Chapter 414: Niu Youdao Has Disappeared!

Host and guests studied one another. The man reached into his sleeve, took out a sheet of paper, and snapped it open. A portrait of Niu Youdao was drawn upon it. He compared the image with Niu Youdao himself, then gave the woman beside him a respectful nod.

"It's him."

From the shadow showing through the back of the paper, Niu Youdao could roughly tell it was a portrait. An intrigued expression appeared on his face.

"Who are the two of you, and what business brings you here?"

The woman's voice was clear and crisp.

"This consort is Zhou Qing."

Niu Youdao and Guan Fangyi exchanged a glance. Both involuntarily looked the woman up and down again.

Niu Youdao hesitated. "'This consort'? Zhou Qing? Forgive my ignorance. Could you be more specific?"

The man introduced her on her behalf.

"Her Highness is a Noble Consort."

The woman added herself, "Provincial Inspector of Nanzhou Zhou Shouxian is this consort's father."

"Oh!"

Niu Youdao finally understood. So the emperor's consort had come in person, and she was Zhou Shouxian's daughter. He could roughly guess what this was about. His gaze shifted to the man.

"And you?"

The man replied, "Director of Imperial Carriage Office, Ga Miaoshui."

"Oh." Niu Youdao nodded.

He had never met the man, but he had heard of him. Ga Miaoshui was one of Emperor Shang Jianxiong's personal eunuchs. Back when Shang Chaozong attacked Qingshan Commandery, this man seemed to have been the court's representative in the negotiations.

Niu Youdao asked, "You're a disciple of Tian Yu, Chief Steward of the Inner Palace, correct?"

"Correct," Ga Miaoshui replied.

Niu Youdao asked, "And how am I supposed to know the two of you are genuine?"

Ga Miaoshui tossed over a command token. Niu Youdao caught it, looked it over, then threw it back. Only then did he extend a hand.

"Honored guests, please sit."

Only Zhou Qing sat. Ga Miaoshui observed his proper station and remained standing with his hands folded beside her. Zhou Qing took out a jade pendant and placed it on the table, pushing it toward Niu Youdao.

"Someone asked this consort to convey her regards to the cultivator. She said you would know who she was once you saw this."

Niu Youdao's gaze paused first on the woman's slender hand. He discovered that her hands were truly beautiful. It was the first time he had seen a woman's hands so strikingly lovely that a single glance left such a strong impression. Only afterward did his attention shift to the jade pendant. He picked it up and examined it, then smiled and shook his head. He possessed an identical jade pendant. If the two were fitted together, they should form a pair.

Just as Zhou Qing had said, one look at the pendant told him exactly who had sent the greeting. He nodded.

"I'll trouble Noble Consort Zhou to convey my regards to Noble Consort Liu."

He pushed the pendant back. The Noble Consort Liu he referred to was the mother of Shang Xue, Princess Consort of Prince Yu in Qi.

While Niu Youdao had been in Qi, Shang Xue had given him a token so he could contact people in Yanjing while trying to mediate peace. It was precisely the matching half of this jade pendant. Seeing the pendant made Zhou Qing's purpose even clearer.

Zhou Qing said, "I imagine the cultivator already knows why this consort has come."

Niu Youdao said, "I've guessed part of it."

"The Princess sent word to this side," Zhou Qing said. "She said that in the Qi capital, the cultivator promised her you would do your best to mediate between His Majesty and Commandery Prince Yongping, and do everything possible to prevent renewed conflict between uncle and nephew."

"Did such a matter occur?"

Niu Youdao rubbed his chin. The affair was both complicated and simple. The token belonged to Noble Consort Liu, but Noble Consort Liu had not come. Instead, Noble Consort Zhou had appeared. Clearly, the coming war implicated Noble Consort Zhou's father, Zhou Shouxian. It was understandable.

If Zhou Shouxian lost the war, Shang Jianxiong and the imperial court could not possibly shoulder responsibility themselves. Someone would have to bear the blame, and naturally the defeated Zhou Shouxian would be the one to carry it. Once a Noble Consort became the daughter of a condemned official, Zhou Qing's days inside the palace would hardly be easy. Father and daughter depended on one another.

Judging from the present situation, however, Zhou Shouxian, backed by the strength of an entire state, seemed to have very little confidence in the coming war.

Meanwhile, Shang Xue had repeatedly written asking him to mediate, and now Noble Consort Zhou had personally come. The two women's need for peace was obvious. Niu Youdao also believed Zhou Qing could only have come with Emperor Shang Jianxiong's permission. How could a Noble Consort of the imperial palace leave so easily? More importantly, the Director of Imperial Carriage Office had personally accompanied her. It would be strange if Shang Jianxiong had not agreed. Niu Youdao nodded.

"Yes. There was such a matter."

Zhou Qing smiled faintly. "As long as the cultivator remembers."

"I remember. I haven't forgotten." Niu Youdao shook his head. "But this matter is beyond my ability."

Zhou Qing said, "A man who earned the Emperor of Qi's regard need not be so modest. The court has been watching the situation here all along. According to its judgment, the cultivator has sufficient influence over Commandery Prince Yongping. As long as you are willing to exert that influence, it will be very difficult for this war to begin. Leaving aside talk of common people suffering once war starts, His Majesty and Commandery Prince Yongping are uncle and nephew. More importantly, the greatest beneficiary of this war will not even be Commandery Prince Yongping, but Tianyu Sect. Why commit the stupidity of blood relatives slaughtering one another while outsiders applaud?"

Niu Youdao laughed inwardly. Now they remembered the bond of blood. Who had driven Shang Chaozong into desperate straits in the first place? He shook his head slightly.

"Since Noble Consort Zhou knows of Tianyu Sect, you should also know that the five lower commanderies of Nanzhou are not for His Highness to decide alone."

"Of the five commanderies, His Highness holds only two. Of nearly six hundred thousand troops, only two hundred thousand are his."

Zhou Qing said, "As long as Commandery Prince Yongping avoids battle, neither Tianyu Sect nor the three rebels Meilin Sheng, Wu Tiandang, and Zhao Xingfeng will be worth fearing."

Niu Youdao asked with interest, "Commandery Prince Yongping has that much deterrent power?"

"My father once served under Meng Shanming," Zhou Qing replied.

"He knows that Meng Shanming's reputation as a great general of his generation is no empty boast. Much of Prince Ning's might was won with Marshal Meng's assistance."

"We had believed Marshal Meng died long ago. Who could have imagined he had merely lived in seclusion and would emerge again to follow Commandery Prince Yongping?"

"And even leaving that aside, consider only the troop numbers."

"If those three rebels insist on fighting, then without Commandery Prince Yongping's two hundred thousand men, the pressure on my father will be greatly reduced."

Niu Youdao sighed inwardly. Only a few short years ago, Shang Chaozong had fled Yanjing in panic like a homeless dog. Now he already possessed enough strength to force Shang Jianxiong to lower his pride. Of course, it was not that Shang Jianxiong feared the military strength of a mere five commanderies.

Rather, beset by troubles within and threats without, Shang Jianxiong did not dare commit the strength of the entire state to a great internal war. If not for that, Shang Chaozong would never have dared fight this battle, and Tianyu Sect would never have dared exploit the opening. And Shang Jianxiong's willingness to swallow his pride also had another reason. If Nanzhou were lost, what would Yan's people think? How would Shang Jianxiong, the emperor, preserve his dignity? The first conclusion everyone would reach was that Shang Jianxiong was incompetent.

Zhou Qing continued, "There is no need to worry about Tianyu Sect."

"As long as Commandery Prince Yongping stays out of the war, once the fighting turns against Tianyu Sect, that will be Tianyu Sect's death knell."

"His Majesty will mobilize the three major sects and erase Tianyu Sect from the State of Yan!"

Niu Youdao believed that much. Once a war initiated by Tianyu Sect ended in failure, it would prove Tianyu Sect lacked the strength to control Nanzhou.

If it lacked the power to hold Nanzhou, then regardless of whatever agreement it had previously reached with the three major sects, those sects would inevitably clear Tianyu Sect away. If you could not manage the game, what right did you have to keep playing?

Zhou Qing continued, "Nor will His Majesty mistreat Commandery Prince Yongping. His Highness will be elevated from Commandery Prince to Prince, and all five lower commanderies of Nanzhou will be granted to him as his fief!"

After listening, Niu Youdao smiled bitterly and shook his head.

"This truly is beyond my ability."

Ga Miaoshui spoke from beside her.

"His Majesty said that he would rather give Nanzhou to his own kin than to outside thieves. If Commandery Prince Yongping still bears resentment over what happened in the past, His Majesty is willing to concede further. The entirety of Nanzhou can be granted to His Highness as his fief!"

The meaning was obvious. As long as Shang Chaozong stayed out of the war, he could obtain Nanzhou without fighting for it at all. Yet Niu Youdao heard the malice hidden inside the offer. His brows moved slightly.

"Noble Consort, Director Ga, after all this discussion, it seems the court still hasn't understood the situation."

"Things are not at all what you imagine."

Zhou Qing leaned forward slightly. "I would like to hear the details."

Niu Youdao said, "Commandery Prince Yongping has already been placed under Tianyu Sect's control. His military authority has also been separated from him. The person who can now directly deploy the forces of all five commanderies is Feng Lingbo."

Only as he said the words did Niu Youdao finally realize why Tianyu Sect had been willing to stir up internal conflict among the five commanderies before the war even began. So they had been guarding against precisely this sort of possibility. They wanted to eliminate any future danger in advance. It was obvious Tianyu Sect had truly put serious thought into planning the conquest of Nanzhou.

"What?" Zhou Qing exclaimed in shock.

Ga Miaoshui's voice sank. "How is that possible?"

"Even if Commandery Prince Yongping failed to understand the danger, how could Meng Shanming possibly allow His Highness to be separated from his military authority so easily? How could the dignified Marshal Meng fail to understand the importance of control over the army?"

"That is already the situation," Niu Youdao said with certainty.

Naturally, he was not about to mention that he himself had advised them to follow the current and accept the arrangement—one willing to strike, the other willing to take it. Zhou Qing's face immediately turned miserable. Ga Miaoshui's expression changed sharply as well. If things truly were as Niu Youdao said, then this war could no longer be avoided. Considering the forces both inside and outside Tianyu Sect, supporting Feng Lingbo as commander really was entirely plausible.

Niu Youdao suddenly said, "If something happens to Commandery Prince Yongping, I won't fare well either. I have a plan I'd like to discuss with the two of you. Perhaps there is still room to turn matters around."

Guan Fangyi glanced sideways at him. She had no idea what dirty water this fellow intended to stir up now.

Zhou Qing lost some of her composure and immediately said, "Please speak!"

The two sides then held a private discussion. Afterward, Ga Miaoshui and Noble Consort Zhou did not remain long. They departed in haste. Their journey had not been entirely fruitless. At the very least, they had learned Shang Chaozong's actual situation and discovered who commanded the enemy army... Liuxian Sect, Fuyun Sect, and Lingxiu Mountain moved every disciple they had on the same day. Not long after the three sects departed, Niu Youdao quietly vanished into the mountain forests with all of his own people as well...

At Tianyu Sect's mountain stronghold, Meilin Sheng, Wu Tiandang, and Zhao Xingfeng hurried away from the newly established joint command center, which had not yet moved to the front. Under secret escort by Tianyu Sect disciples, the three commandery governors separately made their way toward their respective armies. Not long afterward, Peng Youzai emerged from the command-center courtyard with a group of Tianyu Sect's senior members. As they walked along the mountain steps, a disciple hurried over to report.

"Commandery Princess Shang Shuqing and the others, along with the disciples of Liuxian Sect, Fuyun Sect, and Lingxiu Mountain, are already on their way here."

"Good!"

Peng Youzai stopped and turned toward the elders. His voice sank.

"For now, do not alert the snake by striking the grass."

"Ignore everyone else. The moment Niu Youdao arrives, secretly seize him and every one of his people!"

"That boy is the most cunning of them all, and he is the one I trust least."

"Before the war begins, we must bring him under control first. We cannot allow him to become an unpredictable variable."

Everyone nodded slightly. Once the overall situation was under control, why would they still need to negotiate liquor profits with Niu Youdao? Seize the man along with everything else and see what leverage he had left. Feng Entai's expression was heavy. He let out a soft, helpless breath. Yet before the group had even taken their seats inside the main palace hall, another disciple rushed in with an urgent report.

"Sect Leader, Niu Youdao is gone!"

Peng Youzai, who had not yet sat down, was startled.

He barked angrily, "Gone? What do you mean?"

The disciple replied, "The people watching the villa suddenly noticed that everything inside seemed to have gone quiet."

"They crept closer to investigate and discovered the villa completely empty."

"Not a single person remains."

"No one knows where Niu Youdao or any of his people went."

"They have all disappeared."

[End of Chapter 414]