However, since this is Lu Xiaofeng's world, many things can be explained clearly.
For example, the Grand Eunuch Wang An before us had actually been bribed by the Prince of Pingnan long ago. He was a spy planted by the Prince of Pingnan within the palace. In this way, we can understand where this third strand of fortune truly came from.
"Your Majesty, since we've just met, let me give you a small gift. This eunuch is a traitor, at least not purely loyal to you. If nothing unexpected happens, he has likely already secretly switched sides," Lin Yang said, pointing at Wang An.
At the same time, Shi A placed his hand directly on the hilt of his sword, ready to draw his sword and cut Wang An down the moment he made any move.
Upon hearing this, Wang An was first startled, and then immediately complained, "Your Majesty, this old servant has been loyal to the end, from the late emperor to now, and has never had any disloyal thoughts."
"Hehe, whether there are any disloyal intentions or not can be determined with a simple investigation. I believe that if the court intends to investigate a servant, there is nothing that cannot be found. If I am indeed wrong, I will apologize to you," Lin Yang said with a smile.
Upon hearing this, Zhu Houzhao's expression became somewhat uncertain, and he looked at the hesitant Wang An with even more displeasure. If you truly haven't betrayed us, why worry? But if you have betrayed us, the thought made Zhu Houzhao's expression turn extremely grim.
Wang An was the Grand Eunuch of the Inner Court. If such a person betrayed the government, then who was behind him? Was it the Prince of Ning? Or some other vassal king?
"Your Majesty, this old servant is truly innocent. If you don't believe me, you can go and investigate now," Wang An said, kowtowing repeatedly. The sound of his kowtowing was incredibly loud, as if this could prove his loyalty.
However, at that moment, Wang An suddenly gritted his teeth, instantly leaped up from the floor, and charged towards Zhu Houzhao. Only he knew that he couldn't withstand an investigation.
"You tyrant, prepare to die!"
At the same time, Shi A, who was prepared, drew his sword and slashed lightly, cutting Wang An in half symmetrically from head to toe.
This was not only due to his superior swordsmanship, but more importantly, to the sharpness of his sword. Although his strength was still relatively low, preventing him from using very good weapons, he did possess a second-tier sword of exceptional quality.
If we were to draw an analogy, weapons like the Heaven-Slaying Sword and the Dragon-Slaying Saber would be considered second-tier weapons. Therefore, it's understandable that wielding a weapon equivalent to a divine weapon in this world would produce such an effect.
Seeing this, Zhu Houzhao's face turned very ugly. "I never expected that my Grand Eunuch would betray me. Does he think he can gain more by siding with someone else? What a fool, utterly idiotic!"
Indeed, Lin Yang also found this difficult to understand. He recalled that the original novel explained it this way: the Prince of Pingnan had bribed the man with gold and silver. Lin Yang could only chuckle at that…
Did Wang An not know that even if the coup succeeded, how could he, as the Grand Eunuch of the Inner Court, continue to live a carefree life? How naive must one be to believe such foolish talk?
"However, thank you very much this time. If it weren't for your help, Lin Yang, I don't know how long I would have been kept in the dark," Zhu Houzhao said, still somewhat shaken. It wasn't that he lacked the ability to accept things, but rather that the matter was simply too outrageous.
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Chapter Twenty-Three: You reap what you sow, but what about a hundred years from now?
"By the way, I'm giving you an imperial decree that allows you to freely access any intelligence information from the court. At the same time, a team of guards will be dispatched to protect you, so that no unruly individuals might bother you," Zhu Houzhao said with a smile, quickly regaining his composure.
"Then thank you very much, Your Majesty," Lin Yang said with a smile.
There's no way around it; they're worried and want to send a team of guards to monitor him, which is understandable. Emperors, after all, are all suspicious like that.
In the blink of an eye, half a month has passed.
"These martial arts practitioners in this world are truly audacious, or rather, lawless. They disregard the imperial court, and there are quite a few who kill people in the streets, even in the bustling city," Shi A said with some surprise.
It's important to understand that in the main world, even the most powerful wandering knights must abide by the rules. And when summoned by the imperial court in crucial moments, they will immediately serve the court.
Therefore, Shi A was quite surprised to suddenly see such wild and unruly martial arts practitioners who only knew how to destroy and disobey orders.
"You'll get used to it, you'll get used to it. The world is full of wonders. I reckon there will be even more strange and wonderful worlds to come in the future," Lin Yang said with a smile.
"Oh, by the way, Wenji, why are you so happy? It seems you've made quite a bit of progress in the past two weeks," Lin Yang said with a smile.
"Of course, Feipeng, as you know, my favorite thing to do is read. Moreover, I have a photographic memory since I was a child, and I can remember things clearly no matter how much time has passed."
Lin Yang expressed his complete understanding of this. He recalled that Cai Wenji, after decades of hardship and travel, returned to the Central Plains and still managed to transcribe thousands of volumes of books she had read in her childhood from memory.
Such a person is truly a genius. The phrase "photographic memory" sounds simple, but very few people in history have actually achieved it. Moreover, in the high-level world of the Three Kingdoms, it's only natural that Wenji possessed this ability, or rather, this talent.
“These days, I’ve been reading at least a thousand books every day. In just half a month, I’ve made some progress in understanding the history of this world. I’ve also discovered several interesting things,” Cai Yan said with a smile.
"Oh, what interesting thing could make you so happy, Wenji? Is it the whereabouts of the remaining Heavenly Jade Pendants?" Lin Yang asked subconsciously.
After all, the most valuable item for everyone is the remaining Heavenly Jade Pendant. Once they obtain it all, they can truly possess this world.
“Yes, Wenji, did you really discover something? However, since we are from beyond the heavens, we only need to check if there are other people from beyond the heavens to find out,” Shi A pressed.
Upon hearing this, Cai Yan nodded and then smiled, saying, "That's right. Based on my observation, this world is a typical martial arts world. Here, Taoist techniques are not prominent, literary energy is useless, and even the path of body refinement is too complicated and not worth the effort."
"According to records, during the time of the famous swordsman Shen Lang two hundred years ago, several strange people appeared. These people were highly skilled in martial arts, arrogant, and acted without any restraint, doing whatever they pleased. What's even stranger is that no matter how the major sects investigated, they could not find out the origin of these people."
"In addition, a hundred years ago, during the era of Li Xunhuan, the Little Flying Dagger, there were also a few strange people. These strange people were also highly skilled in martial arts, had no trace of origin, and were unscrupulous."
"Furthermore, these people often use words that are difficult to understand, such as 'natives' and 'small world'," Cai Yan said with a sneer.
It goes without saying that these two groups of people, like us, likely came to this world after someone used the Heavenly Jade Pendant to make a wish.
In other words, in the future, these people will be the ones vying with us for ownership of this world. Put simply, they are enemies of the Great Dao, and a struggle for the Great Dao is inevitable! A decisive victory is necessary. After all, a complete small world is already the greatest reward in itself.
To give a simple example, if Lin Yang obtained this small world and directly integrated it into the main world, it would immediately transform into a prefecture, or even a state. Simultaneously, he would gain a portion of the main world's Heavenly Dao's authority. What an incredible opportunity!
Of course, this process will face many challenges and is not something that can be achieved so easily. Even so, it is enough to illustrate how precious a complete little world is.
"So, Wenji, how much information have you found? Can you deduce their identities in the main world based on their behavioral characteristics? This way, we can make some preparations in advance," Lin Yang said.
"There's too little information. Even I can't deduce anything useful. After all, the Ming Dynasty in this world has only been established for a little over a hundred years. They're not very interested in matters of the martial arts world," Cai Yan said, shaking her head.
"It doesn't matter. If the imperial court doesn't have them, how could those great sects that have been around for thousands of years not have them? You know, Shaolin and Wudang in this world are super sects that have been around for hundreds, even thousands of years. Not to mention anything else, their scriptures are very rich." Lin Yang said with a sneer.
This time, the mission is to suppress the martial arts world and the Jianghu people. Let's use the power of the imperial court to have a good time with Shaolin and Wudang, and see if they know what's good for them.
Upon hearing this, Cai Yan and Shi A both nodded. Indeed, that's exactly right. In the struggle for the ultimate truth, there's no room for leniency. We'll see if these martial arts sects know what's good for them then.
"If we had enough time, we could easily sow discord, use coercion and enticement, and find a few political experts to gradually incite conflict between the disciples within the sect through intrigue and trickery."