Chapter 641: A Pack of Useless Fools!

Luo Zhao had merely lost face. The State of Yan, however, was shaken from court to countryside.

The five regional armies were essentially Yan's last remaining support within its own borders. Yet even after joining forces, they had still been defeated by the rebels. The shock to Yan could easily be imagined.

People throughout the state were seized by panic, as though Yan's destruction were already imminent. Officials and commoners alike could not help asking the same question: if even the five regional armies together were no match for the rebels, then who could possibly stop them?

The imperial court erupted into argument.

Some ministers proposed recalling troops from the borders to suppress the rebellion. Another group opposed the idea with absolute firmness. The borders were Yan's final defensive line. The moment the massed armies withdrew, the forces of Han and Song would inevitably seize the opening and invade. Those insisting on bringing the armies back countered that if they did not return, no one inside Yan could stop the rebels at all. If the interior of Great Yan collapsed, what would those border armies still be defending? To resist enemies without, one must first pacify disorder within.

Others proposed issuing an edict to Nanzhou and ordering its troops to suppress the rebellion.

That proposal was just as controversial.

The greatest objection was simple: Nanzhou had even dared intercept the imperial court's military grain. Could it truly be trusted to obey mobilization orders? What if its army marched out and joined forces with the rebels instead? Xue Xiao had to be ordered, whatever the cost, to keep Nanzhou's forces pinned inside Nanzhou.

While the imperial court argued openly, the three major sects behind it were hardly quiet themselves. Every relevant senior figure was urgently summoned to a great hall inside the imperial palace.

Long Xiu, Palace Master of Xiaoyao Palace; Gong Lince, Sect Leader of Zijin Cave; and Meng Xuan, Sect Leader of Lingjian Mountain stood shoulder to shoulder at the head of the hall, all three with dark expressions.

Below them stood five Elders in a row: Yue Yuan of Zijin Cave, the man behind Gongzhou; Shi Yuanlong of Lingjian Mountain, the man behind Tuzhou; Zu Ande of Lingjian Mountain, the man behind Fuzhou; Shi Sheng of Xiaoyao Palace, the man behind Haozhou; and Nong Fengting of Xiaoyao Palace, the man behind Changzhou.

Qiao Tianguang of Zijin Cave, who stood behind Bozhou, and Bi Yuntao of Lingjian Mountain, who stood behind Qizhou, were not present. Bozhou and Qizhou were already part of the heavily defended border line, and both Elders were personally holding those concentrations of troops. No one had intended to summon them away.

In truth, the gathering had deliberately been limited to these five Elders from the three sects.

Everyone else, including ordinary disciples, had been excluded.

The reason was obvious.

Gong Lince broke the silence. His face cold, he said, "All of you should already know what happened when the five regional armies tried to suppress the rebellion. There are no outsiders here today, so we don't need to speak in circles. The situation has reached the point where the survival of all three sects is at stake."

"If Yan is lost, our three sects will become dogs without a home. No other place will tolerate us, and our decline will become unstoppable. We cannot allow the foundation built by generations of our forebears to be destroyed in our hands. Otherwise, above, we would fail the generations of past masters; below, we would fail every disciple in our sects."

Long Xiu took over. "Today, the three of us want only one answer from the five of you. Can you order the five regional lords under your influence to work together with one heart and suppress the rebellion, or can you not?"

Nong Fengting of Xiaoyao Palace sighed. "Palace Master, it isn't that we haven't done our utmost to urge them. The hearts of men are simply difficult to fathom."

Long Xiu flared at once. "Done your utmost? Do you take us for blind men and deaf men? The cultivators from Jin, Wei, and Qi are nearly ready to turn against us! The five regional armies never fought seriously at all. They touched the enemy and immediately fled. You call that doing your utmost?"

Yue Yuan of Zijin Cave said, "Palace Master Long, don't be angry. It isn't quite what you think. When Elder Nong says the hearts of men are difficult to fathom, he doesn't mean anything else. He means the morale of the armies. The officers and soldiers under those five regional lords have no desire whatsoever to die for the imperial court. With morale completely gone, how are they supposed to fight?"

Shi Yuanlong of Lingjian Mountain nodded. "Exactly. The three Sect Leaders know perfectly well that the men under those five regional lords were all former subordinates of Prince Ning. Had they not been driven to the end of the road years ago, they would never have raised armies to protect themselves."

Zu Ande, another Lingjian Mountain Elder, said, "That is precisely it. The court massacres of those years left resentment in their hearts to this day. Why would they risk their lives for the imperial court? Do the three Sect Leaders know what the soldiers below are saying?"

"They say: if we die fighting for the imperial court, the court will show us not the slightest mercy. Instead, it will still regard us as rebels. Then what are we fighting for?"

Shi Sheng of Xiaoyao Palace gave a low sound of agreement. "The soldiers of Haozhou think the same way. We can arrange the battle and push the army into position, but the moment fighting begins, the troops turn around and run. Who can stop them?"

"Never mind tens of thousands of men. If tens of thousands of pigs all decided to run, could you stop them? They simply refuse to die for the imperial court. We can't very well kill them all ourselves."

Nong Fengting sighed. "This matter has been weighing on us as well."

The five men spoke one after another, each argument apparently reasonable, until the three Sect Leaders had no immediate answer.

Meng Xuan's face darkened. "By your reasoning, then, Yan is simply finished? And our three sects are simply finished along with it?"

Nong Fengting hurriedly waved a hand. "We can't say that. Even if there is only a thread of hope left, we must still do our best. Things have not yet reached the point where nothing can be saved. Doesn't Nanzhou still have troops?"

Yue Yuan immediately said, "Exactly. The Yingyang and Wulie Guards once shook all beneath Heaven with their fame. Those troops are now in Nanzhou's hands. In the battle against Zhou Shouxian and again against Xue Xiao, their edge was plain for all to see."

"When it comes to fighting on the battlefield, Nanzhou's army is probably the finest force left in Yan. We should urgently mobilize Nanzhou to suppress the rebellion."

Shi Yuanlong nodded. "Indeed. I agree."

Zu Ande said, "That's right. It's time for them to take the field."

Shi Sheng said, "I think that would be best."

The five Elders had known for some time that Nanzhou wanted to enter the war.

Otherwise, how could their own combined army have collapsed the instant it touched the enemy?

In the end, it was because they knew someone else was willing to serve as the sacrificial lamb, so they wanted to preserve the strength in their own hands.

Their present defeats made them uneasy as well. They had long been waiting impatiently for this day, hoping Nanzhou would enter the war sooner.

Even if Nanzhou's forces failed to defeat the rebels, they would still consume a great deal of rebel strength. Then the five regional armies could emerge afterward and clean up the remnants with little difficulty and almost no cost of their own.

For that reason, the five Elders had not hesitated to deceive both those above and those below.

Not one of them had produced Meng Shanming's letter.

The letters had already been destroyed.

Otherwise, there would have been no way to explain the latest defeat of the combined armies.

Long Xiu said, "You make it sound easy. Nanzhou intercepted the imperial court's military grain and has long been flirting with Han and Song. It may already harbor thoughts of rebellion. We can barely keep it pinned down as it is. If we let its army out and it joins forces with the Cangzhou rebels, the consequences will be unimaginable!"

Shi Sheng replied, "Palace Master, given Yan's present situation, it is understandable if Nanzhou has a few selfish thoughts and wants to preserve some strength. I don't think they would actually rebel."

Shi Yuanlong agreed. "Shang Chaozong is still a member of Yan's imperial clan, and he is a man with blood in his veins. If he truly betrayed Yan, how would he face the ancestors of his house?"

Seeing the expressions on the five men's faces, Meng Xuan said heavily, "What exactly are the five of you implying? Did I hear that correctly? Every one of you is speaking for Nanzhou. Did you arrange this among yourselves beforehand?"

Suspicion appeared on the faces of Long Xiu and Gong Lince as well.

The five Elders exchanged glances.

They truly had not discussed the matter together beforehand, but each of them understood perfectly well what the others were thinking.

Nong Fengting sighed. "Sect Leader Meng, with the situation already at this point, is there any need to arrange anything? The five regional armies have lost all cohesion. Are we supposed to fold our hands and wait for death? If there is even the slightest possible solution, we have to try it."

"Exactly. How will we know Nanzhou's attitude if we don't even test it?"

The five men began persuading the three Sect Leaders again, using every argument they could think of to push them into mobilizing Nanzhou.

With the situation this bad, there was no longer any choice but to try.

The problem was that no one knew what the rebels would have done by the time Nanzhou's troops actually reached the battlefield.

The five Elders therefore made another joint promise: they would personally oversee the fighting and use every means available to keep their five regional armies entangling the rebels until Nanzhou arrived.

...

Inside the guest courtyard, Ghost Mother and Yun Ji were delighted to see one another. Niu Youdao stood nearby, smiling as he watched them reminisce.

In actual age, both the ghost and the demon were far older than Guan Fangyi, yet their appearances were much younger.

Ghost Mother in particular seemed forever fixed at a little over thirty years old, her appearance frozen at the age when she had died in life.

Ghost Mother had arrived with one thousand ghost cultivators from Xianyin Mountain.

Together with the demon cultivators from Duyun Mountain, they had all been secretly deployed around Maolu Villa.

With the garrison outside the villa and the three sects inside working alongside them, it was now almost impossible for an outsider to approach Maolu Villa without being discovered.

After the two sworn sisters finished reminiscing, Ghost Mother suddenly turned toward Niu Youdao and gave a cold laugh. "I heard you and Yun Huan are sworn brothers?"

She herself had only learned of that relationship after visiting Duyun Mountain.

Of all the things she could have mentioned, she had to choose this.

Niu Youdao instantly looked embarrassed. He rubbed his nose. "Eldest Sister, I truly didn't know about your connection to Duyun Mountain at the time."

Ghost Mother laughed coldly again and again. "Then tell me. How exactly are we supposed to sort out the seniority between us?"

Amusement flickered in Yun Ji's eyes.

No matter how the seniority was arranged, she herself would not come out at a disadvantage.

Fortunately for Niu Youdao, Guan Fangyi arrived just then with urgent news.

"Master Dao, Long Xiu is here."

At the same time, she handed him a letter.

The moment they heard Long Xiu's name, Ghost Mother and Yun Ji both grew serious.

Niu Youdao, meanwhile, slowly turned his head toward Maolu Villa proper.

"He finally came."

He took the letter and read it.

It was from Quan Taifeng, saying that the Cangzhou rebels had captured yet another province and asking, among other things, when Nanzhou intended to raise troops.

Niu Youdao tore the letter into shreds on the spot.

Then, after apologizing to the two women, he left.

...

Inside a waterside pavilion at the villa, Long Xiu stood with his hands on the railing.

Niu Youdao approached at a hurried pace. From a distance he already cupped his hands in greeting.

"The Palace Master has graced us with his presence in person. Niu Youdao failed to come out and welcome you. Please forgive me!"

Once he drew near, he bowed.

Long Xiu turned and swept him up and down with cold eyes. He snorted. "Forgive you? Do you still know how to place this Palace Master in your eyes?"

Niu Youdao looked surprised. "Palace Master, why say such a thing?"

Long Xiu said, "You're going to pretend ignorance with me?"

Niu Youdao froze for a moment, then suddenly slapped his forehead. "I understand. Palace Master is talking about that shipment of military grain?"

"Everything on our side is ready now. We can send it onward at any time."

Long Xiu said, "How do you plan to send it? Will another band of brigands appear and burn the grain carts again? Or will the carts fall apart all along the road one more time?"

"Absolutely impossible." Niu Youdao spoke decisively. "Nanzhou has already prepared sturdy carts this time. We will personally send an army to escort the grain all the way to Dingzhou and make certain nothing goes wrong again."

"If there is even the slightest mishap, Palace Master may hold me personally accountable. I will make no excuses!"

The answer was so straightforward that Long Xiu was actually left without anything to say.

But the grain was not what he had come for today.

He let the matter slide and asked mildly, "Have you heard what is happening in the campaign against the rebellion?"

"Heh!" Niu Youdao laughed.

His face filled with disdain and mockery.

"A pack of useless fools!"

[End of Chapter 641]