Chapter 571
In one night, the people who came down from Dong Mountain had managed to deal with all of the matters . The first daylight rebellion in Qing history had come to a dismal end . At least, the matter of killing the monarch had come to a dismal end . It would never be able to create any more waves . Everyone, including the Emperor, was waiting cold-bloodedly and somewhat nervously for the change in Jingdou in a dozen days .
The Emperor was tired . Getting rid of Great Grandmasters Ku He and Sigu Jian was indeed the most beautiful page in his life . It also burned through too much of his strength and energy . After realizing such a long plan, the impact it had on his energy made him far less powerful than people currently saw .
In his entire life, right now was when he was the weakest and easiest to defeat . No one realized this or dared to use this . Other than encircling Dong Mountain and sealing off the news, the tens of thousands of provincial soldiers were desperately pursuing the powers that had infiltrated the country from Dongyi City and Northern Qi .
The tiger was taking a nap but forced itself to keep its eyes open a crack and glowed with a cold light . This scared the people who had come close to becoming sorry excuses for prey . Shan Shanghu, a lone rider, wanted to take Ku He up north, but he couldn't do anything . Although Yun Zhilan, who was temporarily in charge of affairs in Dongyi, was a brilliant sword master, he was not a master of military strategy . He would not think to launch a courageous surprise attack to obtain astonishing results . This had nothing to do with bravery .
The Overwatch Council was already in action . The previously prepared three groups of people from the Inspection Division were spread out on every road between Dongshan Road to Jingdou . Although Chen Pingping was in Jingdou, subordinates under him managed to execute the Overwatch Council's powerful and glorious tradition and demonstrate their terrifying ability to lock away information .
Regardless of whether it is Shang Shanhu or Dongyi, even if they were able to release the message during their journey to inform the Eldest Princess far away in Jingdou, it would not make it within a few days . In addition, they had to detour and take the long way while avoiding detection . For the truth of Dong Mountain to reach Jingdou, it would be slower than usual by about a dozen days .
The inconvenience of sending messages actually brought the Emperor and Chen Pingping great convenience .
Fan Xian was carrying out a last desperate fight to the death with Yan Xiaoyi in the depths of the mountains . He didn't know what had happened on Dong Mountain . After he had successfully killed Yan Xiaoyi, entered Song Kingdom, and headed south from Yanjing, the people escaping from Dong Mountain had only just broke out of the mountains and were heading into territory controlled by Dongyi .
Fan Xian's luck was not good . He had left the Song Kingdom a few days too early, so he did not hear of the news . Not long after he entered the territory of Qing Kingdom, the commander of the Yanjing camp received a secret edict to quietly take over the headless Northern Expedition Camp, and, at the same time, forcefully sever the boundaries between the three countries .
Regardless of whether the people returning were from Northern Qi or Dongyi, it seemed that they all unconsciously kept their mouths closed tight . By the time the little Northern Qi Emperor received the news, it was already late . Even if he sent a message to the Eldest Princess in the South, it wouldn't be in time to change anything . However, Dongyi's Sigu Jian, who was heavily injured and about to die, for some reason, did not try to inform Li Yunrui in Jingdou .
The reason was actually simple . Once the news that the Emperor had not died reached Jingdou, the internal conflict in Qing Kingdom would probably end before it even began . Thus, Qing Kingdom's national power would not be damaged . This was something Sigu Jian did not want to see .
Sigu Jian had to consider Dongyi's future after his death . In order to delay the Qing Emperor uniting the world, having the Eldest Princess finding out about the Emperor's survival a few days later perhaps better aligned with Dongyi's interests . If the Eldest Princess created a huge mess in Jingdou, Qing Kingdom's power would be negatively affected . Once the battle began, Qing Kingdom would not be able to recover its vital energy in less than two or three years and send troops outward .
Yanjing to Cangzhou was already strictly closed off . Not long after Fan Xian entered the capital, Jingdou sealed the city . Even if Sigu Jian wanted to inform Li Yunrui, it would not be simple . Most terrifyingly, the Qing Emperor seemed to have accounted for Sigu Jian's present thinking . The thoughts between the Great Grandmasters were indeed connected .
There was still the most important problem, which was Fan Xian's safety . As long as Fan Xian could successfully pass through Yan Xiaoyi and return to Jingdou, for the sake of the future of Dongyi, Sigu Jian could not allow Fan Xian to die so early .
In the last days of his life, the Great Grandmaster had to think about more things further and deeper . They had lost the most important battle to the Qing Emperor, but they had put their hope into the future and onto Fan Xian . A man who it did not seem like he could be Dongyi's hope .
These were all things that would happen in a dozen days . The Qing Emperor was not a precise calculator . He could only deduce a probability . Fortunately, the situation developed not too differently from his analysis .
After handling the matters at Dong Mountain, he didn't pause at the foot of the mountain . Instead, he traveled northwest through the night and headed straight for Luozhou, entering the city in the early hours of the morning . He entered the Governor's manor of the Dongshan Road Governor, He Zhiji [JW1] .
That day, Luozhou was strictly closed off . The Jiangbei Road provincial soldiers who had followed the Emperor north took over the heavy responsibility of defense from the local provincial soldiers by imperial edict . A dozen officials and eunuch aces of the internal court took control of the Governor's manor .
The people of Luozhou watched all of this with wide eyes and shock . They didn't know where all these unfamiliar soldiers had suddenly come from . Furthermore, the eyes of these soldiers were unkind . They looked like savage beasts and carried a faint stench of blood on their bodies . It was clear they had just come from the battlefield .
Soldiers patrolled the streets of Luozhou and watched everything with wariness on their faces . It brought a sense of severity to the largest city in Dongshan Road . With such pressure, the common people no longer gossiped on the streets . Other than necessary matters, most of the time they hid within their homes in fear .
Inside the manor of the Dongshan Road Governor, Governor He Zhiji knelt in front of the Emperor . He was not particularly fearful, but his face was ashen . After kowtowing twice, he didn't say another word . He knew he was going to die . He just didn't know if it would be death by a thousand cuts or pulled apart by horses . Ever since he joined in the Eldest Princess's plan, he knew what the consequence of failure would be .
He had not thought that the Emperor would so easily resolve the situation on Dong Mountain . Before anyone could react, he flew like a sharp arrow straight into the Governor's manor and abruptly descended in front of him .
The Emperor didn't look at him . There was no disappointment on his face . He knew the official kneeling at his feet would become the first Governor to be killed in his post since Qing Kingdom came into being 30 years ago . He was only coldly calculating the days, seeing if he could leave enough time for his younger sister .
Luozhou had become a dead city . No one could leave . Even if the Eldest Princess had put spies in Dongshan Road, it would be impossible for her to know what had happened in the Governor's manor . Some people outside the city noticed its strangeness and began to send messages back to Jingdou . Before any messenger had gone 10 li, they were killed by the Overwatch Council's secret agents disguised as commoners .
Chen Pingping had invested 40 percent of the Overwatch Council's manpower into these three directions . It was no wonder he was forced to draw the Jingdou Garrison into guerrilla warfare around Jingdou . For the Emperor's edict, the old Director had truly not spared any effort .
They waited for a few days silently in Luozhou as they estimated the time . When the news of the Emperor's death on Dong Mountain should have reached Jingdou and Fan Xian should have arrived with the posthumous edict, only then did the Emperor, waiting in Luozhou's Governor's manor, become slightly more at ease .
After a few more days, the court sent out urgent secret messages from Jingdou to the Governors of a number of Roads . The secret message to Dongshan Road's Luozhou manor, in particular, arrived at the quickest speed and began to ask about the truth of Dong Mountain, as well as begging for a confirmation .
The Emperor confirmed the news of his death through the formalities in the Governor's manor . He then waited for the court's funeral procession to arrive .
On the second day, the court's bulletin arrived speaking of the matter of the Crown Prince and Fan Xian assassinating the Emperor . Various Governor's all wrote in and began to set themselves up against the court . Other than the Governors of Jiangbei and Jiangnan, who had inside information, the other Governors were all speaking purely from the position as a border region major functionary and a loyal subject of the Emperor .
Although the Emperor did not receive the memorials of the other Governors, he roughly knew what they would say . At this time, he ordered people to bring out Dongshan Road's Governor, He Zhiji . He slowly opened his mouth and said, "I chose the seven of you to help me guard the kingdom . The six of them did not disappoint me . Only you…"
He Zhiji had been locked up for many days without food or water . He was already beyond exhausted . Hearing the Emperor's words, he didn't beg for mercy . He knew the day the Emperor left Luozhou would be the day of his death . He only kowtowed furiously, hoping the Emperor would show mercy to his wife and mother .
The Emperor looked at him coldly and didn't say anything .
The next day, the Emperor led the provincial guards, various officials, and eunuchs out of Luozhou . Before leaving, He Zhiji was granted death . His three children were beheaded . Everyone in the Governor's manor, as well as all the officials at various levels who were controlled up and down Dongshan Road, were all killed . A total of 34 people were killed .
The Emperor was someone easily moved to anger . He couldn't be bothered to use those harsh punishments to torture He Zhiji, who had betrayed the court . In his opinion, having someone lose their life was means used by a ruler to hold power . It had nothing to do with punishment .
The sixth day after receiving the bulletin of the Crown Prince's ascension and Fan Xian's crime, the Emperor who was slowly going from Luozhou to Jingdou, finally saw the group who had come to meet him . The original purpose of this group had been to welcome his body and soul .
After making contact with the court's funeral procession, the Emperor coldly gave an order for the group to move slightly faster . They continued to press closer to Jingdou .
A few more days passed . Jingdou was still in the distance . The Emperor wasn't sure what the present situation in Jingdou was like . He and Chen Pingping were like two lonely spirits floating endlessly across Qing Kingdom's wild fields . They hadn't put their energy toward the business of gathering intelligence reports .
However, these two lonely spirits cooperated too perfectly and appeared too powerful .
One day, the Emperor passed outside Xinyang . Looking at the unfamiliar city in the distance, he was silent . A moment later, he turned his head back to glance at the hearse being dragged behind them and the large coffin of unknown weight and layers within it . A slight self-mocking smile appeared in the corner of his lips .
"Tell Yunrui," the Emperor opened his mouth and said .
Eunuch Yao rode his horse alongside and quickly took out a paper and pen, listening intently .
"I am back . "
The Emperor spoke coldly . He then squeezed his horse's abdomen and rode past Xinyan at the head of the group toward Jingdou in the distance .
…
…
The strings on the guqin had snapped . The flowers on the trees had withered . The Eldest Princess, in rainbow-colored clothes, was standing in a daze by the lake in Taiping Courtyard . She looked at the intelligence report she had just received in a daze . She completely ignored Fan Xian, who was sitting not far from her feet .
From when she began this plan, she had already gradually moved her power from Xinyan to Jingdou . This process took two years . Including the already dead Huang Yi and the barely alive Hong Yuandao, they all moved from the palace in Xinyan to Jingdou . After the stormy night earlier in the year, the Emperor and Chen Pingping only used an hour to sweep aside all of the Eldest Princess' influence .
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