Chapter 99: Each With Their Own Ambitions
Yi River surged, stars and moon lose their light.
In the stone cave, the Dao De Tianzun statue towering three zhang high gazed down with a smile at the ant-like crowd below, seemingly unconcerned by their conversation plotting to seize under heaven.
Hearing the Saintess’s answer, Pei Jiao furrowed his brows, pondered for a moment, and said: “Presumably the Xiahou Clan did not agree to your sect’s demands.”
“The Xiahou Clan has the confidence not to share, so it’s no surprise they refused.” The Saintess had no intention of hiding it and said candidly: “Your clan is not the Xiahou Clan, so the situation should be different.”
“My clan shares the same root with the Xiahou Clan,” Pei Jiao laughed: “Doesn’t the Saintess worry that if we obtain the thing, we’ll hand it over to the Xiahou Clan?”
“My master won’t misjudge people.” The Saintess was unperturbed: “If the Pei Clan has no ambition for under heaven, it wouldn’t be here.”
“Hahaha!” Pei Jiao burst into laughter: “Sect Leader Sun sees clearly as an observer!” Then he shook his head and sighed: “Even if my clan agrees to cooperate with your sect, the winning probability probably won’t be great.”
“Your clan should be well aware of the reason that when the snipe and clam fight, the fisherman reaps the benefits.” The Saintess said faintly: “Now the Initial Emperor has reached the end of his patience with the Xiahou Clan, and a fierce battle between them is inevitable. If your clan can’t be the fisherman, my sect won’t cooperate with you.”
“Sect Leader Sun sees clearly indeed.” Pei Jiao smiled faintly: “It seems the Saintess has a clear view of the capital city’s situation!”
“One who does not plan for the whole cannot plan for one region.” The Saintess said in a deep voice: “Your clan can take time to consider, but the changing situation probably won’t give your clan much time.”
“Indeed.” Pei Jiao nodded, deeply agreeing: “The capital city is already a stove piled high with dry firewood; a single spark will make the situation unmanageable.”
“So your clan should make plans early.” The Saintess nodded: “If your clan intends to cooperate, my sect hopes to see your clan’s sincerity first.”
“I knew it wouldn’t be that simple.” Pei Jiao chuckled wryly: “What does your sect want?”
“Very simple: in the provinces and commanderies controlled by your clan, there must be no more persecution of my sect’s followers.” The Saintess said softly: “Of course, my sect guarantees it will never threaten your clan’s rule.”
“Your sect’s scheme is clever: win the people and you win the land. Once under heaven is in chaos, won’t all my Pei Clan’s territory become your sect’s forbidden domain?” Pei Jiao sneered.
“Your clan lacks even this much confidence?” The Saintess huffed lightly.
“Very well, this old man will report the content of today’s conversation verbatim to the Clan Leader for decision.” Pei Jiao had already realized that though young, this Saintess was an extremely formidable figure. Moreover, the decision-maker was someone else, so saying more now was pointless.
“Fine.” The Saintess nodded: “These days, this seat will talk to a few more families. Before leaving the capital city, you can send someone to contact at any time.”
“I won’t keep the Saintess waiting long.” Pei Jiao said in a deep voice: “This old man will take his leave first.”
“No need to see you off.” The Saintess raised her hand slightly, watching Pei Jiao and the others disappear into the winding mountain path.
.
Following the road they came, Pei Jiao and his three returned to the carriage. After boarding, the old coachman drove the carriage toward the Pei Clan estate outside the capital city.
In the carriage, Pei Yukou finally spoke: “Father, I see Sun Yuanlang has no good intentions at all!”
“Of course, cooperating with him is like scheming with a tiger.” Pei Jiao wore a bitter smile: “But if under heaven is at peace, fine; once chaos arises, everyone will scramble to ally with him!”
In times of peace under heaven, with the Son of Heaven’s orthodox legitimacy, the Imperial Seal of the State isn’t that significant yet. But once Qin loses the deer and all under heaven hunts it, the Imperial Seal becomes Heaven’s Mandate and righteousness, the will of the people! Whoever holds it commands Heaven’s timing and popular support as the kingly teacher of destiny!
With the Imperial Seal in Sun Yuanlang’s hands, plus his extremely powerful strength, all the various clans except the Xiahou Clan must cooperate with him to achieve great things, coveting under heaven together.
“But whether they actually have the Imperial Seal is still unknown!” Pei Yukou said sullenly: “And from what they said, they won’t hand over the Imperial Seal until the final moment!”
“There’s only one Imperial Seal, and everyone wants it, so naturally we can’t push him too hard.” Pei Jiao sighed: “Fortunately, their demands aren’t excessive. Before, we turned a blind eye to Taiping Dao; now we’re just closing both eyes.”
“Father means the Clan Leader is likely to agree to Taiping Dao’s preconditions?” Pei Yukou asked in a deep voice.
“Probably.” Pei Jiao nodded: “If Taiping Dao sincerely allies, it would be a major strong support.” Then he lowered his voice: “As this old man knows, ten years ago, Sun Yuanlang proposed the same conditions to the Qianming Emperor. But before they could prepare, they suffered a joint strike from the various clans and Heavenly Master Dao, leading to failure to achieve success.”
“Sun Yuanlang is brilliantly intelligent and won’t stumble twice in the same place.” Pei Jiao didn’t hide his admiration for Sun Yuanlang: “This time, raising the old matter again, he must have made foolproof preparations.”
“That demonic Daoist truly has masterful schemes!” Pei Yukou conceded: “No matter who he ends up cooperating with, until it’s settled, not only the seven clans but even the Huangfu Family must tolerate Taiping Dao!”
“How could everything go his way?” Pei Jiao shook his head with a smile: “Under heaven always has nemeses who won’t buy his account!”
“Father means… Heavenly Master Dao?” Pei Yukou said softly.
Pei Jiao nodded approvingly; clearly, after his son clearly recognized the Xiahou Clan’s situation, he had grown a lot.
“But we haven’t seen any moves from them.” Pei Yukou was somewhat unconvinced: “Today’s Heavenly Master Xu Xuanji is a Grandmaster, but whether in martial arts or strategy, he’s far from comparable to Zhang Xuanyi.”
“As long as Zhang Xuanyi lives, Heavenly Master Dao is forever the embodiment of Heavenly Dao, invincible by anyone.” Pei Jiao’s understanding of Heavenly Master Dao was evidently much deeper than Pei Yukou’s. He looked intently at his three sons and said in a deep voice: “If Sun Yuanlang obtains the Imperial Seal, Taiping Dao truly threatens Heavenly Master Dao’s status; Zhang Xuanyi absolutely won’t sit idly by!”
“This is truly a good show.” Pei Yukou sighed: “Unfortunately, no one can stay out of it and watch quietly…”
“We’ll watch the good show for a while longer; it’s not too late to join later.” Pei Jiao said faintly: “This grand drama is destined to be extremely long; entering too early might mean exiting before the end.”
“Yes!” Pei Yukou nodded emphatically: “We still need the Xiahou Clan to go first!”
“After returning, you go to the Xiahou Clan as well.” Pei Jiao instructed in a deep voice: “No need to say much; just express loyalty.”
“Your son understands.” Pei Yukou replied softly.
.
Longmen Grottoes, before the Dao De Tianzun statue, the torches went out one by one; it was long deserted.
Several black-robed men nearly invisible in the night vigilantly guarded a pitch-black carriage, slowly traveling north on the road.
In the carriage, the Saintess still wore her veil, with a clear-browed, bright-eyed little maidservant kneeling beside her—the same one who had received her by Taihu Lake that day.
“Miss, I didn’t expect the Pei Clan to have designs on that thing too.” The little maidservant was evidently the Saintess’s right-hand woman, her eyes flowing with mature wisdom beyond her years.
“Who doesn’t want to obtain that thing?” The Saintess said faintly: “Even if we can’t get it, we absolutely don’t want others to have it.”
“The Sect Leader truly has a masterful move, dangling something we don’t even have, making all eight families in Luojing City unable to sit still.” The little maidservant chuckled: “I heard the Initial Emperor flew into a rage today; he must know the Xiahou Clan contacted us.”
“The Sect Leader is of course unparalleled in wisdom; the day of infighting among the eight families is not far off.” The Saintess said slowly: “This time, we can at least strive for two or three years for my sect to prepare for the coming chaos under heaven.”
“Two or three years?” The little maidservant said incredulously: “Can we fool them that long?”
“Of course we must seize the Imperial Seal back as soon as possible!” At this, the Saintess finally lost her calm, her anger rising: “Any news from Yuhang?
