"Manager Gu has already left..."
At some point, Fang Beidou walked into the room. As soon as he spoke, Yan Liqiang was awakened from his thoughts. He raised his eyes and looked at Fang Beidou, only to be greeted by Fang Beidou's concerned gaze.
"Come here and sit down..." Yan Liqiang smiled. In just a few moments, Yan Liqiang kept reflecting and recalling everything that had happened since he met Sun Bingchen. He realized that Lin Qingtian was indeed not on the same wavelength as him. This had been destined since the first time he arrived in Pingxi City and met those arrogant Shatu people at the city gate. Even if he was given another chance, he would never stand on Lin Qingtian's side against his will.
The root of the crisis that he was facing in Imperial Capital was not that he stood on the side of Sun Bingchen and the Emperor, but that he had no foundation and power, just like duckweed, so he could be manipulated by others at will. There were many people standing beside the Emperor in Imperial Capital, otherwise the Emperor would not be able to suppress Lin Qingtian, but why did he have to encounter such a thing? In the final analysis, he was still young and had no roots in Imperial Capital. The cost of bullying him was low and the benefits were high, that's all. Once the other party found that the cost and benefits of bullying him were not equal, or even lost money, then such a thing would not happen to him.
However, in a place like the Imperial Capital where undercurrents are turbulent, everything has rules and the interest structure has been completely divided. As a newcomer, it is almost impossible for him to establish his own power base in a place like the Imperial Capital. He can only rely on the emperor's side. If he is given some time, with the emperor's protection and the "Han Empire Times" in his hands, with his own abilities and skills, it should not be a problem for him to survive in the Imperial Capital like other people to protect himself and not be easily bullied. However, Lin Qingtian's vision is too sharp. He also sees his own possibility and future, so he does not give himself this opportunity and time at all. He wants to nip all his possibilities in the bud. Either die or defect. This is the choice Lin Qingtian gives himself.
Now the situation is as serious as a mountain pressing down on one's head, and life and death are at stake. Neither the emperor nor Lin Qingtian has given himself many choices. How can he break this situation
Yan Liqiang was just thinking about this question. The information he had just "intercepted" from Manager Gu's head was too much and too complicated. He was sorting and analyzing the information to see which parts of it he could use.
This time, even if I can win and survive in the blind match, the opponent still has a killing game waiting for me...
"Who is the person behind Manager Gu?" Fang Beidou, who had sat down, finally asked after looking at Yan Liqiang's face.
"You have already guessed it, right? In the current Imperial Capital, who can ask me for such a high price and dare to buy out the newspaper with only one ounce of silver? Who do you think has the courage and ability to do this?"
"Is it Lin Qingtian?" Fang Beidou frowned.
Yan Liqiang nodded slightly.
"How dare he do this?" Fang Beidou was stunned. "Isn't this just asking for trouble? Even if we don't sell the newspaper to him, what can he do?"
"There is one thing you may not know. I was just about to tell you. Didn't His Majesty want me to be the prince's archery instructor? Now something unexpected has happened. For this position, I will have a blind competition with someone on August 15th. In this blind competition, my chances of winning are slim, and I may even face death..." Seeing that Fang Beidou still didn't understand the details, Yan Liqiang told Fang Beidou about the blind competition and also told him the conditions that Manager Gu had just proposed.
The news of the blind competition has not spread yet. Only some people close to the emperor and Lin Qingtian know about it. As an outsider, Fang Beidou doesn't know anything about it. Now after hearing what Yan Liqiang said, he suddenly understood why Manager Gu dared to say that. After listening to Yan Liqiang, Fang Beidou's face changed completely. "Now almost everyone in the Imperial Capital knows that you are the manager of this newspaper. If you sell this newspaper to Manager Gu for one or two taels of silver, the emperor will definitely know about it. Isn't this equivalent to you openly handing over a letter of surrender to Lin Qingtian? How can you gain a foothold in the Imperial Capital in the future?"
"This is exactly what Lin Qingtian wants. If I agree, I will offend His Majesty and Lord Sun, and I will be his dog from now on. If I don't agree, the blind competition on August 15th will be the day of my death! They also considerately gave me three days to consider..." Yan Liqiang showed a self-deprecating smile on his face.
"Then what do you think?" Putting himself in Yan Liqiang's shoes, Fang Beidou also felt the tremendous pressure and crisis that Yan Liqiang was facing.
Yan Liqiang sighed and rubbed his face, "Let me think about it. I'll leave everything about the newspaper in your hands for the next two days. Everything will go on as usual..."
"What about the blind comparison?"
"Your Majesty and Lin Qingtian both want me to participate in this blind competition. Do you think I have the ability to refuse?"
"I'm afraid they have other means besides the blind match. If a person like Lin Qingtian is determined to make a move on you, he will definitely consider the possibility of you winning or surviving the blind match and will not give you a chance!"
Yan Li tried hard not to tell anyone about the shady tactics those people had prepared in the newspaper office, because telling them at this time would only alert the enemy, and he couldn't explain how he knew about it, so he could only pretend not to know for the time being, and just said vaguely, "I'm afraid that you will also be implicated, so you should keep an eye on the newspaper office for the next few days, and I'll think of a solution!"
"I know a few friends in Imperial Capital, and my master also had some connections with him back then..."
"For this kind of thing, it's useless to ask anyone for help at this point!" Yan Liqiang shook his head. "I can only get through this hurdle by myself..." After saying that, Yan Liqiang stood up and said, "I'll leave first. I've been honing my archery skills in the Deer Park these days. We'll contact each other if there's anything..."
"Let me see you off!" Fang Beidou stood up and saw Yan Liqiang off. Just as the two of them reached the door, Fang Beidou suddenly said, "If it really doesn't work, leave Imperial Capital. Take a step back and there will be light at the end of the tunnel!"
Fang Beidou was the second person to say this. Li Hongtu had expressed a similar idea before. Yan Liqiang smiled and nodded after hearing this.
Just after walking a few steps out of the plum garden, Yan Liqiang suddenly thought of something and asked casually as he walked, "By the way, your master Su Baiya is the number one sorcerer in the Han Empire. With such great abilities, he must be very knowledgeable and well-versed in astronomy and geography. I wonder if your master has ever told you about the knowledge of exotic beast nuclear crystals?"
"Exotic beast core crystal?"
"Um!"
"Master did talk to me about this a little bit back then. This exotic beast core crystal is a rare item with a wide range of uses, but it's not something that ordinary people can use. It can be used in cultivation, medicine making, and even spiritual energy arrays. There are some rare secret methods that can be used!"
"Oh, let's say there are a bunch of exotic beast core crystals together. Besides using the inner force of true qi to sense where the exotic beast core crystals come from, is there any other way to tell what's so strange about those exotic beast core crystals?"
Fang Beidou stopped walking, and Yan Liqiang also stopped walking. Reminiscence appeared in Fang Beidou's eyes. After thinking for a while, he said to Yan Liqiang, "I remember Master once told me that rune masters are born with a talent. They can use their spiritual consciousness to distinguish the quality of exotic beast core crystals. They can also use their spiritual consciousness to leave rune formations in the exotic beast core crystals to communicate with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth!"
"Formation Master?" Yan Liqiang muttered to himself.
"Yes, it's the formation master. There are too few formation masters in the entire Silver Continent. Each formation master is a top figure who suppresses the luck of each race and country. The Han Empire now has only one formation master, and he is the only person in the Han Empire who has been crowned king with a different surname in the past five hundred years. Leng Tian. But I heard that Leng Tian hasn't shown up for decades. My master met Leng Tian once and said that Leng Tian has unpredictable abilities. With his formation skills, he can single-handedly resist an army of 100,000 and kill the King of Martial Arts with ease!"
"Oh, I wonder what the spiritual consciousness of that array talisman master is?"
"I don't know either. I just heard from my master that it is a mysterious thing that is innate in the mind of the array master. No matter how hard ordinary people practice, they can't cultivate it..."
(End of this chapter)