The Emperor made a number of secret edicts and then furrowed his brows slightly. He said a something in a low voice to Eunuch Yao, who bowed his head low, terrified that he would reveal a glimmer of an inappropriate emotion.
In the Dong Mountain setup, the Qing Emperor had used himself as bait to kill two Great Grandmasters. He already had plans for everything that happened under heaven. For example, the 5,000 rebel soldiers at the foot of Dong Mountain and the rebellion that was about to happen in Jingdou.
Since the Eldest Princess had the power to construct such a large setup, she would not miss an opportunity to control the Qing Kingdom. This was an opportunity the Emperor had granted her. After the situation developed, if he wanted the Qing Kingdom to maintain a steady development, he would have no choice but to return to Jingdou from faraway Dong Mountain and use his ultimate authority to stabilize the situation there.
The Emperor had long laid down provincial troops along the road to Jiangbei. The move had not involved the Bureau of Military Affairs. It had been planned in complete secrecy with Xue Qing and the Governor of Jiangbei Road, so it did not alert the Qin family’s power. With such an army, how could the 5,000 rebel soldiers at the foot of Dong Mountain be sufficient? All of the rebels perceived the Emperor as a fierce tiger in a trap. They had not thought that this fierce tiger had been standing beside the trap the entire time watching coldly as the hunters each lost their footing.
If the Qing Emperor wanted to rush back to Jingdou and forcefully suppress the internal conflict, it would not be difficult to do. In the Emperor’s two conversations with Chen Pingping by the column outside the royal study, when they had first set up this plan, he had not thought that once he had resolved matters at Dong Mountain, he could use the army to sweep through Dongshan Road and withdraw his troops back to court to deal with court politics. Although the Dong Mountain incident was near the seashore, its influence would spread to the entire Qing Kingdom. For him, this was a rare opportunity.
Through long planning, the main goal of the Dong Mountain incident was to get rid of the two largest obstacles standing in the way of the Qing Kingdom uniting the world. Now that the outside aggression was gone, what about internal trouble?
This was the Emperor’s opportunity. Using his death, he could lure out all the causes of unrest in court. Once those officials who usually appeared incomparably loyal knew of his death, would they still abide by his posthumous edict? Would they still have a shred of respect for him? Would those lowly people who hid in the darkness jump out at this time?
Just as the Emperor always emphasized to Fan Xian and his sons, when he evaluated people, he cared about their hearts. The situation in Jingdou was, without a doubt, the best opportunity to tests people’s hearts.
The Emperor stood in front of the cross-legged and healing Ye Liuyun. His expression was calm. There were a few fine lines at the corner of his eyes. What he had told Eunuch Yao was simple. After sending the edict to Chen Pingping, seal the news. Keeping it away from even Fan Xian and Ye Zhong.
They were the people the Emperor trusted the most. He wanted to test them one last time. Once Fan Xian and Ye Zhong passed through this psychological test, they would have his absolute trust. The Emperor truly had not thought that the situation in Jingdou would grow to such a dangerous extent, the people in the Palace would be damaged so badly, or that his sister could be so brutal.
Ye Liuyun sighed and quietly said, “If we don’t get back to Jingdou quickly, there will probably be great chaos.”
If one desires great order, there must first be great chaos. A storm of rain and blood needed to be used to reveal the gold amongst the yellow sand. He had to create a unified and strong the Qing Kingdom in order to lay down a good foundation for the battle for unification in two or three years. The Qing Emperor did not think that such a price was too high. However, he did not overly underestimate his younger sister. Since it was so, the Qing Kingdom would probably sink into instability.
“I conquered this kingdom,” the Emperor said coldly. “Even if Yunrui sits steady in Jingdou, I can still take it back.”
After saying this, the Emperor didn’t say anymore. He coughed. With Eunuch Yao’s support, he made his way slowly to the bloodstained mountain gate below. At this time, the signal arrow had already been fired. The sounds of killing rang out again at the foot of the mountain. The officials and chamberlains who had come along for the worship all followed him down with faces full of terror. A number of people had prepared a stretcher and helped Ye Liuyun lie on it with great humbleness.
Although news traveled unusually slowly in this time period and Chen Pingping was far away in Jingdou, he had already arranged everything. Although the Overwatch Council was powerful enough to prevent any leaking of information out of Dongshan Road, the Emperor had accurately calculated that at the beginning of the rebellion his proud and crazy sister would send news of his death back to Jingdou and push the entire situation to a crazy point of no return. Once the bow had fired, there was no turning back. Since the Eldest Princess had started the Dong Mountain incident, regardless of the Emperor’s life and death, she had to handle everything within Jingdou as if he were already dead. This was the craziness of staking everything on one throw.
However, Ku He and Sigu Jian were, after all, still alive. Plus, it was impossible to completely wipe out the 5,000 rebel troops at the foot of the mountain and Jiaozhou Navy on the ocean. In, at most, seven days, the truth of the situation on Dong Mountain would spread out.
Given the distance between the two places and Overwatch Council’s ability to desperate seal the news along the way, in about 30 days, the people in Jingdou would know of this earth-shattering news.
At that time, the Eldest Princess would probably have already been on the move for a dozen days. No one knew if Jingdou would be able to hold out.
As the Emperor walked silently toward the foot of the mountain, he thought about all of this. Although he had confidence, he still didn’t want Jingdou or Qing Kingdom to have too much instability. Comparing the two sides, he still wanted to take a risk to see the true heart that people buried the deepest.
He wanted to see people’s abilities, particularly Fan Xian’s. He wanted to see whether or not Fan Xian could understand a ruler’s heart and keep hold of his homeland for him.
He had not expected that Fan Xian would fight a brilliant battle but be bound by the Eldest Princess’s even more brilliant tactic. In the end, Fan Xian managed to guess the Emperor’s intention. However, the method through which he controlled that homeland was one the Emperor would never have expected and did not want to see.
Despite the Emperor’s calculations, he still forgot one thing: the empress dowager’s attitude. This Emperor, who was famed for his filial piety and was said to rule the world through filial piety, forgot that his own mother was just like him. She forever put the ongoing existence of the kingdom and royally family above all else. Other than his life, it was more important than anyone’s life.
Before he left the mountain, the Emperor, who had just won the greatest success in his life, still coldly gave one last edict: capture the head of the rebel army below. Although the black-clothed man at the foot of the mountain was not a Great Grandmaster, he was still an important person in the Emperor’s heart.
…
…
With his head down in the wind and rain, Wang Qinian followed the dense woods as he escaped down the mountain. When Ku He’s first strike had landed on Eunuch Hong’s chest, the Overwatch Council officer quickly saw an opportunity to slip away from the summit when no one was paying attention. He was said to be the Overwatch Council’s wings. Back in the day, he was a pirate who went from Dongyi to Northern Qi. He was actually quite skilled at doing such sneaky things.
The sharp edges of the leaves scratched across his body. Although it was unable to scratch through the Overwatch Council’s specially made official robes, it still startled him. He didn’t know what was happening on the summit. He only knew that such a situation was not something someone of his level should be prying into or be curious about.
In his opinion, the Emperor was dead for sure. No one could survive a combined attack from three Great Grandmasters. Thus, at the first opportunity, he had decided to run. His plan was simple. He wanted to, at the first instant, deliver this astonishing news to Jingdou. Although he didn’t know if he would run into the also escaping Fan Xian, he had to at least inform Director Chen.
Jumping over a hollow, he carefully used the wind, rain, and trees as cover and had already reached the middle of the mountain. He suddenly heard a thunderous sound ring out from the summit. Then, the chimes of a clock reached him.
This was the moment when the Qing Emperor had punched out with the way of the Emperors, as well as when Sigu Jian’s heavily injured body crashed into the clock in the ancient temple.
Wang Qinian paused and then continued to go down with his head lowered. He had not walked for long when he felt movement appear behind him. Without thinking, he hid his body in a pile of weeds and watched the stone path from a distance.
Two bloody people came down the stone path. Wang Qinian was familiar with the young man. It was Thirteenth Wang, who he had he interacted with for a long time in Jiangnan. Who was the person on his back?
Wang Qinian opened his eyes wide and listened to the weak but funny conversation between the two bloody people. Finally, he realized who Thirteenth Wang was carrying.
The bloody man with the broken army was Thirteenth Wang’s teacher.
Wang Qinian was Fan Xian’s closest confidant. He even knew about the chest. Naturally, he also knew Thirteenth Wang’s true identity. Thirteenth Wang was Sigu Jian’s final disciple.
Wang Qinian’s eyes constricted in shock. He didn’t even dare to breathe loudly. He could only quietly watch this remarkable and sorrowful student, and teacher follow the stone path step by step down the mountain. He came back to his senses a moment later, but he was still very dazed. He wondered what exactly had happened on the summit. Who in this world was able to hurt Sigu Jian like this?
Before Wang Qinian had woken from his shock, another shadow in hemp clothing, using a strange posture, floated down the mountain in midair. Wang Qinian looked at this sight and almost vomited blood. What had happened to Ku he? Magic? Why did his old bald donkey’s face look like a zombie’s?
Two Great Grandmasters passed in front of his eyes in a decrepit fashion. Perhaps they had already discovered Wang Qinian’s vole-like hiding. However, how could the two almost dead Great Grandmasters have the energy to acknowledge him?
Wang Qinian had received a boundless shock. He could not understand. Only a little time had passed. How could the two Great Grandmasters, who had come to the summit of Dong Mountain like gods, become like this?
After a long time, he stood up on trembling legs and turned to look up at the summit of Dong Mountain within the clouds. He wondered if it was possible that the Emperor had won. He thought perhaps he should go back to the summit to see what had happened. The shock in his heart and some faint fear pushed him to continue walking down the mountain.
Past noon and into the night, sounds of killing started up in all directions at the bottom of the mountain, making it difficult to escape. Wang Qinian, hidden in the darkness like a bat, finally found an opportunity to break out of the battlefield. He also confirmed the truth—the Emperor was still alive and doing very well. The rebellion had failed, and it had been disastrous for the Great Grandmasters.
He made a decision to not follow the heaven worship group. Instead, he would head toward Jingdou as quickly as possible. He had to tell Fan Xian the truth of this matter and give him background information that he could consult so he would not have an unforgivable mistake.
Wang Qinian was an official of the Overwatch Council and a subject of the Qing Emperor. His most certain identity was as Fan Xian’s confidant. He knew too much about Fan Xian’s business and about how he thought. He was afraid that because of the Emperor’s death, Fan Xian would make incorrect decisions.
It was just like the decision the General of the Jiaozhou Navy, Xu Maocai, had tried to persuade Fan Xian to make.
For some reason, after Wang Qinian guessed the Emperor’s intentions, he felt fearful and worried for Fan Xian and everyone in Jingdou. Thus, as quickly as he could and going through countless twists and turns, he got back to Jingdou ahead of the Overwatch Council and before the Eldest Princess’s spies. Holding onto this earth-shattering news, he came to Chen Garden.
He was the first person in the world to bring this information out.
In the end, he did not get this message out. The old Overwatch Council cripple tied him up and stuffed his mouth, not giving him any opportunity to get the message out.
In the days after the old cripple learned of the situation at Dong Mountain, he only developed one extra habit. Periodically, he would sigh to his old servant, “You have to know, it is a very difficult thing to have someone die.”
…
…
As Wang Qinian had been preparing to escape, Gao Da had already been escaping. These confidants at Fan Xian’s side had, without question, been infected by too much of his influence. They were different from most of the people in this world. In the depths of their heart, they had begun to unconsciously value their lives as more important than that of the Emperor’s.
In a monarchical power society, this was a treasonous kind of thinking. Although Fan Xian had never said it explicitly, the way he did things behind the court’s back and his imperceptible influence on the words and actions of those beside him all demonstrated this point.
One can be affected by one’s environment. When Gao Da shakily escaped down the mountain, he definitely didn’t think of this. Unlike Wang Qinian, he didn’t see the heavily injured Sigu Jian and Ku He at the foot of the mountain.
He became scared and terrified because his identity was not the same as Wang Qinian’s. The Overwatch Council officials were the Emperor’s subjects, while the Tiger Guards were the Emperor’s slaves or last layer of protection. Wang Qinian could run, but a Tiger Guard could not, particularly when the Emperor faced a life-threatening danger.
Escaping before a battle was, for a Tiger Guard, a kind of humiliation and a great crime. Perhaps Gao Da could lighten the feeling of shame in his heart, but he could not escape this crime.
The stone path was filled with the bodies of Tiger Guards and shattered pieces of their knives. All of his colleagues had died on Dong Mountain. When he faintly understood the conclusion of the assassination on the summit, Gao Da became angry, hurt and scared.
One hundred Tiger Guards had died. When had the Emperor cared about their lives? Gao Da’s heart was cold. He knew that it was impossible for him to return to the Emperor’s side. Once he showed himself, what would welcome him would be Qing laws and strict punishment by Palace rules. His death did not matter, but perhaps even his family would be implicated.
Thus, he chose an even more determined escape. He trusted Fan Xian, but he was unable to return to Fan Xian’s side because he didn’t want to bring any trouble to Sir Fan junior.
He only wanted to leave this unfathomable Royal Palace and this Emperor, whose prestige could not be offended, to go somewhere far away and peacefully live the second half of his life.
At the end of the Dong Mountain incident, two of Fan Xian’s trusted aides chose their own paths. At the time, it did not draw the attention of many people. In fact, no one noticed. In something such as life, who could accurately predict the future? Every sip and bite was part of destiny. No one knew what bitter fruit this incident’s seed would bring.
…
…
Gao Dan and Wang Qinian were on a path to escape. The thousands of rebel soldiers at the foot of Dong Mountain and the ninth-level assassins from Dongyi were also on the road to escape. The ships of the Jiaozhou Navy on the ocean didn’t have time to sail into the deep ocean before they were blocked from their escape path by the boats summoned from Shazhou.
Although the battle power of the two combined Roads of provincial soldiers was far below that of Yan Xiaoyi’s personal longbow group, the most important thing about two armies fighting was an imposing manner. Ku and Sigu Jian were god-like figures in the hearts of common soldiers. Even they had fallen to such a tragic end. What would these rebel soldiers, who had betrayed the Emperor, think in their hearts?
When the Emperor, dressed in bright yellow dragon robes, as well as Ye Liuyun, who had been Qing Kingdom’s guardian angel for decades, walked out of the mountain gate and appeared in front of the rebel soldiers, a period had already been drawn on this rebellion. Without using military power, their morale had been defeated.
Thousands of rebel soldiers stood terrified and witless at the foot of Dong Mountain. The roads leading to the wilds had been encircled many times by the provincial soldiers who had been summoned. They knew they had reached the end of their path, but they could not summon the last shred of courage to carry out the last fight in their lives.
The Emperor’s one sentence shattered their everything, “I pardon your death sentence.”
Regardless of whether they believed it or not, it was still a beautiful poisonous fruit. The rebel soldiers gave up their weapons and surrendered. They did not know if they would be massacred and purged by the batch in the next few years.
…
…
When the provincial troops began to encircle the mountain before the Qing Emperor came down, Yu Zhilan and a group of about 10 Dongyi assassins attacking the mountain met up with Sigu Jian, who Thirteenth Wang had bravely carried down the mountain. Knowing the truth of what happened at the summit, they felt cold all over and left the main group of rebel soldiers. They began to kill their way toward the forests in the north. Such a group indeed had great killing power. They successfully broke through the barrier, entering into the secret paths in the mountains in front of Danzhou.
The Qing Emperor was a man, not a god. Even if he could calculate for everything, for the sake of the bigger picture, it was impossible for him to take care of everything. There were too many cracks within the Qing Kingdom. It was delusional to think one could scoop up all opposing power in one go. Thus, he was not surprised by Dongyi breaking through the barricade.
As for that black-clothed commander of the rebel army, the Emperor had given out an edict. Even though he knew the possibility of catching him was not very big, he still had to try because he was interested in that commander.
Imperial Advisor Ku He, whose face was an inauspicious dark yellow, sat on the back of the black-clothed man’s horse, heading outward. For a Grandmaster to look so dim, a trace of sorrow flashed through the black-clothed man’s eyes.
Because of the Emperor’s edict, the most effort was put into pursuing this commander. Although the provincial troops were not strong and most of the Tiger Guards had died, the Qing Emperor’s troops finally successfully barricaded the black-clothed commander in the street.
It seemed to be a dead end. The other side had at least 300 soldiers. They looked endless. The sound of pursuit started up behind him.
The Qing Emperor asked for him to be captured alive, but what if they killed him?
The black-clothed man had only brought two trusted aides. However, he had led an unfamiliar army and was able to divide and surround the imperial soldiers, not allowing a single person to escape. This could truly be said to be god-like. In the last battle, his influence had fallen like a mountain. Even though he had incredible ability, he was still unable to make Yan Xiaoyi’s personal soldiers conquer the respect and fear in their hearts for the Emperor and Ye Liuyun. In the end, he had been defeated.
Looking at the hundreds of soldiers in front, the black-clothed man, who had always appeared calm and gently during the surrounding of the mountain, finally slowly stood up straight. Carefully, he tied Ku He tightly to his back. His two trusted aides beside him each took out two objects wrapped in cloth. After opening the outer layers of rough cloth, they revealed a metal stick about an arms-length long.
The black-clothed man calmly accepted it with both hands and connected them together with a click. Swinging it in one hand, killing intent surged. A long, black, metal spear appeared impressively in his hand. With his spear in hand, a powerful battle-lust abruptly exploded in his eyes, which seemed as calm as lake water. His entire body began to give off wisps of murderous spirit like a battle god.
He squeezed his horse’s abdomen. Riding alone with Ku He on his back, he charged toward the 300 soldiers. His aura was like thunder. He could not be stopped. It was as if he had returned to that night in Shangjing as the rain poured down aggressively.
…
…
“His two trusted aides died, but he escaped with Ku He.” A provincial soldier knelt before the Qing Emperor and reported in a trembling voice.
Ku He and Sigu Jian, what kind of people were they? Yet, they escaped tied to the back of others. The Qing Emperor listened calmly and couldn’t help but feel something different in his heart. Seeing the general’s fear, he involuntarily smiled and said, “If he was so easily captured by me, would he still be Shang Shanhu?”