My Demonic Cult's Holy Maiden

Qin Xiyao nodded, then asked in surprise, "How did you end up in my house? Didn't I tell you not to repay me?"

Qin Xiyao thought that Qi Yu knew her identity and came to the Guanyong Marquis's residence to repay the life-saving grace he had once shown her.

The moment Qi Yu saw Qin Xiyao, he understood her identity, and could only smile bitterly in shock.

Her savior was Qin Xiyao, the only daughter of Marquis Guanyong Qin Shuhuai.

Fortunately, she reached a consensus with Qin Shuhuai, otherwise she really would have killed her father, and her conscience wouldn't have allowed it.

He owed Li Ming nothing, so even if Li Ming was about to die in front of him, he could find a reason not to save him.

But Qin Xiyao saved her life, and if she really caused her family to be destroyed because of her, then she would truly be ungrateful and repay kindness with enmity.

"I have always regarded Marquis Guanyong as my idol and have always wanted to meet him. So I came to Marquis Guanyong’s residence to meet you, but I never expected to meet you here!"

Qin Xiyao gave Qi Yu a strange look. He had traveled all the way to the capital just to see his father? What a joke.

Do you really think she's stupid?

"I remember your name is Qi Yu, right?" Qin Xiyao asked.

Qi Yu nodded. He had already introduced himself when they first met.

"Are you also the Crown Prince's guest advisor?" Qin Xiyao asked.

Qi Yu nodded and said, "It's me!"

Qin Xiyao looked at Qi Yu with a strange gaze. How could such a weak scholar be valued by the Chang family and the Crown Prince?

The Crown Prince, the Chang family, and the Holy Maiden of the Blood God Cult all appeared in Jiangzhou City, and two of them were there because of Qi Yu.

In other words, everything that happened in Jiangzhou City, including the death of the second-rank official from the Chang family, was because of this scholar in front of them.

So, it seems that the assassin I saw when I saved him was a member of the Chang family?

"So you're here to persuade my father to join the Crown Prince's camp too?"

Qi Yu smiled and shook his head, saying, "Miss, you've misunderstood. I didn't have that thought."

These past few days he's been running around, and it's definitely not to persuade those people to join the Crown Prince.

He was merely weakening the power of the aristocratic families, nothing more!

Li Ming has great ambitions. He wants to create a country where all political power is concentrated in his own hands, where there are no powerful families or warlords, and where everything is under his control.

The first thing he did after taking power was to purge the powerful families, followed by the military, and then reclaim power.

As for his talk of land reform, which would allow every farmer to have land to cultivate and every child to have access to education, that's pure nonsense.

He truly held this belief, willingly serving him like a slave, devoting himself to the cause until his dying breath, with absolutely no ulterior motives.

Anyone can make empty promises.

Those who rise up in rebellion must find a righteous and awe-inspiring reason for themselves, right?

Li Ming is a hypocrite, full of scheming. Qi Yu would rather believe the sun sets in the east than believe him.

Without exchanging many words with Qin Xiyao, he greeted her and left with the servant.

Qin Xiyao kept staring at Qi Yu's back, her face expressionless.

Qin Xiyao only looked away after Qi Yu's figure disappeared around the corner, and then walked towards the study.

……

On the evening of the same day that Qi Yu and Qin Shuhuai talked, many heads of aristocratic families gathered together and discussed the matter.

The head of the Chang family was a middle-aged man with thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a broad back. Even if he did nothing, he still exuded an air of authority that came from long-term authority.

The Great Yun Dynasty originally had eight great families, which were families that provided strong support to the Li family royal family at the beginning of the dynasty.

However, a hundred years ago, after the most powerful Su family was wiped out, only seven of the eight major families remained.

At this time, the seven families were gathered in a manor outside the capital city, surrounded by layers of guards.

Among these guards were even some of the third rank, and quite a few were even the second rank.

Standing beside Chang Wei, the head of the Chang family, were two young men: Chang Lian and his son, Chang Qi.

Chang Lian and Chang Qi are the two most outstanding people in the Chang family.

Chang Qi, in particular, is both literate and martial, making him an extraordinary individual and the heir apparent to the position of the next family head.

Chang Wei glanced at the other six family heads sitting around him, his face expressionless, before finally fixing his gaze on Mo Yutian, the head of the Mo family.

"Old Mo, is there anything you want to say?"

Mo Yutian remained expressionless and calmly said, "What is there to say? Qin Shuhuai's attitude is very important. If he really sides with the Crown Prince, then we will have no choice but to perish together."

No one spoke, because that was indeed the case.

If they fail in what they are doing now, their entire family will be executed.

If Marquis Guanyong truly favors the Crown Prince, then they are destined to lose.

When that time comes, we will not hesitate to destroy the Great Yun Dynasty.

Since we're going to die anyway, let's just use the entire Great Yun Dynasty to accompany us in death.

"Uncles and elders, there's really no need to worry too much. Things haven't gotten that bad yet!" Chang Lian said with a gentle smile.

"Oh? What do you mean?" Mo Yutian asked in surprise.

Chang Lian smiled and said, "The reason we are wary of Marquis Guanyong is because he controls the Chilin Army, which can sweep away all our aristocratic families."

“But the true duty of the Chilin Army is to protect the country. Marquis Guanyong can distinguish right from wrong. He would never call the Chilin Army back from the border just to deal with us.”

"So even though Marquis Guanyong has already sided with the Crown Prince, he doesn't have much power to mobilize. He's just a first-rank martial artist, so he's not exactly a troublesome figure."

Whether he takes sides or not is actually irrelevant.

Upon hearing this, the heads of the various families thought about it carefully and realized it was indeed true.

Qin Shuhuai's Chilin Army spent most of its time guarding the border.

This is why they can peacefully fight amongst themselves.

Having Qin Shuhuai's support would be best, but even without it, it's not as difficult as you might imagine.

"However, we must not be complacent. We will make a slight change to our plan. The autumn hunt will be in ten days, and the Emperor will lead his civil and military officials to Tiannan Mountain for the hunt."

"Our original plan remains unchanged. With Li Zhen dead, the Li family has lost its last shield!"

"The power that Li Ming has secretly accumulated is actually not worth mentioning. It's just some rabble. The only one who can be considered respectable is Qi Yu."

After a pause, Chang Lian continued, "So just in case, let's get rid of Qi Yu first!"

It's inconvenient to kill Qi Yu in Jiangzhou City because it's too remote and the forces that can be mobilized are limited.

Furthermore, it is suspected that the Blood God Cult was involved, which is why Qi Yu was allowed to live for another month.

Now that Qi Yu has come to the capital, to their territory, even with the protection of the Blood God Cult, Qi Yu is doomed to die.

------------

Chapter Eighty-Six: The Leader

Qi Yu left the residence of Marquis Guanyong and walked down the street.

Looking at the vendors hawking their wares around him, Qi Yu's expression was somewhat complicated.

Su Yue told herself that she must be a good person, but could she really be a good person?

Qi Yu walked and walked until he came to a river.

There is a large banyan tree by the river, so large that it would take ten adults to encircle it.

A group of children were playing under the tree, their laughter and frolicking making a very clear and pleasant sound.

Although the current Great Yun Dynasty is not a utopian society, at least no one is starving to death, and the people are living quite well.

If these children can have a carefree childhood and everyone has enough to eat, I don't care who becomes emperor.

Qi Yu walked over, clapped his hands, and laughed, "Little brats, how about I join you in playing?"

A group of six- or seven-year-old children looked at each other in bewilderment. Then one of the little boys made a face at Qi Yu and went back to playing with his friends.

Qi Yu raised an eyebrow as he looked at the group of unruly children. Just then, a vendor selling candied hawthorns walked by.

Qi Yu spent one tael of silver to buy all the candied hawthorns from the vendor.

The surrounding children stared longingly at the candied hawthorns Qi Yu was carrying, swallowing their saliva incessantly.

Qi Yu's lips curled up slightly as he asked, "Would you like some candied hawthorn?"

"miss you!"

Children think simply; they just want to eat.

"Do you really want to eat it?" Qi Yu asked with a sly smile.

"miss you!"

"Even if you want it, I won't give it to you. It's your own fault for not including me in your games!"

Qi Yu made a funny face, then casually picked a string of candied hawthorns and started eating them with gusto, all the while reminiscing.

"These candied hawthorns are so sweet! I feel like I could eat ten of them!"

A group of children swallowed hard, staring longingly at Qi Yu.

Several elderly people who were resting under the trees sighed and shook their heads as they watched Qi Yu teasing a group of children.

Young people these days are such scoundrels!

Don't stoop to the level of a child!

Qi Yu glanced at the group of unruly children, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"If you really want some, you can exchange three idioms for a string of candied hawthorns, and I won't repeat any!"

A group of mischievous kids looked at each other in bewilderment, and then gathered around.

……

Five minutes later, all the candied hawthorns were distributed, and Qi Yu sat down with the elderly people who were enjoying the cool air and drank tea.

“Young man, you are so young, you should be at home studying and taking the imperial examinations next year. Why are you wasting your time here?” an old man asked.