Demoness, where are you Fleeing to?
Chapter 744 - 615 Chengde Dragon Vein_1

Chapter 744: Chapter 615 Chengde Dragon Vein_1

When Li Xuan rode up to Sun Chuyun, he had been following her for nearly half a mile, yet Sun Chuyun had not noticed his presence.

Li Xuan couldn’t help but ask, in bewilderment: "Chuyun, what are you thinking about? You seem to be oblivious."

As he spoke, his gaze shifted suspiciously to the imperial city in the distance, wondering what Chuyun could be doing here. Was she going to the palace? But the Renshou Palace was already sealed off.

"Zhonglangjiang?" Sun Chuyun appeared startled, before she calmly said: "I went to the Penalty Treasury, there is a case in which I needed some evidence from there."

The Jin Dynasty had two Penalty Treasuries, both located on the west bank of the Taiye Pool within the palace city. All confiscated items, such as silver, paintings, various valuable utensils and the like, were stored here.

Sun Chuyun had indeed gone to the Penalty Treasury and taken something from there.

"So that’s what happened!" Li Xuan seemed to have no doubts, he smiled slightly and said: "I heard that you’ve been absent-minded while handling cases recently, as if you’ve lost your soul. I originally thought they were exaggerating, but it turns out to be true. Chuyun, do you have something on your mind recently?"

Upon hearing his words, Sun Chuyun stared at Li Xuan. Her expression uncertain and her words hesitant. After a while, she shifted her gaze and shook her head slightly: "I’m fine, I’m just dealing with a rather complex case that I’m finding difficult to understand."

There was an unusual glint in Li Xuan’s eyes. He didn’t ask further but nodded slightly: "Then, take care of yourself and don’t overwork. The case solving rate in Wuchang City has been impressive of late, ranking second in the four departments of Shenyi Government. You are the pillar of our government, be sure to keep it up."

The name ’Wuchang City’ was derived from the name of Sun Chuyun, symbolizing ’the cloud is unpredictable, the wind takes no form’.

She indeed deserves this honour. She single-handedly established this city, and from top to bottom, it bore her imprint.

"——And also, don’t get lost in your thoughts while riding, that would be dangerous driving. If you hit someone it would be really bad."

After Li Xuan finished speaking, he patted Sun Chuyun’s shoulder heavily, then rode his horse away. However, just a few steps away, Sun Chuyun suddenly called out loudly: "Li Xuan!"

Li Xuan looked at Sun Chuyun in confusion.

For the past few months, Sun Chuyun had always called him Zhonglangjiang or Lord, this was the first time she had called him Li Xuan.

Then she softly said in a pale face: "Li Xuan, be cautious of the Empress Dowager, True Emperor, and Mongols recently. Especially, especially Chengde——"

It seemed that she had used all her strength to say this sentence. After speaking, she rode her horse and galloped away.

Li Xuan stood still, his face thoughtful and contemplative, as he stayed in place on his horse.

Only after a long while did Li Xuan resume his journey.

Next, he would have to go to the mansion of Dudu, to review the records of the military officials from all Weisuo.

Jingtai Emperor did not use the ’checks and balances’ method in the Divine Machine Right Army but entrusted all military appointments to Li Xuan.

The only request from the Emperor was to quickly assemble a combat-effective Divine Machine Right Army.

This was one of the reasons Li Xuan was surprised. The Jingtai Emperor seemed to have limitless trust in him.

Li Xuan was a fair and decisive person. Since Jingtai Emperor treated him as a national officer, he would reciprocate in kind and do his best to carry out this matter.

The first thing he needed to do now was to strengthen the core of the Divine Machine Right army, and appoint reliable mid-to-high ranking officers.

In an army, the commander is like the brain of a human body and the mid-to-high ranking officers are like the limbs and bones.

Li Xuan had to carry out his intentions accurately to the grassroots level through these officers.

If the limbs and bones do not obey, or lack power, they would be unable to fight the enemy.

As of now, the Divine Machine Right Army was undeniably a failure in terms of its officers.

Since the early years of the Jingtai era, the Jingying, despite several reorganizations, was mainly focused on the ’Ten Regiment Army’.

Thirteen years ago, Yu Jie, who had not yet gained his reputation, couldn’t stir this hornet’s nest, so he simply started afresh and formed the ’Ten Regiment Army’.

The ’Divine Machine Right Army’ was left forgotten in the corner, filled with many placeholders, most of whom were the idle descendants of various noble and military families, sent to pass their time in Jingying.

Li Xuan’s situation was different from Yu Jie’s. He is now the ’Shaobao’, with a high reputation. And since he had already offended all the northern military families, he didn’t care anymore. The key point was, he didn’t trust these people.

Luckily, the basic quality of the lower level soldiers in the Divine Machine Right Army was still good, though these officers were lazy and incapable, their servants really knew their stuff.

The Shaobao, Yu Jie, carried out regular inspections and if the quality of the soldiers in the Divine Machine Right Army couldn’t be put to good use, then given Yu Jie’s temperament, he would never allow the Divine Machine Right Army to continue being so sloppy.

The Divine Machine Right Army itself was a firearms unit, and they should have no difficulty operating ’Rune Flintlock Rifled Guns’.

Therefore, in Li Xuan’s view, only by replacing the head of the Divine Machine Right Army, changing its limbs and bones, and training the new battle formations to proficiency, could this army show its true power.

The middle and high-ranking officers that he planned to appoint would be deployed half from the left Shenji battalion, and half would be drawn from Weisuo Army.

The current Weisuo Army is deteriorating, but the low level of officers in the Weisuo Army include many outstanding hereditary officers. They learned their skills from their fathers, but due to their environment and status, they were unable to make use of them.

At this time, all they needed was a Bole to promote them to the right position, and they would be able to shine.

Li Xuan was also getting ready to replace more than half of the grassroots military commanders of the Shenji Right Army. He planned to call all the servants and families of the military families in the north to the left Shenji battalions.

Li Xuan simply couldn’t trust the Northern military families; this was the only way to make the ’Shenji Right Army’ generate combat power quickly.

The words from Sun Chuyun at her departure had created a sense of urgency in Li Xuan.

Since the matter involved Meng Wu and it was related to the Empress Dowager and the True Emperor, it was highly likely that a drastic change in the whole court was brewing, perhaps even a coup to seize the palace.

Li Xuan realized, before this great change arrived, he needed to take control of Shenji’s Right Army quickly. The time left might have already not been much.

The five military command headquarters were located in front of Chengtian Gate, on the south side of the Jīnshui Bridge.

Li Xuan arrived here after only a short walk. He discovered that the place was deserted, without the hustle and bustle it previously held.

Prince Xiang’s case of treason also affected here. All the people, from hall officials to scribes, almost all were in panic, their spirits not kept.

Prince Xiang, Yu Zhanshi, was an excellent dancer. Naturally he wouldn’t miss the power of the Weisuo army of the Great Jin Dynasty due to his decades of painstaking efforts to network.

So the Five Military Command Headquarters was also one of the hardest hit areas in the treason case of Prince Xiang. More than half of the people were still kneeling in punishment on the other side of the Jīnshui Bridge, and the rest were worried about being implicated by Prince Xiang.

But when Li Xuan arrived, the entire Five Military Command Headquarters was bustling again, with almost everyone gathering around him.

Whatever Li Xuan requested, the officials here would comply. Even the prestigious military families didn’t hold back as they used to.

With such help, Li Xuan only took half a day to draft a list and complete all related transfer procedures.

He didn’t play his role of ’Judge of the Central Army’ for a year for nothing. He had a good understanding of the talents in the local area, who’s wasting time, who’s brave, and who holds a grand ambition.

At this time, a letter symbol came to Li Xuan.

The letter symbol came from Xue Yunrou, and she was obeying his orders to go to the Qianhu Office in Chengde.

When Li Xuan sensed the content of the letter symbol, his face changed slightly, and his eyes became extremely cold.

※※※※

Two hours later, Li Xuan had already arrived near the Qianhu Office in Chengde. He descended from the Style Light on a mountain top approximately 22 miles away from the Qianhu Office.

Xue Yunrou was standing there, her brows furrowed as she looked into the distance.

Li Xuan landed next to Xue Yunrou and asked, "Where is the Dragon Vein you mentioned?"

While speaking, he opened his Tao-protecting Eyes and looked around.

Li Xuan had never been to the summer resort in his previous life, and only heard of the name. Thus, he didn’t know the specific location of the summer resort in Chengde.

Besides, the area of the Great Jin Dynasty was three times large than his previous world, so the terrains were also different.

"It’s over there, in the valley on the west bank of the Wulie River," Xue Yunrou pointed at the distant valley. Her voice was incredulous, "You really hit the nail on the head. There really is a hidden Dragon Vein here. It was very well hidden, and it took me over three months to find it."

Before this, she never thought that such an impoverished valley in the Yan Mountain Range could harbor an immature "Dragon Vein".

Xue Yunrou continued in a complex tone, "This could be from the Khitans. A thousand years ago, the north and south of Yan Mountain was the pastureland of the Khitans. If this could grow into maturity, the destiny of the Khitan people might last for another one or two hundred years."

Dragon Veins are concepts in geomancy studies.

In geomancy, the term ’dragon’ is used to represent the direction, fluctuation, turning and changes of the mountain range. Since the dragon is good at changing, it can be big or small, it can bend or stretch, it can hide or appear, it can fly or dive. The mountain shape changes just like a dragon, hence it’s called Dragon Vein.

More than that, the Dragon Vein also represents a gathering of human hearts and ideas.

Such as the Dragon Vein of the Emperor Tai of Jin at Fengyang, it gathered the hearts and wills of the people on both sides of the Huai river. This enabled the Emperor Tai to rise among the regions of Jianghuai, sweeping away the warlords.

And now, the Dragon Vein under the Jin Household, it gathered the willpower of the whole nation.

Li Xuan shook his head and withdrew the Tao-Protecting Eyes. The Confucianism pupil surgery was unrelated to geomancy, so he couldn’t see much.

"I just want to know, what they are trying to do?"

Xue Yunrou flicked her sleeve and a silver mirror appeared beside her.

The light in the mirror was flickering. Soon, a black elixir covered in runes was reflected in it. "This is a magical instrument called ’Lihe Zhouguang Lei’. Its explosion can destroy a mountain of a thousand feet. They buried it under this dragon vein."

Li Xuan was still filled with questions, "What are they trying to do? Destroy this Dragon Vein? What good will it bring?"

"I don’t know, I only have one guess for now," Xue Yunrou looked towards the north, "If the Dragon Vein here burst, the hundreds of thousands of Pi Room Iron Cavalry at the Tai Grand Emperor’s tomb might be freed from their bondage and march towards Chengde."