CH 33

Chapter 33 Rebirth 

Just after Chen Shi (7-9a), Qu Chenzhou was taken to the study by his subordinates, where there were already two people waiting. 

He didn’t kneel down anymore, just waited for the servant to go out and close the door of the study. He bowed slightly to the two of them, and asked, “Can you give me a cup of tea?” 

Under Liu Zhongming’s gaze, Bai Shiyan finally saw an unimaginable and incredible gesture. The person who picked up the tea stepped back and sat on another chair. 

The posture was arrogant——that was an extremely standard sitting posture in the palace. 

Bai Shiyan couldn’t help but look at the person in front of him again. 

Although he knew that Zhongming would not be suspicious of people for no reason, until he saw it himself, he couldn’t help but be shocked. The other party’s stance without any evasiveness made it seem as if the guest was the host and had overwhelmed them by three points. 

“It seems that you have already understood?” Liu Zhongming asked.

Of course Qu Chenzhou understood. Long before Liu Zhongming took out the hand stove, he had already considered the worst situation. 

Last night, he was just cherishing his last night like this, being able to be in a daze like a fool. He will soon turn into a form he was extremely disgusted and most familiar with. 

He would walk towards the center of the vortex again, dragging everyone with him. 

However, fortune and misfortune depend on each other. Liu Zhongming had discovered his oddity by himself, which saved him the trouble of self-certification and gave him the best opportunity to approach Zhongming. 

Zhongming needs him. 

The Bai Liu family was originally a battleground for military strategists. After Concubine Liu became pregnant, the situation in the court underwent tremendous changes in subtle ways. 

After the birth of the Prince, Zhongming had to recuperate at home due to an “accidental” injury, which gave people a chance to slander him. 

In this deceitful cloud, he was just an involuntary pawn. Even without his divination, the Liu family’s situation would have not changed. 

Although without him perhaps Liu Zhongming would not even have been able to escape from the capital, how could the things that happened afterwards make him qualified to claim himself as an official with outstanding service? 

The evil spirit in the dark always watches Zhongming in silence. 

He can’t die. 

Even if his own death is not a pity, Zhongming…Sooner or later, would face a similar situation. 

If he dies, what would Zhongming do?

“Prince, General Bai,” he raised his eyes to look at the two familiar and unfamiliar people in front of him, and said slowly. 

“There is one thing you two should know. Qu Chenzhou was born unable to speak lies. Therefore, what I say hereafter is all true. If the two are determined to not believe it, I simply do not intend to waste any more words.” 

These words seemed strange and Liu Zhongming deliberated it in his heart, but did not rush to question. He only replied: “You talk first. It’s not you who has the final say in whether to believe it or not.” 

Qu Chenzhou nodded and looked down at the calm tea in the cup. He felt like he was telling someone else’s story. 

“I am a person who died long ago. I died in a winter that would come more than ten years later.” 

Liu Zhongming and Bai Shiyan looked at each other. They both saw the shock in each other’s eyes, but did not interrupt him. 

“After I died, my soul was separated from my body. I thought I was in reincarnation. When I opened my eyes again, I entered Qu Chenzhou’s body and came back to life.” 

Qu Chenzhou paused and asked, “The two of you, do you want to guess when I came to life again?” 

This is really something unthinkable, but these simple sentences were like a transparent thread, stringing together all the doubts Liu Zhongming had before. 

Even the answer to this question came readily. 

Shi Yan had once said that Xiao Qu, a few years ago, was timid and cowardly. He dared not raise his head in front of guests, and would only kneel on the ground and shake his head.

Fang Wuyang also said that after being beaten a lot, the child hadn’t dared to escape for several years. But he didn’t know why, not only did he dare to escape that day, he also beat Pan He. 

The sudden change in temperament started from the day when this man suddenly went crazy and beat Panhe and fled to the street. 

Liu Zhongming slowly rubbed the fingers on the teacup, and sneered for a while: “Do you think I will believe it?” 

“You will believe it.” Qu Chenzhou didn’t panic, and answered him with a smile. 

Without even a little explanation, this sure answer seemed to cut him open of his knowledge and understanding. Liu Zhongming even felt that the other party was looking down at him compassionately, but he reluctantly suppressed his anxiety and asked calmly: “Believe it or not, it’s not you who have the final say. Keep talking.” 

“I have all the memories and abilities of Qu Chenzhou. His eyes can indeed see some things that are about to happen, and none of his words are inaccurate. It’s just that the status of a slave is too humble and many things can’t be helped. Also because of my past life, some things were discouraged, and I settled down temporarily.” 

“Settled down?” Bai Shiyan asked with a sneer, “What about Du Quan’s business? Is that you settling down?” 

When Qi Sheng Building collapsed he wasn’t at the scene, but when he heard someone talk about it, he was scared enough. When he found Liu Zhongming, he saw that Zhongming was concerned about the murder of Du Quan.

For them, this was not a big case involving many. The capital residence quickly took out the files and even gave them the hand stove as evidence. 

That hand stove in turn made the ins and outs of Qi Sheng building changing hands clear. 

When reminding Zhongming earlier, although he spoke solemnly, when it came to really facing it, Zhongming was more calm than him. 

“Du Quan?” Qu Chenzhou pushed aside the tea stems in the water, took a sip, and smiled casually: “The man was too greedy. Jiang Xingzhi told him the secret to breaking Qu Chenzhou which would send him to death. He was thinking about letting me divinate. If he hadn’t died, I would sooner or later have had an accident. So I couldn’t continue to keep him around.” 

“What would’ve happened?” Liu Zhongming asked this time. 

“Is the Prince really unclear about this?” Qu Chenzhou asked back: “My time with the emperor may be longer than what you two think. The emperor’s temper and preferences, the things Pan He and Mu Jingde are brewing in their heads… I know it all very well.” 

“Not to hide it from you two, I don’t want to see the emperor yet. And this time, Qi Sheng Building being bought by the Prince, was something that happened by accident. It was really not my intention. You two don’t need to be too nervous about that.” 

He told them this to their face. He didn’t even bother to conceal the fact that he had been with the emperor, and that he knew Pan He and the others. Not only did he stifle the probe of the two opposite to him, but also faintly laughed at the bluff attempted by the two. 

“So?” Liu Zhongming simply went straight in: “Who are you?”

Qu Chenzhou smiled: “It’s a bit too early for the Prince to know my true identity. I will only be talking about this for now. If the Prince wants to know more, shouldn’t you be offering equivalent terms to me in exchange?” 

“Your life is in my hands now, and you still ask me to offer terms?” 

“My Prince’s words are lacking in understanding. I’ve already died once, you think I’ll be afraid of it anymore? Today I am willing to speak the truth because there is something I want——the Prince is a smart man and also knows the value of Chenzhou’s eyes, and I happen to know quite a few things about the palace. So ……” 

The pair of demon pupils, clear, smiled and looked over. 

“So now it’s the Prince’s turn to consider carefully. If you want to use me, I’m willing to work with you. In exchange I want the Prince to protect me and meet my requirements.” 

A hard problem was thrown over, and Liu Zhongming could perceive Bai Shiyan’s gaze falling on him, as if waiting for him to make a decision. 

Before, he had imagined all kinds of possibilities, but he had never expected that a trick like this, one above life and death, would happen in front of him, and he had never expected that Qu Chenzhou who appeared to be so young, after putting aside all disguises, would be capable of giving people such invisible coercion. 

He couldn’t help but believe that the soul hidden in Qu Chenzhou’s body once used to stand high above, overlooking everyone. 

“You mean to say that you used to be a man in the palace. And that after you died, you borrowed a corpse to return to the present ten years ago?” 

He looked at the upright posture of the other party carefully, half believing it in his heart, but still he asked with mockery: “Then you tell me, when will the emperor make up his mind, and who’ll finally win the race for the throne?”

“No I can’t,” Qu Chenzhou pondered: “The Prince should know that a little wind and wave on the sea may cause an uproar. From the time I was reborn in this body, I have discovered that there are some things that are different from before.” 

Liu Zhongming sneered: “There is a lot of sophistry. You think these supernatural things can deceive me? Shi Yan, go and ask people to boil water and send this ‘Gong Gong’ on his way.” 

Qu Chenzhou heard the words “Gong Gong” said fiercely and knowing that the other party had guessed in the wrong direction, he felt relieved a lot. 

He looked sideways at Bai Shiyan and gave an order, then called two people to bring in a rope. Without panic, he brushed the tea stems in the cup, and said a few words: “Huanyi building, women with weak postures and gentle movements, yesterday they bloom, but today they fall.” 

In an instant, not only Liu Zhongming’s gaze turned back, but Bai Shiyan also waved his hands, telling the two people to withdraw again. 

“Fengsong pavilion, snow song, confidant,” Qu Shenzhou smiled: “Mingde hall, the zither plucks a jasper tune, and the furnace is made of white cinnabar. Am I right? Do I need to continue to say more?” 

Liu Zhongming’s face became particularly ugly. 

In different shops under his name, there were many secret halls that were set up to send messages privately. And each place had a different code word. What Qu Chenzhou just revealed were such places in Huanyi building, Fengsong pavilion and Mingde hall, and not a word was spoken incorrectly. 

Mingde Hall hadn’t even opened yet in the capital, so even Shi Yan didn’t know the code word. 

“Who told you?!”

“That’s not important,” Qu Chenzhou still didn’t have any trace of panic on his face: “The important thing is that I know a lot of things. Does the Prince think that what he has been doing is so well hidden, that he couldn’t imagine the possibility of someone observing him in the dark?” 

Liu Zhongming had thought of that once before. In the case of his brother’s death, he was determined that if someone had deliberately caused it, he would definitely not let him go. Similarly, he had expected that the other party would not sit innocently and wait for death. 

He had thought he could compete with the other party, but hadn’t expected that someone would investigate his details to this extent, and it was rather creepy. 

“Prince, Concubine Liu in the palace has not yet gotten pregnant. Do you think this is entirely the emperor’s decision?” 

As if to break his already shaken firmness to pieces, Qu Chenzhou slowly asked him to face the cruel facts: “It’s not.” 

“Concubine Liu is a smart person. If she wants to be pregnant with a dragon seed, it is not impossible. But once that happens, she is not smart enough to deal with it. She needs someone to support her.”

“And you should know better than me about the way Marquis Liu deals with the messy affairs of the court.” 

“Great General Bai and General Bai are busy with military affairs and do not specialize in these methods.” 

“Now the Marquis’s residence’s affairs are mainly presided over by the Prince, and both families have put their hope on the Prince. But it’s a pity…” 

Liu Zhongming was stimulated so much by this tone that the blood in his whole body was boiling. This faint narration seemed to provoke him, but it also seemed to be simply explaining the facts. He hardly had the courage to go into details. 

He knew what was implied by that “it’s a pity”——it was a pity that the Prince was not strong enough to be Concubine Liu’s backer, so Concubine Liu dared not become pregnant.

“You…speak nonsense…” 

“Zhongming!” Bai Shiyan was shocked when he saw his gaffe, but he still scolded him to wake him up. 

Qu Chenzhou was still satisfied that he could restrain himself in this way, but it was far from enough. 

The Zhongming back then was blindly thinking that he was strong enough, and everything they did at the time was based on Zhongming’s guidance. And hence he couldn’t see reality clearly. 

It wasn’t until they were separated and struggling helplessly in the sea of ​​swords and flames that they knew how naive they were back then. 

With a monster like him, they shouldn’t have lost so terribly. 

Fortunately, it was not too late now. It was the time right before those opponents had really noticed them. 

Maybe this is the opportunity that God gave him. 

Qu Chenzhou leaned forward, watching the raging anger in Liu Zhongming’s eyes, smiling provocatively, and pressing down on his last straw. 

“I forgot to tell the Prince, I know who murdered your older brother.”