Chapter 365: The True Plot

Chapter 365: The True Plot

Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations

The Law Official left.

On the surface, things seemed to have already settled down. The Emperor had expressed his opinion, even if a few military generals didn't approve of it, they couldn't continue to risk their lives arguing in front of the hundreds of officials.

Of course, the most important reason was that now wasn't the time to risk their lives going against the Emperor's decision yet. A Stable Mountain Pass wasn't sufficient to cause significant threat to the Great Xia Dynasty.

Left Prime Minister You Yiping, who usually concluded everything at the end, was completely silent from the start to the end today. This caused the officials to feel somewhat uncomfortable. However, it was just discomfort.

After all, there wasn't any further debate after the Emperor had given his order.

The officials gradually withdrew, while Left Prime Minister You Yiping calmly walked out of the Throne Room. However, he didn't even manage to walk five steps before he was stopped by an elderly wearing a palace servant attire.

"Prime Minister You, the Emperor wishes to meet you in the Imperial Study Room."

"Oh, thank you Eunuch Pan!" Left Prime Minister You Yiping stopped in his tracks and nodded lightly. Then, he fished out a handful of silver from his pockets.

The elderly dressed in palace servant attire instantly received it and stuffed it into his sleeves as he led the way with a bright smile on his face…

In the Imperial Study Room, Emperor Lin Mubai sat on the Dragon Throne with a frown on his face as he flipped through a report continuously. However, his gaze didn't seem very focused.very focused.

"Your Majesty, Left Prime Minister You is here." Right at this moment, Eunuch Pan's voice sounded out from outside the door.

"Enter."

The door opened. Left Prime Minister You Yiping, dressed in a red Imperial robe, entered respectfully and quickly made his way to the center of the Imperial study room. He bent his knees and prepared to kneel.

"There is no need for these customaries. Yiping, this time's trip by the Crown Prince to the Southern Mountain Range, I believe that he wouldn't likely conceal things about the Southern Mountain Range from. Based on your opinions, do you think that my present this time is too generous?" Emperor Lin Mubai waved his hands towards Left Prime Minister You Yiping who was about to kneel and immediately asked.

When Left Prime Minister You Yiping heard this, his expression changed slightly. The Crown Prince's relationship with the Imperial officials was too close. This matter was considered somewhat taboo within the royal family.

However, the Emperor had casually pointed it out.

At this moment, if he acknowledged it, it was equivalent to admitting the relationship between the Crown Prince and himself. But even if he didn't, how could the Emperor not notice with his astute observational abilities?

It wasn't serious enough to be considered lying to the Emperor. However, it was sufficient to lose the Emperor's trust.

"I believe that Your Majesty's decision was naturally one that was made after much thought and consideration, hence the value of the gift doesn't matter. Your Majesty understands and considers the entire decision, and my insights cannot be compared to that of Your Majesty's." Left Prime Minister You Yiping replied very seriously.

"Ha ha… I am indeed somewhat worried when I heard today's report about the loss of the Stable Mountain Pass." When Emperor Lin Mubai heard Left Prime Minister You Yiping's words, the frown on his face seemed to have relaxed a little.

"Is Your Majesty worried about the fifty thousand soldiers of the Great Xia trapped at the Stable Mountain Gate?" When Left Prime Minister You Yiping saw Emperor Lin Mubai relaxing slightly, he began to relax as well and guessed carefully.

"Yes. I am indeed worried about this." Emperor Lin Mubai glanced at Left Prime Minister You Yiping, but finally nodded in the end.

"I believe that Your Majesty need not worry too much about this."

"Oh? What do you mean?"

"Just like what Your Majesty mentioned, Your Majesty's gift is for the Southern Mountain Range. Since it is meant for the Southern Mountain Range, then what is there to worry about?"

"Ha ha ha… yes, you are very right. The culture of the Southern Mountain Range is simple and plain, they would never engage in acts such as killings and massacres. Hence, I indeed need not worry. However…" When Emperor Lin Mubai heard this, his mood seemed to have been lifted significantly. However, when he reached the end of his sentence, a tinge of worry flashed across his eyes.

"Is Your Majesty worried about the Crown Prince?"

"That's right, after all, the Crown Prince is young and lack military experience and training, unlike the Duan King who had been in charge of the military department for many years. In addition to that, this is his first time out of the Yan Capital, I wonder if he had made any mistakes in carrying things out. I am still not completely reassured." When Emperor Lin Mubai reached the end of his sentence, he sighed softly.

In reality, even though training was indeed a reason for sending Crown Prince Lin Tianrong to the Southern Mountain Range to hold the combat examination, the true reason was to use the Crown Prince's status to resolve the suspicion of the Southern Mountain Range.

Frankly speaking, the Crown Prince was a bait.

If King Duan was used, the outcome would definitely not be as good. Firstly, King Duan had controlled the military department for many years, hence the Southern Mountain Range would definitely be more cautious. Secondly, even though King Duan was of high status, it couldn't be compared to that of the Crown Prince.

"Replying Your Majesty, even though the Crown Prince is young, he had grew up by Your Majesty's side since young. He learns from his surroundings, and in addition to that, he is smart and wise, even if there was really some inappropriate handling of the details of the situation on his part, I believe that it would be impossible for him to make any major mistakes that affects the grand scheme of things." Left Prime Minister You Yiping replied confidently.

"I hope that is the case." Emperor Lin Mubai nodded and didn't speak further. Instead, he gazed outside the window. There was another worry in his heart.

Fang Zhengzhi had appeared in the Southern Mountain Range.

Furthermore, in one sweep, he had taken down Chen Feiyu who had occupied the Thunderous Lion Settlement, and then used Chen Feiyu's Thunderous Lion Settlement as a bait to eliminate Wu Feng.

His achievement was incredible.

However, it was because of this incredible results that caused Emperor Lin Mubai to worry.

"Don't tell me this guy can really take down the Icy Monkey Settlement? Impossible! He would never take down the Icy Monkey Settlement!"

…

Within the Sagely Mountain City, within the white jade palace where the Southern Mountain Range King stayed.

A youth around thirty years of age sat on a huge leather chair. The youth wore an exquisite silver colored animal skin on his boy and the shoes he wore on his feet were threaded with golden silk. There were two five-colored feathers diagonally protruding from his hair. In the middle of the feathers, there was a bright blue gem.

Shan Ling!

The third son of the Southern Mountain Range King, and the current noblelite of the Southern Mountain Range.

Shan Ling swept his gaze across the area below him. On his two sides, six middle-aged or elderly men dressed in various kinds of leather rattan armour stood with various different illustrations painted on them.

Some of the illustrations looked like a huge lion, while others looked like a crow bathing in flames.

These six people were the true settlement chiefs of the six settlements of the Southern Mountain Range.

As for their names, they had followed the traditions of the six main settlements and followed that of the settlement.

"Yan Ya, how many soldiers did you use to take down the Stable Mountain Pass?" After sweeping his gaze across the six people before him, Shan Ling's gaze finally landed on the body of a rather skinny middle-aged man.

"Your Highness, following your orders, there were a total of eighty thousand soldiers hidden within the Yan Ya Settlement, and three thousand soldiers were used to take down the Stable Mountain Pass. It took four and a half hours." Yan Ya instantly stood up and respectfully replied Shan Ling.

"Three thousand? Hmm… The defence of the Stable Mountain Pass is indeed stronger than what I had imagined. Even with our people hidden inside, we still had to sacrifice three thousand of our Southern Mountain Range warriors? However, sacrificing three thousand to capture fifty thousand soldiers of the Great Xia is indeed still worth it! Have these fifty thousand people been managed properly?" Shan Ling nodded and gestured Yan Ya to take a seat.

"Based on Your Highness's orders, the fifty thousand troops were split into two groups. One is imprisoned within the Yan Ya Settlement, while the other is imprisoned with the Shi Zun Settlement in case of unforeseen circumstances!" Yan Ya continued after sitting down.

"Alright, Shi Zun, how is the situation at the side of the Great Xia's Crown Prince?" Shan Ling nodded again and shifted his gaze from Yan Ya to a well-built muscular man standing by the side.

That was a man whose skin was a slight shade of green, his body filled with fissure-like illustrations. It wasn't very discernible what the illustration was, however, his shiny bald head was still extremely obvious.

"Don't worry noblelite, the Crown Prince of the Great Xia will never leave our palms. He is already currently trapped within the mountain valley and the sixty thousand soldiers in his hand are simply not able to be of any use." Shi Zun replied casually.

"Excellent. Now, the only ones that are left are Nangong Hao and the one called Fang Zhengzhi in the Icy Monkey Settlement!" When Shan Ling heard Shi Zun's words, the edges of his mouth curved into a smile.

"Noblelite, one Nangong Hao and one Fang Zhengzhi are simply no causes for concern. The eighty thousand soldiers hidden within my Thunderous Lion Settlement have already been mobilised to the Icy Monkey Settlement. Once the forces inside and outside the settlement are able to collaborate, they will definitely destroy these two random kids!" A man with dense, thick hair stood up at this moment. The purple lion patterns on his body were mysteriously captivating.

"Old Thunder, you should be careful with your words!" Another voice rang out at this moment. That was an elderly man whose hair was somewhat white and whose arms were extremely long. He seemed to be around fifty-over years of age.

"What's the matter? Don't tell me I'm wrong?" When Thunderous Lion heard this voice, his expression changed slightly.

"Nangong Hao has stayed in my Icy Monkey Settlement for almost two months. I understand a little how Nangong Hao's personality is like. I fear that he wouldn't be very easy to defeat. Furthermore, we can't underestimate that Fang Zhengzhi either. After all, both him and Nangong Hao are joint first in this Court Theory Examination. Furthermore, most importantly… what the hell, I don't know what kind of method he used, he actually managed to break my Icy Monkey Settlement's wind valley. It is really frustrating!" When the fifty-over year old elderly man finished his sentence, he swore loudly. His expression seemed somewhat inappropriate for his age.

"No matter whether he is Nangong Hao or Fang Zhengzhi, I don't believe that the combination of a hundred and sixty thousand warriors of the Southern Mountain Range from both inside and outside wouldn't be able to take down the fifty thousand men under them!" When Shan Ling heard this, he waved his hand casually with a lofty expression on his face.

"Noblelite is right, now that the Stable Mountain Pass is within our control, we have essentially entered the Great Xia's throat. They will be completely unable to send reinforcements. The defeat of these hundred thousand soldiers is only a matter of time. Furthermore, even if something truly happened to our Icy Monkey Settlement, we still have Princess Shan Yu defending from the outside. Even both of them combined wouldn't be enough to escape our ambush!" At this moment, Yan Ya also stood out and spoke confidently.

"Once the hundred thousand soldiers are captured, I really wish to see what expression the Great Xia's Emperor would show on his face, ha ha ha…" When Shan Ling thought of this, he finally broke out in laughter.

…

In the Southern Mountain Range, within the Icy Monkey Settlement and outside the wind valley.

As the military commanders charged into the chaotic battle as if injected with chicken blood, Fang Zhengzhi once again pulled the jade-green Sun Shooting Bow in his hands into a full crescent.

Teng Shisheng had heard that Fang Zhengzhi used a certain kind of archery technique to fend off the great tiger general, General Tai of the Supernatural advanced state's killing blow in front of Princess Shan Yu.

However, at that time, no matter whether it was Teng Shisheng or the other generals in Princess Shan Yu's camp, all of them felt that the technique only came about due to relying on Princess Shan Yu's Fiery Rattan Bow.

However, the scene in front of him as well as the arrow that was shot into the sky not too long ago caused Teng Shisheng to startle in shock. This Fang Zhengzhi in front of him, number one in the theory examination, not only had the extremely horrifying sword on him, but even had a jade-green bow didn't seem inferior to that of Princess Shan Yu's Fiery Rattan Bow.

How did he get so many treasures?!

Is he really Fang Zhengzhi? Why did I hear that Fang Zhengzhi from a poor mountain villager background. Why doesn't it really seem like that is the case?

Teng Shisheng felt somewhat doubtful.

However, what caused him even greater doubt was why Fang Zhengzhi would draw his bow over and over again at this moment. Is he trying to stop these scholars from continuing with their killing?

Does he wish to take advantage of their fatigue and finish off these scholars?

Teng Shisheng couldn't guess. Or, it could he said that even if he could, he didn't dare to confirm it. Because, the longer he stayed by Fang Zhengzhi's side, the more he felt like he was unable to see through Fang Zhengzhi's intentions.

His style of doing things was too different from that of normal people.

Whether Teng Shisheng could guess or not didn't matter. Fang Zhengzhi's arrow quickly left the bow, flying out of the Sun Shooting bow and soaring into the sky like a green meteor.

Then…

It drew a beautiful arc in the sky and shot towards a youth wearing an exquisite jade-green armour and holding a jade flute in his hand.

It wasn't any other person but Wu Feng!

As he stood among the crowd and waited for the surrounding soldiers to surrender, Wu Feng evidently hadn't imagined that Fang Zhengzhi would attack him. Furthermore, he attacked without any notice at all.

This caused Wu Feng to feel somewhat angered.

Because, if it was said that Fang Zhengzhi's shot towards Chen Feiyu was to demonstrate his power as the chief commander by using his actions when dealing with Chen Feiyu's massacre to alert to rest.

Then, having already stopped fighting, there was simply no reason for Fang Zhengzhi to attack him.

"Fang Zhengzhi! What are you trying to do?!" Wu Feng bellowed in anger. He naturally couldn't block Fang Zhengzhi's Million Sword Illustration directly as Chen Feiyu did.

Because...

In his heart, that was a useless act that wasted his energy.

A person who was as intelligent was Wu Feng would dodge to one side, using speed to his advantage to rapidly dodge Fang Zhengzhi's arrow.

"Boom!"

With a loud boom, the spot Wu Feng initially stood at exploded. Dust and debris flew into the air. At the same time, a bloodcurdling cry rang out among the sounds of explosion.

"Ah!"

Fresh blood spurted and a broken sword was tossed into the sky and then landed on the ground. A moment later, the dust settled and a corpse whose clothes were completely torn apart and whose chest was filled with blood appeared.