Chapter 598: You Really Think I'm Your Hired Muscle?

After thinking briefly, the flower-robed man asked again, “Why were you in such a hurry to make the imperial court act against you at this particular time?”

Niu Youdao had already sat down beside his writing desk and was preparing to draft a letter for Shang Chaozong.

This affair was not merely about attacking Dingzhou.

Taking territory was one thing; they also had to be able to hold what they took. There were matters requiring careful, detailed handling that he needed to explain clearly to Shang Chaozong.

Hearing the question, he could not help laughing. “You seem to have become interested in affairs around here.”

Guan Fangyi, who had followed them in, very consciously began dripping water onto the inkstone and grinding ink.

She looked completely unruffled, but her ears were pricked toward the conversation.

The flower-robed man said, “I'm not especially interested. What, you can't tell me?”

Niu Youdao smiled. “It's only a little strange. You don't seem like someone who enjoys asking about these things.”

“This is only the second time you and I have met. How much do you really know about me?”

“Fair enough. I simply thought you weren't a man of many words.”

“Can you answer now?”

Niu Youdao laid a sheet of paper before him and said as he worked, “The matter has already passed. There's nothing I can't say. There were several reasons.”

“First, I know perfectly well that Shang Jianxiong will move against me sooner or later. I can hide for a while, but I cannot hide forever. Sooner or later, he and I have to collide once. I've also been waiting for an opportunity to face that problem.”

“Second, to deal with Zhao and Yan's threats against Jinzhou and Nanzhou, Nanzhou's troops and supplies had already been assembled. If we dispersed them and then had to gather everything again, pulling the people back and forth repeatedly would cost far too much labor and wealth. We might as well make use of what is already gathered.”

“Third, the situation changed. Han and Song both moved armies to Yan's borders, tying the imperial court's hands. That too created an excellent opportunity to exploit.”

“Fourth, you saw those masked men. I borrowed them from someone else. Their owner can't possibly leave that manpower beside me indefinitely and let me command them. They were only lent to me for an emergency. They couldn't stay for long, so while I had them in hand, I needed to put them to use.”

“Fifth, put all of that together. After the imperial court's failed assassination attempt against me in Jinzhou, since I knew they wouldn't let the matter rest, I had to make my move while I could still concentrate overwhelming strength in my own hands, while the situation favored me most, and while the situation was most unfavorable to the court.”

“Those are the reasons. I've been candid enough with you, haven't I?” Niu Youdao spread both hands.

Guan Fangyi rolled her eyes.

Candid enough?

He had never once been this candid with this old lady.

She had personally followed him through the entire affair, yet most of the time she had been wandering through clouds and mist. This was the first time she had heard Niu Youdao's intentions laid out so clearly.

All the pieces that had confused her suddenly fell into place.

The flower-robed man thought for a while, then slowly said, “You gave the imperial court time to prepare, yet not enough time to prepare fully. That kept the force they could bring against you within what you could bear while allowing you to display your strength and frighten them. From now on, the imperial court won't dare move against you lightly.”

He abruptly raised his eyes and stared at Niu Youdao. “Was Song's envoy your doing?”

Niu Youdao smiled without answering.

He picked up a writing brush and carefully plucked several stray hairs from its tip.

The silence was as good as an admission.

He would never confess something like that to anyone, but neither did he want to lie to the man. Better to let him understand on his own.

The flower-robed man's gaze immediately grew complicated.

Now everything made sense.

The pressure from Han and Song's armies on Yan had been provoked by this fellow taking advantage of the situation.

And since Niu Youdao had contacted him in advance to provide protection, that meant Niu Youdao had already known the court would move against him. He had bound the court's hands beforehand and then waited for it to strike.

Niu Youdao's second point—the convenient use of Nanzhou's already assembled troops and supplies—also meant he had prepared the counterattack long ago.

The flower-robed man truly did not know how to describe this junior.

After a long while, he said, “It seems you won't stop this time until you've bitten a few chunks of meat from the imperial court.”

Niu Youdao dipped the brush in ink and shook his head. “I have no choice. Things have reached this point, and there is nowhere left for me to avoid it unless I abandon Nanzhou. But there is a whole group of brothers outside who trust me and have thrown in their lot with me. If I give up so easily, I have no way to answer to them. The Shang faction in Nanzhou would face a bloodbath as well.”

“The imperial court's hand is too restless. It keeps reaching in here and stirring things up. Unless I hit it hard enough to hurt and teach it a lesson, that hand will never withdraw. Land one punch hard enough to clear the way, and you won't have to take a hundred more. After this affair, barring some major upheaval, no one should dare move against Maolu Villa again for quite a long time.”

The flower-robed man fell silent, then suddenly said, “How did Dong Guo Haoran end up taking a sinister, treacherous fellow like you as his final disciple?”

Niu Youdao spread the paper out flat, dipped his brush into the ink, and began writing. “On account of you being an expert, I'll pretend I didn't hear that.”

The flower-robed man suddenly sighed again. “To them, you're more useful than I am. I was expelled from the sect because I deserved it, but they should never have driven you out. Fools!”

You, me, them—what exactly did he mean?

Niu Youdao did not reveal whether he understood.

As he had just said, he treated it as though he had heard nothing and continued writing.

The flower-robed man paced around the room with a deep, indescribable emotion hanging over him, sighing from time to time.

...

At the Provincial Inspector's Residence of Nanzhou, two personal guards lit the lamps inside the Hall of Martial Valor and withdrew.

Not long afterward, Shang Chaozong and the others, having received an urgent message from Maolu Villa, entered in haste.

Lan Ruoting pushed Meng Shanming's wheelchair in front of the map.

Shang Chaozong pointed out the army's present positions on the map, then said, “The imperial court now has heavy forces deployed against Han and Song. Its interior is hollow, while our grain, baggage, and troops have already been assembled. Everything is falling into place. This is precisely the right moment to use force.”

“But this prince has two concerns. If Dachan Mountain refuses to cooperate, we cannot fight this war. And then there are the three great sects. If they intervene, all our efforts will be wasted.”

Meng Shanming stroked his beard. “Master Dao cannot have failed to consider that. Since he has given this instruction, he must already have plans. Your Highness can send the troops without worry.”

“Good!” Shang Chaozong struck one fist into his palm, plainly excited.

The prospect of expanding his territory interested him greatly.

Once the excitement passed, he asked for advice again. “Master Dao's letter makes one point very clear. The imperial court is still the imperial court. If Nanzhou sends troops, we need a justifiable name and proper cause. What excuse should we use to provoke trouble?”

Lan Ruoting had already prepared an answer. “Have a merchant caravan flaunt its wealth along the border. Hire several beauties to travel with it as well. When the caravan passes through, tempt Dingzhou's garrison troops into robbing the wealth. Once they see the beauties, they're certain to seize them too.”

“The moment they take the bait, Your Highness can immediately raise troops to punish them and declare that those women were intended to become Your Highness's concubines. Robbing Your Highness of his women is no minor matter. If even that can be endured, what cannot?”

“If the imperial court orders Your Highness to halt the campaign, then implicate Xue Xiao. Insist that no soldier would dare such a thing without Xue Xiao's orders and demand that the court remove Xue Xiao from office to give Your Highness an accounting.”

“Xue Xiao is a regional power in his own right, and he has people at court protecting him. The court will also know we deliberately laid the trap, so it will not give way easily. Your Highness can use that interval to seize cities and territory on a large scale.”

Shang Chaozong nodded repeatedly, then turned to Meng Shanming. “Uncle Meng, what do you think?”

Meng Shanming nodded. “It will work.”

Shang Chaozong looked delighted.

He immediately handed the matter of arranging the provocation and bait to Lan Ruoting, while he and Meng Shanming began discussing the military campaign itself.

Roughly half an hour later, Lan Ruoting returned carrying another letter. “Your Highness, a message has come from the Commandery Princess. Master Dao has canceled his plan to move into the provincial capital.”

Canceled?

The two men before the map turned together, startled.

They had already prepared everything to receive him, and now he was not coming?

Shang Chaozong frowned. “Did we do something poorly? Is Master Dao dissatisfied?”

Lan Ruoting shook his head and handed him the letter.

“Make the false look real... a smokescreen?” After reading it, Shang Chaozong looked baffled. “What does that mean?”

The letter did not explain.

Lan Ruoting was pondering it too. “If the smokescreen has already been discarded, then it should have nothing to do with what comes next. If we ask what has happened recently... the main event was the attack on Maolu Villa. It should be connected to that.”

The information available to them was simply too limited.

They did not even know Niu Youdao had been attacked in Jinzhou, leaving them with no basis from which to reason out the truth.

Meng Shanming took the letter and studied its contents as well, but he too could not make sense of the intention behind it.

He raised the letter in one hand. “The Commandery Princess makes one thing very clear. Master Dao has already forced Dachan Mountain to agree to assist in attacking Dingzhou. Your Highness can mobilize the troops without worry. As for smokescreens and the like, those matters aren't important to us. We only need to handle our own part properly. Master Dao will naturally have his own measure in everything else.”

Shang Chaozong and Lan Ruoting looked at one another.

Dachan Mountain had actually been forced into agreeing by Master Dao?

That too was beyond their expectations.

Lan Ruoting finally shook his head with a bitter smile. “Master Dao's methods are becoming ever more unpredictable and unfathomable. The imperial court angered him, and this time he has plainly decided to retaliate and show them some color.”

“He has already swept the trouble from the road ahead for us. What remains—how hard we strike according to Master Dao's intention—is now up to us.”

Meng Shanming nodded and turned his gaze toward the map. “Your Highness, this is good for us. Since Master Dao wants to see the size of our appetite, then let's loosen our hands and fight.”

...

In the darkness before dawn, the surrounding mountain forests were silent.

There were no Moon Butterflies in the courtyard.

Niu Youdao stood leaning on his sword and gazed up at the stars.

Yuan Gang emerged from the darkness, came close, and reported quietly, “I've arranged for them to leave in secret. Everything went smoothly.”

By “them,” he meant the manpower from Xiaoyue Pavilion.

Now that they had been exposed, they could not remain here for long. Staying would make it too easy for others to keep eyes on them, and that was not something Xiaoyue Pavilion wished to see.

So many people could not conveniently leave in broad daylight either.

They could only depart under cover of darkness.

Niu Youdao nodded.

He turned and went inside, where he found the flower-robed man sitting and drinking.

Niu Youdao smiled. “You don't actually have to leave. I've got fine wine and good food here. Surely it's no worse than Demon Ridge?”

The flower-robed man looked up at him. “You really think I'm your hired muscle?”

Niu Youdao laughed and waved both hands. “I wouldn't dare. I only think your identity may have been exposed.”

The flower-robed man fell silent briefly. “Have I caused you trouble?”

Niu Youdao shook his head. “Before, I didn't have the stomach for it. Calling on someone like you really could have been more than I could digest. Things are different now. On Nanzhou soil, I'm not someone anyone can move simply because they feel like it.”

“Don't worry. I can handle it. Otherwise I would never have asked you to show yourself.”

The flower-robed man reached up and tore away the disguise on his face, finally revealing his true features.

He rubbed his face with both hands, then stripped off the flowered outer robe and tossed it aside with obvious disgust.

Afterward, he casually picked up the large jar of wine that had been given to him here and hugged it under one arm.

“I'm leaving.”

He threw down the words and started toward the door.

“No hurry.” Niu Youdao reached out to stop him, then cupped his hands respectfully. “You've met Commandery Princess Shang Shuqing as well. I wonder what impression she left on you?”

[End of Chapter 598]