Light incense had been lit in the clean and spacious lobby, and Liu Yueshan's voice could be heard not far away. Mu Qing opened his eyes and looked outside the door.
The weather is clear and the bright skylight illuminates the courtyard. The rare greenery in the courtyard is particularly soothing.
There were footsteps coming this way, and Bai Zhi appeared in the lobby after a while. She looked curiously at Mu Qing, who seemed to have not changed his posture while sitting in the hall, and said, "Master, finally someone is here."
Mu Qing nodded slightly. He had already brought Liu Yueshan and Bai Zhi back to the place specially set aside for the various forces in Suzaku City. It was almost noon, and it was time for someone to come.
He walked to Bai Zhi, and while walking towards the place where the sound came from, he said, "You may have heard from Yueshan and the others that I am now the Lord of Suzaku City, so I still have some things that I have to deal with."
Bai Zhi followed Mu Qing, recalling the days she spent in Jinguan City uncontrollably in her mind. She lowered her head and said, "I know being a city lord will be very busy, not to mention it's still like this. But Master, you just..."
Regarding Ye Yun, Mu Qing had no intention of hiding it from Bai Zhi. He frowned and said, "The senior you mentioned left a spell in my body before, which seems to be able to contact me."
"Ah? That's great!" Bai Zhi didn't expect Mu Qing to be so interested in her suggestion. After realizing it, she said excitedly: "I heard Master talk about her father. He was a truly strong man. If he knew Master will definitely rescue her if she falls into a trap."
Mu Qing paused slightly, thinking of Ying Que's image always shrouded in black robes, frowning deeply, and said in a deep voice: "Although the influence on that senior is not very good, I think he still cares about your master. . But... the problem now is that I can’t find any trace of the talisman in my body."
Before the smile on Bai Zhi's face could bloom, she heard the news and exhaled helplessly: "I heard that Master's hometown is on the Three Immortals Island in the Black Sea. I don't know if it is far away."
Mu Qing comforted him: "Don't worry. Although I can't find the water-controlling spell, someone can find it. You have to believe me."
As the two said this, they quickly arrived at the front hall.
Bai Zhi suppressed the worries in her heart, returned to the current matter, and reminded: "Sister Yueshan should know those people, but she didn't ask them to come to the master directly."
Mu Qing glanced at Bai Zhi, but he ignored that Bai Zhi used to be the daughter of the lord of Jinguan City, and she was probably born with some sensitivity to these things.
The place Wang Yeqing specially prepared is the largest place in the property under his name. It is said to be a house, but it covers a large area. The separate front hall alone can be regarded as an independent courtyard.
In this kind of functional division, in fact, the arriving people are directly distinguished according to their relationship.
When Mu Qing was thinking about who Liu Yueshan could get to know and who was not invited to the back, he already vaguely heard a somewhat familiar voice.
In the front hall, Mu Qing's arrival seemed to be sensed, and the voice slowly stopped. When he walked in, the other party had already stood up and looked at him.
Mu Qing met their eyes. After looking at the face of the person in front, he narrowed his eyes. When his eyes moved to the other person behind him, he frowned and said, "Uncle Huai?"
Mu Qing believed that his voice and expression had conveyed enough doubts.
Huai Cao Shi looked at Mu Qing and his eyes moved slightly: "They hope that I can be the bridge between them and the City Lord's Mansion."
When Mu Qing heard this explanation, he looked at Murong Xing, who he had deliberately ignored just now, "I thought you Tianshou people had left."
Murong Xing was not surprised by Mu Qing's cold attitude. In fact, after experiencing so much, Mu Qing could still speak calmly, which was considered a relatively satisfactory situation.
He nodded towards Mu Qing, with a sincere smile on his face: "Cao Jin and I are here to represent Bai Emperor. You should know that the endless chaos may be over, but peace and stability have just begun. "
Mu Qing said coldly: "I really didn't expect that after waiting for so long, I would wait for you first."
Murong Xing turned slightly sideways and looked out of the front hall, "Maybe this is inevitable."
The direction Murong Xing was looking in was the gate further away, and Mu Qing believed that when Murong Xing walked in, more eyes must have gathered outside the gate than before.
Murong Xing looked away and saw Mu Qing's calm face. He said in a calm and sincere tone: "The forces behind the eyeliners outside may have been waiting for a chance to meet the new master of Suzaku City, but even if Cao Jin and I want to give up this opportunity, I gave it to them, but they didn’t intend to pick it up. You should know why, right?”
Murong Xing's calm words were actually filled with an extremely stable confidence. Behind him, Huai Cao Shi looked a little uncomfortable and was about to speak, but was interrupted by Mu Qing waving his hand.
Mu Qing glanced at Murong Xing lightly: "Many people only know the result, but don't know what happened that day. Those people don't want to miss this opportunity, and they don't want to pay an irreparable price for this opportunity."
"But it's just that they don't know that Baidi City is powerless to control the situation here. If this news spreads, they may be even more intolerable to you than me."
Murong Xing still looked at Mu Qing calmly, but the surprise flashing in his eyes still revealed his emotions at the moment. After a short silence, Murong Xing nodded lightly: "That's true. But you have to consider their wishes. I don’t want to believe the news you are spreading.”
"Besides..." Murong Xing looked directly into Mu Qing's eyes, "I think you probably won't spread such news. Those people outside can be subdued with the remaining personal guards. There is no need for that kind of news." exist."
Seeing that the confrontational atmosphere at the scene was getting more and more intense, Huai Cao Shi was worried that Mu Qing would suffer a loss with his words, so he warned Murong Xing: "If you come here just to show off your ability to analyze the pros and cons of the situation, then there is no need to do it. Neither Mrs. Wang nor my junior sister are worse than you."
Murong Xing shook his head helplessly and said: "I am just stating a fact. Even if we have been waiting outside for a while, those people have not walked in here, which has already explained a lot of things. In such an era, even if they can obtain The gap in information and strength cannot support their respective ambitions."
"They can only wait for a symbolic force to appear."
"It's either us or Hidden Valley."
Mu Qing thought carefully about Murong Xing's words. For him, the influence of the being from Baidi City who ruled the nine states was actually very little. At the beginning, he was only worried about the helpers called by the other party, but for Suzaku City, For the vast majority of people, their family heritage and their bloodline heritage are here.
It can be said that when the person who led their family to become stronger and ranked first in their family tree stepped on this land, this land was the territory of the Mugung Dynasty. In other words, it was the place where the emperor lived in Baidi City. .
Even though Youyan Prefecture is on the southern border of Xinjiang, the population of Suzaku City makes the city gradually move away from the control of the center of power. It is absolutely difficult for those families who have tasted a lot of power before to give birth to Suzque City independent of the dynasty. outside thoughts.
If Mu Qing, the city lord, cannot be orthodox, will Suzaku City never be truly stable?
Maybe this is the reason why the forces behind the eyeliners outside have been unsure about paying attention?
The powerful force and helpless results will make those people dare not ignore this place, but the unpredictable future will make those people dare not be the first to step foot here in full view of the public.
This was not complicated, but after thinking about it, Mu Qing was still a little tired.
After Murong Xing finished speaking, he kept observing Mu Qing's expression, so when the calm gaze in Mu Qing's eyes became active again, he spoke at the right time: "I have always felt that you are not only extremely talented in cultivation, but also naturally gifted. Having inherited the big-picture perspective, I think we can have an honest conversation.”
Mu Qing raised his eyes and his gaze fell on Murong Xing's face. He still remembered the scene when Murong Xing talked to him for the first time, that was at the noisy breakfast stall together, and Murong Xing's many unfinished words were also It vaguely pointed out that he was not really loyal to Bai Di, but just had a goal that fit in a certain direction.
With these thoughts in mind, Mu Qing nodded gently with a calm expression: "Okay."
Cao Jin, who had been sullen at Murong Xing, finally smiled: "Mr. Mu Qing, don't worry, we have always been sincere."
Mu Qing glanced at Cao Jin and said calmly: "Your sincerity may come and go. When those people from the Gu family took action, they didn't know where you were."
Cao Jin's smile froze: "...But at least I told you about the existence of those people from the Gu family in advance, right? I think that the young lady and the others were able to show up in time, which was your preparation, right?"
While Cao Jin spoke calmly, he looked at Mu Qing with unusual concentration, as if he didn't want to miss the slightest change on Mu Qing's face. Even Murong Xing looked at him seriously, expecting Mu Qing's answer.
Mu Qing sneered: "Since you know their existence, what are you trying to find out? My relationship with them? Why should I tell you."
Cao Jin was choked and felt extremely uncomfortable. The news from the emperor had a lot of room for maneuver, and the room for maneuver depended on Mu Qing's relationship with the Lin family in Xishan.
"This matter is not urgent."
Murong Xing did not let the atmosphere get weirder, and looked at Liu Yueshan, "Butler Liu, can you help us prepare a place for the next one?"
Liu Yueshan's identity to these people outside was indeed Mu Qing's butler.
This is the relationship that Wang Yeqing and the others have been establishing all along.
Mu Qing looked at Liu Yueshan, who was taking care of the affairs around him in an orderly manner, and suddenly remembered Wang Yeqing's proposal, and his eyes brightened a little.
Liu Yueshan didn't know why Mu Qing looked at her strangely. Because of Wang Yeqing's reminder, she was already prepared for the many visitors today. She nodded and said, "There is a special quiet room."
Not only was the quiet room clean, it was even equipped with hot tea. After Liu Yueshan poured the tea for everyone, he was about to leave with Bai Zhi, but was stopped by Mu Qing.
Mu Qing looked at the two of them and said, "Sister Yueshan, you will definitely have to help with a lot of things in the future, and Bai Zhi has been influenced by this since childhood, so please stay."
Liu Yueshan frowned slightly. She looked at Mu Qing. The words of rejection were already in her mouth, but when she saw the trace of fatigue in Mu Qing's eyebrows, she really couldn't bear to refuse.
"...Okay, but I can't really help."
Mu Qing pulled Liu Yueshan to sit beside him and looked at Bai Zhi.
Bai Zhi glanced at Murong Xing with complicated eyes, and reluctantly stayed.
Murong Xing glanced gently at Bai Zhi who was sitting down, thought for a while, looked at Mu Qing and asked, "Is this girl the daughter of the guy from Jinguancheng?"
Tianshou was supposed to do some cleaning work for the royal family, not to mention that he had a lot of contact with Bai Hao some time ago, and he vaguely remembered that a daughter of the former lord of Jinguan City ran away.
Mu Qing looked at Murong Xing calmly, "Yes, is there any problem?"
Mu Qing looked at Murong Xing, whose expression changed a little. Although he had not had a good rest until now, he had strong confidence. Even without Meng Zhang's help, he could withstand Murong Xing's attack with his own strength. .
Murong Xing felt Mu Qing's unconcealed hostility and smiled bitterly: "I have no intention of exploring how this girl met you. Nor will I expose her whereabouts to Bai Emperor."
Mu Qing shook his head and said: "You don't need to worry about this. Your emperor already knows about Bai Zhi's existence."
Murong Xing's eyes flashed slightly, and after a brief silence, he nodded and said, "This is better. However, I hope you will not be extra hostile to us in the future, because it will affect your judgment."
Mu Qing raised his chin: "What do you want to negotiate with me?"
Murong Xing had already adapted to Mu Qing's straightforward way of speaking. He tilted his head to think for a moment and said calmly, word by word: "We will recognize your orthodox status as the Lord of Suzaku City, lift all kinds of blockades on Suzaku City, and let you Having the legal power to command the army will minimize all kinds of malice and destruction from outside Suzaku City..."
When Murong Xing, representing the emperor of Baidi City, began to negotiate terms with Mu Qing, the only voice left in the room was Murong Xing.
I don't know how long it took, but Murong Xing's voice paused. He broke away from the state of thinking and talking, raised his head and looked at Mu Qing: "I'm done. You can tell me what you think."
Mu Qing didn't show any unnecessary emotions until this moment. He just looked at Murong Xing in front of him calmly and asked in a steady voice: "Are you really done? It seems that you didn't mention your request?"
Murong Xing shook his head and said with a smile: "Of course when you accept these conditions, you agree to my request."
"How about it, do you agree?"
When Murong Xing asked this question, everyone in the room looked at Mu Qing.
Mu Qing did not give his answer immediately. He looked at Huai Cao Shi, who was sitting next to Murong Xing, and asked softly: "Uncle, what do you think?"
Huai Caoshi raised her head, looked at Mu Qing's clear eyes, and sighed subconsciously. She half-squinted her eyes and said with a rare confusion: "I can't influence your judgment.
Huai Cao Shi felt that what Murong Xing mentioned about recognizing Mu Qing's legal status was completely a restriction placed on Mu Qing, or even a shackle.
But looking further ahead, a city with a huge population like Suzaku City can barely form an internal self-consistent cycle, but if it is really restricted from all kinds of external exchanges, then the city wants to return to its previous prosperity. It will definitely be an extremely difficult thing,
If the situation is really bad enough to be surrounded and blockaded, it is definitely not possible to solve this problem by sending troops to escort the caravan.
Mu Qing didn't want to embarrass Cao Shi and didn't ask further. Instead, Liu Yueshan beside him looked at Murong Xing and said proactively: "Even if you don't admit it, Mu Qing is already the de facto city lord. In addition to the fact that the blockade is removed, it is a benefit. Everything else... is a different kind of shackles."
Murong Xing looked at Liu Yueshan in surprise. After a while, he nodded and admitted generously: "If you are hostile to us, it's not wrong for you to think so."
"But why should we be enemies?"
