Chapter 1186: Hearts in Flux

"Dead?" Inside a pavilion surrounded by riotous blossoms, Long Xiu, Sect Leader of Xiaoyao Palace, stared at the report in his hand in obvious surprise.

Yi Shu, the disciple who had brought him the news, looked thoroughly pleased. "Good! That dog-thief finally received his retribution!"

Every time she remembered that touch from a certain someone, shame and fury surged through her until her teeth itched with hatred.

Long Xiu knew she had never been able to stand Niu Youdao and was long accustomed to it.

That was not what concerned him now.

He looked at the report again and frowned. "Do we know how he died?"

Yi Shu replied, "No. The people below are still investigating. The current information also spread from Zijin Cave. Misty Pavilion has already sent people there and ordered Zijin Cave to put forward replacements to enter the Sacred Realm."

"With that, Niu Youdao's death should be confirmed. No one would dare use Misty Pavilion's name to spread nonsense."

Long Xiu paced back and forth for a while.

Then he abruptly stopped.

"Niu Youdao died too suddenly. The forces under him must be in panic, and Nanzhou will certainly have been caught unprepared. This is precisely the best opportunity for Xiaoyao Palace to intervene and compete for the relevant interests."

"Whether we succeed or not, we cannot let the opportunity pass!"

"Go. Invite all the Elders to the Council Hall immediately."

...

Inside the Provincial Inspector's Residence in Beizhou, Shao Dengyun sat behind his desk holding an intelligence report.

He remained dazed for a long time.

At last he breathed out and sighed, "Dead."

Steward Yang Shuang sighed as well. "Yes. He was the Prince's main support. With his death, the effect on the Prince's side will probably be enormous."

Shao Dengyun pressed the report onto the table and spoke slowly. "The effect on the Prince is unavoidable. What worries me more right now is Tianyu Sect here in Beizhou."

"With Niu Youdao dead, I fear the Prince will no longer be able to keep Tianyu Sect under control."

"There are so many brothers beneath me. This old man's position may become very difficult."

Yang Shuang hesitated. "The Prince is, after all, Sect Leader Peng's grandson-in-law. From what we saw before, hadn't their relationship already been repaired? Would they truly disregard every trace of affection?"

Shao Dengyun shook his head. "I'm afraid Sect Leader Peng may have no choice either."

"With Niu Youdao dead, will those people at Zijin Cave rush to interfere in Beizhou?"

"Will Xiaoyao Palace and Lingjian Mountain take the opportunity to reach in as well?"

"Without Niu Youdao planted firmly inside Zijin Cave to hold everyone back, can Peng Youzai withstand that kind of pressure?"

"Right now, the only thing we can rely on is that the Prince commands strong soldiers and powerful armies. That gives him some bargaining weight."

"I only hope the Prince can steady the situation."

Put that way, Yang Shuang understood.

His expression gradually became grave.

If the political winds shifted and a storm descended, Nanzhou was too far from Beizhou to provide timely support.

Then the Shao faction's forces might be compelled to choose sides.

And no one knew how many lives might be dragged into whatever choice they made.

...

In the imperial palace of Song's capital, Emperor Wu Gongling received the news of Niu Youdao's death.

The corner of his mouth lifted into a smile.

At last it became a soft, relieved chuckle.

He truly felt as though a great weight had been taken from him.

Otherwise, some fear had always remained in his heart.

For years, Meng Shanming and the others had made him deeply wary.

And those men had been in Niu Youdao's hands.

That alone had made Wu Gongling fear Niu Youdao.

Fear was one thing.

Ordinarily it would not have mattered. All of them were men competing beneath Heaven. Niu Youdao had no reason to make trouble for him without cause.

The problem lay with the empress he had divorced.

Judging by the way Niu Youdao had protected Hui Qingping, even paying an enormous price to save her, Wu Gongling had always feared that she might borrow Niu Youdao's power to take revenge on him.

There was no need to imagine how deeply that woman hated him.

Now things were different.

Niu Youdao was dead.

The forces he left behind could barely protect themselves.

Without Niu Youdao, Hui Qingping could no longer stir his people into doing anything against Wu Gongling.

Hui Qingping alone could do nothing to him.

She would not even have an opportunity to approach him.

At this moment, a great hidden danger had truly disappeared.

Wu Gongling was delighted.

He loudly ordered a beautiful consort summoned so he could celebrate to his heart's content...

...

Inside the Chancellor's Residence, Zi Pingxiu and Jia Wuqun sat silently facing each other.

After a period of silence, Jia Wuqun picked up his brush and wrote a line.

He turned the writing board around for Zi Pingxiu to read:

It is a pity he died!

...

In Yan's capital, beneath the quiet eaves of the Grand Minister of Works' Residence, Gao Jiancheng stood with hands clasped behind his back and looked out at the moonlight.

After a long while, he sighed. "He died just like that?"

Steward Fan Zhuan stood silently nearby.

His face was full of concern.

He lowered his voice. "With Niu Youdao dead, Eldest Young Master is still in those people's hands."

Gao Jiancheng said slowly, "Shaoming's safety should not be a problem."

"Whether Niu Youdao is dead or alive, the people beneath him have no reason to kill Shaoming. It would bring them no benefit."

"They've now been driven out of Zijin Cave, and no one knows where they'll go."

"What I fear is that, driven into desperation, they might use Shaoming for something."

"If Shaoming is exposed, if the court learns the truth, then everyone in the Gao household will be in mortal danger!"

Fan Zhuan asked, "What should we do now?"

"Do nothing rashly for the moment. First send people to keep a close watch on where that group goes. Once we understand the situation, we can decide what to do."

"Very well. This old servant will make the arrangements at once." Fan Zhuan accepted the order and quickly left.

"Ah!" Alone beneath the night sky, Gao Jiancheng sighed again.

He murmured to himself, "With this lord dead, I'm afraid the entire political situation of Yan will be shaken."

...

Guangzhou was territory that had once belonged to Zhao.

After the Yan-Zhao war, it had effectively been granted to Yan as part of the benefit Xiaoyue Pavilion offered in exchange for Yan entering the war.

It was now Yan territory, within Zijin Cave's sphere of influence, and was governed by Dachan Mountain, which Niu Youdao had once kicked out of Nanzhou.

"Dead? Niu Youdao is dead?"

Outside the sect's Council Hall, Huang Lie read the report and suddenly burst into laughter.

Beside him stood Elder Zhong Yangxu.

Few men had a deeper impression of Niu Youdao.

Zhong Yangxu had originally been stationed at the Provincial Inspector's Residence in Beizhou. He had personally experienced the struggle between Niu Youdao and Shao Pingbo and the tremendous effect it had produced on Dachan Mountain and on Zhong Yangxu himself.

He let out a breath. "Niu Youdao kicked Dachan Mountain from Beizhou to Nanzhou, then threw us from Nanzhou into Guangzhou. Yet from beginning to end, we could do nothing about him."

"I have to admit that man truly had some ability."

"But his death is good for Dachan Mountain."

Huang Lie nodded. "Exactly!"

"As long as he lived, he used Nanzhou and Jinzhou to keep Guangzhou constrained. Add his status as a Zijin Cave Elder, and Dachan Mountain never dared go against his wishes."

"But now he's dead."

"No one yet knows which of Yan's three great sects will end up controlling Nanzhou. There will probably be a struggle among them."

"Without Niu Youdao in the middle suppressing everyone, whether the alliance between Nanzhou and Jinzhou can survive the contest among Zijin Cave's upper ranks is another question."

"Under the present circumstances, all Dachan Mountain needs to do is keep its attitude somewhat ambiguous. Then all three of Yan's great sects will have to show goodwill toward us."

"All those visible and invisible pressures will disappear."

"Our days will become much easier. We won't have to behave like a little daughter-in-law, watching everyone else's expression at every turn."

"Notify our agents in Jinzhou and Nanzhou. Increase surveillance of both provinces. Report any unusual movement immediately."

"Both provinces belong to Niu Youdao's old power network. Now that he is dead and the three great sects are likely to intervene, perhaps we can seize the chance to apply pressure and profit."

"You all watch the house."

"I'm going to Zijin Cave personally. I want to see whether any of those Elders there have ideas we can make use of."

...

Inside the Provincial Inspector's Residence in Jinzhou, Hai Ruyue froze at the dining table, chopsticks suspended in her hand.

She stared in surprise. "Dead? A man as capable as him—how could he just die like that?"

Li Wuhua sighed. "So what if he was capable? Once he entered the Sacred Realm, what did that amount to? Killing him there would be no harder than crushing an ant."

Hai Ruyue frowned. "Our Jinzhou, Shang Chaozong's Nanzhou, Dachan Mountain's Guangzhou, Tianyu Sect's Beizhou—when you look at it, all of them were part of Niu Youdao's power network."

"Now that he's dead, Zijin Cave will probably take the opportunity to step in directly."

"Those Elders may want to divide the interests among themselves."

"Xiaoyao Palace and Lingjian Mountain may also try to reach in and take a share."

"The situation could become troublesome."

Li Wuhua said, "Exactly."

"I only just received the news myself. Because of this concern, our Sect Leader has already rushed urgently toward Nanzhou to meet the people there and see what their position is."

"Dead..." Hai Ruyue sighed with emotion.

Li Wuhua could only shake his head helplessly.

From the standpoint of stability, both of them hoped the present situation could continue.

Neither wanted to face a change that might become impossible to bear.

And emotionally, Niu Youdao had saved Hai Ruyue and had also saved their son.

The relationship between the two sides had always been good.

They still inclined toward Niu Youdao's side.

But Niu Youdao was already dead.

Whether they wanted to or not, they would probably have to face the changes and storms that might follow.

...

In a rural village, inside a private school, a fair-faced teacher stood in the classroom swaying his head gently as he led a group of children in recitation.

The fair-faced teacher was none other than Hai Wuji, former emperor of Zhao.

His beard had now been shaved away and his appearance altered so thoroughly that he seemed almost like a different man.

There had originally been a real teacher here.

That man resembled Hai Wuji and had long ago been secretly arranged as an imperial stand-in.

The teacher himself had never known.

Perhaps the stand-in would never have been needed.

But in the end, Hai Wuji did come.

And so the real teacher disappeared.

Every detail concerning the village and the teacher had long ago been secretly investigated and mastered.

Hai Wuji memorized it all thoroughly and stepped directly into the man's life.

This was an absolute secret prepared in the shadows through the power of an entire state.

Class ended.

The children cheered and ran away.

A traveling peddler arrived outside the schoolhouse and met the teacher as he came out.

He was the village peddler, a man who spent long periods carrying his load from place to place selling goods and rarely returned home.

Yet this peddler was also one of the men the Nine Saints had ordered hunted with the utmost rigor.

He was Zhuge Chi, former Chief Steward of the Inner Palace to Hai Wuji.

Zhuge Chi's identity was genuine.

So was the identity of the peddler.

He had always been one of this village's people.

Everyone in the village knew the peddler.

It was simply that he spent most of his time away doing business and rarely came home.

When Zhuge Chi wore the appearance of a stooped old man, he was the Chief Steward of the Inner Palace in Zhao's imperial palace.

When Zhuge Chi wore a much younger face, he was the village peddler who had finally returned home after earning his living outside.

Now it appeared his legs were no longer very good.

Unable to keep traveling, the peddler had returned for good and begun farming in the village.

Every transition fit together without the slightest seam.

Cultivators had visited this village.

Government soldiers and secret agents had also investigated it.

Yet no one had ever discovered anything abnormal.

Whether it was the schoolteacher or the peddler, each was genuinely known as someone from this village.

People inside and outside the village knew them.

Even officials in the surrounding area knew them.

Nothing seemed wrong.

And all of this had been arranged by Zhuge Chi many years earlier.

He had lived through several reigns.

While guarding his own secret with absolute care, he had also carried the duty of protecting several generations of emperors.

Similar arrangements had not been made only during Hai Wuji's reign.

For emperors of earlier reigns, Zhuge Chi had personally prepared comparable secret identities elsewhere as well.

He had done so out of necessity.

They had not been contingency plans created because anyone feared that the dynasty itself might collapse.

Who could have predicted that mighty Zhao would fall apart the way it did?

What every emperor through the generations, and Zhuge Chi himself, did understand was what would happen if Zhuge Chi's secret were ever exposed.

Zhuge Chi would die.

The emperor who had secretly authorized and protected him would probably be unable to escape disaster either.

That was what had forced them to prepare these hidden arrangements beforehand.

If the secret was ever exposed, they would have somewhere to flee and hide.

Otherwise, vast though the world was, it would still be difficult to survive once the enormous power of the Nine Saints swept through it from end to end.

[End of Chapter 1186]