Book 3: Chapter 51: Meng Tai Visits
After Gu Hai and his companions paid their respects to the previous manor lord at the Silver Moon Mountain Manor, Mo Yike brought Lu An along to pay theirs as well.
After offering incense, Mo Yike and Lu An also sought out Yun Mo for a word.
Soon, the two also left the Silver Moon Mountain Manor.
“Who does he think he is? Mister Mo, this time, both of us represented my grandfather to sincerely invite him, yet he rejected us. No one wants the Silver Moon Mountain Manor’s zithers anymore. Furthermore, I heard that there are internal conflicts and that many disciples are leaving,” Lu An said resentfully.
“We were one step too slow? Supplying exclusively? Ha! This Gu Hai is indeed incredible.” Mister Mo smiled faintly.
“Huh? Mister Mo, why do we care about this Silver Moon Mountain Manor? Without the manor lord, the Silver Moon Mountain Manor is just an ordinary zither luthier faction.” Lu An frowned.
“Ordinary? That’s stupid!” Mister Mo said while shaking his head.
“Oh?”
“When the manor lord first took over the Silver Moon Mountain Manor, it was in an even worse state than now. However, didn’t the Silver Moon Mountain Manor gain the respect of the world in the end? Even your grandfather and the Qian Heavenly Emperor had to be extremely polite when they met the manor lord. Before the manor lord died, he said more than once that Yun Mo’s talent at forging zithers is even better than his. More importantly, he is a descendent of Teacher Yinyue,” Mister Mo said while shaking his head.
“Huh? However, Yun Mo is still unremarkable. No one knows the future. Perhaps the manor lord was purposely talking him up?”
“Purposely talking him up? Why do you think your grandfather and the Qian Heavenly Emperor respect the manor lord so much? Why do you think the manor lord knelt and kowtowed to everyone, begging everyone for forgiveness before he died?” Mo Yike smiled coldly.
“I—”
“It is because of the manor lord’s moral integrity. Hah! Even if I explain it, you won’t understand. You have already strayed from the path,” Mo Yike sighed.
“I!” Lu An felt stifled and upset.
——
Xiaoyue Secondary Residence:
After Gu Hai returned from the previous manor lord’s funeral service, he started making arrangements.
“Shangguan Hen, Mu Chenfeng already agreed to leave two thousand Wood Division disciples behind. You will take charge of them for now. Use them to guard and protect This Street’s Best Zither Pavilion. As for the business aspect of it, there is no need to worry. I have already left the officials instructions. You will take charge of Silver Moon City’s businesses temporarily,” Gu Hai said as he looked at Shangguan Hen.
“I just consumed the snake head and will need some time to a.s.similate it. Your Majesty, do take care on your journey.” Shangguan Hen nodded.
“I guess that Gu Qin’s first batch of reports from Nine-Five Island should be arriving soon. Here are three decrees that I wrote. Give them to the person who arrives at that time. Have him bring them back to Gu Qin,” Gu Hai said while handing out three decrees.
“Yes!” Shangguan Hen nodded.
“Give this decree to the messenger.” Gu Hai took out another decree.
“Huh? The messenger?” Shangguan Hen felt slightly shocked.
“Yes. You will understand when the time comes. Ultimately, some people cannot endure silence for too long. It is good to give them occasional harsh reminders.” Gu Hai smiled.
“Yes!” Shangguan Hen nodded, feeling puzzled.
“Since that is the case, we will be leaving immediately. Time will not wait for me.” Gu Hai’s smile turned bitter.
“Ah?”
“You will know soon,” Gu Hai said with a bitter smile.
After Gu Hai gave a few more instructions, he, Ensnaring Performance, Long Wanqing, Venerable Liu Nian, Mu Chenfeng, and one thousand Wood Division disciples hurried away from the Xiaoyue Secondary Residence.
——
The next day after Gu Hai left, some people came visiting.
“This humble one is Mister Mo Yike’s servant. My master has already prepared a banquet and invites Mister Gu to join him.”
“This humble one is Lord Sima Changkong’s guard. Milord has already prepared a banquet and invites Mister Gu to join him.”
Two messengers came, and each handed over an invitation extremely respectfully. They arrived nearly at the same time. As they handed over the invitations, they even seemed to be competing with each other, looking at each other coldly. However, they both remained extremely polite to Shangguan Hen.
Shangguan Hen smiled bitterly at the two and said, “The two of you have made this trip for nothing. Mister Gu left Silver Moon City yesterday.”
“What?” This news slightly startled the two.
“That is really the case; I’m telling the truth. Many thanks for your kind intentions. Please convey my apologies to Mister Mo and Mister Sima,” Shangguan Hen said with a bitter smile.
——
A flying s.h.i.+p flew quickly over the vast sea.
A group of officials in embroidered uniforms stood on the flying s.h.i.+p. The leader was Meng Tai, the envoy commander of the Han Royal Dynasty’s Embroidered Uniform Guard.
“Milord, we’ll soon arrive in Silver Moon City, right? When I last went to Silver Moon City, the trip took several years. Unexpectedly, this flying s.h.i.+p is so fast. We’ll arrive in less than a month,” one of the subordinates said respectfully.
“Just focus on piloting the flying s.h.i.+p. Don’t come and disturb me unless I permit you to!” Meng Tai said.
“Yes!” That subordinate immediately backed off.
With the flip of his hand, Meng Tai took out a wax-sealed letter.
Meng Tai looked at the letter and remained silent for a while. Eventually, he heated the wax and opened the letter.
“Milord, that is a letter to His Majesty from the crown prince, right?” that subordinate that backed off earlier exclaimed.
“Huh?” Meng Tai looked over with cold eyes.
That subordinate immediately shut up.
Meng Tai opened the letter and read it.
“Imperial Father, these are memorials to the throne that this child is unable to deal with, so I sent Meng Tai to deliver these to you to look through. Also, this child recently noticed that Meng Tai has been in contact with some of the sect masters of the other islands. Perhaps he has thoughts of leaving the Han Royal Dynasty or betraying us. This child is worried that my a.n.a.lysis might be wrong. I got Meng Tai to deliver the letter so that Imperial Father can deal with this as well.”
When Meng Tai read that letter, his eyelids twitched wildly.
“Gu…His Majesty is very smart. This crown prince is also very sharp. While I investigated the officials, the crown prince also sent people to monitor me?” Meng Tai’s face sank.
Meng Tai carefully placed the letter back into the envelope and heated the wax to reseal it. Then, he put the letter away.
“Milord, Silver Moon City is right in front,” a subordinate called out.
Meng Tai nodded, his face remaining sullen.
“His Majesty brought over a batch of people a few months ago. I don’t know what shop he opened. Who knows how long it will take to find it?” Meng Tai frowned slightly.
“Indeed. I heard that Silver Moon City had one hundred million people. Searching for His Majesty would be like searching for a needle in a haystack,” a subordinate said worriedly.
“We will just take our time searching,” Meng Tai said sullenly.
The flying s.h.i.+p stopped outside Silver Moon City.
The majestic city walls had the Embroidered Uniform Guards goggling.
Some among the Embroidered Uniform Guards were Innate Realm cultivators recruited in the Thousand Islands Sea, while others just were ordinary people. However, even the Thousand Islands Sea’s cultivators rarely saw such vast city walls.
“What majestic city walls!”
“Hey? Is that a city gate tower? It seems to have collapsed. Those cultivators are rebuilding the city gate tower?”
“Are those ritualists? Are they laying ritual arrays on every single brick?
“How much does all this cost?”
“Indeed. Even with the several businesses in the imperial casino, we can’t afford to make something like that, right?”
As the Embroidered Uniform Guards felt shocked, an immortal crane carriage driver at the side smiled and said, “You are all from abroad, right? Master Gu financed the reconstruction of the city walls and city gate tower. The citizens did not have to pay anything at all.”
“Master Gu? Is he rich?” one of the Embroidered Uniform Guards asked out of curiosity.
“Of course, Master Gu is rich. I heard that these repairs cost three million superior-grade spirit stones. When Master Gu handed over the money, he did not even blink,” that immortal crane carriage driver said with a smile.
“Three million superior-grade spirit stones?” A trace of shock appeared on Meng Tai’s face.
The imperial casino seems to have made that much only over the past few months? No, probably not even that much. This Master Gu is too rich!
“Why is Master Gu the one repairing the city gate tower?”
“It was Master Gu who destroyed it. Naturally, Master Gu fixed it.”
“I heard that even a peak Nascent Soul Realm cultivator cannot break this city gate tower. Master Gu should be very strong, right?”
“Of course, he is strong. No one can compare to Master Gu’s music Dao.”
“Oh? A Master Gu who cultivates the music Dao?” Meng Tai said, feeling suspicious.
“That’s right. Who are you looking for?” the immortal crane carriage driver asked quizzically.
“We are looking for…uh…I don’t really know how to explain it.” Meng Tai frowned.
“Just say what you know. You have a name at least, right?” the immortal crane carriage driver prompted.
“He is called Gu Hai. Oh, come to think of it, you definitely would not know this name, as there are one hundred million people here. There seems to be a Xiaoyue Secondary Residence as well. Have you heard of it?” Meng Tai asked worriedly.
Even if the Xiaoyue Secondary Residence was famous, there were one hundred million people in this city, so it might not be that widely known.
“Never mind. If you don’t know, can you recommend an inn first? We will search slowly,” Meng Tai said with a frown.
The immortal crane carriage driver looked at the group with suspicion. “You are looking for Gu Hai? Elite Hall’s Water Division Master, Gu Hai?”
“Huh?” The Embroidered Uniform Guards’ expressions turned stiff.
How did you know?
“Huh? Yes!” Meng Tai said in confusion.
“Are you really looking for Master Gu? Who are you to Master Gu?” the immortal crane carriage driver asked while raising his eyebrows.
Master Gu?
The Master Gu that he mentioned earlier? The one who casually took out three million superior-grade spirit stones?
That can’t be right? I recall that His Majesty did not bring so much money to Silver Moon City. Even if he wanted to, he wouldn’t have that much money.
“Who are you to Master Gu?” the immortal crane carriage driver repeated.
The Embroidered Uniform Guards felt slightly worried. Why did the immortal crane carriage driver’s expression appear so serious? Furthermore, the surrounding people’s gazes seemed to turn somewhat hostile?
“We are Gu Hai’s family servants. We rushed over from abroad to look for our master,” Meng Tai replied with a frown.
“Ah? Master Gu’s family?” That driver immediately smiled.
“Ah! Master Gu’s family? Come, come, come. Take my immortal crane carriage. I’ll send you over for free!”
“Take mine! Take mine! Mine’s free!”
“Beat it! I approached them first. Everyone, please, get on!”
The surrounding immortal crane carriage drivers immediately treated the Embroidered Uniform Guards very politely, inviting them to take their carriages.
This scene stupefied the group of Embroidered Uniform Guards.
“Is my master very famous?” Meng Tai asked in confusion.
“What a joke! Who in Silver Moon City does not know Master Gu? If Master Gu wanted to be the city lord, all of us would approve, raising both hands in favor!” that immortal crane carriage driver said excitedly.
“Ah? City lord?” Meng Tai said in confusion.
“Indeed. If Master Gu wanted to become the city lord, everyone in the city would sign a pet.i.tion to plead with His Holy Eminence for it,” the immortal crane carriage driver said excitedly.
A group of immortal crane carriage drivers ferried the Embroidered Uniform Guards into the city.
When the group reached the city gates, and the guards were about to check and register the Embroidered Uniform Guards, the guards immediately smiled when they heard the Embroidered Uniform Guards were Gu Hai’s family coming to visit. Then, they sent the Embroidered Uniform Guards into the city.
“Ah? Those guards checked me for a long time the last time I came to Silver Moon City. In the end, I even had to spend quite a bit of spirit stones to enter the city,” one of the Embroidered Uniform Guards said with a frown.
“You must be joking, right? To think that they dared to extort from Master Gu’s family! Give me a portrait of that person later. I will send it to the city guards, and we will flush him out!” the immortal crane carriage driver immediately said in anger.
“You have such great authority?” Meng Tai exclaimed.
“Authority, my a.s.s. Master Gu is just that well respected,” the immortal crane carriage driver shook his head.
Meng Tai: “…”
Along the way, the Embroidered Uniform Guards kept asking the immortal crane carriage driver about Gu Hai. The driver spoke very animatedly as though recounting a legend or a novel, startling and thrilling the Embroidered Uniform Guards incredibly.
That’s our emperor! Our emperor!
As Meng Tai listened, his expression turned increasingly more complicated.
Then, Meng Tai took out a letter and gently opened it.
“Mister Meng, we have all seen Nine-Five Island’s imperial casino. That place earns a lot of spirit stones, a cash cow. If Mister Meng does not think us beneath your notice, how about working with our six island masters and opening a casino in the Thousand Islands Sea that is even larger than the imperial casino? Mister Meng can come and take charge, earning ten percent of the profits. What do you think?
“How much can you earn by following Gu Hai? What can you do with that money?
“As long as we work together, we definitely can surpa.s.s Gu Hai’s imperial casino.”
As Meng Tai looked at this letter, he revealed a bitter smile.
Surpa.s.s Gu Hai? What a joke! To think I nearly got tempted by this offer.
Rip! Rip! Rip!
Meng Tai tore up this letter that he had carefully put away previously. After that, he tossed the shreds aside, letting the wind blow them away.
“Milord?” An Embroidered Uniform Guard looked at Meng Tai curiously.
Meng Tai took a deep breath and said solemnly, “Nothing’s wrong. Everyone, tidy yourselves up. We cannot embarra.s.s His Majesty when we see His Majesty later!”
“Yes!” the Embroidered Uniform Guards answered.