Simultaneous travel: I am rampant in the domestic area

Chapter 224 Li Maozhen: Leave the Bad Commander to Me
Deep in the salt marshland stands a solitary mountain, upon which a new pavilion has been built.

Inside the pavilion, Russell was playing chess with the Empress. Russell was deep in thought about the game, but he didn't see the Empress make a move for a long time. When he looked up, he found the Empress holding a black piece in a daze.

"Hey, it's your turn," Russell urged.

"I was just thinking about how to end this after you, sir." The Empress came to her senses, but instead of making a move, she put the chess piece back into the box and resigned. "After some time, with all the kings as witnesses, the emperor will ascend the throne. The situation will be settled, but what will happen after that? Do you and I really intend to assist this fake emperor in controlling the government?"

"Do you think our emperor would be so clueless?" Russell chuckled and shook his head. "He knows better than anyone what he should do and when."

As for the ending, what ending?

Didn't Li Xingyun ascend the throne?
Gangzi was overjoyed.

As for whether this Li Xingyun is the real Li Xingyun, Russell has no say in that. He could be Li Siyuan using the name Li Xingyun, or Li Maozhen, or even Li Chungang who suddenly appeared.

But in any case, Russell has fulfilled Yuan Tiangang's two-hundred-year obsession.

"Wealth moves people's hearts, and power corrupts their souls." The Empress frowned slightly. She felt that Russell had oversimplified things. Even if the fake Li himself didn't think that way, the various lords were no pushovers. They each had their own ideas and their own calculations.

Yuan Tiangang was able to intimidate all the warlords because he had been in charge of the Bad People for three hundred years, and his plans for the Central Plains were flawless, accumulating an incomparably terrifying prestige.

Russell, however, is in a situation remarkably similar to that of the fake Lee.

His sudden emergence, even if his martial prowess and analytical skills were no less than Yuan Tiangang's, his foundation was too weak. In the eyes of the various warlords, Russell's pressure on them was not even as great as that of Yuan Tiangang, making it difficult for him to win over the masses.

Russell, however, seemed unconcerned: "When internal contradictions become irreconcilable, it is necessary to transform them into external contradictions."

"You mean the northern desert?"

The Tang Dynasty was a time when all nations paid tribute to it. Even now, with the country fragmented, aside from the internal strife in the Central Plains, only the northern deserts could be considered a formidable enemy in the eyes of the feudal lords.

"The people of the world have suffered in the northern deserts for too long. Our emperor urgently needs to establish merits, and the kings of the Central Plains also urgently need to establish trust with this new emperor."

Russell weighed the chess pieces in his hand, then with a casual flick of his wrist, they landed steadily in their designated positions on the chessboard.

"The emperor would not refuse to pacify the northern deserts, expand the territory, and establish unparalleled achievements, and the feudal lords would even less refuse. It's just a pity that, with their strength, they are far from being able to do this."

"You mean... Yinshan?" The Empress narrowed her eyes. She had dealt with Mobei quite a bit and naturally knew that this was Mobei's sacred mountain.

"Yes, but not only that. They will suffer heavy losses at Yinshan. After that, it will depend on the King of Qi."

The Empress naturally knew that the Prince Qi that Russell mentioned was not referring to herself, but to her brother, the real Li Maozhen: "I have already received a message from Xuan Jingtian by carrier pigeon, and my brother is on his way."

“Okay.” Russell stood up and stretched. “We need to start preparing too. When my brother-in-law comes back, we’ll have to make a trip to the northern desert.”

"Okay... um?" The Empress was about to nod in agreement when she suddenly realized something and looked up in surprise: "Brother-in-law?"

"Ha... I let it slip. Just pretend you didn't hear it." Russell chuckled, took a step back, and before the Empress could ask any more questions, he vanished in a flash, leaving the Empress alone, bewildered in the wind.

……

Xuanwu Mountain, Celestial Master's Mansion.

Amidst a series of jarring flute notes, Li Xingyun and Zhang Xiaofan's group finally returned to the gates of the Celestial Master's Mansion.

"Brother Corpse Ancestor, you've been bragging all the way, can we take a break?" Li Xingyun covered his ears, his expression ferocious. If he weren't outmatched, he would have really wanted to put the other man in a sack and stuff him in.

"You guys have absolutely no artistic talent." The man with "666" tattooed on his eyebrow sighed and tucked the flute back into his waistband.

Seeing this, Li Xingyun, Zhang Zifan, and the others in the group breathed a sigh of relief and lowered their hands from covering their ears.

With Hou Qing's help, they successfully helped Ji Ruxue undergo a blood transfusion to remove the curse. Afterwards, they hurried on their journey and finally returned to the Celestial Master's Mansion half a month later.

"Fan'er, Lin Xuan."

Upon entering the Celestial Master's Mansion, Xu Huan saw the group return and hurriedly came to greet them, tenderly rubbing Lu Linxuan's forehead.

"Mother~" Lu Linxuan said in a sweet and coquettish tone.

"Mother, where did you put Brother Li's Longquan sword?" Zhang Zifan searched the inner room but couldn't find the Longquan sword, so he stepped forward and asked.

Xu Huan was taken aback and hurriedly said, "Didn't Young Master Li send Prince Qi to retrieve her ten days ago? Didn't you encounter her?"

"King Qi?" Li Xingyun opened his mouth, incredulous. "The Grand Master is referring to the King Qi of Fengxiang?!"

“Exactly.” Xu Huan nodded.

“Brother Li and I only returned from overseas half a month ago, and we did not encounter Prince Qi during that time.” Zhang Zifan frowned.

Ten days or half a month, if you calculate the time, it should be around the time they found Li Xingyun. How could the timing be so coincidental?

They hadn't even had a chance to tell Prince Qi about the fake Li, let alone how Prince Qi knew the Longquan Sword was in the Celestial Master's Mansion.

Furthermore, he wouldn't be surprised at all if it were Li Siyuan who came to take the Longquan Sword, so why did it have to be the Prince of Qi? What does she want to do?
"Accompanying Prince Qi was a young man in white, who looked to be in his twenties," Xu Huan added. "They told me that you were on the shores of the Bohai Sea, and that you had found Young Master Li and were removing the curse from Miss Ji."

Another clueless fellow. How could they know so much... Zhang Zifan frowned even more: "Mother, do you still remember what that person looked like?"

"I'll draw it for you." Xu Huan realized something might have gone wrong, so she hurriedly grabbed paper and pen and drew Russell's appearance.

“Never seen him before.” Li Xingyun shook his head, and the others also said they had never seen Russell before.

“This person…” Corpse Ancestor Hou Qing looked at the portrait, raised an eyebrow, and the others turned their heads to look with hope. Then Hou Qing nodded with satisfaction: “Very handsome, very classy.”

"..."xN
“You…” Li Xingyun pointed at Hou Qing, hesitating to speak, almost unable to catch his breath.

"Speaking of which, Ji Ruxue seems to be from the Illusionary Sound Pavilion, right?" Hou Qing looked up at the moon. "She left from our side, where do you think she's most likely to go?"

Upon hearing this, everyone present turned to look at Li Xingyun, whose expression changed drastically: "Let's go! To Fengxiang!"

According to their planned route, they were destined to miss Ji Ruxue, because she had returned to Huanyinfang two days ago and had already met with Yang Yantian. At this moment, she was already on her way to Taiyuan.

Fortunately, such a momentous event as the emperor's ascension to the throne could not be carried out in secret behind closed doors. It required an announcement to the world and a change of reign title. Before they even left the Xuanwu Mountain area, the government's notice had already been posted on the bulletin board at the foot of the mountain.

Upon learning that "Li Xingyun" would be enthroned in Taiyuan and share the Longquan Treasure with the kings of the Central Plains, Li Xingyun himself was completely bewildered. He was going to be enthroned? Looking at the time, ten days had passed, and no one had come to inform him, the person in charge.

Seeing Li Xingyun frowning at the notice, Zhang Zifan patted Li Xingyun on the shoulder and comforted him, "Brother Li, there are still ten days left, everything is still possible."

Li Xingyun nodded, and was about to speak when Hou Qing suddenly said, "I think I know who that man in white is."

"What do you mean?" Zhang Zifan asked, puzzled. He had just been completely unaware of the other party, so how could they be so confident now after only glancing at the list?

"Raojiang Twelve Caves." Hou Qing said slowly, "The Qianling Treasure Box can only be opened with the secret techniques of the Twelve Caves. That man in white is very likely from the Twelve Caves."

"The Twelve Caves? Lord Hou Qing, tell me more about them." Li Xingyun quickly pressed for details.

"Ten thousand witchcrafts and twelve caves, the twelve caves are hard to find, the twelve caves are the most mysterious existence in Raojiang..." As Hou Qing told everyone about the twelve caves, Li Xingyun and Zhang Zifan's expressions gradually relaxed.

"So, the reason why Prince Qi helped that guy and Li Siyuan was because she was poisoned by the Twelve Caves' Gu? Just like Miss Ji," Zhang Zifan speculated.

“Very likely.” Li Xingyun continued Zhang Zifan’s words: “They found the location of the Longquan Treasure and obtained the Longquan Sword. The only thing they lack now is the Li family bloodline in my body. So this coronation is a deception against me. They want to lure me over and unseal the Longquan Sword.”

“It’s just that Prince Qi and Miss Ji are very likely already in their hands, and we have a reason to go.” Zhang Zifan continued, “But now, the enemy is in the open and we are in the dark. They should be the ones who are really anxious. On the day of their coronation, they will not be able to unseal Longquan and will certainly not be able to explain to the kings of the Central Plains. The second prince of Chu, Ma Xisheng, has a past with me. Perhaps we can ask him for help to sneak into the venue and make a plan.”

“Let’s do it this way.” Li Xingyun nodded heavily.

On the day of his coronation, all the feudal lords would surely be present. If he showed up and proved his identity, even if he couldn't reverse the situation, he could at least delay this absurd coronation.

"If it's a fight, before we go to Taiyuan, I can take you to find someone who should be able to help us," Hou Qing said after thinking for a moment.

"Who?" Lu Linxuan asked curiously.

"The red land is thousands of miles away, the colorful craftsman is the drought demon."

……

Unlike the main characters who regained their composure after believing they had guessed the truth.

One group of people were genuinely panicked.

For example, there's a certain Want Want brand whose name we don't know.

When "Li Xingyun" ascended the throne, he was completely dumbfounded.

How dare that guy?

And then there's King Qi. The reason the Grand Marshal was so confident in letting Li return to fight Li Xingyun was because they knew that the Empress would unconditionally stand behind Li Xingyun.

But now, Prince Qi has inexplicably sided with the fake Li and even joined forces with Li Siyuan. How come this whole story is different from what the commander-in-chief told us?

And what about the Longquan Treasure? How did he know its location? And how dare he boast about sharing Longquan with everyone? Did he somehow find out his identity?

Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!

Jingxinmo gritted his teeth. He knew Li Xingyun would never allow a fake Li to ascend the throne, but the situation had completely spiraled out of control. Li Xingyun's fate was now uncertain.

The most urgent task is to mobilize all available members of the Bad Guys to enter Taiyuan and await orders to be relocated by Meng Po, ready to rescue the Emperor at any time.

He himself immediately set sail to the isolated island to find the commander.

……

Three more days passed, and at this point, there were still six days left before the Tang emperor ascended the throne.

All the groups have already set off and will arrive in Taiyuan in the next few days.

Heavy troops were also stationed near Jieliang, and entry and exit were strictly prohibited.

The Empress changed into women's clothing that she hadn't worn in a long time, with a red headband, her hair piled high, and adorned with a long, straight golden phoenix crown and hairpins. Her jade feet were slender and white. She and Russell waited outside the city, for Li Maozhen was about to arrive.

"Excited?" Russell looked at the Empress. The Empress had always been seen as cold and noble, and it was rare to see her show such a girlish side as she did today.

"Some," the Empress did not deny.

After sixteen years of separation, they are finally going to meet again today. How could her heart not be filled with emotion?

"Once everything has settled down, you two siblings will no longer have to part ways."

"hope so."

“Not just hope, it’s certain.” Russell looked confidently towards the end of the road, where a burly man with heterochromatic eyes stood on a tree trunk, staring at him from afar.

"Brother King!" the Empress exclaimed joyfully.

"Long time no see, sister." Li Maozhen teleported in front of the Empress with great flair.

Well, Old Li is still young and hasn't fully matured yet. If you put him next to Li Maozhen, he'd be no different from a horse.

"Is this the Mr. Li Chungang you mentioned in your letter?" Li Maozhen looked at Russell, but even with his abilities, he couldn't discern Russell's true strength.

"What? Does Prince Qi also want to test his skills with me?" Russell stood up, dusted himself off, and prepared to show his brother-in-law a grappling technique he had just learned. However, his brother-in-law shook his head: "Although I don't believe in Li Siyuan's intelligence, I do believe in his ambition."

Li Siyuan is ambitious and ruthless, so the fact that Russell could be made to submit to orders speaks volumes about his strength.

"I have only one question."

"please say."

"Since you are willing to support my Qi Kingdom and have a flawless plan, why do you insist on letting that imposter ascend the throne? If we join forces, take the Longquan Treasure, recruit soldiers, and march directly across the Nine Provinces, why go through all this trouble?" Li Maozhen looked puzzled, not because he had any objections, but because he simply couldn't understand it.

"The world has only just begun to settle down, and the people have barely had a few days of peace. If war breaks out again, countless more people will be displaced. They have already suffered enough; let's minimize the chaos," Russell said softly.

“Unifying the world inevitably involves bloodshed and sacrifice.” Although Li Maozhen still didn’t quite understand, he didn’t say anything more. He just said confidently, “After the coronation ceremony, you can go to the northern desert to make plans. I will guard the Central Plains and will never let the Bad Commander ruin our plans.”

(End of this chapter)