Claiming the Throne of Gods, Starting from the Rebirth of Nezha
Chapter 238 Persuasion (Part 1)

Chapter 238: Chapter 238 Persuasion (Part 1)

"What the hell do you know, you idiot!"

Ziya put down the military book with his right hand, picked up a chicken leg with his left hand and took a bite, almost pulling out his teeth, the pain causing his brows to furrow.

Nezha rolled his eyes at him: "I’ve stopped reading these military books long ago, why are you still reading them?"

"Read a book a hundred times and its meaning will naturally reveal itself."

"Are you fooling a ghost?"

"Damn it, you know it’s useless, and I know it’s useless, but Ji Fa and Bo Yikao don’t know. Yin Shou has mobilized his troops to attack Xiqi. Ji Fa is so anxious he comes to see me three times a day. Only when he sees me reading military books does he feel reassured, do you understand?"

Ziya ordered a maid beside him to pull off the meat from the chicken leg strip by strip to feed him. Nezha saw it and waved for the pretty maid to leave first.

Nezha said: "Uncle, I’m not joking with you. There’s something odd about this battle. We must drag it out to see what changes occur before we can continue fighting."

"Since when did you become so foolish?" Ziya put down the chicken leg, "I don’t understand what you mean by odd, but there’s one point you should be clear about. Although we won this battle, it’s others who are attacking us, and the initiative has never been in our hands. How can we drag out the conflict?"

Nezha laughed: "It wasn’t possible before, but it might be now. Fei Zhong and You Hun are acting as supervisors in Lu Xiong’s army."

Ziya immediately understood and said, "But most of Lu Xiong’s troops are still around. If we let him reorganize and recover, it will be a considerable threat. Now our army’s morale is high, and this is a rare opportunity. We should take the chance to thoroughly defeat Lu Xiong’s army."

Nezha said: "Of course, Lu Xiong is aware of this too. If we bribe Fei Zhong and You Hun, we can use this to manipulate Lu Xiong, set up a few schemes, and it shouldn’t be difficult to drag this on for a year or half."

If we thoroughly defeat Lu Xiong now, the ones coming after would be the Demon Four Generals from Jiameng Pass. Not to mention anything else, but you have seen that Flower Fox Mink devour people."

Ziya and Nezha discussed for a long while, both thinking this plan was worth a try.

At this time, Wu Ji came running in, knelt down before Ziya.

"Greetings, Master."

Ziya looked at Wu Ji, rubbed his sore eyes, and said: "What’s the prince doing today?"

"The same as usual, nothing special."

Nezha asked: "Are you still watching Ji Fa?"

"What do you mean by watching?" Ziya got anxious, "This is called supervising! It’s a minister’s duty! What do you know, that kid Ji Fa is unreliable. If he gets another brilliant idea during a battle and causes trouble, I’d be at a loss."

Nezha found it more puzzling, and said: "Judging by Ji Fa’s past actions, he didn’t seem like a foolish person."

Ziya rolled his eyes at him and said in an annoyed tone: "It’s all that old man San Yisheng giving him advice behind the scenes. But San Yisheng only has some petty tricks. He is useful for court politics, but for major matters, he’s useless."

Nezha knew that his uncle Ziya looked at people rather extremely. San Yisheng couldn’t be as bad as he said.

At this moment, Wu Ji chimed in: "Brother, you may not know. Since Master became prime minister, the prince has restrained himself a lot. Recently, he only collects some women from the court or commoners to play in the palace, without doing anything too outrageous."

Hearing this, Nezha’s face turned cold.

Ziya beside him threw the ink stone at Wu Ji, smashing his head and causing blood to flow!

"Damn it, is it your place to speak? Get out!"

Wu Ji retreated in embarrassment. Ziya then looked at Nezha with growing caution.

He said: "Actually, if you think about it from another angle, it’s not a bad thing. Xiqi’s people normally have enough to eat and drink, but now is not the same as before. Xiqi has no horse ranch, and can only buy horses from the northern lords. One heavy cavalry costs the taxes of 120 households, not to mention the labor and military service. The cost for a large-scale war would be enormous; how many families could afford it? Now the prince is collecting girls to the palace, giving them food and clothes, which is a way to show kindness."

"Nonsense!"

Nezha’s mood was heavy. When Ziya said that few families could eat their fill, it was an understatement. In reality, there were already refugees and escapees in Xiqi City.

Having seen so much suffering, he was determined to overthrow Chengtang and change the world.

He stood up and was about to leave. Ziya, understanding him well, stepped forward and grabbed his clothes.

"Where are you going?"

"To see Ji Fa."

Ziya couldn’t hold him and had to hug his leg, being dragged along.

He said: "He’s the king, so what if he made a small mistake? Everyone likes beautiful women. Didn’t we both visit brothels when we were in Zhaoge? Why are you being so stubborn?"

Nezha turned to him, confused: "I am now the vanguard general personally appointed by Ji Fa. I heard that after the last battle, I was given another title, the God of Command of the Three Armies, so I’m considered a minister of Xiqi. I have the duty to advise and supervise."

"The key is you look like you’re not going to advise him but to beat him up." Ziya was almost in tears. His nephew, who would travel thousands of miles to kill someone for strangers in his youth, dared to assassinate Yin Shou in Zhaoge City for the sake of a few palace maids, later burned cities, and killed the Northern Marquis. He was full of heroic spirit, spontaneous, and daring.

Nezha said matter-of-factly: "If he listens to advice, I certainly won’t beat him up."

"Well, if he doesn’t listen, you’ll beat him, right? You just said he appointed you to a high position, so you should understand some human affairs and know gratitude."

"Screw your understanding, Uncle, if you get in my way again, I’ll beat you too."

Seeing Nezha’s serious look, Ziya immediately released his hand.

When Nezha left, Lv Ping stepped out from the shadows, watching Nezha’s back with a trembling heart, unable to calm down.

Lv Ping asked: "Why didn’t you stop him more?"

"Which eye of yours saw me not stopping him?" Ziya waved his sleeve angrily and turned to go inside. "That Nezha has zero tolerance for any speck of dirt and has a stubborn temper like a mule. Once he decides on something, no one can pull him back."

Lv Ping said: "Extraordinary people do extraordinary things. If he were like everyone else, he wouldn’t be Nezha. You needn’t worry so much about him."

"Well, that’s true, but you don’t know what kind of things Ji Fa has done. After becoming the ruler of Xiqi, he became so conceited. Damn it, isn’t it all thanks to me?"

...

As the clappers struck midnight thrice, Xiqi City descended into a solemn silence.

Countless plain silk lanterns hung on both sides of the street, extending forward. The candlelight, faintly glowing through the silk, formed golden spots, weaving the stone-paved path into a flowing golden river.

When the wind blew, the iron horse at the eaves of the city tower gently tapped, producing a clear sound like Kunlun snow water splashing on jade, startling the Night Patrol Soldiers who stopped and looked up. The iron horse, illuminated by the moonlight, cast a shadow like a divine crane spreading its wings on the city bricks.

The city was usually lively, but the wartime curfew made the streets extremely quiet, with only Nezha walking down the middle of the road.

He suddenly stopped, walked to the corner of the wall, and found someone lying there.

"Although the weather isn’t cold, sleeping here might get you caught by the patrol. It won’t be pleasant for you."

The person didn’t reply. Nezha reached out and poked a few times, discovering that the other’s clothes were tattered and the person was gaunt, already dead.

It wasn’t clear how they died.

Nezha continued walking, finding more dead people in the dark alleys.

Some alive people were on the verge of madness from hunger, and some had already started picking up knives, aiming at the fallen corpses on the ground.

Nezha suddenly stood still, then flew to the north gate. The soldiers there, seeing Nezha, panicked before returning to calm, looking at him with respect... and a hint of fear.

Beyond here, lay countless city-states of Xiqi, fertile land stretching for miles, and millions of lives.

He stood atop the city wall and looked down: "Xiqi—"

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