The Emperor Reigns Them All

Chapter 417 A Shocking Change

The Immortal Court cultivators brought by the white-robed old Taoist was defeated by You Daxiao and his crew, some died and some escaped. The hustle and bustle of the Taoist temple was quickly restored to peace.

The highest level of cultivation the Taoists in the Temple had reached was but of the Qi-refining high-level, so they fled long before the battle broke out. They were useless in battles of this level, and they couldn’t even watch.

Li Ye did not kill Wang Jingchong because Li Ye still needed him. Li Ye wanted to take him to Zhenzhou because when the time came for the 10,000 Pinglu cavalry to take over the city, Wang Jingchong could still be of some use.

Li Ye handed Wang Jingchong to You Daxiao and he himself approached Liu Zhixing and Zhao Weihuang. They were both covered in dust and blood stains, and their wounds were still bleeding. It was apparent the awkward state that they were in.

Only they managed to survive, their followers had all died in the ruins, including the young and beautiful Confucian woman. Now she was lying in the ruins and her body was all soft. Her blood stained the broken wood under her belly, and her robes were of the same color as dust.

After Liu Zhixing dug her out of the rubble, he checked whether she was breathing and didn’t do too much else. He wasn’t even sad, after all, the death of a woman was not enough to fill his heart with pain for a patriotic scholar who was dedicated to his country and the world.

Seeing Li Ye coming over, Liu Zhixing struggled to stand. He tried very hard to stand upright and straighten his back, but it was all in vain.

However, he still stared angrily at Li Ye and cursed at him righteously, “You might be powerful now, but you will perish, because you’ve killed innocent people! This world does not belong to you, so taking what’s not yours will only be harmful to yourself!”

Li Ye smiled and calmly asked, “If the world does not belong to me, then it belongs to you?”

Liu Zhixing puffed his chest up to show that he was not afraid, and then replied, “The world belongs to a benevolent monarch and belongs to the lord who wins the hearts of the people. You are nothing but the remnants of the old dynasty, and you are destined to be buried with the dynasty!”

Li Ye shook his head with disappointment. He waved his hand, as if to dispel the stench floating in front of him and said, “Nonsense.”

By the end of his remark, Liu Zhixing was already down and his vitals were cut off. He died with his eyes wide open.

Li Ye then looked at Zhao Weihuang and asked, “So what do you think? Do you also think that I am not a benevolent monarch, and I am bound to perish?”

Zhao Weihuang’s wounds were only mild. Although the Militarism cultivators had fled the battlefield and they were not able to put their cultivation to use, they were still stronger, unlike the frail scholar. So he was still able to stand upright.

Unlike Liu Zhixing, Zhao Weihuang did not have that strong sense of righteousness, he was quite calm. The only thing with him was that like other military warriors of Militarism, he could not shake off that indelible air of ferocity.

After hearing Li Ye’s words, Zhao Weihuang snorted coldly. “We, Militarism warriors, are different from those hypocritical soldiers who claim that they are righteous. Those scholars say that they’re just and benevolent, but in fact, they’re more corrupt and vicious than anyone. They are the ones that have eroded the imperial court to the corrupt state that it is with their fighting for power. They’re only patriotic and loyal on their mouths, when it affects their power and future, then they will toss that patriotism to the side.”

“At the end of the day, the foolish emperor is only half the reason for the chaos in the world, and those hypocritical scholars make up the other half. The reason why we, the Militarism cultivators, go to war in these troubled times is to clean up the mess left behind by the foolish emperor and those hypocritical scholars. Although you, the Prince An, have defied the orthodox, you still won’t be able to resurrect the Tang Empire. Not because you’re not benevolent, you’re not lacking in that department, and that is common knowledge. The Confucian scholars won’t admit it, but Militarism sure will.”

Li Ye thought his remarks were quite interesting. Although it wasn’t entirely true, there was some logic to it. It was apparent that Militarism and Confucianism did not like each other, and it’s as if there was strong hatred between them.

The Scholars felt that soldiers were disloyal and shameless. And yet, they had military power and troops, which were the roots of the world’s calamity. Thus they must be oppressed. On the other hand, the Militarism cultivators reckoned that scholars were hypocritical and only cared about their own self-interest, so they were basically useless. In a word, they were the pests of the state.

Li Ye then asked with a smile, “So you are a military warrior of Militarism. Could you then tell me, the solitary king, why Militarism had chosen Li Maozhen?”

After Li Maozhen annexed Wang Chongrong, and then attacked Chang’an, he exposed the fact that Militarism was supporting him. So it was no longer a secret to all the feudal princes.

Zhao Weihuang replied matter-of-factly, “Because we get along.”

Li Ye was a little surprised for the reason was a bit rash.

But on second thought, it was not that simple. It was easy to say that they got along, but in reality, finding someone to get along with was quite hard. The way Li Maozhen dealt with things must have pleased Militarism. He never hid his intentions or cover them up, and he just simply did it.

Li Ye looked at Zhao Weihuang and said, “I heard that you brought five warriors and two generals?”

Zhao Weihuang looked at Li Ye and said, “Now that I’ve landed in the Prince An’s hands, you can kill me if you want. But you, the Prince An, should know that apart from those Confucian scholars, no one wishes to die. If you want, we can fight for the Prince An.”

Li Ye smiled even more. “You are straightforward.”

Zhao Weihuang said, “Things in the world are capricious, and in troubled times, we might resort to doing things involuntarily. Even if Militarism cultivators were to die, we’d want to die on the battlefield. Although the Prince An does not have the Luck to resurrect the Tang Empire, you’re still a famous patriot. So fighting for the Prince An will not shame us cultivators!”

Li Ye nodded and said, “Although, I, the lone King, have yet to determine whether you will betray me. But since you dare to come on my side, then I will dare to use you; follow me.”

Zhao Weihuang clasped his fist in a salute and said, “Thank you, Prince An!”

Li Ye left the Taoist temple in the mountains with Wang Jingchong, Zhao Weihuang, and others. They flew into the air and quickly reached Zhenzhou City.

After waiting for a day, the ten thousand Pinglu cavalrymen rode through the water and arrived at Zhenzhou city. Wang Jingchong was very cooperative, following Li Ye’s instructions, he ordered the Chengde army to sit in the barracks and hand over the Zhenzhou city defense to the Pinglu army.

Wang Jingchong had to cooperate, for he didn’t want to die. Moreover, even if he died, the Chengde Army still might not be able to stop Li Ye. In the end, they would still be under Li Ye’s command. After all, Li Ye was got the news early enough and caught them all.

If Li Ye got there a few days later, Zhao Weihuang, Liu Zhixing and others would have had time to prepare and preside over Chengde’s military affairs. Wang Jingchong might then be able to hide in the army camp and avoid being assassinated by Li Ye. However, that was now just a dream.

The first thing after Chengde’s “surrender” was to post a notice announcing that Chengde would belong to Li Ye. Li Ye had long made a name for himself with his acts of killing corrupt ministers and settling the Huang Chao uprising. After the people in Chengde learned that their new governor was the Prince An, most were glad.

Li Ye had received a batch of Luck from the people in Chengde, he left some demon clan cultivators in Zhenzhou, and he himself went up north.

In the north, they were two commissioners of vassal states of Dingzhou Yiwu and Youzhou Lulong.

The Yiwu commissioner was quite weak, so Li Ye did not think he could make much noise. But the Youzhou Lulong army was very powerful. Because it was the northernmost vassal state, so it had the responsibility of defending the border, the Lulong Army had many warriors and was battle-tested. They had fought many battles with the steppe tribes.

However, Youzhou Lulong army commissioner, Liu Rengong, actually had a good relationship with Li Ye.

In the early years when Li Ye was still in Chang’an, he had to first still with ministers with a lot of power like Kang Junli, Wei Baoheng, and others. Back when Kang Junli sent troops to Hedong, he had intended to take over the vassal states of Hebei. So He had many conflicts with Li Keyong’s father, Li Guochang.

At that time, Li Guochang’s force and influence had swelled to the point where the neighboring vassal states were threatened. After Li Ye assassinated Kang Junli, in order to spill the dirty water on Li Guochang, he had cooperated with the Youzhou Lulong Commissioner. And later he had a lot of contacts with the Youzhou Liaison.

When Li Ye battled Pinglu, although he was far away from Youzhou, the two sides had been in correspondence. Liu Rengong needed Li Ye’s backing, while Li Ye on the other hand, had Liu Rengong in his future plan that was also the current plan, so he too befriended Liu Rengong.

In his current trip up north, Li Ye wanted to resolve the affairs with the Lulong army peacefully. After all, the Lulong army had defended the border valiantly and contributed to the stability of the Central Plains.

...

Twenty-four hours later, in the Youzhou commissioner’s manor.

In a dimly lit courtyard, sounds of a man breathing heavily mixed with a woman’s soft shouting were heard, along with the creaking sounds of the bed. There was a sense of indescribable feeling in the night.

The sounds lasted for about an hour before it ended. Shortly after, a door opened slightly. A young man hurried out of the house while he was tying his belt.

“Darling, why are you in such a hurry to leave. It doesn’t even matter if you stay the night with me. Your useless father is busy banqueting with the officials.” A white arm stretched out and pulled the young man’s hand.

When the young man heard this soft voice, his bones went soft. But he still pressed down the woman’s arm and replied, “The banquet might end soon, we still have many days ahead of us, why risk it? Besides, when the old man is gone, we can be together day and night, so don’t rush.”

The attractive woman with a beautiful body was leaning on the door frame, wrapped in only a gauze. Her shoulders were bare, and her body seemed boneless like a flowing river. She added with a tone of blame, “You’re such a coward. I think that father of yours...”

Before she could finish her sentence, she froze there, looking at the young man in horror,

The young man turned back, and saw an old man in a black robe standing at the gate, staring at him with an angry expression. Several powerful cultivators were standing beside the old man.

“Fa-father?” The young man, Liu Shouguang, was terrified, and his legs were trembling.

“You scumbag! How dare you commit adultery with your father’s concubine? I will kill you!” The old man, Liu Rengong, picked up a stick and hit Liu Shouguang.

Liu Shouguang was frightened out of his wits. He could clearly see that the long stick in Liu Rengong’s hand was a top-shelf magic tool! With his Spiritual Master Realm cultivation, if the long stick hit him, he’d be dead or at least, disabled.

Realizing that his father had the heart to kill him, Liu Shouguang couldn’t just stand there anymore, so he hurriedly fled.

However, his cultivation was too low, so he was eventually beaten by the long stick several times. Fortunately, the father was too angry, so his mood was unbalanced and thus he didn’t have many aims. After spitting a few mouthfuls of blood, he was lucky enough to get out of the manor.

Seeing Liu Shouguang flee, Liu Rengong threw away the stick and turned towards the women.

“Dear husband!” The woman shouted, scared to fall on the ground. “Please spare my life!”

“You shameless slut!” Liu Rengong waved out his palm, and the gust of power emanating from it had blown the woman into ashes.

After Liu Shouguang got out of the commissioner’s manor, he didn’t return to his own house. He was afraid that Liu Rengong would send his men to get him.

While running on the street, he met a Lulong army general who was on patrol. He quickly ran towards the general and got on his knees. He began weeping bitterly, “Uncle, save me!”

The general was confused, so he quickly lifted Liu Shouguang up and asked, “What happened?”

Liu Shouguang wanted to lie, so he stuttered for a while. After some threatening words, he frightfully told the truth. The general’s face changed, “You’re asking for death!”

“Save me, uncle!” Liu Shouguang knelt on the ground and hugged his uncle’s legs, he then said, “Mother is dead, so I can only rely on you now!”

The general’s face changed several times. Finally, he said with gritted teeth, “General Liu is old. He’s done nothing productive these years. He’s even indifferent towards the current chaos in the world. Many generals are dissatisfied with him. I’ve made up my mind that I’ll abolish general Liu and make you the commissioner!”

Liu Shouguang was overjoyed. “Great plan, uncle; let’s do that!”

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