Calamity Messenger

Chapter 122 - 98: Dilemma Resolved (Part 2)

"Since you’ve recognized the Mouse Monk, why not cooperate with me and let the Mouse Monk steal the Heaven-Swaying Sword?" Yan Qing probed, "The explosion at the North City Armory, was it your setup? You deliberately drew your father away before the operation. Aren’t you worried that the Black Wolf and White Fox might clash with your father, even if you’re not fearing mission failure?"

"Or is this your purpose? Because your father framed Qian Gongyu, are you seeking revenge for love, wanting to use the hands of Black Wolf and White Fox to punish your treacherous father?"

Even with her face covered, Shang Xinlei couldn’t hold back, and burst out in laughter, taking a while to recover from the shock of the term ’treacherous father.’ Despite this, her voice was still tinged with amusement, retorting without much momentum: "What nonsense are you thinking, revenge for love, Qian Gongyu and I are just friends! And don’t underestimate my father, he’s a Third-Turn Messenger, and it’s uncertain whether Black Wolf and White Fox can even discover him, let alone defeat him."

"Then wouldn’t the mission certainly fail?" Yan Qing asked, "Isn’t that still framing us?"

"Two may not be able to beat him, but with you three, taking the Heaven-Swaying Sword shouldn’t be difficult. Who knew you’d insist on tagging along?" Shang Xinlei waved her hand as if shooing mosquitoes: "You can still make it if you head over now."

"I can, but you need to come with me," Yan Qing said: "Since you’re not going to the Wenyuan Pavilion, there’s no need to stay in the Imperial Palace."

Shang Xinlei remained silent, lowering her head, her hands behind her back, seemingly gripping her flying rings, and the atmosphere suddenly grew murderous. Yan Qing instinctively turned his body to reduce his striking area, using his unseen left hand to gently push the Bingzi Pepper Forest out of its sheath, ready to draw the blade.

Didn’t expect the first fight to be an internal team conflict.

Yan Qing took a deep breath, his nostrils full of the musty smell of the storeroom bedding, his heart both tense and excited.

Although he has always feared combat, dreading to expose his weaknesses, now that he’s shifted roles and gained strength with a Legendary Token, he inevitably harbors some desire to show off. If Shang Xinlei insists on fighting, he wouldn’t mind using her to test his real combat level!

"Why interfere in my affairs?" Shang Xinlei asked again: "We are just a group of unrelated thieves, gathered for the crime, with profit above all. You should prioritize the task, so why keep focusing on me?"

"Consider it Jiang Shi’s request," Yan Qing paused, then added: "You’re one of her few friends."

Suddenly, a cool breeze entered the storeroom, seemingly dispersing the oppressive atmosphere. Shang Xinlei let her hands fall and tilted her head, staring at Yan Qing, her eyes full of peculiar light, as if Yan Qing had told a strange joke.

"You don’t value Jiang Shi, so why care about her feelings?" Shang Xinlei scrutinized Yan Qing, seemingly trying to see Yan Qing’s expression through his clumsy Yellow Dog mask: "Moreover, I’m her friend, not yours."

"I never said I don’t value her, I only said that if necessary, I wouldn’t hesitate to send Jiang Shi to her death." Yan Qing, being stared at so directly, felt goosebumps, instinctively gripped the Bingzi Pepper Forest: "Within my capabilities, I don’t mind helping her friend."

Shang Xinlei hummed, clearly not believing this answer. At this moment, footsteps sounded from outside, seemingly from a group of guards. Yan Qing immediately shut the storeroom door, and both hid by the door, lying in wait.

After the footsteps receded, the two sighed in relief; after all, the later the Imperial Palace guards were alarmed, the better. They exchanged glances, and Shang Xinlei lightly sighed, saying: "My target is the Emperor."

"I suspected as much." Yan Qing was not surprised.

From the start, Shang Xinlei had been leading the thieves step by step into the Imperial Palace, but she wasn’t trying every means possible to enter the Secret Vault, and the only thing more valuable than the Secret Vault in the palace was the Emperor.

"But why kidnap the Emperor?" Yan Qing wondered: "To make the Imperial Family hand over the token or secret manual you need? It can’t be to make the Emperor pardon Qian Gongyu, can it?"

"Haha, that’s really funny." Shang Xinlei spoke with no emotion but then turned: "Yet it indeed has half to do with Qian Gongyu, and the other half with the Shang Family."

"I don’t know if you’re aware, my father’s long-standing presence in the Court is primarily because he’s a Minister of Imperial Decree left by the late emperor. The Emperor was young and couldn’t personally govern, so my father wielded the power alone. But two years ago, the Emperor married, with one Empress and two Noble Consorts, and he’s increasingly reaching the age of self-governance."

"The Empress comes from a martial clan, but one Noble Consort is from the Quan Family, and the other from the Zhou Family. The Emperor’s teaching master is also a scholar from the Quan Family."

"In contrast, the Shang Family not only failed to establish any deep relationships with the Emperor but also hindered the Emperor’s governance and power consolidation because of my father." Shang Xinlei lightly pushed the door ajar, the light from the palace lantern outside illuminating her eyes with flickering colors: "The Shang Family is destined to be pushed out of the Court, maybe in a few years, maybe in a decade. Among the seven great families, there’s always rise and fall."

"The seven great families won’t collapse, but the ups and downs along the way are a lifetime for us."

Although she’s roughly twenty discussing court factional battles, Yan Qing felt no discordance. In her words, the Court was no different from neighborhood interactions; the Emperor is more familiar with the Quan Family and won’t play with the Shang Family anymore.

"My father’s arrangements for Qian Gongyu were also about setting up my future. A future Third-Turn Messenger with a Legendary Token is enough to help me gain a foothold in the Shang Family, even draw more allies for the Shang Family. He had prepared for his retirement and arranged our lives; perhaps we don’t want to accept it, but that’s indeed the best position and outcome my father could find for us."

Yan Qing was somewhat surprised; he previously assumed Shang Xinlei resented Shang Xuanwen, possibly even seeking to kill her father to break free from restraint. However, reflecting on it, why would she hate him? She was too smart, able to see through all her father’s plans and see that all behind the arrangements was diligent love.

"I originally had no way to resolve this dilemma." Shang Xinlei walked back into the storeroom, crouched down, and tugged at the snuffed-out fuse: "If it wasn’t for the Thief’s House."

"Do you know through what the new Liang Kingdom ruler announces his accession to the throne?" She suddenly changed the topic.

"Through a proclamation?" Yan Qing guessed.

"No, through amnesty." Shang Xinlei slightly turned her head, side-eyeing Yan Qing, the storeroom entirely dark, yet her eyes strikingly bright, like the glance of a king cobra, her tone clear and chilling: "A new king ascends, surely granting amnesty, showing grace to all, lowering sentenced ranks for the poor, releasing noble families from guilt!"

Yan Qing’s pupils constricted sharply.

"Xiaoyu is my friend; she respects and trusts me, and I don’t want to deceive her to gain her loyalty." Shang Xinlei said: "The Shang Family is my family; it raised me, and I have no right to harm it."

"Now there’s a conflict of interest between Xiaoyu and the Shang Family; it seems like a dead dilemma, but do I have to choose a side? No."

"There’s no unresolved dilemma, only unfulfilled resolutions." Shang Xinlei pulled out a flint: "This is my resolution!"

Shang Xinlei ignited the fuse again; this small action showed she still insisted on her plan, and no one could stop her!

"Assassinate the Emperor, resolving both dilemmas." She turned to Yan Qing: "Yellow Dog, will you help me?"