Chapter 225: Wu Hengyu Held Back
In the 5th year of the Tong Zheng Calendar, April, from the perspectives of all sides under heaven, Chong Land in the south was preparing for its battle of survival; thus they all turned their attention to the situation in the east, after all, the Wu Brothers were inseparable back then.
But at this time, Hengyu did not take the opportunity to advance westward. Because in Yao Capital, King Xu Si suddenly turned traitor, and showed no mercy to Hengyu who had once supported him, denouncing Hengyu with eight major crimes: the first was leaking the Son of Heaven’s imperial aura; the second was plundering the state altars’ heavy treasures; the third…
For Hengyu, who was in a state of “strategic conservatism,” collective unrest appeared under his command, demanding to send troops to clear the king’s side.
Inside Bo Kingdom, everyone followed Hengyu’s lead, elevating his prestige extremely high; over these years, the exaggerated public opinion made it seem as if the entire Bo army was propped up by Hengyu alone carrying the cauldron with his prestige! Hengyu was the sacred and inviolable “tower,” and if anyone dared to touch it, the Bo army must retaliate.
Why? Because once a person steps into the spotlight, they will inevitably face “mixed praise and criticism”; when the stubborn Hengyu fully accepted this excessive praise, then those who excessive praise Hengyu could, in foreign affairs, use the pretext of “Hengyu’s dignity being offended” to drag Hengyu into sending troops.
The modernization of industry and commerce in Bo Prefecture that Xuan Chong left behind, which fit with the military, naturally developed into “militaristic” fanaticism. This was fanaticism toward weak enemies, but hesitation and speculation toward strong enemies.
After the goods of merchants on the Bo Prefecture line from the Yao Capital direction were looted, merchants immediately ran to Prince Bo’s Mansion to cry and complain, saying in their speech, “This isn’t just kicking my butt, this is slapping your face!”
Thus after April, as public sentiment in Bo Prefecture boiled over, Hengyu’s corps moved! But it did not go straight to Heluo, instead directing its blade edge southward. The reason was that the Yan Family supported King Xu Si’s rebellion in the north. The Yan Family now controlled Ning Prefecture, Yu Prefecture, and Ji Prefecture, three prefectures, and Hengyu was attacking Yu Prefecture.
…five hundred thousand cash, spread rumors…
After confirming that Hengyu’s troops began heading south to conquer Yu Prefecture, Zhao Cheng was somewhat surprised, but everything was still within his plan.
Regarding Bo Prefecture there, Zhao Cheng had “agents” at work.
King Xu Si’s rebellion was instigated by the “agents” spending a fortune, with the purpose of forcing Hengyu’s troops to move. This was originally a backup plan to be used when preparing for a decisive battle with Hengyu! But now with Xuan Chong’s return, it had to be activated early.
Regarding the decisive battle with Hengyu, Zhao Cheng’s plan was very clear: create a “strategic trap” to pin Hengyu’s invincible blade edge in one place.
Heluo, where Yao Capital is located, was a good trap; due to its imperial aura being leaked by Hengyu, the noble families, great clans, and common people there were all unwilling to have further dealings with Hengyu, so if Hengyu’s troops came, they would inevitably face his former mess and be bogged down for a long time.
And now Hengyu had not returned to Yao Capital, but gone to Yu Prefecture; this was not bad for Zhao Cheng either, because at least for the next half year, Hengyu would have no time to deal with him.
Zhao Cheng mobilized the troops in the west, almost imitating Xuan Chong’s management (old version), issuing total mobilization and beginning to control the strategic materials’ vehicles and horses in several prefectures.
Of course, Zhao Cheng detonating the “mine” he had planted ahead of time like this was out of necessity. After all, Xuan Chong had immediately started stirring up wind and clouds upon returning from the south.
In the eyes of people under heaven, right now it was a dragon-tiger struggle for supremacy, with Hao as the dragon and Bo as the tiger.
Xuan Chong, this dog, popping out from the west, disregarding the dragon’s tail sweep, inserting himself into this hegemony struggle, was assisting Hengyu.
Zhao Cheng: “Heh, in the past among the Wu Brothers, Yuan Chang always assisted Hengyu (in campaigns), to the point that the world was mistaken.”
…perspective shifts to the southeast front…
In the 5th year of the Tong Zheng Calendar, May, Hengyu’s army of twenty thousand marched toward Yu Prefecture in the south. The military camp was filled with joy, just like when Xuan Chong sent troops to the southern border back then, with the same military bearing. —Now the ones stationed in the southern border were all second-rate corps.
Hengyu’s army went south along the waterways, after all, his favorite “Yu Li” belonged to water, and he himself had come through via the water vein of the great grotto-heaven.
At this time, the merchants in the Bo army responsible for water transport were those who had redeemed Eastern Market Army military vouchers when Xuan Chong went north to Bo Prefecture.
At this time, these merchants’ cargo ships were stacked high, but their ambitions were piled even higher.
Unlike the commerce situation in Chong Land, where Xuan Chong constantly “optimized” (cut the leeks) the merchants frequently; these merchants in the north who attached themselves to the Eastern Market Army had always been firmly rooted.
The business environment for these merchants had always been very favorable, without things like Xuan Chong’s “anti-monopoly, forced sales zoning” or “forced diversification of all commercial sales channels.”
Hengyu’s “lenient governance” allowed Bo Prefecture to form eight great powerful merchants, each of whose operations involved multiple industries like “salt, iron, medicinal materials, cloth, wood, jade,” developing into a monster.
Over these many years, this monstrous commercial organization had long become an indispensable pillar of the Eastern Market Army.
Of course, powerful merchants who were not regularly cut like leeks, once they had more money and greater power, naturally wanted more say.
In this southward war now, they needed to first sort out some power of speech internally.
In the southward army, the heads of the eight great powerful merchants were gathered in a small merchant ship. Besides their headgear, their clothing looked not much different from the cooks outside. This was the traveling merchant style promoted back when Xuan Chong was there. But what they were discussing now were all sky-high prices.
Powerful Merchant 1: “For this Yu Prefecture campaign, I’ll provide seventy percent of the southward ships, seventy percent (holding up fingers), I don’t want much share, just this amount!” He held up one hand.
Powerful Merchant 2 disdainfully tossed a peanut into his mouth in mockery: “You say this amount and it becomes this amount? When the army mobilizes, it’s just ships? The southward packhorses, cloth bags, wagons, which aren’t key to materials transport?”
Powerful Merchant 3 to Powerful Merchant 2 who was cracking peanuts: “The Long family seems to have a lot of boldness— (Powerful Merchant 3 was quite dissatisfied with Powerful Merchant 2 suddenly acquiring multiple hemp spinning factories on his commercial turf right before the war)”
At this time Powerful Merchant 4 saw signs of a quarrel: “Gentlemen, business is for everyone to do together; let’s not take things to Prince Bo. I suggest we all privately shake hands (hands gesturing their desired prices inside sleeves).”
As the eight sleeves intertwined, clearly there was no sincerity, so everyone smiled, meaning each would rely on their own abilities.
…from commerce to military…
The army led by Hengyu camped along the Jing River bank, and his feng shui map showed a city of Yu Prefecture ahead.
On the Yao Capital side, King Xu Si had rebelled, but for Hengyu, Yao Capital was something to be crushed effortlessly.
According to Hengyu’s personality in his early years, for these people who betrayed him, there was only harsh revenge, killing all who were unconvinced. But now over forty, he finally put away the butcher’s knife in his hand.
After transmigrating from the original world, Hengyu had always vaguely felt that his arch-nemesis would also transmigrate here.
In his youth, he had wondered if this person was his clan younger brother. But after decades of interaction, he confirmed “Xuan Chong” was not; Xuan Chong had never competed with him for the top spot, even now avoiding him—after he claimed the title of king, Xuan Chong was merely a “duke” in south Chong Land.
Now he was certain: his arch-nemesis was actually Hao State’s Great General. The two were fated mortal enemies.
Hengyu looked at the silk book. The events in Yao Capital now brought more memories of his previous life to the forefront of his mind.
Hengyu: “It seems he laid out this trap for me just like in his previous life.”
Hengyu looked toward Yu Prefecture and murmured: “In this life, you’re called Zhao Cheng? Mm, yes, that name fits; in the previous life, I always underestimated you. In this life, I won’t let you set up another ten-sided ambush.”
…commerce influenced the military…
On May 14th, the Bo army bypassed Zhao Cheng’s barrier belt, with fifteen thousand troops attacking head-on and five thousand flanking to the rear side of Yu Prefecture, three cities completely blasted open by cannon fire, then taken in one battle.
After the Bo army went south, it bombarded the core city of Yu Prefecture.
The standardized artillery siege system left by Xuan Chong was still operating, which meant that Wu Hengyu’s corps was no longer “ant climb” in recent years.
Cannonballs smashed onto the city battlement one after another, the royal banner on the city wall was already swaying in chaos, and the defending soldiers in Yu Prefecture had all discarded their armor, because armor was useless under cannonballs.
Once the Eastern Market Army climbed the city wall, they planted their flag on it within minutes; however, this army soon busied itself discussing the allocation of slaves and maidservants in the city.
In recent years, mountain top-ism was very serious in the troops under Wu Hengyu; each military general had different merchant relations behind them, so some interest allocation issues became even more complicated.
The Eastern Market Army lacked a mechanism like Xuan Chong that could quickly and clearly adjudicate the allocation of spoils of war. This meant that after capturing one place, the troop could not swiftly attack another place; the military camp had to internally calculate carefully before launching an offensive.
Therefore, after Wu Hengyu captured Yu Prefecture, the plan to further strategically maneuver around the Heluo barrier to attack Zhao Cheng’s heartland could not be completed in time.
…religion and politics…
When Wu Hengyu’s Bo Army was in the decisive battle at Zhenzhou False Hao, it did not march east to cooperate with Xuan Chong, which was partly related to the sects.
After all, in the struggle for the great momentum under heaven, some sects were backing Zhao Cheng, while other factions placed their chips on Wu Hengyu. For example, outer sect disciples from forces like Cixin Sect were in the Eastern Market Army.
As for why these sects, in the conflict between the two Wus under heaven, were only willing to support Wu Hengyu?
The high-sounding reason was that the five great orthodox sects had long blacklisted Wu Yuanchang, who was willing to make peace with the southern barbarians. Northern Daoist sects like Cixin Sect, in order to connect branches with the righteous path, also abandoned Xuan Chong.
But this was actually unconvincing. Because according to this logic, the reason Wu Yuanchang fell out with many sects was “Wu Hanluan dabbles in the evil path.” If Cixin Sect’s Daoist disciples really wanted to connect branches, they should also abandon Wu Hengyu.
The real reason was: Xuan Chong, in the process of opposing the Daoist sects under heaven, chose to eradicate the root of the Daoist sects.
Xuan Chong greatly built “Liangtian Pavilion” schools in his territory, which in the eyes of the Daoist sects was greatly promoting the heterodox path; and the prosperity of the heterodox path was not just misleading disciples—it extended the human realm on a large scale to spiritual mountains and great rivers with heterodox equipment.
When wooden ox and flowing horse, mechanism birds entered the territory of the past immortal path, the killing intent of the human realm also permeated the spiritual veins everywhere.
Spirits do not contend with killing intent. When spiritual energy mixes with killing intent, the magic of many Daoist orthodox sects becomes sluggish; and it becomes even harder for new entry disciples to draw qi into the body, to the point that many disciples are lured by demons of the evil moon into seeking quick success and taking shortcuts onto the evil path.
Not to mention Xuan Chong’s words back then: “For the sake of the common people under heaven, please prioritize, immortal families.”
As the lord of auspicious qi, Xuan Chong’s “unrestrained words” were quite powerful; the major sects are now targeted by the gravitational pull of the evil moon.
The five major sects collectively entering the world—this matter is now seen by second generation disciples in the sects as related to Xuan Chong; in past great chaos under heaven, the major sects stayed aloof, directly closed their mountain gates, and waited for noble family disciples seeking refuge to join. But now—so they are actively coming out to compete for auspicious qi, leading to this great tribulation involving the immortal sects under heaven.
With the “Liangtian Pavilion” school in Zhenzhou producing larger and newer equipment to observe heaven and earth, processing many southern border resources like grass returning pills into “special tonics,” and creating dam models that cut off mountains and rivers.
Outer sect disciples sent by immortal orthodox sects are like “martial world quacks” swindling around, and even many outer sect disciples simply enrolled in Liangtian Pavilion. Outer sect disciples: This is not switching sects, it is going behind enemy lines.
Back then, Chan and Jie also “contended in the dao” like this with each other. Third generation disciples of the two sects switched camps in the “dao contention” to seek opportunities for the great dao. Of course, those who betrayed Jie to join Chan all survived, while those who betrayed Chan to join Jie all met bad ends.
In other words, in the eyes of the sects, the true cause of the great tribulation lies with Xuan Chong—promoting the heterodox path means eradicating the orthodox sects.
Perhaps after Xuan Chong’s defeat, when he retreats alone to the southern border, Cixin Sect will send disciples to resolve the karma from back then, or it might use Xuan Chong’s remaining auspicious qi (influence) to plan for the sect.
…Under dao contention, there is no friendship…
Just as Wu Hengyu captured Yu Prefecture city, the sect forces behind him were also taking action.
This was also the system left by Xuan Chong back then, namely that northern border armies must have accompanying Daoist priests go to the countryside to find suitable places on mountains to build Daoist temples, provide relief to boys, and open pharmacies. These outer sect disciples from northern sects all had some heterodox path to them to varying degrees! Of course, they were under inner sect control and currently did not dare to take a side in the “Chen Hao contention.”
After three cities in northern Yu Prefecture were captured, on Yaoguang Mountain, a cultivator with only Qi Refining Stage cultivation, who called himself Daoist Luo, discussed the current trends in mountains and rivers feng shui fortune with many fellow daoists in the mortal world,
After this outer sect disciple who called himself Daoist Luo activated the mountains and rivers verification calculation, the power of mountains and rivers operated, causing a low-frequency earthquake here, as if the heaven and earth were rumbling underground—this rumbling was like the earth’s whisper.
The great cultivators of profound cultivation from the major sects perform yao calculation with the stars in the sky, calculating “heaven’s mandate.”
Disciples entering the world from the mortal world hook onto the terrain with the human realm, calculating the direction of the “killing tribulation.”
One cannot disdain the yao calculation of these outer sect disciples just because great cultivators have higher cultivation, because their perspectives differ.
Those sect leaders calculating heaven’s mandate are like counting fish from the shore; the heaven’s mandate they calculate is like overlooking how many fish schools are in the water. It is certainly an overhead view of the water surface, but the undercurrents below cannot be known because they are unwilling to get wet.
While these disciples entering the world now, though low in cultivation like a small fish, are right in the mortal world, equivalent to fish in water, and can precisely feel the undercurrents of the killing tribulation.
However, as “small fish,” they can feel the undercurrents but cannot understand their source.
In the calculation, Daoist Luo saw that the “blood light disaster” over the heads of the local people was very thick, with a considerable portion coming from Wu Hengyu. Another thirty percent came from various sides under heaven. As for the remainder, it was local “mutual slaughter.”
He stared at the compass and sighed; in his understanding as a loose cultivator of such dao cultivation: the killing tribulation under heaven could not be resolved in the short term.
After Wu Hengyu enters Yu Prefecture, he will be entangled endlessly with Zhao Cheng in the west for decades—this place’s people’s blood light disaster is even more prolonged.
After the ritual ended, Daoist Luo came down the mountain and said to the Bo Army soldiers who followed: “Hao State is the general’s great enemy; please ask the general to make more preparations.”
The soldiers passed the message to a Bo Army general in the military camp five kilometers away.
This general put down the Daoist scripture in his hand, revealing a familiar face, Hong Qiang (Chapter 120).
After hearing the information verified by the Daoist sect disciple as narrated by the soldier, Hong Qiang frowned and said: “So, False Hao is our state’s ultimate enemy?”
Among the sect forces aiding Zhao Cheng in seizing auspicious qi, Wuyun Sect and Linghua Sect had already sent disciples to southern Zhenzhou to “follow heaven’s mandate.” The sect forces aiding Wu Hengyu were Qinghua Sect, Shaoyang Sect, and Cixin Sect.
In this “dao contention,” the high-level leaders of the major sects tried to connect branches. They discussed “everyone keep your subordinates in check, don’t recklessly stir up killing tribulations.”
But in fact, each sect’s outer sect disciples, as fish schools in the mortal world, formed one vortex after another amid the surging waves in the mortal world, and it was hard for them not to get caught up.
Such situations occurred back then in the “contention between Chan and Jie sects.”
Although the top great powers of Jie and Chan had already deliberated “yao prosperity and decline.” And the second generation great powers had always called each other senior brothers. But among the third generation disciples, due to serving different masters, differences arose, leading to fighting each other and falling into the killing tribulation.
Mortal world killing tribulation, like great waves, can flip the great cultivators on the ship at any time. At that point, “people” and “fish” are much the same.
At this time, the major sect leaders performing yao calculation on heaven’s mandate in heaven found the results of heaven’s mandate constantly wavering. It was not that the sky was obscured by clouds. Rather, the sects’ top great powers, with their “dry shore” underfoot, were not detached on the shore independent of the mortal world torrent—it was just a ship. Their disciples turned into fish underwater, pushing the ship to sway constantly.
…And with the ship swaying and fish startled, it is not just mortal world waves, but also black hands amid the spray…
In the military tent next door, this was a place that the sect disciples would never expect, where some heterodox path cultivators were also in Wu Hengyu’s military camp.
Daoist Xian wore a face mask and led a group of “undesirables” (a cultivation team from the heterodox path). These “undesirables” were previously Imperial Guards who followed Su Kang in doing evil.
After Ji Yan the Minister of Works’s counterattack and retaliation, they became homeless, like stray dogs. Later, through all sorts of bizarre encounters, they all invested themselves under Daoist Xian.
Some of them picked up fragments of a magic treasure, then swindled and deceived in the martial world for a while, and finally entered the army.
Others domineered in local mountain strongholds, and after being caught and sentenced to beheading, tried to play the trick of their head flying off and then flying back, only to be caught during conscription.
These “undesirables” who were incorporated each had unique skills, but tracing back to the source, the foundation they relied on was all the magic that Daoist Xian had secretly taught them while concealing his identity.
These old men who passed on the teachings included rune curse masters who had sealed various old ghosts in their bodies; pale-faced alchemists; puppet masters who walked with creaking sounds; and even gu masters whose ear holes had gu worms going in and out.
After they finally pledged allegiance to him, Daoist Xian still did not meet them in his true form as the one who passed on the teachings.
Daoist Xian greatly enjoyed this situation where “his subordinates carefully guarded their trump cards like treasures, and even occasionally tried to use those trump cards to play mind games on him.”
…Daoist Xian: The plot needs intense twists…
Just as the outer sect disciples of Cixin Sect verified the killing calamity on the common people through calculation, Daoist Luo was unaware that his clothes were stained with an immortal gu called the “Lingli Worm.” This gu could eavesdrop on sounds from a hundred li away. The worm would burrow under a person’s skin, vibrate to simulate the speaker’s voice, and relay the scouted information back to its master.
The gu breeder passed the message to Daoist Xian. Daoist Xian looked toward the horizon, at the place of those high-and-mighty Nascent Soul and above cultivators. Daoist Xian: “You all want to seize auspicious qi, but you are unwilling to get even a splash of water on yourselves.”
Daoist Xian revealed a mocking smile at the sect’s current situation of hesitation at the top and swords drawn at the bottom.
Daoist Xian ordered the disciple on his left, who was completely cloaked: “Xu, infiltrate Ning Prefecture City and pass a message to the cuckoo.”
That “undesirable” named “Xu” was stunned upon hearing this.
Daoist Xian looked at this former heir of Da Yao Commandery King and said mildly: “Da Yao still has a hundred years of auspicious qi left, and once this matter is settled, I will help you reconnect the marriage bond with her.”
This person named “Xu” was actually named Jia Qia Yang (Chapter 96). His body trembled. This puppet-like man seemed to have a spring wound in his heart, he raised his head revealing eyes full of anticipation, and then silently turned into a shadow and left.
While Daoist Xian was calculating his next move, suddenly the golden light on his body retracted, and he spat out a mouthful of blue blood.
He fearfully looked at a certain spot in the center of the Evil Moon in the Sky, his gaze filled with disgust.
There, the Chaos Green Lotus was thriving, with some branches extending from the domain of the Lord of Rot into the domain of Qing Bao Dao Venerable.
In contrast to the orthodox sects’ psychological irreconcilability toward “Nan Yi,” Daoist Xian felt physical discomfort toward Xuan Chong’s group.
Ever since the Evil Moon implanted the Chaos Green Lotus, Daoist Xian’s plans would immediately receive warnings whenever they involved Xuan Chong.
As such, people like Jia Mude and Gongshu Wang, who had previously delved into evil arts, had all their “world-shaking plans” forcibly frozen because they were connected to Xuan Chong.
However, in recent months, as Xuan Chong officially stepped into Under Heaven and all major events under heaven were drawn by “Nan Yi,” where was Xuan Chong not present?
The scope Daoist Xian could scheme was shrinking smaller and smaller, to the point where he now seemed more like a half-immortal jumping in a rural ritual, unable to ascend to the grand state altar platform.
…Butterfly flutters…
Just as the Yan Family was at a loss over Wu Hengyu’s sudden turnaround, the Tong Zheng Emperor and the imperial consort escaped Ji Prefecture and slipped from the Yan Family’s control. After traveling eight hundred li down the river, they were captured by Wu Hengyu.
Wu Hengyu was not interested in this chip that had bounced into his hands; after suffering a loss from King Xu Si, he planned to, once the warfare here was settled, give the Tong Zheng Emperor a cup of poisoned wine for good.
But Daoist Xian advised: “General, why not meet this former emperor and the imperial consort.”
Consort Li met with Wu Hengyu. In the military tent, she carefully explained everything to Wu Hengyu.
No one knew what happened, but the usually decisive Wu Hengyu was actually persuaded.
After leaving the tent, he instructed his attendants: “Treat the Tong Zheng Emperor well.”
Through the Yao Calculation of the Minister of the Astrological Bureau, Wu Hengyu confirmed the blood connection between the Tong Zheng Emperor and his own family, and revealed an amused smile: “Not bad, truly an unexpected delight.”
…Losing the protective talisman, the ant about to be crushed…
The Yan Family of Ning Prefecture belatedly learned that the Tong Zheng Emperor and his mother were gone. Just as the head of the Yan Family furiously ordered “bring back the man alive or the corpse dead,”
This lord of the Yan Family looked at the remnant map of Mountains and Rivers and State Altars, where his territory now showed spiderweb-like cracks.
