"So it's Her Highness the Eldest Princess! I'm so sorry for not greeting you sooner!"
This was the second time Tian Heng had met the other party, the true Mingyue of the Xiao Household.
" General Tian has certainly found a good match," the eldest princess said with a smile, looking at the other person.
If it were me, I definitely wouldn't have saved Tian Heng during that incident in Cloud Capital. Tian Heng's intentions were impure, and it was difficult to judge whether he was loyal. At that time, most of Tian Heng's veteran generals were dead, and Tian Heng was the only one with high prestige. Once he died, the group would be leaderless, and the West Sea Army under his command would be almost completely at Chen Qing's mercy.
Despite this situation, Chen Qing still chose to save Tian Heng!
It must be said that Chen Qing lacks the ruthlessness of those in power in certain matters. This might be a good thing for his subordinates who follow him, but it is not necessarily a good thing for the leader.
"The Princess is right." Tian Heng smiled slightly, bowed, and said, "Back then, we were forced to join Jiangnan due to a great upheaval. I thought it was a choice made out of necessity, but I never expected it to be the luckiest thing that ever happened to me and my brothers."
Joining Chen Qing's side was the luckiest choice Tian Heng had ever made in his life, and he wholeheartedly agreed with the Princess's words.
The brothers who used to follow him, even though he had become a duke, most of them were still stationed in the harsh lands, and their descendants were not guaranteed anything. But now, he could see the smiles of his brothers at the bottom of society every day.
The gentle women of the Jiangnan water towns, with their excellent natural environment, are well-fed every day, their children's future is secure, and even their afterlife is guaranteed. To be honest, even if Tian Heng wanted to rebel, probably few of his subordinates would be willing to follow him.
Even under these circumstances, Chen Qing still chose to save him. This kind of master may not be as domineering as the one from the Xiao Household, but he is very fortunate to have met such a master.
"Enough with the chit-chat, what's going on here? Where are the deputy generals of the imperial army?"
"This..." Tian Heng's expression turned somewhat strange, and he cautiously asked, "There are some things I'm unsure if the Princess can trust me about?"
"You tell me first."
I did not show the letter you requested to your lieutenants.
The princess's pupils contracted, and her face turned icy. "Why?"
"This all started with that strange Buddha's light that appeared half a month ago."
It came as expected.
The princess's heart sank. What she feared most was that all the deputy generals were connected to the Buddha Kingdom. She had thought she wouldn't be so unlucky, but now it seemed that this was probably the worst possible outcome.
"When the army first arrived, our two sides got along very well."
Upon hearing this, the eldest princess curled her lip, suggesting she was more than just pleased.
Jiangnan is adept at bewitching people's hearts. The treatment here is several times better than outside. Perhaps the things here cannot tempt nobles for a while, but for the soldiers at the bottom of the ranks, this place is paradise.
Plenty of meat, delicious food, ample security, and a high status—these are things that can't be given outside. The longer they stay together, the more envious the soldiers will become. This is why the emperor wants him to bring the soldiers back as soon as possible. Even with the constraints of evil spirits, these soldiers might develop a sense of disparity in their treatment if they stay together for too long.
"But everything changed after those eerie Buddhist lights appeared. First, it was Your Highness's generals—I don't mean all of them, but almost 70% of them."
"Seventy percent." Upon hearing this, the eldest princess's expression grew even more unpleasant.
It's 70% worse than she predicted!
"Yes, seven out of ten generals will take time to visit the nearby Buddhist temples, and some will even voluntarily go to more distant Buddhist temples in the Jiangnan region. You must understand that this is wartime, and a King Level giant python could appear outside the pass at any time. Under such circumstances, they should not leave their posts without authorization."
"But they're not our soldiers after all, so they're sometimes hard to control. Plus, they've already applied in advance, so sometimes there's nothing we can do."
"No other way?" the princess said coldly. "These deputy generals are all at the Transcendent level. Are you really comfortable letting them penetrate so deep into your Jiangnan region?"
"I'm not worried about that," Tian Heng shook his head. "There are Underworld figures from the Underworld in Jiangnan. A few mere Transcendent won't cause any trouble."
The eldest princess choked on her words, then coldly replied, "You're quite confident."
Chen Qing's power in Jiangnan is probably the strongest in the world right now!
As we could see from the last time in Cloud Capital, Tian Heng has already broken through to the King Level. As for the people in Jiangnan, the Shen Family already has a deep foundation. After so long of training, they are probably close to the King Level as well. With Chen Qing himself and that Ziyue, Jiangnan's current level of power is basically comparable to the Dragon Palace back then!
"But I really shouldn't have agreed back then. After those deputy generals returned, their demeanor and personalities clearly changed, and..."
"And what?" The eldest princess frowned.
This condition will also affect the soldiers.
"What?"
--
"Aren't we going back to Jiangnan now?" Ziyue looked at Chen Qing's direction with some confusion, because the place Chen Qing wanted to go was...
"The road to Jiangnan is probably heavily fortified by Old Elder Liu. He wouldn't dare risk his life, but his men are quite daring. They've managed to bring out two Buddha these past two days, so they can easily deal with us."
"But the situation in Jiangnan isn't good," Ziyue said with a grim face.
The emergence of the Buddha Kingdom has a far-reaching influence, extending beyond the Northern Lands. The southeastern region controlled by Jiangnan is the most devout Buddhist area, with numerous Buddhist temples there. Even within Jiangnan itself, the temples that have been renovated likely emanate Buddhist light, causing many to awaken. This is especially true for some generals in the Fighter Army. If they too had been given the seed in their previous lives, it could potentially cause a major upheaval in Jiangnan.
"Trust Wei Gongcheng and the Shen Family; they can handle it," Chen Qing said in a low voice. "They're smarter than you think, and besides A Li is still there."
My eyes lit up when A Li and Ziyue were mentioned!
Altering memories and awakening memories—aren't they diametrically opposed?
"Even if we're trying to avoid Elder Liu, we shouldn't be going this way. Don't you know whose territory this is?"
"We must go where he dares not even think," Chen Qing said in a low voice. "The emperor has allied with me, but he will still strike when I am at my weakest. It's a huge gamble, but the karmic connection between us is still there. This trip to the capital will be a good opportunity to find out."
Ziyue was taken aback, and immediately understood what Chen Qing meant by cause and effect.
The Divine Path Style originated from the monarchical power. Now that several ancient powers are about to revive, the monarchical power is in grave danger. Chen Qing received a great favor back then. At least from the perspective of the rules, Chen Qing used the Xiao Household's empire to obtain the foundation of the Divine Path Style. Now that the Human Emperor is in danger, some karmic ties should be settled.
Although this journey is risky, it also offers the opportunity to share in the true fortune of the Central Plains, which is of paramount importance to Chen Qing.
She had always thought Chen Qing would do this some time later, but she never expected that he would choose to do it now.
He's truly a guy whose way of doing things is unpredictable.
Are you confident?
"If Zhang Zhengyuan's supercomputer doesn't fail," Chen Qing whispered, "We're fifty percent certain!"