This scoundrel is a bit of a swordsman.

Chapter 206 Ling Feiyuan's Surprise

As Consort Xian turned and left, the meeting came to a complete end, like the final notes of a symphony.

However, the ensuing storm did not subside; instead, it intensified like surging waves.

Outside the Flower Language Pavilion, amidst this earth-shattering and awe-inspiring ceremony of bestowing a kingship, undercurrents were already surging.

Utterly disappointed by Emperor Wu's bestowal of the title of King, the War General's Mansion finally made a painful decision. A letter flew like a bird to the northern border, thus setting the stage for chaos in the northern region.

The title of king became the last straw for the war general to save him from his betrayal.

As for the desolate wilderness, Wu Xie felt deeply that in this place where there were many masters in Yong'an, it would be difficult to achieve anything by relying solely on his own strength.

Therefore, he took a different approach and chose the path of alliance.

The primary target of this alliance was Dali.

Although Dali's hidden forces were exposed, no one was surprised. After all, with Li Jinxian alone, Dali could hardly cause any trouble in Yong'an City.

Therefore, the two were immediately in agreement with Wu Xie's initiative to form an alliance, and even considered uniting with other forces.

After all, Yong'an is now like a dragon's den and a tiger's lair, and it is almost impossible to achieve anything here with one's own strength alone.

And so, someone acted as a go-between, spreading the word, and an alliance to unite against the Great Qian was born. With the Great Li as the leader, the Wilderness as the second, and the Burning City, the Waterlands, and the Western Regions countries joining, the alliance was officially established.

As for why the Great Yan did not participate, Yan Yi silenced Prince Chun with just one sentence: "They are sitting back and reaping the benefits, watching from the sidelines. It is far from time for Yong'an City to reveal its true colors."

Prince Chun was a cautious person by nature. After listening to Yan Yi's detailed analysis of Xiao Xingchen's situation, he decided to hold back for the time being and observe the situation.

As for Tianling Kingdom, they remained completely indifferent to the matter. They were still basking in the joy that their senior sister hadn't caused any trouble. As for other trivial matters, they clearly didn't care, displaying a detached and uninterested attitude towards everything.

Yong'an turned a blind eye to these undercurrents, while Emperor Wu seemed to have everything under control and did not take their alliance seriously at all. In any case, Xiao Xingchen had become his pawn, and Xiao Xingchen would bear any trouble first, so he was happy to be idle.

The Prince of Kaoshan's mansion was bestowed upon him like a timely rain from heaven. The vast mansion had already been prepared, and all the items were personally selected by Emperor Wu. Even Chu He, who had not appeared for a long time, appeared in his mansion like a ghost.

Just like in his previous life, Chu He appeared to be there to protect Xiao Xingchen, but in reality, he was there to lure and monitor him. It seemed that everything was repeating the mistakes of his previous life.

However, this time Xiao Xingchen was no longer the same as before, and Chu He could no longer shake his mind. Moreover, after confronting Emperor Wu, his goals had changed, which meant that all of Chu He's efforts were in vain.

In addition, another thing spread rapidly like a plague: the news of the two prime ministers resigning spread like wildfire, causing a great uproar in a certain area. Moreover, with the resignation of the two prime ministers, Emperor Wu also announced that in the future, the Great Qian Dynasty would only have one prime minister, and there would no longer be left and right prime ministers.

As for the new prime minister, it has already been decided that he is an unknown person named Lin Yuzhu.

This person was completely unknown to the outside world. Even after the imperial edict was issued, the officials doubted whether they had heard it correctly. The crown prince even went directly to the palace to meet the emperor, seemingly to vent his dissatisfaction.

After all, the Left and Right Chancellors were, to some extent, his right and left arms, and the current measures were undoubtedly weakening his power.

Who exactly was Lin Yuzhu? Upon closer examination, people were astonished to discover that he was merely an ordinary citizen with no experience in officialdom. His rise from commoner to prime minister, second only to the emperor, bypassed decades of struggle—a meteoric rise that left everyone speechless.

The court was in an uproar, with a flood of questions rising up. However, Emperor Wu seemed to hear nothing, continuing to play chess leisurely in the palace, as if the surging questions were just a passing breeze.

Xiao Xingchen naturally learned of this news immediately. When the name reached his ears, a strange sense of familiarity spread through his body like an electric current.

To rise from humble beginnings to become prime minister—such a legendary experience is truly unique in the world.

Following this clue, he finally found traces of this person in Xiao Jianren's memories.

Although Lin Yuzhu was not appointed prime minister in her previous life, she became famous for a certain event later on.

In Xiao Xingchen's words, Lin Yuzhu was a complete strategist. They were like reeds in the wind, constantly changing their allegiances, fickle and unpredictable, and all their schemes were based on subjective political needs.

This is a type of strategist that emerged in a chaotic world where many countries rose up, and this school of thought gradually disappeared after the world was unified.

This school of thought had a famous representative in its previous life, named Zhang Yi.

Why would Emperor Wu appoint such a person? Xiao Xingchen was completely baffled, and he really wanted to question Emperor Wu face to face. After all, this world has extraordinary beings, and there are nine heavens above them all. Even if Lin Yuzhu is incredibly capable, how could she possibly dominate the world?

A single sentence from the Ninth Heaven could shatter all his schemes. This was no ordinary war between mortals; with the existence of sword immortals and extraordinary beings, this world could not be measured by common sense.

After thinking about it for a long time, Xiao Xingchen still couldn't figure it out, so he simply stopped thinking about it.

Since these matters had nothing to do with him, he drove everyone out of the Prince Kao Shan's mansion after entering, and even Chu He was kicked out without any mercy.

Instead, the girls from Huayulou moved into the Prince Kaoshan's mansion. This move made his name a topic of conversation among the people of Yong'an once again.

However, what no one knew was that after the Prince Kao Shan's mansion was sealed off, he entered the ant hole under Ruoxue's guidance.

As Consort Xian said, if we don't establish our own power now, when will we?

However, before stepping into the anthill, he decided to go and see Ling Feiyuan.

He had been coveting Ling Feiyuan's faction for a long time, and he believed that his every move these past few days would not have escaped Ling Feiyuan's notice.

If even this fails to move Ling Feiyuan, he will turn around and leave without hesitation.

"I thought you had long forgotten about us. After all, you are now a powerful figure, and recruiting soldiers would be a piece of cake for you."

Ling Feiyuan's first words to Xiao Xingchen were full of sarcasm, as if she were complaining that he had arrived too late.

"Alas, these are turbulent times. As you have seen, everything that has happened around me is life-threatening. Now, have you thought it through? Are you willing to embark on that journey to the Nine Heavens with me?"

"The number of former members of the Ling family is far greater than you imagine. Are you sure you can protect so many of us?"

Ling Feiyuan was making a final confirmation when Xiao Xingchen heard his words, and her heart immediately calmed down.

"Of course. The last time we met, I was not yet a king, yet I dared to say those things to you. Now that I am a king, you should have seen everything that happened outside the Flower Language Pavilion today. Do you still have any doubts about my strength?"

"Let alone five thousand men, even if it were ten thousand or even one hundred thousand, so what? What's wrong with me, the Prince of Kao Shan, having a small private army? Even Emperor Wu wouldn't complain about me, so you can rest assured that this number of men is just a piece of cake for me."

"But what if there are more than ten thousand people?"

"What?"

Xiao Xingchen was struck dumb. He clearly remembered that in his previous life, the Ling family's rebellion failed precisely because of their small numbers.

"To be precise... if all the former members of the Ling family army were to gather, the number would be quite considerable..."

Ling Feiyuan replied with a worried expression.

"That shouldn't be the case. Even at the height of your Ling family army's power, the number of people never exceeded 100,000. How could you possibly gather so many people now?"

Xiao Xingchen asked in astonishment, this news truly taking him by surprise. At the same time, his admiration for Ling Feiyuan's talent grew even stronger. To be able to quietly develop such a large force under such difficult circumstances was something no ordinary person could achieve.

"This involves the true core secrets of our Ling family army, which I cannot reveal to you at this moment. Of course, I will not keep anything from you, provided that you can produce what you promised last time."

"The cultivation method of the Nine Heavens?"

"And the culprit who destroyed my Ling family, you wouldn't be thinking of getting something for nothing, would you?"

"That's natural, but I'm still worried. How did you manage to hide such a large number of troops? Emperor Wu is no ordinary person. Can you guarantee he won't notice?"

"That's for sure. How could my Ling family have stood strong for so many years without any support? No one knows where my army is hidden."

Seeing Ling Feiyuan's confident gaze, Xiao Xingchen became even more puzzled. The Great Qian Dynasty was so small; any slight movement would be noticed. According to him, an army of hundreds of thousands had moved without a sound. Something just didn't make sense.

"Then at least let me believe you. To be honest, I don't understand how you could have so many people. And if you really had that many people, you would already be qualified to declare yourself king. Any country would panic when faced with a rebellion of hundreds of thousands of people."

Ling Feiyuan pondered for a moment, then slowly spoke.

"Yes, I can tell you something, as a token of my sincerity in surrendering."

"Okay, go ahead,"

"We have found the treasure left behind by Xiao Jianxian. My army is now inside the cave he left behind."

"Holy crap, you can't be serious!" Xiao Xingchen jumped up. Xiao Jianxian's legacy? He had seen it on the stone tablet at the Silent Temple outside the city. It was said that Xiao Jianxian was incredibly wealthy and even owned an armory. Could it be...?

If the Ling family truly inherited these things, then the sudden appearance of an army of hundreds of thousands becomes understandable. In fact, if they were to understand the arsenal's contents, this army's combat power would be incredibly formidable.

“I’m not lying to you. We’ve already considered it. As long as you can help us find the culprit, the Ling family is willing to work for you. After all, I don’t want my brothers to hide in the shadows forever. They deserve to pursue their own lives.”

"No, I only have one question for you: Did you find Xiao Jianxian's armory?"

This time, it was Ling Feiyuan's turn to be shocked, staring at Xiao Xingchen in disbelief.

Seeing the change in his expression, Xiao Xingchen knew what was going on.

"It seems so. I never expected that his inheritance would end up in your hands by chance. It was worth all his last efforts."

Xiao Xingchen sighed, realizing that Ling Feiyuan's army was now a formidable force. The stone tablet indicated that the arsenal was located within the Cangshan Mountains, which piqued Xiao Xingchen's interest in this area.

The ancestral home of the royal family is in Cangshan, Daji is also trapped there, the eight predecessors of the transmigrator all lie there, and there's that mysterious Origin Rune Array—all these things make Cangshan shrouded in mystery. This makes him reconsider whether he really needs to thoroughly understand Cangshan.

Now Ling Feiyuan's hundreds of thousands of troops are also hidden inside. If this suddenly breaks out, Yong'an will probably turn into a hell. Even cultivators cannot face the attack of hundreds of thousands of troops. The difference between the strength of the battlefield and the strength of an individual is different. No matter how strong an individual is, he cannot kill hundreds of thousands of people. After all, people will get exhausted, but an army will only keep coming.