CH 016 Key

Recently, Nie Bufan did not let Tu Beng go out to sell tea eggs, and had him stay in Chicken Nest Village to avoid the limelight. The safety of Chicken Nest Village could still be guaranteed after all.

After the identity of Tian Nu was leaked, wave after wave of people went looking for Tu Beng, murderous feelings and resentment could be sensed a mile away. Nie Bufan this fellow was not afraid of death, and he swaggered through the market in a grand manner. Tian Nu didn’t know it was him, but Si Chenyu knew, not only did he know it, but he was sure that he made a lot of money out of this Tian Nu identity leak! His teeth was currently tickling with hatred! As a prince, from the time he was a child till now, when had he ever been tricked this bad?

For this reason, he was determined to go find Nie Bufan to settle accounts after he got the Tian Nu, but now he had to bear it for the time being.

After the identity of the Tian Nu was exposed, the people surrounding her increased in crowds. How could Si Chenyu rush to please her like the rest of the ordinary people? Besides, after seeing the real Tian Nu, he was actually quite disappointed. It didn’t matter if she was just pretty in appearance, but it was a pity that she lacked the sense of refined and pure aura that would shock the heavens, and instead was no different from any ordinary pretty daughter of a humble family. And from her act of pretending to be a Jadeite, this woman was also a restless and bold character, which was a far cry from the rumored demure and gentle lady.

Si Chenyu’s interest in the Tian Nu had greatly diminished, but “Li Xiaoyao” continued to appear in his mind from time to time, and then the word “kill” repeating over and over.

At this moment, an attendant walked in.

“How is the investigation?” Si Chenyu asked.

“Answering the prince, after following a few days, this subordinate discovered that the man is not actually named Li Xiaoyao, but his real name is Nie Bufan, and he is the village chief of Chicken Nest Village.”

Well, even dare to use fake names! One more crime was added.

“Chicken Nest Village? Where?” The name sounded quite vulgar.

“A year ago it was completely unknown, but recently it gradually gained some fame. This village is famous for raising chickens. The chickens in Zhang Junshi’s restaurant are all from here.”

Si Chenyu held the tea cup in thought for a while, and secretly thought: How dare a kid from a peasant family blackmail the emperor’s relatives? He is quite a marvel. Could it be his boldness came from being backed by the Zhang family and the Li family?

He was silent for a while, and then he asked, “How is the situation on the side of the Tian Nu?”

“Nothing out of the ordinary, basically staying behind closed doors.”

“En, watch carefully, don’t let the Tian Nu get into an accident.”

“Yes.”

In the guest room of Zhang family restaurant, Nie Bufan said to Li Yi: “How about it, did you see the Tian Nu?”

Li Yi glanced at him, and replied: “The situation having been thrown in a mess by you, who can see the Tian Nu now?” However, there were a lot of social gatherings being held now, all gatherings of the sons of the aristocracy.

“Heihei.” Nie Bufan leaned against the pillar and said nonchalantly, “If the Tian Nu truly wanted to find a husband, she shouldn’t have announced it with such great fanfare at the beginning. The garden party she held also doesn’t seem to be for choosing a husband. Just look at all the people who came. Their status is high enough, but all of them have unpredictable thoughts and motives. I guess that if it isn’t because the tian nu has high vanity, or she is just playing around, then it is due to……another motive.”

Li Yi raised his eyebrows, he had to admit that Nie Bufan looked carefree, but he was actually quite clever.

“You are right, the purpose of the Tian Nu is not simply to find a husband.”

“Oh? For what?”

“Have you ever heard of the name “Duobao Sage”?” (TN: lit. many treasure sage)

Nie Bufan revealed a foggy expression.

“I really suspect that you were living under a rock.” Li Yi glanced at him contemptuously, and replied, “Duobao Sage was a legendary figure more than a hundred years ago. He came from an aristocratic family and left home when he was sixteen. He traveled all over the kingdom, even as far away as foreign countries, and went to sea several times. Over the past 50 years, he had collected countless rare and exotic treasures, including gold and jade, bronze sculptures, rare ancient books, lost secrets, maps of the mountains and rivers of this kingdom and abroad, manuals on how to craft all kinds of weapons and merchant ships and warships, astronomical and geographical knowledge, etc. It can be said to be all-encompassing. And the Duobao Sage is also a prodigy blessed by the heavens, proficient in several languages, mechanism and arithmetics, and simply extremely clever. He was conferred the title ‘the kingdom’s extraordinary talent’ by the emperor of that time.”

Nie Bufan exclaimed: “What an amazing man. Then, what happened to the treasures he collected?”

“This is the important point.” Li Yi twitched the corners of his mouth and smiled lightly. “As I said just now, the Duobao Sage was proficient in mechanism and arithmetics. When he was alive, countless people coveted his treasures, but no one could find them, including the emperor. Until after his death, the Duobao Sage left behind five keys. His last words were: Anyone who holds the keys is entitled to share his treasure. To open the treasure, you must gather all the keys. As soon as the news came out, the whole world shook, and for a while, people from all walks of life started to take action.”

“Then were the keys found?”

Li Yi nodded and said: “Four were found. This was calculated with the help of the Mistress of Heaven Divining Palace. Now the four keys are in the possession of the four families Si, Wang, Chen, and Li.”

“What about the last one?”

“Don’t know, the four families guess that the last key is in the Tian Nu‘s possession.”

Nie Bufan suddenly said: “That’s why this time the Tian Nu choosing a husband attracted so many influential people.” After thinking for a while, he asked: “The Tian Nu chose the location in Xishan City, could it be……”

“Yes, the Mistress of Divining Heaven Palace has calculated that the treasures of Duobao Sage is buried near Xishan City. This year is about the time when the treasure will appear.”

Nie Bufan thought for a while, and suddenly he smiled and said, “I guess that the last key is not in the hands of the Tian Nu.”

“Why?”

“If the Tian Nu had obtained the last key and knew the location of the treasure, then why doesn’t she secretly summon the four major families who have the key to collect the treasure together? She could simply wait until the treasure is obtained before finding a husband publicly. Isn’t this a better way to completely avoid any unexpected incidents? Now, people from all over are gathering in one place, and the variables are increasing. What is the tian nu’s purpose?”

Li Yi thought for a moment before he understood: “You mean, she wants to fish in troubled waters (TN: expression for taking advantage of a crisis for personal gain), and then take the opportunity to find the last key?”

“There is eight or nine out of ten chance of this.” Nie Bufan nodded vigorously.

Li Yi looked at Nie Bufan deeply.

Nie Bufan flipped his hair and sighed, “Don’t look at me in such a way, I know that I’m hopelessly smart.”

Li Yi drew back his gaze with a twitch.

“By the way, what does the key to the treasure look like?” Nie Bufan asked again.

“As far as I know, the keys owned by the four major families are made in the image of the four mythological beasts Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermillion Bird, and Black Tortoise, but they don’t look like keys.”

“Oh? What do they look like?”

Li Yi hesitated for a while, and said: “Our family is the Vermillion Bird. The key looks like a hairpin, and the rest of the other families probably have other shapes.”

“Hairpin? Shaped as the Vermillion Bird……” Nie Bufan’s eyes wondered and then he suddenly exclaimed, “Are you talking about the peacock feather thing Li Huai inserted in his hair?” He remembered when Li Huai first came to Chicken Nest Village, Nie Bufan had severe disdain for him because of that flashy hairpin.

Peacock feather thing……oi, the Vermillion Bird will cry.

“Probably so……” Li Yi replied hesitantly.

“You just let Li Huai wear it like this? You are not afraid of being robbed? His lack of martial arts, arrogant personality, and violent temper can easily offend people.”

Are you talking about yourself!

Li Yi finally couldn’t help rolling his eyes, and said heedlessly, “Now everyone in the world knows that the four keys are in the hands of the four major families. They have to weigh the pros and cons if they want to steal it. Unless he has the ability to get the fifth key.”

“The four keys are the four mythological beasts, the fifth one……”

“It may be the qilin (TN: Chinese unicorn).”

Qilin? That covered in scales and looking extremely bizarre guy? Nie Bufan fell into his imaginings.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e ir on tr ee bl oo ms. c o m )

“I say, have you asked enough? Can you go out?” Li Yi said helplessly.

“En?”

“My bath water is already cold and my skin is almost soaked into wrinkles.”

“Then what are you still doing in there? Come out and change your clothes.”

Can you leave? Can you leave?

Probably finally understanding the resentment in Li Yi’s eyes, Nie Bufan pouted his lips and said: “It’s not as if I haven’t seen it before. We are all big men. Why are you shy?”

Li Yi took a deep breath and said lightly: “You said it.”

“Yes, I said it.”

As soon as Nie Bufan’s words fell, Li Yi stood up suddenly, splashing water all over with the movement. Most of that lean muscular body was exposed to the air, and the majestic object that hung in the lower abdomen area was faintly visible in the water.

Li Yi stepped out of the tub and stood naked in front of Nie Bufan.

Nie Bufan’s gaze couldn’t help but lower, and that thing was actually high and erect, arrogant to the point of heinous.

“You……”

Before he could say his words, his mouth was tightly sealed and his waist was tightly gripped in place.

Li Yi pressed Nie Bufan against the pillar, and his whole body pressed against him.

Nie Bufan was in a rare stunned state, and let Li Yi ravage his lips in a daze, his whole body heat rising.

“Wait……mph……” Nie Bufan finally recovered his senses, but unfortunately his brain seemed to be lacking oxygen and breathing became a problem.

It was so sudden that he was completely unprepared.

After a while, Li Yi let go of Nie Bufan’s pitiful lips, but their lower parts were still pressed tightly against each other.

“You……what are you doing?” Nie Bufan asked incredulously, widening his eyes.

“What do you think?” Li Yi swiped his fingers across his somewhat swollen lips.

“You must not be Li Fourth, tell me, which perverted culprit in disguise are you?”

“……”

“How could a man with facial paralysis like Li Fourth and who appear sexually frigid at first sight do such a thing?”

Li Yi’s movements stopped, the corners of his mouth twitched, and he gritted his teeth and said: “Am I sexually frigid? Would you like to confirm it in person?”

“Uh, no, I suddenly remembered that I still have chickens to feed. I will take my leave now, take my leave.” As he said, he pulled the arm on his waist hard, but like a rock it remained motionless.

“Fourth brother Li?”

Li Yi looked at him fixedly for a long while before letting go of his hand slowly.

As soon as Nie Bufan was free, he immediately relaxed, adjusted his expression, and said earnestly: “Li Fourth, if you are sexually dissatisfied, I recommend you to go to Yichun Court. The girls there are curvy and big, no, I mean beautiful and gentle, you will definitely like it. The path of bromance is not easy, so it is better to turn round early.”

Li Yi’s mouth moved, as if to say something, but Nie Bufan had already bypassed the screen and ran towards the door. Before leaving, he didn’t forget to say: “Next time, don’t do this. Listen to this little brother’s advice, it’s better to quickly find a woman to relief yourself.”

Long after the footsteps disappeared, Li Yi finally laughed in delight.

Finally got back at him this time, right? During his time with Nie Bufan, he learned a trick. To deal with this guy, he had to be more shameless than him! Next time he provoked him again, he will use this trick. Just look at his fried chicken-like appearance just now, so fun, haha!

En, the taste is also very good……