Demoness, where are you Fleeing to?
Chapter 619 - 504: Will You Accept It?_1

Chapter 619: Chapter 504: Will You Accept It?_1

In the Duogansi Khan Mansion, Duogansi Khan squinted his eyes, looking at the envoy who had just returned from the Folun Temple.

"Did you deliver my words as stated, in front of them?"

"I did." The envoy, a middle-aged man dressed in dark blue attire, respected immensely, "The Deputy Envoy was also present when I conveyed verbatim your order from the charm. I criticized the Yangtang Divine Saber as a homosexual, expressing our intention of exterminating all Jin People in our vicinity; and called the Jinping Dharma King a betrayer to our Qing-Tibetan Tribe for aiding people from the Central Plains, accusing him of treachery and betrayal of the Seven Generations of Nangebatsangbu."

With a slight nod showing his satisfaction, Duogansi Khan asked, "So what was their reactions? They just sent you back?"

"Lord Khan, the Jinping Dharma King has a deep-seated plot and showed no emotion while brocade clothed Qianhu Wang Meng was filled with rage but kept it under control. Marquis of Guanjun was not present, he didn’t show up for the whole time."

The messenger bowed slightly to report, "Not sure if this Qianhu Wang Meng will deliver my words to the Marquis of Guanjun in truth."

The faint traces of contemplation surfaced on Duogansi Khan’s face. About a moment later, he asked the three sons of his, five Wanhu generals and his trusted advisor Liu Zongquan, who were in the great hall of his mansion, "What do you all think?"

Everyone in the hall remained silent. His trusted advisor, sitting next to Khan, was lost in thought: "I am a little concerned about the whereabouts of Marquis Guanjun. But even if we can’t find it out, it doesn’t matter. Now the tides are on our side, Khan only needs to wait for Marquis Guanjun of Jin to step into our trap and meet his demise."

In a faint gleam of light in Duogansi Khan’s eyes, he said, "That’s what worries me, that he may decline to come."

"Lord Khan, if this man won’t let the situation of Jin in Qinghai-Tibet completely collapse, then he has to come."

The advisor stopped his words here, realizing what Duogansi Khan was worrying about.

The envoys they sent have already entered the Yushu area but there was no gain up until now.

While Khan can indeed make various alliances, Jin as the future backer of the Folun Temple could prevent it from falling in the near future.

Despite the mysterious person of heavenly level from Central Plains promised to Lord Khan that turmoil in Yunnan Luchuan would rise within a year or two so the Jin court would have to overlook their west, this claim cannot be validated.

Ever since Jin Xuanzong abandoned Vietnam, three uprisings in Lu River of Yunnan by a local government caused the blood rivers where Jin army fought. Once a great local government with hundreds of thousands of soldiers - "Luquansi" has been greatly damaged.

The advisor was also skeptical if "Luquansi" now still has the power to oppose Jin.

He pondered a moment, then curtly said, "If Lord Khan is genuinely worried, then we can use the Central Plains people we’ve captured. After ten days, we execute them all, killing a total of 1700!

This Marquis of Guanjun is a protector of Neo-Confucianism of Central Plains, he can’t disregard his reputation. Judging from all his track records, this man has a sense of chivalry, he will never just stand by."

"That might indeed be one solution."

Duogansi Khan nodded slightly, then asked Liu Zongquan, "Master Liu, will your Array be ready in ten days?"

"Why wait for ten days? It could be ready in three days.", Liu Zongquan claimed with a smirk, "Basically, this Array can be used now, though its power is slightly weaker."

Duogansi Khan let out a hearty laugh, relieved of his worries, "Then we’ll just wait here for the arrival of the Marquis!"

His laughter was thunderous, carrying a ring of Zhenyuan, making the whole building resonate.

At this moment, a few Wanhu of Duogansi, however, were all frowning slightly, showing signs of unease.

Among them, Duogansi Khan’s favored Wanhu, ’Shaker’ hesitated for a moment before standing up, "Lord Khan, I fear this to be a bit extreme, those people from Central Plains haven’t committed any misdoings at all.

If we proceed, we would automatically cut off any chance of reconciliation with Jin, leaving no place for relief to occur between us in the future."

After hearing this, Khan glanced at him and scoffed dismissively, "I don’t need any reconciliation, once Folun Temple is taken, I will have tens of thousands of soldiers. What would I have to fear from Jin?"

He waved his hand curtly, halting Shaker’s objection, a trace of annoyance in his voice, "Jin has been waging wars for 20 years and couldn’t even take down a local government of Yunnan, even more so for me, the Duogansi residing high in the plateau. Shaker, you only need to obey my orders to go to war, you don’t need to worry about the rest that you don’t understand."

Wanhu Shaker opened his mouth, seemingly wanted to say something but after a sigh, swallowed back what he was about to say.

※※※※

A moment later, Shaker entered his mansion with heavy concern, only to find his son Jiacuodanzhu waiting at the door with a worried face.

Shaker looked slightly stunned and turned sideways to look over, "What happened?"

"Father, our several caravan teams in Sichuan have been detained." Jiacuodanzhu smiled bitterly, "Seven hundred horses, the Sichuan salt, and tea leaves worth 230,000 teal of silver have all been intercepted and held up."

Shaker’s heart sank, he gripped Jiacuodanzhu’s collar, "What the hell is going on? Who’s holding up our goods? Didn’t we bribe those officials of Jin?"

"Not the government, but the East Sea Dragon Clan." Jiacuodanzhu said with a pale face, "However, we have received news from Yunnan and Sichuan. The Jin’s inspecting censors and General Commander have issued an order three days ago to stop all tea-horse trade and arrest all our trade caravans."

"Our caravan was forewarned by an official from Jin and had evacuated in advance, but we have been still blocked by the dragons of the downstream of Jinsha River and Tongtian River. Father, it’s quite likely the doing of the Marquis of Guanjun."

Upon hearing this, Shaker was lost in thought for a while.

Less than half a year ago, the death of the Demon King, Chang Ze and the devastating defeat of the demons of Tongtian River were well known among the upper-class families in the Qing-Tibet region.

Although the dragons’ power in Jinsha River has almost been wiped out, after the battle, the dragons marched westward, completely recapturing their territories, even invading the plateau and occupying some parts of downstream Tongtian River area, as well as the Lijiang River system.

This implies that the lifeline of the ’Ancient Tea-Horse Road’ in the Qing-Tibet region had fallen into the hands of the dragons.

The so-called ’Ancient Tea-Horse Road’ refers to the trade route between Qing-Tibet, Yunnan, and Sichuan.

Highlanders rely on barley, dairy products, butter, beef, mutton as their staple food, which leads to heat accumulation and indigestion. Only tea can relieve this problem.

However, tea doesn’t grow in the Qing-Tibet region, hence they began to trade horses for salt and tea with the Central Plains several thousand years ago.

Every year, their family relied on this trade route to earn a large amount of silver coins, the revenues of which far exceeded that of the taxes from the herders.

But Shaker couldn’t understand why the dragon clan would follow Li Xuan’s order? Just because Li Xuan defeated Chang Ze and Wu Zhiqi in a battle less than half a year ago?

"Father, this is no trivial matter."

Jiacuodanzhu said with great concern, "If it was only the Jin government sealing off the area, we could still bribe them or smuggle our goods, making slightly less profit at worst. But how can our caravans possibly fly over those rivers? Moreover-"

At this point, his expression became hesitant.

Noticing the strangeness on his son’s face, Shaker frowned. "What else do you want to say? Don’t beat around the bush!"

"Didn’t we hear rumors previously? The court is preparing to abolish the ’Duogansixing Zhihuishi Division’, divide the troops of Duogansi, and then select six people from the current five Wanhu under Duogansi and the Khan’s three sons to establish six Xuanwei Divisions, granting them exclusive rights to tea and horse trading. I suspect this is true."

Jiacuodanzhu looked at his father with unusual eyes, "Not long ago, I saw people from Xiuyiwei of Jin, Wang Meng, visiting Losang Gongbu. He was respectfully invited by Losang Gongbu."

At these words, Shaker’s pupils contracted in surprise. "Losang Gongbu and Wang Meng’s people are in contact. Are you sure? And they discussed their matters within your sight?"

Losang Gongbu was the illegitimate son of ’Duogansi Khan’. In Shaker’s impression, he was an extremely capable and ambitious man.

Although the Khan’s direct troops are mostly under his legitimate son, this legitimate son usually does not bother with administrative affairs and is more interested in martial arts, hawking, and horse riding.

So instead, it was this Losang Gongbu and another brother from the same mother who were more popular among the lower-class herdsmen.

"I wouldn’t make such a mistake," Jiacuodanzhu shook his head, "It was Wang Meng’s brother-in-law who didn’t hide his identity and visited Losang Gongbu openly. Losang Gongbu not only respectfully invited him in but also saw him off in a considerate manner."

At this moment, he noticed a hint of confusion in his father Shaker’s eyes. He then explained: "He probably didn’t dare to offend the Jin people? Those two Yangtang Divine Sabers, they could even kill the Hujiao Dharma King in the Folun Temple, let alone anybody else.

Now they have allied with the universally recognized number one expert of Qing-Tibet, Jinping Dharma King, so they have become even more powerful. Killing a Losang Gongbu is as easy as squashing an ant for them.

Today, I heard that the reason why the Khan had asked you, Father, to return halfway and hold your troops back was because he was scared. Saying something about luring the enemy to us, isn’t it just that he didn’t dare to fight?

There was also an unconfirmed rumor that the Bashe queen has set her sights on the Marquis of Guanjun of the Jin Dynasty, and wants to have children with him. So the side of Tongtian River might have allied with the Jin people, too."

Shaker’s eyes bulged instantly. "Why is such a thing possible?"

"It’s in the nature of demons to admire strength, so it’s not impossible. However, over the past few days, all the water demons around us have disappeared without a trace. They must have been called to the Tongtian Demon Court."

Jiacuodanzhu bitterly smiled. "Father, in my opinion, we might need to consider a way out for ourselves."

Shaker remained silent upon hearing these words. Suddenly, he noticed that his housekeeper hurriedly entered with a pale face. "Lord Wanhu, Wang Meng’s brother-in-law, the fur salesman named Sangji, has come to visit."

A frown settled like a ’川’ character between Shaker’s brows. He was not hesitating about whether to meet this person, but rather concerned that Sangji’s reckless antics would leak the news and bring disaster to his family."

Jiacuodanzhu glanced at his father’s face and asked softly, "Shall we let him in through the back door?"

However, Shaker shook his head slightly, thinking that since Sangji was so blatant, he must be doing this purposefully and was unlikely to agree to enter through the back door.

He then sighed lightly, "Please bring him in, through the front door."

About half a moment later, the fur salesman named Sangji was led before Shaker by Jiacuodanzhu.

He looked indifferent as he took out an official seal and a document, "Lord Shaker, this is the last appointment for the Xuanwei Division, would you accept it?"

At this point, Shaker’s heartbeat seized abruptly.