“Your Highness… are we going to attack Yanyuan?”
“Does killing with a borrowed knife count as ‘attacking’?”
“……”
Deep within the secret chamber of Yeguang Palace, paper and ink lay scattered across the table. At the center was spread a map of the six nations covered in markings. The Moon Envoys sat around the table, and after nearly two hours of intense discussion, they were already leaning crookedly, collapsing sideways, and sprawled across the table in a scene of universal misery, as though Yu Gong Zhao Ye had gathered them up and beaten each of them one by one.
Two months earlier, in the deep mountains along Dongyu’s border, Yu Gong Zhao Ye, Cheng Yu, and Ying Yue had left the Heavenly Pit first. After coming out, he instructed Cheng Yu to pretend he had departed early, then lie hidden in the dark and observe Xie You Lan’s movements. At the same time, he ordered Ying Yue to immediately infiltrate Yanyuan and find a way to locate the Ten Aspects Sect’s secret stronghold on Yun Lake.
After returning to Bihan City from Xiling, Ying Yue sent back word confirming the location. Yu Gong Zhao Ye immediately led people across the lake from within Dongyu territory and landed on the island, sweeping the stronghold clean before Xiling’s shadow guards could arrive. Then, while the Yun Lake incident threw everything into chaos, they disguised themselves as Ten Aspects Sect members and slipped into Kongming Valley on Yanji Mountain. Kongming Valley’s terrain was precipitous, easy to defend and hard to attack, and it occupied an extremely deep and vast area. After scouting it, they unanimously concluded that it could not be taken by force, so they slipped onto a nearbymountain and manually created a landslide, burying Kongming Valley forever inside the mountain’s belly.
With thunderous speed, Yeguang eradicated the Ten Aspects Sect’s two great malignant tumors in one stroke, yet acted with extreme secrecy. They were simply like gods of death walking through the dark night, descending silently upon the mortal world and then quietly vanishing into thick fog.
Their hidden agents remained in Yanyuan and continued lying low, like drops of water entering the sea and dispersing among the crowd. Those without Yanyuan identities withdrew separately from different directions to avoid being tracked by pursuers, and only recently had they gathered again in Bihan City.
These two great achievements could already be called earth-shaking, but for Longsha, it was still far from time to rest easy.
Yu Gong Zhao Ye gathered all kinds of intelligence sent back from Yanyuan and presented it to the king, asking Wei Fu and other trusted high ministers to deliberate over the situation together. In the end, they settled on the next strategy: to break Yanyuan apart from within, let it rot internally, and ultimately collapse into pieces.
Yanyuan was mountainous and did not border the sea. It could not supply its own salt and needed to buy salt from neighboring Longsha and Dongyu. Ever since relations between the two nations had been severed after the great war, Dongyu had become Yanyuan’s only source of white salt.
However, the greatest wastrel in Yanyuan, the Ten Aspects Sect, had set its sights on the enormous profits in the salt trade. On the grounds that the war had consumed vast resources and the national treasury was empty, it incited the court to levy heavy salt taxes on salt merchants. At the same time, it organized its own Salt Hall and, under the name of the Ten Aspects Sect, exempted itself from heavy taxes, buying large quantities of white salt from Dongyu and reselling it to the common people.
The corruption of the Yanyuan court was famous among the nations. Even foreign envoys sent to Yanyuan would have a layer of skin scraped off them by officials under all manner of pretexts, and the Ten Aspects Sect, that only prized sapling of theirs, had every poison complete. Needless to say, there was layer upon layer of exploitation. Passing off adulterated goods and underweighing portions could even be considered minor offenses. The sect members even had to pay the sect an additional “salt-guiding fee”—meaning the Ten Aspects Sect had worked hard helping everyone buy salt, so the costs of carts, horses, and manpower should naturally be voluntarily shared and made up by the sect members.
Many commoners who could not afford salt spontaneously formed gangs to sell illicit salt, and the great salt merchants also grew increasingly dissatisfied with the ugly eating manners of the court and the Ten Aspects Sect. Dongyu did not care who the salt was sold to, but once there was too much illicit salt, the Ten Aspects Sect’s salt would inevitably rot in its hands.
They were unwilling to let go of this chunk of fat already in their mouths, so naturally they incited the officials, who likewise could not collect taxes, to use force to strictly ban illicit salt sellers. The conflict between the two sides grew fiercer by the day.
Present-day Yanyuan could be described as a land where jackals roamed everywhere and tigers and leopards ran rampant. Officials levied taxes harshly and extorted without restraint, while the Ten Aspects Sect had virtually become a second government office. Displaced refugees who had lost their land and homes could be seen everywhere. Some families had even starved to death entirely, and in order to exchange for a little money to survive, people would dismantle the bones of the dead and sell them to the Ten Aspects Sect to make ritual implements.
The aged Emperor Tianbao’s temper had grown increasingly perverse and unpredictable, and his suspicions were severe. In six years, he had changed chancellors four times. The crown prince and Prince Dai were locked in fierce struggle, the court situation declined by the day, and even the surviving subjects of the small nations once invaded and occupied by Yanyuan were beginning to stir restlessly. The people’s hearts were thus in chaos, to the point that even Longsha, an enemy nation, would have to look at it and say: how tragic.
Watching the spectacle was one thing, but no one could guarantee they themselves would not become part of the spectacle—what if Yanyuan, driven into a corner and struggling before death, once again turned its spearhead toward Longsha in order to ease its internal conflict?
The same move was no longer fresh. It would be very difficult for a situation like back then, where killing one person settled the world, to appear again. Therefore, this time, Yeguang had to dive beneath the water and become one current within the surging undercurrent, until the right moment arrived and they could raise a heaven-shaking wave in one stroke.
Half of Longsha’s borders were coastline, and what it lacked least was salt. Yeguang’s plan was for Ying Yue, Kui Yue, and Can Yue to assume false identities and disguise themselves as illicit salt sellers, then infiltrate Yanyuan amid the chaos, widely befriend other salt merchants and salt gangs, and, when necessary, incite them to launch uprisings in their local areas.
Can Yue, Bai Ling, stared blankly, trembling as he asked, “Is Your Highness really going to send us three melons and two dates to overturn Yanyuan?”
The Ying Yue siblings turned their heads at the same time, several pairs of large eyes looking toward him in unison. Yu Gong Zhao Ye suddenly choked.
If this were the old Bihua, such a sentence would absolutely never have appeared.
Xie Wang Shu’s style was of one line with the successive leaders of Bihua, and was even more forceful—if others had done it, then I could do it too; if no one had done it before, then I could do whatever I liked.
When fifteen-year-old Yu Gong Zhao Ye had gone to kill the leader of the Ten Aspects Sect, he had never once thought, “Can I do it?” The nation had been in imminent peril, the opportunity would come only once, and if they failed to seize it, everyone would become slaves of a conquered nation. Never mind that he was fifteen; even if he had been five, so long as he could lift the weapon, he would still have had to give He Lan Zhen Jia a strike. There was instead no need for too many concerns.
But the newly established Yeguang did not have that fearless spirit that feared neither heaven nor earth. Being too young and inexperienced was only one reason. The current situation was not as urgent as it had been back then, and long-term missions involving infiltration and planning were not the same as a single life-risking strike. In addition, over the years, all the nations, especially Yanyuan, had guarded strictly against the remnants of Bihua. The wall standing before them was, in truth, far thicker than before.
The instant that subconscious thought of comparison leapt out, Yu Gong Zhao Ye nearly wanted to slap himself.
Was Yeguang merely the last faint reflection of Bihua’s scattered radiance?
Toward that glorious past that could not be surpassed and could not be reproduced, was he missing it, criticizing, or fearing it?
As for Can Yue and the others’ overly harsh appraisal of themselves, was it really because they felt they were incapable, or was it because they had been influenced for so long by their leader’s attitude and suppressed by Bihua’s mighty reputation, making them feel that they were not trusted?
A few days earlier, when chatting privately, Wei Fu had once sighed that if the Ten Aspects Sect had expanded the way it did in its earlier years, spreading its business and branch halls all across the world and plundering wealth and population from neighboring nations, Yanyuan’s domestic situation would have remained much calmer, and its power would surely have strengthened further. Perhaps before long, it would once again have invaded Longsha.
And after Bihua disbanded, Yeguang, despite layer upon layer of restrictions, had still persisted tirelessly in tracing the Ten Aspects Sect’s hidden tendrils in the dark, spending several years cutting them off one by one from the soil of foreign nations and forcing the Ten Aspects Sect to withdraw its hands and feet and curl up inside Yanyuan, gradually exposing its true vicious face.
Wei Fu said they were already very remarkable; they simply had not realized it themselves. Steady, long-term persistence was always easy for people to overlook. Even if Bihua still existed, it might not necessarily have done things more thoroughly than they had.
“Over these years, we have cut away many of the Ten Aspects Sect’s wings, especially by removing the two strongholds of the isolated island on Yun Lake and Kongming Valley. That is no different from severing its hands and feet. The Ten Aspects Sect has suffered a great loss of vitality, and Yanyuan’s situation is chaotic. Now is precisely our opportunity. We must make them busy with internal strife, unable to look elsewhere, and never again have the leisure to set their sights on Longsha.”
“We have already walked through the most difficult road ahead. Now that we have reached the final stretch, are we instead afraid to take a step?”
Yu Gong Zhao Ye looked around at the silent crowd and remembered when they had first come to Yeguang. They had been like a pile of trembling little animals, hovering hesitantly at the edge of the drill ground, looking around and not daring to come forward.
That day, he had sat in a tree at the edge of the grounds and watched from afar, thinking that if Xie Wang Shu were still there, she would definitely sneak up behind them and kick them in one by one, right in the backside, because he had truly seen her do exactly that with his own eyes.
But when Yu Gong Zhao Ye himself had entered the drill ground for the first time, he had not been kicked by his own mother. Of course, he had also not been so calm as to be unlike ordinary people, nor had it been as easy as returning home. It was only that before he could hesitate for too long, a handsome youth with drooping eyes noticed him and took the initiative to walk over, asking gently, “Do you want to come in?”
The leader had already departed, the seniors had each gone their separate ways, and even Bihua was not allowed to be mentioned. Worldly affairs were like a tide that swept away old friends, leaving him only an empty drill ground and a newborn, frail Yeguang.
He was still thinking about the question he had thought about countless times—what should the Yeguang commanded by Yu Gong Zhao Ye look like?
The figure by the corner of the wall suddenly moved. Hua Mian, as the oldest child, took the first step on his own initiative. His younger sister Hua Jue and several children followed behind him. The whole group looked as though they were preparing to climb a mountain of knives and descend into a sea of fire, sluggishly and messily squirming their way into the drill ground.
Seeing this, Yu Gong Zhao Ye froze slightly, then gave a soft snort of laughter and leapt down from the treetop several chi above the ground.
The inexperienced little brats were frightened by him into crying “Wah!” and “Wah!” as they retreated again and again.
Cautious and careful, not decisive in the slightest, but able to huddle together and gather the courage to explore forward…
They were not like the old Bihua, but this kind of Yeguang was enough.
“I am willing to go.”
In the silence filling the room, Kui Yue, who had barely spoken until now, suddenly opened her mouth. Her face and tone were both unusually taut, and she sounded somewhat cold. “Since Your Highness is willing to give me this opportunity, I want to try.”
Ying Yue and Can Yue turned to look at her at the same time, their gazes carrying a trace of worry. Ying Yue called softly, “A’Jue.”
Earlier, Kui Yue had fallen into the hands of Xie You Lan of Beizhu Palace. She had not suffered any serious injury and had not been cruelly tortured. Xie You Lan had even ordered people not to mistreat her, and in the end she had returned unharmed. But the fact that she had been utterly powerless before Xie You Lan, and had even been detained as a hostage, causing both her elder brother and Yu Gong Zhao Ye to be threatened, had severely wounded her pride. Because of this, she had been dejected for a very long time.
She had not had time to participate in the operation to remove the Ten Aspects Sect’s strongholds, and Yu Gong Zhao Ye had not sought her out to demand accountability, nor had he asked her to return the money—after all, that job had been private work—which made her feel an even stronger anxiety that she was going to be left behind.
Kui Yue swept her robes aside and bowed to Yu Gong Zhao Ye, each word landing with force. “This subordinate previously handled matters poorly and implicated Your Highness, making you clean up the mess for me. Having failed in my duty to this extent, Your Highness did not expel me from Yeguang and has allowed me to make up for my mistakes through merit. I will go through water and tread through fire to repay Your Highness.”
“I am asking you to go sell illicit salt, not asking you to get into a pot. Pay attention to your safety.” Yu Gong Zhao Ye suddenly remembered something. “Don’t you still owe me money? When you become a mountain king over there, remember to pay me back.”
Everyone: “……”
Kui Yue wiped the tears that had surged out with the back of her hand and declared loudly, “I am willing to serve Your Highness with my life!”
“‘It cannot be obtained from ghosts and spirits, cannot be inferred from events, cannot be verified by measures. It must be obtained from people.’ There are no ‘three melons and two dates’ in Yeguang. All of you are brothers and sisters in arms who have followed me through life and death, divine weapons who can protect Longsha’s peace for a hundred years.”
Yu Gong Zhao Ye pushed back his chair and rose, calmly inclining his head to the three of them. “I entrust this battle to you all.”
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