After deceiving the villain, I was forced to love him.

Chapter 156 Struggling Prey is the Most Fun

Compared to three years ago, when the Gu Tree was briefly outmaneuvered, this time the sudden inability to control the Gu Guards is not only more serious, but has also given some people in the Wang Clan camp other ideas.

"May I ask the patriarch, are those Gu guards temporarily out of control, or are they completely unmanageable?" Fan An, who was third from the right in the hall, was only in his early twenties, so he naturally spoke more boldly.

Looking at Fan An with a thoughtful expression, Wang Qingyan seemed extremely patient, perhaps because he had just suffered a great loss. "What do you want to say?"

Fan An rose and bowed, "If it gets out of control temporarily, it's not a big problem."

"After all, if we can't even hold out for ten days or half a month, we don't need to continue as the head of the Wang family."

"What if it's completely uncontrollable?"

"Then we should find out the reason and see who is behind this," Fan An said with a smile, as if he was implying something.

It was no secret that Wang Qingyan used Gu to control people, and everyone present benefited greatly from it.

Furthermore, given the disparity in combat strength between the Gu Guards and themselves, when there was nothing to do, everyone naturally felt that it was okay to be humble and subservient.

But if this results in financial loss or even endangers one's life, then it's hard to say.

After all, there have been many cases of dogs biting people to death.

However, what Fan An didn't know was that Wang Qingyan always preferred prey that struggled.

Then, with great interest, he asked, "So, who do you think is behind this?"

Upon seeing this, Manager Li, who was first from the left in the hall, didn't mince words and said, "Everyone knows what this 'Xianyun Manor' was before."

"The only people who know about the secret passage in the mountains, besides the bandits from Three Cities Stronghold back then, and who now have the opportunity to get close to it, are our matriarch's wife, of course..."

Manager Li paused, then bowed respectfully to Wang Qingyan, saying, "This doesn't mean it was the head of the family's wife who leaked it."

Wu Changfa, who was subordinate to Manager Li, chimed in, "Manager Li is absolutely right."

"However, women are generally less wary than men and are easily misled by appearances; I fear that if they are not careful..."

"She wouldn't do that," Wang Qingyan said, ending the conversation.

Unexpectedly, Wu Changfa and Steward Li exchanged a glance, and Wu Changfa, spurred on by the certain look in Steward Li's eyes, still refused to give up and said, "Master, only someone familiar with the place could know about that secret passage..."

Before he could finish speaking, he collapsed to the ground.

After Wang Qingyan turned around and sat down, Wu Changfa's blood slowly flowed from his mouth, and his neck was severed.

"I mean, she's not someone you can criticize."

Based on the principle that frequent personnel changes are also a headache, Wang Qingyan's original intention was simply to make an example of someone.

did not expect--

“Master, this is a serious matter, and it’s not a matter of criticism or not.”

“…” Wang Qingyan’s eyes narrowed, revealing his killing intent.

Manager Li, however, appeared calm and composed, completely unlike his usual subservient manner.

He even smiled faintly, bowed his head in greeting, and said, "Master, please forgive me. I was just worried about you and had no other intentions."

Normally, he definitely wouldn't dare to speak to Wang Qingyan like that.

Just three days ago, he personally accompanied Wang Qingyan to Xianyun Manor to investigate why the Gu Guards, originally intended to defend against starving people, had gone out of control.

They also witnessed firsthand how Wang Qingyan, after failing to exorcise the Gu, fled back in a sorry state.

If it weren't for his quick thinking, they would already be two skeletons thrown off the cliff.

With the great kindness of saving his life by his side, and the fact that Wang Qingyan's speed had clearly slowed down just now.

He exchanged another glance with the garrison commander of Jicheng, and looked at Fan An... It was clear that everyone could see that Wang Qingyan was seriously injured.

“If you and Steward Li hadn’t gone to check it yourselves, we probably wouldn’t have discovered the secret passage,” Fan An continued, pressing on.

"Furthermore, a jade pendant with the name of the mistress of the family was also found on the captured spy. Shouldn't you ask the mistress about this?"

“…” Wang Qingyan remained silent with a cold expression.

After some deliberation, an oil merchant kindly advised, "Master Wang, there are witnesses and physical evidence. You should ask your wife to come out and ask her. After all, everyone here is reasonable, and it should be cleared up."

“Master Wang, it’s always good to be cautious.” The Prefect of Shucheng, who had close ties with the Wang family, thought that he had some designs on the family and also put on a show of official authority.

Wang Qingyan remained silent, but his expression seemed slightly dazed.

Thinking he had been persuaded, the garrison commander of Jicheng said with a hint of arrogance, "Patriarch Wang, you should think carefully. The daughter of the Baili family is not some naive young woman."

"If you let her go this time, next time she might just take our heads."

"Yeah yeah"

"The methods of the Baili family are quite extraordinary."

"We absolutely cannot let our guard down."

"..."

Upon hearing this, the voices of agreement from the audience grew even louder.

Even the usually well-behaved Steward Feng cast anxious glances at Wang Qingyan.

"Heh..." Wang Qingyan chuckled softly as he looked around.

"Are you all... forcing me?"

Even the Prefect of Shucheng couldn't help but avert his gaze under its still sharp and unbearable presence.

If it weren't to verify whether she had truly found a way to control Chaosheng, would he have let these useless people tell him these things?

only......

He picked up the jade pendant from the table next to him and examined the fish pattern on it closely... It was undoubtedly hers.

If she obtained this item from a spy, it could be considered that someone had plotted against her.

Therefore, the secret passage leading to Xianyun Manor could only have been known by her, who had once lived in Sancheng Village and had a very good relationship with Anluo.

After planting the seed of primordial energy in the bandits led by the second-in-command, he had not heard anything about the secret passage of the Three City Stronghold from them.

so what?

"I will make my own decisions about my wife."

......

"Who is this person! Really..."

Once Wang Qingyan's figure had completely disappeared around the corner, everyone grumbled and went their separate ways.

It wasn't until midnight that some of them managed to reunite, avoiding being seen.

"Wang Qingyan is becoming more and more autocratic," Fan An said.

The garrison commander of Thorn City said, "If this continues, we'll be finished before the dog emperor even makes a move."

Oil trader Fan Cong said, "It was clearly him who insisted on killing anyone who dared to betray the alliance."

"Ha, an alliance? He's probably long forgotten how the old powerful families of Shucheng died," said the Shucheng prefect in a sarcastic tone.

Despite being the youngest among the twelve Wang family stewards, Fan An was also the most resentful of Wang Qingyan. "Which of the imperial court's spies planted among us have we let go?"

“Yes,” Fan Cong said with a regretful expression, “I killed my second wife without hesitation, but when it comes to his own woman, he can’t bear to do it!”

"I told you from the beginning that we shouldn't have bet everything on him," the Prefect of Shucheng complained veiledly.

"That's right!" Seeing the prefect's indignation, Steward Li quickly offered emotional support, "I even saved him a few days ago, if only I had known..."

"Alright, alright," the garrison commander of Jicheng, being pragmatic, quickly interrupted the latter's nonsense.

He turned to the Prefect of Shucheng and said, "We're all in the same boat now, so let's not blame each other and think about what to do next."

It was he who dragged the governor of Shucheng into this mess, but wasn't it because of his own greed?

"Sigh..." The Prefect of Shucheng sighed helplessly. He knew, of course, that now was not the time to talk about such things.

"If you ask me, we're going to die either way, so we might as well take a gamble."

Upon hearing this, the others' eyes lit up with excitement!

After a while, they hesitated again, as if by unspoken agreement, "But..."

People have been dissatisfied with Wang Qingyan for quite some time now.

But taking action against him isn't as simple as just teaming up against him.

Fan Cong even bluntly stated, "We are no match for him."

The Prefect of Shucheng laughed arrogantly, "But he can't kill us all, can he?"

Wu Changfa today is the best proof of that.

Besides, he still has a trump card up his sleeve.

However, he doesn't intend to reveal all his chips.

Instead, he looked sharply at Manager Li and asked, "Didn't you say you caught that spy?"

"You mean?" The garrison commander of Jicheng immediately understood and looked at Steward Li as well.

Sensing that the two wanted him to be the one to stick his neck out, Manager Li pondered for a moment and then revealed everything, "That spy does indeed have a lot of information about the Baili clan in Jicheng."

"But I have a better idea than to let the Baili family and the Wang family both suffer heavy losses."

"What idea?" The Prefect of Shucheng immediately became interested.

Manager Li's gaze darkened. "Since Wang Qingyan is unwilling to take action against Baili Ce..."

"Then let's join forces with the Baili clan to take him down!"

Ok? !

This move really caught their attention!

Manager Li analyzed, "First, we are not strong enough."

"No matter how bad Wang Qingyan is, he must be better than what we see."

This was based on his years of experience following Wang Qingyan, and he was certain that his judgment was correct.

"Secondly, the Baili clan now has the support of the imperial court. If we rashly attack Baili Ce, the Baili clan and the imperial court may not let us off the hook."

"As you all saw today, Wang Qingyan's attitude is such that he certainly won't bother to protect us if something goes wrong."

Wang Qingyan is the kind of person who wouldn't deign to kneel at his feet or be used as a stepping stone unless he was useful to him.

Since it's impossible to reap the benefits without effort, then why not...

"Stabbing someone in the back!" Fan An continued.

......