"You tell me—after all these years, Great Zhou has never suffered such a crushing defeat. Why have they been happening so frequently these past few years?"
"Why?"
Inside the tavern, the scholar drinking wine pointed at the sky and said no more.
"Heh, young man, you're quite cautious. But I'm old; it doesn't matter to me. I'll say it if I want to!
"His Majesty is the Great Zhou emperor who has lost the most cities and territory of any generation."
"How could that be? He was wise and enlightened in his early years."
"Exactly. Who knows why!"
"I heard... treacherous men have beguiled the ruler!"
"Treacherous men? Who are these treacherous men?"
"Who else could it be? Among those who have risen to favor in recent years, there's only the Grand National Teacher!" the young scholar drinking wine spoke again.
"The Grand National Teacher?"
"Ah... How could His Majesty be bewitched? Where has His Majesty's wisdom gone?"
"Who knows..."
While waiting for further intelligence from the Holy Eagle Family, Ye Zhen casually entered a tavern and sat for a while. The conversation he overheard there left him dumbfounded.
Such remarks were audacious in the extreme.
Afterward, Ye Zhen spread out his divine sense and discovered that many nearby taverns were discussing similar matters.
Something was wrong with this prevailing sentiment. Ye Zhen caught a highly unusual signal from it.
Great Zhou's customs were open, but openly discussing that supreme ruler was still exceedingly rare.
Ye Zhen had intended to notify the Heavenly Patrol Division, but in the end, he destroyed the Talisman Signal he had recorded.
With so many people discussing it, how could the Heavenly Patrol Division possibly handle it?
The root cause was that Great Zhou was not only fighting battles everywhere, but losing them everywhere as