Cyber ​​Daming

Chapter 660 No way forward
"The reason why Mou An and Hu E were able to fall into the trap this time is because the East Palace didn't know that the Zhang family had lent us the authority of Ru Xu, so they were not prepared."

"When everyone knows the truth later, there won't be the unexpected effect we have now. So this opportunity is rare. Even if I can't make a fortune, I have to eat well. Otherwise, I will lose a lot of money."

Zou Sijiu looked at the battlefield in the distance which looked almost like a street fight. The sand soldiers played by Mo Xu from the East Courtyard were beaten black and blue and knelt on the ground with their hands on their heads.

The Ming ghosts, still unsatisfied, had surrounded Hu'e and Mou'an with grim smiles on their faces.

"But we have to act quickly, otherwise I'm worried that the East Palace might come and snatch it away."

Zou Sijiu spoke in a low voice, with a cold light flashing in his eyes.

"Come to rob? To rob people or to rob the rules?" asked Lord Horse.

"For an individual, life is of course more important than rules. But for a certain force, rules are obviously more valuable than people."

Zou Sijiu's expression became unusually serious, his brows slightly frowned, and he suddenly asked.

"Master Ma, have you noticed that the dream rules of these people are a bit strange? They don't look like they are set up to deal with enemies at all. They look more like the four beams and eight pillars prepared to build a house?"

"You've confused me a little."

Lord Ma carefully pondered the meaning of Zou Sijiu's words: "You mean, their dream master rules are set according to someone's wishes, or in other words, according to a common goal?"

"Ah."

Zou Sijiu nodded, but changed the subject: "But I don't think so. I think these dream master rules might have been disassembled from someone and lent to them, allowing them to temporarily gain abilities comparable to those of a dream master."

"Impossible, what kind of dream master rules can take into account so many aspects?"

Lord Ma blurted out, "Besides, Huangliang's true self would never allow someone to set such an exaggerated dream master rule."

Although Lord Ma is a Ming ghost, he has been in various Ming ghost realms for many years and has fought more Yin-Yang sequences than Zou Sijiu has ever seen. Naturally, he is very familiar with this sequence.

In fact, Zou Sijiu also felt that his idea was too absurd. If he could really achieve this, he would probably be not far from replacing Huangliang.

"There is another possibility, that is, these people are using the rules of the dream masters who died in the past. They are actually just the successors of the rules, and are not the real Yin-Yang Sequence Three Dream Masters at all."

Zou Sijiu folded his arms across his chest, looking at the two Nine Lords of the Donghuang Palace who were already surrounded by ghosts.

"They are too weak. Once they lose the dream master's rules, they will have no ability to resist. This is Huangliang, a dream. Even the weakest dream master can't be this bad. Their strength is far inferior to Lao Zhao's. They are even worse than the fake ones like the Sheji Wu Temple."

Zou Sijiu's tone gradually became firm: "These Nine Lords who have jumped out now are probably just some unskilled people who are just filling the numbers. So the East Palace doesn't care about them at all. Even if they die, they won't feel any pain. As long as the 'Nine Lords' are still there, the East Palace can create as many new ones as the ones who die!"

"So that's why you asked me to find a way to extract the Dream Master's rules from them?"

At this moment, Lord Ma finally understood Zou Sijiu's thoughts and a look of enlightenment appeared on his face.

"Ming Gui Realm has a special position in Huangliang. Coupled with the authority I have now, it is not easy for the East Palace to find their whereabouts."

Lord Ma said seriously, "I understand. I will do my best."

At this moment, the battle in the dream has completely ended. Under Zou Sijiu's [Heaven and Earth Live Together] and authority suppression, Mou An and Hu E had no ability to resist. They were beaten unconscious by a group of brave Ming ghosts and tied up.

"Drag the man back and serve him well first, and help the two distinguished guests warm up!"

Lord Ma called out, and the Ming ghosts who had participated in the battle returned along their original route.

Mo Xu from the East Courtyard who was abducted here also woke up from his dreams one after another. In the real world, he only felt that he had a nightmare and was beaten up by others.

After a moment, only Zou Sijiu and Ma Wangye were left in Mou An's dream.

"I heard that Lao Li went to Northern Zhili?"

"Well, I'm going to call the Spring and Autumn Association."

"Are there any tough ones?"

"I haven't met him yet, but I don't know what will happen in the future. After all, there are many people who want to block my way and push Lao Li."

Zou Sijiu smiled and said, "Master Ma, when can you come out?"

"It's almost done. The people from the East Court are very sincere. They spent all their money to repair my ink body. There are a lot of updated contents, so it took a little longer."

"Then we have to hurry up. If we go to Mount Longhu, it will be less interesting if you are not here to play music."

"You little bastard, are you treating me like a record player?"

Lord Ma raised his hand and patted the lady in his arms, who immediately burst into laughter.

"Come, say goodbye to your nephew."

Upon hearing this, Zou Sijiu's face suddenly became bitter and the corners of his mouth kept twitching.

But even though he felt that Old Ma was taking advantage of him, he still couldn't suppress his curiosity and shouted at Ma's back.

"Master Ma, these two aunts are both in real life."

"Isn't that obvious enough?"

Lord Ma looked back and said proudly, "To my left is a fiery furnace, and to my right is a cool and beautiful healing cabin. One hot and one cold, this is the ultimate bliss on earth!"

"How can you introduce us like this to the younger generation? You really have no shame!"

Sweet laughter fills the ears, and soft hands beat the chest.

Zou Sijiu was stunned, then he sighed with conviction and bowed deeply with his fists clasped.

"Master Ma, take care. Aunts, take care!"

"Okay, don't give it away."

The three people, almost squeezed together, crossed the portal connecting the Minggui Realm and the Huangtu Realm.

The crack closed and the night retreated from the sky.

Under the bright sun again, the dream world was deserted, leaving only the dryness.

Outside the capital, a black carriage was speeding along a straight post road.

Zhou Changji, who was dozing with his eyes closed, slowly raised his eyelids. Through the car window, he could see the square and majestic imperial palace in the distance. The ninety-nine-story building with flying eaves looked like a magnificent pagoda that had fallen into the world.

"Li Jun, what do you mean? Are you just threatening me, or are you really going to come to the capital to kill me?"

The night was filled with darkness, just like the background color in Zhou Changji's eyes.

With his understanding of Li Jun's past deeds, it was no exaggeration to describe this warrior as daring. Born in the Western Shu region, he was regarded as a furnace for nurturing the foundation of Taoism by the Dao Order of Qingcheng Mountain, but he still broke out with his fists, killing people all the way, and his ferocity was rare in the empire in the past hundred years.

Does Li Jun have the courage to kill me?

Zhou Changji had no doubt about this; the other party definitely had it.

But Zhou Changji was also very sure that Li Jun was definitely not a brainless person with only martial arts skills, otherwise he would not have been able to survive to this day.

After Zhang Fengyue withdrew from Northern Zhili, the capital city became the Zhu family's forbidden territory and bottom line.

If Li Jun killed him here, it would be like slapping the Zhu family in the face in public. This would certainly be unacceptable to Emperor Jiaqi, who was determined to revive the country.

Moreover, he has now entered the capital area. Even if Li Jun is invincible in the third place, he may not be able to compete with the Zhu family here. He should be able to see the key points and distinguish the priorities.

Thinking of this, Zhou Changji glanced at the majestic imperial palace towering like a mountain in the distance, and turned his thoughts to other places.

"Yan Dongqing, Yan Dongqing, what on earth could have provoked you to risk everything and push yourself to the edge of a cliff in order to survive?"

Zhou Changji tapped the car door with his slender fingers and whispered to himself.

He knew very well what the four words "Spring and Autumn Meeting" meant.

Such tremendous power is just an additional thing. Its real value lies in the possibility of being promoted to the second leader of the Confucian Order.

This is also the real reason why Yan Dongqing was willing to work for the Zhu family.

If he lost the Spring and Autumn Meeting, not only would his years of hard work be in vain, but he would also completely lose the chance to break the lock and advance.

Based on Zhou Changji's understanding of Yan Dongqing, he was a very cunning man and would never explode just because he could not bear to continue working for the Zhu family.

There must be some secret in it that I am currently unaware of.

And it must be closely related to the promotion of Ruxuer.

Zhou Changji unravels the mystery before him and explores step by step the reasons behind Yan Dongqing's sudden rebellion.

Yan Dongqing's background is not prominent, even worse than Zhou Changji himself who was born in a poor family.

He came from a Confucius Temple in a county town in northern Zhili, and he relied entirely on himself to enter the path of success.

Apart from this, no one knows any other information about Yan Dongqing, including his parents, relatives, growth experience, etc. It has always remained a mystery.

The first time the two met was when the internal fight in Zhou Changji's family was about to be decided.

It is often said in Confucianism that wealthy families are as deep as the sea, but in fact, there is no warmth at all in small families either, because in the entire family, perhaps only the previous patriarch holds an official position.

From a certain perspective, official position is a position of power, as well as a position of rank.

In the imperial court controlled by the aristocratic families, inheriting the official position of the family elders is the only shortcut. If you want to enter the officialdom on your own, it is as difficult as ascending to heaven.

If the descendants do not fight for it, there is a high probability that they will never have the chance to enter officialdom again in this lifetime.

Without entering the officialdom and experiencing the ups and downs of officialdom, one naturally does not understand how to control people’s hearts and minds, and it is difficult to master the art of ruling.

If one does not enter the officialdom and does not wear robes, naturally no one will respect and fear him, and it will be difficult to master the art of etiquette.

Without entering officialdom and without disciples following him, naturally there would be no one to command, and it would be difficult to develop musical skills.

If one does not enter the government and does not have a strong will, the arrows and crossbows in his hands will naturally be weak and it will be difficult to master archery skills.

Without entering the government and having no prominent reputation, naturally no one will be interested in calligraphy and painting, and it will be difficult to master calligraphy.

If one does not enter the government and does not hold great power, he will naturally be unable to control the current situation and it will be difficult for him to master mathematics and arts.

Without mastering the six arts, there is no difference between a Confucian scholar and an ordinary person.

Therefore, Zhou Changji had to fight with his own flesh and blood brother, and the fight would be a bloody one, a life-and-death one.

Unfortunately, Zhou Changji was too weak at the time, and because of his father's favoritism, he had little resistance and was forced into death.

It was Yan Dongqing who rescued him, pulled him into the rising Spring and Autumn Society, and promoted him all the way to the status of one of the 'Four Scholars of the Spring and Autumn Period'.

Zhou Changji once asked Yan Dongqing why he would help himself, who was no more than an ant under his feet.

"Ambition and disgust. I see in you the same ambition as mine, as well as disgust at the fact that the Confucian order now relies on the imperial power to survive."

Yan Dongqing's answer is still fresh in Zhou Changji's memory.

Therefore, Zhou Changji was not surprised at all that Yan Dongqing betrayed the Ming royal family.

Even the Zhu family should have anticipated this possibility. The current Emperor Jiaqi is no fool, so it is impossible for him to be completely unprepared against the people of the Spring and Autumn Society.

Otherwise, once it was out of control, the Chunqiu Society would very likely become a Donglin Party again. All the painstaking planning turned into a joke of raising a tiger to cause trouble.

Therefore, the Zhu family has actually been paying close attention to Yan Dongqing, but they underestimated his decisiveness.

As his thoughts deepened, Zhou Changji discovered that although the timing of Yan Dongqing's rebellion seemed reckless, it was actually very clever.

On a macro level, the "new three religions" consisting of Confucianism, Taoism, and Yin-Yang are in a stage of confrontation and stalemate.

No one wants to act rashly, and everyone is waiting for an opportunity to break the balance.

In the details, Zhang Fengyue took the lead in the Confucian order, the Zhu family chose to give in, the people of the Spring and Autumn Society became depressed, and party struggles were on the verge of breaking out.

Yan Dongqing showed the toughness of a leader at this time, and was determined to avenge Xu Haichao at all costs. Naturally, he won a good reputation among the wavering members of Ruxu.

The facts are indeed moving in this direction.

And as the situation becomes more turbulent, the Zhu family will undoubtedly become stronger and stronger.

After all, the foundation of the Zhu family's existence is still the order of vertical and horizontal order that shows its strength in troubled times.

If Yan Dongqing rebelled again at that time, he would probably not even make a splash and would be sunk to the bottom of the river.

From this we can see that although Yan Dongqing is still gambling, he is not doing it out of passion, but has a purpose.

"Head, it seems that you are still as willing to give up everything for the sake of rank as before. Is it really that important to you to surpass Zhang Fengyue?"

A smile appeared on Zhou Changji's lips.

He understood Yan Dongqing and knew that his lifelong wish was to surpass the empire's Prime Minister Zhang Fengyue.

That is why he would do anything to become the leader of the Second Order Party and remain committed to building a Confucian country that is superior to the aristocratic families.

"You have let go, what about me?"

The smile on his lips faded, and Zhou Changji asked himself.

Having taken over the position of the head of the Chunqiu Association, I have managed to save my life for the time being, but what should I do next?
Zhou Changji looked through the car window and looked at the towering imperial palace again. An indescribable look flashed across his eyes.

Suddenly, he remembered a poem that he, Wei Sheng and others often used to encourage each other when they were carefully lurking under the shadow of the New Donglin Party several years ago.

If your determination is not to move mountains, you can change them. Why worry that your achievements will not be recorded in history?
boom!
A sudden, ear-shattering sonic boom swept across the roof of the car, and the heavy pressure instantly shattered the car windows.

The speeding carriage made a sharp hissing sound as it rubbed against the post road, and then stopped in the billowing burnt white smoke.

Two pale lamp posts illuminated a figure falling from the sky.

The black and red lightning disappeared, revealing Li Jun's cold and sharp eyes.

"You're running too slowly, Zhou Changji."

In the important area of ​​the capital, a murderous warrior blocked the way with his bare hands.

(End of this chapter)