Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 269 The High Priest's Expectations
"Don't go."

Why not go?

"My lord sent me to Chang'an simply to see the High Priest and ask him if there's a way to solve the Tiger Army problem. If there is a way, the High Priest will teach me the secret technique, but that's not appropriate."

If there's no other way, you must be thinking that it's been many years since you've served your elders, and you feel that we can't let our relationship with the High Priest become estranged.

I need to get closer to the High Priest. If we spend enough time together, he'll definitely come to like me. I think the Mistress would kill me.

Yun Ce's eyes widened upon hearing this. Lei Ming was absolutely right; this was precisely the purpose of sending Lei Ming to Liu Changsheng.

However, this kid was clearly thinking a bit more, even feeling that his trip was a violation of the taboo by stealing the destiny of his two infant junior brothers.

So Yun Ce kicked out, and Lei Ming flew out again, his buttocks sliding not far, less than half a meter.

Just as Yun Ce had made arrangements and was preparing to send Lei Ming to Chang'an with the caravan, Wu Tong arrived in a Xintianyou.

As soon as he arrived, he rushed to see the other five Tiger Warriors. After personally inspecting them, he followed Yun Ce to the study, sat on the Yun family's special chair, pinched his brow, and looked like he was having a hard time making a decision.

"Well, if there's a way, there's a way; if there isn't, there isn't. Why make things so difficult?"

Yun Ce poured a cup of tea, placed it in front of Wu Tong, and said with a smile.

Wu Tong put down his hand and looked at Yun Ce, saying, "On the sixteenth day of the fourth month of the third year of Jingfeng, He Junnian, the governor of Lingzhou, submitted a memorial stating: Lingzhou is a small and impoverished place, and it is not easy to support an army of 260,000. He is willing to voluntarily reduce the army by 60,000, making the base at 200,000."

Yun Ce smiled and said, "If local authorities voluntarily reduce their military strength, it will benefit the imperial court. So, what is the price to pay?"

Wu Tong took a sip of tea and said indifferently, "Sixty days to grant Lingzhou Shehuo autonomy."

Yun Ce nodded and said, "I understand. The needle in the Tiger Legion's head is related to the Shehuo (a traditional folk performance).

Wu Tong shook his head and said, "The High Priest said that the Shehuo is just an auxiliary, and the focus is on the dragon's might. The High Priest also said that the dragon's might is invisible and intangible, and is just a very superficial thing. I don't know how He Junnian attached the dragon's might to that steel needle back then."

The imperial court was not originally prepared to grant He Junnian's request, but later, for some reason, it not only granted it but also extended the deadline to one hundred days.

The high priest said that he was only a forty-three-year-old priest back then and didn't know much about him. However, he said that most of it was related to dragons, because that year was the year when a divine dragon descended upon the Han Dynasty, and only a living divine dragon could exert its dragon power.

It is estimated that it was because of the divine dragon that the imperial court ultimately agreed to He Junnian's request.

Yun Ce sighed inwardly. Who could understand the fear of dragon might better than him? Back in the ancestral land, the dragon might emanating from Ao Bing, an infant dragon, tormented him to the point of near death, not to mention the many others who were scared to death or went insane.

When an adult dragon unleashes its might on an ordinary person, it can naturally use its superior biological status to suppress or erase the intelligence of a lower-level creature. For example, herbivores know to run and flee when they encounter a dog skin, but when they encounter a ferocious beast, they seem indifferent to their own lives. They eat grass when they want to eat grass, and they are eaten by the ferocious beast when they want to be eaten. They can even eat grass while watching their companions being eaten by the ferocious beast.

"Have you figured out who came up with this idea?"

Wu Tong frowned and said, "He Junnian."

Yun Ce asked, "Is there any more information?"

Wu Tong shook his head and said, "No, He Junnian only served as the governor of Lingzhou for a mere six years before he died suddenly from an illness. There is not much information left for the world to know. Among them, the most famous one is his memorial, 'Request to Streamline the Army and Simplify Administration'."

Later, He Junnian's eldest son, He You, succeeded him as the governor of Lingzhou, and only later did He Tian take over.

Yun Ce sighed and said, "It seems that if I want to bring the Tiger Legion over, I first need to kill He Tian, ​​then find a dragon, and finally use the Shehuo (a type of folk performance) to succeed, right?"

Wu Tong laughed and said, "It's not that complicated. If you can capture He Tian alive, you might have a way. After all, from He Junnian to He You, and then to He Tian, ​​it has been passed down for three generations."

Whether you have the potential to become a fourth generation depends on your karma.

"So, the High Priest doesn't actually have any objections to me getting rid of the Tiger Legion, right?"

Wu Tong laughed loudly, "I'm delighted to see it happen."

"Why."

“You gave birth to two sons in one go, ensuring the longevity of the High Priest’s lineage. The High Priest is not unhappy about that.”

"You know I'm not..."

“The High Priest has already said so, so you are. You wouldn’t be so shallow as to think that children born to the High Priest are his offspring, and those not born to the High Priest are not his offspring, would you?”

Yun Ce said in surprise, "That's exactly what I think."

Wu Tong smiled and said, "The High Priest takes all the people of the world as his children."

Yun Ce grinned and said, "Has his benevolence reached such an extent?"

Wu Tong nodded and said, "The High Priest thinks he is Shehuo and will return to Shehuo after death. The High Priest may not be qualified to say that all people under heaven are his children, but Shehuo is qualified."

Yun Ce was silent for a moment. He had seen people like the High Priest, and quite a few in fact. Yun Linchuan could also be considered one of them. They lived and worked, eventually becoming part of a grand narrative, living and dying along with it. After figuring this out, Yun Ce grabbed Lei Ming, who was standing behind him, and shoved him in front of Wu Tong, saying, "Take him with you when you leave, and send him to the High Priest's side."

Wu Tong shook his head and said, "The High Priest wants me to take all thirty-six children with me."

Yun Ce's eyes lit up and he immediately said, "There should be forty-eight now. I'll help the remaining children guide their Qi into their bodies tonight."

"It's not as cheap as you think. The High Priest said you're in a difficult situation. This is your destiny, and once a destiny is broken, it can't be broken again. Also, the High Priest has been missing you a lot lately and has ordered me to bring your two wives and children to Chang'an."

Yun Ce asked, puzzled, "If you miss me, why do you want to see my wife and children?"

"How would I know? The High Priest is already a god; how could we mortals possibly fathom his thoughts?"

"They didn't say they wanted to see me?"

"No, not a single word was mentioned."

After finishing his meeting with Wu Tong, Yun Ce hurriedly returned to E Ji and said, "The High Priest wants to see you and the child."

Eji, who had been lying down, suddenly sat up with her eyes shining brightly and said, "The High Priest wants to pass the position of Crown Prince of Changsha to Shuo'er?"

Yun Ce said with a dark face, "I am now the heir apparent of the King of Changsha. Only if I die or am deposed will Shuo'er have the possibility of becoming the heir apparent of the King of Changsha."

Eji asked with longing, "What if you became the King of Changsha?"

"Absolutely impossible."

"Why is it impossible? The old man has been the King of Changsha for over a hundred years, he's probably had enough. If he passes the throne to you, wouldn't Shuo'er be the heir apparent of the King of Changsha?"

Looking at Eji standing on the bed with her hands on her hips, laughing triumphantly, it was clear that she had entered her own fantasy world again and would not wake up anytime soon. Anyone who tried to wake her up at this most beautiful moment would definitely be in trouble.

Judging from her appearance, there's no need to ask; she will definitely take Yun Shuo to Chang'an.

So he went to Zhang Min's room and said to her, "The High Priest wants to see you and the child."

Zhang Min, who had been talking to Yun Tui, who was still awake, immediately sat up straight. She even closed her blouse, which Yun Tui had pulled open, and placed her hands on the bed, looking at Yun Ce and saying, "So, Tui'er is going to inherit the title of the King of Changsha?"

Yun Ce couldn't understand why these two women had such bizarre thought processes, as if they had done something great by giving birth to a son, and that Liu Changsheng would definitely give his title to these two unrelated infants.

“Eji will go too.”

Upon hearing Yun Ce's words, Zhang Min immediately lay limply on the bed, holding a brightly colored pom-pom in her hand, and continued to speak baby talk to Yun Ce.

This time he heard it clearly: Zhang Min told Yun Tui that his father was a good-for-nothing who couldn't even earn a throne for his child.

Wu Tong stayed at Yun's Manor for one night and was leaving the next morning. Watching the huge rows of albatrosses descend from the sky and then soar back up, Yun Ce honestly felt a sense of familiarity, like seeing someone off at the airport.

Dogskin King was taken away by Eji, and the black-haired eagle flew away with Xintianyou. In addition, the thirty-six noisy young men and women also left, and Yun Family Manor seemed to fall into a state of silence all of a sudden.

Standing behind Yun Ce, Feng An watched Xintianyou and the black-haired eagle disappear into the sky before handing the reins of the chestnut horse to Yun Ce and saying, "My lord, it's time for you to set off."

Yun Ce looked at Feng An and said, "If you keep talking like this, I'll kill you one day."

Feng An chuckled and said, "The Tiger Legion is the most important."

"Why do you have more confidence in me than I do myself?"

“We have come all the way from Izumo Province, and not only have we survived, but we also have more than 60,000 men under our command, and our wealth is growing ever larger. If our lord does not have some extraordinary abilities, I do not believe it.”

Now, it's not just our lord who's after the Tiger Warriors; if our lord goes early, he might gain some advantage.

Where is He Tian now?

"We are temporarily residing in Liangcheng, Xinping Prefecture, which is the wealthiest place in the world."

"So, Qian Feng, the prefect of Xinping Prefecture, was also an active recruiter of the Tiger Legion?"

"That must be it, otherwise, who would offer a whole city for He Tian, ​​this homeless dog, to live in?"

"He Tian accepted it so easily?"

"Cao Kun issued a kill order against He Tian. Whoever brings He Tian's head to him will be rewarded with five cities in Dongzhou."

Therefore, after He Tian fled Lingzhou City, although he launched surprise attacks on several key locations in Cao's Qiuhe Prefecture, he also encountered endless pursuit. Now, apart from the Tiger Legion, almost all of his soldiers are either dead or have fled.

(End of this chapter)