The Great Martial Arts World: Hot Topics and Great Heroes

Ahem, even Eunuch Sun didn't know, and he dared not ask.

"Divine Marquis, there's no need to be too grateful to me. It's what we 'righteous people of the martial world' should do when we see injustice and lend a helping hand. Besides, Princess Yunluo and I are good friends!" Chu Luren said with a grin as he approached the Divine Marquis.

With this achievement, Zhao Tiedan wouldn't dare to offend him. If Zhao Tiedan could really control everything, would he need to go to such lengths to make such a fuss?

Cao Zhengchun, an old eunuch whose cunning and reputation are far inferior to his, is now able to check and balance the Dragon Guard Manor. Isn't that because the emperor and empress dowager trust the Eastern Depot more?

Previously, while at Ziliu Tea House, Chu Luren had carefully considered how to deal with Zhao Wushi after this "exposure".

Chu Luren referenced Zhao Wushi's scheming nature in the original work, as well as Cheng Shifei's relationship with Zhao Wushi before the ending...

Ultimately, I came to the conclusion that blindly following my heart would only arouse the old man's suspicion. Instead, I should be more casual and even offend him appropriately so that he would feel that I was not afraid of being noticed by him, which would make it easier to get away with it!

Suddenly approached by Chu Luren, Zhao Wushi's eyes turned cold. He then turned around subtly and said, "I'm going to pay my respects to the Empress Dowager and also see... if I've been taken advantage of by treacherous people!"

Chapter 265 Please Reward

"Princess, Eunuch Cao said you were kidnapped, but you said it was a plan with your friends to rescue the Empress Dowager. What's going on?" Zhao Wushi asked Yunluo with a serious expression.

Yun Luo usually respected this imperial uncle, but at this moment she only felt slightly guilty. She then said, "Eunuch Cao... you've misunderstood! At that time, Master Chu was teaching me acupoint striking, but when Eunuch Cao came in, he thought Master Chu was attacking me, so he misunderstood!"

"Right? Eunuch Cao?" Yunluo said, looking at Cao Zhengchun.

This was also what Chu Luren had told Yunluo before—don't think about accusing Cao Zhengchun of wrongdoing. This matter won't bring him down at all. It's better to clear his name of the suspicion of attacking the princess and get him to support Yunluo's "reversal of the verdict".

Yunluo was initially unconvinced and privately mentioned to her brother that Cao Zhengchun had almost injured her. However, the emperor was not interested in this and only said that she was mistaken and that Eunuch Cao was just confused and mistakenly thought that Chu Luren was an assassin.

Now that she saw Shenhou criticizing Chu Luren, Yunluo naturally followed suit and recounted the events as Chu Luren had described.

Upon hearing Yunluo call his name, Cao Zhengchun said with a smile, "That's right. This old servant's eyesight is failing, and I must have made a mistake. Fortunately, this mistake turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Princess Yunluo is a heroine among women, and together with Hero Chu, she rescued the Empress Dowager. Otherwise, this old servant would truly be guilty of a thousand deaths... I hope Your Majesty will punish me."

Cao Zhengchun was the best at understanding the emperor's intentions, so he naturally understood that "the princess must not have been kidnapped," and... Cao Zhengchun would never mind doing as many things as possible to displease the Divine Marquis.

Just as the Marquis was about to ask something else, the Empress Dowager interrupted and took over the conversation...

"This young man, Lu Ren, is very public-spirited. Although my eyesight is failing, I am not so foolish as to misjudge him. Could it be that the Divine Marquis has some misunderstanding about him?" The Empress Dowager's joints had been massaged and reset by the imperial physician, and she could now sit up with difficulty.

"Your Majesty, I dare not. It's just that my friend, Master Chu, is related to Gu Santong, who stirred up a bloody storm in the martial arts world twenty years ago, so..." Zhao Wushi understood the Empress Dowager's meaning and dared not press the matter further.

Are the "lies" made up by Chu Luren and Yun Luo really without any loopholes?

impossible!

Yunluo had no reliable explanation for why Chu Luren was in the palace in the middle of the night.

However, with Cao Zhengchun, who was in charge of the security of the Forbidden City, helping to cover up the lie, and the Empress Dowager's words already carrying a strong sense of "hinting," Shenhou dared not question it directly.

"Shenhou is overthinking it. It's still uncertain whether my friend was even born twenty years ago. Gu Santong has been imprisoned by Shenhou for the past twenty years. What kind of relationship could they possibly have? At most, it's just a coincidence that they ran into each other when the Heavenly Prison collapsed."

"The reason he stayed in the palace these past few days was to secretly gather information about the Empress Dowager," Chu Luren explained.

Hearing what Chu Luren said, the emperor and empress dowager, who originally wanted to ask what was going on, nodded in agreement, thinking that the Marquis was making a mountain out of a molehill—why would you cause trouble for a young man in his early twenties when it happened twenty years ago?

"That's right, Divine Marquis, when the last three levels of the Heavenly Prison collapsed, did you find out the truth?" the emperor asked at this moment.

This was somewhat of a change of topic, but since the emperor had initiated it, the Marquis had no choice but to continue...

"Your Majesty, I... am still investigating. The list of missing criminals has been compiled." Shenhou said, glancing at Chu Luren.

check?

The day the lake water overflowed, this person inexplicably appeared in the palace. It's obvious that it's related to him, but we're not allowed to ask him anything, so why bother investigating?

At this point, Shenhou stopped dwelling on the matter of Chu Luren and Cheng Shifei. After all, with the Empress Dowager protecting him, he couldn't afford to stand out too much. The Empress Dowager and the Emperor were already secretly wary of him...

If I weren't childless, I'm afraid my vigilance would be even deeper.

More importantly, Shenhou also felt that Chu Luren's words made sense—at Cheng Shifei's age, what relationship could Gu Santong have with him?

Nine times out of ten, he simply passed on his skills to that petty hoodlum who happened to be imprisoned before he died!

It might actually be a good thing that a good-for-nothing hoodlum inherited Gu Santong's martial arts skills; perhaps... he could even make use of them.

Imagine having the descendants of Gu Santong as your tools – wouldn't that be wonderful!

As for why Chu Luren was able to rescue the Empress Dowager?

The Marquis also wanted to know what those Japanese scoundrels were up to, but it wasn't appropriate to contact them immediately.

After the Divine Marquis briefly explained the situation in the Heavenly Prison, the Emperor did not offer any comments. Instead, he asked Chu Luren about the rescue of the Empress Dowager. The seasoned veterans present understood that this was an opportunity for Chu Luren to claim credit!

Chu Luren and Yun Luo had already exchanged statements, so they omitted things like "stealing salted fish" and recounted the thrilling and dangerous rescue process.

It wasn't exactly embellished, after all, the Empress Dowager was right behind Chu Luren at the time, it was indeed very dangerous!

Upon hearing that another expert from Japan had just returned and had even captured Yunluo, the Emperor, though he had already heard the story once before, still broke out in a cold sweat, and the Empress Dowager was equally terrified.

Shenhou thought to himself: They're both here? How did you escape?

"Fortunately, I had a sudden inspiration and learned the 'Star Absorbing Technique' from my friends in the martial arts world. I also happened to know that... what the Divine Marquis was good at back then was the same as that evil Gu Santong, the 'Power Absorption Technique' that could steal people's power and steal their skills!" Chu Luren said, taking two steps closer to the Divine Marquis, with a hint of provocation.

Seeing that Shangguan Haitang and Duan Tianya were both glaring at him, he retreated. Duan Tianya was one thing, but since Master Shangguan had helped him before, Chu Luren gave her some face.

"So I claimed to be a disciple of the Divine Marquis and used the Star Absorbing Technique. Sure enough, they were all terrified, which is how I rescued the princess and escaped." Chu Luren was actually telling the truth.

Shenhou realized what was going on—those Japanese fools thought this guy was one of my men?

But... was it really just a coincidence?

As Shenhou pondered this, he narrowed his eyes, just in time to see Chu Luren turn his head and wink at him.

Yes, now the Marquis is about 80% certain that Chu Luren has also met Gu Santong!

The fact that he knew the "Absorption Technique" was probably told to him by Gu Santong. He may have even heard Gu Santong mention the time when he framed Gu Santong.

Thinking about it this way, Shenhou felt a little more at ease—there was no way to overturn the case of what happened back then, and besides... compared with what he was planning now, ambushing some masters from various sects in the martial arts world was nothing at all!

At most, this means that even if the Marquis of Shenhou understood that Chu Luren must have thought of himself as a despicable person, and that before he could erase what Gu Santong had said to him, his image as "Zhao Tiedan, who is devoted to the court, and the wise old king who has devoted himself to the cause" was not firmly established in Chu Luren's mind.

Of course, the Marquis will still try to find out how much the Chu Lu people really know...

After hearing Chu Luren's description, the emperor was deeply moved and asked, "Great Hero Chu is indeed a brave and chivalrous man! You saved the Empress Dowager this time, what reward do you desire? Would you be willing to serve as an official in the court?"

Upon hearing this, the Marquis looked displeased, as if he wanted to stop the emperor but was unwilling to disobey him. However, he actually agreed in his heart—keeping this kid under control would allow him to test what the boy really knew!

Chu Luren shook his head repeatedly: "No, no, no, I am but a commoner, utterly incompetent in both literary and martial arts. The reason I risked my life was firstly because of my friendship with the princess, and secondly because I couldn't stand the actions of those Japanese. If Your Majesty wishes to reward me..."

Seeing that Chu Luren glanced at him as he spoke, Zhao Wushi felt a sense of foreboding...

Chapter 266 Like a Wise Man

When Chu Luren mentioned his "friendship with the princess," the emperor thought he was about to propose something difficult, since bestowing a marriage upon the princess was no small matter...

To his surprise, Chu Luren's request was something far beyond his expectations!

"I have always admired the actions of the Number One Manor in the World. The Heroic List has truly set a moral benchmark for the martial arts world and guided us in the right direction! In order to further promote the positive energy of the martial arts world, I humbly request the Number One Manor in the World to add a sentence for me to the list in the next quarter..." Chu Luren said, pausing for a moment.

"Let's call him 'The Brave Knight, the Backbone of the Martial World'!" Chu Luren borrowed the emperor's evaluation of him.

Zhao Wushi remained expressionless and did not look at him, while Shangguan Haitang was already glaring at him—"These words are written all over your head, Chu Taisui. How much criticism will I, the master of the manor, suffer?"

After all, the merits that Chu Luren made this time cannot be made public. If some other irrelevant "merits" are added to the list and only these eight words are given, it will probably cause an uproar!

"Thanks to the Divine Marquis's 'guidance' of the martial arts world over the years, and although I cannot openly reward Hero Chu for his merits this time, I believe that someone like Hero Chu must be a role model in the martial arts world. If everyone in the martial arts world could be like him, the Great Song Dynasty would be blessed." Although the Empress Dowager did not directly agree on behalf of the Emperor, her meaning was clear.

In particular, the fact that he repeated Chu Luren's words about "leading the martial arts world" at the beginning clearly had a warning tone in mind...

"Your Majesty flatters me. Your Majesty, I have been busy enough with the affairs of the Dragon Guard Manor these past few years. Moreover, most people in the martial arts world do not like my royal status. Therefore, the number one manor in the world has long been handed over to the secret agent Shangguan. Usually, I mainly rely on Wan Sanqian's subsidies to search for talented people from all over the world. The ranking of chivalrous people is just a side thing and has nothing to do with the Dragon Guard Manor anymore."

Shenhou didn't dare to openly say that there was no connection, but he didn't forget to emphasize that the number one manor in the world was not his, and most people in the martial arts world were not convinced by him.

As for the 13,000, everyone knows that he was a good friend of Shenhou and the richest man in Jiangnan after Jiang Feng's family was destroyed.

"What does the secret agent Shangguan think?" the Empress Dowager asked Shangguan Haitang directly.

"Your Majesty, I believe..."

Just as Shangguan Haitang was looking troubled, the emperor interrupted, "Alright, there's nothing to be troubled about. These eight characters... I'll write them for Chu Yingxiong! The chivalry list of the number one manor in the world and the major events in the martial arts world also collect major events in the martial arts world, right? My writing can also be considered a major event, can't it?"

"Your Majesty..." Shenhou seemed to want to try to persuade him.

However, the emperor said directly, "My mind is made up. Marquis Shen and Eunuch Cao, you should find out as soon as possible what the origins of those Japanese who kidnapped the Empress Dowager are, and who is cooperating with them!"

"Yes!"

"According to the order."

Zhao Wushi and Cao Zhengchun both agreed.

Yunluo has already told her brother about Yagyu Tajima-no-kami's matter. However, Fusang has always had friction with the Song court at sea, so it is not surprising that they would do this. The key point is that the other party landed in Lin'an without anyone noticing, and easily entered and exited the palace and kidnapped the Empress Dowager. Obviously, there was a mole working on it!

At this moment, Chu Luren interjected, "Your Majesty, may I ask a question?"

"Master Chu is the one who has directly confronted those ruthless villains. I hope you will cooperate with Marquis Shen and Eunuch Cao in their investigations. If you have any guesses, please feel free to speak them." The Emperor nodded.

"Did any of the Izumo Kingdom's delegation come to the palace this morning to request an imperial decree to express their gratitude? Also... who was in charge of searching the hideout of the Japanese that Princess Yunluo and I discovered?" Chu Luren asked two crucial questions.

Upon hearing Chu Luren mention Izumo, everyone present understood that he suspected the Izumo delegation!

As for the more important and direct question that followed, Chu Luren originally wanted to put Shenhou in a difficult position and cause him trouble, so that he would not focus his energy on targeting him.

After all, in the original work, the Empress Dowager was hidden in the State Guesthouse. According to Zhang Jinjiu, the "Number One Detective in the World," from the perspective that "no one would search," there are only three possible places where the Empress Dowager could be hidden: the Dragon Guard Manor, the Eastern Depot, and the State Guesthouse!

Needless to say, neither the Eastern Depot's agents would be allowed into the first two places, nor would the Eastern Depot's secret agents be allowed into the palace. As for the State Guesthouse, since it concerns the national dignity, neither side would search it.

With both the Dragon Guard Manor and the Eastern Depot taking action, these three locations are the only ones that will remain unsearched…

However, to guard against the Chu Lu people who might follow along, the Empress Dowager was not sent to the state guesthouse, but to another secret hideout. This raises a question—why wasn't this place searched? The entire city of Lin'an should have been searched these past few days!

Just as Chu Luren was waiting for Shenhou to be in trouble, there was a thud, and Cao Zhengchun knelt down...

"Your Majesty! This servant deserves to die!"

Chu Luren: ...

You old eunuch, you really deserve to die!

Chu Luren understood the reason from Cao Zhengchun's apology—the one in charge of searching that place was not the Dragon Guard Manor, but the Eastern Depot!

Because it was nominally the place where Cao Zhengchun's adopted son, a eunuch, kept his mistress, they managed to bypass the Eastern Depot's security and didn't search that area...

Chu Luren remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he was half admiring and half... beginning to take it for granted.

Considering how Shenhou deceived everyone's caution in the first thirty episodes, it's clear that the ronin's hideout, which was indeed a candidate for a hiding place, wouldn't be protected by the Dragon Guard Manor!