#373 - trade

Great Ning Imperial Palace, Stone Canal Pavilion.

As Fengyuan experienced its first autumn rain, the Great Ning capital was also shrouded in a curtain of rain.

However, compared to the gentle rain of Fengyuan, the rain in Great Ning was much heavier and more turbulent.

"Rumble!"

Lightning tore through the dark clouds, and thunder rumbled through the night.

The torrential rain poured down, indiscriminately lashing against everything, as if it were the emperor of this world, ruling over all things.

Except for the man with a gloomy face, but radiating a towering imperial aura.

"Wei Changtian."

Speaking the name one word at a time, Ning Yongnian looked at the vast rain before him, his eyes revealing boundless killing intent for the first time.

Unlike his mindset when he ordered You Jia to assassinate Wei Changtian last time, this time, Ning Yongnian truly felt a sense of danger from Wei Changtian.

It was a sense of danger stemming from being out of control.

The events that occurred in Fengyuan Imperial Palace three days ago had already reached Ning Yongnian's ears.

If Wei Changtian's near-killing of Yan Luo previously could be attributed to Bai Youheng's arrogance, then this "accident" could only mean one thing—

There was a spy of Wei Changtian by his side.

Very few people knew about the hundred Dragon Guards following Bai Youheng to Fengyuan to bring out Yan Luo.

But Wei Changtian was able to capture more than thirty Dragon Guards on the very day Bai Youheng arrived in Fengyuan.

If he hadn't known the information in advance, there would be no other explanation.

Although Bai Youheng was lucky enough to enter the palace before Wei Changtian arrived, and left Fengyuan before Wei Changtian closed the city.

However, Yu Pingjun, who also knew the entire plan, had been exposed and could betray him at any time.

The originally seamless plan had become less secure due to Wei Changtian's intervention.

Ning Yongnian, who had already invested a great deal of energy in this, naturally could not tolerate such an unstable factor.

But now he couldn't afford to worry about this side for the time being.

There were only eight days left until the fifteenth of July.

He had to complete three things before then.

After making up his mind, the restlessness in Ning Yongnian's heart finally subsided a little.

He slowly turned his head, looked at Li Huaizhong, who had been standing beside him, and suddenly asked:

"Old Li, how long have you been following me?"

"Your Majesty, it has been twenty-two years."

Li Huaizhong felt a sense of foreboding, but he immediately bowed and replied without changing his expression: "Your Majesty has been on the throne for twenty-two years, and this old servant has served for twenty-two years."

"Twenty-two years, such a long time..."

Ning Yongnian sighed softly and asked with a smile, "By the way, didn't your Yin Yang skill have some problems before, leaving some hidden injuries? How is it now?"

"Thank you for Your Majesty's concern, this kind of old ailment is difficult to cure, it is still the same as before..."

Li Huaizhong certainly wouldn't say that he had recovered, so he perfunctorily said, "But this old servant knows his limits and it doesn't matter."

"Is that so?"

Ning Yongnian gave Li Huaizhong a meaningful look and gently patted the latter's shoulder: "Old Li, you don't have to hide such trivial matters from me."

"If your injury is healed, I will naturally be happy for you. As for where you got the healing method... if you don't want to say, I won't ask."

...

Boom!!!

Like a thunderclap exploding in his ears, no matter how cunning Li Huaizhong was, he couldn't avoid a tremor in his heart at this moment.

Ning Yongnian's words seemed to reveal little information, but in fact, they contained many unsaid meanings.

Could it be that his transaction with Wei Changtian had been detected?

Did Ning Yongnian have solid evidence, or was it just speculation?

Where did the problem lie?

Countless questions flooded Li Huaizhong's mind, causing his response to be a beat slower.

"Your, Your Majesty, this old servant's hidden injuries have not healed, I would never dare to utter half a lie!"

"Hahaha!"

Taking in Li Huaizhong's reaction, Ning Yongnian still had that ambiguous smile on his face: "Old Li, you don't have to be so nervous. Even if you have really made a mistake, I can't bear to lose a second-rank master like you."

"After all, there are only a few dozen second-rank martial artists in the entire Great Ning. I'm not like that Wei Changtian, who killed five in one night on the top of Smoke Cloud Mountain."

"Besides, you and I are both second-rank. If there is no one else to help, I might not be your opponent."

"After all, your hidden injuries have healed now, and your skills must have improved even further, haven't they?"

...

Outside the window, the rain was getting heavier, and the oppressive atmosphere seemed to have penetrated through the window, completely enveloping the brightly lit Stone Canal Pavilion.

A few simple words that seemed to be joking had in fact made everything clear, and also represented that even if Ning Yongnian was not completely aware, he definitely had some evidence of Li Huaizhong's collusion with Wei Changtian.

Of course, as far as Li Huaizhong was concerned, no matter what Ning Yongnian said, even if the latter produced ironclad evidence, he could never admit it.

"Your Majesty! This old servant's loyalty to you is as clear as the sun and the moon!"

"Please, Your Majesty, investigate!"

With a "plop," Li Huaizhong knelt on the ground, shouting grievances loudly, his expression extremely anxious, but in fact, he was not too flustered in his heart.

Just as Ning Yongnian said, now that his hidden injuries had healed and his skills had greatly increased, he was indeed not afraid of the former in a one-on-one situation.

To take a step back, even if the two sides really fell out completely, he would definitely be able to escape before the palace experts came to help.

Therefore, since his life was not in danger, Li Huaizhong naturally would not be too panicked. At this time, he just wanted to deny it for a while longer.

After all, from his perspective, Ning Yongnian was very likely to have only noticed some subtle clues and was just trying to trick him.

Li Huaizhong's guess was actually correct, but not entirely correct.

Ning Yongnian was indeed not completely sure whether Li Huaizhong and Wei Changtian were colluding, but since he had said everything so clearly this time, it would not be a simple test.

"Old Li."

Lowering his head and looking down at Li Huaizhong kneeling on the ground, Ning Yongnian smiled softly: "How about I make a deal with you?"

"A deal?"

Li Huaizhong never expected to hear such a sentence and couldn't help but be stunned.

Ning Yongnian nodded slightly, his face slowly becoming serious.

"Yes, a deal."

"Old Li, besides the Dragon Guards, only you know about Bai Youheng's matter."

"In other words, there must be someone among you who is Wei Changtian's man."

"I don't care what method you use to find this person—even if this person is you, I can guarantee that I will not punish the past and can satisfy any condition you have."

"Of course, if you don't want to, it doesn't matter. I will just pretend that tonight's matter never happened."

"Think carefully."

...

Outside the window, the heavy rain lashed against the glazed tiles of the palace, and the dense rain columns slashed down with the wind, like sharp arrows hitting the roof with a tinkling sound.

After an unknown amount of time, Li Huaizhong finally slowly got up, bowed and said softly:

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"This old servant will go and do it now."