Chapter 1855: 505: The Seed Sprouts, A Fortuitous Mishap

Using a piece of rock and a handful of soil from one mountain range as the guide to absorb an entire small range still took a whole day. He walked barefoot through the mountains, and could only speed things up a little.

He thus trod over every inch of mountains and rivers, not missing a single spot; naturally it was impossible to completely hide his movements, and he hadn't planned to hide them anyway.

It was just that the people who knew his whereabouts didn't really care.

Qing Ziyu of Jinlan Mountain was famous for not being able to sit still, wandering around all day long.

When he was Emperor Dui, he had also once traveled to every corner of Dadui.

He had bummed meals in small villages of Dadui more than once or twice; after the enthronement ceremony, this even became a charming anecdote.

At least the lower down you went, the more people felt this Emperor Dui was down-to-earth, which naturally added to their favorable impression of him.

After Yu Ziqing's enthronement ceremony, he first went into seclusion for a hundred years; after coming out, he still didn't attend court, just wandered everywhere, and everyone had gotten used to it.

Today, Yu Ziqing took out a Jade Token. On the Jade Token, halos flowed, some light and shadow surfaced, and turned into the likeness of Song.

"Your Majesty, we just received word today: four places in Daqian have erupted in rebellion at the same time."

"Song, don't be so stiff and proper. This doesn't count as official business, this is intel I'm personally asking you for."

Yu Ziqing waved his hand, suddenly feeling it was a bit boring.

It had been more fun when Song didn't know his identity; unfortunately, after the enthronement ceremony, it could no longer be kept from him.

"Is it the usual small skirmishes, or do we actually have real rebel armies this time?"

"It's not like before. This time, each side has at least one major power involved."

"Huh? How did those guys get the nerve? Tell me the details."

Song weighed his words for a moment, then said.

"Actually, this isn't all that sudden.

Back then, Your Majesty reclaimed Dadui's old territories.

At that time, Dadui could only let the current Emperor Qian—back then known as King Lian—command the troops.

Back then Daqian was fighting Dadui and Dali at the same time, beset by internal and external troubles.

In order to consolidate power, King Lian used military law as a pretext to deal with quite a number of people.

Back then, there were already three major powers that got wiped out to the last man.

As for those who weren't utterly annihilated, where only certain individuals were executed, there were even more.

These measures made the current Emperor Qian offend an unknown number of people at the time.

The fact he later ascended the throne was largely because Daqian had already been forced into a corner.

The Dali armies of that year had already crossed the Mother River, completely occupying it; the idea of them seizing control of the Mother River was absolutely something Daqian could never accept.

Daqian at that time was in urgent need of an Emperor Qian to serve as a stabilizer.

Coupled with the fact that King Lian was then brimming with murderous aura and at the height of his momentum, they could only let him ascend.

Sure enough, afterwards Daqian forced Dali back; from then on, Daqian and Dali took the Mother River as the boundary, the two sides sharing water from the same river.

Even the Mother River God became two from then on.

The seeds of disaster were sown back then. During the hundred years Your Majesty spent in seclusion, Daqian's livelihood withered, and natural and man-made calamities erupted one after another.

And the current Emperor Qian is not like the previous one, Emperor Ren, who ruled with benevolence; he came up through the military and is decisive in killing.

In these past years, the number of people he's executed in a single year exceeds the total Emperor Ren killed in his entire lifetime.

In the past two years, resentment among the people of Daqian has flared everywhere, so those major powers who were most deeply offended by the current Emperor Qian back then have taken the lead and directly launched a rebellion.

If they didn't rebel, they wouldn't have many good days left anyway.

Judging by the current Emperor Qian's posture, he'd probably be able to kill off seventy to eighty percent of their disciples within three hundred years.

These days, even recruiting a few disciples has become a bit difficult for them.

Because Emperor Qian's targeting of them has long been common knowledge.

Now they're using the public resentment caused by the Mother River's levee breach two years ago as their banner to raise the flag of revolt.

They're using the name of a member of the Daqian Imperial Family as their slogan, with "toppling the tyrant" as their excuse.

In any case, this bout of turmoil in Daqian can't be avoided.

They've made it clear they don't want to overthrow the dynasty; it's just that with a tyrant sitting there, they simply can't go on living.

The situation inside Daqian is a bit complicated; it's hard to explain clearly in a few words."

"What's so hard to explain? Isn't it just that everyone in the court has their own ideas, so the matter of pacifying the rebellion can't be settled quickly?

They're all tangled up with each other by blood or marriage; Emperor Qian might not trust them either.

If things go badly, the big army he just sent out might turn around and merge straight into the rebel ranks."

Yu Ziqing snorted in disdain; it wasn't as if he didn't know what a mess Daqian was.

Song gave a wry smile. He hadn't dared to put it so bluntly just now, because if you say Daqian is like this, claiming that the people in Dadui have no selfish motives at all would also be impossible.

After all, not everyone can be a Saint.

This isn't something that can be judged in pure black and white.

"It's more or less like that. Originally it had actually been decided: a talented figure from the clan of the Daqian Empress.

But that person had once studied for a time in one of the major powers now in rebellion, so they didn't let him command the troops."

"A talent from the Xu Family, what a pity." Yu Ziqing sighed. He knew the Xu Family of Daqian quite well; they never entered the court and remained always in the military.

At least in every generation someone outstanding emerged.

"Emperor Qian does have some eye for people; he chose that virtuous daughter from the Xu Family as Empress."

Hearing this, Song immediately looked like he wanted to speak but stopped.

"What?"

"Your Majesty, you might be misremembering. The Empress isn't that famed wise and virtuous daughter of the Xu Family, but another Great Tao Cultivator known for her looks and strength."

"I previously..." The moment the words left Yu Ziqing's mouth, he realized something was off.

"Go look into this right now."

Cutting off the Jade Token communication, Yu Ziqing's face darkened.