knife

Chapter 324 Asking for help
The once spirited and ambitious Scholar Zhou is now all white-haired.

From the time he was demoted after the incident to his escape, only a little over a year has passed, but he has truly experienced what it means for each day to feel like a year.

The feeling of constantly worrying about someone breaking down the door, grabbing you, and beheading you is truly unpleasant.

Especially in recent months, the Wei clan has been wreaking havoc in Chang'an.
As Linghu Ye's accomplice on the surface,

Zhou Zili once felt that the Wei family's butcher's knife would soon fall on his head.

So the moment he saw Linghu Ye, this scholar, who was well-read and famous in the Qin Dynasty for his calligraphy, writing, and painting skills, suddenly felt his legs go weak, sat down on the ground, and burst into tears.

This caught Linghu Ye, who had personally come out of his tent to greet him, off guard.

Seeing the old man patting the ground and complaining, Linghu Ye realized what was happening and strode forward to help Zhou Zili up.

The old man, who was so thin he was practically skin and bones, weighed no more than 80 or 90 pounds. With a gentle lift from Linghu Ye, his feet were already off the ground.

"Brother Linghu, I never thought I'd be alive to see you again!" Zhou Zili cried, tears and snot streaming down his face.

"Brother Zhou, after hearing about your situation, I tried many ways to rescue you, but it was truly beyond my reach. However, good fortune always favors the virtuous, and I am overjoyed to see you return safely!" Linghu Ye said with a beaming smile, helping Zhou Zili towards the central command tent. "Go inside and rest. Tell me how you escaped danger. Haha, no wonder I heard magpies chirping this morning; it turns out it was Brother Zhou! Someone, quickly prepare a feast; I want to welcome Brother Zhou back!"

A grand welcome banquet,
The guests and hosts had a great time.

Scholar Zhou was very drunk.
Under the targeting of those with ulterior motives, almost all members of the Zhou clan were rendered drunk.
In their drunken stupor, they naturally spoke freely and without reservation.

The only one who remained clear-headed was Zhou Gang.

The noisy military camp fell silent once again.

Inside the central command tent, Linghu Ye's expression turned serious.

The person who rescued Scholar Zhou from his predicament was none other than Wu De, the most powerful figure in the Black Ice Bureau.

In other words, the person who collaborated with Li Dachui must have been Wu De.

"It was Wu De who escorted Zhang Ruo to the border region back then, but at that time, he was just a judicial officer in the Ministry of Justice. Kou Zhong really has a knack for keeping such a person hidden for so long." Linghu Zhishu shook his head and sighed.

“It only fooled you. Li Dachui must have gotten in touch with Wu De around that time!” Linghu Ye said.

Linghu Zhishu lowered his head in shame: "It is your nephew's incompetence!"

Linghu Ye shook his head: "What's the use of saying all this now? Wu De is now roughly the second most powerful figure in Chang'an. I was wondering why Li Dachui had the guts to kill Li Tai and frame the Wei family, weakening their power as much as possible. It turns out he was cooperating with Wu De, Zhang Songlin, and others. Zhang Songlin has already entered Shu, so it's likely that Wu De will be the next to lead the troops into Shu. With one open and one covert, one using soft tactics and the other hard tactics, working together from within and without, Shu is in grave danger!"

"Now we just hope that Shu can see through Li Dachui's treacherous scheme and prevent him from succeeding," Linghu Zhishu said. "Otherwise, if we fight the Wei family in Chang'an, the one who will ultimately benefit the most is Li Dachui, which would be infuriating!"

“Those who plan ahead win, and those who plan behind lose; this has always been the case!” Linghu Ye said. “Now it seems that I was careless. Sending only one envoy may not be enough to attract their attention. You should set off immediately and enter Shu as quickly as possible! I hope it is still in time.”

“Nephew, set off immediately. No matter what they plot, as long as Jianmen Pass hasn’t fallen into Li Dachui’s hands, it’s not too late.”

Linghuye nodded.

"Uncle, how much of what Zhou Zili said today was true, and how much was false?"

"It doesn't matter. For someone like Wu De, it's incredibly easy to deceive someone like Zhou Zili. He's the kind of person who could sell Zhou Zili out and still help him count the money."

"Does Uncle still intend to give Scholar Zhou an important position?"

"Why not? A thousand pieces of gold can buy a horse's bones!" Linghu Ye laughed. "Besides, they really did do things for us and took risks. Furthermore, Scholar Zhou is skilled in calligraphy, prose, and painting. He can help me write official documents in my central command tent, and when he has free time, he can compose a few poems about war and horses and paint a few pictures. That would be quite good."

“Looking at the large Zhou clan, there aren’t many truly capable people. Only Zhou Gang is somewhat of a character. People used to say he was a spoiled brat, but it seems the rumors are mostly unfounded!” Linghu Zhishu said. “They’ve brought their entire clan here to join us, so we should at least make some arrangements for them!” Linghu Ye laughed. “Besides, they’re all scholars; even the worst among them has a bottom line, doesn’t it?”

Sichuan, Chengdu, Qingcheng Mountain, Laojun Pavilion, Yuanming Palace.

With the help of two maids on either side, Prince Ji, Li Shen, moved with some difficulty to a soft rug under an old pine tree and sat cross-legged opposite an old Taoist priest.

"Your Highness really should lose some weight. If you continue like this, your body may not be able to handle it, and you will not live much longer!" The old Taoist frowned as he looked at Li Shen, who was as fat as a mountain.

Li Shen, holding two walnuts in his hand, smiled and said, "Old Daoist Liaoran, life and death are determined by fate, and wealth and honor are bestowed by heaven. I really don't care about life and death. To be honest, I'm already very satisfied to have lived to be over sixty. So now I eat whatever I can, and I never restrain my appetite. Speaking of which, there aren't many people in the Li family who have lived to my age, are there?"

The current leader of the Longmen Sect, Daoist Liaoran, looked at the other person, who could be divided into three of his own forms, and shook his head, saying, "You haven't been to Qingcheng Mountain for several years. This time, you've gone to all the trouble of climbing up here again. What do you want this old Daoist to do?"

The emperor is dead!

Liao Ran snorted and said, "The Heaven-Slaying Technique is domineering and unparalleled, but it will naturally bring endless troubles. It is truly pathetic that the old Taoist Yi Ming of the Zhengyi Sect refined pills for him for his own selfish reasons, trying to break the technique by force!"

“My nephew doesn’t want to die, and Daoist Yiming doesn’t want his Zhengyi sect to be constantly suppressed by your Longmen sect. What else can they do but take a gamble?” Li Shen laughed. “I’m not surprised that Li Anmin died, but Li Tai also died, killed by Hong Zhan. Isn’t that strange?”

"In this mundane world, the struggle for power and influence is fierce; the victor is king, the loser is a bandit. It's not surprising who you die at the hands of!"

“It’s different now, my Daoist!” Li Shen sighed. “Originally, Wei Zhengdao and his group held the central government and occupied Chang’an. If they had helped Li Tai ascend the throne, they would still have had a great advantage. Now that Li Tai is dead, and the blame is being placed on Wei Zhengdao, whoever devised this plan will destroy the Wei family.”

"Whether the Wei family lives or dies is none of your business."

"The Wei family is in dire need of help in Chang'an. If they want to hold Chang'an, they can't do without the support of Shu. Now they must be worried that we will join the people of the world in opposing them. So, they are definitely plotting against Shu!" Li Shen said, panting heavily as he held his large belly.

"Since you entered Shu, you have been managing the Shu region for decades without interruption. What, are you worried about it being taken away now?" Liao Ran looked at Li Shen with sarcasm and said, "If the people of Shu are united, what is there to fear from outsiders? Your Highness, the people of Shu have been living a more and more miserable life over the past few decades, while your belly has been getting bigger and bigger!"

"Don't insult me, old Taoist!" Li Shen said angrily. "Although I don't practice vegetarianism or chant Buddhist scriptures, I'm not one to prey on the people. I'm just following the crowd. Even if I eat more, I won't starve the people of Shu."

"Yes, of course you haven't bankrupted the people of Sichuan. However, in the last ten years, taxes in Sichuan have quadrupled, the number of people who have lost their land has increased by 30%, and bandits are rampant, several times more numerous than ten years ago. Your Highness, tell me what's going on?"

"Old Taoist, don't you understand? With the world getting more and more chaotic, Shu must protect itself! Shouldn't we stockpile grain and fodder? Shouldn't we recruit soldiers and buy horses? Shouldn't we forge armor and weapons? All of these require money! Where will the money come from? Naturally, it can only be by increasing taxes. There's no other way but to make the people suffer first. When the world is at peace, taxes will naturally be reduced, and life will naturally be better again!"

"We can't let the common people suffer, but we can't let you, Your Highness, suffer, nor can we let powerful families like the Tang family suffer!"

"Old Taoist, these people are my torso, my confidants, my limbs. Are you trying to make me commit suicide?"

Liao Ran stared at the other party speechlessly for a long time before he came to his senses and said, "What do you want from me? Shu has its own elite troops and strong generals, as well as the natural barrier of Jianmen Pass. The Wei family is currently in a state of chaos in Chang'an. Do you think they can send people to take over your Shu?"

"They've arrived!" Li Shenyi spread his hands and said, "Wu De, the deputy governor of the Black Ice Guard, is leading tens of thousands of troops, heading straight for Jianmen from Jinniu Road!"

"When soldiers come, we'll block them; when water comes, we'll dam it! What brings you to this old Taoist priest?"

“Daoist Master, over the years, my Ji Prince’s Mansion has been paying tribute to the Longmen Sect every year. Now that something has happened, you can’t just shirk your responsibilities,” Li Shen said. “Besides, this matter is also related to you!”

"What does it have to do with me?"

"That old bastard Yiming is also in the group with his disciples and grand-disciples. According to the information I've gathered, Wei Zhengdao has promised Qingcheng Mountain to him." Li Shen said, "Daoist, Yiming is a Xiantian master. We don't know if Hong Zhan is in the group. If Hong Zhan is, then there are two Xiantian masters in this group. Although Jianmen is dangerous, it can't stop Xiantian masters. Tang Clan's patriarch Tang Yin has already gone to Jianmen, but we're still missing one!"

"You want this old Taoist priest to guard Jianmen Pass for you?"

"It's not about guarding, it's about holding the line!" Li Shen said. "As long as Tang Yin and you appear at Jianmen Pass, the other side will have to back down. This is a win-win situation for everyone. Otherwise, if that old bastard Yiming comes, this beautiful place will have to change hands. Old Daoist, the Zhengyi Sect has wanted to replace your Longmen Sect for more than just a day or two. If you lose this ancestral land of the Longmen Sect in your hands, how will you face your founder?"

(End of this chapter)