Plundering the Dao of the Immortal Journey

Pei Zi Yun looked down and saw a general who was about forty years old, with a fierce expression on his face as he charged into the fray. The general was dressed in heavy armor, it clanged as he moved.

It wasn’t just the general who made such sounds. The lieutenant behind him did as well.

The soldiers he led were all dressed in dark red leather armor. They spilled out from the alleys and shouted at the surrounded assailants, "Don’t move. All of you, kneel down now."

The Canton Princess was filled with fear. At this point, she heard the arrival of a large army. Only then did she finally open her eyes and look down at the scene.

The surrounded soldiers watched as a bigger group of soldiers overwhelmed them. Seeing that their cause was lost, they fell to their knees.

The Canton Princess heaved a sigh of relief. At this point, she suddenly realizied that she was coiled up in Pei Zi Yun’s embrace as she blushed.

"On your knees, on your knees!"

The surrounding soldiers were armed with crossbows, "Anyone who moves will be shot by the archers!"

Some of them wanted to fight for their lives as they charged at the oncoming soldiers, "Fire!"

The sound of arrows as they darted through the air could be heard before they hit the defiant soldiers. A mist of blood spurted out each of their chests as they fell to the ground. The distance from the crossbows to their targets was relatively near. This allowed the effect of the crossbow to be fully maximized. Screams of pain rang out consecutively. The defiant soldiers fell to the ground dead, and resembled hedgehogs with the number of arrows lodged into their bodies. The rest of them lost their will and courage to resist further.

Chen Hu wasn’t contented with surrendering as he held his sword high up. "Pu", an arrow lodged itself into his leg as he fell to the ground and shouted out in pain. Several soldiers advanced on him, and held him down.

"Take them all down!" One of the generals present looked extremely anxious as he snuck something out from his pockets. It was a piece of paper which he had intended to swallow in order to conceal.

A lieutenant was standing nearby and swiftly threw a slap at the general, causing his cheek to swell up. At the same time, the piece of paper flew into the air.

"What’s going on?" The leader of the group would’ve never expected something like that. When he picked up the paper, his expression changed and his hands started to tremble in fear.

"We’ve succeeded!" Pei Zi Yun looked at the scene which played out before him, and heaved a sigh of relief.

He looked down and saw that orders were shouted out consecutively, Pei Zi Yun then looked at the snow which floated down, and didn’t speak for a long time.

Capital City, Morning

The snow covered everything in a layer of white. The red walls were fitted with metal scaffolds, the winds blew strongly against the bells and caused them to chime. The guards and soldiers stood at attention, in neat rows.

Several high-ranking officials wore their official robes, and discussed yesterday’s matters in whispers.

Some of these officials had worry etched across their faces. The news had spread like wildfire. Most of these officials gathered here today were extremely important, they held high ranks and lofty statuses. All of them knew that the meeting today was regarding the fact that there were two Princes in contention for the throne, and this went against the prosperity of the Imperial Court.

At this point, a red robed eunuch walked out from the palace, "Minister Liang Yuan Zi of the Imperial Court, you’ve been summoned by the Emperor."

The three men standing in front were all dressed extremely well, and looked very presentable. Each of them held an ivory tablet, indicative of their status as they followed the eunuch into the palace.

When they entered, they witnessed the Emperor seated on his throne. His gaze swept across the court, clearly deep in thought. Several men stood beneath his throne, and were assumed to be counts. Their faces looked grave.

Minister Liang Yuan Zi raised his head and saw that the Emperor was rather pale but furious. Some distance away, a note rested on the floor. It seemed like the Emperor had just lost his temper and flung it on the ground.

"I called you here only for one reason." The Emperor spoke as soon as he saw that everyone had arrived, "The Crown Prince came under attack yesterday. Someone issued a note on behalf of King Lu, and ordered his soldiers to go out into the streets and defend the Crown Prince. I wish to settle this matter today."

Hearing the Emperor speak this way, none of the ministers present dared to speak. The entire palace was silent, save for the occasional cough from the Emperor. He then looked down at his subordinates and said, "Take that note and make sure everyone reads it."

"Yes!" The eunuch picked the note up and passed it around.

The Crown Prince had been attacked. Chen Hu, Li An Jun, and Ji Sheng were the three generals who heeded King Lu’s note. These generals led their army into Sky Road. Chen Hu then used his army to attack the Crown Prince. At this point, all the ministers had heard about it. When the Emperor asked for an explanation, the ministers sweated profusely, but didn’t reply.

"Why have all of you become mute?"

"Count Zhong Qin, be the first to take a look." The Emperor spoke. All the officials beneath him could feel his anger rise.

Count Zhong Qin acknowledged the Emperor before he retrieved the slip of paper. Although he had already seen it twice prior to this, he still looked at it intensely. After sometime, he handed the note to Minister Liang Yuan Zi. As Minister Liang Yuan Zi received the note, his heart hammered within his chest.

"King Lu’s Orders: Urgent matter, requires you to send several dozen soldiers to flank the Crown Prince’s left and right in order to ensure his safety."

He looked at it several times and passed it on wordlessly to the other men in the room. Nobody uttered a sound.

"Look at it. All of you, look at it. Tell me, is this King Lu becoming brazenly bold? Or is there someone trying to show discord between the both of them. Everyone, tell me what you think." The Emperor asked after seeing his ministers remain silent.

The ministers examined the note carefully before Minister Duan Shou stepped forward and responded, "Your majesty, I’ve scrutinized this piece of note several times in great detail and agree that it does indeed look like King Lu’s own writing. However, King Lu has been conferred the title of a Prince many years ago and has handled affairs pertaining to the military for a long time. As such, his signature and writing have been viewed by many people over decades. Forging his handwriting wouldn’t be difficult. Hence, this subject cannot assert any conclusions for sure."

Another learned official, Minister Zhou Jin shook his head, "Based on the writings on the note, it does indeed resemble King Lu’s own words, and yet it’s obviously not. However, regardless of whether it resembles King Lu’s writings or not, this alone shouldn’t be used as evidence to determine his guilt. I beseech the Emperor to reconsider."

These pair of ministers thus found it fair that no conclusions were drawn just by the writing alone. The Emperor didn’t comment on their observations. Instead, he turned towards his Prime Minister, "My favored minister, what do you think?"

Hearing these words, Liang Yuan Zhi looked at the Emperor before bowing his head to speak, "Your majesty, whether it is real or not, I shall refrain from asserting. This could be a ploy by an unscrupulous man, or it could actually be King Lu who wrote this. However, the pressing matter before us isn’t about that. We should be concerned about the fact that the Crown Prince came under attack."

"Sky Road, Lantern Festival, something major happened. Many civilians were witness to the chaos which ensued. Although there was an order passed down to restrain people from speaking about the incident, rumors will still spread. The entire Imperial Court is filled with unease."

"When this humble subject was on the way here, he saw several lower-ranking officials. They looked like they hadn’t slept the entire night, but were still engaged in animated discussion regarding the events of yesterday. Although I stepped in to scold them, it’s still difficult to completely prevent such talk."

"We have to handle this matter as soon as possible."

"The Crown Prince wanted to take a walk around the streets, this wouldn’t have posed a problem by itself. As for the matter regarding King Lu, it’s not the right time to pursue it. Although it seemed like everyone knew about the assassination attempt, we cannot ascertain if King Lu was involved in this. Hence, we cannot make an official announcement to the public."

"Chen Hu, Li An Jun, and Ji Sheng. These three generals didn’t confirm the order and based their actions on a mere note and deployed their army to Sky Road. This is a clear violation of our laws. We need to resolve this matter quickly."

Hearing these words, the entire palace fell into silence. The only sounds which could be heard was the ragged breathing of several men present.

Count Zhong Qin stepped forward, "Your majesty, this humble official has a suggestion. In the previous dynasty where we were thrown into war times, the military was in disarray and it was common for generals to mobilize their troops to quell the rebels. Without such a situation, deploying an army is a great violation of laws. The matter regarding King Lu and the Crown Prince concerns the integrity of the dynasty. It’s better that we don’t make this issue public, and settle it ourselves as soon as possible."

"This humble official has a suggestion as well." Minister Duan Shou spoke out, "Your majesty, Chen Hu attacked the Crown Prince under the eyes of the public. As for this matter, we cannot conceal and hide it any longer. We have to resolve this matter now."

"Li An Jun and Ji Sheng collaborated with Chen Hu and can be seen as having committed the same crime. We should either strip their ranks or send them to the gallows."

"But we must not implicate King Lu in the punishments."

"The dynasty has been stabilized and the nation has flourished. Now that we’re in the midst of a crisis, we have to maintain our composure. Panicking and making poor decisions would land us in severe trouble. Pursuing this matter and involving King Lu in investigations would cause distress among the people, and might cause further calamity."

Hearing this, the Emperor nodded his head and decreed, "Issue a decree, I shall place a temporary suspension of King Lu’s seal and signature, making them void in the meantime. He should remain within his compound to reflect on this matter, at the same time, subject his men to checks to see if there are any suspicious characters."

"Count Zhong Qin, you and the ministers should interrogate the three generals and resolve this matter quickly."

As soon as the Emperor finished speaking, his red face turned an even darker shade of red as he started to cough violently.

The Prime Minister waited for the Emperor to dismiss everyone and didn’t leave. The Emperor then spoke warmly to Liang Yuan Zhi, "As of late, I haven’t been feeling well. Ask the Crown Prince how he’s feeling on my behalf. If everything’s alright, send him over to the Palace to meet me."

"Yes!" Liang Yuan Zhi understood his orders and acknowledged loudly.

Everyone retreated from the presence of the Emperor, leaving only his eunuch as he burst into another fit of violent coughs.

The Emperor looked rather upset as he sighed, "Tell me, have I failed in this life. The Crown Prince is too soft and gentle, while King Lu is too vicious and cunning. Ai, if only they were both one person."

The eunuch stood by the Emperor’s side and didn’t say a word.

King Lu’s Mansion, Study Room

There was a single bookshelf, filled with different volumes of books. A pair of beast skinned lamps illuminated the room. The weather outside was cold and cut right through the bones. However, the room was warm and comfortable.

Xie Cheng Dong wrote on a piece of paper while the eunuch grinded the inkstone. When Xie Cheng Dong had finished writing, he blew on the piece of paper and allowed the ink to dry before he handed it to the eunuch. These few days, Xie Cheng Dong planned King Lu’s next move for him.

Looking at this essay, Eunuch Liao was extremely surprised. The more he read it, the more he was reminded of Pei Zi Yun.

Like Pei Zi Yun, Xie Cheng Dong was a Daoist as well. After he read the essay, the eunuch was extremely impressed. He raised his head and looked up at Xie Cheng Dong and sighed, "Could it be that all the talents and geniuses in this world have joined Daoist sects?"

He then took a closer look at the document, "It’s fantastic. If this plan on shifting the blame works out, all the soldiers in this world would belong to King Lu."

Xie Cheng Dong laughed, "I actually borrowed this idea from elsewhere. There’s a wise saying which states that the Emperor is always good. Anything bad he does, comes from the men standing next to him."

"Ever since the Emperor decided to cut back on military might and shift power towards other aspects, the generals have all been in a panic. With this rumor spreading and pointing the blame at the Crown Prince, it actually is indicating that King Lu will support these generals."

"Since they’re already drowning at sea, they would grasp at even a piece of straw. Do you think they will climb over a huge boat belonging to King Lu?"

"Once these generals meet with any problems, they will all run towards King Lu."

"The Emperor isn’t in the best of health. If King Lu can win the throne from the Crown Prince without resorting to such methods, that would be good. But if that’s not possible, we would have to use this plan."

Speaking this way, it’s worthy to note that these military branches would be impossible to completely strip down. A dynasty would be able to reduce its overall military might by half in 300 years.

Xie Cheng Dong knew that he needed to borrow a little Imperial Qi in order for him to break through the bottleneck and ascend towards the Earth Immortal realm.

Thinking of this, he felt his blood rush as the hairs on his body stood up. His heart started to pump faster, as if he felt a premonition. He knew something wasn’t right.

At this point, he was within King Lu’s mansion, and thus couldn’t use any Dao arts. He then closed his eyes and entered his alternative Yin Master form. When he opened his eyes once again and looked around, he saw that black energy filled the entire room.

"Calamity aura?" Xue Cheng Dong knew that this was bad as he spoke, "Eunuch, take this document and add the finishing touches to it. I have to return to the monastery and handle something urgent."

Eunuch Liao looked at Xie Cheng Dong and was rather startled, "It’s in the middle of the night, and you wish to go out?"

Thinking to himself that these Daoist were strange people, he didn’t feel suspicious and laughed, "Carry on Young Master. This is the tile to leave the premises, you can have it for now and return me tomorrow when you’re back. If not, you won’t be able to leave. I shall complete the document and give it to His Majesty, King Lu."

Xie Cheng Dong received the tile, bowed, and turned around to leave.

When he walked out, he saw that snow had covered the ground beneath his feet. The gates had already been sealed as lanterns hung beneath the ceiling. He continued to walk along the pavement until he saw several black robed guards as they patrolled the area. Each of them held blades and had perfect postures.

Xie Cheng Dong squinted and frowned. As he walked past a lantern and was about to exit, he was halted by the guards.

At this point, it was late at night and there were four guards by the doors. The gate wasn’t open. When a guard looked at him, he laughed, "So it’s Young Master Xie. As much as we know your status here, there are rules regarding this exit. Young Master Xie will have to wait till sunlight before we can open it for you."

"I am on urgent business and was sent by King Lu. Look at this tile." Xie Cheng Dong was feeling rather anxious, but he masked it well with a complacent look. He then retrieved the golden tile and showed it to them.

Under the lights of the lantern, the tile shimmered and gleamed. When the guard saw this, he hurriedly spoke, "I shall open the gates at once. However, I can only open the small side door."

Xie Cheng Dong nodded and felt a gust of wind blow past him, which caused him to shiver. When the door opened, he stepped out.

As soon as he left the compound, he felt immediate relief as his body relaxed considerably.