The agreement

Has nothing to do with the emperor?

King Li and his entourage disdained to explain the responsibilities of a ruler to a mere girl.

Emperor Yongxing thought his younger sister was speaking up for him, but given the current situation, he couldn't allow her to act recklessly. He said sternly:

"In Lin'an, one must not be rude."

"My uncles and I still have matters to discuss; you may leave now."

A prince shook his head slightly:

"When the late emperor was on the throne, he was obsessed with cultivating Daoism and neglected the marriages of several princesses. Your Majesty, it is time to consider the marriage of Lin'an. She is not young anymore and should be married."

"To avoid such rash and rude behavior, which shows no improvement whatsoever."

For both men and women, marriage is the best catalyst for maturing and growing.

Lin'an, with a stern face and no friendly demeanor towards her uncles, gracefully curtsied and said:

"Brother Emperor, I know the reason for the strange events at the Yongzhen Mountain and River Temple. The ancestors were not angry; there was another reason."

Emperor Yongxing was initially taken aback, completely unprepared for such words to come from her mouth. Then, he rose from his seat in delight and pressed for an answer:

"It's not that our ancestors were angry, there's another reason? Lin'an, tell me properly, what exactly happened?"

The princes also looked over in astonishment.

"The Sword of National Protection is now in Xu Qi'an's hands. He fought against the Buddhist School, the Witch God Sect, and the Yunzhou faction at Quanrong Mountain in Jianzhou, protecting the Dragon Qi and Quanrong Mountain."

"The unusual activity at Yongzhen Shanhe Temple is related to this."

Lin'an recounted the news Huaiqing had told her in detail.

She did not clearly explain the significance of the Battle of Quanrong Mountain, nor did she explain the deep connection between the strange events at Yongzhen Mountain and River Temple and that battle.

But that was enough. For the royal family members present, this information was sufficient for them to piece together and analyze the truth.

With the Zhenguo Sword in Xu Qi'an's hands, he fought against various forces in Quanrong Mountain and preserved the Dragon Qi. Emperor Yongxing's pupils dilated, his mood incredibly complex.

After understanding the truth, I felt a strong sense of security.

Xu Qi'an was like a great general in history books, guarding the border and allowing the king to rest easy.

There was a brief silence in his study; the princes remained silent for a long time.

"So it was in Xu Qi'an's hands."

After a long pause, the white-haired Prince Yu pondered, "It seems that the Supervisor took the Zhenguo Sword as a gift for Xu Qi'an. I never expected that the Buddhist School, the Witch God Sect, and the rebels from Yunzhou would all gather at Quanrong Mountain."

A prince frowned. "But what does this have to do with the broken ancestral tablets and the damaged statue of the founding emperor?"

The aged King Li rose, leaning on his cane, and said in a deep voice:

"Regardless of the circumstances, preserving the dragon's aura is the priority. Immediately order the Provincial Governor of Jianzhou to investigate this matter. Find out exactly how many experts the Buddhist School, the Witch God Sect, and the remnants of Yunzhou mobilized, the details of the battle, and so on. Everything must be thoroughly investigated."

"Understanding the situation might help us understand why the statue of Emperor Gaozu was damaged."

"This battle, which forced the Imperial Censor to send the Zhenguo Sword out of the capital, is no ordinary one; it must be thoroughly investigated."

After speaking, he looked at Lin'an, his gaze softening considerably, and said:

"Girl, how did you know about this?"

Lin'an raised his chin. "I naturally have ways to contact Xu Qi'an."

Prince Li frowned and looked at Emperor Yongxing with a puzzled expression.

The latter sat high on a large table, a smile on his face.

"Uncle cultivates his character and rarely goes out. You don't know that before Xu Qi'an rose to prominence, Lin'an took care of him in every way, and the two had a deep friendship."

"My influence as the emperor is less than one-tenth or one-twelfth of that of Lin'an in front of Xu Qi'an."

"It's not surprising that they have ways to contact each other privately."

With deep affection, Prince Li glanced at Lin'an, his eyes flashing.

Emperor Yongxing paused for a moment, bowed slightly, looked at Prince Li, then glanced around at the other princes and dukes, and said:

"If that's the case, then do I still need to issue an edict of self-reproach?"

King Li waved his hand.

Prince Yu said:

"What we need to do now is to find out the truth as soon as possible. The greater the merit Xu Yinluo makes, the more beneficial it will be for His Majesty. If anyone uses the unusual activity at the ancestral temple to attack His Majesty, His Majesty can take the opportunity to reveal the truth."

"Not only will it not harm His Majesty's reputation, but it will actually benefit him."

Emperor Yongxing's smile widened as he glanced lightly at the Fourth Prince.

The latter kept his head down, expressionless.

The meeting is adjourned.

Huaiqing, accompanied by palace maids, walked gracefully back towards Dexin Garden, her skirts fluttering in the breeze.

Huaiqing.

The fourth prince was heading in the same direction as her. Seeing his younger sister ahead, he quickened his pace to catch up.

Huaiqing slowed her pace, waiting for him to catch up, while glancing at the two palace maids beside her and sending them away.

The fourth prince caught up with her, walking beside her, and said through gritted teeth:

"How hateful! This was originally a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but he ruined his reputation and lost all prestige."

"You didn't see how smug he looked when he talked about the deep friendship between Xu Qi'an and Lin'an; he was clearly saying it for our benefit."

"Upon hearing this, Prince Li's attitude towards Lin'an immediately changed."

At this point, the fourth prince looked his younger sister up and down and said:

"I remember, Xu Qi'an was originally one of yours. You were the one who brought him to the capital for the banquet that day, and he composed a poem afterward: 'Drunk, I know not if the sky is reflected in the water, a boat full of dreams presses down on the Milky Way.'"

"Now Lin'an has beaten them to it."

Huaiqing, who had been expressionless, suddenly darkened his face, seemingly angered. He turned to look at the Fourth Prince and said calmly:

"Does Your Majesty believe that, given the current situation, you would be a better fit for the throne than Yongxing?"

"I will naturally do it better than him."

The fourth prince frowned.

"It's only a matter of fifty steps versus a hundred steps. The current situation of the Great Feng cannot be reversed by one person alone. Who sits in that position won't make much difference. In that case, why is Your Majesty in such a hurry?"

Huaiqing said calmly.

The fourth prince looked at her. "You mean..."

Huaiqing turned and left. "Fourth brother, how long has it been since you read history? Chapter 13 of Volume 2 of the 'Annals of Zhou' is very interesting. You can take a look when you have some free time."

Jianzhou.

Xu Qi'an rode the Floating Pagoda to bring Mu Nanzhi, the little mare, Bai Ji, and Chai Xing'er, who had been settled in Jianzhou City, back to Quanrong Mountain.

During Chai Xing'er's stay in Jianzhou, her cultivation was sealed. Of course, even so, she was still no match for the Flower Goddess reincarnation, who was powerless.

Well, whether she's truly powerless remains to be seen, since Xu Qi'an didn't give her the chance.

Fortunately, there's Bai Ji. Although this fox demon cub is also a weakling, she becomes a pillar of strength thanks to the contrast with her peers.

Dealing with Chai Xing'er, who is physically weak and whose cultivation is sealed, is no problem at all.

To ensure everything went smoothly, Xu Qi'an also gave Chai Xing'er a muscle-relaxing powder.

"Is the fight over? Did you win or lose? What were the losses for Buddhist School?"

Bai Ji chattered incessantly, pestering him to inquire about the battle situation at Quanrong Mountain.

This doesn't fit her lazy style, so Xu Qi'an asked:

Are you going to tip off the nine-tailed fox?

Bai Ji's black button-like eyes suddenly went blank. After a few seconds of stunned silence, she quickly shook her head.

"No, I won't tip anyone off."

Your expression says it all. Well, at least you're much smarter than Lingyin. If it were a little kid, she'd run away in fear, intimidated by how scary her older brother is. Xu Qi'an said:

"Of course I won, otherwise would I be standing here?"

"After the battle of Quanrong Mountain, Du Nan and Du Fan died in battle, Buddhist School completely lost its guardian deities."

Without the protection of Vajra in Buddhist School, Bai Ji's black eyes became dull again.

If we add the Arhat Duqing who perished outside Yongzhou City, the Buddhist School lost one second-rank Arhat and two third-rank Vajras in just one month.

This is something that the Empress and her clansmen have not been able to achieve for hundreds of years.

Although the Empress had already ordered all the demons of the Kingdom of Ten Thousand Demons to lie low and withdraw from the grand stage of the Nine Provinces.

I want to tell Her Majesty this good news and make her happy. Bai Ji's eyes sparkled with joy. Suddenly, she noticed Xu Qi'an looking at her, so she quickly blinked her clear, dark eyes, looking completely innocent.

Returning to Quanrong Mountain in the Floating Pagoda, I saw the old man standing on the edge of a broken cliff, hands behind his back, overlooking the vast land.

He was dressed in plain clothes, his full head of silver hair flowing freely.

His eyes, though sharp like a warrior's, held a deeper weariness born of worldly experience.

Xu Qi'an rode the Floating Pagoda, landing beside the old scoundrel, and left the pagoda alone.

"Senior!"

He bowed with his hands clasped in greeting.

The main peak of Mount Quanrong has collapsed, rendering it uninhabitable. The internal structure of the mountain has been damaged, and it will continue to collapse intermittently for a long time until it is completely stabilized.

Fortunately, the Quanrong Mountains stretch for hundreds of miles and are not isolated mountains.

For the members of the Martial Arts Alliance, all they need to do is move to a different mountain and rebuild their headquarters.

Military town, council hall.

Cao Qingyang sat in the head seat, listening to Vice Alliance Leader Wen Chengbi report on the casualties.

Three hundred and twenty members of the church died in the collapse of the main peak and were unable to escape. For various reasons, they were unable to leave at the time and were buried forever when the mountain collapsed.

The military town was quite far from the battlefield, but the aftershocks of the battle still caused houses to collapse. The initial death toll was 134, and the number of injured reached 500.

"The casualties are still manageable. Fortunately, the alliance leader evacuated the elderly, women, and children in advance. Those who died in the affected military town were mostly women, children, and the elderly. Most of the infantry and able-bodied men were outside at the time."

Wen Chengbi continued:

"The headquarters needs to be rebuilt, which is a huge expense. The Martial Alliance's treasury wasn't moved in time and is now buried at the foot of the mountain. We don't have that much manpower and financial resources."

Xiao Yuenu, Fu Jingmen, Yang Cuixue, and others looked worried.

The martial arts alliance suffered heavy losses in this battle, although the number of casualties was not large and was still within its tolerance range.

But the headquarters, which had been in operation for hundreds of years, was destroyed overnight, and the financial losses were heartbreaking.

Cao Qingyang said:

"Finding the silver isn't a problem. At worst, we can ask our ancestors for help to carve the mountain open and move the boulders. We can also get all the martial artists of the fifth rank or higher to help."

Qiao Weng, the president of the Jianzhou Chamber of Commerce, then said:

"If all else fails, I will have to ask you all to generously donate."

These sect leaders and gang leaders are all powerful figures in their respective regions, and their sects possess considerable wealth.

Fu Jing frowned repeatedly, and spoke frankly:

"But we can only give a limited amount of money, and we also have to appease our local disaster victims. Everyone knows that the government's grain supply is simply not enough to fill the stomachs of the disaster victims."

Yang Cuixue picked up the conversation:

"Rebuilding the headquarters in the mountains would be extremely costly. Perhaps a compromise would be to expand the headquarters with the military town as the core?"

Vice-leader Wen Chengbi shook his head repeatedly:

"This is not in line with the ancestral system. The reason why the headquarters is built in the mountains is to let us not forget the purpose of the establishment of the Wulin Alliance. We will never be a simple Jianghu organization.

"They are a righteous army, a righteous army capable of conquering cities and seizing strongholds in chaotic times."

The headquarters of the Martial Arts Alliance is like a fortress occupying a natural stronghold.

Cao Qingyang tapped the table, interrupting the argument, and said:

"Chengbi, go and consult the Ancestor."

"I just took a trip to Jianzhou, and it felt like I was back in the Great Zhou Dynasty."

The old man stood with his hands behind his back, his face full of sighs:

"If the disaster is not controlled, the central plains will be overthrown within two years."

Xu Qi'an remained silent.

The old scoundrel turned around, his smile carrying a profound meaning:

"Do you know why those two dragon energies chose the Martial Alliance?"

"The Martial Alliance has operated in Jianzhou for hundreds of years, ensuring its stability, favorable weather, and abundant harvests for its people. Now that the Great Feng Dynasty's fortunes are waning, and the dragon's aura is choosing its master, it is naturally believed that the Martial Alliance can replace the Great Feng Dynasty."

Xu Qi'an said frankly.

The old man nodded and said:

"Throughout history, no dynasty has lasted forever. When I handed over the army to him and returned to Jianzhou, I made a promise with him: if the Great Feng were to follow the same path as the Great Zhou, I would personally bring it to an end."

Before Xu Qi'an could respond, he gave a bitter smile:

"However, neither he nor I expected that the woman would later create the Warlock System."

"The emergence of Warlock has made it increasingly difficult for commoners to rebel. Now, with the help of external forces, it is very difficult for the people of the Central Plains to change dynasties on their own."

Xu Qi'an hesitated for a moment, then tentatively asked:

"Women?"

"That's the first Supervisor!" the old scoundrel laughed.

"She's prettier than a woman, and she's always following your Great Feng Emperor. If I didn't know that shameless scoundrel liked women, I would have thought they were..."

"Sworn brothers," Xu Qi'an said in his heart.

"Senior, is there any agreement between you and the current Supervisor—yes, the current Supervisor?"

"Yes." The old man nodded.

As expected, the Martial Arts Alliance had always been the Supervisor's hidden pawn. Xu Qi'an quickly asked:

What agreement? When was the agreement made?

PS: Updated first, then revised.