Chapter 1715: Foot of the Mountain

Zu An rolled his eyes and replied, “Am I someone who would abuse my master and ancestors?”

Mi Li figured that made sense. She had just said it in passing, anyway.

The two spoke a bit more about various things that had happened as of late, and other matters related to cultivation.

“Big brother Zu~” a beautiful figure riding a vermilion horse called out as she rushed over. She had long legs and a slender waist, and rode atop a large and tall horse with tremendous mastery. She looked like a valiant and powerful female general.

“And there’s another woman looking for you,” Mi Li said, then rolled her eyes and disappeared.

“Little sis Qinghe, brothers Qin!” Zu An greeted them, cupping his hands. Apart from Murong Qinghe, the Qin clan brothers had also come.

𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

The brothers both returned the greeting. The way they looked at him was extremely conflicted, however.

Murong Qinghe spoke her thoughts first. “Big brother Zu, I heard that you became the Fiend races’ Regent?”

Zu An was stunned. He replied, “Even you guys have heard about that?”

“It was true?” Murong Qinghe cried out in alarm. Her pretty face was full of shock.

It wasn’t just her; even the usually composed Qin Guangyuan was currently really shaken up. Meanwhile, the frivolous Qin Yongde was even more stupefied. He was so shocked he couldn't even say a thing.

After all, the Qin clan was already practically one of the Great Zhou Dynasty’s greatest clans. With such a family background, they were already pretty much the most prestigious of young masters! They had previously viewed this ‘brother-in-law’ of theirs from a lofty position, and had even felt a bit of disdain toward him. And yet, Zu An had displayed shocking talent, so their opinions had subsequently improved for the better. Even so, there was no way they would look up to him or anything like that.

But now that they had learned that he was actually the Fiend races’ Regent, they truly felt inferior. When the difference in status was too great, sometimes, there wouldn’t even be any feelings of jealousy.

“It was nothing more than a coincidence. It’s not that big of a deal,” Zu An said humbly.

“What do you mean, it isn’t that big of a deal?!” Murong Qinghe cried. She immediately began to pester him about how he had become the Regent. Because of Chu Youzhao, her relationship with Zu An had also grown closer. Furthermore, Chu Youzhao wasn’t here, so she had already returned to her tomboy behavior. She almost put her arm around Zu An out of sheer enthusiasm.

The Qin clan brothers were also curious. They both asked about the subject as well. Helpless to do anything else, Zu An could only tell them about the events in the Fiend races’ territory.

At the same time, he learned from them that a huge disturbance had happened in the capital not too long ago. Several important ministers had once again appealed to the emperor to send King Qi back to his own fiefdom instead of allowing him to stay in the capital. Previously, King Qi’s faction and the emperor’s faction had constantly entered a heated debate over that matter. Both sides had even started quoting the classics. But now that King Qi’s side had weakened so greatly, they clearly didn’t have as much influence as before.

Meanwhile, King Qi had also personally expressed that he would return to his fiefdom. After he attended the Fengshan Ceremony, he would return directly to his land and not the capital.

The Qin clan brothers sighed, saying regretfully that it was the end of an era. At the same time, they were full of worry regarding the future. After all, the Qin clan was part of King Qi’s faction. Now that King Qi had left the capital, it signified his defeat. That meant the Qin clan would experience the consequences of following him not long after.

…

A few more days passed, and the emperor’s group arrived at Yi Commandery. King Yan had already come out ahead of time with his men to welcome them. Thus, they entered the city.

The emperor privately criticized King Yan, as the uprising that had taken place was crossing the line a bit. King Yan appeared to be overcome with fear and trepidation, but he actually sighed inwardly in relief. After all, the fact that the emperor was willing to scold him meant that the matter was already a thing of the past.

Sure enough, the emperor merely applied a few punishments to King Yan Manor that were neither too severe or too light. At the same time, he shuffled around some of the people in Yi Commandery’s officialdom. He didn’t actually do that much to King Yan Manor. People all knew the emperor’s intentions, so they didn’t tactlessly say anything.

Zu An watched with the cool gaze of a bystander. He just felt that the atmosphere was a bit weird. Rarely would one get a chance to see King Qi and the emperor’s faction on such good terms.

Mi Li said in his mind, “This isn’t that strange. Right now, both King Qi and the emperor want to get rid of each other, and they’re about to reveal their cards. In such a critical moment, they naturally don’t want to take the risk of offending any major powers on the other side. Otherwise, what if they end up supporting the other side?”

Zu An nodded inwardly. As expected, the stronger you were, the more people would want you on their side no matter where you went.

Just then, an official suddenly arrived to report on an important military matter. It turned out that Yi Commandery had discovered the main force of a rebel army nearby. The leader was none other than Lu Sanyuan. There were many branches of the rebel army in the world, but Lu Sanyuan was their leader. It was rumored that he and the Devil Sect were closely linked. Not only was his cultivation high, he was also good at using weaponry. The official armies had suffered quite badly at his hands.

Zhao Han promptly ordered King Yan to put down the chaos. King Yan said, sounding troubled, “Your majesty, from what I know, it doesn’t seem to be Lu Sanyuan’s rebel army alone! The mountain and forest bandits have all gathered nearby, as if some kind of incredible treasure had appeared here or something. Previously, Zhang Jie’s rebellion caused our King Yan Manor to suffer quite considerable damage. Right now, my manor’s strength alone might not be able to deal with just that demon Lu Sanyuan, let alone so many rebel armies!”

Zu An recalled what happened when he had rescued Xie Daoyun. He knew that what King Yan said was indeed the case. Bandits and rebels from all over had been gathering in this region. They all wondered who could be spreading such a rumor to draw them over.

Zhao Han asked the corresponding officials for some intelligence and realized that what King Yan said was true. As such, he ordered the Left Guard General Lu He to lead the capital’s six main armies to coordinate with King Yan. In truth, he was also aware of what King Yan really wanted, to use the chance to take Yi Commandery’s troops under his command. However, how could he possibly allow King Yan to grasp two entire armies in his hand at the same time?

King Qi spoke up in opposition and said, “Brother emperor, the six main camps are to ensure your majesty’s safety. If the main forces are transferred away, wouldn’t that be rather unsuitable?”

Zhao Han smiled and said, “Thank you for your worries, King Qi, but even without the six main armies, we still have the Right Guard General Guo Zhi and Supervisor of Attendants Murong Tong’s troops. Furthermore, with this emperor’s cultivation, is there a need for such protection?”

King Qi bowed and said, “What brother emperor says is indeed the case. It was I who was worried for nothing.”

The brothers Liu Yao and Liu Guang both offered to help shoulder the burden, saying that they were going to put down the revolt together. They figured that dealing with the rebels with the six armies would be a breeze. There was no better chance for them to rack up military achievements. Furthermore, their official ranks just happened to make them the six main armies’ direct superiors. That was why assuming such a role was also reasonable.

Zhao Han remained quiet for a moment, then agreed.

Only King Yan and Lu He both frowned. These two idiots always managed to screw things up somehow. They were worried that the two could become a hindrance. However, because of their pride in their high positions, they didn’t continue to argue.

…

Just like that, the Liu clan brothers took half of the main army and left, while the rest of the procession continued the march to Violet Mountain. A few days later, they finally arrived at the foot of Violet Mountain.

Zu An looked worriedly at the golden peak hidden within the clouds. He wondered if Yun Jianyue and Qiu Honglei were still there. If they bumped into Zhao Han, there really wouldn’t be anywhere to run. There were also Chuyan, Manman, and the others. He wondered if they had left the daoist secret dungeon yet.

On top of that, big sis Yan was also there…