61: The list has been re-arranged! Where should those who have given birth be on the list?

Chapter 61: The Rankings are Rearranged! What is a woman who has given birth doing on a ranking list!

Zhan Duoduo was a die-hard fan of the dream of the red chamber, and she absolutely loathed Li Chang'an's habit of stopping updates.

“That King of Discontinued Updates, he practically infuriated me! Such a good book, and he won’t continue writing it, instead he runs off to the Jianghu to kill people. It’s truly incomprehensible!”

Haitang Duoduo said with admiration, “I think it’s pretty good, that’s more like a man!”

Zhan Duoduo and Haitang Duoduo’s aesthetics and views were indeed vastly different.

The young Emperor saw Fan Ruoruo’s name and felt a pang of bitterness. “I’m not reading it anymore; you can look at it yourself!”

Haitang Duoduo perfunctorily cupped her hands and said, “Your Majesty, I apologize for angering you. I will look at it myself then.”

“Sixth place, Lin Wan'er. Oh my! Mother and daughter on the list at the same time, it seems beauty can be inherited.”

“Seventh place is the most famous courtesan in Shangjing City, and eighth place is Sang Wen, a musician from the Southern Qing capital.”

“Ninth place is Princess Masuo of the second tribe of Western Hu, and tenth place is a young lady from a prominent family in Eastern Yi City.”

“The Beauty Ranking is relatively neutral; the Western Qin State didn’t flatter Great Qi.”

Zhan Duoduo nodded and said, “Southern Qing established itself through martial arts, so of course it would suppress others on the Master Ranking.

However, how many beauties a country has is unrelated to its national fortune or strength.”

The two chatted for a while longer when a secret agent from the Inner Court rushed in frantically.

“Your Majesty, Saintess, something has happened at Langya Pavilion in Western Qin State!”

“Prince Yong Li Chang'an of Southern Qing, along with the Shadow Guard, secretly infiltrated Western Qin State and killed more than a dozen masters!”

“Then, Li Chang'an said that since rankings were to be made, they should be fair and stand up to scrutiny, without favoring any one country.”

“He threatened the Langya Pavilion Master to re-establish the Master Ranking and the Beauty Ranking. After these two lists were widely circulated, Li Chang'an and his people left!”

Upon hearing this news, the young Emperor's face flashed with a hint of anger, and she immediately slammed her hand on the table!

“How audacious! A Prince of Southern Qing actually infiltrated a vassal state of Great Qi. Is this an act of war?!”

“It’s one thing for him to act lawlessly in the Southern Qing Jianghu, enforcing martial law by imperial decree, but he’s even enforcing it within my Great Qi territory!”

“This is truly outrageous! The affairs of my Great Qi Jianghu are not for him, Li Chang'an, to meddle with!”

“Bring me the rankings he forced Langya Pavilion to re-establish. I want to see what he’s trying to do!”

Zhan Duoduo took the list and glanced at it, her eyes blazing with even greater fury.

“Good heavens, the first place, Celestial Vein Holder, hasn’t moved, but the Four Grandmasters are directly reversed in order, and the two Great Grandmasters of Southern Qing are placed in the top two positions!”

Li Chang'an leaving the Celestial Vein Holder position untouched also aligned with Southern Qing and Northern Qi’s psychological reverence for the Divine Temple. In fact, this position should belong to Wu Zhu, the Divine Temple’s envoy.

Haitang Duoduo took the list and glanced at it, discovering that the content had indeed changed significantly!

“Second place, Great Grandmaster of the Qing Palace, profound in skill, deeply hidden.

Once deterred Si Gu Jian, who was also a Great Grandmaster, he should be the head of the Four Grandmasters!”

“Third place, Ye Liuyun, fourth place, Si Gu Jian. The descriptions haven’t changed.

However, their order has been swapped, placing the Southern Qing Great Grandmaster first.”

“Fifth place, Ku He, a royal relative of Northern Qi, and the leader of Heaven One Path.

Among the Four Grandmasters, he has the strongest defense but the weakest overall strength.”

Upon seeing this, Haitang Duoduo couldn't help but sneer, “It’s not certain who among the Four Grandmasters is stronger or weaker. While it’s fair to say my master has the strongest defense, why is he considered the weakest in overall strength?”

“Sixth place, Shadow Swordsman, personal bodyguard of Chen Pingping, King of the Dark Night, and a top assassin in the world.”

“Seventh place, Yan Xiao Yi, eighth place, Lang Tao. The descriptions haven’t changed, but the order has been reversed, putting the Southern Qing person first again.”

“Ninth place, Qin Ye, Chief Envoy of the Southern Qing Privy Council, a renowned general of a hundred battles, capable of fighting two Ninth Rank Upper Level masters!”

“Tenth place, Yun Zhilan, Si Gu Jian’s first disciple, who inherited the essence of Si Gu Jian’s Legacy, the foremost swordsman below the Great Grandmaster level.”

After reviewing all the rankings, Haitang Duoduo summarized, “All the wording that honored Great Qi has been changed, I’ve been kicked out of the top ten, and Qin Ye has been moved up.”

“This Li Chang'an, he greatly underestimates this Saintess’s strength! If I get the chance, I’ll definitely chop him with an axe!”

“Leaving aside others, how can that archer, Yan Xiao Yi, be ranked above me? I could chop him down with one swing of my axe!”

Then, Haitang Duoduo glanced at the Beauty Ranking again, and the top five had also changed.

“Zhan Pianpian, Si Lili, Fan Ruoruo, Lin Wan'er, Wei Yingning…”

“Li Chang'an moved Yingning back two places, which is targeting Great Qi.

But why did he remove his second sister, Li Yunrui?”

The Inner Court secret agent replied, “Li Chang'an said that people who have given birth should not occupy the positions of young girls.”

Upon hearing this answer, Haitang Duoduo suddenly laughed.

“His Old Li family has learned to be humble, but I think he has a point!”

Li Chang'an and Li Yunrui had been at odds since childhood. Seeing her at the top of the Beauty Ranking made Li Chang'an very unhappy, so he casually found an excuse to pull her down.

Zhan Duoduo’s mood was clearly not as relaxed as Haitang’s. Being a fan of Li Chang'an’s books was a personal matter.

However, an enemy prince infiltrating a vassal state and acting so arrogantly, without any countermeasures, was simply unacceptable.

“Saintess Haitang, I order you to lead thirty Inner Court masters and one hundred Brocade-Clad Guards to search for and intercept Li Chang'an!”

The Emperor was so serious that Haitang Duoduo dared not take it lightly. “Your Majesty, do you want him alive or dead?!”

Zhan Duoduo gritted her teeth. “Alive, capture him!

First, make him finish dream of the red chamber, then I will personally kill him!”

...Northern Qi, Western Qin State.

The two teams of the real and fake Prince Yong had merged two months ago, and the one who infiltrated Western Qin State to cause trouble was Li Chang'an himself.

Deep in Langya Mountain, Li Chang'an, Zhao Gao, and Jing Ni arrived at the training base Zhao Gao had chosen.

“Old Zhao, the hidden base in the mountains must be separate from Langya Pavilion in Western Qin State.”

“Langya Pavilion is a visible cover force and needs to publish rankings, which will inevitably attract attention from all sides.”

“This base in the mountains, for training Net’s true elites, must be kept in absolute secrecy.”

Zhao Gao bowed and said, “Your Highness, rest assured. The Langya Mountain range stretches for thousands of li, and Langya Pavilion is located at the easternmost side, near the border of Northern Qi and Southern Qing.”

“And the Langya Mountain base is in the most secluded western deep mountains, separated by over a hundred li, isolated by mountains, and rarely visited by people.”

Li Chang'an then asked, “How many core members has Net sent from various regions for training?”

Zhao Gao replied, “Over a thousand people have completed training. There are currently just over two thousand in the base, with over twelve hundred from Southern Qing and over eight hundred from Northern Qi.”

“After these individuals complete their intelligence training, they will return to their respective strongholds and be uniformly assigned by Jing Ni.”

“Upon reaching their respective strongholds, the local Net will fund these secret agents to cultivate corresponding abilities based on the talents identified by Your Highness.”

Li Chang'an nodded with satisfaction. “Very good, Net’s intelligence System and training System are finally fully established.”

Strong intelligence cadres are the guarantee for the smooth operation of an intelligence organization; talent is the foundation of the organization.

After four years of personnel reinforcement, Net has finally become a cohesive whole. Now, it truly encompasses the world and is omnipresent!

Net’s intelligence System is managed by Jing Ni, while the training base and Langya Pavilion are managed by Zhao Gao.

“Jing Ni, has the Wanshan Merchant Guild’s trade route to Western Qin been opened?”

Jing Ni replied, “Lord Zhao has already taken control of the Western Qin State court, and all passages have been opened. All provisions and funds required by the Langya Mountain base can be supplied smoothly.”

As Net grew robustly, the two hidden military bases in Western Qin State and Jiangnan Water Fortress were also successfully established.

Everything was developing in a positive direction.

At this moment, Jing Ni reported an unexpected piece of news.

“Your Highness, Emperor Qing has decided to bestow Princess Yichen in marriage to Fan Xian, the illegitimate son of Count Sinan.”

“However, according to news from Sinan Count Manor, Fan Xian seems very reluctant to come to the capital.”

Fan Xian couldn't not go to the capital; his six fathers were waiting for him. The grand scheme laid out by Emperor Qing and Chen Pingping was just waiting for him to take his seat at the table. How could he not come? He had no choice in the matter!.