Zongwu: Aspiring to be the mastermind behind the scenes

Chapter 121: Meeting Hua Manlou on the Road, Talking About the North and South

The river is rushing.

Zhou Ming's carriage stopped at the riverside ferry, waiting for his own ship to arrive.

"Huh? That ship looks like it belongs to the Hua family?"

Li Mochou counted the cruise ships on the river and suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

When Zhou Ming looked, he saw a large ship approaching and docking at the pier, with the Hua family's flag flying on the ship.

Also standing on the deck was a handsome man with a gentlemanly demeanor.

"old flower!"

Zhou Ming shouted loudly, and his voice went straight through the dock and reached the ship.

Hua Manlou's expression changed. After the ship docked, he walked over and said, "Brother Zhou, why are you here?"

Zhou Ming sighed helplessly and said, "I've been playing outside for too long. My adoptive father is not happy about it and sent me a letter via carrier pigeon, ordering me to return as soon as possible."

"So that's how it is, you're going to take a boat to the capital here!"

"Yeah. Where are you going?"

"I went to Jiuhua Mountain to attend Master Bitter Melon's vegetarian banquet."

"Master Bitter Melon? I heard he's a high-ranking Buddhist monk, and his vegetarian feast is a specialty, but he rarely uses it."

"Yes, this time, I was able to have this opportunity thanks to the invitation of his junior fellow apprentice Jin Jiuling."

"Jin Jiuling? Are you talking about the former chief constable of the Six Gates? How do you know him?"

"This story begins with my father's birthday party..."

It turned out that the Hua family was entrusted by a friend to help preserve a jade Buddha. This jade Buddha was actually a symbol of the throne of a small country in the Western Regions.

At that time, there was a power struggle in the Western Regions, so a thief with iron shoes was commissioned to sneak into the Hua family and steal the jade Buddha.

The time when the other party took action was Hua Manlou's father's birthday party.

Hua Manlou, who was still young at the time, was kidnapped by the Iron Shoe Thief. Not only was his eyes blinded, but he was also left with a very serious psychological trauma.

For this birthday party, Hua Manlou's father found a group of people to help him get rid of this inner demon, among whom was Jin Jiuling, the former chief constable of the Six Gates.

However, during this process, the real Iron Shoe Thief was also mixed in, but was finally caught by Lu Xiaofeng.

"A birthday party can actually be so exciting?"

Zhou Ming said regretfully, "If I had known earlier, I would have gone and participated."

Hua Manlou laughed and said, "How can a mere birthday banquet compare to Mr. Shi traveling with his beautiful daughter all over the country? By the way, has Miss Mochou been following you all this time?"

"Yes what's the matter?"

"That's good."

Hua Manlou nodded and explained, "Recently, there have been rumors in the north that there are two disciples of the Ancient Tomb Sect in Zhongnan Mountain. They are extremely beautiful and are looking for a martial arts competition to marry a hero!

This rumor has spread throughout the northern provinces, causing martial artists from all provinces to flock to Mount Zhongnan. They are probably already gathered there now."

Li Mochou was furious when she heard this: "Who spread this rumor? I'll tear his mouth apart!"

Hua Manlou said, "It's unknown where the rumor originated. Fortunately, Granny Sun and Miss Long from the Ancient Tomb Sect are both in the capital, and since Miss Mochou has always been by Brother Zhou's side, she naturally won't be harmed by this."

"Thanks for caring."

Zhou Mingdao said, "However, the purpose of this rumor is probably not to destroy the Ancient Tomb Sect. Granny Sun and Long'er are in the capital, and Mo Chou has traveled all over Jiangnan with me. If they are well-informed, they will probably know about this matter.

Therefore, the Tomb Clan's martial arts competition to find a bride must be just a rumor. Ordinary people might not know about it, but the person who spread the rumor will definitely know about it!

"Oh? Why do you see it?"

"Even the Jiangnan Hua family couldn't find the source of the rumor, so the person spreading it must be extraordinary. How could such an extraordinary figure and power in this world not be able to find out about this matter?"

On the other hand, if the other party cannot even find out about this kind of thing, it only means that the person spreading the rumor is just an ordinary punk.

With the power of the Hua family, how could they not find the source of the rumor?

"The drunkard's intention is not to drink, this is probably a diversionary tactic by the person behind the scenes!"

"A diversion?" Hua Manlou thought for a moment and said, "Rumors are just a tool. The Ancient Tomb Sect isn't the target. The purpose behind this is to gather a large number of martial artists in Zhongnan Mountain. So, their real target is probably... the Quanzhen Sect?"

Zhou Ming nodded: "I'm afraid that's exactly the case."

Hua Manlou frowned, "The Quanzhen sect is spread all over the world, and Zhongnan Mountain's Chongyang Palace is the Quanzhen ancestral temple. Who would dare to risk the wrath of the world and plot against the Quanzhen sect?"

Zhou Mingdao: "Don't forget, not long ago, there was a big battle on the border."

"Zhenzhen Zhang?"

"The Yuan Emperor offered gold, silver, jewels, and Daoist scriptures as an apology, yet Master Zhang still defeated Pang Ban and Meng Chixing, severely damaging the Yuan Empire's reputation. How could the Yuan Emperor not seek revenge?"

"So that's why they've set their sights on the Quanzhen Sect? But the Quanzhen sect is spread all over the world. If they reveal their identities openly, it will inevitably attract countless martial arts masters to help them. So they spread this rumor, gathering people from all walks of life and taking advantage of the situation."

Hua Manlou shook his head and said, "Brother Zhou is in Jiangnan, so how come he knows everything about what's happening in the north so well?"

"It's just some simple reasoning."

"Haha, worthy of being the author of the famous detective Lu Xiaofeng..."

Hua Manlou asked, "So, could it be that the recent changes in the North are also due to the Yuan Kingdom?"

Zhou Ming was curious: "Are there any other changes?"

Hua Manlou spoke in detail.

This is a lot to say.

This family's power is expanding.

The forces on that side are gathering manpower.

There are no fewer than two hands of forces in the north, and they have all made some unusual moves recently.

There was even a local gang leader who, after drinking, told his gang members that the mysterious golden wine he had obtained had taken a fancy to him and he had joined his organization and was now a colleague of Mu Dao Ren!
The day after the news spread, a large number of experts broke into his gang. However, within three or two days, the entire gang collapsed.

Those masters were not from the same family, but from various factions. Among them were wealthy people like the Jewelry Pavilion, underworld gangs like the Silver Hook Casino and the Black Tiger Hall, even the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Dragon Guard Villa, and even the Sun and Moon Sect, the Yuan Dynasty, the Song Dynasty, and the Jin Dynasty...

It can be seen that although several months have passed, the leaders of the major forces in the world and the kings, princes and generals of various countries are still closely concerned about Jinjiu, Mu Dao Ren... or in other words... Huangliang Dan!

Unfortunately, it was later discovered that the gang leader was just bragging after drinking.

However, he did not expect this to bring him such a disaster that his entire gang was wiped out. He did not know which force had captured him, and it was estimated that his fate was not good.

This also made countless people know that at this moment, if they got involved with Jinjiu and Mu Dao Ren, the final result would inevitably be to be torn to pieces by the countless forces that swarmed in!
Hua Manlou is indeed a loyal and honest man, and his explanations are very detailed.

But he had no idea that most of the changes he mentioned were caused by the friend in front of him.

Several months have passed since the incident at Wudang Mountain.

It is certainly impossible that Zhou Ming did nothing for such a long time.

The Giant Whale Gang?
It was just a trivial matter that could be dealt with at the critical moment. It was impossible for Zhou Ming to spend several months on it.

In fact, he only cared about the affairs of the Giant Whale Gang at the beginning and recently. He was busy the rest of the time.

While others were traveling in the south, the projection was running around in the north, recruiting forces and strong people.

After all, he gave Mu Dao Ren ten Tianji cards, which means that Mu Dao Ren can recruit ten martial arts masters or forces from all over the place.

However, Zhou Ming himself only controls two or three forces.

If we don't expand it properly, won't it be exposed in the future?
Those he recruited were leaders of forces from all over the place.

Tempted by the Huangliang Pill and threatened by the Grandmaster, most of these people accepted the Tianji Card. Zhou Ming also assigned them the same daily tasks.

Make money.

Collect rare and precious treasures.

Therefore, the changes in the various forces are actually to complete the daily tasks assigned to them by Zhou Ming.

As for the gang leader who spoke out of turn after drinking... Actually, he certainly didn't join the organization, but his drunken gaffe was also deliberately designed by Zhou Ming.

The main purpose of this matter is to let those big forces and countries have a pursuit organization to track down the clues and targets of Huangliangdan.

Through this incident, all countries and major forces will understand that only by becoming the leader of a force can one have the qualifications and possibility to be recruited by the organization.

In this way, if they want to get their undercover agents to join the organization, they will have methods and ways!

In fact, after this incident, several forces have indeed taken action.

The continuous changes in the north were also secretly driven by them.

After all, if they were to allow the person they arranged to become the leader of a faction, it would inevitably cause changes in the forces in various places.

Zhou Ming is now waiting for the right time to recruit these undercover agents into the organization and make them peripheral members.

If you want to become an official member...you have to complete the daily tasks well!

In this way, Zhou Ming can use these undercover agents to obtain all kinds of rare treasures and secret techniques from the forces behind them.

When they are no longer needed, their undercover identities will be exposed and Mu Dao Ren will take action to deal with them.

perfect!

However, the rumor was not caused by Zhou Ming, but was indeed caused by the Yuan Dynasty... To be more precise, it was caused by Zhao Min, the daughter of the Yuan Dynasty's Prince of Ruyang.

Its target, just as he analyzed, is Quanzhen Sect!

Although Zhou Ming knew all this, he didn't want to stop it, and even wanted to use it to do something fancy!
In addition to this action, Zhou Ming also took action in other places.

After all, with the heroes from various countries returning to their own countries, his mark has now spread to other countries.

In the Sui Dynasty, the projection is on the road, ready to find the secret of immortality.

In the Qin State, two projections joined the Mohist School and the Gongshu School respectively to learn the art of mechanical engineering.

Zhongzhou is also on the road to find Lingyun Cave.

Song Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty, Tang Dynasty, Qing Dynasty...

Even in the Western Regions, there are projection arrangements.

That is to say, his soul power becomes extremely powerful as his cultivation level improves, so multitasking is not a problem for him.

If it were someone else, even if they had the ability, it would be impossible to control so many projections.

"I didn't expect so many things to happen in just a few months."

"Yes, the north is not peaceful, and the south is the same."

Hua Manlou nodded.

As a Jiangnan power, the Hua family is naturally aware of the trends in the south.

Today, the Giant Whale Gang is becoming more and more powerful.

Although at present, they are still swallowing up and consolidating the territories of those powerful people who were eliminated by them, and they are still eliminating the remaining ronin at sea, and they have not infringed on the interests of other major forces.

But that may not be the case in the future.

"Speaking of which, why isn't Lu Xiaofeng with you?"

"Haha, he's always been a playboy. After the birthday party, I don't know where he went. However, he still owed Sikong Zhaixing the earthworms, and Sikong Zhaixing has been getting impatient and has been spreading rumors about the fight between the two.

A man as proud as Brother Lu probably won't sit idly by and watch. He's probably trying to find a way to repay the debt."

"Depend on!"

Zhou Ming said angrily, "Lu Xiaofeng is so disloyal! He wanted to go dig earthworms, why didn't he call us to watch him dig together, so that we can have some fun!"

Hua Manlou was speechless: "With a friend like you around, how could he possibly call someone else?"

Then, he talked about other things, which became a joke.

A middle-aged man led more than ten people and had walked nearby at some point. He clasped his fists and said, "Young Master."

Zhou Ming took a look and said, "Uncle Qiang, why did you come here in person?"

Uncle Qiang smiled bitterly: "Master, you have to come. This time, the master has issued a death order and must bring you back. If you don't go back, the rest of us don't have to go back either."

"Hey, why are you in such a hurry? I just stayed out for a few more days."

"Hehe..." Uncle Qiang smiled faintly.

How many days do you play?
It’s almost August now since I left Beijing at the end of February. It’s not just a few days of fun, I’ve been playing outside for half a year!

"Anyway, the master is in a hurry now, so you'd better come back to the capital with me as soon as possible."

"Ok."

Zhou Ming stood up and said, "Old Hua, it seems we can't continue chatting. See you in Beijing in the future."

"See you in the capital."

Zhou Ming followed Uncle Qiang to the dock, with people behind him pulling a carriage.

At the dock, a ship belonging to the Pei Mansion had been waiting for a long time.

After getting on the boat and entering the room, Zhou Ming asked, "Uncle Qiang, just tell me, why did my adoptive father ask me to come back? It can't be because I've been playing outside for half a year, right?"

Uncle Qiang said, "I don't know the specific reason, but the master has been angry a lot recently. I'm afraid that you, young master, have caused trouble again?"

"In trouble? I've been very honest these days, okay? What trouble have I gotten into?"

..........................................

"You still have the nerve to say you're honest?!"

A few days later, in Pei Mansion, study.

Pei Ju frowned and scolded loudly.

Zhou Ming said as if it was a matter of course, "Yeah, I've been out for so long, and I've basically never fought with anyone. Has anyone ever blushed?"

"Then what's with this crappy book you wrote!"

Pei Ju took out a copy of the famous detective Lu Xiaofeng and slammed it on the table, saying, "Why do you have to write about something so bad? Do you know how many people have come to the Pei Mansion to test you these days?"

Zhou Mingdao said, "This has nothing to do with me. It was that organization that stole my idea. Mu Daoren gave himself the nickname 'Gin' because Lu Xiaofeng ruined his plan."

"Then you can't just not write?!"

"Of course not. The first book sold so well, and something like this happened with the second book. How can I sell books and make money if I don't write it?"

"Are you short of that little bit of money?"

Pei Ju got even angrier: "Making money, huh?! Okay, from now on, all your expenses will be paid by yourself, and the Pei Mansion won't give you another penny!
Including the water pavilion you built in the mansion!

So you don't have to make a lot of money and have nowhere to spend it!"

Zhou Ming said indifferently: "Spend it yourself, my book makes money. If I run out of money, I will just write the third book!"

"You!! Get out of here!"

(End of this chapter)