Rumors were like wild grass; one gust of wind, and they overran the entire prefecture.
"Have you heard? The Marquis might be demoted and exiled..."
"Didn't he just recover Qiongzhou? The Marquis has governed Qiongzhou so well, and he's even preparing to hold the imperial examinations again, restoring the rule of once every ten years! This really is killing the donkey once it's finished turning the mill!"
"Exactly! Even those great aristocratic clans and major sects have been behaving themselves these past years, and life has gotten much easier for us rogue cultivators and minor powers, hasn't it?"
"Ah, looks like he's aroused some powerful person's jealousy?"
"To treat such a man this way-it really chills the heart! This is ruining a perfectly good situation!"
In lower- and middle-level government offices, in Prefectural Army barracks, in teahouses, in restaurants, and in the Market Ward, there were always people discussing it through divine sense transmissions.
Yet inside Qiong-Subduing Hall, Qing Chen seemed to have heard nothing, nor did he stop the rumors.
Every day, he cultivated as usual and summoned his subordinates as usual.
He simply stopped leaving the city and no longer mentioned anything about "crossing the border" or "attacking."
Until dusk one day, two months later.
Qing Chen was leafing through case files inside Qiong-Subduing Hall when he suddenly looked up.
He put down the Court Gazette in his hand, which concerned the war against the Ten Thousand Saints Demon Kingdom in the Southwestern Circuit. Just then, Lin Changsheng's lowered voice sounded outside the hall doors. "Master, Compiler Dongfang has arrived. He's waiting outside for an audience."
He's here.
Qing Chen lightly tapped a fingertip against the black-gold armrest. The Court Gazette ignited without a flame and turned into a wisp of blue smoke.
"Let him in."
The hall