Chapter 749: Yucang Grows Anxious

At the time, blood had poured from Jia Wuqun's mouth in a torrent. The pain had made him faint, and he had been thrown out of Misty Pavilion. If not for the cultivators who had escorted him there rushing to save him, he might not even have kept his life.

When he woke, he discovered that he had already been returned to the Chancellor's residence.

He also discovered that he could no longer speak.

The suffering caused by the wound in his mouth was beyond what outsiders could imagine. Even drinking water or eating had become troublesome. It was all too easy to aggravate the injury, and he needed cultivators to use their arts to help him.

Before this, he had not even known whether his attempt at persuasion had achieved anything. He had never seen anyone who actually presided over Misty Pavilion. Even after invoking Zi Pingxiu's status as Chancellor of Song, Jia Wuqun had only managed to meet a minor steward below them, and that meeting alone had reduced him to this state.

This time, he had personally experienced the overbearing arrogance with which Misty Pavilion looked down upon all under Heaven.

Now that he had heard the good news, he finally felt that losing his tongue had not been for nothing.

Apart from a small number of people in Song, no one beneath Heaven had imagined—or even noticed—what Jia Wuqun's trip to Misty Pavilion meant for the larger situation.

At first, Misty Pavilion had paid little attention to the lists submitted by the various states. It had not believed the states would dare deal with the matter perfunctorily.

Only after Jia Wuqun appeared did his words truly draw Misty Pavilion's attention to the lists and prompt an investigation.

That was what led to the later summons calling all the sect leaders to Misty Pavilion.

Jia Wuqun had found one tiny point and used it as leverage.

Not only were the states forced to redraw their submitted lists, but Misty Pavilion, while beating the grass, had also flushed out a rabbit and used the opportunity to sweep the independent cultivators into the matter as well.

Zi Pingxiu raised his sleeve and wiped away tears.

He was genuinely heartbroken.

Jia Wuqun might be called his trusted strategist, but the man had actually grown up in the Zi residence. Their relationship was truly one of both kinship and friendship.

Jia Wuqun had contributed enormously to Zi Pingxiu reaching his present lofty position.

And now he had been tortured into this state.

First Zi Pingxiu's son-in-law had died in battle.

Then his daughter had taken her own life.

His grandson and granddaughter cried every day for their parents.

Now this family member who was both kin and friend had been reduced to such a condition.

Misfortune had followed misfortune without pause. How could Zi Pingxiu not grieve?

Lowering his sleeve, he said, "His Majesty is grateful for your contribution, sir, and intends to come here personally to visit you. Make some preparations."

That was also one reason Zi Pingxiu had hurried over.

Jia Wuqun looked slightly stunned. Then he gave a bitter smile.

He knew Zi Pingxiu must have reported his contribution to the emperor.

Picking up his brush, he wrote:

Chancellor, are you trying to get me killed? I have no idea how many cultivators beneath Heaven I offended with this move. My name must not be publicized!

Zi Pingxiu stared at the words in surprise.

Then he understood.

...

"What?"

Inside Fufang Garden in the Qi capital, Yucang had just heard that Misty Pavilion had issued an order beneath Heaven freezing the wars.

He stared blankly, unable to recover for a moment.

His people were already packing.

He had been preparing to leave for Zhao and head toward Tian Zhengyang and Ma Chang'an.

Xiaoyue Pavilion was ready to raise its banner openly and step onto the public stage.

The carriages in the courtyard were already being loaded.

Misty Pavilion had always watched affairs like this coldly from the side.

Now, for no apparent reason, it had suddenly frozen the wars?

What kind of joke was this?

Yucang thought he had misheard and asked again.

Dugu Jing sighed. "According to what we've heard, it is because the Tiandu Secret Realm is about to open. The various states, because of the wars, held back their elite cultivators and did not submit them on the lists for entry into the Secret Realm. Misty Pavilion was displeased."

"So Misty Pavilion ordered the wars frozen, told the states to redraw their lists, and declared that the wars would be unfrozen again after the matter of the Tiandu Secret Realm is concluded..."

After hearing the full explanation, Yucang instinctively wiped his forehead.

The news had nearly frightened him into a cold sweat.

Even now his heart was still pounding with lingering fear.

If this news had come only a few days later, after the uprising in Zhao had begun and Xiaoyue Pavilion had surfaced into the open, then Misty Pavilion suddenly freezing the wars would have put them in a catastrophic position.

Xiaoyue Pavilion would already have exposed itself, yet would be unable to act and unable to retreat back into the shadows.

They might have died miserably.

The thought was genuinely terrifying.

Yucang pressed a hand against his chest and repeatedly said with relief, "Fortunately. Fortunately, the news came in time. If it had come a little later, the consequences would have been unimaginable."

"Now that the wars are frozen, the problem is not too great. We only need to maintain the current state of affairs. That means once the Tiandu Secret Realm matter is over, the present situation guarantees the wars will resume. Our plans can continue advancing then."

"It's only a temporary freeze. The impact won't be too serious. We've waited this many years. We can afford to wait a little longer!"

Then he suddenly looked back. "What did you just say? Independent cultivators are entering the Tiandu Secret Realm this time too?"

Dugu Jing respectfully offered him a list with both hands. "This is a copied version of the list Misty Pavilion posted publicly."

"According to reliable information, because the wars among the states caused heavy losses among their elite cultivators, Misty Pavilion took that into consideration and, to make up for the possible shortfall, made an exception this time and summoned one thousand elite independent cultivators to enter the Tiandu Secret Realm."

"The independent cultivator list was jointly nominated by the thirty members who hold seats in Misty Pavilion. Most independent cultivators ranked on the Golden Core Ranking are on it."

"Don't tell me I'm on there too?" Seeing Dugu Jing's poor expression, Yucang felt something was wrong.

He snatched the list over and stared at it.

Dugu Jing shook his head. "Master's name is not on it. It seems the sect leaders still gave Master some face. Besides, even if Master entered, after all the relationships Master has cultivated over the years, the various factions would at least show you some consideration. They would not make things too difficult for you inside the Tiandu Secret Realm."

Hearing that he himself was not listed, Yucang let out another breath.

The urgency with which he had begun scanning the list eased.

Then Dugu Jing added, "Niu Youdao is on the list. He has to enter the Tiandu Secret Realm. He cannot avoid it, and he won't dare try."

Yucang's head snapped up.

He stared at his disciple, then hurriedly searched the list again to confirm it.

At last, among the thousand independent cultivators, he found the three words forming Niu Youdao's name.

Yucang froze on the spot.

The muscles in his face twitched uncontrollably.

Only then did he understand why Dugu Jing's expression had been so poor.

Yes, the wars had been frozen.

And once the freeze ended, they would resume.

Xiaoyue Pavilion's plan would continue with them. In itself, that did not create much difficulty.

But the key figure in Xiaoyue Pavilion's plan had suddenly developed a problem.

Niu Youdao had to enter the Tiandu Secret Realm.

If anything happened to him inside, Xiaoyue Pavilion's entire plan could still collapse.

For Tian Zhengyang and Ma Chang'an to rise in rebellion as Xiaoyue Pavilion intended, they needed the external situation to cooperate.

The two million troops under their command were Zhao's troops.

Without removing outside pressure, controlling that army would be extremely difficult.

Once Tian Zhengyang and Ma Chang'an rose, Zhao could not possibly allow such a thing to continue.

At that point, Zhao would already be losing its own hands and feet. How could it still keep biting greedily at someone else's fat meat?

It would inevitably have to stabilize the inside before resisting threats from outside. With its own interior unstable, it would lack the ability to deal with external enemies.

What Zhao would do at that point was easy to predict.

It would certainly make humiliating compromises with Yan, even if that meant yielding a considerable amount.

And Yan itself was already an arrow at the end of its flight.

Continuing to fight Zhao to the death would not serve Yan's interests either.

Once Zhao was forced to make concessions, Yan's armies would inevitably pull back to deal with Han.

Yan was ignoring Song and fighting Zhao now only because it had no other choice.

If there were even the slightest alternative, Yan would never sit by and watch Han annex Song and grow stronger.

Once the Zhao threat was resolved, Yan would inevitably turn around, join hands with Song, and oppose Han.

At that point, no matter how Xiaoyue Pavilion begged Yan, it would be useless.

This was not something that could be resolved by giving Yan twenty million gold coins the way they had paid Niu Youdao.

Faced with the national interests of Yan, which concerned the long-term interests of everyone from the court to the three major sects, Yan could never cooperate with Xiaoyue Pavilion merely for a little money.

Once Zhao decided to endure humiliation and yield to Yan, the price Zhao paid would certainly be far more than twenty million gold coins.

Yan could extract far more from Zhao than Xiaoyue Pavilion could offer, while also safeguarding its own long-term interests.

How could Xiaoyue Pavilion possibly buy Yan off with a little money?

At this critical juncture, only Niu Youdao could influence the situation.

Only if Niu Youdao exerted himself could Xiaoyue Pavilion win enough time to secure control over those two million troops.

They had already reached an agreement with Niu Youdao.

They had even paid him the money.

And now this had suddenly happened.

What was this supposed to mean?

It was not as though Niu Youdao himself was trying to renege.

Money given under circumstances like this could not simply be taken back unless both sides intended to tear up the entire relationship.

More importantly, Yucang did not want the money back.

Not in ten thousand lifetimes.

All he wanted was for Niu Youdao to remain alive and well long enough to create the environment Xiaoyue Pavilion needed for the uprising.

After so many years of painstaking planning, Xiaoyue Pavilion had finally reached the final step.

Against something that important, what the hell were twenty million gold coins?

If Niu Youdao had not agreed so readily, if he had insisted a little longer, forget twenty million—even fifty million gold coins, Yucang would still have paid!

Misty Pavilion had swung its club indiscriminately and left Yucang truly dazed.

His old face shifted between light and dark as he ground his teeth. "Those bastards at Misty Pavilion. Aren't they simply using the opportunity to weaken the independent cultivators?"

"Master, what do we do now?" Dugu Jing asked.

Yucang clenched the copied list tightly in one hand and said through gritted teeth, "Niu Youdao is no good thing either! But right now Yan's military power and troops are in the hands of Shang Chaozong and Meng Shanming. Nanzhou's forces control the entire course of Yan's war, and Niu Youdao has absolute influence over them!"

"At this critical point, that bastard who took advantage of our desperation absolutely cannot be allowed to die!"

The reason Yucang cursed Niu Youdao for taking advantage of their desperation was that he felt Niu Youdao had been deeply unscrupulous.

Xiaoyue Pavilion had worked like an ox and horse helping Niu Youdao with one matter after another, almost never refusing any request.

Now that Xiaoyue Pavilion finally needed something and hoped Niu Youdao might show a little conscience and repay them, that grandson had actually opened his mouth and demanded money!

And his excuse had sounded perfectly righteous.

He was helping Xiaoyue Pavilion fight a war, so he wanted military expenses.

Were they supposed to pay or not?

Dugu Jing's face was full of worry. "This will be very difficult. There's practically no way around it. Misty Pavilion has already posted the list publicly. There is no chance they will casually withdraw it."

"In Misty Pavilion's eyes, we're nothing. We cannot influence their attitude at all. Niu Youdao has no way to escape this calamity either. Even pretending dead wouldn't help. They'd probably throw him into the Tiandu Secret Realm anyway."

"Why did we support Shao Pingbo back then, and later help Niu Youdao?" Yucang demanded. "Because the power he has built in Nanzhou over all these years is too important to us. Nothing can happen to him!"

He waved his beard and emphasized the point again and again, then pointed at Dugu Jing. "If we can't solve it outside, then we'll solve it inside the Tiandu Secret Realm. No matter the price, think of a way to protect him."

"He must come back alive and well."

"Whatever happens, absolutely nothing can happen to him. Do you understand?"

[End of Chapter 749]