Yuan Lin still couldn’t persuade Zhang Xuan and Zhang Cheng. They were determined to act, even intending to brazenly disregard the Holy Emperor’s birthday.
He had a faint sense of worry about this. To say nothing would go wrong was just deceiving oneself.
And so, on the seventh day after the army set out, bad news arrived.
This ti, it was again due to a reckless advance. First, Zhang Cheng was surrounded, then killed by a volley of arrows.
Zhang Xuan, as his father, was thrown into utter disarray by this. Disregarding the attempts of his subordinates to stop him, he sought to avenge his son, and the outco was predictable.
He was directly captured alive by the enemy forces. From there, things began to spiral out of control. With the King of Northern Jiang in their hands, the opposing side boldly pushed into the Northern Jiang Army’s territory, devouring large areas and allowing a previously unknown minor faction to rapidly expand.
Fortunately, Zhang Xuan eventually succumbed to torture and died at the enemy’s hands, which finally brought the rapidly expanding enemy faction to a halt.
However, this wasn’t the true crisis. Because of this major defeat, the simultaneous deaths of the King of Northern Jiang, the commander-in-chief, and the Princely Heir of Northern Jiang, the marshal, left the Northern Jiang Army leaderless. Its generals and soldiers naturally each sought to establish their own power, and they were also coveting Yuan Lin’s territory.
Additionally, other powers were eyeing them covetously. A huge power had fractured into many dium and small factions. Originally, other powers couldn’t take a bite out of it, but now it was different; they could.
It was only because the Holy Emperor’s birthday was approaching that no one dared to make a move at this critical juncture.
Mainly, the defeat and death of the King of Northern Jiang this ti was too peculiar, giving it the air of divine retribution.
Otherwise, under conditions of complete superiority, first the Princely Heir was killed, then the King of Northern Jiang was captured. More importantly, that small faction also believed in the Holy Emperor, and it was said their leader was also a Class B believer. With such connections, how could anyone claim there was no problem?
Therefore, the entire chaotic world fell into a strange calm, everyone afraid that they too would run into trouble.
anwhile, Yuan Lin successfully took power. He had to do this; if he didn’t stabilize the situation, he couldn’t even guarantee his own life.
Mainly, he was too much of an eyesore. Being able to legitimately inherit the entire Northern Jiang Army, quite a few people wanted him dead.
His status was that of a son-in-law. If he were a son like Zhang Xuan, this situation might not have occurred. Unfortunately, he was not.
However, with his capabilities, plus Old Man Bao and the group of n he had previously subdued, he quickly stabilized the entire Northern Jiang Army and gradually began to consolidate power.
It was just that completely regaining control of the Northern Jiang Army wouldn’t be so easy. Moreover, he didn’t plan to resort to arms anyti soon, so he used thods of verbal sparring.
"Old Man Bao, I’ve troubled you a lot these days." Yuan Lin massaged his temples. Fortunately, his internal affairs team was solid, and with Old Man Bao overseeing external affairs, there were basically no problems.
He could also see that this Old Man Bao ca from an extraordinary background. Both his vision and abilities were uncommon. His previous destitution was likely due to the chaotic tis; otherwise, Yuan Lin would never have been able to et such a figure.
"Heh, a small matter, a small matter," Old Man Bao said with a beaming smile. From the way he handled matters, no matter how difficult, they could be easily resolved once in his hands.
His ability to so easily subdue parts of the Northern Jiang Army was also thanks to the other’s help.
"This is no small matter. Old Sir, you saved my life," Yuan Lin couldn’t help but say with a wry smile. He had never imagined sothing like this would happen. He could only consider himself an old unlucky fellow.
"We’ll talk about life and death later. Have you thought about going further?" Old Man Bao asked.
Yuan Lin could only shake his head. How could he have any plans for going further? His previous actions were only forced by circumstances.
"I know you’re thinking of retiring with your wife next, but if you leave, what about us?"
"You have only two choices now: either inherit your father-in-law’s Northern Jiang Army and charge all the way forward, or leave now and implicate all of us," Old Man Bao stated calmly.
"Can’t we..." Yuan Lin wanted to say they could surrender to others, which would give them a place to go, but Old Man Bao interrupted him before he could finish.
"No, that’s simply not realistic," Old Man Bao’s tone beca stern.
"Let consider it. After all, my abilities are limited, as you should know," Yuan Lin said. Only now did he understand why Zhang Xuan had fought so desperately; it was all because his circumstances were beyond his control. Once one beca the head of a major power, many things were no longer up to oneself.
Once in that position, it’s not easy to step down if you want to.
Unfortunately, Yuan Lin was now forced into this position.
No one believed he was forced. Everyone assud his rise to power was a matter of course, leaving him no way to escape.
"You have a quarter of an hour. I hope you can make a decision quickly," Old Man Bao stated.
"The north has been chaotic for far too long. If the chaos continues, it might beco another Capital," Old Man Bao reminded him.
"What if I really don’t want to? Old Man Bao, what do you plan to do then?" Yuan Lin was asking Old Man Bao, but his question was actually directed at the n under him.
"Naturally, we’ll all go our separate ways. What else could we do? They might find soone suitable and offer a pledge of loyalty to join them," Old Man Bao said aningfully.
Surrender wasn’t as simple as just showing up; one had to offer a corresponding token of sincerity. Yuan Lin couldn’t help but feel his hair stand on end; he naturally knew what a pledge of loyalty was. What pledge of loyalty could carry more weight than him, the son-in-law of the King of Northern Jiang, and his wife, the daughter of the King of Northern Jiang? Besides, surrender was his own proposal; using him as a pledge of loyalty would be perfectly reasonable, wouldn’t it? As for letting his subordinates surrender while he retired to enjoy life—even if his n were obedient, they might not be able to swallow that indignity.
Thus, Yuan Lin was truly being roasted over a fire.
"Then I’ll listen to Old Sir. I intend to take over the Northern Jiang Army and unify the north as soon as possible," Yuan Lin said after so thought. This ti, he truly had no way to back down.
Now that he had beco the leader of the Northern Jiang Army, he had to lead everyone to prosperity and expand aggressively. Conquering the world would be the best-case scenario. If he couldn’t achieve that, maintaining a stalemate would suffice.
"Good, good, good! I wasn’t mistaken about you, boy. It’s just that you can’t call yourself King of Northern Jiang yet. Also, these days, although we can’t take military action, we can prepare for war. As soon as the Holy Emperor’s birthday passes, we can engage the enemy," Old Man Bao was very happy. This boy had finally co to his senses.
"Engaging the enemy ans another bloody battle. It would be best if it could be resolved without bloodshed," Yuan Lin didn’t pin his hopes on the Holy Emperor’s blessings.
Who knew what these Divine Arts and Spirit Glyphs were? If they couldn’t be the deciding factor for victory, wouldn’t that be terrible? Taking the initiative to attack was even less advisable. His core troops were not nurous to begin with, and he didn’t have much territory left either. The enemy would definitely besiege him, so attacking would be tantamount to suicide. Unless he intended to abandon his existing territory and find a new foothold, he could only defend and then look for an opportunity to counterattack.
"They’re just a bunch of worthless curs! You and I are both Class B believers; we naturally have the Holy Emperor’s Protection," Old Man Bao said confidently.
"It seems you already have a plan to deal with it, so I can rest assured." Yuan Lin knew Old Man Bao’s situation; though devout to the Holy Emperor, he wouldn’t rely on the Holy Emperor for everything.
「...」
Kill two birds with one stone. Let the Hidden Dragon ascend, and turn the fox borrowing the tiger’s might into true tiger’s might. The affair of Zhang Xuan and Zhang Cheng of the Northern Jiang Army was naturally orchestrated by Wang Linchi. Those two, using his banner, dared to ignore his plans. That was like biting the hand that fed them; how could Wang Linchi tolerate it? Therefore, he chose to make an example of them to let the world know he was not to be trifled with. Those rumors, naturally, were spread by Wang Linchi. Without enough public opinion to suppress them, how could the other rebel armies obediently halt their actions? These people were all the type to devour others whole. If they weren’t made to feel so fear, they wouldn’t stop.
Next, the protagonist should begin his ascent, but he’s still a little short of Class A. It looks a bit tough. I can only arrange a desperate situation for him and then use so psychological suggestion. Wang Linchi checked Yuan Lin’s faith level; it was just a tiny bit away from Class A. Unfortunately, it was stuck there, unable to advance an inch. He didn’t know if it was because of the Hidden Dragon or if he had truly hit a bottleneck. It seems there’s no chance of success before the birthday. We can only wait until after the birthday. I’m putting so much effort into him; when I devour him later, I should be able to obtain even more nourishnt. Wang Linchi, naturally, wouldn’t be good to soone for no reason.
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