Zongwu: Aspiring to be the mastermind behind the scenes

Chapter 381 Raising the Banner High, Fate Unpredictable

The chilling sword intent instantly drew the attention of everyone present.

Gai Nie's gaze followed the sword intent and he saw a figure in white and eyes filled with murderous intent.

In an instant, he understood the other party's identity.

But Gai Nie remained calm, his gaze unchanged.

Looking at Gao Jianli was like looking at a stranger.

"Xiao Gao..."

Master Ban was very worried.

Aside from Tianming, almost everyone at the scene knew about the feud between Gai Nie and Gao Jianli. Although they had never met before, they were bound by a blood feud because of the presence of another person.

Jing Ke!

The chivalrous swordsman who died trying to assassinate the Qin emperor was actually a leader of the Mohist school and a close friend of Gao Jianli.

Before this, Gai Nie was a bodyguard of the First Emperor Ying Zheng. Jing Ke, who failed in his assassination attempt on the Qin Emperor, was killed by Gai Nie!
With such a deep-seated hatred, Gao Jianli naturally harbored murderous intent towards Gai Nie.

Therefore, everyone present was startled when they saw Gao Jianli appear, fearing that he would draw his sword and attack immediately.

Fortunately, Gao Jianli was not a fool.

After glancing at Gai Nie only once, his gaze fell on Tianming beside him.

Tianming was completely unaware of the gaze directed at him.

Still curiously observing the surrounding mechanical city, he instinctively moved closer to Gai Nie.

Gao Jianli, trying to maintain a certain level of composure, felt a sinking feeling in his heart.

Although Tianming's identity cannot be said to be public knowledge, most people involved know that he is the son of Jing Ke.

Especially those who knew Jing Ke could recognize him at a glance.

After all, Tianming's appearance and Jing Ke really do have many similarities.

Judging from his actions at this moment, he is probably already extremely close to Gai Nie.

Gao Jianli sighed inwardly. Well, Gai Nie had finally brought Tianming out of that tyrannical Qin's den of demons. He wouldn't bother him today.

His murderous intent subsided, and he quietly retreated.

Anyone who saw him would probably be puzzled as to why he came over; it seemed like he was just there to take a look.

Seeing this, Master Ban and the others secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that it was good that Xiao Gao had considered the overall situation.

In fact, when Gao Jianli arrived, he could only take a look and there was no way he could have a conflict with Gai Nie.

Because of Gai Nie's very special identity, he was Ying Zheng's swordsmanship teacher when he was young, and later became Ying Zheng's bodyguard. He can be said to be an absolute confidant who grew up with the First Emperor.

But such a person betrayed the First Emperor at this very moment and became an anti-Qin element!

This was a great humiliation for the Qin Dynasty, but a high-flying banner for the anti-Qin forces.

When Liu Bei sought refuge with Cao Cao, Cao Cao sensed Liu Bei's heroic spirit and regarded him as an opponent and threat, but he was still unwilling to kill him and instead treated him very well.

It was precisely because Liu Bei was a renowned and righteous man that Cao Cao was able to raise a banner and attract scholars from all over the world to his side.

The same applies to Gai Nie today.

His presence alone proves just how unpopular Ying Zheng's tyranny was.

After all, even Ying Zheng's closest guards were no longer willing to follow him, which proves this point, doesn't it?

The anti-Qin forces needed this banner to undermine the First Emperor's prestige.

This need is the overall situation for the anti-Qin forces at present!

Therefore, no matter how much Gao Jianli disliked Gai Nie, at this moment, he could only glance at him and had no chance of drawing his sword to attack!
The other Mohist leaders all treated Gai Nie well, partly due to this factor.

Otherwise, a simple traitor to the Qin Dynasty, especially one who killed Jing Ke, the leader of the Mohist school, would never have shown such a friendly attitude.

Perhaps after going through many life-and-death ordeals together, these people might be able to put aside their past grievances.

But it's impossible to do that on a first meeting.

They now treat Liu Bei much like the civil and military officials under Cao Cao treat Liu Bei; no matter what they think in their hearts, they always greet him with smiles and kindness on the surface.

Afterwards, the group led Gai Nie and the others deeper into the mechanical city, inevitably passing through the central hall.

"Huh? Why is there a sword stuck here?" Master Ban asked in confusion.

Dao Zhi's eyes darted around, and he laughed, "Master Ban, why don't you try and see if you can pull this sword out?"

Master Ban, unaware of the reason, said, "A mere sword, even though I'm old, I'm not..."

As he spoke, he reached out to grab it, but the sword remained completely still under his force!
"Huh? What's going on? Did someone invent a new mechanism?"

Dao Zhi laughed and then briefly recounted what had happened a few days ago.

When everyone first heard this, they all found it somewhat unbelievable.

"A sword with a spirit that has chosen its own master..."

Xiang Shaoyu walked to the sword, grabbed the hilt with both hands, and pulled hard, but the sword remained motionless.

Others didn't find it strange, but Fan Zeng and others from the Xiang clan were truly astonished.

Only they knew just how terrifyingly strong this teenager truly was.

Not to mention a sword, he could easily lift even a boulder weighing a thousand pounds.

But even with such strength, he still couldn't pull out the object.

Therefore, what Robber Zhi said might not be an exaggeration.

Tianming laughed and stepped forward, saying, "Shaoyu, it seems you're not up to the task. I'll have to do it."

He immediately reached out to grab it, but no matter how hard he tried, the Azure Light Sword remained firmly planted in the floor, unmoved.

"Haha, kid, you have the nerve to talk to me like that? You weren't chosen by this sword either, were you?"

Tianming's face immediately turned red, and he retorted angrily, "Aren't you the same!"

Dao Zhi said, "Master Gai is known as the Sword Saint by the world, why don't you step forward and give it a try?"

Gai Nie shook his head: "I have Yuanhong in my hand, which is enough. Besides, for a swordsman, the sword in his hand is not necessarily the strongest, but the most suitable. Even if this sword has a spirit, it is not suitable for me."

His swordsmanship has gradually progressed to the next level.

Whether he has a sword or not, whether he is the second-best swordsman in the world, Yuanhong, or whether he has an ordinary wooden sword, it doesn't matter to him.

They naturally don't value this.

Afterwards, Dao Zhi arranged accommodations for everyone, which were guesthouses built on the cliff.

Looking out the window, one sees layer upon layer of mountains and rivers, shrouded in mist and clouds.

With this location and this view, if it were converted into an inn, it would cost at least a thousand taels of silver for a night's stay.

After watching the excitement, Wu Liangtian, Master Ban, and Master Xu walked together.

"This Gai Nie truly lives up to his reputation as a top disciple of the School of Diplomacy. He is courteous and neither humble nor arrogant, like a renowned sword hidden in its sheath."

Master Xu had a very good first impression of Gai Nie. "However, Tianming is a bit... spoiled."

Master Ban smiled and said, "That child must be unruly because he has not been disciplined, but he is kind-hearted and has potential. During the days at Jinghu Medical Manor, I saw Gai Nie often instructing him."

Wu Liangtian asked curiously, "Before dawn, you should have been living in Xianyang Palace. How come no one was teaching you?"

Master Xu shook his head: "This...we have not been able to find out the reason."

The Mohists' attempt to find out what was happening in Xianyang Palace was truly a pipe dream.

Moreover, Tianming's childhood experiences were truly extraordinary.

His mother, Li Ji, was already pregnant when she married the First Emperor, but the First Emperor treated the child as his own and even specially invited the Confucian master Fu Nian to teach her.

However, following Jing Ke's assassination attempt on the King of Qin, Li Ji sent her child out of Xianyang Palace to be raised by an elderly couple.

It was only then that the First Emperor learned that Tianming's biological father was Jing Ke.

He had originally decided to hunt down Tianming, but for various reasons, he eventually gave up. Instead, he had the Moon Goddess of the Yin-Yang School seal the child's memories, renamed him Tianming, and left him to be raised by the old couple.

But later, the elderly couple suffered a misfortune, and Tianming ended up wandering the streets until he was found by Gai Nie.

Given the complexity of the events, which involved the First Emperor, the Yin-Yang School, and the fact that they generally occurred in Xianyang, the Mohists naturally had no way of investigating the matter.

In fact, if it weren't for Jing Ke's assassination attempt on Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor would never have cared about Tianming's background.

But it was precisely because of the assassination attempt on Qin that Tianming became the son of the assassin, and the First Emperor became the one who killed Tianming's father, which caused the relationship between the two sides to change drastically.

If it weren't for the assassination attempt, Tianming would still be the First Emperor's son.

Although he was absolutely not qualified to inherit the throne, he would still be extremely wealthy and powerful throughout his life... No, wait, Ying Zheng also had a beloved son, Huhai.

With such a person who, after ascending the throne, directly slaughtered all his brothers and sisters, essentially destroying his own family, if Tianming were to continue staying in Xianyang Palace, his future fate would inevitably be to be killed by Huhai.

In this sense, although Tianming had a difficult childhood, he managed to save himself from future calamities.

This... truly can be described as a mix of fortune and misfortune, and an unpredictable fate.

As Gai Nie and the others entered the Mechanized City, a huge, snow-white, phoenix-like creature descended from a distant mountain peak, accompanied by a white phoenix.

"Bai Feng, what you brought back for me should be good news, right?"

Dressed in a wide black robe and with his white hair fluttering in the wind, Wei Zhuang held the Shark Tooth Sword in his hand, his voice deep and resonant.

"Of course, the location of the Mo Family's Mechanized City has already been determined."

"Alright, then let's notify the Qin state!"

Not long after, inside the Qin army camp.

"As expected of the Quicksand, the Mo Family's Mechanical City has been hidden in the world for so many years. Previously, people could only confirm that it existed in this area, but few knew its exact location."

Now that Quicksand has made its move, it has pinpointed its location... I am truly impressed! Impressed!

Gongshu Chou said with a smile on his face.

Wei Zhuang remained noncommittal, only asking, "Is this all the people Qin has sent?"

Gongshu hurriedly replied, "Of course not. It's just that to avoid being discovered by the Mohists, the troops are temporarily scattered and hidden around the area."

"Hmph, it doesn't matter. Even with only this many troops, I, Wei Zhuang, can still take down the Mechanical City!"

Wei Zhuang arrogantly declared, "From now on, command of this army belongs to me!"

"This……"

Gongshu Chou couldn't help but look at a man in black armor beside him: "General Zhang Han, what do you think..."

Zhang Han remained expressionless: "I am merely here to conduct an experiment as required by Master Yoda. I have no right to judge the Mo Clan's attack strategy for the Mechanical City."

“In that case…” Gongshu Chou said, “I’ll leave everything to Lord Wei Zhuang.”

Wei Zhuang gave Zhang Han a deep look before beginning to explain his plan.

In the original storyline, Wei Zhuang held supreme command throughout the entire attack on the Mo Family's mechanical city.

But those were the conditions agreed upon when Li Si asked Wei Zhuang to take action.

However, the plot changes here because of Loulan's actions.

During Operation Loulan, command was still in Wei Zhuang's hands, but someone interfered, leading to the serious failure of Operation Loulan.

Therefore, Wei Zhuang lacked confidence and naturally could not put forward this condition.

However, after finding the exact location of the Mo Family's mechanical city, Wei Zhuang gained merit and naturally became more confident.

With his strong personality, he immediately wanted to seize control of the command.

The reason he glanced at Zhang Han was not because he knew Zhang Han's identity, but because he mistakenly thought that Zhang Han was the original commander sent by the Qin state.

He was definitely overthinking it.

Zhang Hanzhen came purely on orders from Master Yoda.

As for command, he had absolutely no idea about it.

Although capturing the Mo Family's Mechanical City was indeed a great achievement, he was never involved in the entire process.

It's important to know that this operation was ordered by the First Emperor and then carried out entirely by Li Si.

The greatest credit would naturally go to Li Si, while the rest of the credit would be divided among Li Si's faction.

If Zhang Han were to seize command at this time, not only would he have neither the reason nor the authority, but even if he did, he would not be willing to do so.

After all, this would be tantamount to stealing Li Si's credit.

In fact, although Li Si did not directly hand over command to Wei Zhuang because of the failure of the Loulan incident, this was merely an excuse he came up with during the negotiation process with Wei Zhuang.

From the very beginning, he never intended to hand over command to anyone else.

Because, on the military side, no general was aligned with Li Si's faction.

Even the major families within the Qin military had significant conflicts with Li Si.

Therefore, the great achievement of capturing the city of the machine could be considered as aiding the enemy, regardless of which general in the military was given it.

Li Si was certainly unwilling to do such a thing.

Rather than aid the enemy, Li Si entrusted such a great achievement to someone outside the court.

Therefore, this command right belonged to Wei Zhuang from the very beginning, and he didn't need to fight for it at all.

However, in order to negotiate with Wei Zhuang, Li Si insisted on bringing up this matter that he originally didn't care about, as a reason to negotiate.

Wei Zhuang, however, was completely unaware of this from beginning to end. Because of the failure of Loulan, he lacked confidence and ultimately failed to reach an agreement with Li Si on this point.

In other aspects, they naturally suffered some losses as well.

All I can say is that compared to Li Si, who specializes in scheming and has been navigating the court for many years, Wei Zhuang is still too green!

Speaking of which, strategists have always been masters of manipulation, and throughout history, they have been able to control the kings and nobles of the world.

In this generation, Guiguzi actually cultivated someone like Wei Zhuang.

The strategists are truly blessed.

(End of this chapter)