Chapter 89: Stop Dallying, We Must Reach Shangjing City at Once!
Luo Li said blandly, “That man is named Zhang Wen. He comes from Tai’an Pavilion.”
“Tai’an Pavilion has already existed on the soil of Great Zhou for several hundred years. It can be considered a very ancient top-tier jianghu sect.”
“There are twenty-five jianghu sects of that kind in total.”
“Most of those forces once received my imperial father’s support. Now that they are willing to help me restore the dynasty, it can also be considered repayment for the favor they received back then.”
“Heh!” When Chen Guan heard that, he suddenly could not hold it back and laughed aloud.
“What are you laughing at?!” Luo Li’s brows drew together in displeasure.
That laugh was obviously mocking her naivety.
She immediately defended herself. “Those people were originally hidden pieces my imperial father left behind!”
“After my imperial father fell, that dog emperor of Great Zhou began purging the old officials on a massive scale and suppressing them mercilessly.”
“The space they have to survive now has already been squeezed to the limit. If they do not follow me in resisting, sooner or later they will still end up being wiped out by Great Zhou’s court!”
“In helping me, they are also helping themselves!”
“No, no, it’s just that... I suddenly remembered a joke I heard long ago.” Chen Guan forced back his laughter and waved a hand, then continued asking, “What about Senluo Hall, then? Was that one also a force your imperial father once supported?”
“Senluo Hall?” Luo Li froze for a moment, then shook her head. “That one I’ve never heard of.”
Chen Guan asked several more questions after that, and Luo Li hid nothing. She answered almost everything she knew.
Chen Guan thus came to a rough understanding that whether it was the million-strong army or the twenty-five jianghu organizations, the true mastermind behind them all was Su Wenyuan.
That million-strong army was currently hidden within the passes around Shangjing City, and with a single command, it could assemble in full within half a day.
As for the twenty-five jianghu organizations, they were scattered throughout the major commandery cities of Great Zhou. Over the course of a hundred years in hiding, they had already extended their reach into the various government offices, military systems, and even the great clans and noble houses.
In short, all their preparations were already complete. The only thing missing was Luo Li, the “rightful claimant,” to arrive and raise the banner of restoration with one great call.
On the surface, the plan sounded flawless.
But Chen Guan kept feeling that one crucial piece of information was missing—was the destruction of the Violet Firmament Imperial Dynasty truly the work of that so-called dog emperor of Great Zhou, Zhou Tianyuan?
Although Chen Guan did not live in Great Zhou, nor had he ever escorted goods there,
he still knew one thing. In an age where information did not travel quickly, any truly great event would inevitably be passed down as a story.
And often, within a few years, it would spread to all corners of the world and split into many different versions.
Chen Guan had once heard one such version. It claimed that the Violet Firmament Emperor had been possessed by a Fiendish Being and transformed into a towering devil.
He had to eat a hundred people a day, and his appetite only kept growing. In the end, he devoured a whole village at a time, until the people could no longer survive, the world dimmed, and the mortal realm became like hell.
Then one day, a savior descended from the heavens.
That savior fought the emperor, who had become a monstrous devil, for eighty-one days and nights, and in the end slew him atop Shangjing.
And just as he was preparing to retire after accomplishing his deed, he was elevated by the support of all the people and only “reluctantly” took that supreme seat for himself.
Of course, there was another version as well.
It claimed that the Emperor of Great Zhou was actually the son of the dynasty before the former dynasty, that he had infiltrated the Violet Firmament Imperial Dynasty for more than two hundred years and endured humiliation in silence.
Only when he finally revealed the dagger beneath the map did the Violet Firmament Emperor realize that the entire dynasty had already been infiltrated beyond saving.
In the past, Chen Guan had only listened to those two versions as melodramatic stories and thought nothing more of them.
Yet after everything he had seen on this journey, he found that the first version was actually more believable.
Though the Violet Firmament Emperor might not truly have been some towering devil, his destruction was certainly inseparable from his own actions.
Because overthrowing a vast imperial dynasty was never as simple as merely rebelling and toppling it. Such a thing inevitably involved the decline of national destiny, popular will, the overall situation, and the bloodline itself,
as well as many more hidden and uncanny factors unknown to ordinary people.
At that moment,
Luo Li finally asked the question she had not dared voice until now. “Brother Chen, on this journey to Shangjing City... are you really not afraid?”
Chen Guan glanced at her.
He knew what the girl was really asking.
He was only an Escort Master. By escorting her, this “Princess of the former dynasty,” into Shangjing City of Great Zhou, he was essentially escorting her into a war that could destroy a nation.
If it succeeded, that was one thing. But if it failed, he could only die along with her.
And even if he did not die, there would still be no place left for him in this world.
After all, vast though the world might be, who would dare allow an Escort Master—the “chief culprit” behind a war of dynastic destruction—to freely pass through the lands of another nation?
“Of course I’m afraid!”
Chen Guan suddenly slapped his thigh and put on an exaggerated look of terror.
The moment Luo Li saw that expression, her heart sank sharply. But then she relaxed and said softly,
“Brother Chen, if you want to withdraw, you can leave at any time. I will not let anyone know that it was you who escorted me all the way into Great Zhou.”
Yet Chen Guan ignored her thoughtful consideration and simply continued speaking on his own.
“I’m afraid you’ll get cut down somewhere along the road and then I won’t be able to collect my money!”
“Uh!” Hearing such a ridiculous answer, Luo Li did not know whether to laugh or be angry, and could not help rolling her eyes.
She truly had no idea what Chen Guan was thinking.
He clearly knew she was going to rebel, yet he still truly dared escort her deep into the heart of Great Zhou.
In truth, her original plan had only been for Chen Guan to escort her into Great Zhou, and then, once she met up with the people her uncle had sent, he would leave on his own.
Who could have expected that Chen Guan would be even more resolute than she was? Every person her uncle sent, he cut down the moment they appeared.
He insisted on escorting her all the way to Shangjing City by himself.
She knew Chen Guan was not after money, nor was he after beauty.
As for what he actually wanted, she still had not figured it out. But she did know one thing with certainty—Chen Guan would never harm her. That was not only trust, but also an instinct built up along this journey.
And that was precisely why she had not been able to stop herself from asking that question just now.
Yet even now, she still had not found the answer.
“All right, all right, stop dawdling!”
Chen Guan cut off her train of thought and reminded her, “We have to reach Shangjing City within seven days. Otherwise this escort of mine is only going to become more and more of a loss!”
With that, he directly pressed his legs to the horse’s flanks. The fine steed beneath him let out a neigh and instantly flung itself forward, kicking up dust as it sped away.
Luo Li pulled out a face veil and covered her peerless beauty, then cracked her whip and gave a sharp cry before quickly following after him.
...
At the same time, within a great estate a thousand li away, where pavilions and towers were intertwined in layered splendor, an old man in purple robes, led by a guard, swiftly passed through several winding corridors and entered a magnificent tower.
When he reached the study, the guard bowed and withdrew. The purple-robed elder straightened his robes, then cupped his fists toward the tightly shut study doors before him and said in a deep voice, “Yin Ren, Deputy Pavilion Master of Wuchang Pavilion, requests an audience with the Alliance Leader.”