Objectively speaking, thinking of seeking the former City Lord’s brother so long after the coup is truly underestimating the intelligence level of the coup’s side—how could you overthrow the current leader yet still leave the leader’s brother to overwork in the office?

However, upon learning that Zhao Jincheng had truly been taken away and imprisoned by the coup plotters, Wang Jiu still felt immense regret. Because this meant they could only settle for the second-best option: seeking Zhao Hongxue. The gap between the optimal solution and the second-best is self-evident.

Speaking of the name Zhao Hongxue, in fact, it is much more well-known than Zhao Jincheng. Zhao Jincheng is merely the eldest son of Golden Jade City, having gained a bit of fame due to Zhao Chenlu’s favoritism. Zhao Hongxue, on the other hand, was a famous figure in Xiangzhou thirty years ago—the former City Lord of Golden Jade City.

He was also Zhao Chenlu’s biological father.

However, for people today, the title of Zhao Chenlu’s biological father far exceeds the fame of the former City Lord, and Zhao Hongxue’s reputation mostly comes from Zhao Chenlu.

After all, in peaceful times, most people can’t even fully name the current Patriarchs of the Seven Great Noble Families, and no matter how famous the Golden Jade City Lord is, he’s still confined to Golden Jade City, but starting with Zhao Chenlu, the City Lord’s fame spread far and wide, known by everyone.

Zhao Hongxue, however, was a typical mediocre figure, relying on bloodline inheritance to ascend during his prime, and once in position, he worked diligently, earnestly, without any innovations or mistakes, appearing unremarkable both as Patriarch and cultivator.

Until he had a daughter named Zhao Chenlu, and was then quickly ousted from the City Lord’s seat by his own daughter, retiring early to enjoy a comfortable and carefree retirement.

Objectively speaking, life after retirement for Zhao Hongxue was much more abundant than his tenure as the City Lord—he held several positions, including President of Golden Jade City’s Senior Cultivator Association, Vice President of Xiangzhou’s Senior Cultivator Association, Honorary President of Golden Jade City’s Parent Committee, and President of Golden Jade City Card Game Association, where he befriended many like-minded friends (including female friends), living a happy and fulfilling life. According to evaluations from those around him, Zhao Hongxue’s smiles in retirement were several times more than when he was a City Lord.

However, even so, being ousted by his own daughter during a stable political career is certainly not a glorious resume, and half of Zhao Hongxue’s reputation was a laughingstock at tea-time, hence it’s imaginable what kind of feelings Mr. Zhao holds towards the daughter who helped him achieve fame. Even before Zhao Chenlu forcefully ascended, most of the time, his relationship with Zhao Hongxue wasn’t close.

After all, in this lifetime, Zhao Chenlu was essentially the renowned Zhao Yuming of Jiuzhou, and there was no father-daughter bond with Zhao Hongxue. Moreover, the relations between Zhao Yuming and the family back then weren’t harmonious, so naturally, she wouldn’t be close to Zhao Hongxue.

This is also why Zhao Hongxue was considered as the second-best option; his influence and fame were greater than Zhao Jincheng’s, but his attitude and stance were highly dubious. Only heaven knows whether he welcomed or was indifferent to his daughter’s misfortune due to the coup, or celebrated it. Anyway, when Wang Jiu found Zhao Hongxue, he was happily playing cards at the senior cultivator’s card club with a few elderly men with white-beards.

"Hahaha, Mr. Zhao, how many losses in a row now? Such a good initial hand and you still lost, are you becoming senile recently?"

"Yeah, Mr. Zhao, that play you made just now was too foolish, seeing you ruin a good hand like that makes me feel guilty for winning."

"Hongxue old brother, your monthly retirement allowance isn’t particularly generous, so perhaps don’t spend so lavishly."

Sneered at by a group of elderly men, Zhao Hongxue didn’t get angry, he just tossed the cards onto the table, smiling, "I’ll take a break."

"Why take a break, it’s just because you’ve run out of money!"

"Oh, by the way, Mr. Zhao, since your daughter was overthrown, will your former City Lord allowance be stopped too? Then how will you continue playing cards?"

"Huh? Hongxue old brother’s allowance is stopping? Then if he doesn’t come to play cards in the future, what will we do about our pocket money?"

Facing this group of friends kicking him when he’s down, Zhao Hongxue still smiled mildly, "Don’t worry, there will always be a way."

While speaking, he walked to the corner of the room, quietly poured himself a cup of rough tea, gently and nearly humbly, with a somewhat insignificant aura, truly making it hard to associate him with the former City Lord of Golden Jade.

Seeing Zhao Hongxue’s demeanor, Shen Qingming and others felt a bit more hopeful.

Indeed, Zhao Hongxue’s fallen situation is actually a good thing, judging from the dialogue of this group of card friends, his main income now comes from the former City Lord’s allowance, and once Zhao Chenlu is overthrown, his allowance will be stopped... From this perspective, he definitely has the motivation to assist Zhao Chenlu in escaping her predicament.

Even if the father-daughter bond is faint, as long as the interests are sufficient, he could step forward to rally Zhao Chenlu’s supporters to aid her escape.

Thinking of this, Shen Qingming volunteered, stepping forward to Zhao Hongxue, "Mr. Zhao Hongxue, hello, I am Shen Qingming from the Cyan Cloud Li Family. I have been entrusted to seek your assistance."

"Zhao Chenlu’s matter? Not interested, please leave."

"... Huh?" Shen Qingming’s long prepared speech was cut short, feeling akin to a sharp pressure from engorgement, her chest churned with Qi Blood, truly agonizing.

After interrupting Shen Qingming, Zhao Hongxue drank the rough tea in his cup, prepared to return to the card table to continue spending, completely indifferent to what Shen Qingming mentioned.

The young girl couldn’t let him leave, she hurriedly stepped before Zhao Hongxue, fervently saying, "It’s truly a pressing matter!"

Zhao Hongxue lowered his head to glance at her, kindly said, "I’m really not interested, please leave."

Having stated it to this extent, Zhao Hongxue’s stance was evident enough, any further insistence would be obstinate and unreasonable. Shen Qingming bit her lip and said, "Then how about this, let’s play a round of cards, if I win, you’ll listen to my full explanation; if I lose, I’ll never bother you again."

"And leave Golden Jade City without interfering in its matters." Zhao Hongxue smiled, "That’s a fair bet, although I have no interest in the coup, since this is a card room, if it’s card-playing, I can accept, now come with me."

While speaking, Zhao Hongxue turned around and led Shen Qingming and the others to a secluded room.

"Here we are, a fair duel."

As he finished speaking, a card table suddenly unfolded before him, a deck of golden glittering cards descended from the sky, landing at the center of the table.

"Let’s use your QingCyan Cloud City’s most popular Qing cards for a best-of-five match, one-on-one, shall we?"

While speaking, Zhao Hongxue was already skillfully shuffling the cards, actions completely unlike the clumsiness faced with the old companions at the card table before.

Shen Qingming broke out into a cold sweat.

This is completely different from what I expected! I initiated a challenge with a card game because Zhao Hongxue’s skills were atrocious, so bad that even someone with an Intelligence Index of 3.3 would think they could win.

But it seems Zhao Hongxue was deliberately hiding her abilities!

"Surprised?" Zhao Hongxue put down the freshly shuffled cards, stroked her beard, and said, "Since you came as her messengers, you should have read my profile, right? As the president of the Golden Jade City Card Association, it’s not surprising I know a bit of card skills."

"But just now, you..."

"As the president, it’s my duty to let new card friends have fun. Besides, I’m the owner of this card room; I get a cut of every win they make, so... do you want to play? There’s still time to regret it."

While speaking, a breathtaking aura emanated from Zhao Hongxue, almost making Shen Qingming lose her footing.

At this moment, the girl realized that regardless of how ridiculous the reputation might be, the person in front of her was after all a top-notch expert who once served as a city lord, with a True Essence Realm at the Peak of the Mountain-Overturning Realm, and a Primordial Spirit intensity that was top-tier in the world. Only Zhao Chenlu might have the qualifications to consider such a person to be an easy opponent.

"Rest assured, I have no interest in using Immortal Techniques to bully a little girl. Only card skills will be matched at the table, nothing else. Of course, I also hope you aren’t considering any tricks; this room is very strict with cheaters." After Zhao Hongxue finished speaking, she repeated her question once more, "Do you want to play?"

Shen Qingming turned around, casting a look for help at her companions, "Has anyone played Qing Pai?"

Li Chaolu and Li Xinyu immediately shook their heads, indicating they’d never played such a low-end game before. Li Wanqing hesitated for a moment and said, "I’ve played a few times, but only to amuse the cardroom owner’s wife. I’m afraid that’s not enough here."

Shen Qingming gritted her teeth, "It’s better than nothing. Sister Wanqing, why don’t you give it a try!"

"I’ll do my best."

——

Three minutes later, Li Wanqing stood up laughing.

"I truly can’t do it; I’m no match at all."

Shen Qingming was shocked, "Is this how you teased the cardroom owner’s wife with such a lousy hand?!"

Li Wanqing replied, "Because only by losing can I conveniently approach her under the guise of seeking card skills."

"You could’ve told me that earlier! I might as well have gone myself!"

Shen Qingming felt so angry that the veins in her temples throbbed. In a best-of-five, they had handed over one round just like that!

Nevertheless, there was a bit of solace; Zhao Hongxue’s card skills weren’t as formidable as imagined. Though she crushed Li Wanqing, she seemed only on par with Shen Qingming—back when Shen Qingming was in the Inner Sect of the Li Family Mansion, she was unbeatable among the kids in card games like Qing Pai.

"Can I take the second round?"

Zhao Hongxue nodded, "Do as you wish; anyone can come. In any case, with five games and three wins needed, I still have two wins."

——

Five minutes later...

"So, I’m temporarily leading two to zero. Do you still want to continue?"

Shen Qingming stared incredulously at the results on the table and looked up, "Were you pretending to be weak earlier?!"

In this second game, Zhao Hongxue demonstrated a strength far surpassing the first round, vastly exceeding Shen Qingming’s abilities, dominating the entire game without giving Shen Qingming any chance to fight back.

Zhao Hongxue laughed, "No, I just never played Qing Pai before, got familiar with the cards just now, and now I feel much more fluent in thought... So, should we start the third round?"

Shen Qingming felt a chill down her spine. This person never played Qing Pai before but got completely familiar with the cards in just one round—and had the audacity to act like a scattered wealth child outside!

But now the problem is, with two out of five games already lost, who else has a chance to turn the tide?

"I’ll go."

Unsurprisingly, at the critical moment, Celestial Divine Sword stepped forward.

Hearing Wang Jiu’s voice settled Shen Qingming’s heart, but...

"Ah Jiu, have you ever played Qing Pai?"

Wang Jiu replied, "Of course not, but after watching you two games, I’ve already become familiar with the cards."

"Alright, then it’s all up to you!"