Chapter 92

The Qiankun Finger is a technique that combines offense and defense, and is recognized as the number one finger technique in the world of Gu Long.

Lu Xiaofeng clearly grasped more of the defensive aspects, while Li Xunhuan grasped more of the offensive aspects. Each had their own understanding and insights, which resulted in Lu Xiaofeng and Li Xunhuan developing their own martial arts. Their lightness skills were also unparalleled in the martial arts world, no less than those of the legendary thief Chu Liuxiang.

Li Xunhuan quickly recounted his experience with his cousin. It turned out that the two of them had unexpectedly encountered Shen Lang and his group, who were planning to set sail to seek immortality, while participating in the provincial examination.

Li Xunhuan himself enjoyed reading all sorts of miscellaneous books, so he got along very well with Shen Lang, Wang Lianhua, and others. Since Shen Lang was leaving anyway and would probably not come back, he passed on all his unique skills. Li Manqing benefited from this and learned a lot from him.

Wang Lianhua, being the kind of person he was, could naturally see that Li Manqing was dishonest and unreliable. So he secretly returned, found Li Yuan, and handed the “Lianhua Precious Mirror” to Lin Shiyin, asking her to pass it on to Li Xunhuan, so that this little brother who suited him so well wouldn’t suffer losses or be schemed against.

Unfortunately, what he feared most came to pass. The “Lianhua Baojian” was not handed over to Li Xunhuan. In the end, Li Xunhuan was still tricked by his wicked cousin and ended up with such an ending.

“It’s alright, it’s good that the truth has come out. Anyway, the past is the past, and people should look forward. The house deeds and land deeds are still there, as are the bank notes and some gold and silver jewelry. There’s also this copy of ‘The Precious Mirror of Pitying Flowers’ that Mr. Wang asked Sister Shiyin to pass on to Uncle Shi. Now that you’re back, Uncle Shi, all of these should be yours. Let’s change this place back to ‘Li Garden’. I’m not saying this to criticize you, but the people you’ve truly wronged are your father and brothers. If I were them, I would have beaten you to death, you unfilial son.”

Zhang Weihao naturally looked down on the wealth of Li Yuan and the Li family. He copied the entire “Lianhua Baojian” after reading it once with his Sharingan, since keeping it was of little use. He simply returned it all.

Li Xunhuan was well aware of how wealthy the Zhang family was. He suspected that Zhang Weihai carried more silver notes than that wealth, not to mention the divine weapons he possessed, any one of which was worth more than the entire Li family’s fortune.

However, Li Xunhuan looked at Lin Shiyin with a guilty expression and was about to speak when Zhang Weihao spoke first: “Sister Shiyin will return to the capital with me. Although it shouldn’t be said like this, it’s a good thing that the Long family father and son are dead. Sister Shiyin can start over.”

As for compensation… to be honest, Uncle, you’re not worthy. You don’t understand women at all, nor do you understand Sister Shiyin.

We’re all getting on in years, so let’s not bring up some things anymore. Some mistakes are irreparable. It’s better to forget each other than to cling to each other in hardship.

“It’s better to forget each other in the rivers and lakes than to cling together in hardship… It’s better to forget each other in the rivers and lakes… Sigh, Lingyu, your writing is truly excellent. No wonder you achieved the highest rank in the imperial examination. It seems you’re aiming for the highest rank.” After muttering a few words to himself, Li Xunhuan took the initiative to chat with Zhang Weihao. These words clearly resonated deeply with him.

Li Xunhuan was very surprised by Zhang Lingyu, the suddenly rising number one young master of the martial arts world, because he was an old acquaintance, although not very familiar with him, but he had met him a few times.

Actually, the Zhang family originally planned to arrange a marriage between them and Li Xunhuan, but Li Xunhuan was in love with his cousin Lin Shiyin. The two were childhood sweethearts and inseparable.

After Lin Shiyin’s parents passed away, she was sent directly to Li Garden to stay temporarily, which was somewhat like being a child bride.

Even so, as family friends, Zhang Weihao’s biological father in this life, Zhang Erhe, would still visit him whenever he passed through the area.

The Li family and the Zhang family both belonged to the Hou Party, but the Li family was also a representative of the Qingliu faction and a scholarly family, which was the most perfect combination of political factions.

In other words, it’s a combination of power and money, a good reputation, and official standing (being a capable and competent official). A mature civil service political faction cannot do without these four foundations. Without such foundations, it is difficult to achieve anything in the court.

However, as the young emperor took personal control of the government and became increasingly assertive, the Empress Dowager’s faction naturally found themselves in a more and more difficult situation.

Therefore, the Empress Dowager’s faction plans to support Li Manqing, the current representative of the Li family, who has a good reputation and is highly respected in both the martial arts world and the imperial court, to join the cabinet.

The world of Mingzong is not as safe as the historical Ming Dynasty. Even if you can hire some guards, assassinations still exist.

The assassin organizations here are numerous and powerful, with some even having Grandmaster-level assassins. Grandmasters might also take on these roles if needed.

While this doesn’t mean that one must be a master of martial arts to become a high-ranking official, those who are both literate and martial, have a good reputation, and are capable are certainly more likely to be promoted and given important positions, and are less likely to be persecuted.

Otherwise, if you’re only asked to do disaster relief or investigate major cases or fraud cases, even if you’re willing, you might not have the ability and could be assassinated.

Such incidents have indeed occurred quite a few times. Things improved somewhat after the establishment of the Dragon Guard Villa, but they still happen from time to time.

The reason Li Manqing was able to become sworn brothers with the current Grand Secretary Xu Jianbai was because he had previously been Xu Jianbai’s deputy and had repeatedly saved Xu Jianbai from assassins while investigating some major cases.

This is also why Zhang Weihao previously said that Li Xunhuan was very valuable and would be given important responsibilities by the imperial court.

It’s hard to say about other emperors, but during the Zhengde reign, especially in the Ming Dynasty, which integrated the world’s most powerful empire, Li Xunhuan was extremely valuable to Zhu Houzhao and would definitely be given important responsibilities.

Moreover, judging from the current situation, the Money Gang will soon rise to power, officially establish its martial arts presence across the land, and aim to unify the martial arts underworld, consolidate gang power, and assist Prince Ning in his rebellion.

As for Ye Gucheng’s student, the heir of the Prince of Pingnan (who looks exactly like Zhengde and wants to switch the prince with a cat), and the disciple of the old man Wu Ming, the heir of the Prince of Taiping, Gong Jiu, and the Prince of Ning who actually rebelled in history… the martial arts world here is really not ordinary.

Apart from Zhang Weihao, few people knew about the upcoming plot. In response to Li Xunhuan’s probing, Zhang Weihao frankly admitted, “Actually, I’m not aiming to become an official, but rather to cultivate Confucianism and Taoism. I plan to follow the path of cultivating Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism simultaneously. The only thing I’m lacking right now is Confucianism and Taoism.”