Lin Chong's Women's Cuju Team

Chapter 124 High Participation: The Wolf King's Scheme

Gao Qiu believed in Gao Can's abilities; otherwise, he wouldn't have chosen him as his adopted son from among so many people. He simply valued Gao Can's ruthless methods, which were no less than his own, and his willingness to use any means to achieve his goals was very similar to Gao Qiu's.

After a while, Gao Qiu suddenly asked Gao Can with a probing look, "Can'er, I heard that His Majesty promoted Consort Xian to the rank of Imperial Concubine Xian this morning. Is it true? Did you instruct Consort Xian to do this?"

The advisor quickly replied, "My people in the palace learned of the news this morning and informed me. This Consort Xian is a pawn that my father and I placed in the palace, and her every move is naturally under my surveillance. However, this time, without my permission, she openly seduced the Emperor after he was drunk. The Emperor had been unable to find Chen Jinhuan for many days, and Consort Xian is Chen Jinhuan's older sister, who looks somewhat similar to her. This is why she gained the Emperor's favor and was promoted to the rank of Consort."

"So that's how it is! Chen Jinhuan is actually Consort Xian's younger sister. I almost forgot about that relationship. But Consort Xian has been disobeying our orders and acting on her own. Moreover, she's been getting close to Consort Hui, the daughter of the Left Chancellor, lately. I'm afraid she's a fence-sitter, trying to please both sides, and won't be willing to be manipulated by us. You need to find a way to keep her under control." After saying this, Grand Commandant Gao blew on the foam in his hot tea, glanced at Advisor Gao, and reminded him.

“I also think Consort Xian’s ambition is too great and she’s difficult to control. However, I will send someone to keep an eye on her and prevent her from ruining our plans.” After saying this, Gao Can tactfully poured Gao Qiu a cup of tea and beckoned a maidservant to come up and massage Gao Qiu’s back. Gao Qiu leered at the maidservant’s slender waist and then waved for Gao Can to leave.

The more Gao Can thought about it, the angrier he became. He felt that Consort Xian was someone he had personally promoted, and now she actually wanted to join the Left Prime Minister's faction and become his enemy. He gritted his teeth in anger. After a while, Lu Minggu came in to report on the Ministry of Justice's affairs and saw that Gao Can's brows were deeply furrowed, and he looked very preoccupied.

"Lord Gao, are you missing Lady Zou? How about we go to Tingyu Pavilion in Zixiang Pavilion later to listen to Lady Zou play the zither and pipa?" Lu Minggu asked Gao Can tentatively. Gao Can seemed not to hear Lu Minggu's suggestion at all, and continued to stare blankly with one cheek in his hand.

“My lord, if you’re tired of Lady Zou, how about we go find Lady Chen? She recently sent someone to tell me that you haven’t visited her home for many days.” Lu Minggu continued to probe Gao Can’s intentions.

Gao Can still didn't answer Lu Minggu's question, so Lu Minggu tried to probe by mentioning the names of two of Gao Can's old flames: "Sir, Madam Xu from the East Market also said she misses you, and so does Widow Gao from the North Market. Would you like to try something different?"

"Consort Xian? Imperial Concubine Xian? Imperial Concubine Hui?" Gao Can suddenly murmured. Lu Minggu was startled upon hearing this. This Gao Can had just been reciting the names of the Emperor's women. Did he intend to enter the palace to seduce them? But this time, Gao Can was far too audacious, daring to steal the Emperor's women. Was he not afraid of death?

Gao Can didn't notice Lu Minggu's fearful appearance beside him. He suddenly slapped his thigh, grabbed Lu Minggu by the collar and pulled him up, excitedly saying, "How could I not have thought of Chen Jinhuan? She hates her own sister to death. She's the nemesis of Consort Xian. I must find a way to get her into the palace, but where is she now? And once I find her, how will I control her?"

"My lord, please let go, I can't breathe. What Chen Jinhuan? Isn't she Ning Zhanyan's woman? Our people at Zixiang Pavilion told me yesterday that Ning Zhanyan faked his death, and that Chen Jinhuan, who had been missing for many days, appeared with him in Zhang Ruowen's courtyard at Zixiang Pavilion, ambushed the Wolf King, and helped Zhang Ruowen block the Wolf King." Lu Minggu roughly recounted how Zhang Ruowen cured Du Rushuang's poison and how the Wolf King was injured by Chen Jinhuan.

Upon hearing this, Gao Can's face lit up with joy. It turned out that Chen Jinhuan had been hidden by Ning Zhanyan. No wonder the Emperor had sent so many people to search the entire capital but couldn't find her. However, Ning Zhanyan was also a formidable character. It wasn't easy for him and Grand Commandant Gao to find him, but he knew that the Wolf King would definitely be able to find Ning Zhanyan and force him to send Chen Jinhuan to the palace.

Thinking of this, Gao Can quickly drafted a reply to the Wolf King. In the letter, he told the Wolf King about his plan and threatened him that he must force Chen Jinhuan into the palace to become his pawn, otherwise he would not go to rescue Zhang Ruowen.

Upon reading Gao Can's reply, the Wolf King was so enraged that he tore the letter to shreds on the spot. He was furious that Gao Can had threatened him, and even more furious that he had chosen to cooperate with Gao Qiu and his son instead of the more easily manipulated Left Prime Minister. However, his adopted son's life was now more important. He silently made a mental note of Gao Can's actions, thinking that he would settle accounts with this brat properly when he accomplished his great task.

Just as the Wolf King was still furious, Mu Can came in to say that Ning Zhanyan was requesting an audience. The Wolf King gritted his teeth and said loudly to Mu Can, "Let that brat come in to see me! I'm going to teach him a lesson today."

Mu Can had just turned around when he saw Ning Zhanyan, who had come uninvited. Not wanting to become cannon fodder in the fight between the uncle and nephew, he hurriedly fled the study. At this moment, the Wolf King was sitting at his desk looking at a map, marking it with circles as he looked at it, ignoring Ning Zhanyan.

Seeing this, Ning Zhanyan was the first to apologize: "Nephew greets Uncle. I wonder if Uncle's leg injury has improved these past two days?"

The wolf king snorted softly, then looked up at Ning Zhanyan's face and said to him in a resentful tone, "How dare you come to see me today? Weren't you pretending to be dead all this time? Do you still remember that I'm your uncle? If you really had any affection for me, you wouldn't have let your wife plot against me that day."

“Uncle, Jin’er and I heard A-Wen’s plan beforehand at Zixiang Pavilion that day, which is why we stopped you. A-Wen was already treating my sister’s poison. If you had forced your way in and disturbed them, their lives would have been in danger. Isn’t Shuang’er your niece? Are you going to force her to her death?” Ning Zhanyan said to the Wolf King with a wronged expression.

"Fine! Who told my adopted son to be such a lovelorn fool, insisting on sacrificing half his power to help Shuang'er detoxify? You didn't come here today to explain things to me, did you? You must have something else to ask me for, otherwise why would you dare to appear before me?" The Wolf King waved his hand, a sly glint in his eyes, then squinted and questioned Ning Zhanyan.

At this moment, the Wolf King was absolutely certain that Ning Zhanyan had come to see him today because he wanted something. He wanted to take this opportunity to regain control of Ning Zhanyan, after all, this nephew's methods and abilities were no less than Zhang Ruowen's, and he had done a lot of dirty work for him over the years.

When the Wolf King first heard the news of the burning of the Underworld Cave and Ning Zhanyan's death, he was saddened for several days. However, after learning that Ning Zhanyan had faked his death, he was secretly pleased. Such a talented person could not be allowed to die easily; his great cause still needed this nephew. But he knew that this nephew was difficult to control, having rebelled since childhood. Therefore, he put extra effort into setting a trap for him. Chen Jinhuan was this trap, and also Ning Zhanyan's weakness.

"Uncle, I know you're still angry. How about you whip me a few times to vent your anger?" Ning Zhanyan said to the wolf king in a flattering tone. After speaking, he pulled out a soft whip from his waist and tried to hand it to the wolf king.

Seeing this, the Wolf King took the soft whip and said to Ning Zhanyan through gritted teeth, "Since you know you're wrong, your uncle will grant your wish. Turn your back!" Ning Zhanyan couldn't see the Wolf King's expression through the mask and thought he was still angry, so he took off his shirt, turned his back, and knelt on the ground to wait for the Wolf King's whip to strike him.