Reducing a Big Problem into a Small One
“He… is planning an insurrection?” Frankly, anyone would’ve jumped to the same conclusion after what they heard, so Master Qi asked a perfectly reasonable question.
“Would you believe me if I said, ‘No’? As soon as the taskforce was formed, they clashed with Blue Prince’s forces.”
“Blue Prince? They clashed with the prodigy among the Princes?!”
“Unfortunately. Blue Prince’s fief is in Beiping. Could he overlook an army numbering ten thousand? As soon as he started looking into it, they clashed.”
“You need to save your grandaunt as soon as possible, then.”
“Save her? She said it’d make for the perfect opportunity to train troops. She absolutely relished the beating her group dished out; she even pursued them all the way to Blue Prince’s manor and nearly kidnapped the Prince. My third brother told me that the imperial court and Blue Prince thought the force was Fiends’ Genesis’ trump card, so they’re preparing to assemble a reinforcement platoon.”
Beiping wasn’t too far from Jinyong, which was a city by the border, so it effectively acted as the second layer of defence against Beijiang. Emperor Yuansheng once planned to move the capital to Beiping. Thus, the fact that he entrusted it to Blue Prince said a lot about his evaluation of Blue Prince. Blue Prince wasn’t most respected for his competence as a military leader but his unblemished record against foreign forces. Yet, he suffered his first defeat at the hands of Mount Daluo, not to mention his opponent only fought him in the spur of the moment. Moreover, Mount Daluo managed to assemble a force of ten thousand within the span of one mere month. If the imperial court found out, “terrified” would be understating how they felt once they found out they were oblivious such a big force was hiding in the martial world the entire time.
“This is a secret of secrets. Don’t tell anyone else about this.”
Master Qi nodded, mind still occupied with marvelling over the achievement. “Wait, why are you still here, then?! Why aren’t you stopping them? Your first brother is fine.”
Even if Mount Daluo’s patriarch was kidnapped, forming an army was overkill. The outside world had no place debating Mount Daluo’s decision to treasure Ming Feizhen, true. Mount Daluo marching on Fiends’ Genesis for kidnapping Ming Feizhen – fair. Those arguments, however, fell on their faces since Ming Feizhen was fine! As a matter of fact, he and a lady were…
Blue Prince practically bit the dust for no sound reason. If the imperial court’s forces joined the fray, then they were fighting for the wrong reasons, too.
“I’ve already written a letter I planned to have delivered, but what if something happens before the letter reaches her? That’s why I was going to ask Leader if I should personally deliver it. If Grandaunt reaches Jiangnan, forget Fiends’ Genesis, we might as well go all the way and revolt.”
Master Qi nodded since she didn’t have a better solution, but she then shook her head. “How are you going to deliver it? You’re still recovering yourself. You’d be slower than a pigeon.”
Hong Jiu had the same concern. His qinggong was compromised due his injuries. Hai Yecha’s group were still around and capable enough to starch him. With that said, he wasn’t privy to the circumstances in Beiping. If someone killed the pigeon before it could deliver his letter, then a disaster was inevitable.
“That’s why I want to talk to Leader about it, but he’s busy…”
“Just go talk to him!”
“Pass me the letter.”
Master Qi and Hong Jiu ripped her heads up upon hearing the third voice, smashing their heads onto the base of the bed.
“It’s me.”
When the duo crawled out with their hands on their heads, they saw exactly who they thought it was – Tianhu. While Master Qi was curious about when he arrived, Hong Jiu’s focus was elsewhere.
“You eavesdropped on us? You bring shame to The Ultimate Three name.”
“You two barged into my room to discuss a secret. How is it my fault?”
Master Qi: This is his room?
“Let’s just get to the point. Leave it to me. Hong Jiu, give me the letter. I’ll deliver it.”
“I can’t tell if you’re serious or not. My grandaunt hates your guts as much as possible. What do you plan to do?”
Tianhu sneered. “She hates me? I don’t like her, either. As for what I’m going to do, I’m just going to make her stop and then push all the blame onto Fiends’ Genesis. Doesn’t that solve the issue?”
“You want to frame Fiends’ Genesis? That idea is so… damn ingenious. Wait, wait, wait, is it really that simple?”
“Also, why are you helping? You’re with Emperor’s Entourage. Aren’t you Liu Shan Men’s competition?” added Master Qi.
“Because it’s too troublesome.” Tianhu heaved a tired breath. “I’ve heard what you mentioned. The next developments are easily predictable. Since I’ve gotten involved with Fiends’ Genesis’ activities, the imperial court will send me on subjugation jobs, which, simply put, is too much trouble. The matter is a product of misunderstandings, so what’s there to resolve? Why not just blame Fiends’ Genesis for all of it? They need to be destroyed one way or another, so they might as well take the fall for this, too.”
Tianhu, gaze on Hong Jiu, yawned before continuing, “Besides, I could reach Beiping in a day. You two? What do you think?”
Even though there was a risk of entrusting it to an unsolvable body of mystery, Hong Jiu didn’t have a better alternative, so he eventually asked, “Would you helping us…”
“Don’t worry. I don’t want Mount Daluo to perish yet.” Tianhu got up, took the letter from Hong Jiu’s shirt and droned with a smirk, “I hope your senior brother will be in different shape by the time I return.”
Master Qi asked, “So… your senior brother…”
Hong Jiu shook his head. “Since there’s no rush, let them sleep.”
Tianhu bobbed his head. “Them?”