Feng Province, Provincial City.
Lu Family Estate.
Lu Wenzheng sat alone in his study.
He had sat there motionless all night. In the span of one night, he looked much older.
"Master."
An old steward hurried to the study door. "Everyone has been sent away."
Lu Wenzheng nodded, his voice somewhat hoarse. "Old Song, you should leave too."
The steward named Old Song looked resolute. "The Song Family has served the main family for generations. How could I abandon my master and leave?"
Lu Wenzheng said nothing, merely waved his hand.
Old Song bowed to him, then withdrew.
Inside the study, Lu Wenzheng picked up the wine on the desk, poured himself a cup, and drained it in one gulp.
The strong liquor entered his throat, burning so fiercely that tears streamed down his face.
He had received intelligence from Datong Prefecture yesterday afternoon and learned the final outcome.
Thus, he understood that his situation was beyond saving and that he could no longer turn the tide!
He had relied on two things to seize control of Feng Province: years of planning and accumulation, and the deterrence of force.
The strongest forces in his hands were the more than five hundred Imperial Guard Army soldiers in Provincial City, the Green Mountain Sword Sect, and Hongyi University together with Grandmaster Xu Jing.
Yet now, the two Martial Dao Masters of the Green Mountain Sword Sect and Xu Jing were all gone.
As a result, Lu Wenzheng could no longer control either the Green Mountain Sword Sect or Hongyi University. With only the more than five hundred Imperial Guard Army soldiers left, he had no confidence that their morale would remain unchanged.
Thus, the deterrence of force had already collapsed.
And without that deterrence, no matter how many other methods he had,