Am I the only one who didn't ascend?

Chapter 532 Sincerely
Xinheng’s border threat came so quickly.

Ever since the flying sword from the northeast set half of the sky on fire that day, the people of Xinheng east of Fancheng have never seen a clear blue sky again. There is always a layer of hideous and changing blood-red above people's heads. Even in the middle of the night, the thick blood-red color lingers, dyeing the stars and the crescent moon into ghostly colors.

For a whole half month, the emergency flying swords from the direction of Liuyan City were almost continuous, and new bad news came every day, and each piece of bad news seemed to be a mockery of the Temple of Heaven in Fancheng.

On this day, another expedited flying sword came from Liuyan City. The sword light went straight over the multiple protective arrays of Fancheng and the Temple of Heaven, and rudely stabbed into a tattered table.

It almost cut off the red tassel on the head of a general in white armor sitting at the table.

The general was stunned for a moment, and then he saw that the eyes of all the civil and military officials in the hall were focused on him. He was immediately annoyed and angry, but because the great general Yang Jiuzhong was next to him, he did not dare to lose his temper no matter what.

Yang Jiuzhong didn't care at all about his colleague making a fool of himself. He just pulled the flying sword off the table and removed the letter sealed on the hilt. After asking Wang Luo who was sitting beside the golden candle with his eyes, he opened it himself and read it in a low voice.

"...As of yesterday, the border beasts were still gathering at an accelerated pace, with a number of nearly 20 million. The surprise attack three days ago failed because the Western Xiang army refused to obey orders, and the Beast King escaped with his life on the verge of death. Suggestions... Heh, it is recommended to prepare for a long-term war, and it is recommended to eliminate the hidden dangers in the army as soon as possible, such as the remnants of Dashengguan, to avoid repeating the same mistakes."

Yang Jiuzhong's voice was very soft, but even the young clerk who served as an assistant in the palace had at least Jindan cultivation, so he could hear it clearly. People had different opinions on this, and the most radical reaction was the commander of the Xiang army, Yu Hong, who was wearing white armor.

As the genuine remnants of Dasheng Temple, Yu Hong and Mahayana Master Yu Gong are not related by blood. They are just orphans adopted by Dasheng Temple. They were selected by the temple's specialists since childhood and carefully trained to achieve great things when they grow up. Among them, Yu Gong is gifted and took over Dasheng Temple early, and broke through Mahayana and became the top star of the world. Although Yu Hong cannot be compared with Yu Gong, he also took the position of the head coach of the Xiang army with the full support of Dasheng Temple.

As a traditional strong army with jurisdiction covering the three western counties, the Xiang Army has always been inseparable from the Dasheng Temple. At least half of the backbone officers in the army are believers of the Dasheng Temple. The word "Xiang" in the Xiang Army is said to be taken from the word "incense". When the Xiang Army fights, with the blessing of faith, soldiers at all levels are often fearless and brave, so the Xiang Army has always been a traditional strong army in Xinheng.

However, with the change in the Eastern Capital, the abbot of Dasheng Temple, Yu Gong, died sadly, and the political structure of Xinheng changed drastically overnight, making this traditionally powerful army appear particularly embarrassed.

Over the past few hundred years, the reason why the Xiang Army and Dasheng Temple were able to develop and take root in the three western counties, and even spread their tentacles throughout the territory, was that the temple master could always stand firm and was trusted by the royal family - in fact, Yu Gong did stand on the side of the queen mother until the end. But as the ruler of Xinheng became a special envoy from the Immortal Alliance, all the old political rules became invalid, and Yu Gong's loyalty planted a huge hidden danger for the entire Dasheng Temple and the Xiang Army.

The current head coach Yu Hong is a sharp and decisive person. He immediately made up his mind to pledge allegiance to the high temple of Fancheng and completely cut off ties with the former temple master Yu Gong. Later, as wild beasts gradually began to cause chaos on the border of Xinheng, Yu Hong decisively challenged them to fight, striving to regain a living ground for the Xiang army in the war. During this process, Yu Gong, who was born in Dasheng Temple and had his current status thanks to Yu Gong's appreciation, naturally suffered criticism and even spurn from countless believers. However, he did not expect that after such a sacrifice, Gan Fengxian still reported him in a letter!

Naturally, he couldn't just sit there and swallow, and even though he was a little frightened, he still put on a look of extreme shock and anger, and slammed the table with both hands, stirring up a strong wind.

"This Li Fengxian is so shameless! He framed our allies when the war was not going well. If we continue to use him as a general on the front line, it will definitely lead to disaster!"

As soon as Yu Hong finished speaking, she saw Yang Jiuzhong frowning slightly, and an invisible hand grabbed Yu Hong's throat.

"Don't be presumptuous in the palace."

Yu Hong's eyes turned red, her cervical vertebrae creaked, and she was about to be strangled to death on the spot!
Finally, Wang Luo spoke up and helped Yu Hong out of the predicament.

"Alright, there's no need to suffer in front of me. Yu Hong is your general's trusted and beloved general. If he occasionally behaves insolently, it doesn't deserve the death penalty."

After Wang Luo said these slightly sarcastic words, even Yang Jiuzhong broke out in sweat and didn't know how to respond for a moment.

Fortunately, Wang Luo did not mean to make things difficult, and quickly changed the subject, asking: "In short, Prince Ling attributed the unfavorable situation on the front line to the Xiang army's disobedience to discipline. So, during the battles in the past few days, did the Xiang army follow orders?"

As he spoke, Wang Luo's eyes became more and more sharp, while Yang Jiuzhong lowered his head more and more, and finally responded helplessly: "When Prince Ling gave orders to the Xiang army, the military orders were often contrary to common sense, and he was reluctant to explain, which had repeatedly caused... unnecessary casualties. Many officers and soldiers on the front line complained, and the commander Yu Qi also did it for..."

Wang Luo interrupted impatiently, "So, did the Xiang army follow orders?"

Yang Jiuzhong had no choice but to answer frankly: "No."

Wang Luo asked again: "What did Prince Ling say when he sent the first flying sword half a month ago?"

Yang Jiuzhong was silent for a moment, and whispered: "Prince Ling said that although there has not been a large-scale battle on the front line yet, the beasts are coming with unusual force. Xinheng needs to be united and regard this battle as a war to destroy the country, so that there will be enough chance of winning..."

"Speak the key."

"...Prince Ling emphasized that given the current border situation, the rear would most likely misjudge the pressure, thinking that as long as they quickly mobilized the garrisons of various counties to the foot of Liuyan City, so that the frontline troops would be relatively sufficient, they would be able to quickly defeat the beasts. But now the domestic chaos is still unsettled, and the armies of various places have different thoughts, especially the Northern Blue Banner Army and the Western County Xiang Army, who will be eager to challenge the war to gain military merits as political capital, but are also confined to old prejudices, and will not accept the new prince who has been idle in Sang County for many years but suddenly recognized his ancestral roots. Under this situation, the front line will inevitably suffer a great defeat..."

Wang Luo clapped his hands, "Yes, that's the part. Remember what you guys thought when he said that? Alarmist, right? Apart from you, even the civil officials in the palace were disdainful, thinking that Prince Ling was making a fuss over nothing and rashly using the Burning Heaven Sword just to create an atmosphere of impending collapse to highlight his feat of turning the tide with his own strength... Now it seems that Prince Ling was indeed very foresighted and predicted your reaction exactly. Haha, for the next half month, Prince Ling sent the Burning Heaven Sword every day, and every time he made a fuss and alarmist, so that many people in the palace were shocked. Everyone thought it was a trick of crying wolf. Even when the Qingqi Army and the Xiang Army on the front line really disobeyed orders as predicted, you still didn't care, just thinking it was an ordinary military discord. You just thought that Prince Ling was deliberately creating discord to suppress dissidents. Now, the crucial surprise attack has not been completed, and the beast king has escaped by chance - and every time they escape by chance, they will become stronger in a short period of time - the beasts are gathering faster and their strength is almost ten times that of the coalition forces on the front line. The overall situation has become increasingly worse, and what is your reaction? Accuse Prince Ling of being shameless and accusing him of causing a great defeat? "

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a dull sound of knees falling to the ground in the hall. Yu Hong, the commander of the Xiang army, trembled all over and bowed his head in front of Wang Luo to beg for mercy: "Sir, please forgive me..."

Wang Luo ignored him and just said, "So far, Prince Ling has sent 15 Burning Heaven Swords from the front line, and each sword carries a very clear request. I don't know military affairs, so every time I have to ask the civil officials and military officers in the palace to brainstorm, but the result of each brainstorming is to discount Prince Ling's request before executing it. To this day, although the situation has not deteriorated, it is not optimistic, so I don't plan to waste time bargaining with you. This time, Prince Ling's request must be fully implemented. He wants us to prepare for a long-term war, so from the general down, everyone must prepare for a long-term war. He wants to purge the remnants of the army, so starting from tomorrow, the front-line commander of the Xiang Army can no longer be named Yu, and if someone really disobeys the discipline during this process, or even has extreme rebellious ideas, then I don't need to say more about the consequences. So, do you understand? If you understand, follow it immediately."

After saying that, Wang Luo took the initiative to stand up, not caring about the complicated looks from all around, and walked out of the high hall quickly. The moment his figure left the high hall, a rainbow light lit up under his feet, and then it seemed as if he passed through an invisible shuttle door and disappeared from everyone's sight in an instant.

However, even though Wang Luo had been gone for a long time, the hall was still silent... until General Yang Jiuzhong sighed first, and the others confirmed that Wang Luo had indeed gone far away, and a noisy discussion suddenly broke out in the hall. Most of these discussions were cautious, and even humble and flattering to Wang Luo - even though Wang Luo was not there, people kept singing praises to Wang Luo as if they were deceiving themselves.

Yang Jiuzhong just sneered in his heart, and then became annoyed. Especially after Yu Hong got up in a panic, she posed beside him like an abandoned little animal, which made Yang Jiuzhong even more annoyed.

Why are there so many rubbish around me?

But the person who could always turn his anger into joy, his sixth brother Yang Wuyi, whom he cherished especially, had already...

Fortunately, although Yang Wuyi was not there, another brother, Yang Qijian, appeared in time.

"Second brother, can you please talk to me for a moment?"

Yang Jiu nodded, then left Gaodian with Yang Qijian - after he left, Gaodian became quiet instead.

After walking only two steps, the two were still under the bloody sunlight, Yang Jiuzhong stopped and said, "Okay, this is enough, what's the matter?"

Yang Qijian said: "Second brother, you have to make a decision when necessary. There are some people you cannot take care of."

Yang Jiuzhong nodded gloomily: "Well, I know, but... Yu Hong has been with me for so many years. If she really died on the battlefield to defend her country, I would have nothing to say, but she was deliberately misled by Li Fengxian..."

"Second brother!" Yang Qijian suddenly became serious and patted his brother's shoulder seriously, which made his brother, who was much more powerful than him, feel heavy. "First, never forget that Prince Ling has returned to his ancestral home and is no longer surnamed Li. Second, there is no intentional misleading, let alone conspiracy. It was the Xiang army that made the mistake! What we have to do is to prevent the Qingqi army from repeating the same mistake, and not to delay the overall situation because of selfish thoughts at this time!"

Yang Jiuzhong was a little amused: "You... really think so?"

Yang Qijian said, "If Sixth Brother were here, he would definitely feel the same way! Second Brother, in the past half month, there were many things that even I didn't fully understand. At the same time, I also knew that my words were far less convincing than Liu Lang's, so I have been waiting for you to wake up on your own, but today it seems..."

"Okay, I get it. Prince Ling...it was an open conspiracy from the beginning."

"This is not an open conspiracy!" Yang Qijian retorted seriously, "Second brother, how about looking at the problem from another angle? Suppose Prince Ling is really devoted to the country? Is the situation he faces any different from what is written on the first Burning Heaven Sword? Whether it is the Xiang Army or the Qingqi Army, even the Star Army under his command has been planted with many spies by us, and it is not so easy to use. In this case, he warned in advance and asked us to provide support from the rear. What's wrong? The subsequent changes in the situation further proved his foresight. The arrival of this beast tide is a real crisis of national destruction, and we must use all our strength to deal with it! As the commander-in-chief of the Star Army, his military talent is not inferior to yours, second brother. Now that second brother cannot leave Fancheng, even if it is only for the sake of the family and the country, he should fully trust Prince Ling!"

"Is this what you have figured out in the past half month?" Yang Jiuzhong couldn't help but sigh again, "No wonder my eldest sister insisted on you becoming prime minister against all odds. Among the brothers, you are indeed the most qualified to be prime minister...Okay, I understand what you said. From now on, I will do my best to cooperate with Prince Ling. No matter what he wants, I can give it to him. I only hope... that he can really resolve this crisis and protect his own country."

-

At the same time, in Liuyan City, thousands of miles away.

Accompanied by a burst of rainbow light blooming in the empty City Lord's Mansion in the city, several birds on the eaves were startled and flew up, dropping a few feathers.

Ever since Xiahou Ying was promoted to the position of prime minister, the position of the city lord of this small border town has been vacant, and the locals don't seem to have any difficulty adapting to it. Whether there is a city lord or not, people still have to live their lives...

Even now, not far from the city, the roar of the wild beasts is clearly audible, and the hundreds of thousands of troops stationed outside the city are like a drop in the ocean, insignificant in comparison. However, precisely because of their insignificance, the pace of life of many people still maintains the leisurely pace of the past.

For example, the little girl, Wu Qing, who was playing with a two-headed snake in front of the City Lord's Mansion.

Seeing Wu Qing again, Wang Luo couldn't help but smile. He walked out of the City Lord's Mansion and greeted her easily.

"It's been a long time since we last met, Your Excellency."

(End of this chapter)