Wei School's Three Good Students

Chapter 161 Evolution
In the second year of the Tianyou calendar, spring arrived. With the recapture of Yan, the northern kingdom was shaken, and the whole world turned its attention to it.

The messengers, their flags tucked behind their backs, carried the good news, relaying it through multiple stations to the capital as quickly as possible. However, within the capital, various factions had already obtained the news in advance through their own means. One after another, messenger birds of different colors landed at various powerful clans.

This army, whose core consisted of libertines from the capital, caused many high-ranking officials in the court to sigh with emotion. If the late emperor were still alive, such an army would have been the pillar of stability for the great empire.

But now, the canal in Yaodu is crooked, and the shadow of the floating palace on the ground is not straight either.

When Emperor Xu was alive, the palace shadow could always face the eight towers of Yaodu precisely on time, but now they are all out of position.

From the 36th year of the Tianli calendar to the end of September of the first year of the Tianyou calendar, in this period of approximately three years—neither long nor short—the Eastern Market Army reported three battles to the imperial court. Compared to the hundreds of reports on major and minor battles that were frequently submitted, this was truly unremarkable.

However, these three battles were all great victories, annihilating the enemy's army and killing most of its generals, thus wearing down the so-called 200,000-strong army of the Hao Kingdom.

Such a record is enough to erase the stain of the loss of cities and the failure of the fifteen northern expeditions during the reign of Emperor Xu in previous years.

The court officials knew in their hearts: in fact, many of the blames for the late reign of Emperor Xu were actually on this man's shoulders.

Sure enough, while the illustrious military achievements of the Eastern Market Army were being discussed, the court was filled with thoughts of the late emperor, and remained silent about the emperor who was hiding deep in the palace and doting on Lady Li.

Emperor Ling, who was eating grapes placed on the navels of beauties in the harem, was overjoyed upon receiving the good news. He immediately lifted the curtain and wanted to come out to reward the soldiers at the front.

After all, he had dreamed of his civil and military achievements after taking power when he was young, and he knew that the noisy voices from the outside world were linking the great achievement of pacifying the northern country with his own dynasty.

He wanted to regain control of the military through a series of favors and threats. Lingdi paced around the palace, but seemed to have not walked in a long time, almost tripping over the corner of the dragon robe.

Emperor Ling sat back on the bed. Just as he was about to speak, Consort Li pressed down on his hand. Consort Li's charming eyes, now full of spirit, moved towards Emperor Ling, indicating that he should first look at the current situation.

Subsequently, under the "persuasion" of his attendants such as Suwang, Emperor Ling had no choice but to temporarily abandon the matter of further bestowing titles and rewards.

Suwang knelt on the ground, admonishing him as if he were "opening his heart and soul": "The Wu brothers are currently leading troops outside, and they are unruly. They must be summoned to the capital before they can be generously rewarded."

His words might be reasonable if spoken by other ministers, but Suwang had controlled the government for the past six months, using poison or white silk to force many ministers to their deaths; his so-called "generous reward after recall" sounds like he was tricking them back to be slaughtered like pigs.
Emperor Ling, who seemed to be listening to advice, was secretly furious—not at Wu Fei, but at Su Wang.

Sure enough, after Su Wang left, these words from the palace somehow spread outside. Wu Fei didn't even need to defend himself; the children on the main street of Yaodu were all discussing Su Wang's intentions.

Nursery rhymes were sung loudly, hair was tied up and they paraded through the streets, loyal bones lay piled high, grain husks were scattered to the sky, and woodworms and rotten buildings lay scattered...

…Trees infested with insects fear woodpeckers, but they also dislike woodworms…

After Suwang left, Consort Li stroked Emperor Ling's back and gently advised His Majesty not to get angry. Streams of purple spiritual energy from her fingertips seeped into Emperor Ling's limbs and bones, soothing him.

Emperor Ling prostrated himself on Consort Li's chest, crying like a child, "This scoundrel is deceiving me in everything. What should I do?"

Consort Li, head held high, felt waves of sensation, and tried to keep her tone clear: "Your Majesty needs to wait a while longer. Su Wang's faction is powerful in the court, and we need to plan this carefully."

Emperor Ling embraced the beauty, tearing at her and venting his anger. He always silently accepted everything from this good woman who had encouraged him and accompanied him through the darkness. However, even amidst this beauty, there was still a hurdle in Emperor Ling's heart.

Emperor Ling: "My beloved consort, what if you had successfully married that man back then?" It seemed like a casual question, but it contained a hint of jealousy.

Consort Li's hair was slightly disheveled, a gentle smile on her face, and she lightly scratched her chest with her fingers, saying, "Your Majesty, you are destined by Heaven, and my coming to your side is also ordained by Heaven."

…The perspective shifts to the Hao Kingdom…

Shazhou. Zhao Cheng was transferring his troops to three cities on the western border, while simultaneously stockpiling grain and fodder on the frontier. He appeared diligently calculating for the sake of the Hao Kingdom.

If Zhao Cheng's "loyalty points" hadn't been visible to Pu E, his actions would have truly moved his lord to tears of gratitude.

Zhao Cheng found himself back in control of the situation and felt much more at ease. His 50,000 troops had been reduced to single digits in recent days and then precisely deployed to the front lines.

He wasn't actually worried about the consequences of the fall of Yan; all the busy preparations seemed to be waiting for someone to arrive.

Amidst the wind and thunder, a dragon's shadow descended from the sky; Pu'e, having checked Zhao Cheng's loyalty upon arrival, didn't say much, but directly inquired about how to ensure the safety of the western side of Hao Kingdom.

Zhao Cheng looked down and flipped through the silk map: "Don't worry, as long as we do a good job of defense, there will be basically no fighting in the north."

Faced with Zhao Cheng's dismissive attitude, Pu'e suppressed her displeasure: "How do you know?"

Zhao Cheng then revealed the intelligence he had gathered in Zhenzhou: "A major epidemic has struck Zhenzhou, and the imperial court has issued an edict stripping Wu Hanluan of his position as governor of Zhenzhou."

Pu'e asked, "What is this?"

Zhao Cheng did not want to argue, and said quickly, "Wu Yuan is often suspected by the court and will soon return to Zhen; while Wu Hengyu, who remains in Bo, is not a threat."

Pu'e asked hesitantly, "Why can't Wu Hengyu send troops from Yan to our territory if Wu Fei isn't here?"—After all, he was a divine general she had exchanged for, and he wasn't as good as the common local generals, which still made her unhappy.

Zhao Cheng traced the line between Yongzhou and Shazhou on the map with his finger: "Fighting outside the pass relies on supplies and elites, and Wu Fei excels at this. When I confronted him at Gushou Pass, I discovered that before he established military farms in Bo, he did so not because he couldn't take Gushou Pass, but to prepare for the conquest of the entire Yan region. And to take over Shazhou from Yan, military farms are also necessary."

Back then, Zhao Cheng was able to help Hao Kingdom capture Shazhou because of the grain supplies from Yan. And the grain supplies for Yan were grown by the people Hao Kingdom had captured from Bo. Now that Wu Fei and Wu Hengyu have recaptured Yan, Yan's production system has been ruined. If they want to advance westward and threaten Shazhou, they will have to rebuild the agricultural system.

This land reclamation project cannot be resolved in two or three years, so Zhao Cheng judged that the Hao Kingdom's sandbar area was safe.

Pu'e reluctantly accepted and said to Zhao Cheng, "In that case, we should take this opportunity to take over Yongshui South." Pu'e vaguely remembered that she hadn't gotten enough satisfaction from taking down Xiao San (Yu Li) in the Battle of Yongshui, and now she had her sights set on that land again.

However, to Pu'e's surprise, Zhao Cheng, who had previously advocated for the "golden corner, silver edge, and grass belly" approach, now expressed his intention to abandon the "golden corner" approach.

Pu'e: "General, what do you mean by this? Is it as outsiders say, that you are afraid of Wu Xiaoque?"

Zhao Cheng glanced at it, but generously said, "Indeed, I fear it." — At this moment, Pu E noticed that Zhao Cheng's loyalty points had dropped by one.

Zhao Cheng said slowly, "I believe that our country should make peace with the Wu family."

Pu'e's chest heaved silently. After a long while, she seemed to ponder for a moment before saying, "Then, General, you can decide for yourself." This made Zhao Cheng, who had originally wanted to explain, swallow his words and keep them to himself. Pu'e knew that doing this would further reduce her loyalty, but her temper had been worn down to the extreme.

After Pu'e left the camp, Zhao Cheng's advisor said, "General, you are now a large ship. You grew up by the stream, but you will eventually return to the sea. We have always known that you will repay favors, but now you are no longer in control of your own destiny. How can you abandon the sea to repay favors from the stream?"

Zhao Cheng was slightly taken aback by this advice, muttering to himself, "Success or failure..." But he said to the strategist, "Let's not discuss this matter any further."

…Zhao Cheng's overall strategy now no longer involves open communication with Pu E…

Why didn't Zhao Cheng want to first seize Yongzhou and then take over Zhenzhou? In the past, he would have planned it that way.

But now, times have changed. First, the power within the Great Yao has become fragmented, and other parts of the Great Yao have become easier to conquer, allowing it to sweep across the world. There's no need for it to have gold corners, silver edges, and grass bellies like before.

Furthermore, when Wu Fei was in Bohai, he used a strategy of attrition against Zhao Cheng, essentially trading pieces. Now that Wu Fei has left the east, would Zhao Cheng really be foolish enough to try and wear him down elsewhere?
Zhao Cheng was also somewhat annoyed: "If we could really take Yongzhou and Zhenzhou and eliminate Wu Xiaoque in one go, that would be fine—but can Wu Xiaoque be eliminated in one go?" Zhao Cheng knew very well Wu Fei's fighting style, which was not the "sweeping the world and pushing forward" style, but the "planting trees" style.

Zhao Cheng could tell that once Wu Xiaoque settled in a certain place, her priority was to solidify her foundation.

Wu Xiaoque's military background is a cohesive whole, while Zhao Cheng's background is fragmented.

Therefore, as those wise men in Hao Kingdom have said, if Zhao Cheng leads his troops westward and gets bogged down in the Yongzhou region, Wu Xiaoque may suffer a small initial loss, but once she maintains the front line, she will most likely be able to push back.

But Zhao Cheng can't afford to lose out; if he can't break through, his followers will start to have their own agendas.

For Zhao Cheng, if he couldn't resolve the situation in Yongzhou within three to five years, things would be dire. Wu Xiaoque was the kind of person you couldn't shake off once you got involved with her. There were other forces within Da Yao as well; although those military strategists weren't particularly capable, leaving them unattended would introduce too many variables.

Zhao Cheng: Instead of leading the Hao Army to attack Yongzhou, it would be better to temporarily put Wu Xiaoque aside. According to Wu Xiaoque's style, she would patiently clean up the mess in Zhenzhou first.

At this time, the mess that the Wu family had made in Zhenzhou had aroused the disgust of the whole world. Even with Wu Xiaoque's talent, it would take her seven or eight years to resolve it. This was tantamount to locking Wu Xiaoque up there.

This is why Zhao Cheng is now "afraid" of going to war with Wu Xiaoque, because it is not strategically worthwhile.

...Actually, I was still scared!...

After Pu'e transformed into a dragon and rode the wind and clouds away from the camp, she traveled a hundred miles west and immediately met with a prefect in the eastern part of Shazhou. This was the only dragon-descended prefect in Shazhou at present.

Pu'e stepped into the hall: "How many soldiers do you have under your command now?"

The governor paused for a moment, then said, "I can gather 100,000 men."

Pu'e shook her head. When the Hao Kingdom first arrived on this planet of the Xiren Realm, it did indeed seem to have only tens of thousands of people, far fewer than the number of followers they had today. However, those tens of thousands were the backbone and the cream of the crop, tested by interstellar expeditions. They were the kind of people who believed, "The world is vast, where can't we go?" But of the tens of thousands of people gathered today, how many could withstand the corruption of the Primordial Chaos during their journeys beyond the heavens?

The prefect thought that Pu'e was preparing to confront Zhao Cheng, so he quickly advised, "Sir, although the situation in the east is bad, no matter how angry we are, it will be of no use. General Zhao is a good general, so you must not get angry because of the anger of some people."

Pu'e stared at the guy: "You're a straightforward person. What kind of person do you think Wu Yuanchang from the south is?"

Now, while Zhao Cheng was making plans based on Wu Fei's return to Zhendi, Pu E was thinking about whether to intercept Wu Fei along the way.

However, she still didn't know enough about Wu Fei and planned to ask others.

Upon hearing this, the prefect pondered for a moment and then said, "This young man is talented, but he doesn't actually have much ambition for the world."

Pu'e was taken aback: "How do you know?"

The prefect said fairly, “Although Wu Yuanchang has the talent to command the troops and govern the region, he has always been subordinate to others. Before this, he helped Wu Hanluan stabilize the southern territory, but now he is willing to give way to Wu Hengyu when he could have taken control of Boyan.”

Pu'e nodded, following her current concept of "card drawing." Comparing the character cards of Wu Fei and Zhao Cheng, it could be concluded that although Wu Fei's tactical system was weaker than Zhao Cheng's, he excelled at winning people's hearts. Having only been in Bo County for a year, he had already won the people's hearts, making them obey his orders first, and then the king's command.

Pu E suspects that "Yuan Chang's" obsession system belongs to the "A Man" lineage.

Pu'e then opened her own system to verify.

"Wisdom and Courage" System: The status is currently uncertain. Please conduct an investigation.

Pu'e: "What? Don't you know how many obsessions you've lost here?"

The response from the Zhiyong System is like that of someone who has lost their wallet and sees that everyone on the street is carrying the same money they lost.

Intelligent and Courageous System: "Verification is required."

…The perspective shifts to Zhenzhou…

The situation was getting worse. With the insect plague appearing in various parts of Zhenzhou, the Wu family army suffered a large food shortage in Zhenzhou, and famine appeared. When Wu Hanluan began to open the granaries to distribute food after the famine occurred, he found that there was not enough food.

"Corruption is everywhere, in life and in the human heart!" Wu Hanluan lamented.

Out of compassion, he threw those corrupting individuals into prison.

This prison, located in the center of Lelang City, was originally the blood prison of the Lelang King. Very few people knew what was happening inside. After the Lelang King was executed, this arena building was once empty.

Wu Hanluan built a prison here and also placed the golden bucket here to block the blood spring at the bottom of the prison.

Since consolidating his power, Wu Hanluan had no desire to reactivate the Golden Bucket's influence. However, the situation was becoming increasingly difficult, and the corrupt merchants and officials were proving to be unscrupulous. This alarmed Wu Hanluan, who felt the Golden Bucket's power was becoming increasingly ineffective in suppressing the unrest. Consequently, a large number of people were imprisoned once again.

In the dimly lit and foul-smelling interrogation room.

"I am innocent!" "I'm innocent!" "Your Honor, please investigate!"

One by one, corrupt officials were sent here, all shouting their grievances. However, upon arrival, they expected to be severely tortured, but instead, they only found a golden jar in the prison.

Just as they were puzzled, suddenly, the golden bucket in their eyes shone with the dazzling light of real gold and silver.

These greedy people became ecstatic, laughing foolishly as they jumped up and reached into the golden bucket. After feeling the real gold and silver inside, they crawled in.

However, Shen Qing, a cultivator who had been imprisoned there for some time, witnessed these corrupt officials rapidly rotting within a day after entering the room containing the "golden goblet." Some of them had their eye sockets replaced by maggots, and their mouths constantly spewed filth. The process of decay was cyclical: in the morning, maggots crawled all over their eye sockets; in the afternoon, their skulls were covered in mold; and by nightfall, all the rotting matter had reformed into flesh.

After experiencing the pain of corruption, these corrupt officials will eventually see through everything. They will become terrified and foolish every night, then give up on themselves and fall to the bottom. Afterwards, they seem to become joyful, confiding in certain "little elves"—who are invisible to others.

The next morning, everything returned to normal, with only a few memories and deep fear, before going through another round of decay, immersing oneself in the blessing of power after the golden goblet was poured out.

After the seven-day cycle, these "corrupt" individuals discovered that what they were retrieving from the gold coffers in prison was not gold, but utterly disgusting filth. When they were released and returned home, they found that their hoarded wealth was also nothing but rotting excrement.

Thus, these greedy people finally realized how terrible Wu Hanluan's punishment was, and they were only allowed to come out after revealing all the places where they had buried their gold and silver.

Money is like dirt, but we have no choice but to pursue it…

Outside the prison, Wu Hanluan looked at this year's finances. During the time Wu Fei was away from home, the southern merchants began to conceal their accounts, especially when smuggling goods across the border from the south. Many of them bribed checkpoint personnel to smuggle goods.

Within a few months, during the interrogation of Wu Hanluan, they obtained 300,000 gold, 2.4 million silver, and 270,000 bolts of silk. This not only paid off Tianchi City's debts but also created a significant surplus. The gold and silver were piled up like dirt in a cellar. They were then transported out to exchange for food and medicine to solve their immediate problems.

However, Wu Hanluan knew that his methods were not recognized by the human principles of the Xiren Realm!
After emerging from the cell, he looked up at the dusky sky and slowly said, "What will the ending be?"

…The green crescent moon's projection is despair…

Throughout the entire Zhenshui region, the surrounding mountains and rivers are in flux. The sect leader of Wangheng Sect said to the second-generation disciples (Golden Core Realm) sent by the six major sects of the world: "Fellow Daoists, you have all witnessed the great calamity that is currently raging in Zhenshui."

At this moment, in the spirit's eyes, the green and red intertwined evil moon in the sky, with its green section of turbulent storm, descended to the earth, landing precisely on Zhendi. Furthermore, beneath the earth of Zhendi, countless veins corresponding to the green evil moon in the sky appeared, as if a bucket of sewage from the heavens had polluted a pond on Zhendi.

At this moment, the elders of various sects expressed their indignation, saying that the Wu family was immoral and that the emperor had already severely reprimanded them, but Wu Hanluan remained unrepentant.

Note: Emperor Tianyou did not directly reprimand Wu Hanluan, but only lightly criticized him for his immoral behavior, which led to natural disasters and man-made calamities. Wu Hanluan also wrote a letter to apologize.

However, for sects and divine forces, this means they can attack Wu Hanluan's "luck". The first thing they can do is seal off the virtue of the Wu family's old fiefdom and ancestral graves - Wu Fei and Wu Hengyu already have new fiefdoms, and their luck is open separately.

Subsequently, these sects summoned the Mountain and River Banner and completely sealed off Zhenzhou.

As for what happened next, after the sect leader of Wangheng Sect spent a long time calculating with the star chart, he confirmed that the chosen one born to face this calamity had appeared. He then introduced a stream of mountain and river energy from the sect and flew it towards the chosen one.

These sects then took action, dispatching Taoist priests to guide the chosen ones.

The future distribution of the fortunes of Zhenzhou is, in the eyes of the various sects, already predetermined.

(End of this chapter)