Ze Tian Ji

Edited by: Michyrr

The Prince of Zhongshan and Tianhai Chenwen were the two people with the highest status present today, so they knew the most secrets. They had even heard that someone in Gaoyang Village had seen a black dragon. For various extremely complex reasons, they had not believed it—until it was finally confirmed that the owner of the Cinnabar Pill really was Chen Changsheng...

Now that they thought about it, someone had obviously concealed the true circumstance of that night from them, or misled them.

In all the world, just who else could simultaneously deceive both a prince of the Chen clan and the Tianhai clan?

It was obviously the venerable master of the Dao who resided deep within the palace.

That night had turned out be an assassination planned out by Shang Xingzhou, aimed at his own student.

Zhu Ye, Ning Shiwei, and the rest had just been knives, or a few pitiful blades of grass that had been drowned in the flood.

But probably not even Shang Xingzhou could have expected that his excellent student had surprisingly not died.

Since Chen Changsheng did not die, many other people would have to die.

Zhu Ye, Ning Shiwei and their group were already dead, but perhaps they would have to die a second time, and those people who were still alive needn’t be discussed.

The high-ranking official from the Grand Court of Revision had an extremely nasty complexion as he walked up to An Hua. He extended both hands to receive the letter, his voice slightly trembling as he asked, "Does His Holiness the Pope have any orders?"

An Hua replied, "His Holiness the Pope wrote in the letter that Zhu Ye, Ning Shiwei, and the rest are all co-conspirators in treachery, but the specific charges are for the Imperial Court to decide."

Hearing this, the official felt relieved. As they were already dead, it would be much simpler to deal with them.

An Hua continued, "His Holiness also wanted me to ask just how the Ministry of the Army chooses its talents."

She was just a normal teacher from the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green, but she was currently asking questions on behalf of the Pope.

Divine Generals Cheng Tao and Jian Xi came from the two most important army headquarters of the Great Zhou, so they could be said to represent the Great Zhou Army.

So this question was naturally for them.

Cheng Tao and Jian Xi no longer dared to remain sitting. They stood and slowly lowered their heads, silently and respectfully listening.

An Hua turned her gaze to the other important personages.

Tianhai Chenwen gave a self-mocking smile. Then, bracing his arms against the armrests of his chair, he slowly rose, appearing especially tired.

The Prince of Zhongshan was the imperial envoy and carried with him an imperial decree, so he did not need to rise. However, his expression did become much more dignified.

"His Holiness said that he is very disappointed in the current Great Zhou."

An Hua’s voice was still very serene. "From the northern border to the Imperial Court, from the Divine Generals to the noble clans, they are all rotten to the core."

These words were very tough and spoken with a lofty tone.

In the mouth of an ordinary person, these words were just a complaint, but when spoken by the Pope, they naturally carried a completely different meaning.

The Prince of Zhongshan and Tianhai Chenwen once more glanced at each other, the wariness in their eyes even more prominent. The Pope naturally had the right to say these words, even had the right to curse and berate anyone beneath the emperor, but as this matter involved government affairs, what meaning did talking like this have other than venting his spleen?

In their view, although the Pope was young, he would not do something meaningless. There had to be more.

Just as expected, An Hua shifted topics, saying, "Only Chen Chou, originally commander of Seven Li Xi’s roaming cavalry..."

Chen Chou had said nothing this entire time. He was incredibly nervous.

As he watched An Hua calmly speak to these great personages, he felt deep admiration for her.

He had no idea that she would so quickly mention him.

Although he had already made some mental preparations, he still felt like his mind was buzzing, and he could not hear all of what An Hua was saying.

Outstanding military achievement? Fine, I really did accumulate a lot of military merit together with that fellow in Seven Li Xi, but wasn’t it all suppressed by the army headquarters?

Loving his soldiers like his own sons? Letting them wear his clothes and feeding them good food? Fine, although I truly did treat my subordinates rather well, but how could I let them go when they encountered wine and meat?

Incredibly virtuous? Fine, I truly didn’t hesitate to break military law to save that young array master, leaving the Mount Song Army headquarters, but Your Holiness, you should understand the most... wasn’t that just acting according to the plans of your enemies?

Chen Chou finally woke from his daze, just in time to hear An Hua’s last few statements.

"His Holiness believes that only a soldier like General Chen Chou can bear the heavy responsibility of defeating the demons."

An Hua looked around at the important figures within the hall.

Divine Generals Cheng Tao and Jian Xi both had very nasty expressions while Tianhai Chenwen’s expression was one of utter shock, all of them thinking, it can’t be?

They prepared to stop An Hua, but they were too late.

An Hua lastly stated, "His Holiness the Pope believes that General Chen Chou should be promoted to Divine General. He is the ideal candidate to oversee the Mount Song Army headquarters."

With these words, the entire room fell silent.

It was even more quiet than when it had been confirmed that Chen Changsheng was the maker of the Cinnabar Pill.

The truth behind that night’s bloody incident was not actually that important to these great personages, and the Pope’s whereabouts or his life were not something that they could touch.

Was not their goal in coming to the Mount Song Army headquarters precisely the position of Divine General?

Just what were the Pope’s intentions? Did he want to use these words to seize it?

The Prince of Zhongshan’s expression turned uglier and uglier.

It was still that deep and low voice that chose the perfect time to speak.

At the crucial moment, it was still that old fox Tianhai Chenwen that spoke.

"Those who should be punished will be punished, but... even His Holiness the Pope cannot involve himself in matters of the court, especially not in military affairs."

An Hua was very calm, not reacting in any way.

She had finished everything that the Pope had requested of her.

She did not know what would happen later on, but she believed that the Pope had made plans, and that these plans would appropriately settle things.

Just as she thought, a clamor erupted from outside the headquarters, followed by a voice.

"The Li Palace has never involved itself in matters of the court, but since there are people in the Imperial Court that dare to scheme against His Holiness the Pope, they must give an explanation.

"All the officers and soldiers of the Mount Song Army headquarters involved in this case must be arrested and given over to me so that I can bring them back to the capital for interrogation.

"Starting from today, Hanqiu City must be sealed. No one from the Zhu clan or the Emotion-Severing Sect is allowed to escape.

"As for the Tianhai clan, when I return to the capital, I will naturally call upon them to demand some people."

This was an incredibly gloomy voice, suffused with a boundless ruthlessness, and the words it spoke were even more unyielding.

After making these four demands, that person walked from the gate of the headquarters into the hall.

This person was dressed in a blue Daoist robe and carried a chilling aura.

The Mount Song Army headquarters was heavily guarded, but nobody dared to stop him.

Because he was Linghai Zhiwang, the cruelest and most violent of the Sacred Hall archbishops of the Li Palace.

Because Archbishop An Lin and Daoist Baishi were at his side.

Because Mount Han seemed to rage, the stamping of hooves like thunder.

Three Prefects of the Orthodoxy had come to the Mount Song Army headquarters.

Two thousand escorting cavalry were right outside the town of Mount Song!

A crow alighted on a roof of a building deep within the army headquarters and cawed.

In the mountains, the white mantle of snow seemed particularly stark against the black cliffs.

A biting winter wind, speckled with bits of snow, ruffled the crow’s black feathers.

Compared to the howling of the wind, it was so quiet beneath the roof that it could be described as a deathly stillness.