Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 382 Too Clever for One's Own Good

No one cared what kind of shameful things Long Lie, a single man, might be hiding in his home. Lu Xingzhou guessed it was probably love letters. Dolls weren't popular in this era, were they? Perhaps he should try to find a sect like the Puppet Sect to see if they had that kind of craftsmanship; it wasn't common in ordinary places.

In short, while the gossip-loving girl was enjoying watching other people's drama unfold, everyone's attention was already on Chen Yu.

If all of Lu Xingzhou's previous analyses sounded plausible but could all be dismissed as conjecture and far-fetched, then Chen Yu's appearance completely filled in the gaps in the chain of evidence.

It's no use being stubborn. Anyone who goes into the alchemy room will know what kind of pills you're making.

Since you have a way to solve the problem of dragon reproduction, why do you keep such an important matter to yourself and not share it with your clan?
You're not trying to say that you secretly tested the drug on everyone else, are you?
Comparing it with Lu Xingzhou's logic chain just now, everything suddenly makes sense; even the most clueless dragon would understand.

This guy watched his clan struggle to reproduce while he secretly took medicine, all so that one day when the dragon clan felt the problem of reproduction was urgent, he could use the will of the people to force Long Qinghuang to marry a pure-blooded member of the clan and leave a bloodline for the Dragon Emperor. Then his advantage of being able to reproduce would be enormous.

At that time, he will not only win the beauty, but also have a chance to seize power.

If that were all, it would only be considered a minor selfish act, not a capital offense.

But considering his actions of "purging the emperor's inner circle" in conjunction with the attack from both inside and outside the Holy Mountain, it's clear he's colluding with the Holy Mountain. What does that mean? Does it prove that the problem of the dragon race's reproduction was caused by the Holy Mountain, and that Long Yun knew this but not only didn't expose it, he also used this situation to conspire with the Holy Mountain?

To put it more maliciously, perhaps Long Yun's active cooperation was partly responsible for this problem within the Dragon Clan. He holds a high position within the Dragon Clan; who knows what he did behind the scenes?
Lu Xingzhou felt that it was unlikely that he would actively cooperate. After all, Long Yun did not know that alchemists could solve this problem. What benefit would it bring if he couldn't even give birth because of such cooperation? As for the operation by the Holy Mountain, it was estimated to date back hundreds or thousands of years. When did the collusion between Long Yun and the Holy Mountain, and even with the Great Qian, begin? That remains a mystery.

Long Qinghuang finally spoke, her voice so cold it seemed to freeze: "Tell me, when did it start? Ten years ago?"

Long Yun remained silent.

It truly began ten years ago, from the moment Long Qinghuang was defeated.

Before that, Long Qinghuang was a powerful force in the demon realm, and everyone bowed down to her. But that battle shook Long Qinghuang's prestige, showing people that she was not invincible, and that she was actually injured at that time, with her strength greatly reduced.

Ambitious individuals will naturally emerge at this time. Several other races have rebelled, and there are naturally some within the dragon race as well.

Ascending to the throne of the Dragon Emperor, capturing the injured Long Qinghuang and imprisoning her in the harem for training... just thinking about such a thing is enough to make one's blood boil.

It was at this time that the people from the Holy Mountain approached them, saying that as long as they cooperated, their dreams could be realized.

The initial plan was to betray Long Qinghuang when she was injured and was suppressing the rebellion, and coincidentally, he was the only one she brought with her as the main general. The plan was to announce to the outside world that the Dragon Emperor had been defeated by the rebels, that he, Long Yun, had turned the tide, that the Dragon Emperor had passed on the throne, and that with the cooperation of the prime minister, the matter would be settled.

The idea was good, but when it came to implementation, it was discovered that even injured, Long Qinghuang could crush the rebels like it was nothing. Long Yun, who was about to stab her, was dumbfounded and hesitated to launch a sneak attack for a long time.

Her injuries were far less severe than Gu Zhanting's! And the regenerative power of the dragon's body was far beyond Gu Zhanting's capabilities.

Furthermore, she was always accompanied by guards, and the injured dragon emperor was far more vigilant than the proud mother dragon was on normal days.

Long Yun never found a suitable opportunity from beginning to end, so he could only honestly lead his troops into battle. He didn't even dare to feign defeat, and in the end, he became a hero in suppressing the rebellion.

He didn't need to answer. Long Qinghuang herself, recalling the past ten years of suppressing rebellions, naturally found some strange things about Long Yun's behavior. Details she had previously dismissed now seemed problematic. She shook her head in utter disappointment: "And this time? Gu Zhanting created such a good opportunity for you to cooperate, why didn't you act?"

At the time, Long Yun's assigned task was to control the city's array together with Long Xi, with the two assigned to different positions. After all, it was Gu Zhanting's home turf, and with the array working together, it would be difficult for Long Qinghuang to fight. It was necessary to have a capable person control and disrupt it. If, while Long Qinghuang's mind was wavering due to the attack on the Holy Mountain, one of the people controlling the array made a mistake, causing the dormant array to suddenly take effect, then Long Qinghuang would definitely suffer a great loss.

Then, taking advantage of the fact that Long Lie and Long Xi were unaware of what had happened, Long Yun quickly colluded with Gu Zhanting to kill them. He then claimed that the Dragon Emperor had underestimated the enemy and attacked the city, resulting in its fall. He said that he could still achieve what he wanted.

There was no movement at the time, and the little dragon claw could no longer reach the dragon's head.

Long Yun looked dejected and sighed softly, "When the Holy Mountain was attacked, His Majesty received the news, and I did too. At the time, I thought, Gu Zhanting's collaborator was originally the Holy Mountain, and I only joined the conspiracy later. Gu Zhanting even betrayed the Holy Mountain, so what about me? Even if I ambushed His Majesty, could I leave that city alive?"

Long Qinghuang's expression was somewhat strange. Suddenly, she chuckled softly, and then her laughter grew louder and louder, shaking the heavens.

Gu Zhanting was a man of profound strategy. He used the attack on the Sacred Mountain to unsettle himself while simultaneously plotting to seize the mountain, thus gaining victory on two fronts. If everything unfolded as Gu Zhanting hoped, he might just decide the fate of the world in one battle, and the entire Demon Realm might be wiped out by him.

As a result, because he was too clever by half, the attack on the Holy Mountain made Long Yun hesitate, distrust Gu Zhanting's cooperation, and dare not take action.

Ironic.

Even Lu Xingzhou, standing nearby, looked extremely strange as he pondered these things. He had never understood why the mole hadn't acted at the last minute, assuming it was because he had seen through Long Qinghuang's hidden plan, but he never expected it was for this reason.

Thank you all for your selfish schemes that led to this situation. The Dragon Girl was completely bewildered and pinned her hopes on Lu Xingzhou for advice, which gave her the opportunity to tame the dragon later.

Long Lie flew into a rage, pointing at Long Yun and yelling, "Since you know outsiders are unreliable, why don't you stop! Gu Zhanting might turn against us, but won't the Holy Mountain do the same? Are they dragons? Are they of one mind with us? What makes you think you can sit securely in your position instead of working for others? You idiot!"

"Now that you're on this pirate ship, it's hard to get off. You can only go all the way down this dark path." Long Qinghuang calmed down and looked at the army behind Long Yun: "You were all unaware of the truth and were simply deceived by Long Yun. Now, capture Long Yun and atone for your crimes. You will still be my heroes in the southern campaign." Long Qinghuang didn't even need to say anything. The dragons, who felt they had been deceived, were already impatient and rushed forward to try to capture Long Yun.

"Does Your Majesty consider this sacred mountain your own imperial court, solving cases and arresting people here without a care in the world?" Suddenly, the voice of Pudu echoed from within the sacred mountain, resounding throughout the entire mountain, as if a great bell were striking the heart of everyone.

The thousands of Southern Expedition Dragon Clan members who stepped forward to capture Long Yun suddenly showed expressions of pain and curled up.

Long Lie, standing next to Lu Xingzhou, also let out a muffled groan, slightly bent over, clutching his heart, large beads of sweat dripping from his forehead.

Even Long Qinghuang frowned slightly, clearly feeling something was amiss. Even Lu Xingzhou himself felt a slight stinging sensation on his skin—he had just taken a body-tempering medicinal bath, and a small amount of dragon essence had seeped into his skin, though not deeply, so the effect was only on his skin.

Lu Xingzhou knew what had happened almost instantly; he knew this move too.

He used dragon parts to cast spells, influencing other dragons. He had used this technique on an ancient dragon in the underground secret realm of the glacier, using the dragon bones he carried, to help Ye Tinglan escape.

His technique originated from witchcraft, but it wasn't witchcraft, and its effects were relatively mild. True witchcraft is obviously more powerful and has a wider range, but it also requires a longer time for casting spells and chanting.

So, the time just now...

"Your Majesty remains as arrogant as ever, disregarding others. Do you think you are fearless just because you haven't entered my mountain formation?" Pudu's voice echoed: "Fortunately, this is why we have time to cast our spell. Now, the dragon clan's elite are all within our grasp."

Long Qinghuang said calmly, "So there really is a dragon within the Holy Mountain... You have done many things through this dragon."

“That’s right,” Pudu said. “In Buddhism, there are the Eight Legions of Heavenly Dragons. The Dragon Clan is one of the Eight Legions, merely a general of my Buddhist Kingdom. How can we reverse the Heavenly Order, with the Dragon Clan as emperors and my Buddhist Kingdom assisting them? When the Dragon Emperor so casually bestowed titles upon us, didn’t he think he was being ridiculous?”

"...What you write in your Buddhist scriptures has nothing to do with me?" Long Qinghuang said indifferently, "So the so-called non-competition of the Holy Mountain has always been a lie. It was just that they couldn't compete with me at the time, so they pretended to be friendly with me, hoping to overthrow it from the root of the bloodline in the future."

"That's not the case. If Your Majesty could have a firm belief in Buddhism and send someone from my school, it wouldn't be impossible to discuss. Unfortunately, Your Majesty is stubborn and self-willed."

Long Qinghuang was so angry she almost laughed.

To put it bluntly, it's nothing more than a struggle between royal power and religious authority, which is easy to understand. But to say that she was stubborn would be laughable. From beginning to end, Long Qinghuang had always respected the Holy Mountain. When she heard that the Holy Mountain had been attacked during her fierce battle with Gu Zhanting, she was still shaken. Because Lu Xingzhou protected the Holy Mountain, she was overjoyed and gave him the credit.

If the Tianyao Holy Land could receive such respect and treatment from the Emperor of Daqian, Ye Tinglan would be laughing her head off.

These monks are never satisfied; instead, they complain about their own stubbornness.

Pudu's voice echoed across the sky once more: "While you are listening to the story here, Prime Minister Longyan has already led the Demon Capital City Guard to besiege Dragon Cliff. You all have wives and children at home, why should you sacrifice your families for this tyrannical empress who favors her concubines? If you can turn back in time, you will still have a place among the Eight Tribes in the future. Do not make a mistake for yourselves."

Long Lie's expression was very solemn. He whispered to Lu Xingzhou, "Most of the forces in the Demon Capital are sub-dragons... We used to trust them. They've been planning this all along, just for this moment. I estimate the Demon Capital is in chaos right now."

Lu Xingzhou smiled slightly.

"You can still laugh, you male concubine, you..."

"Were you all blinded by His Majesty's recent state of not trusting anyone and having no one to rely on?" Lu Xingzhou sighed. "After I confirmed with His Majesty last night that the mole was Long Yun, His Majesty had plenty of people at his disposal, and everything that needed to be arranged had already been arranged. What good are those 'sub-dragons'?"

Pudu in the mountains had a slight change in expression.

Far away in the demon capital, at Dragon Cliff.

Prime Minister Long Yan led his troops to besiege Dragon Cliff. Just as he began to speak, a large group of dragons appeared in front of him, their faces expressionless.

Leading the group was Longxi, a general of the Dragon Clan: "What brings you here, Prime Minister?"

Although the dragon race is small, each one is born powerful. It's not just the thousand or so dragons from the southern expedition and the three hundred imperial guards; every single one of them is a born warrior. Those who joined the army are merely soldiers by profession; those who didn't might actually be stronger than those who did…

At present, thousands of dragons have been mobilized, their entire army arrayed and soaring through the sky.

The natural suppression due to blood ties made the group of Yalong City guards turn ashen-faced.

Long Yan took a deep breath: "Your Majesty...were you prepared in advance?"

“His Majesty has never been unprepared…” Longxi was baffled by his words: “Before, His Majesty simply didn’t know who to entrust with the task. Once it’s decided, what are you all?”

Long Yan looked back and saw that countless tigers, leopards, and wolves had surrounded him from nowhere, their emerald eyes gleaming with cruel light.

(End of this chapter)