549: Chapter 549 Absolutely Not

Outside the city of East Sea, near Tianyin Mountain.

Not far from the Zhenbei Army camp, on a hillside.

A grey-haired old general, shirtless with lean, powerful muscles, practiced with a spear, his movements like a gale sweeping away fallen leaves.

When the old general finished practicing, an adjutant who had been waiting for a long time handed him a thin garment.

"General Zhao's spear technique is truly becoming more and more divine," the adjutant exclaimed.

"Heh, you're trying to say, how has an old man like me, with one foot in the grave, found a second spring, right?" Zhao Yunting teased.

The adjutant hurriedly waved his hands, "I wouldn't dare say that. General Zhao is still hale and hearty; with time, you will surely become a Great Grandmaster of the spear path!"

"I don't expect to become a Great Grandmaster. After all, I've been held back by old injuries for so many years."

"Thanks to the Prince of Zhenbei, I've been able to recover to my peak cultivation level. I am already more than content."

Zhao Yunting took a towel, wiped his sweat, and asked, "How is Dan Province?"

"The Eastern Sea Army under Prince Zhaokang of the East Sea has already collapsed. Furthermore, the common people are eager to throw open the city gates and welcome our Zhenbei Army inside. We will be able to take Dan Province within two days!"

"However... scouts reported that Prince Zhaokang of the East Sea and a group of his cronies are preparing to board ships and head out to sea, taking large amounts of gold and silver treasures with them, intending to sail east to the Woguo."

The adjutant frowned. "General Zhao, should we send an elite unit to infiltrate the rear and destroy those ships?"

"Absolutely not!"

Zhao Yunting immediately stopped him. "Right now, those scoundrels under Prince Zhaokang of the East Sea have no will to fight precisely because they have an escape route and are thinking of sailing out to sea to live a carefree life."

"Once that escape route is gone, it will be the same as forcing them to fight us to the death."

"If Prince Zhaokang of the East Sea gets desperate and uses the people of Dan Province as human shields, or decides to take the people down with him, it would be a catastrophe!"

The adjutant suddenly realized. "So that's it. No wonder the General didn't want to send the naval forces to follow up from the beginning. You were deliberately leaving them an escape route?"

"Prince Zhaokang of the East Sea, this new Prince of East Sea, has an unstable foundation and lacks the support of the people. We just need to go with the flow; there's no need to sacrifice too many soldiers."

"The Prince of Zhenbei wants an Eastern Region that can return to prosperity as quickly as possible, not one strewn with corpses and ruins."

Zhao Yunting sneered. "Besides... even if he runs off to the Woguo, he won't necessarily be safe."

The adjutant shuddered. Could it be that the Zhenbei Army plans to cross the sea and annihilate the Woguo in the future?

It sounded a bit outrageous, but upon closer thought, it seemed the Prince of Zhenbei had been spending money all along, ordering Chief Clerk Xu Zheng to build ships non-stop.

With so many warships, they must be meant for something!

"How is the Buddhist Sect? Are those monks still chanting?" Zhao Yunting asked.

"Yes, they only dare to send a few young monks down to beg us to let them through so they can fetch some water and get some food."

The adjutant said disdainfully, "Those old monks are all like turtles pulling in their heads; they don't even dare to come down and face us directly."

"It seems that Sweeping Monk is nothing special after all; he's just feeling guilty."

Zhao Yunting said seriously, "Do not lower your guard. The reason the Buddhist Sect is swallowing their pride is because they fear the Prince of Zhenbei, not us."

"If Sweeping Monk truly decides to fight to the death, no matter how many men we send, we won't be able to seal off Tianyin Mountain."

The adjutant frowned. "General Zhao, so we just keep surrounding them like this? Starve those monks to death?"

"Not exactly."

Zhao Yunting said playfully, "Didn't the Prince of Zhenbei say that within half a month, Qi Songyuan must go to the Northern Territory to stand trial, or else the army would march south?"

"When the dignified Prince of Zhenbei speaks, his words are as reliable as nails driven into wood."

"Counting it up, there aren't many days left until the half-month mark..."

The adjutant suddenly realized. No wonder those monks hadn't made a move; they were waiting for the academy to make a statement first!

None of them are any good!

"Preposterous!"

"Those bald thieves, they have gone too far!!"

"Their disciple caused a huge disaster, and now they actually want to stay out of it!?"

At the border between the Capital Region and Gui Province, Lushan Academy.

As the central hub of the academy, it was currently gathered with most of the academy's masters.

Because of the "threats" from the Prince of Zhenbei, Lin Xiao, the masters had been here for several days discussing countermeasures.

Even Meng Sansi, who served as the libationer of the Imperial Academy, had returned to the sect, not daring to be absent.

Two days ago, the academy sent a message to the Buddhist Sect, attempting to invite them to discuss countermeasures.

However, the carrier pigeon message returned by the Buddhist Sect only mentioned four words: "All phenomena are impermanent."

This infuriated the masters of the academy, and Yan Xueming started cursing out loud.

"All phenomena are impermanent, this is the law of birth and death. When birth and death are extinguished, stillness is joy..."

Master Xu Huaian stroked his beard and teased, "I fear this is Senior Sweeping Monk advising us to sit and wait for death, so we can achieve Nirvana sooner?"

"Senior Brother Xu, how can you still laugh?"

Yan Xueming said angrily, "Junior Brother Qi is his Buddhist disciple, yet now the Buddhist Sect is unwilling to come forward to defend him. They want to splash all the dirty water onto our academy and abandon Junior Brother Qi!"

"Senior Sweeping Monk is an enlightened high monk; how could he act like this? Junior Brother Yan, you must not speak nonsense."

Meng Sansi waved his hand, dissuading him with a serious expression.

"Senior Brother Meng, then in your opinion, what should we do? We can't really let Junior Brother Qi go to the Northern Territory to stand trial, can we?" Yan Xueming said irritably.

Meng Sansi asked, "Isn't Brother Li by the Prince of Zhenbei's side? We already sent a letter to him; has there been a reply?"

"He replied, but Brother Li said the Prince of Zhenbei doesn't want to discuss this matter with him at all, saying this affair only concerns the Baiyue Academy and has nothing to do with the Northern Territory," Master Xu Huaian said.

"Heh, all students of the academies in the world are disciples of the Saint. Now that Brother Li has become a guest of honor at the Zhenbei Princes Mansion, he really shows no regard for the bonds of our fellow students," Yan Xueming said with dissatisfaction.

Meng Sansi looked at Qi Songyuan, who had been silent all along with a somber expression.

"Junior Brother Qi, what are your plans? Feel free to speak your mind."

Qi Songyuan took a deep breath, his tall figure slowly standing up. "Senior brothers, junior brothers, may I ask one thing: do you truly believe that my disciple Gui Yi, a person of such supreme intelligence, would go out in public and blatantly investigate the secrets of the Zhenbei Army?"

"..." Everyone was silent.

"Let me ask another thing: do you truly believe that my Junior Brother Wu, who is addicted to alcohol, would go to assassinate the Princess of Zhenbei?"

Everyone's face showed a bitter smile. Who would believe that? How could that be possible?

"Since it is all groundless framing and slander, why must we sit imprisoned here for days!?"

Qi Songyuan slammed the table, his voice resounding. "If you are afraid of death, just say the word, and I, Qi Songyuan, will commit suicide right now to apologize to the sect; I will never drag you down!"

"But if you want me to admit to these absurd accusations and go north to be humiliated, these old bones of mine will not accept it!!"

"No matter how great the achievements of the Prince of Zhenbei are, in my eyes, Qi Songyuan, he is nothing but a despicable villain!!"

"At worst, I die. What do I have to fear!?"

This passionate speech made all the masters present fall silent.

"Good! Worthy of being the head of the Baiyue literary lineage. Mr. Qi, you truly possess the backbone of the ancient sages!"

Suddenly, Prince Wu, Liu Bing, who had many more white hairs now, walked in from the outside with a few trusted aides.