From a humble farmer to a great martial arts master

Chapter 144, The Lord of Yuntai

The news that the fox demon had transformed into a princess to seduce Ren Qingshan and was subsequently killed in Yanshan Prefecture quickly spread throughout the streets and alleys.

The next day.

Ren Qingshan was having tea and chatting with Pang Ziwen and Yan Junshi.

Pang Ziwen, yesterday, was first bewitched by a fox spirit to uphold justice, then nearly killed by a eunuch who broke his precious sword—he's from a local minor noble family.

Ren Qingshan had just talked to him and learned that he was also a member of the "Zi" generation of the Pang family, and that he was a distant relative of the Pang family in Huaiyin County whom he had never heard of or met.

Three generations back, his family moved to Yanshan Prefecture and has been engaged in the medicinal herb business ever since.

However, there is a family genealogy, and the generational names have been determined long ago.

Pang Ziwen intended to acquire the fox demon's corpse.

Yan Junshi also had his own ideas.

At this point, after some negotiation, the fox fur and tail were sold to the Yan family, while the rest of the flesh and bones were sold to the Pang family.

The two transactions combined brought in a total of 90,000 taels of silver.

This was something Ren Qingshan hadn't expected; it was truly an unexpected windfall.

Thank you, Fox Fairy Sister!

They know I'm short of money.

She truly pledged herself to him.

After the three finished discussing the matter, while they were chatting idly, Bai Lu gently knocked on the door and said that a martial artist named "Wei Bin" had come to visit, claiming to be the master's senior brother.

Ren Qingshan immediately went to greet him.

Wei Bin.

Gongshu strategy.

The wind startled the strings.

Old Feng looked rather unhappy, his face dark and his brows furrowed, as if someone owed him eight hundred thousand taels of silver.

Seeing the old man's sour face, Ren Qingshan knew that the old man was going to settle scores with him, so he immediately played the victim and said sarcastically, "Old Feng is truly a master strategist. As a disciple of Gongshu, I am ashamed to admit my inferiority."

"Hmph, you brat, you're the one picking on me first. You made a big splash in the Northern Territory, and even His Highness the Crown Prince often talks about you. You're such an ingrate, you don't know how to be grateful."

Feng Jingxian, the old fox, naturally understood Ren Qingshan's meaning and immediately laughed and scolded.

"Old wind, don't underestimate a young man's potential; fortunes change every thirty years."

Feng Jingxian chuckled silently.

Gongshu Ce also looked at his disciple with a smile.

Ren Qingshan certainly harbored resentment.

How could there not be?

One hundred thousand catties of grain and eight hundred thousand taels of silver were all given to Qinghe Prefecture, only to be exchanged for a mere innate spiritual object—the way the Crown Prince and Feng Zhenjiang handled this matter is truly disheartening.

But given his status as the crown prince and the paramount importance of disaster relief hanging over his head, it was truly difficult to say anything.

Gongshu Ce patted his proud disciple's arm: "I'll take care of this for you. Anyway, the money belongs to the Feng family, so you don't need to pay it back."

Feng Jingxian snorted coldly and turned his head away: "You just keep spoiling him!"

Huh?

This has a wonderfully familiar feel to it, like an old married couple.

However, this attitude was, of course, tacit approval. Ren Qingshan finally put his mind at ease and invited the three of them in, then introduced Pang and Yan to each of them.

After chatting for a while, and once Pang and Yan left, Ren Qingshan kicked Wei Bin out again before getting to the point with the two old babies.

"I reckon the fox demon isn't after me."

"How much am I worth?"

"It's highly likely, even aimed at the Crown Prince, that they controlled me and secretly harmed him."

"What does Master think?"

Ren Qingshan turned what he "saw with his own eyes" into his "brilliant guesses," after all, that's the persona he's portrayed.

Upon hearing this, the two men immediately became serious, their eyes turning solemn.

"That's quite possible!"

Feng Jingxian slapped his thigh, staring intently at Ren Qingshan with admiration in his eyes.

Gongshu Ce pondered the matter, and it seemed to make sense. He sighed deeply, "The struggle for the throne is the biggest cancer in this dynasty. I truly don't know what His Majesty is thinking?"

The root cause, of course, is still the struggle for succession.

Feng Jingxian glanced at him and fell silent for a moment.

Even though the two men possessed the talent to destroy a nation, they were powerless to do anything about this matter.

"I reckon that the Human Emperor may have had the idea of ​​expanding his territory. The vast sea area to the north of Jue Tian, ​​and the rest of the four directions beyond the Great Zhou, are not all fertile land, but as long as it is land, it is wealth."

"The conflicts among the princes have accumulated to the extreme. Rather than engaging in a life-or-death struggle among themselves, it is better to expand outwards."

"Even if they become de facto kings of a different surname, they are still of the Zhou family bloodline."

Ren Qingshan pondered for a moment before slowly speaking.

The two old men stared intently at him, their eyes gleaming with a sharp light.

"If His Majesty does not have this idea, Elder Feng might as well submit a memorial to the throne and give him some pointers. You have fought in wars that destroyed nations, so it is very reasonable for you to say such things."

"This does not count as participating in the struggle for the throne, but rather as being wholeheartedly devoted to the country."

Ren Qingshan smiled slightly and handed over the task of charging forward to Feng Jingxian.

Feng Jingxian sniffed, his eyes showing deep thought—this kid, this line of thinking is truly ingenious!

Although I knew that Ren Qingshan was talented and quick-witted, it was still amazing that he could think of such a thing as the struggle for the throne.

Gongshu Ce was even more excited.

"good!"

"Great idea!"

"Benefiting the present and benefiting future generations!"

He laughed heartily, beaming from ear to ear, truly extremely satisfied with this disciple.

After discussing some details with them, Ren Qingshan gracefully withdrew from the scene.

The inspiration has been given.

What they do next is their business.

Right now, however, I have another matter to deal with.

Yuntai Sacred Realm.

The Overlord Spear is something I can never return; I can never return it in this lifetime.

Besides, nobody knew it had fallen into his hands.

To be fair, Ren Qingshan truly coveted the power of Yuntai Sacred Realm.

If they can control it, it's like firmly planting their own nail in the North.

Moreover, the Yuntai Sacred Realm is now under surveillance.

I was destined to be the master of Yuntai!

However, the current predicament is that the land belongs to them, but the people do not.

Among the martial artists of Yuntai, those above the rank of elder were either killed or mostly controlled by the fox demon with poison, becoming puppets.

Except for the three people in the cellar.

In the "surveillance footage," Ren Qingshan could see that in the hidden cellar of the Yuntai Secret Realm, three people were imprisoned in a huge iron cage, like dogs being chained up.

I hadn't paid attention to it before.

But now that he had the time, after examining it carefully, Ren Qingshan immediately discovered:

One of them resembled Zhou Yuzhi, only much thinner; unsurprisingly, she was the former most beautiful woman in the Northern Border.

The person is Zhou Yuzhi.

Since the fox demon dared to use her identity, he must have been prepared and had already imprisoned Zhou Yuzhi here.

This girl truly deserves the title of the most beautiful woman in the North.

Even while in prison, starving and with pale skin, her beautiful bone structure remained naturally stunning.

The other two.

There was also a woman of striking beauty.

This is likely another "identity" of the fox demon.

The third person, however, was an old woman with white hair.

She was clearly poisoned, listless all day, but she never gave in, practicing martial arts day and night in the iron cage—was this the former elder of Yuntai? Or the sect leader?

It's definitely a tough nut to crack.

Ren Qingshan did not tell his master about this, nor did he tell Feng Jingxian. That afternoon, he said he was going out on business and would return in two or three days. He then mounted a fine horse and galloped towards Yuntai.

Eight hundred li, we can arrive by tomorrow morning!