Oh No, I've Become the Stand-In!

Inside the Prince of Yu's residence, the Prince of Yu sat in a grand armchair, flanked by Prefect Liu Xiangquan, Heavenly Principle Sect leader Xiahou Jue, and the Dragon Gate's master, known as the Dragon King.

Crash!

The Prince of Yu hurled his celadon teacup to the floor, smashing it.

"Damn it, this is going too far!"

The Prince of Yu was beside himself with rage. Frightened, Liu Xiangquan dared not say much either. Stealing a glance at him, he saw that the normally refined and gracious prince could no longer even control his expression.

The Prince of Yu was renowned for keeping his face as still as a placid lake even when thunder raged in his chest.

The reason was that they had just heard a report from a Dragon Gate disciple: the experts sent to surround and kill Zhang Qingyuan had been wiped out.

"Twenty men, and not one came back! Could that Zhang Qingyuan really be Zhenwu descended to earth?"

Those twenty men had all been first-rate experts, pillars of the Prince of Yu's rebellion.

They had already been extremely cautious, sending twenty first-rate experts at once to deal with a little Daoist fresh out of the mountains, yet he had still wiped them out.

Never mind failing to kill him-the real issue was the devastating losses the prince's residence had suffered!

The Dragon King was a textbook specimen of a man, with a sharply defined face, wistful-looking stubble, and a height of eight chi. He was exceedingly handsome.

He bowed slightly. "Your Highness, why not let me go in person? I will surely bring back his head."

The Dragon King's heart ached even more than the Prince of Yu's. Those had all been his dearest friends and kin, brothers as close as his own limbs.

"Your Highness."

Before the Prince of Yu could speak, Xiahou Jue, concealed beneath a black robe, cupped his fists. "Whatever abilities Zhang Qingyuan may have, now is no time for us to take revenge. Raising the army comes first!"

"Hmph!"

The Prince of Yu snorted coldly and swept his sleeve, struggling to suppress his anger.

"How many troops have we recruited?" he asked.

Liu Xiangquan pulled a booklet from his sleeve, opened it, and read, "Your Highness, we have taken in three hundred thousand disaster victims, of whom forty thousand have joined the army. The disaster victims arriving from other regions are expected to bring the total to eight hundred thousand."

A ratio of thirty to four was perfectly normal.

After all, the disaster victims were not all able-bodied young adults. The elderly, the weak, women, and children made up the majority.

And even among the able-bodied young adults who came, some were unwilling to become soldiers.

Yet the Prince of Yu could not drive those elderly people, weak people, women, and children away.

He had attracted so many people under the banner of disaster relief. If he drove the elderly, the weak, women, and children away, he would have no moral ground to stand on.

Even if he became emperor, those beneath him would not accept his rule, and he might even provoke some generals into rising against him together.

Thus, he had to take in these elderly people, weak people, women, and children who could not work, and care for them properly.

After all, quite a few of them were relatives of the soldiers he had recruited.

"So once all the disaster victims arrive, we should have roughly a hundred and twenty to a hundred and thirty thousand men."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Mm."

The Prince of Yu nodded. That, at least, was good news.

If a hundred and twenty to a hundred and thirty thousand men marched swiftly on the capital, the capital's Three Great Camps, in their current state, would be utterly unable to stop them.

Though hailed as the finest army under heaven, the Three Great Camps had remained in the capital all these years and had not seen a battlefield in a century. Their soldiers were all sons of powerful officials, and with corruption rife among their commanders, how much fighting strength could they have left?

When the dynasty was founded, the Three Great Camps had numbered over fifty thousand men in total. After years of inflated headcounts, their actual numbers were now only a little over ten thousand.

A hundred and twenty thousand against ten thousand-the advantage is mine!

The Prince of Yu breathed a sigh of relief, clenched his fists, and continued, "How much longer until these people reach Kaifeng?"

"About five more days."

"Good. Now all that remains is to wait for His Majesty to pass away."

Just then, Xiahou Jue suddenly smiled. "Your Highness, His Majesty has already passed away."

"What?"

"His Majesty passed away the night before last. A Heavenly Principle Sect disciple brought the news by eight-hundred-li express."

Hearing of the emperor's death, the Prince of Yu threw back his head and laughed aloud. "Hahaha! Heaven is helping me!"

"Congratulations, Your Highness!" all three congratulated him in unison.

After waiting so long, had they not been waiting for precisely this-the emperor's death?

The Prince of Yu was overjoyed. A wave of relief swept through his chest, as though he could already see the first light of victory.

His expression shifted from anger to joy, and he smiled. "I imagine those nephews of mine are already locked in a bitter struggle."

"Your Highness is wise. We need only wait for word of their succession struggle to spread throughout the realm. Then it will be time for you to raise your army," Liu Xiangquan flattered him.

Xiahou Jue added, "Your Highness, I have already instructed our disciples to spread word that the natural disasters were caused by the instability of imperial authority, that three dragons fighting over the succession have provoked Heaven's displeasure. When the time comes, they will surely draw Heaven's wrath and the people's resentment.

"All you need to do is set things right, and you will win the support of everyone under heaven."

"Good!"

Meanwhile, Zhu Qizhao had already bamboozled Tang Jie completely.

Once he unleashed his kingly presence, expounded on righteousness for all under heaven, and analyzed the situation, what more could Tang Jie say?

This was fucking merit for helping a dragon ascend the throne!

Of course, this sort of thing was also a gamble. Win, and he would earn merit for supporting the new emperor; lose, and he would be doomed beyond redemption.

And as a businessman, Tang Jie had never been the sort to follow the beaten path.

When disaster struck Kaifeng, he had dared to buy a staggering two hundred thousand shi of grain, emptying his coffers.

When Zhang Qingyuan said he could help recover the grain, he had believed him on the spot.

So what more was there to say?

He immediately decided to stake his family fortune on following Zhu Qizhao!

He would recruit men and buy horses, and, along the way... spread the word!

Zhang Qingyuan had said he would offer an idea, but his idea was actually the same as Xiahou Jue's.

Build up the prince's public image, cast their own side as saviors setting things right, and portray everyone else as villains who disregarded the people's safety.

Raise the banner of carrying out Heaven's will and shout slogans about saving people from suffering.

This was a Daoist cultivator's specialty.

And it just so happened to be what ordinary people believed most!

Wasn't the saying "The blue heaven is dead; the yellow heaven shall rise" widely circulated in Huaxia, too?

The claims they spread were the same as Xiahou Jue's: the emperor had died, and the princes neglected their duties, seeking only private gain, thereby bringing about these natural disasters and human calamities.

Only, his version also included the Prince of Yu abandoning the people under his rule, seizing relief grain for his own selfish desires, and plotting rebellion to usurp power.

While Tang Jie recruited men and bought horses for Zhu Qizhao, Zhang Qingyuan was not idle either. He was leading men to wipe out nearby mountain strongholds.

He smashed through one after another, with a squad from the Listening Tide Pavilion following behind to handle the corpses and transport the weapons.

After cutting down the last bandit in a small mountain stronghold with a single stroke, Zhang Qingyuan distinctly felt that his swordsmanship had improved again.

Sure enough, the best way to gain experience was actual combat.

Let the sixty-year demon purge begin today.

Zhang Qingyuan wiped the blood from the Questioning Heart Sword and looked at Li Qiuran, who was also wiping her sword beside him.

Back at the Tang residence, Zhu Qizhao was boasting incessantly at the dinner table.

Unwilling to listen to his bullshit, Zhang Qingyuan shared some of his own ideas and insights as a modern person with Zhu Qizhao.

Zhang Qingyuan knew perfectly well that he was no world-shaping genius, nor did he possess statecraft strategies like Yao Guangxiao's.

He had simply seen more as a modern person from Earth.

He told Zhu Qizhao about some of Earth's better experiences in governing a country, explaining how he could treat the common people better if he really became emperor.

Zhu Qizhao was repeatedly astonished by what he heard. "Qingyuan, once I ascend the throne, I must make you Imperial Preceptor."

"Oh, get lost."

Zhang Qingyuan rejected him outright. Imperial Preceptor, my ass. He knew his own limitations.

All these theories of his had been copied from elsewhere.

"Why?" Zhu Qizhao asked, puzzled.

Putting on an exceedingly pretentious air, Zhang Qingyuan said, "Sorry, but this humble Daoist's aspirations lie not in the imperial court, but in the jianghu.

"I want to establish a sect for my ancestral master and make my own contribution to the Daoist tradition.

"If you succeed, then be a good emperor. If possible, let's simply remain friends."

As he spoke, his body seemed to glow.

After hearing his words, a faint smile appeared at the corner of Li Qiuran's mouth.

Regarding fame and fortune as passing clouds... this was what it truly meant to have a heart as still as water.

Little did he know, what Zhang Qingyuan was doing was called having no fucking shame.

Six days later, word of the emperor's death spread throughout the realm. The crown prince had been imprisoned, the second prince had ascended the throne, and several princes had been stripped of their titles.

The Prince of Yu announced his rebellion!

Inside the Prince of Yu's residence, a carrier pigeon flew into Xiahou Jue's courtyard, a strip of cloth tied to it.

It read: Rumor among the people has it that the Prince of Yu is a demonic dragon incarnate, and that Yu Prefecture's great drought is entirely the result of his holding office while doing nothing...

After reading the message on the slip, Xiahou Jue froze.

"Oh no, I've become the stand-in!"