The world is like a prison, my body is holy

He plummeted vertically from the sky, the wind howling in Wang Wen's ears, and his immense divine sense swept out like a fisherman casting a net, sweeping across the entire camp in the blink of an eye.

Just like a fish instinctively struggling when caught in a net, as soon as his divine sense was released, several divine senses filled with shock and anger shot into the sky as if by conditioned reflex, and the air seemed to vibrate with angry shouts of "Who is it?"

In the cultivation world, using divine sense to spy on other cultivators is indeed a major taboo!

The next second, these divine senses all focused on Wang Wen, who was falling rapidly, and saw his face clearly...

Wang Wen stared directly at these divine thoughts, his cold gaze seemingly piercing through them to see the bewildered faces on their faces.

Although they were intangible divine thoughts, those concentrated on him all stiffened and became sluggish for a moment.

Then, these divine thoughts, like frightened mice, "whoosh"ed their heads back into their holes.

They dared not show their faces, they absolutely dared not show their faces!
Show your face and you'll be buried!
At that very moment, inside the central command tent, a military conference, personally presided over by King Chai Kun of Qin, was drawing to a close.

Unlike Emperor Zhaode, Chai Heng, who was somewhat obese and had a dignified physique, Chai Kun, who was also over forty, was still very robust. Standing at 1.9 meters tall with a large frame, even without armor, when he sat on the commander's seat, his strong, imposing, and dignified aura was like the low pressure before a storm, forcing the proud and fierce soldiers below to involuntarily straighten their chests, raise their heads, and concentrate, not daring to slack off in the slightest.

In terms of prestige, Wang Wen might not even be worthy of carrying his shoes!

The three heirs vying for the throne during the Hongtai era—the Crown Prince, the Prince of Qin, and the Prince of Qi—were all outstanding individuals, regardless of their character, in terms of skill and cunning, and were among the best of their time.

The fact that the Crown Prince was able to cultivate a unified civil service group during Hongtai's long 27-year reign, and even secure the throne through the heinous crime of patricide, demonstrates his exceptional skill. Had he not been suppressed by Emperor Hongtai for far too long and committed the heinous crime of patricide himself, causing his personality to become twisted and abnormal after gaining power, he would never have met such a swift downfall...

The Prince of Qin joined the army at a young age, possessing military skills that combined the strengths of several generals who guarded Liaodong. Over the course of more than twenty years, he fought dozens of battles, large and small, against the Yellow-Headed Barbarians. Moreover, his long-standing command of Liaodong had earned him such high prestige in the army that even the Crown Prince Chai Heng, who held the title of Righteous Ruler, could not shake him in the slightest. Even if we disregard his status as a vassal king, he was still a formidable general who could easily rank among the top three in the current dynasty!
Even the least prominent Prince Qi managed to make the Great Zhou's financial system solid and prosperous. Just from the fact that after Wang Wen and Gu Yue, the transport commissioner of Huainan, fell out, the canal gang, which was practically Wang Wen's maternal family, did not hesitate to sever ties with the Huainan Demon-Slaying General's Mansion, which had already gained power at the time, we can see how firmly Prince Qi controlled the Great Zhou's financial system.

If Emperor Hongtai hadn't been so attached to power, and if the three brothers had been able to unite sincerely and trust each other, they might have truly been able to create a glorious immortal dynasty during this wave of spiritual energy revival.

Unfortunately……

"...Zhong Shidao is nothing to worry about. The Western Army is used to fighting small-scale skirmishes and siege battles, and lacks experience in large-scale warfare. As long as our army does not divide its forces to engage them, and concentrates its superior forces to find an opportunity for a decisive battle, the outcome will be decided in one battle in no time..."

As the military conference drew to a close, and the King of Qin was summarizing the meeting to boost morale, a series of clanging and banging sounds suddenly came from outside the tent, interspersed with several muffled thuds of heavy objects hitting the ground.

The King of Qin frowned slightly, his expressionless face causing the hearts of his officers and soldiers to skip a beat.

Just then, the tent flap was lifted, and a handsome head with sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes peeked in, looking left and right with great interest: "Oh, a meeting? I'll wait a bit longer, call me when you're done."

After saying that, he pulled his head back, leaving only the tent flap swaying gently.

The officers and soldiers inside the tent looked at each other in bewilderment, wondering to themselves whose soldier this handsome young man was, and how he dared to be so unruly at a pre-battle meeting personally presided over by the prince.
Only the King of Qin, seated on his tiger throne, felt a chill creep up from his tailbone to the top of his head. His heart pounded like a drumbeat, and his majestic face turned deathly pale in an instant.

Although he had never met Wang Wen, it was clear that he recognized him.

He forced himself to remain calm and waved his hand, saying, "Alright, all of you go back and prepare. We await your orders!"

All the generals rose in unison, clasped their hands, bowed, and said, "Yes, sir!"

After the ceremony, the generals turned and filed out of the command tent. There they saw the handsome young man they didn't recognize standing outside the tent, looking around the camp like a silly goose with his head tilted back. The prince's guards who were supposed to be guarding the command tent had disappeared.

Because Wang Wen was also wearing a red military uniform, the officers did not realize that he was not a soldier. One of the young and impetuous officers strode forward and sternly reprimanded, "Stand up straight! Which battalion are you from? Who taught you to be so unruly?"

Wang Wen glanced at the scarred-faced general who had spoken, but ignored him and continued to observe the layout of the camp.

Seeing the indifferent look in his eyes, the scarred general felt his kindness had been wasted and his dignity insulted. He immediately flew into a rage, stepped forward, drew his sword, and roared, "You bastard, I..."

"Keng."

His waist knife had only been drawn three inches from its sheath when it was pressed back into it.

Wang Wen gently placed two fingers on the tip of the knife and smiled, "Young man, don't be too arrogant."

The scarred general strained to pull out his sword with bulging veins on his right hand, but it felt as if the sword was stuck in a narrow alley, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't pull it out.

But he stubbornly retorted, "If he weren't spirited, could he be a young man?"

"Makes sense."

Wang Wen nodded in agreement, then slapped him across the face with lightning speed. The heavy but not fatal force sent the scarred general spinning 180 degrees before he crashed to the muddy ground with a thud, losing consciousness.

"Young people just need more sleep."

Wang Wen praised, "She fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow!"

Upon seeing this, the officers and soldiers watching all narrowed their eyes in shock.

In this day and age, there is no such thing as a weak and incompetent general who can lead troops in the army. Whether they are fierce generals charging ahead or wise generals strategizing behind the scenes, they all have some skills.

It was precisely because they were skilled that they could see the true value of Wang Wen's slap just now...

Just then, the King of Qin's steady voice came from inside the command tent: "Prince Wen, please come in for a chat!"

When Wang Wen first heard this title, he thought to himself, "Interesting." Under the sidelong glances of the generals, he swaggered out of the command tent.

"Prince Wen, please have a seat!"

The King of Qin calmly looked directly at him and gestured for him to enter.

Wang Wen stepped forward, casually pulled out a small stool, and sat opposite the King of Qin, meeting his gaze without a word. In the brief silence, the King of Qin seemed unsure what to do with his hands and feet, and beads of sweat visibly appeared on his forehead…

He couldn't help but break the silence soon: "Did Prince Wen come here to take my life on behalf of the Eighth Prince?"

Wang Wen: "Who is Lao Ba?"

The atmosphere was slightly awkward, but the King of Qin suddenly breathed a sigh of relief: "It seems that's not the case."

"It's hard to say..."

Wang Wen laughed and said, "It depends on whether you want to live or not."

The King of Qin clenched his fist secretly. After a few moments of contemplation, he calmly extended his hand and said, "Prince Wen, please speak frankly."

Wang Wen nodded: "No problem. I'm here for only one thing, which is to turn weapons into plowshares!"

The King of Qin frowned almost imperceptibly, his mind racing, but he smiled calmly and said, "A man as outstanding as Prince Wen, who is unparalleled in the world, would actually act as an advocate for someone else?"

Wang Wen was about to tell him, "You don't need to flatter yourself."

But before he could even utter a word, he realized that such a verbal exchange was pointless and would only waste his time and breath.

So he simply got straight to the point: "To be frank, according to the information gathered by my Demon-Slaying General's Mansion, there is a very high probability that there will be a severe drought and crop failure in various parts of the south this year. In recent days, I have been thinking day and night and begging and pleading with everyone I can to raise food to cope with this famine. I have lost a lot of hair, but the food I have raised is still just a drop in the bucket!"

"When I looked back at the end, I found that you two brothers were still gathering hundreds of thousands of people to fight over the inheritance, wasting precious food on such a meaningless thing. I felt very unbalanced!"

"It's extremely unbalanced!"

"So, in a fit of anger, I came here to tell you two to stop fighting and use the excess food to save lives."

"Tell me what you need right away, and I'll do my best to help and fulfill your requests."

"If you insist on going down this dark path, please be quick about it so I can send you down to the next level to be reincarnated sooner..."

After hearing this, the King of Qin felt a mixture of amusement and bewilderment, as if lamenting to himself: 'Chai Kun, Chai Kun, how did you end up sharing a room with such a vulgar street ruffian?'

In the past, such a lowly person wouldn't even have the right to stand in front of him!
He took a deep breath, trying to calm his guilty conscience, and attempted to make sense of Wang Wen's straightforward and blunt remarks.

He tried his best to calmly discuss the matter with Wang Wen: "Why have I never heard of any severe drought and crop failure in the Jiangnan region this year..."

"That's your problem."

Wang Wen stopped him from changing the subject: "If you don't understand, you can send someone to verify it yourself. If I, Wang Wen, am lying to you, you can send troops again to fight your eighth brother."

"But now that I'm here, we have to resolve this. We're all men, so let's get straight to the point: is it a ceasefire or will you continue to go your own way? Give me a straight answer!"

The King of Qin wouldn't listen to reason and tried to explain, "Prince Wen, you don't understand. In military campaigns, opportunities are fleeting..."

"How exactly does 'fleeting' mean?"

Wang Wen interrupted his defense once again: "Is it as easy as me pulling out all the generals of your Liaodong army right now, opening a gap to let the Western Army drive straight in, and wiping out your Liaodong army in one battle?"

King Qin had never been interrupted so many times in his life, and his anger flared up immediately. He raised his voice and questioned, "So, General Wang, you're just going to force a cow to drink water if it won't drink it?"

"Not really."

Faced with his questioning, Wang Wen calmed down and told him in a blunt yet cruel tone: "I just want to tell you that from the moment I decided to intervene in the fight between you two brothers, there has been no chance of victory in this battle."

"To put it bluntly, if I want someone to win, they can win no matter how badly they lose; if I want someone to lose, they will definitely lose no matter how much they win!"

"I've come to discuss this with you because I want to resolve this matter as quickly as possible in a peaceful manner that everyone can accept."

Upon hearing this, the King of Qin became even more excited. His fist, hidden beneath his sleeve, was so hard that his nails had already cut his palms. "In that case, General Wang, why don't you lend me a hand and unify the land as soon as possible? Wouldn't it be more relaxed and efficient to deal with this drought with the full strength of the nation? If General Wang is willing to lend me a hand, I swear to the heavens that after the success, I will bestow upon you the title of 'King of the First Rank,' and we will share this magnificent land!"

Wang Wen laughed and said calmly, "Do you think your eighth brother can afford or is willing to give what you're talking about? What makes you think that if I were to get involved in your messy affairs, I would definitely choose you? In other words, if someone like me were to get involved in your messy affairs, who would consider it a good thing?"

He may be reckless and unconventional, but he always has a very clear understanding of his own limitations.

A person like him, no matter who he sides with in the struggle for the throne, will only end up turning against each other and fighting each other.

Because of the absolute nature of imperial power, no one who sits on the dragon throne can tolerate the existence of anyone who is above imperial power, not even father and son or mother and son!
Even in death, the person who sits on the dragon throne will still do everything in their power to remove the mountain weighing on their head.

Instead of going through all this trouble, he might as well kill the two brothers and fight for the throne himself!
The King of Qin had nothing more to say.

Compared to his eighth brother, who had already gained the upper hand and the moral high ground, he indeed had no advantage whatsoever.

Moreover, he genuinely did not want such an outstanding figure, who could influence the course of imperial power and was completely uncontrollable, to get involved in the struggle for the throne; the variables were too great!

He racked his brains for a long time before finally saying with a hint of malice and helplessness, "Even if I were to agree to Prince Wen's request to stop the army from marching south, I'm afraid my eighth brother wouldn't agree. He's about to ascend the throne, and it's the time when he needs military merit to control the military. How could he tolerate someone like me, a thorn in his side?"

"You should manage your own troops."

Wang Wen answered without hesitation: "If he doesn't agree, then he's not a qualified emperor. Since he's not qualified, then let's find someone more qualified to sit on his throne!" (End of Chapter)