Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 200 Ling Xiao
The northern border region.

The palace's chief eunuch, Hai Xian, led a group of people to offer their condolences.

Ten years ago, in that great battle, both the Demon Emperor and Gu Zhanting were severely wounded. At the same time, the Imperial Preceptor, Master Tinglan, launched a surprise attack on the Demon Clan's sacred mountain, slaying the Demon Clan's High Priest and burning the temple to the ground. The Demon Clan suffered a crushing defeat and was severely weakened.

Gu Zhanting returned to his camp to recuperate from his injuries. Due to the death of a famous general in the battle, Grand Tutor Huo Liancheng was reinstated and began to take charge of the military affairs of the Great Qian Dynasty. His son, Huo Xingyuan, led a large army to advance northward, expanding the territory by hundreds of miles in a few years. He made great achievements and his own strength rose from the second rank to the first rank. He was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Zhenyuan and returned to the capital in glory.

Many people feel that since the toughest battles have been fought, whoever takes over the rest is just picking up the pieces, and the Huo family is simply lucky. This isn't entirely objective. After all, although the demon race was defeated, there are still many powerful figures in various factions. Huo Liancheng and his son are indeed quite strong in terms of individual strength and military capability, and the results might not have been as good if someone else had led the campaign.

Overall, both Gu Zhanting and the Huo family made significant contributions to the Great Qian Dynasty in this battle.

In fact, Gu Zhanting began to change after this war.

Gu Zhanting, whose injuries are slow to heal, is clearly different from before...

After Huo Xingyuan returned to the capital, he wanted to groom his second son, Huo Zhang, to take over the leadership of the northern frontier. Of course, Huo Zhang's growth was not so fast, and the affairs of the northern frontier were temporarily managed by his generals. Huo Zhang, as one of the generals, was responsible for a defense zone.

The demon race is different from nomadic peoples. In this world where individual strength has a huge impact, a powerful demon of the third rank can cause chaos in a border town. Moreover, preventing demons from infiltrating the interior is a very troublesome matter. Building the Great Wall is useless.

During the banquet, Sheng Yuanyao made it clear that the origin of the demon needed to be traced. If it had infiltrated from the north, the loopholes needed to be plugged—in other words, the commander of that defense zone would be punished. But in reality, how to plug such loopholes and whether the commander of that defense zone would hate you were things that the young girl hadn't thought about.

In short, there haven't been any major wars in recent years, but various frictions and conflicts have continued unabated, and many people have been trying to gain minor merits in the northern frontier. Many sectarian members also go to the border regions for training, and some of the bolder ones even venture deep into the demon realm; whether they return is unknown.

However, no cities have been lost in recent years.

Against this backdrop, it was common for the imperial court to send people to the northern frontier to offer condolences and rewards from time to time. Whether it was simply for the purpose of comfort and reward or for inspection was hard to say. The palace eunuchs also liked to take on this task. They could skim off a layer of profit from the gifts, and when they arrived at the border, the generals would also give them another layer of profit, making money from both sides.

However, this time, people from the Holy Land are going together... so it's not impossible to make a profit, it depends on who you're with.

Hai Xian glanced at the Taoist priest beside him and said with a smile, "Master Xunzhen, I don't know much about magic artifacts. Could you please take a look at this jade pendant?"

The Taoist Master Xunzhen understood what the eunuch meant, so he didn't dwell on it and smiled, "It's alright, but it might not be good for the soldiers on the border. Eunuch Hai can consecrate it again."

Hai Xian felt relieved and handed the jade pendant directly to Xunzhen Daoist: "Nothing can compare to the effect of a holy land master consecrating it. I'll have to trouble you, Master."

The Taoist Master Xunzhen calmly accepted the jade pendant and quickly followed up on the topic, saying, "The Imperial Preceptor didn't specify where to go this time, saying we should decide for ourselves. Where does Your Excellency plan to go?"

Hai Xian said, "His Majesty means to visit General Pei."

The Taoist Master Xunzhen sighed, "The Pei family values ​​reputation and adheres strictly to the rules. We shouldn't have made this trip in vain."

Hai Xian felt a pang of sympathy and said, "We can turn to other places, after all. His Majesty didn't say we should only go to one place. What suggestions do you have, Master?"

The Taoist Master Xunzhen laughed and said, "I've heard that Young Master Huo is generous and hospitable."

Hai Xian blinked: "It seems closer to Young Master Huo's place if we go this way, shall we go there first?"

The two hit it off immediately, and the team quickly turned around and headed straight for Huo Zhang's defense zone.

Since they are all cultivators, there is no need for a convoy of large and small vehicles. Everyone can simply carry their rings. The group will fly away and arrive in a few days.

I felt something was wrong even before we arrived; it felt a bit chaotic and disorganized.

In the distance, powerful explosions erupted with thunderous sounds, resembling a battle.

The Taoist Seeking Truth's expression turned serious: "Let's not go into the main city. Let's go check out the place where the commotion is."

Hai Xian had no doubt that their visit did indeed have the flavor of an inspection and supervision, and the unexpected discovery of the situation might even be a merit.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a siege.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out that Huo Zhang was leading his troops to attack his own city.

Hai Xian suspected he had gotten too excited and rubbed his eyes for a long time. It really was Huo Zhang attacking his own city, and the defensive array in the city was even from the Tianyao Holy Land.

Another group of men galloped in from a distance, their banners bearing the character "Pei." They were Pei Qingyan's cousin, Pei Yu's cousin, Pei Zhao, whom Hai Xian had originally planned to visit first.

Upon seeing the army attacking from both sides, the city finally abandoned its defenses. Several powerful demons fled the city before Pei Zhao could besiege it, laughing wildly all the way: "Hahahaha, the Huo family father and son are renowned throughout the northern frontier. We thought the Huo family had some extraordinary abilities, but they're nothing special, nothing special at all, hahahahaha!"

Huo Zhang's face was ashen as he stormed into the city: "There are people in the city who are helping the demon race. They have betrayed the city and the country. Arrest them all and interrogate them severely!"

"Wait!" Pei Zhao flew over and said coldly, "General Huo, what a show of power!"

Huo Zhang sneered: "What, does your Pei family also collude with the demon race?"

Pei Zhao coldly said, "All I know is that someone was caught off guard by a small group of demons attacking the city, resulting in its loss. Now you want to massacre the city to silence them?"

Huo Zhang took a deep breath, frantically searching for a solution.

Pei Zhao's arrival couldn't have been more ill-timed. If he hadn't come, I could have gone into the city, rounded up a group of people, and killed them, thus establishing that someone was selling out the city and attracting demons, allowing me to discover it in time and retake the city. But with Pei Zhao standing there, how could I possibly smear the city and kill people?
"Brother Pei, since there is no loss in this matter, but rather a merit, why not do it? Why bother with such trivial matters of factional strife?"

Pei Zhao was so angry he almost laughed: "You want to smear innocent people, kill them to silence them, and you call this a trivial matter?"

"The fact that the demon race was able to stay here for two days and two nights means they must have had help. How can you call it slander? The truth will be revealed in a trial."

"you!"

"This is Huo's defense zone. Brother Pei, are you going to overstep your authority?"

Hai Xian and the others who were watching from a distance understood what was going on. Hai Xian was still pondering the pros and cons and choosing sides when Xun Zhen Dao Ren flew out and said, "The Northern Frontier Inspector Hai is here. We all know about what happened here."

Pei Zhao breathed a sigh of relief, while Huo Zhang's face suddenly turned pale.

The city was recaptured in a mere two days; the situation could have been concealed without a trace, and it might even have turned a bad situation into a good one, earning a merit. It was one thing for Pei Zhao to come and cause trouble after hearing the news, but why did someone from the palace have to arrive at this exact moment?
This is bad...

…………

In the capital city, Ye Tinglan was having a lesson with Lu Xingzhou when a paper crane floated into the room and landed in her hand.

Ye Tinglan gently burned the incense, revealing a slight smile: "Your plan to send envoys to express your condolences has succeeded; the timing was perfect."

Lu Xingzhou said, "That was luck."

"His Majesty, putting aside everything else, considers the matter of the demon race his life's achievement and talks about it constantly. He won't allow anyone to smear his reputation on this matter," Ye Tinglan said. "Therefore, Huo Zhang's matter could, at worst, lead to his immediate dismissal and return to the capital, or at least result in him being demoted a few ranks to atone for his crimes and leave a thorn in His Majesty's side. In terms of its significance in dealing with the Huo family, it's more valuable than what you did with Huo Jin and Huo Lu before, not to mention that beating someone up that day, which was purely venting anger and completely meaningless."

Lu Xingzhou grinned: "Being able to relieve the knots in your heart is meaningful, so how can it be meaningless?"

Ye Tinglan rolled her eyes at him: "So, in your opinion, Huo Zhang's matter is not as valuable as beating up Huo Heng, is that right?"

"Of course not." Lu Xingzhou stood up and bowed. "Only at this moment have I seen the real hope of shaking the Huo family. Before this, it seemed like I was gaining an advantage everywhere, but in reality, I had nowhere to start... Thank you for your guidance, sir."

Ye Tinglan said calmly, "There's no need to thank me. This matter is a matter of family and country... Was it you who called for the Pei family's interference?"

"Yes."

Ye Tinglan looked at him meaningfully for a long time before finally smiling: "You... are very good."

Although her face was veiled and her features obscured, Lu Xingzhou was still somewhat mesmerized by her smile. Her eyes, visible through the veil, curved like a pair of crescent moons, giving her a charming and delicate air.

Suddenly, those delicate eyes seemed familiar... kind of like Yuan Muyu's...

Lost in thought, Ye Tinglan quickly wiped the smile off her face and said sternly, "What are you looking at?"

"Uh...no." Lu Xingzhou came back to his senses and lowered his eyes, saying, "I just feel that you are rarely cheerful, and you always seem to have something on your mind."

"so what?"

"You should smile more; it looks better."

An imaginary hand appeared behind his head, almost striking down. Ye Tinglan hesitated, ultimately not striking, but merely snorted coldly, "I'm your mentor. If you continue to speak to me with that same flirtatious tone you used to deceive Pei Chuyun and Sheng Yuanyao, see how I beat you up!"

Lu Xingzhou sighed: "That's the truth. You worry about the Underworld, the demon race, and this utterly incompetent civil and military officials... Although with great power comes great responsibility, and you are a first-rank official, it's understandable that you would worry about the world before others... But you are not in that position, and there are even higher-ranking officials above you. This is something the Emperor and the Imperial Advisor should consider."

Ye Tinglan's eyes darted around: "Then what do you think of the Imperial Advisor? Do you think she doesn't care?"

"Of course she cares. You can tell by the fact that she sent Qingli to protect Shen Tang. Besides, the Master is also a friend of the Imperial Advisor; his character is known from their social circle. However..."

"how?"

"Her methods are too gentle; without a do-or-die decisiveness, many things cannot be accomplished. If I were Chao Pin, ha..."

Ye Tinglan sneered: "As expected of a judge in the Yama's Palace, your mouth is full of Yama's words, ha."

Lu Xingzhou: “…”

"Let's go." Ye Tinglan stood up. "Have you said goodbye to all the women you were supposed to say goodbye to?"

Lu Xingzhou paused for a moment: "Leaving the capital now?"

"We cultivators can decide whether to stay or leave in a moment of passion. We can travel thousands of miles whenever the mood strikes us. What is there to be so hesitant and reluctant to leave?"

Lu Xingzhou was silent for a moment, then bowed again: "What you say is true, sir."

"So, have you finished saying goodbye?"

"I've finished speaking; they already know I'm leaving."

"Then there's no need to say it again, lest it cause unnecessary sorrow. Let's go."

Almost at the same moment those words left her lips, Pei Chuyun suddenly felt something. The brush she was using to take notes during a lecture at the Imperial Academy paused slightly, leaving a large blot of ink on the paper.

Then she smiled slightly and murmured to herself, "Farewell, my young master."

Sheng Yuanyao, clutching her bruised and battered buttocks, limped out of the ancestral hall. Suddenly, she stopped and looked up at the sky.

Sheng Qingfeng said with a stern face, "What, are you trying to curse someone to get sick again?"

Sheng Yuanyao stared blankly at the skylight, thought for a long time, and suddenly said, "You said that our Sheng family's ancestral tradition is the way of the battlefield."

"Yes, what?"

"Lu Xingzhou and the Pei family were secretly plotting against Huo Zhang... If he is dismissed or something, can I take his place?"

Sheng Qingfeng was unsure whether to be surprised or delighted: "You're not playing anymore?"

"I have to catch up, otherwise I don't even deserve to be called a brother... Right now, in their eyes, I'm like a melon."

"..." Sheng Qingfeng thought for a moment, then sighed softly, "If you are truly ambitious, I can send you to join the army regardless of whether Huo Zhang will cause problems. But Yao'er..."

"Ok?"

"Joining the army is not like joining the Demon Suppression Division; it's about risking your life. If you want to achieve merit like Huo Zhang, then you'd better not go. In the capital, your father can always protect you and let you live a carefree life."

Sheng Yuanyao cupped her hands in a subordinate's salute: "My goal is the Heroes Ranking."

"Lu Xingzhou himself didn't even make it onto the list of heroes."

"...What does this have to do with him? This is my own climbing."

[End of Volume Two]

(End of this chapter)