Yuan Zong nodded slightly, his expression grave as he reminded him:
"My lord, I have also learned that the envoys from the six kingdoms did not all come to offer condolences to King Xiaocheng."
"Among the delegations from the six countries, there were many swordsmen with superb swordsmanship."
"They all expressed their dissatisfaction because of our lord's title of God of Swords, and they came to Handan this time to compete with our lord."
Chapter 64 A bad feeling, something big is about to happen.
Envoys from the six kingdoms arrived in Handan one after another.
Li Yao entrusted the task of receiving the envoys from the six states to the physician Guo Kai.
Guo Kai is now as obedient as a lamb, completely submissive to Li Yao and daring not to disobey him in the slightest.
He had no choice but to submit, because Li Yao had arranged for two Mohists to 'protect' him closely.
Furthermore, there were also spies planted by Li Yao near his residence.
In fact, many of the guards in his household were Li Yao's men.
It could be said that even Guo Kai's eating, drinking, and relieving himself were under the surveillance of the Mohists.
The funeral of King Hyoseong was also carried out according to certain procedures.
After the funeral, Ji Yanran, known as the most talented woman in the world, extended invitations to talented people and dignitaries from various countries to attend a political banquet.
The banquet was held at Liu Huasheng's home, where Ji Yanran was temporarily staying.
Liu Huasheng was a great Confucian scholar of the Zhao state, belonging to the Confucian school.
Zou Yan and Liu Huasheng are good friends, and Zou Yan and Ji Yanran have a good personal relationship.
Therefore, Ji Yanran and Zou Yan are temporarily staying at Liu Huasheng's home.
As the Grand Tutor of Zhao and the de facto ruler of Zhao, Li Yao naturally received Ji Yanran's invitation.
The banquet was held in the evening. After finishing his business, Li Yao, accompanied by two Mohists, took a carriage to Liu's residence for the banquet.
Just as the carriage was about to arrive at Liu's residence, Li Yao, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them.
Li Yao ordered the two Mohists driving the carriage, "Turn back immediately!"
The two Mohists were taken aback and asked in confusion, "Why?"
Li Yao said with a solemn expression, "Let's go back first and talk about it later!"
Seeing that the Grand Master's expression was serious, the two Mohists immediately turned their carriage around and headed back to the Mohist Guild.
Li Yao alighted from the carriage and asked the Mohist guard at the gate, "Is Yuanzong here?"
The Mohist was taken aback when he saw the Grand Master suddenly return, and then replied, "Reporting to the Grand Master, the Vice Grand Master is not in the guild."
As Li Yao walked inside, he asked again, "Are Shan Rou and Zhao Zhi here?"
The Mohist nodded and said, "They are all here."
Immediately, Li Yao strode towards Shan Rou and Zhao Zhi's residence.
Just then, Shan Rou and Zhao Zhi were talking in the courtyard.
They were all taken aback when they suddenly saw Li Yao.
Shanrou quickly asked, "Didn't you go to the Liu residence for a banquet? Why are you back?"
Zhao Zhidao: "Could it be that the political banquet has already ended?"
Li Yao's expression was unusually solemn. He waved his hand and said, "I turned back before I even reached the Liu residence. Let me ask you first: have you checked all the people who attended the political banquet at the Liu residence tonight?"
Shan Rou and Zhao Zhi nodded at the same time. Zhao Zhi said, "Of course we found out. The people at this banquet were all nobles and talents from the six kingdoms. How could our Mohist Guild let go of such important information?"
Li Yao nodded and said, "Very good. Bring out the list of guests for the banquet and let me take a look."
Zhao Zhi said doubtfully, "Master, we have already checked, and there are no suspicious people among the people who attended the banquet."
Shanrou quickly asked, "You've discovered someone suspicious?"
Li Yao shook his head and said, "I can't explain it clearly right now, but I have a bad feeling that something big is going to happen tonight. Stop talking nonsense and show me the list."
Zhao Zhi nodded quickly, then turned and went into the room.
A short while later, she came out of the room with six pieces of silk in her hand.
Li Yao took the silk cloth and examined it carefully, piece by piece.
He was familiar with most of the names on the list and couldn't discern anything unusual.
Finally, as he held the list of Qin officials in his hand, he suddenly frowned and said, "Wasn't Guan Zhongxie, Lü Buwei's confidant, also sent with the Qin delegation? Why isn't he on the list for tonight's political banquet?"
"A curse within a tube?"
Shan Rou and Zhao Zhi both frowned.
They didn't notice this detail.
However, Guan Zhongxie's reputation was not prominent among the Seven Kingdoms, so it's not surprising that Ji Yanran did not invite him.
They couldn't understand why the Grand Master was so interested in Guan Zhongxie.
Zhao Zhi said in confusion, "Guan Zhongxie is just Lü Buwei's confidant. It's not surprising that he wasn't on Ji Cai Nu's invitation list."
Shan Rou suddenly slapped her forehead and said, "I remember now. According to the Mohists who were monitoring the Qin delegation, Guan Zhongxie fell ill at the post station due to the long journey and the change in environment."
Li Yao snorted and said, "Even those scholars who don't know martial arts have never been known to suffer from acclimatization problems. How come he is the one suffering from acclimatization problems? You must know that Guan Zhongxie is a famous swordsman in Qin. There must be something strange about this."
At this point, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he said in a deep voice, "Could it be that he came for them?"
Then he turned and left.
Shan Rou and Zhao Zhi exchanged bewildered glances, wondering what Li Yao was really up to.
They quickly caught up with him and asked, "Master, what have you discovered? Where are you going now?"
Without turning his head, Li Yao said, "Go to the inn where the Qin delegation is staying."
Shan Rou and Zhao Zhi were both completely confused.
However, they immediately gave the order to prepare three fine horses.
Li Yao and his two companions mounted their horses and headed towards the inn where the Qin delegation was staying.
Soon, Li Yao and his two companions arrived outside the post station.
They found the Mohist who was in charge of monitoring the post station.
Li Yao asked, "Did Guan Zhongxie go out tonight?"
The Mohist was somewhat surprised, not understanding why the Grand Master would suddenly ask about Guan Zhongxie.
However, he still answered truthfully: "Guan Zhongxie has been staying at the post station to recuperate due to the change in environment and has not stepped out of the post station."
Li Yao frowned and asked sternly, "Are you sure?"
The Mohist was intimidated by the imposing aura emanating from Li Yao. He quickly bowed and said, "I have been monitoring the post station here the whole time and have not left for a moment. I can confirm that Guan Zhongxie has indeed not left the post station."
Li Yao then asked, "Has Xu Xian left the post station?"
The Mohist replied, "Xu Xian has just left the post station and is on his way to a banquet at the Liu residence."
Li Yao asked, "Will Mr. Xu travel by carriage or ride a horse?"
The Mohist replied, "By carriage."
Li Yao asked, "Has the carriage been inspected?"
The Mohist replied, "We checked. The driver was someone we arranged, and there was no one else in the carriage except for Xu Xian."
Seeing that Li Yao was asking such detailed questions, Shan Rou couldn't help but say, "Master, if you are worried that Guan Zhongxie is not at the post station, let me sneak into the post station and find out."
Li Yao pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said, "No need. If I'm not mistaken, Guan Zhongxie is no longer at the post station."
The Mohist immediately knelt on one knee and said, "Your Excellency, I have been keeping watch here the whole time and have not dared to slack off in the slightest. I did not see Guan Zhongxie leave the post station."
Li Yao waved his hand, mounted his horse, and rode away.
Shan Rou and Zhao Zhi were becoming increasingly confused, not understanding what Li Yao was trying to do.
They quickly mounted their horses and gave chase.
Chapter 65 The Beauty Zhu Ji, the Useless Fake Ying Zheng
Li Yao rode his horse at full gallop, heading in a certain direction.
Shan Rou and Zhao Zhi rode their horses in a daze, closely following behind Li Yao.
Soon, they heard the sounds of a fierce fight.
Shan Rou and Zhao Zhi exchanged a glance, both seeing surprise in each other's eyes.
As expected, Li Yao's premonition was accurate; something big indeed happened tonight.
At the same time, they all understood why Li Yao was always concerned about Guan Zhongxie's whereabouts.
Because the hostage residence is right in front of us.
Inside the hostage residence, Qin's hostage Ying Zheng and his mother Zhu Ji were placed under house arrest.
They remembered that Li Yao had said that Zhu Ji was Lü Buwei's old lover, and that Ying Zheng was very likely Lü Buwei's illegitimate son.
Prior to this, Lü Buwei had sent Tu Xian and Xiao Yuetan to secretly contact Wu Yingyuan, hoping to use the Wu family's influence to rescue Zhu Ji and Ying Zheng.
Unfortunately, Li Yao used a combination of soft and hard tactics to capture Wu Shiluo and Wu Yingyuan in one fell swoop.
In other words, Lü Buwei's previous rescue plan failed.
Unexpectedly, Lü Buwei had not given up. Taking advantage of the opportunity to mourn King Xiaocheng, he once again sent people to rescue Zhu Ji and Ying Zheng.
In fact, Lü Buwei's eagerness to rescue Zhu Ji and Ying Zheng was out of desperation.
In name, Ying Zheng was the son of Ying Yiren, the current king of Qin.