Supreme Golden Palace

Chapter 194 Strategic Maneuvering (Part 1)

The fundamental purpose of Wu Wenhe's strategy was to rally the western states, such as Jiao and Dongliang, to fight against the fifty-nine states of the Ji clan.

The two hundred states in Henan were divided into two major camps. The Southern Yan organized a coalition of fifty-nine states, which was called the Vertical Alliance, while the Xu state won over the western states to break the deadlock, which was called the Horizontal Alliance.

Forming alliances and counter-alliances!
Lu Shang glanced at the assembled ministers and officials in the hall and said, "What the Prime Minister said is exactly what I thought. I will trouble you to make another trip to the western corner."

Wu Wenhe replied, “When the nation is in peril, it is the duty of an old minister to serve the country. In the past, when the late emperor was in power, I was fortunate to assist him. Now that the emperor has inherited the legacy, although I am old and gray, I still have my heart and soul to offer in order to repay his kindness.”

Lü Shang raised his eyes and said, "With the Prime Minister here, I have no worries."

After the court assembly, the high-ranking officials bowed their heads and left the hall, and the hall doors slowly closed.

Lü Shang stood with his hands behind his back in the hall, and after a long while, he sighed softly.

"A united front of fifty-nine nations—that's difficult!"

Although he appeared calm and composed in front of his ministers, he was well aware that the union of fifty-nine states was a qualitative change resulting from quantitative change, and this was the biggest crisis he had faced in the four years since he ascended the throne.

However, every crisis presents an opportunity. If the alliance fails, four years of hard work will be in vain; if the coalition fails, Xu Guo may be able to lay the foundation for the great path.

At that time, they will sweep across all nations, dominate all countries, rise from a small state to a great power, and gather the fortune of Henan into their own hands, thus having the possibility of vying for the mandate of heaven.

“The Mandate of Heaven!” Lü Shang stared at the empty palace, his gaze momentarily unfocused.

It should be understood that in the nine provinces of the human world and among all nations under heaven, the reason why powerful beings such as gods, humans, demons, monsters, and ghosts are so obsessed with destiny is because there are indeed endless benefits and boundless wonders in controlling destiny.

To seize the Mandate of Heaven is to become the Son of Heaven, also known as the Son of Heaven or the Son of Taiyi. One is one with the divine and the Dao, achieving the highest accomplishment in the nine provinces of the human world. One observes the movement of the sun and moon, the order of the five planets, comprehends the order of the Dao, and one's word becomes the law of the world.

This is only the mortal realm. If one has great fortune and ascends to the upper realm, relying on the great fortune of the Nine Provinces, one can even go very far on the path of the ancient gods and become a minor heavenly emperor below the Five Heavenly Emperors and above the myriad gods of the Nine Heavens.

Emperor Jun of the Gaoxin clan, Emperor Yao of the Taotang clan, Emperor Shun of the Youyu clan, and Emperor Yu of the Xiahou clan—these four sage kings on earth were, above the nine heavens, the four minor heavenly emperors second only to the five heavenly emperors.

With these four paving the way, who wouldn't want to become the fifth sage king after Emperor Yu? This is the true path to heaven.

Just as the ruler and his ministers in Xudu were discussing alliances and counter-alliances, they were unaware that a second supreme being was about to be born in the Xu Kingdom.

As the setting sun dipped below the western mountains, the camps on the northern slope of Xing Mountain were shrouded in twilight.

Inside the main tent, Lü Chong's aura surged, stirring up bursts of wind and thunder that echoed throughout the tent.

He sat cross-legged on a bamboo mat, his knuckles tapping against his knees, producing a metallic clang. The cowhide felt on the walls of the tent was inflated like sails by an invisible force.

At the same time, divine blood surged throughout the body, and the crimson essence was refined and refined, creating a roar like burning mountains and boiling seas.

"boom!"

A muffled thud resounded from the top of his head, as if some kind of shackle had been broken.

Lu Chong suddenly opened his eyes, and the divine power surging within him resonated strangely with the surroundings. The twilight outside the tent also surged and churned with the energy.

"The Great Way of the Perfected Man has finally been achieved,"

Lu Chong murmured to himself, his voice carrying the clarity of enlightenment. He said, "Decades of arduous cultivation have finally led me to sainthood and transcendence, allowing me to grasp the essence of things."

"This is the perfect man!"

His eyes were clear and bright, Zhou Shen's aura was restrained, and his face showed neither joy nor sorrow.

Although there is only a step between the perfect man and the true man, it is as vast as heaven and earth. The true man who has undergone a complete transformation and the perfect man who has transcended the mortal realm are not comparable in terms of their supernatural powers.

With his talent, he had the opportunity to break through to the highest level ten years ago. However, the fate of the Xu Kingdom did not support him to become a master, and he was not the kind of genius who could prove himself and attain enlightenment on his own. Therefore, Lü Chong remained at the peak of the True Person realm for twenty years until recently when the Xu Kingdom forcibly plundered Tongqiu and seized all of Tongqiu's accumulated wealth. As a result, the Xu Kingdom's fate was boosted, and under the influence of this energy, Lü Chong saw an opportunity to break through.

After months of such diligent practice, one will eventually grasp the essence and cultivate the body of a master.

At the very moment he became a supreme being, the fate of the Xu Kingdom also changed.

"Brother?"

Lü Shang stood with his hands behind his back in the palace. The flickering candlelight from the bronze lamps in the corner of the hall cast his shadow on the cold palace wall.

As someone aligned with Xu Guotian's destiny, he was the first to notice the anomaly.

Xu Guotian's fortune was like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, creating ripples that spread outwards. A surge of powerful and uplifting feeling rose from the depths of his heart.

"Supreme Man!"

Lü Shang looked up towards the outside of the palace. The originally somber twilight seemed to have been torn open, and a ray of golden light shot into the sky from the direction of Xing Mountain, piercing through the twilight.

The golden light was not blazing, but it carried an aura of magnificence and righteousness. As soon as it appeared, the dark clouds lingering over the Xu Kingdom quietly dispersed by a third.

From the direction of the ancestral temple, faint sounds of bells and chimes could be heard. These were not struck by human hands, but rather the spontaneous resonance of the ancestral tablets enshrined in the temple, due to the upheavals of the nation's fortunes.

"Good! Well done, Lü Chong!" Lü Shang exclaimed in a low voice, his eyes filled with undisguised joy.

When a sage is born, extraordinary phenomena will naturally occur. For the State of Xu at this time, Lü Chong's attainment of sainthood means that the State of Xu can take more initiative in the subsequent alliances.

He took a deep breath, suppressed his turbulent emotions, and his gaze became profound again.

At this moment, the rising fortune continued, not only in the direction of Xingshan, but also in the sky above Xudu, where a faint light gradually appeared.

Inside the Prime Minister's study, twilight had already drifted through the window lattice, casting a half-light, half-dark glow on the bamboo slips spread out on the desk.

Wu Wenhe's wrist, which was holding the pen, suddenly paused, and he looked out the window thoughtfully.

A sudden evening breeze rose outside the window, and the copper bells on the eaves emitted a series of clear and melodious sounds, but they could not drown out the faint resonance of bells and chimes coming from afar.

“It’s in the direction of Xingshan,” he murmured to himself, his gaze piercing through the window and looking eastward.

"It is the eldest son of the concubine, Chong,"

Wu Wenhe slowly put down his pen and stood up, leaning on his desk. The curtains hanging down were slightly lifted by the aura, revealing a sudden glint of light in his eyes.

He said softly, "Truly, Heaven blesses Xu Guo."

Just then, the servant on duty whispered outside the door, "Prime Minister Wu, the carriages and horses in the mansion are ready. Shall we depart as originally scheduled at 5:00 AM?"

Wu Wenhe paused slightly as he stroked his beard. The candlelight flickered on the edge of the inkstone, casting a dim light on the wrinkles around his eyes.

Instead of immediately answering his retainer, he walked to the window and pushed open half of the wooden window. The evening breeze, carrying the sharpness from the direction of Xingshan, rushed into the study, and the bamboo slips on the desk were lifted by a corner by the wind, making a rustling sound.

"Depart at 5:00 AM?"

Wu Wenhe repeated in a low voice, then smiled and said, "No need."

The retainer was taken aback. Looking up, he saw Wu Wenhe gazing at the fading twilight in the east, his voice filled with the joy of rain after a long drought, saying, "Pass on my orders: prepare the horses immediately. I must depart now."

(End of this chapter)