Twin Dimension Yin-Yang Mirror: Attaining immortality through the martial path
Chapter 285 - 252: Driving the Tiger to Swallow the Wolf, a Rare Opportunity

Chapter 285: Chapter 252: Driving the Tiger to Swallow the Wolf, a Rare Opportunity

"Cui Guangling came from the Cui Family of Yunzhou, and although his family wasn’t particularly illustrious, they were wealthy enough to afford his studies in literature and martial arts.

Not only was he exceptional in literary and martial prowess, he was also handsome, making him somewhat famous in Yunzhou.

Ordinarily, based on his normal educational trajectory, the next steps would have been to take the civil service exams and become an official—his future seemed bright.

However, believing himself to be extraordinary, he also lost all sense of proportion, and unexpectedly developed a mutual attraction with the daughter of the Provincial Governor of Yunzhou, Pei Zijing.

The two of them were passionately in love, meeting secretly from time to time... and that led to disaster."

Miss Qing paused here.

What followed, Zhou Ping’an could infer on his own without needing her elaborate descriptions.

Even in modern society, people still insist on marrying someone of equal social status.

For an ordinary family aspiring to marry into wealth and power, there were bound to be significant obstacles.

Forget about true romantic love, let alone "do not despise the poor youth"; those are just deceits aimed at naive youngsters.

Typically, if the social standings do not match, the deeper the love, the greater the tragedy.

Especially in ancient times, in a family of officials who held life-and-death power.

Cui Guangling, coming from an ordinary family, dared to secretly court the Provincial Governor’s daughter.

Apart from death, Zhou Ping’an couldn’t see any other possible outcome for him.

The worst part was, Cui Guangling had a family in Yunzhou; even if he wanted to flee, the temple could run but not the monk.

"After he fled, did his family get into trouble?"

"Indeed, the Governor’s daughter, being deeply loyal, tried everything to get Cui Guangling out of Yunzhou, but could not save the lives of the 380 members of the Cui family,"

sighed Miss Qing.

Lin Huaiyu’s eyebrows twitched: "Were they all executed?"

This kind of situation didn’t clearly denote right from wrong, it could only be said that Cui Guangling was reckless, dragging his entire family into disaster...

The Provincial Governor of Yunzhou, Pei Zijing, was ruthless and made no allowances whatsoever.

"Yes, they were all executed. Since then, Cui Guangling has never returned to Yunzhou. In his earlier years, he wandered around Jiangzhou, found no prospects, but unexpectedly, ten years ago in Qingyang City, he achieved a powerful mastery of martial arts.

Since then, his path was paved with the help of nobles...

He started as an ordinary official and became the Captain of Qingyang County, then gained the favor of the former Governor of Guangyun Prefecture who married his daughter to him.

Later, his career soared. As a military officer, he made numerous achievements and eventually became the Governor of a prefecture.

One could say, his rise through the ranks was nothing short of legendary.

Those who opposed him either died suddenly of illness or changed their attitudes, pledging allegiance to him; he encountered hardly any significant obstacles."

"Weren’t you going to tell me why Cui Guangling is sending his men to collude with the Red Lotus Sect? Could it be that he wants to use the Red Lotus Rebel Army to attack Yunzhou and avenge his past grievances?"

Lin Huaiyu, growing a bit impatient as she listened to Miss Qing continually discuss Cui Guangling’s affairs, interjected.

By now, she had clearly understood who Cui Guangling was—a likely "wolf in sheep’s clothing," a large treachery appearing loyal.

Moreover, having held the position of Governor of Guangyun Prefecture for so many years, his underlying strength must be unfathomably deep.

Currently eliminating the Chen Family’s Blood Shadow Forces had undoubtedly frustrated his plans, creating a deep enmity.

Facing such a high-level enemy, the current strength of Qingyang City might still be a bit weak.

Cautiousness was necessary.

One must clearly understand Cui Guangling’s intentions and his potential moves.

Only then could they respond aptly to any situation, rather than facing it unprepared.

Miss Qing also said with a bitter smile, "That’s all the information I have...

Apart from this reason, I don’t think there is any other way to explain Cui Guangling’s unusual behavior.

He allowed refugees to cross the river, and moreover, he secretly supported the Red Lotus Army’s attack on the county city.

Even withdrawing the military forces from the northern checkpoints...

All these signs clearly indicate that he wants to open a northward passage, allowing the Red Lotus Army to clash with the Yunzhou army to the death."

"Officially, this is to relieve the crisis in Jiangzhou... When strength is insufficient, concentrating forces to protect vital cities is a profound principle of military tactics that prioritizes saving people over holding territories.

Personally, by secretly aiding the Red Lotus Army, he’s undercutting Yunzhou from behind.

By breaking Yunzhou, he naturally avenges his family’s extermination.

Moreover, when the Red Lotus Army and Yunzhou army are both weakened from battle, he could then lead his troops northward to scheme against Yunzhou."

As Miss Qing explained this, the situation became clear.

Even Zhou Ping’an felt that Cui Guangling might be planning just that.

If Miss Qing’s deductions were correct,

then Cui Guangling’s power could be far stronger than imagined.

Of course, there was still some good news.

The good news was that, given his vast ambitions, he naturally wouldn’t care about a remote, tiny city like Qingyang City.

Until the situation became clear, he wouldn’t expose his underlying strengths just to deal with Qingyang City.

He might even show weakness.

"Miss Qing, from now on, you will be responsible for the intelligence of Qingyang City... You may select your personnel freely and assemble a team of five hundred."

Zhou Ping’an suddenly felt,

With Miss Qing’s sharp intelligence-gathering capabilities and her strong analytical mind, it would be a waste not to give her responsibilities."

"Really?" Green Lady’s face lit up with surprise.

She didn’t exactly crave power, but she felt she hadn’t been completely outdone by the Third Miss Lin.

These days, who doesn’t have a dream or two, especially seeing Zhou Ping’an on the verge of soaring to great heights...

Given such an opportunity, she absolutely didn’t want to be left so far behind that she couldn’t even see his shadow.

To gather momentum and seize fortune was impossible alone, but to attach herself to a successful leader and follow closely was still a good strategy.

"Doesn’t Magistrate Zhou worry that I am from the Red Lotus Sect, aren’t you concerned about endless hidden dangers?"

Green Lady’s eyes shimmered as she asked in a coy voice, a mixture of testing and hoping.

"Who isn’t a rebel these days? If you don’t despise me, I won’t despise you either, haha..."

Zhou Ping’an laughed heartily.

Speaking of it, his current behavior, although not openly declared under a banner,

was indeed a rebellion.

Having killed both the County Magistrate and the County Captain, and having routed the County City’s troops in a devastating defeat, clearly seizing the city and disregarding orders, how was that different from raising a banner and rebelling?

The matter of Green Lady being from the Red Lotus Sect was actually not an issue at all.

Among his own subordinates, he even had Tang Lin’er, a Red Lotus Divine General.

Even himself, having learned the Red Lotus Secret Teachings, wasn’t far behind Green Lady either.

Not only had he cultivated the "Purifying World Lotus Body," but he had also practiced the Red Lotus Secret Tome’s "Karmic Fire Red Lotus Visualization Method," a connection notoriously difficult to break and deeply entangled.

Whether or not someone was from the Red Lotus Sect didn’t matter to him.

The real question was whether he could use the city as a base to carve out a path to heaven for himself?

...

"My lord, the resistance forces of the Chen Family have been completely eradicated, but...",

Tang Lin’er approached with his armor dyed red, exuding a smell of blood, and reported with a troubled expression.

Slashing down the men who attacked the City Guards that day was naturally pleasing, at least providing closure for his men.

However, the mission wasn’t entirely successful, which was somewhat disappointing.

"Could it be that Patriarch Chen Xiaoyi received some news beforehand and escaped earlier?"

"How did he escape?"

Zhou Ping’an was very curious.

Although he hadn’t encircled Chen Mansion completely, the way out he left was actually just a trap.

If Chen Xiaoyi had attempted to follow Divine Envoy Zhong Ming to escape, it would have been a dead-end.

"In the master bedroom of the Chen Mansion, there is a secret passage...

My men pursued but found that this passage went straight to the mountains outside the city. It was my fault for not being vigilant enough beforehand,"

Tang Lin’er was quite annoyed and slapped his steel helmet.

Having let such a big fish escape, who knows what problems might arise?

"No matter, if he escaped alone in advance, he probably lacks courage.

Even if he blends in with the refugees, he won’t be able to cause much trouble..."

Zhou Ping’an offhandedly comforted him, but then he remembered the earlier report from Green Lady.

He thought that Chen Xiaoyi, being in Qingyang and assigned to infiltrate the Red Lotus Rebel Army to lead them to attack Yunzhou...

Now that he has disrupted the big plan, the most likely options for him are two paths.

One path is to return to Guangyun Prefecture to report the situation.

The other path might be heading straight to the Red Lotus Guangyun Sub-branch to regroup and plot anew.

Whichever path he takes, it won’t affect the situation in Qingyang City.

There’s no need to bother about it for now.

Of course, even if they wanted to pursue him, they wouldn’t be able to catch him.

The night outside the city is vast, and trying to catch a master who possesses the Blood Shadow Technique and intends to hide his tracks,

even if the entire Army of City Guards were deployed, it’s unlikely they’d find him.

"Withdraw the troops and regroup, we’ll clean the city at dawn tomorrow,"

Zhou Ping’an ordered.

Cleaning the city naturally didn’t mean slaughtering the city’s population.

It meant purging the city.

Now, with the core skilled fighters from both the Red Lotus Sect and the Chen Family wiped out,

the various Red Lotus Sect followers who had infiltrated the city couldn’t stir up any more trouble.

However, managing the over a hundred thousand hungry refugees who had gathered both inside and outside the city...

and the Jianghu experts drawn by the rumors of the "Prison Suppressing Demon Subjugation Scripture," was still no easy task.

They would have to be dealt with one by one.

The situation wasn’t difficult, as Zhou Ping’an already had a plan in mind.

In others’ eyes, this might seem like a great mess.

To him, it might just be a great opportunity for rapid advancement.

...