Morax is dead, Liyue will fall into my hands.

And the chamber of commerce behind it also had to endure the barrage of criticism from the public!

As for Mao Lian's hope that Tianquan Ningguang would uphold "justice" for him, it is simply the most ridiculous thing in the world.

Unless Ningguang covets the "Wanmin Newspaper" and wants to take this opportunity to get rid of herself, but that's highly unlikely.

But with Tianquan Ningguang's power, as long as her reputation remains intact, she has plenty of ways to cultivate a second "Wanmin Newspaper" or "Wanmin Money Shop".

Even if she were to resort to force, she certainly wouldn't choose this time or this matter. Doing so would inevitably cause controversy and severely damage her reputation in Liyue.

And just as Bai Xiao said, Ning Guang still owes him an explanation for being framed at the banquet.

Therefore, even if there is no dispute about the matter of him beating Mao Lian, Tian Quan Ning Guang will definitely try his best to exonerate him.

Chapter 100: The First Meeting with Ningguang and Keqing

From the moment Xingxia stepped out of the conference room, he silently prayed: "May the Lord Yan protect me, please make Boss Li take it easy when he makes a move, and even if he's going to slap me in the face, please don't make him swing the bat all the way in my face."

However, when Xingxia arrived at the banquet hall and saw the scene before him, he immediately gave up on treatment.

In the center of the crowd, Li Ye leaned casually against the dining table, his eyes sharp as a hawk's. The tuxedo ripped by the knife did not make him look disheveled; instead, it accentuated the proud demeanor of a victor.

In contrast, Mao Lian and the others, who were dressed in incredibly expensive clothes, were now all crawling on the ground with bruises and swelling on their faces. They were also splattered with oil and soup, making them look more pathetic than pitiful.

It's only because Tianquan Star and Yuheng Star are present that Xingxia would be laughing out loud.

Beidou: "Haha~ Hahahaha!"

Walnut: "Giggle~"

Ke Qing: "Pfft... Hmm?"

Xiamen: ? ? ?

However, Ke Qing's laughter stopped abruptly when she saw Xiao next to Li Ye.

what's the situation?

How did the "Great Sage Who Subdues Demons" end up at the banquet, and why was he standing so close to Li Ye?

While Keqing was still in shock, Ningguang secretly glanced at her out of the corner of her eye.

It's a pity we can't see his expression, which makes it a little less satisfying. But from the laughter that just stopped abruptly, we can tell that Yuheng Star must be shocked as to why the "Great Sage Who Subdues Demons" would attend the banquet, and he might even be starting to speculate about Li Ye's identity.

In any case, now that I've helped Li Ye get off the hook, Ke Qing definitely won't try to sabotage me, which saves me a lot of trouble.

Keqing did start having wild thoughts, but they were different from what Ningguang had expected.

In Ningguang's imagination, Keqing should be like Fengyan and Liangzhou, mistaking Li Ye for the successor of Emperor Chengyan, or at least a celestial being of noble status. After all, in Ningguang's understanding, Keqing and Li Ye did not know each other.

However, Ke Qing not only knew Li Ye, but also had been influenced by Li Ye's conspiracy theories a few days ago.

In addition, when Li Ye arrived, he also told everyone in the chat group that he had brought a capable bodyguard to the banquet.

Ke Qing immediately realized that the guard Li Ye mentioned was Xiao, and most likely someone she had recruited at Wangshu Inn some time ago.

Therefore, from her perspective, her first reaction to this scene was: Could it be that Xiao also felt that the Rock King Emperor died a violent death, and therefore planned to use the alias Yuan Hua to join forces with Li Ye to investigate?

Or rather, Xiao realized that the death of the Geo Archon was quite suspicious, but he believed that the Liyue Seven Stars and the Three-Eyed Five Manifestations were both suspects and should not be trusted!

Later, when Li Ye went to Wangshu Inn, the two happened to meet.

Xiao realized that this person was exceptionally capable and had no connection with the Liyue Seven Stars, so he told Li Ye his guess, hoping to find out the truth through him.

This is not mere speculation. First of all, in Yuheng Star's view, others might betray the Rock King Emperor, but Xiao, as the Dharma Protector Yaksha, would not.

Secondly, Li Ye's abilities are obvious to all. Apart from the Seven Stars of Liyue and other immortals, among the ordinary people she has met, Zhongli and Li Ye are the most powerful.

Li Ye even brought Zhong Li into his team.

Under these circumstances, it's perfectly understandable that Xiao chose to cooperate with Li Ye. As for Li Ye's disrespect towards the Rock King Emperor?

Compared to uncovering the truth about the murder of the Rock King Emperor, what does Li Ye's casual remarks amount to?

Conversely, if there were no special reason, given Xiao's proud personality and boundless respect for the Rock King Emperor, how could he possibly tolerate anyone slandering the Rock King Emperor, or even willingly become his bodyguard?

Keqing thought about it more and more and it made more sense. Xiao happened to be at the banquet, so she could pretend not to know him and find an opportunity later to subtly confirm her guess.

Furthermore, Ningguang, seeing Xiao serving as Li Ye's bodyguard, will surely try to figure out Li Ye's identity and naturally won't convict him, thus saving her a lot of trouble.

While Keqing was lost in thought, the guests at the banquet saw that Tianquan Star and Yuheng Star had arrived, and they all turned their gazes toward them: the main characters had finally arrived.

Mao Lian, who was lying on the ground, saw Ning Guang coming over and immediately stood up, bowing and scraping as he cried to Ning Guang, "Lord Tianquan, this Li Ye framed us for murdering the waiter and pinned the blame on him. He even attacked us without any evidence and made a mess of the entire banquet hall."

Lord Tianquan is in charge of the laws of Liyue and is known for his impartiality. You must stand up for us!

Mao Lian spoke with tears streaming down his face.

When he arrived, the "Northern Bank" had informed him that, through some means, Ningguang had managed to take "Wanmin Newspaper" from Li Ye.

Now that such a great opportunity has been handed to her, how could Ningguang remain unmoved?

Even if Ningguang knew the truth perfectly well, without evidence, could she continue to protect Li Ye in public?

The guests present, upon hearing Mao Lian address Ning Guang as "Sir," outwardly remained calm but inwardly felt contempt; he truly had no shame.

Li Ye saw Ningguang walking over and was about to speak when he suddenly took a slight surprise.

He felt a sense of familiarity with Tianquan Ningguang, and even with Yuheng Xing Keqing beside him. It was as if he had seen them somewhere before.

Seeing Li Ye's reaction, both Ningguang and Keqing chuckled inwardly. No matter how sharp Li Ye's intuition was, how could he possibly connect it to his hidden identity?

The feeling of having the enemy in the open while I remain hidden, yet without being exposed, is both thrilling and exciting.

Li Ye quickly composed himself and said in a calm tone, "I'm sorry, Miss Ningguang, for causing you some unnecessary trouble."

Ningguang questioned, "Why did Boss Li beat up Young Master Maolian?"

Li Ye said, "Mao Lian tried to frame me by dragging an innocent girl into it, and even tried to kill her. I was so indignant that I beat them up."

Before Maolian could speak, Ningguang immediately countered, "Then do you have any evidence?"

Li Ye shook his head and decisively admitted, "No!"

Ningguang seemed to have anticipated this outcome. Before anyone else could speak, she immediately added, "Since there's no evidence, why doesn't Boss Li find some before taking action? Where is Liang Zhou, the representative from the General Affairs Department?"

When Liang Zhou heard Ning Guang call him, he could only reluctantly walk over and say, "I'm here."

Seeing Liang Zhou approach, Ning Guang casually instructed, "This matter is your responsibility. Find out the truth as soon as possible."

"Bai Xiao, go and arrange for the waiters to clean the hall. The banquet will continue shortly."

The guests were stunned by Ningguang's handling of the situation.

Huh? That's it?

Chapter 101: Are we going to roll up our pledges of loyalty?

Mao Lian is practically going crazy.

It's understandable that Ningguang didn't take this opportunity to punish Li Ye on the spot; even sentencing a murderer requires signing and going through procedures.

But Li Ye beat himself up in public, causing serious injury. Shouldn't we at least send someone to arrest him first, and then hold a public trial overnight for intentional assault?

Why not get to the bottom of this as soon as possible? Isn't it obvious? What's the point of investigating?

Mao Lian couldn't wait to speak up: "Lord Tianquan, Li Ye has falsely accused me and tarnished my reputation. This matter must be thoroughly investigated to clear my name."

However, without any reason, Li Ye openly disregarded the laws of Liyue and treated us as seriously injured in front of everyone.

Everyone present can testify to this, and he himself admitted it. Shouldn't we be able to arrest him and convict him of intentional assault according to Liyue law?

Upon hearing Mao Lian's question, Ning Guang slowly surveyed the guests present and finally explained with a smile: "Mr. Li has admitted to seriously injuring Mr. Mao Lian, and everyone here has witnessed it, so there should be no objection."

However, according to Liyue's laws, if Young Master Maolian did not send someone to assassinate the waitress Rongzhu, then Boss Li has committed the crimes of intentional assault and defamation, and should be punished for both crimes.

If it is true that Young Master Maolian sent someone to assassinate the waiter and tried to frame Boss Li, and Boss Li, as the victim, acted in desperation, although he also violated the laws of Liyue, he should be treated leniently according to the regulations.

Therefore, until it is thoroughly investigated whether Young Master Maolian had sent someone to assassinate waitress Rongzhu, no decision can be made regarding the charges against Boss Li or his punishment.

Upon hearing Ningguang's explanation, the guests present immediately looked enlightened: it made sense, and they shouldn't have jumped to conclusions.

In fact, Ningguang's method was very simple: he forcibly combined two cases that could have been handled separately, and then used a delaying tactic.

This is blatant bullying of Mao Lian and the guests present, who are unfamiliar with Liyue law.

Of course, it was no use for Mao Lian to find a lawyer, because the relevant legal treaties were rather vague, and the final interpretation right was in the hands of Tian Quan Ning Guang and the General Affairs Department.

If the punishment cannot be known, the power cannot be measured.

The more ambiguous the law is, the greater the power of law enforcement officers and the less restraint they are subject to.

Therefore, even if the lawyer hired by Mao Lian is Yan Fei, he is powerless. Of course, it cannot be ruled out that when Yan Fei defends Mao Lian, she will perform a Liyue version of Zhang Wei's defense on the spot, starting with the death penalty.

Mao Lian was unwilling to give up. He pointed at Li Ye with both fingers and said, "Then...then shouldn't we detain Li Ye first? We can't just say that he beat us up like this and doesn't have to take any responsibility, can we?"

Faced with Mao Lian's questions, Li Ye immediately made a promise, saying, "I will pay bail to the General Affairs Department later and issue a guarantee that I will be available whenever summoned and will fully cooperate with the General Affairs Department's investigation."

After speaking, Li Ye looked at Mao Lian again, revealing an extremely kind smile, but which Mao Lian found extremely sinister and smug: "Young Master Mao Lian, you may not know this, but Li Yue's laws have provisions for bail pending trial. In my case, I only need to pay a bail bond and submit a guarantee to be temporarily released from detention."

Upon hearing Li Ye's explanation and additional information, Mao Lian's composure crumbled.

However, this was not the most despairing thing for him. Liang Zhou, who was standing next to him, saw that things had settled down. If he didn't show his loyalty now, when would he?

He immediately looked at Ningguang and solemnly assured her, "Please rest assured, Tianquanxing, we will never allow an innocent person to be wronged, nor will we let a bad person go free."

The General Affairs Department will do everything in its power to investigate and uncover the truth, and will absolutely not allow certain individuals to not only sabotage things in secret, but also attempt to distort the truth!

Li Ye beat Mao Lian openly and honestly, so it definitely has nothing to do with anything done in secret.

Aside from Li Ye, who else would be secretly plotting against us?

I know, but I won't say.

The guests were speechless upon hearing Liang Zhou's statement. It was one thing for Mao Lian to be shameless in order to get revenge on Li Ye, but how could you, as the representative of the General Affairs Department, be even more shameless than Mao Lian?

Ningguang is just one of the seven stars of Liyue, not a Celestial, so is it necessary for her to fawn over her like this?

Just when Maolian was feeling utterly hopeless, Fengyan, seeing Liang Zhou's shamelessness, stepped forward and assured him, "This matter is of great importance to the security of Liyue. We, the Thousand Rock Army, have the necessity and the obligation to assist the General Affairs Department in investigating this matter and clear Boss Li's name."

Now, not only were the guests speechless, but even Ningguang and Keqing were at a loss for words.

How do people express loyalty these days?

Just now Liang Zhou was only making veiled accusations, but now you're just going to stop pretending altogether, right?

Mao Lian staggered back several steps in despair, pointing at Li Ye, then at Liang Zhou and Feng Yan: "You...you..."

"What about us?"