Qin Shi Ambitious

Page 191

The cold, heavy feeling is full of realism, yet it is precisely this realism that subtly reveals a hint of unreality...

Master Lu never expected that Xinghun would be handed over to him so easily, given such a treasure with limitless potential.

"This should be the only mission the Yin-Yang School sent you to Wei, right?" With his mind instantly calmed down, Lu Wei only glanced at the ancient patterns on the box before looking down at Xinghun again.

"Yes!" Xinghun's answer was straightforward: "Besides the Yin Yang School, the Qin Kingdom and the Luo Wang have also sent people to try to get this box. There are even some mercenaries who are unaware of their own mortality, hired by some cowards who intend to take advantage of the chaos."

"Unfortunately, this time they're facing me. The ownership of this box was predetermined from the start." The Left Protector's tone became proud as he said this: "The only difference is how I obtained it."

"It seems you got the box very smoothly." Lu Wei understood that only if the process of obtaining the Azure Dragon Bronze Box was too successful would Xinghun have the idea of ​​keeping the box for himself.

But even if he kept it for himself, why did he so generously give the box to himself...?

"Actually, I'd rather throw it away... like, personally go to the beach and sink the box to the bottom of the sea~" The wicked young man looked at the bronze box in Master Lu's hand, without a trace of regret in his eyes, and simply explained with his arms crossed:

"Unfortunately, such a trip is easy to expose, so as long as the box doesn't fall into the hands of those three companies, it doesn't matter who it's given to."

Xinghun's hatred for the Qin Kingdom, Luo Wang, and Yin Yang School was no secret to Lu Wei.

As for the other party's idea of ​​destroying the box, Lu Wei thought for a moment and understood: the three enemies were the ones most likely to unlock the bronze box.

By preventing the enemy from achieving their objective, we achieve our own.

“I can keep this box for you. The chances of unlocking it are indeed extremely slim, but this box can become an excellent bargaining chip in the future... or, as bait.”

"You can do whatever you want with the things I've already given you." Turning to look at the cloudless starry sky, Xinghun, after showing goodwill to Lu Wei, finally abruptly changed the subject and revealed his purpose: "Do you have the antidote for that bottle of poison?"

"You tried some of it yourself?"

He untied his outer robe to cover the copper box and casually carried it by hand. As soon as the Star Soul issue arose, the Hall Master immediately guessed the truth.

"Yes..." The boy nodded almost imperceptibly.

Yes, continue.

A bright green medicine bottle traced a perfect parabola in the air and was accurately caught by Xinghun's Yin-Yang technique.

Holding it in my palm, the antidote to the colorless and odorless poison emitted a pleasant fragrance.

"It seems you are very satisfied with the results of the drug trial, so the poisoning process should proceed without any unexpected incidents when the time is right," Lu Wei said loudly.

"The opportunity is fleeting. Give me another bottle of poison as a precaution," Xinghun said after confidently swallowing a mouthful of the emerald green bottle of medicinal powder.

"No rush." ​​Hall Master Lu smiled silently: "When the time is right, the item will naturally come into your hands."

"It seems you trust that woman, Moon Goddess, even more than I do?" The Left Protector of the Yin-Yang School tilted his head and immediately understood what this meant: the other bottle of poison was in Moon Goddess's hands.

"People you've known longer naturally gain more trust, and that doesn't hinder your revenge, does it?"

Lu Wei nodded as a matter of course. Even though Xinghun had an irreconcilable blood feud with the Qin Kingdom, his position in his heart was ultimately not as high as that of Yueshen.

"What a heartless remark." Xinghun stepped forward and was about to leave when Lu Wei suddenly called out to him, "Wait, there's something else in Daliang City that requires your Yin-Yang skills."

"Oh?" Turning around, the Left Protector looked curious.

"Kill someone for me." The hall master uttered these bloody words with ease.

"Who?"

"Ningling Lord, Wei Jiu."

“Wei Jiu?” Xinghun didn’t recognize the person, but judging from the title ‘Lord Ningling’, he was a member of the Wei royal family.

"The powerful figures of the six states could form an alliance in the future when they rebel against Qin. Why kill this person?"

“Because in Wei, I have a more easily controlled pretext to use.” Raising his hand to stroke his chin, Lu Wei smiled faintly: “Lord Ningling, you are somewhat superfluous. It would be better if you died.”

"If this person were in Daliang City, you could easily kill him now. Why would you need me to do it?"

"Because using the methods of the Yin-Yang School to kill a powerful figure from six kingdoms is entirely in your interest. Besides, the Yin-Yang School has a history of such actions, doesn't it?"

"You mean, Han Fei?" Xinghun's face was etched with blue light. "Another victim to the Six Soul Curse, huh? Not a bad idea..."

Some of the royal families of the six kingdoms were killed by the Qin state, while the rest were handed over to the Yin-Yang School to kill, which would naturally be attributed to the Qin state.

A large number of people will also be slaughtered within the Qin state, and Huhai and Zhao Gao will take care of this for themselves.

The killings are all done by others; the sect leader is always pure and innocent.

------

In Shouchun City, Xiang Yan received both good news and bad news.

The good news is that Lord Changping's plan succeeded. Qin's attack on Chu was only supported by Li Xin's 200,000-strong army, while Wang Jian retired to his hometown.

With such an impulsive general as the opponent, and with Lord Changping as an inside agent who can raise a righteous army and betray the tyrannical Qin at any time, the State of Chu will surely win this battle!

Xiang Yan, the commander of the Chu army, will surely be remembered in history for his decisive victory in the battle that wiped out 200,000 elite Qin troops from the Three Jin states!

In contrast, the fall of the Wei state seems almost insignificant: it was a predetermined event known to all.

Aside from cursing Wang Ben for flooding Daliang as a butcher, there's not much to say about this battle.

The real bad news Xiang Yan received was not about the State of Wei, but about the farmers.

The peasant family was infiltrated by the Luo Wang (a network of strategists), leading to the disappearance of the leader of the Xia clan and chaos in the Six Halls. As a result, the largest group of the Hundred Schools of Thought focused all their energy on the Daze Mountain.

It should be noted that in Changping Jun's newly designed plan, once the Qin army is defeated on the battlefield in Chu, he will take advantage of the brief weakness of the Qin state to mobilize tens of thousands of peasant disciples to rise up in Yan, Zhao, Wei and Han at the same time, and support the nobles of the four states to reunite against Qin!

This plan can only be carried out by the chivalrous leader Tian Guang, who commands the farmers.

Now that Tian Guang has disappeared, it is possible that only the Shennong Hall of the Zhu family will continue to obey the orders of Lord Changping, and their power will not be able to reach the most important Yan and Zhao regions.

However, in reality, although Zhu Jia was indebted to Lord Changping, he would never have unconditionally obeyed outsiders' orders and sacrificed the lives of Shennongtang disciples without the orders of Xia Kui.

Xiang Yan was unaware of this, and could only frown, worried that Changping Jun's plan was at a critical moment and that he could not send anyone to Xianyang to communicate, lest it be exposed.

This matter can only be handled by him first.

Even though Xiang Yan was well-versed in military strategy, he found himself struggling with matters of the martial world.

He was well aware of the serious consequences of an outsider managing an expert. Therefore, Xiang Yan chose to communicate with Yan Dan, the leader of the Mohist school, about this matter.

Even the leaders of the Mohist school didn't know the true identity of the new leader, but he knew it in advance.

The reason is simple: the Xiang family were nobles, and Yan Dan was royalty; they were both members of the powerful and wealthy class, so they could naturally respect each other.

There is, after all, a class divide between the powerful and the underworld.

"What does the King of Yan think is the best way to resolve the issues concerning farmers?"

Xiang Yan sent a trusted confidant to invite Yan Dan, dressed in black, to a secret room in the General's Mansion. He entrusted Yan Dan with the intelligence from the peasant faction.

Yan Dan was free to remove his cloak here. After calmly reading the news about the strange events in the farm, he pondered for a moment and slowly spoke:

I had heard about the infiltration of the farmhouses by the net when I was in Jicheng. Although it was unfortunate, it was easy to resolve.

"To launch a peasant uprising, it may not be necessary for all six halls to act together. As long as the strongest Gonggong Hall and Shennong Hall are willing to take action, the Four Mountains Hall will most likely follow. Then the remaining three Tian clan halls will naturally have to side with us. Otherwise, if Qin wins, they will be purged just the same!"

"So, the key point lies in Gonggong Hall?" Xiang Yan extracted the key words.

“Not bad!” Yan Dan stood up and paced back and forth: “I have some connections with Lu Wei, the head of Gonggong Hall. He is extremely ambitious. To win him over, we need to offer him substantial benefits.”

“The Xiang family has also done business with this man, and I know he is extremely fond of gold,” Xiang Yan added.

“If Gonggongtang is willing to take action, it can mobilize at least 20,000 elite troops to help me reclaim Yan and Zhao.” Yan Dan said in a deep voice, “I can use… a title of nobility to win over Gonggongtang.”

"The State of Chu can also bestow a title upon Lu Wei!" Xiang Yan made the decision for the King of Chu: "The title of a ruler bestowed by two states should satisfy even the greatest ambitions of a Jianghu figure."

"I'll send a disciple of the Mohist school to negotiate with Lu Wei!" Yan Dan picked up the ink-brown brush he had placed on the table while pacing back and forth, and left the General's Mansion...

Chapter 214 The Farmer's Choice

The prerequisite for negotiating with Gonggongtang is to at least find Lu Wei's whereabouts.

If possible, Yan Dan would like to visit Daze Mountain in person, but after careful consideration, he sent Gao Jianli and Dao Zhi on a ride on the Vermilion Bird.

His identity had been kept secret from the Mohist disciples, only revealed to Lord Changping and Xiang Yan, so naturally he couldn't be completely honest with the Farmer's School.

Not being able to reveal his identity would likely be a disadvantage for Lu Wei, given his personality. So, he decided to simply not go.

Moreover, Xiang Yan in the State of Chu does indeed need his help with many matters.

Gao Jianli, Dao Zhi, and Lu Wei were friends. Their mission was to invite Lu Wei to join their plan by offering him a fiefdom in the State of Chu. They also promised that if Gonggong Hall could generate a great response in the Yan and Zhao regions, the new State of Yan would offer him a fiefdom as a reward.

In recent years, the influence of the Farmer School in the martial arts world has grown rapidly. Coupled with the intentional or forced contraction of Confucianism and Mohism, the Farmer School has even surpassed these two prominent schools of thought in some areas.

Among the various schools of thought, only the Agricultural School was capable of converting civilians into an army of tens of thousands. Regardless of whether these people were a mob or not, in most modern wars, numbers equate to strength.

For a time, even though this group of philosophers from the Hundred Schools of Thought had not changed their humble origins, the powerful figures of the six states truly needed their help to restore their kingdoms.

Gao Jianli and Dao Zhi were somewhat astonished that the Chu and the future Yan states could offer two titles of nobility to win over Gonggongtang: one was a musician, and the other was a thief. Even if they were the best musician and the best thief in the world, they were still commoners.

By being granted a title of nobility, one could achieve a leap in social class...

Even Wang Jian, a Qin general who dedicated his life to military service and achieved great merit, including the recent conquest of Zhao and defeat of Yan, has yet to be granted a title of nobility...

...

Dao Zhi directed Master Ban to stop in a desolate wilderness outside Daze Mountain. They agreed to meet again in five days. After that, he and Gao Jianli jumped off the Vermilion Bird.

This place is still some distance from the main farm. If Zhuque were to fly directly into Daze Mountain without permission, it would violate the rules of the martial arts world. Therefore, the two of them would have to walk for quite a while.

Although they had not yet reached the interior of Daze Mountain, everyone they encountered along the way was already wearing small beads representing their identities, giving a glimpse into the number of disciples of the Farmer's School.

By questioning the lower-ranking disciples, they discovered the territory of the Gonggong Hall. On their way to the headquarters, Gao Jianli and Dao Zhi were suddenly stopped by eight burly men who jumped out:

"Who are you? Do you know this is the territory of Gonggongtang?"

The leading two-star farmer disciple stepped forward, his eyes warily fixed on the two Mo family members.

"I am Gao Jianli of the Mohist school." "Robber Zhi of the Mohist school."

"We are friends of your esteemed Master Lu Wei in Ji City. I wonder if this brother could help us inform him?" The Mo family is here to discuss cooperation, so a friendly attitude is necessary.

Gao Jianli and Dao Zhi did not brandish their weapons or pose a threat. They simply clasped their hands in a gesture of respect, then directly stated their purpose.

"A friend of the hall master?" The leading disciple dared not be negligent and returned the greeting with clasped hands, saying in a deep voice, "Please wait a moment, I will inform the steward immediately."

After saying that, he gave another disciple beside him a look, signaling them to keep an eye on the two, and then turned and ran back to the stronghold.

The waiting process was long, and Dao Zhi made full use of his talkative and outgoing nature, trying to communicate with the remaining seven disciples of the Farmer School to obtain some information.

However, the ordinary disciples kept quiet and didn't say a word. Although the deputy disciples who were instructed by the leader to speak before leaving would reply, most of their words were useless nonsense and of little value.

'These patrolling disciples from the farming community are physically robust and move with solemnity, clearly having received rigorous training and enjoying a good diet. In fact, their individual strength surpasses that of ordinary Mohist disciples in the Mechanized City.'