Douluo Continent: The Peerless Tang Sect, Angels and Rakshasa Return

Chapter 348 385386—Exchange Student! Huo Zhongxian's Arrival.

"Alright! Does the Empress have anything else to say?" Qian Renxue surveyed the assembled officials, confidently handing over the right to speak to her.

"It's not safe to start a war with Shrek Academy and the original three kingdoms of Douluo Continent in the short term, so..."

"Therefore, I implore Your Majesty to expand the military organization, allow me to transfer the second-line troops of Army Group South and Army Group North, and take over the idle personnel of the Western Garrison to form Army Group Central!"

"Well..." Qian Renxue frowned slightly, feigning difficulty, and asked, "What do you all think?"

"This old minister believes...this matter is highly inappropriate!" A general from the Southern Army Group stepped forward from the crowd and explained, "Her Majesty the Empress is so young and has no experience in leading troops into battle. To rashly take command of such a large army group is perhaps too...reckless!"

"In my humble opinion, we should choose from among the veteran generals of our dynasty!"

"General Wang is right. Her Majesty the Empress's idea is good, but to become the marshal of this army, the right person must be chosen!"

Sure enough, just as Mom said, poaching their people was as difficult as taking their lives.

Speechless, Qian Lingyun pouted and gave Qian Renxue a rather cryptic look, her expression seemingly saying, "You're really not going to speak up for me? Do you want to sleep on the floor tonight or kneel on durians?"

After being threatened with a death stare from her beloved concubine, Qian Renxue shuddered. She slammed her fist on the table in front of her and said with dissatisfaction, "The Empress's will is my will. I want to command the army, so can't the Empress have her fill first?"

"..." ×n

Civil and military officials: My mother tongue is speechless!

Good heavens! Your Majesty, if you want to lead the troops, why don't you just say so? Why make the Empress do it?

It's like we're deliberately trying to go against you!

Fine! Since it's what you want, what else can we do? Agree!

Can we still veto your opinion?

Thus, with Qian Renxue's help, the Southern Army Group and the Northern Army Group voluntarily recalled all their second-line troops.

For security reasons, they will withdraw from their garrison in batches within a month, and then enter Qianlingyun's fiefdom in an organized manner, where they will be reorganized, re-equipped, and redistributed with the troops separated from the western garrison.

This ultimately led to the formation of the Central Army Group, which was created single-handedly by Qian Lingyun.

The widows of the deceased princes naturally moved into the palace after their second marriages.

Qian Lingyun generously provided them with houses, courtyards, and money, allowing them to experience a happy retirement life!

.........

According to the plan of the higher-ups at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy, the academy will send a group of students to Shrek Academy for two and a half years of exchange studies.

This period of study is a transformative time for them to further their studies as Soul Masters and integrate Soul Master knowledge with their own Soul Master abilities.

Ke Jing Hongchen is in a terrible mood right now, as the plan for the two sides to exchange students has already been finalized.

He would rather spend 200 million yuan to add an extra layer of insurance to the academy's equipment so that his beloved grandson and granddaughter could study at this so-called No. 1 Soul Master Academy.

But since the palace coup, he has been considering halting the plan.

Currently, the entire Sun Moon Court harbors deep hostility towards Shrek Academy, and a fight could break out at any moment.

At that time, wouldn't the grandchildren you sent over be equivalent to hostages delivered to your door?

Learning less from other colleges might not necessarily kill you, but if a fight breaks out and you end up being taken hostage... well, that's another story.

But his granddaughter was as stubborn as a mule, determined to go to Shrek Academy as an exchange student, and no amount of persuasion could dissuade her.

In just a few days, Jing Hongchen looked as if he had aged several years, and even the wrinkles on his face had increased.

Just then, rhythmic knocking came from outside the office. He said curtly, "Come in!"

"Master Mingde! Long time no see! I pay my respects!"

Upon seeing the newcomer, Jing Hongchen quickly stood up from his chair. He forced a friendly smile and said, "This subject was unaware of Her Majesty the Empress's arrival and has failed to greet you properly!"

"It's alright, Hall Master is a pillar of the nation, no need for such formalities!" Qian Lingyun nodded, tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, and stepped forward to ask, "Is Hall Master worried about the exchange student plan between the two academies after the palace coup?"

"Ahem, Your Highness noticed!" Jing Hongchen coughed awkwardly a few times, then sighed helplessly, "I originally wanted to cancel the plan, but my granddaughter is determined to go..."

"Your granddaughter? I remember her name is Meng Hongchen, right?" Qian Lingyun lowered her eyes and pondered for a moment, naturally remembering something.

Meng Hongchen's single-minded desire to go to Shrek Academy is probably largely related to Wang Dong, who is disguised as a man.

Once this matter is made clear, she can guarantee that Meng Hongchen will never want to go to Shrek Academy again.

However, if Meng Hongchen knew that Wang Dong was a woman disguised as a man, would she turn from love to hate and become evil?

Wow! This looks interesting.

"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. My granddaughter is indeed named Meng Hongchen!" Jing Hongchen lowered her head somewhat apologetically, seemingly lost in thought.

But Qian Lingyun patted Jing Hongchen's shoulder with a playful expression, reassuring him, "Hall Master, don't worry, let me go and persuade her!"

"You?!" Jing Hongchen looked at Qian Lingyun in disbelief, muttering to himself.

"Yes, it's me!" Qian Lingyun smiled slightly and said calmly, "Women understand women best. With just a few words, I can make Meng Hongchen turn against me and come to me with courtesy..."

"Ahem, sorry, I misspoke. It meant I'll change my mind, study hard, and improve every day!"

"...It's not impossible..."

With a "nothing to lose" mentality, Jing Hongchen sent someone to summon Meng Hongchen from the academy. He wanted to see what methods this Empress would use to win back her granddaughter's heart!

About ten minutes have passed!

Led by Lin Jiayi, the director of academic affairs, Meng Hongchen skipped and hopped into Jing Hongchen's office.

As expected, her first words upon entering were, "Grandpa, you've agreed to let me go to Shrek Academy?!"

"Xiao Meng, don't be rude! Her Majesty the Empress is here!" Jing Hongchen's old face darkened, and he bowed apologetically to Qian Lingyun, saying, "My Xiao Meng has been spoiled by me and has lost her manners! Please forgive her, Her Majesty the Empress!"

"It's nothing serious, young people should be this energetic!" Qian Lingyun waved her hand dismissively, sizing up this love-struck fool.

Meng Hongchen has long, smooth hair in a rare wine-red color, darker than Ma Xiaotao's but lighter than Qian Lingyun's own.

Like fine, mellow wine, it shimmered with a subtle luster. But her eyes were not red, but blue.

"Meng Hongchen greets Your Majesty the Empress!" Meng Hongchen bowed somewhat awkwardly to Qian Lingyun, the Empress who seemed familiar to her.

For some reason, she felt like she had seen this Empress before, but she just couldn't remember.

It wasn't until Qian Lingyun smiled and reminded her, "What, don't you remember?! We met in Xingluo City a few years ago!"

"Oh! You're the one who came to deliver news about Old Ma!"

Meng Hongchen pointed helplessly at Qian Lingyun, unable to speak clearly for a long time. Finally, under Jing Hongchen's suspicious gaze, she swallowed back the words she was about to say.

"I heard from Master Hongchen that you really want to go to Shrek Academy as an exchange student?" Qian Lingyun asked with a half-smile, as she pulled out an ancient book about martial soul research, turned to the page about the Goddess of Light Butterfly, and began to examine Meng Hongchen closely.

"Yes, I think Shrek Academy, as the top academy on the continent, has its unique strengths. If I go there to study, I'm sure I can..."

With just those two sentences, Qian Lingyun could tell that Meng Hongchen was lying.

Not to mention that she single-handedly defeated several opponents in the finals of the Star Luo City Soul Master Competition, they would not have uttered such boring platitudes if they had already won the championship from Shrek Academy.

She raised her hand to stop Meng Hongchen's rambling, and chuckled, "Enough with the pretty words! You want to go to Shrek Academy just to see that Wang Dong, right?"

"You!" Meng Hongchen's beautiful words came to an abrupt halt under Qian Lingyun's sharp rebuke. She looked at Qian Lingyun in disbelief, hesitating to speak several times.

"What do you like about him? Is it because he's good-looking?" Qian Lingyun added with a half-smile, "Yeah, the Goddess of Light Butterfly is so beautiful! But... I'm going to give you a little tidbit of knowledge!"

"What little tidbit?" Meng Hongchen asked in a low voice, her hands gripping the hem of her clothes tightly.

"Take a look! I have a book here that specifically introduces rare martial souls. You can take a look when you have time. It details the characteristics of the rare martial soul, the Goddess of Light Butterfly. Because of its extreme beauty, the Goddess of Light Butterfly only appears on female soul masters."

Qian Lingyun handed the ancient book to Meng Hongchen, smiled mischievously, and said, "You wouldn't believe it, would you? Wang Dong isn't some young man, but a delicate young woman! And a delicate young woman living in the boys' dormitory!"

After reading through the records about the Goddess of Light Butterfly Martial Soul word for word, Meng Hongchen handed the book to Qian Lingyun with a heart full of despair. Qian Lingyun shook her head bitterly and said self-deprecatingly:

"A girl? She's a girl... Oh, I see! Shrek Academy... I guess I'm better off not going!"

After speaking, Meng Hongchen forgot to even perform the proper etiquette and walked out of Jing Hongchen's office in a daze!

Jing Hongchen took the book from Qian Lingyun and carefully examined the records about the Goddess of Light Butterfly. After confirming that they were accurate, he asked incredulously, "Shrek Academy is so open-minded? They actually let girls sleep in the boys' dormitory?!"

"Who knows! Maybe it's just their unique quirk!"

With a half-smile, Qian Lingyun waved her hand, pulled out a chair, sat down comfortably, and instructed:

"Master of the Red Dust Hall, His Majesty and I agree that this student exchange program must continue! We need to use this opportunity to provide cover for military expansion!"

"I understand the logic, but if my grandchildren don't go, there won't be enough exchange students of sufficient caliber. Even if we were willing, Shrek Academy might not be!"

Jing Hongchen took out a list of exchange students and pointed to each name, analyzing, "Look, they're all good students who love learning, it's just that their family backgrounds aren't great!"

"Who says we don't have suitable candidates!" Qian Lingyun glanced at Jing Hongchen, wrote a name on the list with her pen, and reminded him, "Don't we have a real princess here?"

"Princess? Aren't you afraid that Princess Tianzhen...?" Jing Hongchen said with some lingering fear.

"Of course not! Because her identity is real, she will be the safest no matter what!"

"If something were to happen to a genuine princess while she's with them, no one could bear our wrath!"

"I believe Shrek wouldn't be stupid enough to give us a pretext!"

Qian Lingyun rubbed her forehead and sighed. She pleaded helplessly, "Actually, this is the girl's own idea. She's so wild! She's always thinking about going out to play. As her sister-in-law, I'm really worried sick about her!"

"In that case, let's do it your way!" After thinking for a long time, Jing Hongchen finally decided on the list of exchange students!

……

In the early days of the Central Army Group, all sorts of trivial matters arose one after another, and Qian Lingyun also briefly left Mingdu and came to her remote rural fiefdom for the first time.

With the help of Yuma and several devotees, the organization of the Central Army Group was basically completed within a few months. All that was left was to proceed step by step.

……

Mingdu, Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy...

The leader of this trip is none other than Jing Hongchen, the head of the Mingde Hall of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy, while Qian Lingyun plays an ordinary female teacher.

Unlike the original story, the Hongchen siblings were not among the exchange students this time; their spots were taken by Xu Tianzhen and another student.

Besides them, there were eight other top students from the Control Department of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy.

Although these students in the actual control system are not pure soul masters, because the content they study has similarities to that of soul masters.

Those who were sent by Jing Hongchen to be exchange students naturally possess qualities that are rare among ordinary people.

After discussions, both sides will exchange students for this event in Maple Leaf City.

Shrek Academy is located in the southeast of the Heavenly Soul Empire, while Maple Leaf City is in the southwest of the Heavenly Soul Empire, on the western border. Further west lies the territory of the Sun Moon Empire.

The distance they flew was equivalent to two-thirds of the distance from Mingdu to Xingluo City, the capital of the Xingluo Empire.

Given that there was a pampered princess among the students, the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy set off three days early, eating and playing along the way, making the exchange activity as warm and cozy as a spring outing.

On the morning of the third day, the group from the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy arrived in Maple Leaf City.

Maple Leaf City is a major border city. Although the Star Luo Empire is the primary target of the Sun Moon Empire, the western border of the Heavenly Soul Empire is also entirely adjacent to the Sun Moon Empire!

Maple Leaf City itself is an important supply city for the western frontier army of the Heavenly Soul Empire, and also an important trading city on the border.

Although it is not even a tenth as prosperous as Mingdu, its size is still passable.

Upon entering the city, Jing Hongchen led the group of students to a hotel to stay in. He told the students to get some rest.

The Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy and Shrek Academy met in the afternoon.

(End of this chapter)