Chapter 78: Whether Great Jing Is About to End is Up to Me
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
In June, the temperature was rising day by day.
In the throne room, the atmosphere was extremely oppressive. The officials were silent, and no one made a sound. Chen Li and Yang Che’s expressions were also extremely ugly.
Jiang Ziyu sat on the dragon throne and remained silent. He was expressionless, and no one knew what he was thinking.
At this moment, a civil servant stepped forward and braced himself. “Your
Majesty, why don’t we… re…”
He really could not say the last syllable.
According to the latest intelligence obtained by the White-robed Guards, the armies of the other four dynasties had crossed the northern region and were already stationed at the border. They already had more than three million troops stationed and their numbers were still increasing.
It was not five dynasties besieging Great Jing, but nine!
Other than the Chen Dynasty who had surrendered, there were still eight dynasties!
The war had continued for the past two years. Even though they had not suffered a crushing defeat, the casualties were quite tragic. The consumption of rations, military equipment, and horses was all high. There were already complaints among the people. And if this continued, the country would be unstable.
Jiang Ziyu shot a glance at the civil servant, scaring him into shutting his mouth. The latter hastily lowered his head as if he was in a cold cellar.
Han Tianji also had a gloomy expression and did not say anything. Such a situation was not something a good strategy could break through. The difference in strength was too great.
“Men, drag him down and give him eighty strokes with a staff!”
Jiang Ziyu said expressionlessly. As soon as he finished speaking, two guards ran in and dragged the civil servant away.
Since no one had pleaded for leniency, the civil servant did not dare to cry out injustice. At the very least, it was not a capital crime.
Jiang Ziyu swept his gaze across everyone and coldly said, “I will say it one more time. We are not allowed to retreat. If anyone else dares to surrender, they will be thrown into the prison and their entire family will be implicated.”
He stood up and looked down at the officials. “Eight dynasties have besieged Great Jing. Do you really think you can live in peace just because you surrendered? Great Jing has no way out. Either we stake everything and break through the enemy and fight to the end, or we die in humiliation!”
“Pass down my decree and recruit another million soldiers. Any sixteen-year-old man can join the army!”
“Retreat the troops from the Northern Zhou army and support the other battlefields! Tell the allied forces to attack the capital and that I will wait there!”
As soon as he said that, everyone was moved. The officials were all panicked and tried to dissuade him.
Once they gave way, the enemy would definitely march in and point their swords at the Si Province. If the Si Province was breached, the dynasty would be destroyed!
Han Tianji, Chen Li, and Yang Che all understood Jiang Ziyu’s intentions and remained silent.
At this point, they could only take a gamble!
Jiang Ziyu snorted. “I have made up my mind. The court is dismissed. The seven ministers will follow me into the imperial study!”
He flicked his sleeves and left. The officials knelt down and sent him off respectfully.
Under the Earth Spirit Tree, Jiang Changsheng sat in front of the medicinal cauldron while Li Jun stood by his side with his back bent.
“Right now, the enemy forces in the north are massive. Looking from afar, I can’t even count how many enemy soldiers there are. What I can be sure of is that there are not only the flags of the four dynasties, and the army of Great Jing near the North Zhou Dynasty is retreating. This is not good. Once they retreat, the enemy will definitely attack the Si Province.”
Li Jun was worried. The situation in the capital was not optimistic. Even the commoners could sense it, especially the people in the capital.
Jiang Changsheng stared at the medicinal cauldron and said, “It’s alright. They have yet to cross the border, right? Compared to thirty years ago, it’s nothing. At that time, Ancient Han and the Jin Dynasty had already entered the territory of Great Jing.”
Li Jun said helplessly, “But there are more enemies. Daoist Master, should we make preparations to evacuate the capital?”
Eunuch Li did not tell him about the relationship between Jiang Changsheng and Jiang Ziyu. Therefore, in his opinion, there was no need to stay in the capital all the time.
Jiang Changsheng replied, “There’s no need. If you’re afraid, you can evacuate your family first.”
Hearing this, Li Jun became anxious. “Daoist Master, how can I leave without you? In this life, I will definitely follow you and be by your side in life and death. Since you are unwilling to leave, I will not leave either.”
Jiang Changsheng glanced at him and smiled.
Then, Li Jun left in a hurry. He was prepared to recruit people without restraint. He could not sit still and wait for death.
Bai Qi clicked her tongue in wonder. “Don’t tell me the Emperor did it on purpose? He let the enemy come to the Si Province for you to kill?”
Right now, she had reach the point of blind worship towards Jiang
Changsheng, but even then, millions of troops sounded terrifying. In the face of such a force, she felt that Jiang Changsheng might not necessarily be invincible.
“Perhaps.”
Jiang Changsheng casually said. He did not care about the eight armies. He even hoped for more.
The more people there were, the more generous the survival rewards would be! He was waiting for the enemy to gather so that his survival rewards would reach an unprecedented peak.
Bai Qi rolled her eyes and said, “Daoist Master, do you need this servant to support Great Jing’s army?”
“There’s no need. You can guard the mountain. Besides, if a demon wolf like you were to go to the front line, it might cause panic.”
Jiang Changsheng answered. Recently, the number of martial artists in the capital had increased, and many of them had gone up the mountain many times. It was obvious that they were spies. But as long as they did not harm the disciples of Longqi Temple, he would turn a blind eye and let the enemy
investigate.
Even until their deaths, they did not expect that Jiang Changsheng was not at the Golden Body realm.
Bai Qi felt somewhat regretful. She was not a warm-hearted person. She just wanted to take this opportunity to make a contribution and then learn those demonic techniques from Jiang Changsheng.
Ming—
Suddenly, a hissing sound came from the sky, startling White Dragon. It raised its tongue and stuck out its tongue at the sky, only to see an eagle hovering above Longqi Temple.
The eagle suddenly released its claws, and a scroll fell from the sky and accurately landed in Jiang Changsheng’s courtyard.
Bai Qi immediately pounced over and grabbed it with her mouth before bringing it to Jiang Changsheng.
Jiang Changsheng took it and first swept the scroll with his spiritual energy to check if there were any danger. Even though he was strong enough, it was better to be careful.
Bai Qi clicked her tongue in wonder. “That eagle is rather intelligent. It’s very likely to be the martial eagle of the Martial Comprehension Valley. The Martial Comprehension Valley likes to declare war first. In the past, when they annexed martial arts sects, they would send their martial eagle to declare war first.”
After Jiang Changsheng confirmed that the scroll was not dangerous, he opened it.
“Immortal Master Changsheng, I am Wei Huo, the Valley Master of the Martial
Comprehension Valley. The Martial Comprehension Valley and the Star Gathering Tower have gathered together nine dynasties to fight against Great
Jing. I have also invited a Golden Body realm expert. At the beginning of August, when the army is done gathering, the Martial Comprehension Valley will follow the Golden Body realm expert and invade Great Jing. We will sweep all the way to the Si Province and turn the thirteen prefectures into a sea of corpses and a sea of blood. If you do not wish for Great Jing to be shattered, you can come and stop me. If you are afraid, you can also escape. The Martial Comprehension Valley will not hold a grudge against you for that. I hope you can make a careful decision!”
After reading this, Jiang Changsheng smiled.
Bai Qi came over to take a look and sighed. “No wonder they dared to invade. It turns out they have roped in a Golden Body realm expert. Aren’t they afraid that you will capture them all in one fell swoop? Daoist Master, a fierce battle is coming.”
Jiang Changsheng smiled and said, “Not bad. I look forward to it too.”
After saying that, he threw the scroll into the fire.
Looking at his smile, Bai Qi could not help but tremble.
What realm was he at?
When he heard that nine dynasties had joined hands with a Golden Body realm expert, he was fearless, expectant, and even eager to give it a try.
Could it be that he had reached the realm above the Golden Body realm?
Bai Qi could not forget Jiang Changsheng’s question to Yu Yanyi. He was very concerned about whether there were any martial artists above the Golden Body realm in the Chao Sects.
After thinking about this, she began to mourn for the Martial Comprehension Valley and the Star Gathering Tower.
They could have provoked anyone, but they had to provoke this Demonic Priest.
However, it was understandable from the perspective of the Chao Sects. After all, how could such a person exist?
Bai Qi looked at Jiang Changsheng’s side profile and secretly vowed to ride on his coattails. This was a huge opportunity.
Eight armies gathered, tens of millions of troops, and two Chao Sects!
With the exception of the North Zhou battlefield, the enemy forces in the other battlefields began to retreat, leaving only some troops to act as garrisons while the rest rushed to the North Zhou battlefield.
News spread like wildfire throughout the dynasty. The citizens were terrified, the soldiers were uneasy, and the martial arts world was in turmoil.
Complaints broke out everywhere, claiming that the Emperor was heartless and had brought such a calamity to the Great Jing. Jiang Ziyu had no choice but to retract his forces and suppress the territory first to avoid a huge disaster.
In the throne room.
At the start of the morning court assembly, a White-robed Guard delivered a secret letter. After Jiang Ziyu read it, his expression instantly turned ugly and his eyes were about to spit fire.
The civil and military officials had their own news sources. They did not need to read the letter to know the situation at the front line. The atmosphere was extremely depressing.
Recently, Jiang Xiu was allowed to go to court. He stood on the right side of the stairs and looked at his father worriedly.
Soon, another White-robed Guard came to deliver a letter. Jiang Ziyu glanced at it and put it down.
Jiang Ziyu glanced at the officials and said, “Are you afraid?”
The civil and military officials lowered their heads, not daring to look at him.
The aged Chen Li stepped forward and said, “The Chao Sects and the opposing dynasties have joined hands, and they deliberately spread the news. It’s obvious that they want to win without a fight. This shows that they are afraid of Great Jing and are afraid of paying a huge price. Now that they have gathered their forces, let’s gather as well. At most, we’ll fight to the death. It’s not impossible to win if we encounter each other on a narrow path!”
One of the officials could not help but mock, “How can we meet them on a narrow path? They have tens of millions of troops and the two Chao Sects have dispatched a large number of experts to support them. Won’t we be sending ourselves to our deaths if we clash head-on?”
Many people agreed with his words and spoke up one after another. Most of them complained about the enemy and the high-ranking officers, which almost angered Chen Li to death.
Jiang Ziyu said expressionlessly, “In the past, when the Jin Dynasty began to rebel, the Chen Dynasty’s royal family absconded overnight and gathered their forces in the north. In other words, the Jing Dynasty is still facing the forces of the nine dynasties and the rebellions from various places.”
He directly revealed the current predicament, causing the atmosphere in the court to be oppressive to the extreme.
Jiang Ziyu stood up and looked at the officials as he coldly said, “Do you really think that I am at my wit’s end and that my life is over?”
The officials did not dare to make a sound. Their attitude was obvious.
It was not that they were disloyal, but the current situation was beyond redemption.
Han Tianji broke the deadlock and said, “His Majesty still has some tricks up his sleeves. It’s not impossible to reverse the situation.”
A young civil servant mocked, “How to reverse the situation? Rely on your luck department?”
As soon as he said that, the other officials started to mock him.
The luck department was recently established. It was said that they would gather luck, but it had not been effective for many years. Moreover, the salary was very high, making the officials of the other six departments unhappy. Today, all of them exploded.
“Impudent! ”
Jiang Ziyu suddenly shouted angrily. The strength of a Heaven Arrival realm expert shocked the court, causing the ministers’ ears to ring. They were so shocked that they covered their ears.
King Kong’s Roar!
Jiang Ziyu glared at the officials with killing intent in his eyes and asked in a deep voice, “Are you trying to rebel?”
The officials knelt down and said in unison that they did not dare to do so.
They were also aggrieved and terrified.
“Who said that His Majesty can’t reverse the situation?”
A calm voice sounded and everyone turned around in shock. They saw a figure flying over from the clouds and into the throne room. After the clouds dispersed, he landed on the ground. Everyone widened their eyes at this scene.
It was Jiang Changsheng!
His robe emitted a faint light, making Jiang Changsheng look like an immortal.
When they saw this scene, the officials were shocked.
What did they see?
Flying on a cloud?
How was that possible?
What kind of martial arts technique was that?
Jiang Changsheng smiled and said, “Whether Great Jing is about to end or not, I have the final say. Longqi Temple has yet to retreat, so how can you admit defeat?”
The officials were shocked. Seeing this, Jiang Ziyu smiled, and Han Tianji’s lips curled up..
