Chapter 369: Chapter 201: Laying the Cards on the Table_3
Translator: 549690339
Later, while waiting, he received news that Lu Yuan had surprisingly made an engagement with the traitorous Poison Sect to marry their Inborn Saintess Lan Cai’er.
Needless to say, when this news reached Shangguan Ming, he was infuriated.
Putting aside his plans to marry his daughter to Lu Yuan and the resentment from losing an excellent prospective son-in-law, he was also furious at the feeling of being played.
Now, about the Poison Sect – these rebels had managed to stir Dongting County into its current disastrous state, and even the court’s current difficult situation couldn’t deny their achievements.
However, their General of the Southern Expedition would disregard all of this, privately reconcile with the rebels, and even form a marriage alliance.
What was he trying to do?
Did he want to emulate the Poison Sect and plot a rebellion?
Shangguan Ming thought that General Lu Yuan, having broken through to the Inborn realm, had become too arrogant.
He didn’t understand his true position and even had the audacity to attempt to challenge the court’s authority.
“Does this child think that by becoming an Inborn Grandmaster, he can defy the court?”
What would it matter even if he marries the Poison Sect’s Saintess?
Even so, they would only have two Inborn cultivators.
Now that the court’s army of 100,000 is pressing in, even without him, there are still six Inborn Grandmasters in Dongting County.
With such strength, wouldn’t he think that his mere two Inborn cultivators and a ragtag army of tens of thousands could stand against them?”
This was Shangguan Ming’s words on the day when he received the news of Lu Yuan’s engagement to the Poison Sect, smashing his book in rage.
After cursing a few times, he quickly penned letters to Lu Yuan, reproaching him for his actions.
He wanted to persuade the General of the Southern Expedition not to make such a foolish move at this time, lest he would lose everything and fall into an irreparable state.
At the same time, Shangguan Ming urgently sent letters to the court, informing them of the current events so they could be prepared.
However, when these letters reached Lu Yuan, they naturally sank like stones into the ocean.
“At this point, Shangguan Ming still wants me to break off the engagement with Poison Sect and capture the rebels, sending them to the court for punishment.”
That day, as Lu Yuan gifted Yan Wangqiu and Su Xuange with a garden stroll, he casually took out the letter Shangguan Ming had sent just yesterday, and laughed, “It seems that our actions have yet to be noticed by the court, which is a good thing.”
Yan Wangqiu also took out a letter and said to the two, “What a coincidence. Shangguan Ming has also sent a letter to me, saying that I should keep an eye on Brother Lu’s movements. And if Brother Lu has any ulterior motives, I shouldn’t hesitate to take him down directly.”
He continued, “He will lead his troops to come and assist in controlling the situation, taking over the six government offices in the county.”
Over the past few days, the relationship between the three had grown closer, and they began to address each other as brothers.
Seeing this, Su Xuange couldn’t help but smile: “The court’s slow reaction is the best news for us. By the time their large army arrives and sees the combined forces of our three allies and the support of the Poison Sect, their faces will be quite interesting.”
In his heart, Sect Master Su was somewhat discontent with the court.
The reason for this discontent was very simple.
That was, the court’s plan to gather the ten great Grandmasters and establish four nations did not include his Nine River Sword Sect.
Such a grand plan, which promised kingdom-building for the four Grandmasters, had not involved his Nine River Sword Sect.
Indeed, the last person of the ten Grandmasters’ plan was from Guanhai Villa, not the Nine River Sword Sect.
Did they look down on Su Xuange or think that the Nine River Sword Sect wasn’t up to par?
Although it was possible that the court thought the Nine River Sword Sect was hard to persuade and decided to support their closer Guanhai Villa, this still left Su Xuange unhappy.
It made him feel disregarded and humiliated.
Especially when facing Lu Yuan and Yan Wangqiu, who were both invited as allies, he felt even worse that only he was not invited.
To a martial artist, a person from the Jianghu, feeling that they have lost face will naturally seek to recover it.
At this point, Su Xuange thought the way to regain face would be by giving the court a good slap in the face.
Hey! Were they looking down on him, not even offering him half a county?
Fine, he wouldn’t want a half-county this time, as he wasn’t interested in that.
He would just take an entire Yulin County from them. How surprising would that be?
Su Xuange thought maliciously in his heart.
Yan Wangqiu, on the other hand, chuckled and said, “Naturally. Who would have thought that the court originally believed they could muster seven Grandmasters and more than two hundred thousand troops.
But when they arrive in Dongting County, they’ll find they can only muster five Grandmasters and just over a hundred thousand troops.
And what they’ll face is not only five Grandmasters and three hundred thousand troops from the Zhou People but also four Grandmasters and seven hundred thousand troops from our side.”
The enemy’s strength had doubled, while their own had greatly diminished.
Yan Wangqiu thought that if he were the court, he would surely be fuming on the spot.
Speaking of which, Yan Wangqiu waved the letter in his hand and asked, “Brother Lu, do I need to reply to this letter to deceive Shangguan Ming and prevent our intentions from being exposed too soon?”
Lu Yuan shook his head, “There’s no need to bother with him. We have reached this point, and hiding our intentions any longer would be useless. We might as well take this opportunity to show our cards to the court. Let them have some time to clearly understand the situation and carefully weigh their options – whether to fight or negotiate with us.”
Yan Wangqiu asked, “Should Brother Su and I release some information first?”
Su Xuange also came forward.
“Yes, test the waters over there first.”
Lu Yuan nodded in agreement, and then brought up another matter, “Starting tomorrow, I will have to leave for Luling to eliminate the Iron Sword Sect. I will be gone for more than ten days, so the situation here will be in the care of my two elder brothers.”
Lu Yuan shared the matter of wiping out the Iron Sword Sect with his allies without hiding anything.
The external excuse was also quite simple, as the large army was running out of supplies and needed to take down this top-tier sect to borrow their resources for emergency use.
With such a justified reason, Yan Wangqiu and Su Xuange naturally had no objections, agreeing to it early on, and even offering their tacit support.
However, amidst their silent support, they couldn’t help but feel worried.