The Great Martial Arts World: Hot Topics and Great Heroes

Chapter 533 Sowing Discord

Chu Luren, with a strong sense of ownership, and Shangguan Haitang, led by Li Tiande, arrived at the small warehouse where several thousand sets of thin cotton clothes were still stored.

It's described as a thin cotton coat, but... well, it's the kind that's very convenient; you can wash it directly like a single layer of clothing, and you don't have to worry about it not drying in a day.

"Could it be that the people from the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue think it would be embarrassing to present this cotton-padded coat to the Empress Dowager?" Chu Luren naturally guessed.

"Last year, military supplies were in short supply everywhere, and it wasn't something we were trying to cover up!" Shangguan Haitang refuted Chu Luren's irresponsible speculation.

Of course, Shangguan Haitang's expression was also rather unpleasant—she hadn't expected it to break like this.

But how should I put it?

To put it bluntly, it's unbelievable that, given the already insufficient military supplies, everyone was still trying to skim off the top!

Ultimately, however, this series of exploitations is to the extent that one can grit their teeth and bear it; at least it's not more serious than burning these "meaningful birthday gifts"...

Moreover, if it was the Ministry of Revenue or the Ministry of War that was involved, Shangguan Haitang knew them well and would definitely contact the Giant Whale Gang privately to ask them to replace some of the perfunctory thin cotton-padded clothes with more presentable ones. The Empress Dowager wouldn't look at them all, and the Giant Whale Gang wouldn't bother with them.

Why take such a risk?

Shangguan Haitang's intuition told her that there were other secrets involved.

Shangguan Haitang stepped forward, picked up a cotton coat, and with a swipe of her hand, the already thin fabric was cut open—there are several ways to do this in the "Traceless Heart Sutra".

Revealing a pitiful little bit of cotton inside, Shangguan Haitang shook it and found an extra small cloth pouch sewn on. She quickly picked it out and opened it, finding a small piece of cloth inside with words written on it.

Seeing this, Chu Luren quickly went over to look: "Li Dazhuang, Shizi Village, Ningyuan County, Daozhou..."

Chu Luren initially thought it was some kind of trick by Guo Juxia to frame him, but after seeing the words on it, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Sew a lining on the clothes and write your name on it, so that you won't not know who you were after you die on the battlefield—after all, no one cares about checking the dead these days, and if the battle is too fierce, no one might even look at the lining!

Shangguan Haitang tore open several pieces and examined them carefully, but apart from the names left behind, she found nothing suspicious. Besides the names and places of origin, there were only some blessings for her family.

However, just as Chu Luren breathed a sigh of relief, Shangguan Haitang seemed to have gotten addicted to tearing things up, and Li Tiande, who was standing to the side, did not dare to stop her—he had already made such a big mess, how could he dare to stop Shangguan Haitang from tearing up a few more pieces?

After tearing up twenty or thirty pieces, Shangguan Haitang stopped, her expression somewhat grave. Chu Luren, seeing this, asked, "What did you find?"

Shangguan Haitang glanced at Chu Luren, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "A large portion of the officers and soldiers wrote words of blessing for Hero Guo."

"What does that prove?" Chu Luren was taken aback at first, then raised his voice by three octaves.

Chu Luren had already somewhat understood the other party's "scheme": it wasn't about obtaining any evidence, but rather about boosting Guo Juxia's popularity in Xiangyang, thereby arousing suspicion in Lin'an.

Well, it's not a big problem that the soldiers' military supplies are being skimmed off at every level, but it's a big problem that a semi-江湖人士 (jianghu figure) has a lot of influence in the army!

"It doesn't prove anything, but it's true that someone set fire to the place last night and tried to cover something up." Shangguan Haitang was obviously unwilling to argue with Chu Luren about this matter, but at the same time, she had already made some guesses in her mind.

"Absurd! I think it's you government employees who can't catch the arsonist and want Guo Juxia to take the blame!" Chu Luren angrily accused.

"I haven't said anything yet!" Shangguan Haitang was also very dissatisfied with Chu Luren's reaction.

It's true that Guo Juxia is famous, but in the eyes of Chu Luren, is the Dragon Guard Manor really that bad?

Besides, I haven't said anything yet; I can only say that the situation is somewhat suspicious and needs to be investigated...

Afterwards, Shangguan Haitang calmed down a bit and said, "I also believe in Guo Juxia's character, but it's hard to say that he might not be some meddlesome person in the martial arts world who thought this matter would be detrimental to Guo Juxia, so he acted rashly."

Chu Luren didn't care about these words. As long as it was determined that it was done by people in the martial arts world and for the sake of Guo Juxia, the nature of the matter was already very clear—the people and soldiers of Xiangyang only knew about Guo Juxia and did not know about the imperial court!

"You know what you're thinking... If this causes trouble in Xiangyang, half the blame lies with the person who framed you, and half with you!" Chu Luren's tone was anything but pleasant.

Although Chu Luren knew that Shangguan Haitang was mostly unaware that this was a conspiracy by the Giant Whale Gang's traitor, the Japanese, and even the Iron-Blooded Marquis behind it, and that she was simply being used and had discovered these things, he still couldn't suppress his anger when he saw that she was going to report in this direction and investigate the matter—especially since Shangguan Haitang was indeed a member of the Dragon Guard Manor!

"If anything goes wrong, the Dragon Guard Manor and I will take responsibility. There's no need for Grand Duke Chu to worry about it!" Shangguan Haitang's tone also became stiff.

Li Tiande stood to the side, head down, not daring to speak, pretending not to have heard anything.

In theory, the list of chivalrous heroes was compiled by the number one manor in the world, which means that after information screening, Shangguan Haitang personally corrected it. As can be seen from the fact that Guo Juxia was ranked tenth on the list, Shangguan Haitang had no doubts about Guo Juxia's character.

However, she did not believe that she could conceal the truth because of her small amount of trust. Regardless of whether it was Guo Juxia who instructed her or whether it would cause trouble in Xiangyang, she had to report the truth.

Shangguan Haitang felt that if this matter had nothing to do with Guo Juxia, she would definitely find out the truth. Chu Luren felt that if this news got out, regardless of whether Guo Juxia was the one who did it, rifts and suspicions would arise, which was exactly what the mastermind behind the scenes wanted.

The two couldn't understand each other and naturally parted on bad terms.

When Chu Luren returned to the inn, Yang Guo had already found a chance to leave without alerting anyone. Chu Luren had previously reminded him to be careful in his affairs, otherwise he would only cause trouble for his Uncle Guo.

In the inn, Chu Luren pondered the situation deeply, but still felt that there was no way to break the deadlock...

Although in reality, Guo Juxia's reputation may not have been that high. It is highly likely that there was an insider in the Giant Whale Gang who collected cotton-padded clothes with Guo Juxia's name on them on the ship, so that the proportion of the "surviving" cotton-padded clothes mentioning Guo Juxia was far greater than the actual proportion!

However, under the current circumstances, it is of little significance to either find out the truth about the arson or to explain whether someone deliberately instigated it.

Even if Yagyu Tajima-no-kami surrenders himself, the seeds of suspicion have already been sown...

Seeing that Chu Luren was sullen, Lianxing asked what was wrong, even though she wasn't interested in such things.

"Afraid? The people of the court are still so ridiculous... Chu Lang, do you not want Guo Juxia to be recalled? Otherwise, shall we burn the remaining cotton clothes tonight? Or... go to Lin'an to make an example of him?" Lianxing said after listening.

"No, it's too late to destroy the evidence now; it will only arouse suspicion. Besides, once we get to Lin'an, there will be many experts in the capital. Remember not to cause trouble then," Chu Luren hurriedly instructed.

"Yes, don't worry, I know." Lianxing wasn't just acting recklessly; she also knew a bit about the situation in Lin'an.

Moreover... no matter how many hidden talents are in Lin'an, there are only two people who can reliably defeat her: Zhao Wushi and Cao Zhengchun!

"I'll talk to Rongrong about it then, maybe we'll find a solution."

Unable to come up with a solution, Chu Luren could only hope to first go to Lin'an and then find Huang Rong to work together to find a solution...

"Rongrong?" Lianxing asked in confusion.

"Yes, she's the daughter of Huang Island Master of the Eastern Heretic, one of my best friends, and very... clever!" Chu Luren introduced.

Chapter 534 Hero Jiang, don't you think so?

Chu Luren rushed all the way from Wuxi to Lin'an, and even though he originally planned to visit Aunt Li at Mantuo Villa along the way, he didn't have time to do so.

In just two days, they traveled from Wuxi to Yuhang, which is near Lin'an, the capital city.

The main reason for the delay was Xiaoyuer and Jiang Yulang, since the two of them were handcuffed together, which was quite inconvenient...

In the end, it was Chu Luren who took the initiative to let them ride together on one horse, and that's when they started to go faster!

Upon arriving in Yuhang, Jiang Biehe came to visit that very night after he checked into an inn in the county town.

After all, Chu Luren was quite conspicuous along the way. From the moment the Giant Whale Gang and Chu Luren boarded the same ship, rumors had already spread throughout the martial arts world. When Chu Luren arrived in Wuxi, the news spread even more widely.

Moreover, Chu Luren was very considerate of young people along the way. In order to give young people like Jiang Yulang a chance to become famous, he widely spread the story of how he spent three years finally planning to drown Xiao Mimi.

As for why it takes three years to drown a person?

Of course, it's... preparation!

Jiang Yulang was also cunning and scheming. He knew that Chu Luren was intentionally humiliating him, or even using him to humiliate his father, but he always pretended not to notice and became more and more respectful to Chu Luren...

Jiang Biehe finally came looking for him, otherwise Chu Luren would have dragged Jiang Yulang around for who knows how long.

When Jiang Biehe came to pay his respects to Chu Luren, he was very polite. After learning where Chu Luren was staying, he called out loudly outside the inn, "Jiang Biehe has come to pay his respects to Young Master Chu and hopes to meet you." His voice was long and gentle, which not only demonstrated his profound inner strength but also showed his good manners.

In contrast, others felt that Chu Luren's previous behavior of dragging Jiang Yulang around to publicize the glorious deeds of "killing Xiao Mimi" was somewhat petty.

Of course, this only applies to ordinary people in the martial arts world. To the people of Chulu, Jiang Biehe's internal strength is far from "profound," and can only be considered first-rate at best, probably similar to Yue Buqun after he castrated himself.

After all, he only started practicing martial arts diligently after he killed Jiang Feng. Before that, he only had a rudimentary understanding of fist and foot techniques, so he had already missed the best age.

All things considered, Jiang Biehe's current martial arts skills are already a testament to his considerable talent and excellent opportunities.

Moreover, Jiang Biehe was never known for his martial arts skills, but rather for his reputation for "benevolence and righteousness"!

The area around Lin'an was already a melting pot of all sorts of people, and it's become especially lively lately, with many martial arts practitioners also present in Yuhang...

After discovering that Jiang Biehe had visited Chu Luren, many people became very interested.

Do you think Master Jiang will fall out with Lord Chu?

"No way? Both of them are top-ranked heroes on the Heavenly Ranking. If they start a conflict at this time, it will be bad for the Dragon Guard Manor's reputation."

"Tsk tsk, what kind of conflict could there be? Jiang Biehe is no match for Chu Taisui, who could take him down with one hand?"

Does having high martial arts skills mean you can do whatever you want?

"Who has acted arbitrarily? Chu Tai Sui rushed thousands of miles to aid the Four Wonders of the South and even rescued Young Master Jiang. He is a role model for us all!"

"Hey, you guys really don't know what he was thinking when he publicized Young Master Jiang's deeds before? Wasn't it just because he couldn't stand that Hero Jiang's reputation for benevolence and righteousness was greater than his?"

"What? You found out again? You're so knowledgeable, yet you've always been the one spreading gossip!"

"That's right, you were the one who told me about Young Master Jiang and Xiao Mimi yesterday, all excited about it..."

"I...I was just relaying!"

……

The clamor of discussion perfectly reflected the thoughts of people in the martial arts world—Chu Luren's actions seemed petty, but... the dignified Red and White Grand Duke, with his high martial arts skills and unrestrained behavior, although he often "fought in the wild," was admired by many outlaws and half-black-and-white martial arts people.

For most people in the martial arts world, even if they outwardly look down on Chu Taisui for being petty, they still gossip about him a lot behind his back. There are very few people in the martial arts world who can keep their mouths shut.

"Please come in, Master Jiang." Chu Luren spoke in the courtyard of the inn, his sonic skills far superior to Jiang Biehe's.

Lianxing, her voice a mixture of joy and dissatisfaction, whispered, "Chu Lang, many people outside praise you, but there are also some shameless people who criticize you. Should we..."

"No, we are all reasonable people." Chu Luren gently pressed her hand down.

Lianxing blushed and then asked, "Does Jiang Biehe know me? Should I avoid him?"

Lianxing and Chuluren had also mentioned Jiang Biehe's matter. The two palace masters of Yihua Palace were among the few people who knew his true identity as "Jiang Qin".

However, there is no evidence for either the twelve constellations or the Yihua Palace.

The difference is that the former can no longer control the Jiangnan Hero, while the latter does not need evidence—Jiang Biehe is now often secretly working for the Yihua Palace.

Lianxing did not know about Hua Wuque's background, but she told Chu Luren about Jiang Biehe's background.

"If he recognizes you, would he dare to say it?" Chu Luren actually knew the answer, but still asked one more question.

“If Chu Lang doesn’t want him to say something, he naturally won’t say it.” Lianxing was very confident—in fact, she was just showing that she didn’t want him to say something, and Jiang Biehe would just pretend not to see it.

After thinking for a moment, Chu Luren decided, "Then we don't need to avoid it."

At this moment, Jiang Biehe had also entered, while Chu Luren, presumptuously, did not get up at all. Only Jiang Yulang and Xiaoyuer went to greet Jiang Biehe—Xiaoyuer was completely led away.

When Jiang Biehe first entered, he hadn't noticed Lianxing yet, because before Jiang Biehe stepped into the inner courtyard, she had already naturally stood up and deliberately stood behind Chu Luren...