Chapter 57
Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW
Chapter 57:
"What?" Li Chunzhou frowned in disbelief, no matter how she thought, it was still unbelievable.
But Gu Jianxi apparently had no need to lie to her. Li Chunzhou let go of his hand and silently watched him and the Jinwei Guard outside leave the courtyard together.
Even though Li Chunzhou thought the whole thing was silly, she still told Mama Li about it right away, and then asked Hong Dou to go to Xiangru Court to deliver a message to Xu Yanqu.
The madam was stunned after hearing Li Chunzhou’s words, then she sighed sadly and said, "In this world… no one can do anything."
The people in Shengjing City were obviously unaware of the war, most of them were still discussing the former Cabinet Minister Liu Yuming’s affairs.
In the afternoon, a man over fifty years old, who claimed to be a Cabinet Minister, found Li Chunzhou, or more precisely, he found Chihong who was with Li Chunzhou.
He handed a secret decree from the palace to Chihong, saying, "Evidence of Liu Yuming’s crimes has been found, in the abandoned well in the back yard of his mansion, where over ten human thumb bones were buried. After verification, these bones belong to the victims of the unsolved headless body cases over the past twenty years. The Emperor has decreed to expose Liu Yuming’s crimes to the world, and revoke his previous titles."
Chihong took what he handed over, but reacted calmly, without even looking at it.
Zhong Zhiye continued, "As for you, the Emperor has decided not to hold you accountable. The court will restore your father’s official position, and grant you a noble title… Are you satisfied with this outcome?"
Chihong didn’t even bat an eye and succinctly replied, "Understood, but my father’s official position… no need to restore."
From the moment she avenged herself, Chihong let go of the past. Her parents favored her biological brothers more, as Liu Yuming had once kidnapped that child, causing Chihong’s mother to decapitate her husband in exchange for the child.
After so many years, Chihong no longer had strong feelings for them.
Zhong Zhiye kindly said, "If you have any requests or concerns, feel free to tell us."
Chihong impatiently looked up at him, her cold stare chilling Zhong Zhiye inexplicably.
Li Chunzhou looked at Zhong Zhiye’s nervous expression and said with a smile, "Congratulations, the last sub-dungeon has been solved."
Zhong Zhiye looked at her confusedly, as if he had seen a ghost, and stammered, "Are you… Are you a player too?"
"I’m not," Li Chunzhou said with a smile, "But you’ll soon find out who I am."
After saying that, she left the room without lingering, turning to Chihong and saying, "Let’s go back, Chihong."
…
Zhong Zhiye stood alone in the room, suddenly shouting, "Oh my! Could she be the [Oiran]?!"
Zhong Zhiye quickly opened a chat channel to share his amazing discovery with other players, while Li Chunzhou and Qi Leyuan were watching the chat channel.
Zhong Zhiye (Cabinet Minister), "@Jian Hou, I gave her the emperor’s secret order, and the fourth sub-dungeon is also completed."
Zhong Zhiye (Cabinet Minister), "But guess what I found out?! Li Chunzhou is indeed the Oiran in the game rules! She knows about the sub-dungeon and players!"
Liang Wenshi (Fifth Prince), "Since all four sub-dungeons are solved, why haven’t we left yet??? You must be deceiving us, @Jian Hou."
Bi Yuansi (Young Master Bi), "…How could she be the Oiran?"
Jian Hou (Astronomical Bureau), "Don’t worry, I’m checking the data."
Liang Wenshi (Fifth Prince), "It’s already the ninth day, who knows what might happen if we delay further, let’s think of a way ourselves! Since the rules say ‘Breaking the cage or killing It can end everything…’, the only way for us to get out is to destroy the entire capital city or kill everyone who could be ‘It’!"
Wang Ruyu (Miss Wang from the Wang family), "The capital city is so big, how can you destroy it? Set the mountains on fire?"
Liang Wenshi (Fifth Prince), "Don’t worry about that, I’ve already shared the information and maps I’ve gathered in these days with the West Turks, once they break into the capital city, they will definitely break this cage, and then we can leave."
[Zhong Zhiye] (Cabinet Minister), "I was wondering why the Ministry of War suddenly submitted a battle report, saying the Tujue are attacking. Turns out you are leading the way for them…"
[Yan Qingze] (Merchant), "Goodness, are you crazy? How is this any different from betraying our country?"
[Liang Wenshi] (Fifth Prince), "You’re the crazy one! They are all just NPCs, even if they all die, what can they do?"
[Shi Gu] (Beggar), "You forget one thing, nobody said that ‘breaking the cage’ means letting the enemy into the capital. You better pray that before we leave, you won’t be killed by the Tujue who are slaughtering the city, especially as you are of royal blood."
[Liang Wenshi] (Fifth Prince), "I have made a deal with them, they won’t kill me."
[Huang Yuanwu] (Merchant), "You may not be worried, but what about us?! What if we die at the hands of those Tujue? We can’t use any items inside this Dungeon, have you thought about us?!"
[Gu Cai] (Merchant), "Haha, stop asking, I think he can’t wait for us all to die so he can take all the Dungeon rewards for himself. We die, and he’s still enjoying himself!"
[Pebble] (Eunuch), "@Liang Wenshi, just you wait and see, let’s see if I’ll drag you down with me before I die."
[Liang Wenshi] (Fifth Prince), "I never said that, if you all can’t survive, you might want to reflect on yourselves."
Linlang（maid）, "@Liang Wenshi, if you really think you did nothing wrong, then tell us where you are, let us go and see what kind of person you really are."
After that, Liang Wenshi didn’t say anything anymore, probably really afraid of being exposed by Linlang, Pebble, and Li Chunzhou. Li Chunzhou smirked and said, "No wonder there hasn’t been any invasion by the Turks breaking into the Central Plains in so many reincarnations, turns out it was done by players. It’s really worthy of being an S-rank Dungeon, the players who enter are indeed ‘extraordinary’."
Qi Leyuan felt inexplicably embarrassed, even though he didn’t conspire with the enemy to betray the country, he still felt hot and ashamed as a member of the player community, wishing to immediately disassociate himself from Liang Wenshi in front of Li Chunzhou.
He coughed a couple of times to cover his embarrassment and continued reading.
Jian Hou (Astronomical Bureau), "The inspection is complete, now everyone’s data shows that they have passed through the Dungeon. We were not teleported out because the Dungeon mission was not completed, but because this Dungeon World was shrouded by a barrier that does not belong to the Main God System."
Gu Cai (merchant), "@Liang Wenshi @Liang Wenshi @Liang Wenshi @Liang Wenshi @Liang Wenshi @Liang Wenshi @Liang Wenshi @Liang Wenshi @Liang Wenshi @Liang Wenshi …"
Cheng Yingchu (prostitute), "So now… can the Dungeon be restarted?"
Jian Hou (Astronomical Bureau), "It’s too late. If my guess is correct, the barrier should have been set up a long time ago. Even if we restart now, we still can’t bypass the barrier. Instead, there is a possibility that the Time Beast will observe the restarting process. This creature has strong mimicking abilities, once it witnesses the time adjustment process, it might jump around at different time points, making it even harder to catch in the future."
Linlang (maid), "Then is this barrier the same type we’ve seen before?"
"Jian Hou from the Astronomical Bureau nodded, ‘Yes, it’s a replica of the barrier from the second sub-dungeon, but this one covers the entire Dungeon World.’
Qi Leyuan turned his neck to look at Li Chunzhou in disbelief and hesitated, ‘So… Lady Chun, you wanted Jian Hou to activate the ‘reboot’ ability from the beginning?’
Li Chunzhou looked at him emotionlessly for a moment, shook her head, and remained silent.
A’ping the beggar asked anxiously, ‘What should we do then?’
Jian Hou from the Astronomical Bureau said, ‘We need to catch that Time Beast and kill it to truly leave this world.’
Gu Cai the merchant commented, ‘You make it sound easy.’
Jian Hou from the Astronomical Bureau reassured them, ‘I know its weakness, and there happen to be things on this planet we can use against it. You just need to help me locate its position.’
Qi Leyuan paused as he read this part, and Li Chunzhou’s voice sounded in his ear, ‘No, he is deceiving you. Once Jian Hou reaches a dead end and has to choose to reboot, everyone can survive…’
Her voice was soft and soothing, almost enchanting, causing Qi Leyuan to hesitate.
At night, the Spring Flowers Tower was still lively with songs and dances.
Li Chunzhou stood on the balcony looking down, while Mama Li entertained important guests downstairs.
While others could run, the girls in the brothel had nowhere to escape to. One-third of the girls in the Spring Flowers Tower had bound feet. Besides the Spring Flowers Tower, there was no other stable place for them to go.
Therefore, the madam did not tell the girls in the house the news she got from Li Chunzhou. She knew the only thing they could hope for now was for Daliang’s army to withstand the enemy’s attack and prevent the war from spreading to the capital city.
***
The next day.
The news of the frontline battle spread much faster than Gu Jianxi had imagined. Almost the next morning, Shengjing City was filled with rumors of Daliang’s defeat.
Due to the rumors spreading in the city, the Jinwei Guard arrested three waves of people in just one morning. However, the more the news was suppressed, the more intense it spread in private.
The neighboring Xiangru Court had already canceled all performances for the day. The commotion of packing up was significant, without avoiding anyone’s attention.
In the troupe, most of them are performers. If they run away, they can have someone to accompany them on the road, which is much more convenient.