49th Year of Hongguang, July 21.
At dawn, mist blanketed the official road.
On ordinary days, this early, the official road would already be bustling with all kinds of vehicles—ox carts, carriages, and the like.
But at this moment, it was completely empty. The road had been placed under control in advance.
A dozen or so miles outside the eastern gate of Datong Prefecture City, Feng Province.
Dozens of people had gathered on the official road, waiting.
Among them were Bian Jingru, Garrison Commander of Datong Prefecture, and the heads of the six grand academies.
There were also Liang Xin, First Venerable of the Zhi Ge Division in Feng Province, and Qin Zhen, vice president of Wu'an University.
Xiao Ruixing of the Xiao Lineage and Huo Hansi, Grandmaster of the Huo Lineage.
Several Martial Dao Masters and True Persons from the Xiao and Huo Lineages were present as well.
At the very front, Li Fei stood in the center. Qiu Zian stood beside him, while a graceful, elegant man stood on his other side.
He and Li Fei were old acquaintances—the president of Qingyun University, Ji Yifan, who had once ventured deep into the Northern Barbarians with him.
Standing beside Ji Yifan was a burly man over three meters tall. His skin had a jade-like sheen, he had not a single strand of hair on his body, and he stood out from the crowd like a crane among chickens.
His name was Yan Shangzhen, president of Meiyun University.
Back then, when Li Fei realized that Lu Wenzheng and Xu Jing might make a move, he had informed the Crown Prince and requested that he send people to reinforce Feng Province.
Yan Shangzhen had been the closest.
Although Yan Shangzhen had agreed to the Crown Prince's request, he ultimately failed to