Demoness, where are you Fleeing to?
Chapter 579 - 468: Better to be a shattered jade_1

Chapter 579: Chapter 468: Better to be a shattered jade_1

After returning to the capital on Xue Yunrou’s Nine Heavens Ten Earths Pimo Divine Shuttle, Li Xuan personally escorted Yu Hongchang to the imperial palace.

Everything was smooth when Li Xuan entered the palace, but when he came out, he found himself surrounded by a large crowd of onlookers, apparently someone had leaked the news.

Many of the onlookers were students from the Guozi Bureau, and numerous in-service court officials, blocking Li Xuan’s path. Their faces were flushed with excitement.

"So that’s the marquis of Jing’an? He really is heroic!"

"The Marquis of Jing’an has returned to the capital? I heard that he put up a desperate fight at Nankou Pass and repelled the invading Mongolians."

"Incredibly heroic! A true young hero, he indeed inherits the virtues of the first Earl Chengyi."

"In this battle, he saved hundreds of thousands of people in north Zhili from suffering. Everything he’s done is akin to a living Buddha! I still vividly remember the horrific scenes of the crisis in 1439 when more than 230,000 people died due to the Mongolian invasion."

"I heard that during the battle at Nankou Pass, Marquis of Jing’an, with less than 30,000 ragtag troops, did not take a single step back, even though he was injured over a hundred times."

"He truly upholds the doctrine of Neo-Confucianism! Pursuing righteousness without fear of death. Mr. Hufa is admirable and respectable!"

"He has also shown great merit in serving in the south, and many of the civilians in the central Yangtze River and Han River regions have set up spiritual tablets as a sign of respect for him."

"Hey, Marquis Jing’an is quite good-looking. Is he married?"

At this time, in the Nan Palace of the Forbidden City, Zhengtong Emperor was watching Li Xuan, who was caught in the crowd, through a water mirror with a gloomy expression.

His fists clenched within his sleeves, his voice was full of disbelief: "Is it true that he sank Zhang Guanlan’s Yunzhong warship and defeated the 70,000 Mongolian Iron Cavalry at Nankou Pass?"

Sitting next to Zhengtong Emperor was Empress Sun, who shook her head: "If that was not true, the Mongolian cavalry would have already arrived at the capital. It is said that Shang Hong and Wang Wen captured two damaged Yunzhong gunships and are dragging them back to the capital at the moment."

—She was not supposed to be here, but the emperor had led the army to the east, and all of his trusted experts in the imperial inner court had also gone. Empress Sun could therefore move freely within the Forbidden City.

However, the stone bricks under Zhengtong Emperor’s feet cracked and he looked at Empress Sun questioningly, "Mother, you said that the Court would not be able to hold Nankou Pass."

Zhengtong Emperor was aware of the negative reputation his actions would fuel among the court officials.

This would further damage his already dwindling reputation and might even trigger a strong distaste from his loyal officials.

Empress Sun remained silent. In her prediction with the Demon Master, this was supposed to be an excellent opportunity. With north Zhili falling, Zhengtong Emperor could have retreated south and re-evaluated the situation while holding on to half of south Zhili.

She never expected Li Xuan would be able to defend Nankou Pass.

Thinking about this, Empress Sun sighed silently, her face remained calm: "It is no more than a minor setback, my son, why worry? According to my understanding, during the battles at Shanhai Pass and Yongping government (Tangshan), Li Xuan risked himself several times, almost severely wounded. This will only worsen his illness. It is very likely that he is already close to death."

Her eyes blinked coldly: "When the time comes for the Jingtai Emperor to collapse, it will be easy to restore order. You, my son, should be more patient."

Unbeknownst to Li Xuan, a discussion about him was taking place in the South Palace. After finally managing to escape from the crowd, he arrived at the Liudao Division headquarters.

However, he was surrounded by people again, causing a delay of more than two hours. He finally arrived at the Merit Calculation Tower to claim the merits from his northern expedition.

Earlier, to forge the four supreme magical implement-level knives, he had used up all the merits he had.

If Li Xuan wanted to exchange cultivation techniques with Xuanchenzi, he would have to earn new merits.

Despite the battle at Nankou Pass not being included, he should still receive merits for killing ’Qiongqi’ and purifying two battlefields.

Li Xuan estimated that he would receive eighty to ninety merits.

Originally, Li Xuan thought it would be smooth, he just needed to go through the process at the Merit Calculation Tower.

However, the Chief of Jigong Tower, with whom he had a good relationship, looked serious this time: "Zhonglangjiang, please be patient. The Divine Venerable is on his way back and will return in at most half an hour."

Li Xuan was puzzled, but he saw something unusual from the Chief’s face. Thus, he sat down, patiently waiting while recuperating from his injuries.

Half an hour later, Zhu Mingyue appeared on time at the Merit Calculation Tower. Dressed in armor, he walked in and cast a cold glance at the Chief of Jigong Tower: "Speak; what happened?"

"Following your suggestions, I submitted Li Xuan’s merits, but the elder council refused to approve them."

The Merit Calculation tower’s chief frowned, "Not only did they refuse to approve, but they also questioned Li Xuan’s guilt. Many elders of Liudao believed that the battle at Nankou pass was a dispute between conventional dynasties. Both Li Xuan and the Shenyi Department rushed to participate, which is a great taboo of our Liudao Division.

Fortunately, Li Xuan has his own deep foundation. He is the Hufa of Neo-Confucianism, and also the favorite younger-generation of Master Zhang, the head of Taoism. Thus, the elder council did not pass the sentence this time. But the situation is quite dangerous. Out of the eighteen elders of Liudao, eleven agreed to directly sentence and strip Li Xuan of his title of Zhonglangjiang."

"However, later, a Buddhist elder proposed to deploy officials from the inner court to the Shenyi Department to monitor Li Xuan and all the people there. This time, thirteen votes were in favor."

Li Xuan’s eyes turned slightly cold.

He knew about the ’elder council’ of the Liudao Division, which was roughly equivalent to a modern ’parliament.’

There are a total of eighteen people, eighteen Liudao elders.

Twelve are internally promoted, decided by factors such as experience, years of service, cultivation, etc. The remaining six are externally hired, coming from the Six Families: the Military, the Law, the Ink, the Buddha, the Confucian, and the Tao.

"Eleven votes?" Zhu Mingyue chuckled coldly: "This is against me, Zhu Mingyue, isn’t it?"

"If you understand, it’s good enough." The Chief of the Merit Calculation Tower slightly nodded with a helpless look: "This time, the elder council is extremely upset about your personal journey to the north to fight against the Mongolian Shaman, Abas. They can’t do anything to you, so they can only use Li Xuan as a stepping-stone, as a warning. "

Upon hearing this, Zhu Mingyue sneered: "A group of stubborn old fools. Is the lesson from the Tumu Fortress ten years ago not enough?"

The Chief of the Merit Calculation Tower shook his head: "They fear that your direct support for the Jin Dynasty this time will push the Liudao Division into an irreparable situation. Now it’s the Great Jin Dynasty, so our Liudao Division is naturally worry-free. But what if the world changes its master? How should the Liudao Division deal with it?

They have another worry, thinking that once the Liudao Division is too closely tied to the imperial court of the Jin Dynasty and loses its transcendent status, it might be controlled by the court in the future and become a puppet of the emperor.

Great Venerable, I think it would be best if you could communicate more with them. They are all part of the Liudao Division and are also working hard for the future of the Liudao Division. There’s really no need to make such a fuss. Can’t we seek common ground while reserving differences — "

Zhu Mingyue interrupted his words with a faint expression: "There is no need to persuade me further. As the saying goes, ’Those whose paths are different cannot make plans together.’ Haven’t we already had discussions before? What’s the point of more communication? I have already told them, if the Jin Dynasty is immoral, and the people of the Central Plains rise in rebellion, I Zhu Mingyue, although unable to bear seeing chaos among the people of the world, will still maintain neutrality and stand by.

But now, it’s an invasion by foreign enemies, causing trouble for the people in the Central Plains and the lands of the Jin Dynasty. Is this the same as the change of the Central Plains’ dynasty? They highly admire the 19th Fumo Venerable, and believe that he was patient and considered the overall situation. Eventually, during the Mongolian’s rule, he managed to preserve the inheritance of our Liudao Division.

But I disdain such a person, and believe that from the 19th to the 26th Fumo Venerable, are the disgrace of our Liudao Division. If I had taken their places, I would choose to die honorably, rather than survive disgracefully. What’s the benefit of carrying on with the Liudao Division if we cannot protect the people?"

"Your words are biased, Great Venerable." The Chief of the Merit Calculation Tower frowned, "Precisely because of the compromise and concession of the 19th Venerable, countless people were spared from the demonic disaster, and his merit is immeasurable."

Zhu Mingyue showed contempt: "If they didn’t retreat at every step, whether the Mongols could have ruled the Central Plains would have been a question."

He then waved his hand, "Enough, you don’t need to persuade me anymore. How many major credits does Li Xuan have this time? Let me see."

The Chief of the Merit Calculation Tower, with a helpless look, handed a document to Zhu Mingyue, "Not counting Qiongqi and Law-King Luosang Zundanba, there are forty-seven major credits. If you count them, it’s sixty-seven major credits."

Zhu Mingyue asked in confusion: "Why so few? This includes two at the heavenly level. Is there a reason behind this? And why wasn’t the Nankou Pass included?"

"Qiongqi and Law-King Luosang Zundanba came for Li Xuan." The Chief of the Merit Calculation Tower explained, "If you calculate the full credit, it seems inappropriate."

Zhu Mingyue narrowed his eyes, "This calculation method is somewhat unfair. Why would the Mongols target Li Xuan? Isn’t it all because of his accomplishments for our Liudao Division over the past six months? What about the Nankou Pass? This time he saved countless people of north Zhili from the calamity of war, which should be considered as an achievement of one hundred."

The Chief of the Merit Calculation Tower’s lips twitched involuntarily. With the current state of the Liudao Division, where would they get the funds to redeem these merits from Li Xuan?

He could only gently persuade, "According to a normal calculation, that would be two hundred forty-seven major achievements, but the senate over there would never agree."

"Then first allocate from my side." Zhu Mingyue sneered, "I will naturally make it clear to them."

The Chief of the Merit Calculation Tower shook his head, but did not persuade anymore. He began to draft a new document.

According to the rules of the Liudao Division, Zhu Mingyue, as the Fumo Venerable, has a certain degree of discretionary power.

Every year, this Venerable has eight hundred major achievements at his disposal. Now it is January, so he has enough achievements to use.

Zhu Mingyue then looked at Li Xuan again, "You don’t need to worry about all these nonsensical matters, just concentrate on your work. As for the person the inner court sends to your Shenyi Department, Li Xuan, you don’t need to care about it. I will handle it."