status.

Wu Sangui sent Xia Guoxiang as an envoy to Chuangying to show his sincerity and that he really wanted to form an alliance.

However, Wu Sangui was very arrogant. Although Prime Minister Xia placed Huang Sixi, Li Siyong and others in the Palace of Prince Pingxi and sent someone to treat them attentively, they did not meet for three consecutive days.

It was not until dusk on the third day that Prime Minister Xia personally announced: "The prince is hosting a dinner party and invites all heroes to attend!"

Huang Sixi, Li Siyong and others naturally had no objection and followed Prime Minister Xia to the banquet.

The banquet was held in the spacious hall of the Pingxi Palace. The walls on all four sides were smoked with sandalwood, and singing girls and dancers were dancing gracefully in the hall.

On both sides of the dancers were long tables that could accommodate dozens of people.

When Huang Sixi, Li Siyong and others entered the lobby, the distinguished guests had already arrived at the long table.

These distinguished guests were dressed strangely, not like people from Middle-earth.

They were also unruly in their behavior. They would hold the wine jug and drink it down quickly. From time to time, they would reach out and grab a dancer, touching her wantonly, without any awareness that they were guests.

Li Siyong and Mu Jiansheng were very unhappy when they saw this, and guessed that these people were barbarians from outside the border.

Minister Xia observed the other's expression and introduced with a smile: "In today's banquet, in addition to Minister Li and his friends, the prince has also invited the northern Mongolian prince and Tibetan magician, and even the yellow-haired barbarians. They are all dissatisfied with the court and are publicly promoted as traitors by the court. It's a good opportunity for us to get together for a drink, so I think everyone can get along well."

(End of this chapter)