Loan Wusheng

Chapter 118 The country is in chaos, but there are loyal ministers!

The iron-blooded setting sun, the dusk, and the last ray of glow between heaven and earth.

On the deserted official road in the fields, more than eighty armored cavalrymen were riding their horses forward, and the sound of horse hooves could be heard.

The leader had bright eyes and true energy flowing in his body, and he was obviously an outer energy warrior.

The horse neighed as it sat down, its mane sleek, and it made a sound as it galloped. It was truly a good horse.

The armor of these cavalrymen looked somewhat similar to that of the imperial officers and soldiers, but the people along the way saw them as evil spirits and avoided them one after another, fearing that they would anger these soldiers and become their victims.

This group of more than 80 cavalrymen were not soldiers from a certain unit or the old camp under Zhang Bengong, but remnants of Southern Chu led by Chen Jingzhong from the Black Mountain Stronghold.

After Chen Jingzhong killed fifty or sixty people on the Black Mountain, causing a river of blood, he quickly gathered more than eighty bandits who were undercover agents from Southern Chu, and marched down the mountain in a mighty procession. He fetched the eighty horses kept in the farm, and galloped, fully armed and armored, heading straight for Miaoxin County.

These eighty people are all skilled in archery and horse riding, and have the ability to refine blood!
They are part of the three hundred elite troops trained by Nanchu.

In addition, there were more than 30 Qi-accumulating warriors and two external Gang warriors, all of whom followed the Regent Chen Fu and went south to Chuzhou. The remaining elite troops were all under the command of Chen Jingzhong.

Chen Jingzhong was ordered to join Zheng Jun's army, and these elite troops naturally became Zheng Jun's subordinates.

This time, Chen Jingzhong naturally followed Zheng Jun's orders. After integrating the power of Heishan County, he immediately attacked.

Chen Jingzhong is very concerned about this.

After all, after this battle, he no longer needs to pretend to be Lu Hao, who had been dead for more than a month, on the Black Mountain.

Therefore, Chen Jingzhong dared not not do his best. He could only gather the more than 80 "remnants of Southern Chu" who were disguised as bandits in the mountains, and use them as light cavalry to rush to Zheng Jun's aid.

"Generals Fan Tai and Ding Ming led over a thousand veteran soldiers and brought tens of thousands of bandits with them, including many blood-refining bandits who had learned martial arts. If the two counties were added together, there would be at least eight hundred of them.

With such a large number of people, Chen Jingzhong naturally had to keep going to add his own strength to Zheng Jun's battle formation.

Only in this way can we live up to the trust of the Regent!

Now, Zheng Jun is fighting with the bandit general in Miaoxin County, so Chen Jingzhong will naturally rush to help overnight and join the battle!
The bandits in the old camp were veterans of hundreds of battles, and there were tens of thousands of vagrants as well. They were so powerful that Chen Jingzhong was very worried that Zheng Jun would not be able to defeat the enemy and would instead lose his life.

With his eighty cavalrymen forming a formation and his second-level outer energy, they can also help Zheng Jun when they charge into battle!

With this thought, Chen Jingzhong withdrew his mind, looked at the rider coming towards him, raised his hand and said, "Stop!"

At the command, all men and horses stopped.

The cavalrymen looked up and saw a man dressed in the same way, but with less armor, a bow and arrow, and a knife on his waist. He rode his horse and pulled the reins in front of Chen Jingzhong, then dismounted, knelt on one knee, and reported to Chen Jingzhong: "Your Excellency, the news from the front has been found out, Black Mountain..."

Before he could finish, Chen Jingzhong interrupted him and said, "How many times have I told you to call me General? You are the Black Mountain Cavalry, and I am the cavalry commander of the Black Mountain Cavalry!"

Chen Jingzhong's ancestors were princes of Southern Chu two hundred years ago. Although Southern Chu was destroyed, their remnants naturally had to have a title, and Chen Jingzhong has now inherited this title, so he is naturally called "Prince" within Southern Chu.

"Yes, General!"

The ranger was stunned for a moment, then quickly clasped his fists and continued to report: "The results of the investigation of Miaoxin County by the commander were that there were no villages or towns in the wilderness, and everything was in ruins, with countless bones. Later, when we further investigated the situation of Zhang Bengong, we met a scout from the Black Mountain Army and learned that three hours ago, the Black Mountain Army defeated the bandits. Zheng Jun, Ming...Ming Gong killed four generals, Fan Tai, Ding Ming, Jing Ping, and Cheng Hao, and defeated the bandit army in one fell swoop. In one battle, he beheaded thousands of people and captured tens of thousands."

The ranger was obviously still not used to the title.

Subconsciously, I almost called Zheng Jun by his full name.

Chen Jingzhong was stunned when he heard this, his face was quite strange: "You mean, General Zheng led these county soldiers and half of the new soldiers who had been formed for less than a month, and defeated the experienced old camp's troops?"

"No."

The Ranger shook his head, lowered his voice, and said, "I asked our brothers in the Black Mountain Army. The process of the war was very simple. Duke Zheng rode his horse and held a knife. He jumped to the top of the mountain and saw the flag of the bandit general Fan Tai from afar. He rode his horse into the air, jumped in front of Fan Tai, cut off his head, and saw the two bandits Cheng and Jing fleeing. He drew his arrows and threw his spears, killed the bandits and returned."

"Then the enemy general Ding Ming came to form an old camp. Zheng Gong's assistant general Yang Jun said, 'The enemy has formed an array, and their power is great! My army is just a new one, and most of the soldiers are new soldiers. Moreover, they are far from being skilled in battle, and their power is far inferior to theirs. Even the brave soldiers of Yunzhou are no better than them! Please stay away from the front for a while, and wait for our army to form an array, and then fight again.' Zheng Gong said no, put on his armor and took up his sword, and went away, beheading the enemy leader with three swords and returning!"

The Rangers’ voices were low, but everyone present was a warrior.

A dozen riders behind also heard the cavalry's voice and were shocked.

Take the head of an army of ten thousand, shoot two thieves with arrows, and break the formation alone!
If one of these three merits is achieved, the storytellers in a county can compile the story into nine parts and thirty-six chapters, which can take more than half a year to tell.

If these three are combined together, the whole state will be shocked. They are the seeds of a famous general that will be born once in a lifetime!
"This……"

Chen Jingzhong's expression was also shocked, and his pupils were trembling.

He was also well-versed in military books, and since Nan Chu wanted to achieve great things, he naturally inquired about what was happening in the chaos all day long.

They had also inquired about the old soldier.

The soldiers in the old camp were selected from the elite troops of Su and Xuan states, most of them were Zhang Bengong's former subordinates. They were replenished through attacks along the way, and later some more people were added, all of them were elite troops.

The soldiers of this old camp traveled across the territory, and since Zhang Bengong started the rebellion, he has only been defeated twice.

The first time was when Zhang Bengong was arrogant and attacked the border troops of Xuanzhou, and was beaten to a pulp by them. Fortunately, the Western Di invaded and the border troops returned to defend, which allowed Zhang Bengong to escape by chance.

The second time was when Zhang Bengong attacked the famous Lu family in Xuanzhou, wanting to extort gold and silver, which angered the famous and truly prestigious Lu family in the world. The Yuandan ancestor of the family took action and defeated Zhang Bengong's old camp soldiers in one fell swoop. Zhang Bengong could only "look north in panic" and then enter Bozhou in embarrassment.

As for why the Yuan Dan Patriarch didn't kill Zhang Bengong but let him go...

Anyway, the Lu family explained to the court that Zhang Bengong was very smart and had great means, but he managed to escape from Yuan Dan, which was really shameful.

But what the reality is is a matter of opinion.

If Emperor Shenwu was in his prime, Zhang Bengong would naturally not be able to leave the gate of Xuanzhou and would be killed by Yuandan, leaving him no chance to become powerful.

But who made Emperor Shenwu old and dying?

Who doesn’t have any thoughts?
Moreover, the five families in the south, namely Wang, Xie, Lu, Xiao and Chen, are the most concerned about Emperor Shenwu.

These five families were the overlords of the south at that time. During the chaos at the end of the Yu Dynasty, the world was divided for two hundred years. The southern regime has always been at odds with the northern regime.

Now that the Great Zhou regime in the north has taken over the world, the south is naturally unwilling to accept it, otherwise there would not have been rebellions one after another for so many years.

The most recent one was the Southern Chu Rebellion two hundred years ago.

And now, the five southern tribes are restless again and naturally want to stir up trouble again.

The great sage of the Southern Demon Court was also a bit noisy. The south was already overrun with monsters.

In order to suppress the south, Emperor Shenwu naturally led the army in person and rushed to the southern states to take charge, in order to intimidate these conspirators who were ready to make moves and to conquer the Great Sage of the Southern Demon Court.

Compared with Zhang Bengong in the north, Qin Cunhai, the bandit leader of Tianwang Mountain in Qingzhou, is more worthy of attention from the few remaining Yuandan Martial Saints loyal to the Great Zhou.

After all, Qin Cunhai is a genuine Yuandan Martial Saint, and he has an army of 10,000 people under his command.

The threat to Da Zhou is much greater than Zhang Bengong's.

Zhang Bengong is just a minor case. Even if he is allowed to make trouble, how many people can he kill? At most, he can massacre these three states, and he can't do it.

But Qin Cunhai can really threaten the Zhou Dynasty court, so he must be struck hard and eliminated quickly!
We also have to guard against the Western Di and Northern Rong.

Therefore, Zhang Bengong is like a catfish, who is not valued by the decision-makers, but is expected by the aristocratic families, who hope that he can muddy and stir up the water in the north!
Let them take the opportunity to expand!

However, despite this, the strength of Zhang Bengong's old camp soldiers should not be underestimated.

At least when Yuandan Wusheng did not take action, he could be said to be invincible in the world, and only lost to the equally elite Xuanzhou border troops.

And Yuandan Wusheng was able to defeat Zhang Bengong back then because he only had 3,000 soldiers from the old camp. If the number had been 30,000, Yuandan Wusheng would have been unable to do anything alone.

Chen Jingzhong still remembered that the last time Zhang Bengong divided his troops, a thousand soldiers from the old camp conquered five cities in a row. They were so powerful that no one could stop them!

Now, they were so easily annihilated by General Zheng. Have they been defeated?
Chen Jingzhong was in a trance and even began to doubt his own ears.

Seeing Chen Jingzhong in a trance, the Ranger stepped forward again and reported to Chen Jingzhong: "General, after Lord Zheng learned of your whereabouts, he ordered you to lead the troops quickly and join him."

"understood."

Chen Jingzhong nodded and said, "Where are you now, sir?"

This time, the word "Ming Gong" was somewhat heartfelt.

After all, when Chen Jingzhong saw Zheng Jun killing Lu Hao before, he just thought it was a great chivalrous act.

Now after hearing about Zheng Jun’s battle record, I finally know who the real hero is in this vast world!

"Ming Gong stationed troops in Miaoxin County."

"go!"

After learning of Zheng Jun's current location, Chen Jingzhong said no more. He just raised his hand and asked the cavalry around him to follow him and ride westward.

The grass was dry for thousands of miles along the way.

There are few plants in many forests, and most of them have been dug up by refugees to satisfy their hunger.

The trees around Miaoxin County had long been cleared, so Chen Jingzhong could see the county from afar.

However, in Chen Jingzhong's eyes, Miaoxin County was not very good at this time.

Across the ravine, Chen Jingzhong looked at the other side of the river, but he only saw the collapsed city wall in ruins, the moat had long been dried up, and the roadside was littered with corpses being collected.

But we can see that there is an army stationed here, commanding a large number of refugees and building a city.

Seeing this, Chen Jingzhong rode over and soon led the cavalry into the city.

After the soldiers guarding the city saw Chen Jingzhong, they informed him and received an imperial edict allowing Chen Jingzhong to enter the city.

As soon as he entered the city, Chen Jingzhong frowned and noticed something strange.

A smell of blood wafted over the city.

As far as the eye can see, most of the houses in the city are black and bare, which is the result of the burning after the bandits attacked the city.

When the bandits pass through the border, they naturally burn, kill and loot, so it is normal to smell blood.

But this smell of blood is not normal.

Because it’s fresher.

In addition to the smell of blood, there was also a lot of crying.

As soon as he thought of this, Chen Jingzhong raised his hand and looked, only to see a huge tree standing by the roadside in the city, with a number of ferocious and stunned heads hanging on it.

In front of the county government office and in the Meridian Gate, many strong and powerful blood-refining warriors with their hands tied were being escorted forward to be beheaded.

Seeing this scene, Chen Jingzhong was stunned.

He spotted these people.

Looking at the armor, it is the armor of the border troops of Suzhou and Xuanzhou.

They are all soldiers from the old camp!
And behind them, there were quite a few blood-refining warriors, who seemed to be bandits.

Such veterans are extremely rare soldiers. They should be kept, their deployment disrupted, and incorporated into the army!

Why kill him?!

Chen Jingzhong was getting anxious and was ready to rush into the county government office to persuade General Zheng not to continue killing.

At this moment, Chen Jingzhong suddenly discovered that a warrior wearing armor was pushed up. The warrior was still struggling and shouting, "General Zheng, don't you want to make achievements and save the world? Why do you want to kill the warriors!"

The warrior who was gathering energy, wearing armor and going into battle, was actually a good grassroots officer.

Seeing this, Chen Jingzhong immediately planned to stop him.

All warriors who accumulate energy will be killed?
But before Chen Jingzhong could stop him, a young general came out, held his head high, and said proudly: "The general said, a thief like you who is causing chaos in the world and robbing the people, how dare you call yourself a hero? Execute him immediately, the general does not want to listen to his nonsense!"

"Yes!"

The executioner did not hesitate at all. After receiving the order, he swung his sword and blood gushed out in an instant.

The smell of blood became stronger.

The refugees watching around had resentment in their eyes, and after hearing the words of the young messenger, they couldn't help but applaud.

"it is good!"

"General Zheng is ridding the people of harm!"

"My whole family was killed by this damn thief! Erniu would like to thank General Zheng for avenging me. I will never forget the general's great kindness..."

"..."

There was continuous cheering all around. Chen Jingzhong opened his mouth, not knowing what to say.

Then, the young general suddenly stepped forward and bowed to Chen Jingzhong, saying, "I am Wei Quan, the captain of the personal guard battalion, and I greet General Chen! General, the Zheng division invites you."

Centurion?
There is no such official position in the Great Zhou army, right?
Chen Jingzhong was stunned, but he understood what it meant. He nodded immediately, then walked forward and entered the county government office.

In the county government office, there was a man with a dignified appearance and an upright posture. He was intimidating in his every move and had a murderous aura. He was sitting in the position of county magistrate, listening to the work report of a middle-aged foreign scholar beside him.

The foreign scholar, wearing the robes of the seventh-rank official of the Great Zhou Dynasty, was the magistrate of the local Miaoxin County.

After Chen Jingzhong entered, the general on the main throne raised his head and said with a smile: "Jingzhong is here, take a seat quickly."

"With Jingzhong here, I feel at ease!"

Hearing this, Chen Jingzhong couldn't help but feel flattered.

……

The person who spoke was naturally Zheng Jun himself.

Zheng Jun looked at Chen Jingzhong with great joy, and then he smiled and asked, "How many cavalrymen did Jingzhong bring with him this time?"

Can lead cavalry.

This guy brought the cavalry from Nanchu? !
It's amazing.

Let these cavalry charge in the next battle.

Anyway, this is not your own part, so use it as you like.

Although Zheng Jun asked Chen Jingzhong to lead his troops down Black Mountain, when he saw the cavalry led by Chen Jingzhong, Zheng Jun realized that the cavalry led by Chen Jingzhong were definitely not bandits from Black Mountain Village.

Can bandits be cavalrymen skilled in archery and horsemanship?

impossible.

How to ride a horse in the mountains?

The cavalry in the mountains are only in the south, where there are more mountains.

This is Bozhou, where did these Shanyue riders come from?

Therefore, Zheng Jun believed that the people Chen Jingzhong brought with him were undoubtedly the remnants of Southern Chu.

"General."

Chen Jingzhong said in a sonorous and powerful voice: "I have recruited eighty cavalrymen and am here. Please give us your instructions, General."

"Eighty riders?"

Zheng Jun was somewhat disappointed with this number.

But it’s not so bad when you think about it.

After all, out of his 1,800 men, he could only muster 50 cavalrymen.

Chen Jingzhong led eighty cavalrymen, which was already quite good.

"Jingzhong, this time we seized and defeated the bandit army. A total of 23 bandit generals and soldiers from the old camp and 234 bandits were recruited by me. Jingzhong, how do you think we should deal with these people?" Zheng Jun asked, "In addition, there are 400 officers and soldiers who surrendered and claimed to be coerced by the bandits. Now they rebelled and I killed 100 of them, leaving only 300."

"They should be dispersed into different groups..."

Chen Jingzhong did not hesitate and directly expressed his thoughts. After hesitating for a moment, he added: "General, it is too wasteful to kill them. They are all good soldiers and can be used in the battle."

The wise leader he currently served was good in every way, except that he hated evil and was too bloodthirsty.

Both the bandits and the surrendered soldiers did a lot of bad things.

But what has happened has happened, and killing is useless.

It is better to keep them and let them fight for you.

In this way, we can also replenish our troops.

Why not?
"They are murderous, tyrannical and brutal."

Zheng Jun shook his head and said coldly: "What I need is an army that follows orders and has strict military discipline! Not an army that will defect at the slightest setback!"

What Zheng Jun wants is 'it is easy to shake a mountain, but difficult to shake an army', a team with strict military discipline!
A team that fights with all their might even to the last soldier.

Rather than being a team similar to a regular army, a team that would be defeated if the death rate reached 20% to 30%.

Although these soldiers from the old camp fought fiercely, they were obviously not capable of fighting against an adverse situation.

Once the stalemate came, Zheng Jun had no doubt that they would escape.

Therefore, Zheng Jun would rather have fewer people than more.

After hearing what Zheng Jun said, although Chen Jingzhong did not quite agree, he still nodded and said "the general is wise."

Going against your boss, you don't want to work anymore?
Seeing this, Zheng Jun stopped talking and looked at the documents of Miaoxin County Magistrate Qiao Zijing, nodding his head repeatedly: "If that's the case, then let's do it this way. Use work-for-relief to resettle these refugees as much as possible. Miaoxin County has tens of thousands of casualties this time. It will take some time to resume production. Send the documents I asked you to prepare as much as possible. I will send a general to Miaoxin County to serve as the head of the city."

"General."

Although Qiao Zijing now respected Zheng Jun like a god, he couldn't help but ask in a low voice: "Isn't this action a bit too presumptuous? The military system of our Great Zhou County soldiers of 300 people was set by the Emperor Shenwu and is applicable to county soldiers and county soldiers throughout the country. Only the northern and southern armies and border troops are not subject to this system."

"If we don't do this, won't the bandits be able to wreak havoc in Kangle and Pingzhang counties?"

Zheng Jun said nonchalantly, "Besides, didn't I ask you to write a document to the county governor?"

Hearing Zheng Jun say this, Qiao Zijing was speechless for a moment.

Zheng Jun did something very simple.

That is to redivide your subordinates.

The positions of head, team leader and captain were abolished.

Instead, they became sergeants, decapitation commanders, centurions, and captains.

The biggest difference is actually that the captain who commands 50 people becomes a centurion who commands 100 people, and the captain who commands 300 people becomes a commander of 500 people.

That is to say, a decurion has two corporals under his command, a centurion has ten decurions under his command, and a captain has five centurions under his command.

As for the team leader, no changes were made.

Because Zheng Jun is the captain now, Zheng Jun does this so that he can command countless cities.

We’ll decide how to change the team leader after he gets promoted.

The main reason for doing this is to strengthen the army.

In this way, Zheng Jun had six divisions under his command, and he could directly expand his army to three thousand people.

The county soldiers of Miaoxin County can account for another 500 people. In the future, Zheng Jun plans to recapture at least four counties in Kangle County and expand the army as much as possible.

Although these armies formed battle formations, their effectiveness was mediocre.

No elite.

But Zheng Jun also needs to prepare well now, otherwise when Zhang Bengong comes, he will only be able to help others.

"General, this is still a bit risky."

Qiao Zijing sighed and said, "If this is the case, and you are framed by a villain, wouldn't the court think that you have your own army?"

"When the great principles are abandoned, there is benevolence and righteousness; when wisdom and intelligence emerge, there is great hypocrisy; when the six relatives are not harmonious, there is filial piety and kindness..."

Zheng Jun spoke slowly, his voice sad and desolate: "The country is in chaos, there are loyal ministers!"

"For the sake of my Great Zhou, if I am suspected by villains, then let me be suspected!"

He is a man of great righteousness and looks like a loyal minister and a good general.

Seeing Zheng Jun like this, Chen Jingzhong didn't know what to say for a moment.

Are you a loyal subject?

Then as a descendant of the King of Southern Chu, I am also a loyal minister.

Chen Jingzhong thought in his heart.

After hearing what Zheng Jun said, Qiao Zijing didn't know what to say and could only nod in agreement.

Although Zheng Jun appears to be righteous on the surface, he is just joking.

Mistakenly believed to have his own army?

I am just commanding my own troops!
Zhang Bengong has fought all the way here, but the court has never done anything about it.

What does it mean?
This means that Emperor Shenwu is not far from collapse!
Before he died, the situation in Bozhou, Suzhou and Xuanzhou was out of control.

It’s too late to expand the army now and wait until Emperor Shenwu dies!
After the discussion, Zheng Jun announced the end of the meeting and asked Qiao Zijing and Chen Jingzhong to retreat and reorganize their troops. Zheng Jun himself returned to his temporary residence in Miaoxin County to prepare to start practicing.

In front of him was a whole box of pills.

Most of the pills in this box are common pills like the Qi Retention Pill.

But there are more than twenty sets, which can condense and disperse the energy.

There is a 'Kangle County' logo on it.

This Ninggang Powder is the elixir that was looted by bandits when they plundered Kangle County!

"Miaoxin County has tens of thousands of taels of silver in tax revenue every year, plus thousands of elixirs, and a lot of food every year... This bandit has been looting for a long time, and the property he brought with him is as much as 20,000 taels of gold and more than 300,000 taels of silver!"

Zheng Jun muttered to himself, with a look of joy in his eyes.

After killing Fan Tai and Ding Ming, Zheng Jun swept through the bandits and naturally seized a large amount of spoils from them.

Among them were 20,000 taels of gold, more than 300,000 taels of silver, and more than 20 sets of Ning Gang San that Fan Tai and Ding Ming had looted along the way.

As for agates and gems, there are countless of them.

It was really a fruitful harvest!

This money is enough to support Zheng Jun to feed an army of 5,000 people.

Even if these medicines were piled up, they could help you reach the second level of outer power.

"In each city, Fan Tai and Ding Ming left behind some veteran soldiers to defend the city. By conquering them one after another, they were able to seize some more spoils. Although the gains were not as great as this time, they were definitely not bad either."

Zheng Jun thought to himself, "Fan Tai and Ding Ming are dead, and the remaining old camp soldiers are just gathering strength. I can let my men go and train them. Otherwise, they will always rely on me to take action. What's the point of keeping these soldiers?"

Yes, you can't do everything yourself, right?
Moreover, for warriors who accumulate energy, there is no increase in the repayment progress.

Zheng Jun decided to let several of his captains go, and also let Chen Jingzhong make use of the remaining energy of the remnants of Southern Chu and let them help him capture cities and territories.

As for myself, I need to retreat for a period of time.

First, I'll make some plans to see if I can break through the second level of outer power.

Then go to Kangle County.

Find the county magistrate of Kangle County and ask for money!

I helped him recover the territory, but he failed to fulfill his responsibility to defend the territory, so I helped him do it.

He has to give some money, right?

……

Jiangzhou.

Although the north is already freezing cold, the weather in the south has improved slightly. In Jiangzhou City on the bank of the Yangtze River, there is a bit of spring feeling.

In Jiangzhou, inside the Chen Mansion.

Chen Fu, with gray hair and a weak breath, sat on a chair and exhaled several breaths of true energy.

In order to hurry on his way, he traveled day and night, consuming a lot of his energy.

Finally, it only took one month to cross the north and south and arrive at Jiangzhou City.

The Jiangzhou Chen family, although also with the surname Chen, is not from the same family as Chen Fu, the remnant of Southern Chu. It is said that they had some ancestral connection, but had long since separated.

The Jiangzhou Chen family is one of the five major clans in the South Country. There is a Yuandan Martial Saint in the family, and there are many Tongqiao warriors.

On the other side of Chen Fu's chair, there was a young man dressed in white, looking calm and composed. He took a sip of the tea that was a specialty of the Southern Kingdom and said sincerely, "Uncle, I just got the news that eighteen days ago, Chizhou was turbulent with wind and clouds, a red cloud, and wherever it passed, there was a fire burning the sky, mountain fires roaring, and there seemed to be the cry of a phoenix... Then, the phoenix fell to the Southern Demon Court, and the emperor led his army back."

"According to insider information from my Chen family, golden blood is often seen in the dragon carriage of the Shenwu Emperor. Three days ago, the Emperor's carriage suddenly became full of spiritual energy. Afterwards, there were a lot of salted fish around the Emperor's carriage. It was said that 'the fish from the south is fresh, and your majesty likes it and wants to dry it in the sun and taste it in the north.'"

Hearing the voice of the young man in white, Chen Fu was startled and stood up, extremely surprised: "Could it be that Li Jing, that old pig-dog, is dead?!"

"I don't know."

The young man shook his head and smiled, "The Emperor Shenwu does look like he's about to die, but who would dare to bet? Who can be sure if this is a fake death trick?"

"Twelve years ago, the Qin family of Xuanzhou suffered a great loss. They mistakenly thought that the emperor was dead and wanted to support Prince Yi to ascend the throne. However, they did not expect that the Emperor Shenwu was just faking his death. The entire Qin family was executed and Prince Yi was deposed. Only Qin Cunhai, who was studying in the East China Sea, escaped. In his rage, Qin Cunhai actually gained spiritual power and broke through to the Yuandan level in one fell swoop. He did a lot of business in Qingzhou!"

After saying that, the young man shook his head and said, "Let's wait a little longer! Don't worry, uncle. We all know what happened in the Great Chu State back then. You have waited for so many years, so two or three years won't be a big deal. Wait until you are sure that the Emperor Shenwu is really dead before you take any action."

Upon hearing this, Chen Fu took a deep breath. His face was gloomy for a long time before he stood up and bowed to the young man to say goodbye.

Watching the white-haired old man leave the mansion, the young man's smile suddenly disappeared, and he said to the side: "Uncle, do you think Chen Fu will believe it?"

"Believe it or not, it's good to have the news."

A sound came into the young man's ears.

"This is the third time the old emperor has claimed to be dead. No one knows whether he is really dead or not. This time he is probably faking his death... If we can lure the remnants of Nan Chu out to investigate for us, that would be the best!"

A middle-aged man in a gorgeous robe walked out from the shadows and chuckled, "The Ruyi Sect of Chuzhou is definitely closely related to Nanchu. The Ruyi Patriarch is probably the crown prince of Nanchu back then, Crown Prince Chen Xing!"

"Next, let's have someone report the matter to His Majesty the Emperor." The middle-aged man in the gorgeous robe said, "Meng Heng, the Minister of the Left, is familiar with Xiao Yu, the governor of Jiangzhou. Qi Sixu, the Jiangzuo Ranger, is also familiar with him. Qi Sixu is in my mansion. I will tell Qi Sixu about the Ruyi Sect, and Qi Sixu will definitely look for Xiao Yu. When Meng Heng inspects Jiangzhou, Xiao Yu will definitely tell him the news."

"By then, the imperial court will know about the Ruyi Sect. If Chen Fu goes to the Ruyi Sect, he will be able to prove the matter."

"By then, the remnant prince of Nanchu will certainly attract everyone's attention. His Majesty the Emperor has gone on an expedition to the Southern Kingdom and defeated the Phoenix Monster. If the five families of Chen, Wang, Xie, Lu, and Xiao want to avoid turmoil, we must find a scapegoat of sufficient weight. The Ruyi Sect is the number one sect in the Southern Kingdom, as famous as the Qitian Mansion in the Northern Dynasty. It is also the only sect in the Southern Kingdom with a Yuandan Martial Saint in charge, which is important enough."

"That's enough to serve as a scapegoat for the five of us!"

The middle-aged man in the fancy gown let out a breath.

The young man nodded upon hearing this, and suddenly asked, "What if... the Emperor Shenwu really passed away?"

"After all, in the great battle eighteen days ago, mountains were moved and the sea was filled. Dozens of peaks were leveled, and the Phoenix Monster was severely injured. With the current state of His Majesty, I'm afraid it would be impossible for him to easily accomplish such a feat. The bloodstains on the dragon chariot don't seem fake!"

After hearing the young man's words, the middle-aged man in the fancy robe smiled and said, "Well, isn't that better?"

"The Divine and Martial Emperor Li Jing has ruled the world for 870 years, but he has yet to transcend. It is time for the world to have a new master!"

(End of this chapter)